October 23, 2025 • 48 mins
Max and Rob chat with Gerry Dulac, talk injuries, practice squad and more in the first hour.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is in the locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood 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 (00:26):
Well, hello, everybody, thanks very much for being with us
on this Thursday as we get you ready for Sunday
night game. The weather's termed cool here in the Burg,
and it's got that football feel to it, and I
hope everybody's anticipating a matchup of two top teams in
their division AFC North leading Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Steelers AF the
(00:47):
NFC North leading Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Max.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Does it feel like football weather in Arizona?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
It does? It does?
Speaker 5 (00:56):
Yea?
Speaker 6 (00:57):
You know why I say that is a sixty one
degrees right now?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Brutal, Yeah, brutal.
Speaker 6 (01:03):
Arctic Arctic chili, frosty frozen desert stuff with sun and cacti.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I don't know, I'm trying.
Speaker 6 (01:16):
I'm trying to There's like there's like not really cold
weather things associated with Arizona ever.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (01:22):
Flagstaff, there we go, flag Staff you go two hours north. Yes,
really cold there and freezy and snowy.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Flag Staff, right.
Speaker 6 (01:31):
Yeah, oh yeah, that's where that that's so that's where
we do the North Pole experience and you know, uh
nic fantas Christmas Town and wait a minute, seriously, a
couple hours from two hours two hours?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Two hours?
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Speaker 6 (01:46):
Got the elevation baby, that's right there at the precipice.
You know, that's like the precursor to the Grand Canyon.
So you know, very high up.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So if you go so correct me if I'm if
I'm wrong, you dry up from Phoenix pretty much north.
Sedona's over to your left if you decide to take
and then you come up and you see Flagstaff. But
then there's a highway that runs east west, and if
you go west, you're going toward the Grand Canyon. If
you go east, you're going toward chin Lay and the
(02:17):
Navajo Reservation and the uh and the caverns or the
cliff dwellings up there. But right, you cut basically a
te right. You see, I've never been to Flagstaff, but
you see it in the distance and you can see
the I think you can. I think in my I'm
trying to remember. It's been a while, but I think
you can see a mountain and some snow on the top, right,
you can. You can see it from the highway, can't you?
(02:37):
Or am I imagining that?
Speaker 6 (02:39):
No, you kind of get up there, and yes you can,
But the trees are so tall as well at that
elevation that you kind of have to get off of
the highway going a little bit west, further west, Okay,
then you can see it, if that makes sense. Now,
maybe on the other side passing through you can see it.
I've never I've only driven two flag stacks because it's like,
a I'm driving that far north, I'm only going to
(03:01):
flag Staff.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
I've gone, I've gone.
Speaker 6 (03:03):
Well, we've driven to the Grand Canyon once, but that
was like like.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Twelve twelve years ago, and.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
That's what a five hour drive from you Maybe something
like that, four or five hours maybe Grand.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
Canyon or a flat yeah, Grand Canyon, Yeah, about four
and a half yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Five okay, all right.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I would highly recommend the uh the Anasazi Cliff dwellings
to the northeast in Chinley.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
I think it's.
Speaker 6 (03:30):
Yeah, that or Antelope Canyon is supposed to be magnificent
as well, and we have some secret waterfalls that you
got to hike too.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I got to add that. I got to add that
to my list. I do remember the first time I
was in Arizona. I was there for the first time.
I was there for a for a while. My wife
had family out there, so I'm you know, the timeline's
a little goofy. But I was there for the Fiesta Bowl.
So we're there for a week covering stuff to pit
and and I remember I wanted to go up and
(04:00):
go to Sedona and they got an inch of rain,
one inch, and they said all the roads were closed.
There was flooding. I'm like, flo, how could you have
one inch of flooding?
Speaker 4 (04:09):
How did that? I don't know how that made any sense?
But there you have.
Speaker 7 (04:13):
Desert, desert, but it is not as if bathtub with
an inch of water. It's nobody's uh, nobody's in danger
unless Jason Bourne's lurking in the background and drowning you
that or something.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
But you know, you know what I mean, Like I
was so I couldn't go. Eventually I got there.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
It's where I mean, it's a lot of ground space,
and if you get an inch with all that runoff
in space. That's a lot of water, you know. And
then it's it's one inch on a regular place. But
then you think of low ground, like on the freeways
where they're built lower, that's where it gets worse than
an inch, right, because of drain off or right. Yeah,
so it it's one inch on normal streets, but you
(04:52):
get to some areas and you can't have the flash
flood warning the elevation slope. Like, hey, you know, one
inch can do a a lot of damage depending on.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Where it is, you know.
Speaker 6 (05:03):
Yeah, I'm saying that as I drive a high profile vehicle.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Right yeah, so yeah, so I will say this, you know,
and we're not We're not here to do it.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Arizona infomercial.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
But when you think about it, like I think of
Arizona as being you know, you can call it desert.
I'm a Northeast guy, so I call it dirt. Hey,
do you like Arizona. Well, there's a lot of dirt
out there. I kind of like green, you know, there's
a lot of brown, but it's very varied. Even within Arizona.
You have Cammelback Mountain and then you go up north
and it's like, you know, you think of I think
of other states. California is being varied because you have
(05:35):
the ocean, and you have the mountains, and you have
everything in between, and the Sequoias and the cities, and
there's a lot of variety in California. There's some variety
in Pennsylvania because you have the mountains and the hills.
But I guess now that we're talking about it, there's
a I kind of underrated the variety of Arizona.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
See exactly. You know, just all you have to do
is think outside the box.
Speaker 6 (05:58):
And realize we have a lot to offer. Character Wise,
we can give you heat, but we could also give
you refuse by going a little bit north. We can
give serenity, or that you can go crazy with four
wheeling and.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
All that kind of stuff, hiking spas.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
I mean, you know, there's a lot, there's a lot.
There's a lot to offer. It's a hidden gym. So
you know, don't visit Arizona during football season. You can
do it in the offseason.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So it is football season, so so let's get to
let's get to some some some football. Now that we've
ascertained that sixty one degrees is football weather in the
morning in Arizona at seven to ten in the morning.
So just a couple of procedural things that Yesterday after
we concluded our show, the Steelers released their injury updates,
(06:52):
and so the updates were Zach Frasier limited with a calf.
Hopefully Zach can go, you know, is early in the week,
so we'll see how that progresses. And then Calvin Austin
is full practice and going, and then Will Howard is
full practice, Malik Harrison full practice second week that Malik
has been out there with the team. Now they've got
(07:14):
this twenty one day window in which the rules are
if you're you know, there's certain kinds of IRR, it
could be placed on IR and be out for the year.
There's other IR stints in which you can come back.
You have to be on it for a minimum of
four weeks, and then there's a twenty one day practice
window during which or at the conclusion of which the
(07:35):
team can either activate you, put you on the active roster,
or you're finished for the season. You go back on
IR and you're done. So what's your take on those injuries.
Hopefully Zach will be okay, Calvin Austin full practice, Will
Howard Malik Harrison, any take on those things, you.
Speaker 6 (07:56):
Know, I think, you know, obviously Zach probably the most
sign forgat of those that I worry about. But you know, Malik,
I think you know, we we could use another thumper.
We could always use another thumper at the linebacker position.
I mean, that was kind of one of the reasons
why we had signed him initially was to bring him
(08:17):
in for that purpose alone.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
You know. For Will.
Speaker 6 (08:23):
I mean, it's the window you're gonna be emergency third.
Mason is the second. You're not leapfrogging him anytime soon.
And he's technically he and he and he was at
the game last week, so you know, it would be nice,
I guess, to see if he can be activated enough
as the emergency third so that he can travel I
really start learning kind of a on game day type
(08:44):
of situations, like seeing how the sideline works and hearing
the information that Aaron's disseminating on the sidelines, talking with Arthur,
you know, just to get into that kind of routine.
I would love for that for Will cal happy. You know,
I thought that maybe last week would have been a
little bit early for him to rush back from the
shoulder after everything happening and him going to the hospital
(09:08):
in Ireland and everything. So I am happy that that
he's back active. I thought this would be the week
that he would be back. So I think when you
kind of hear that, it kind of sounds status quo
kind of week. I guess you would say for those injuries,
we have definitely something to monitor for Zach. Then you know,
obviously we would have Ryan McCollum in if Zach can't go,
(09:30):
But you know that that's one of the guys you
want in there.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
I mean, he's he's a war daddy.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
So a couple of things here that I just wanted
to to get to as it pertains to this injury.
By the way, Jerry Dulac is going to be joining
us momentarily, So before we get to the break and
get to Jerry, I want to talk specifically about will
Howard and Malie Harrison and something about Calvin Austin. So
(09:57):
let me tackle Calvin Austin first. So keishun Williams. You know,
he would be the natural guy. I suppose if you're
looking at, you know, adding Malik Harris into the roster.
I think that I believe the roster now stands at
fifty two, he would be uh, fifty three, I think
is that correct now? And let me double check that.
(10:19):
But let me ask you this, because with that.
Speaker 6 (10:22):
You know it would just Calvin never went off the
active roster, so right, yeah, so and Miles killerbrew h
by the way, on I are, yeah, he's out for
the year.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Right, So.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Is Keishawn Williams a guy that you think that they
might keep around him? Would you be interested in keeping
around maybe take the punt return off Calvin's off Calvin's plate.
But he also showed something in the kick return game
as well. I was really intrigued with what I saw
with Keishawn Williams. But you know, in today's NFL, I
(10:56):
mean there were there was a time when you know,
they were there were specialists, just return guys, but I
think a lot of teams now want more versatility and
and you know, the wide receiver group is deep enough
where it's hard to get you know, you start to think, hey,
if Calvin comes back, what does that mean for Roman
Wilson's targets?
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Right?
Speaker 2 (11:13):
He kind of started to flash a little something. So
you know, there's a lot involved with some of these
roster decisions and making these roster decisions. But I got
to say, Keishawn Williams really really intrigued me.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, No, I mean Keyshawn definitely intrigued.
Speaker 6 (11:28):
And like you said, there's an open roster spot where
it becomes tricky is obviously your dress forty six, right,
that's where it manages.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
You could have the guys on fifty three.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
I don't thk there's aybody else they think to elevate
and whatever happens with Will, whether you keep them on
the active roster where you drop him down to peace
squad and have him as an emergency third, I mean,
that's that's where you kind of have to look. But
he's in the twenty day one day window, so you
technically have you know, I'm saying another week or so
before you have to make that decision with Will.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
And you know, if you are going to.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Activate Malik, yes, he would naturally fit in and that
would give your defensive balance, right, you lose a defensive guy,
you add a defensive guy, So it would make sense
in the interim time and then of course make some decisions.
You would be carrying now what six wide receivers are
You're carrying six? Now you'd have six to choose from
for game day activation, and that would be obviously DK
(12:24):
obviously not deactivating him Calvin, if he's healthy and he's practicing,
he's gonna go. And then after that that's where it
becomes that that's where that's where you have a little
bit of a weaving of guys and that would be
you know, between Roman Wilson, Ben Scaroni, Scottie Miller, and
Keishawan Williams of the other four that you would have
(12:46):
to figure out. And we obviously know Scaronic and Miller
are both on special teams, so then you'd have Keishaan
also on special teams.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
So now what does Roman do?
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Right?
Speaker 6 (12:54):
Because Rome is not doing any any any I should say,
outside of he's not doing real core for special team stuff.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
So I would feel like.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
In that naturally it would probably be between Roman and
Kishan in that situation as to who would be active,
But there's there should be a room on them before
you make the decision on Will because if you if
you acted Will Howard, somebody's got to go off your
roster exactly, yeah, because you have to put him on
the active roster.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
But you don't you have now two more weeks to
make that decision correct.
Speaker 6 (13:26):
Correct, So in the interim you're fine, right, in the interim,
you can keep Kishawan and then it's just a matter
of who's active on game day you can elevate.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Okay, so let me take a step back. Calvin doesn't
take up a roster spot because he never went on
IR You're at fifty two with the injury to Miles
Killer rou you elevate Malik Harrison off the injured, not elevate,
you activate them off the injured reserve list. Now you're
at fifty three, will Howard, then you can wait a
couple extra weeks because if you do activate him, somebody's
(13:54):
got to go. And so the decision on Keishawn Williams
is do you put them out there as a return
specialist and say maybe fifth receiver?
Speaker 4 (14:04):
And if you do that, who has cost a spot
on the active roster? Is that? Is that a summation
that's accurate? Yes? Yes, right, nice, you got it. Look
at that. Look at that.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
The brain is going. How much coffee do you have
this morning?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
I am finishing up my second mug by the way,
By the way, I would you know, I'm just fooling
myself right, like I've i've the coffee cup. If you
remember going to a diner, the coffee cup used to
be just tiny in America, right, like basically a thimbleful.
Now we have these giant mugs with big hands. Like
(14:40):
you used to slip your index finger through a coffee cup, right,
that's it. That's what you could fit through a coffee cup.
It was like a tea cup. Well, now they're massive.
So you know when somebody says, how many cups of
coffee do you have? Well, I have two giant mugs?
Is that can I can I consider that two cups
of coffee in the morning?
Speaker 6 (14:57):
I mean, if we're if we're going off of America
standard value, yes.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, because it's not actually, but if you're yes, if
you're going with the if you're going with the measurement.
Speaker 6 (15:07):
Cup, yeah, we did not go with numerical value, yes
right yeah, or ounces ounces consumed. We're just going with
the physical filling and emptying.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Of said cup.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
Yeah, because I think this is aster. But it's a
thirty two ounce you know, cup I'm drinking out of.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
So I have two cups of water.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I just know that when the coffee the coffee, Uh,
you know, uh kerraf or whatever you call it that
we use mister coffee whatever it is is, uh it
shows up as twelve and I have half of that.
So am I actually having two cups of coffee? Or am
I having six cups of coffee? Well, the same thing
I ideal with. I have thirty two ounce cup here
(15:45):
and I drink two cups of water. That's technically the
American standard of eight glasses, right, But you're not hiding
from that. See that's that's that's a positive good. So
now you want to use the cup measurement system, right
because it because it goes to your favorite.
Speaker 6 (15:59):
But I'm just it's like, but in my head, I'm like, yeah,
how much water you drinking?
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Two cups?
Speaker 4 (16:04):
See, I think you need to convert there.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I think you need to go sixty four ounces because
that sounds impressive and you want to have that one.
Nobody's saying. I don't think there's anybody out there saying
stop drinking water, right, yeah, no, But they're different takes
on the car. Okay, we got to take a break.
We did get some football and then we're gonna get
a lot of football. And I cannot wait for this
match I'm totally fired up about this. Jerry Jula's going
(16:28):
to be joining us next when we continue in the
Locker Room presented by your neighborhood Ford Store in the
Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
And blowing into the locker room on the cool breeze
provided by Belanote. In the strip two dollars and fifty
cent button light sixteen out drafts for all Steelers games.
We thank Bellonote for bringing us Jerry Dulac, who's also
he puts the do like in French, the do because
he has two dia the de. He has two sponsors,
(17:24):
that's how big he is. Brought to you also by
your neighborhood Ford Star. The F one fifties the official
truck of the Pittsburgh Steers. So thanks to Bellinote, thanks
to Ford, and thanks to Jerry Dulac for joining us
in the locker room.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
Do before we move too far ahead.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I wanted to ask you. You know, we're now a
week removed from Thursday night game in Cincinnati. You know
plenty of hand ringing in Pittsburgh, and I think that
you know, fans can can see things any way they
want to see things, The team can see things the
way they want to see things. How do you see
things with the stat of the Steelers particularly, I want both,
(18:04):
but particularly on defense, when the team had looked really
good for three weeks and then really Cincinnati had their
way with them on Thursday night.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
Yeah, Rob, good morning. I would say there were two
aspects of that, and that was one of them. The
way they had been playing against the run the previous
two games against Minnesota and then against Cleveland one hundred
and thirty five yards I think it was. And then
(18:33):
here comes the worst running team in the league, and
they rushed for one hundred and forty two yards, and
more significantly, Chase Brown on each of their two touchdown drives,
started to drive with a twenty five yard run on
the one, and on the first play of the ensuing drive,
broke off a thirty eight yard run and that energized
(18:58):
the Bengals who were trailing tend nothing at the start,
which is testament to the Steelers offense. And the second part,
I think is what is annoying and upsetting to people
is what we saw in the secondary. After all, the
moves that were made in the offseason brought in five
(19:19):
new players, including two cornerbacks who were known for their
man coverage, and Mike Tommin saying during the preseason we
can run and cover with anyone and left unsaid was
in particular the Cincinnati Bengals with two receivers such as
(19:40):
Jamar Chase and t Higgins, and that failed miserably. And
I think the problem with that is that how free
those guys were running for the most part. And the
problem I had with it is they might have been
playing man coverage, but there's a difference between man coverage
(20:03):
and press man coverage. And what I saw and others
saw others who matter saw is that the Steelers played
it appeared as though, and I think they did. They
played scared against the Bengals. They didn't want to get
up on the line of scrimmage. If Joe Flacco was
going to get rid of the ball in two some seconds,
(20:26):
then disrupt his receivers right off the back, hold them up,
disrupt their route, whatever the case may be. And so
don't give them the opportunity to release the ball in
two seconds because his receivers are off their routes. And
that was the problem that I saw, beyond the fact
(20:47):
that those two guys were targeted thirty times and had
twenty three catches for two hundred however many yards and
two big touchdowns.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
Yeah, it was it was very frustrating, Jerry. And you know,
I've kind of made this kind of comment all week
about was this was why you did what you did right,
This was the secondary that was built to.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Combat the Bengals, and the Bengals won round one of this.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
Obviously you'll get another shot at them in a couple
of weeks, but you're absolutely right, like, if you know
this is the.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Game plan, why didn't you do that?
Speaker 6 (21:27):
And you know, funny enough, we were talking to Alvaro
Martin on Tuesday, Jerry, he brought up this. He said,
you know, well you have two twenty five twenty six
year olds and you got guys who are thirty. He's like,
the twenty six year olds are faster and so it
was so it was like and it showed, and I
think that was the other thing is a fear of
(21:49):
getting beat if you do jam at the line.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
So everything was short.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
But Joe Flacco took what they gave us and that
was and there was no adjustment in the second half
to that approach. And then obviously very evident end of
the game situation, you have a go I got to
stop a third down and Jamar Chase gets a sixteen
yard catch right to go along with his fifteen other
catches that he had throughout the game in that moment.
(22:16):
But you know, I asked you this, you know, mood
tenant this week around the locker room as they.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Get ready for Green Bay. I mean, do you feel like.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
They learned anything from that situation, you know, from dealing
with that. Do you think they're going to be, you know,
more prepared moving forward for those type of situations. Now, granted,
obviously you're not going to have that duo to that
degree until you see them again, and you handled the
Addison Jefferson when I felt like, pretty well, just a
(22:47):
couple of weeks prior, do you think there's still some
room for growth or any admission of hey, we played
scared from the players, or for you're gonna obviously talk
to Terrell Austin today and Arthur Smith.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
But do you have a sense of that being around.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
The locker room.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
Well, let me say this, Max, and I agree with
you with the point of what you have against a
couple of young receivers. But if that's the case, then
why did you bring in the guys that you brought
in and believed that they could run and cover with
anyone and then you don't do it? And so, you know,
was that false Bravado, I don't think so. I think
(23:25):
he firmly. You know, it was beyond just saying it
to get to to get his guys to believe it.
You know, we saw Mike Tomley was almost giddy with
the idea of what he would be able to do
with his new cornerbacks, and we haven't seen it now,
you know, to the to the you bring up Justin
(23:46):
Jefferson and Jordan Madison. One of the things that surprised
me then is Justin Jefferson has eight catches at halftime.
What did he have in the game? Eleven one hundred
some yards and they never once put Jalen Ramsey on
him to slow down the one guy who was hurting them. Now,
I'm going to assume that they didn't because Joey Porter
(24:09):
didn't play in that game, and then they didn't want
to then weaken the other side of the field, maybe
because Joey Porter's not playing. So do I believe they
can adjust and fix it.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
I do.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
I don't think there's any question because for the most part,
let's face it, we've seen them be very good through
five games. For the most part, Jalen Ramsey made more
plays than five games, and Mink and Fitzpatrick made all
of last year. And he stood up after that game
and he acknowledged basically what we've been saying. He was
brought in for that reason and he didn't do his job,
(24:46):
and he stood there and said it, and I give
him tons of credit for that. So I think I
think certainly, look, we've seen I don't think. I don't
think the sky has fallen.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Boys.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
There was a big defensive laps against the Bengals, but
guess what, there was a big defensive laps against them
last year too, So this is really nothing new. For
whatever reason, the Bengals match up very well against the
Steelers for the same reason the Steelers offense matches up
very well against the Bengals defense. So you know, will
they bounce back, Yeah, I expect them to. And you know,
(25:25):
it wasn't like they got goals repeatedly by the run.
It was those two runs, and it was the fact
that the Bengals, who have been averaging fifty some yards
doubled that total. I think they doubled it exactly. But
you know, I and one more thing, Max, as you
will though robbed as well. When you're going to play
sub package defense with two don Lyman, teams are going
(25:47):
to come out and try to exploit it by running
the football and forcing you to change. And that's what
happened as well in Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Well and Jerry, there is no question that in my mind,
again we'll see, of course's question because they haven't played
the game yet, but there's no question in my mind
that the Packers, having seen that, will ram Josh Jacobs
at that defense and make the Steelers prove they can
stop them on I believe that's the first thing that
(26:15):
they you know, listen, they may go come out and
play action, but I think that's going to be top
of mind for them. You know, Josh Jacobs isn't having
quite the year he's had for them. He's you know,
he's been to multiple Pro Bowls, but he runs the
ball a lot. They run the ball a lot. They stick.
Teams talk about sticking to the run. Green Bay sticks
to the run, and I think they will try to
(26:36):
hammer the ball at the Steelers.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
I'd be surprised if they don't.
Speaker 5 (26:41):
I would agree with you, Rob, and you know we
you know, we hear Mike Thomas talk all the time
about stopping the run and making a team a one
dimensional but they didn't do that against the Bengals because
they were fearful of those runs that they were busting off,
and so don't want to clean that up. They'll want
to get back to maybe what they were able to
(27:03):
do in the previous two games. But I'm with you,
I would expect the Packers to come out and do that.
And you know darn well though too, they're going to
throw the football because that's what they like to do.
Josh Jacobs is a big time back and that's what
we'll start it. But I wouldn't be surprised if you
(27:24):
see them coming out throwing the ball first and then
loosening up the run lanes. So either way, I'm with you.
I think that's what they'll try to do to exploit them.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Yep.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Well, and I think, you know, because I've already broken
down the Arizona film and you know, I look at
one of the unique challenges it's going to be Michael
Parsons with Sean Gary right on the defensive side of
the ball and stopping their pass rush. I mean, I
think we've done a pretty good job. We've seen escalation
(27:56):
in play, especially Miles Garrett right kind of neutralized him.
But you know, having these two elite guys off the
edge and then their interior.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Guys are pretty good, you know.
Speaker 6 (28:07):
But but Arizona was still able to run the ball
effectively against them. And like you said, you know, this
is a team that's very heavy on Josh Jacobs. But
you know, the one thing we haven't really talked about
is tight ends really taking over games. And I think
this is the one thing where Green Bay it'll be interesting.
Whereas we've had the receivers being the emphasis the last
(28:28):
couple of weeks, and yes, they have some decent receivers, right,
you know, Romeo Dobbs there. You know, Christian Watson not
so much, he's kind of been hampered, but Tucker Craft.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
Has been has been one of those guys I'm looking at.
Speaker 6 (28:40):
And so now the question is if you are going
to get in the heavy stuff and you are going
to try and stop the run and blunt Josh Jacobs,
you know, how are we going to do in coverage
of Tucker Craft. That's gonna be my next kind of
thing I think I look at is how do you
handle a top rated tight end? Because Tucker Craft, you know,
almost single handily in that second half, took out the
(29:01):
Arizona Cardinals. Is the reason why Green Bay was able
to win that game.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
You know our.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
Linebackers, you know, Malik Harrison potentially could be back this week.
I mean you've seen an upside to him being back,
and especially with knowing that we have have more of
a tight end problem to worry about this week.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
Well, Max, I think right now in Green Bay in
they're in the locker room show, they are talking about
stopping the Steeler tight end and what they've been able
to do. And I want to go back to what
you started to say about, you know, the Packers defense,
and that's the problem they're going to have. And let's
(29:40):
focus on the positive here. Look at what this Steeler
offense does. They use their tight ends. Last two games, No,
Calvin Austin nineteen catches two hundred and forty four yards
five touchdowns. That's a heck of a tight end right there.
But they're using four of them to do that, and
so what. And look at the way Jalen Warren is
running the football. And then look at what they did
(30:04):
in Cincinnati. The people forget they got off to a
ten to nothing lead, and when we saw that up
and down the field twice. Now that fourth and one
penalty against Mason McCormick hurt. They had to settle for
a field goal, but up and down the field twice,
and then at the end when they have to up
and down the field twice for touchdowns. This offense is
(30:25):
doing what they need to do. Now they have a
little law everything you know in the middle, every team
has a law. But they are able to utilize the
tight ends. We have seen not so much in Cincinnati,
but we've seen dk Metcalf get loose. And now you're
running the football with Jalen Warren. That offense is pretty
darn good. And so for all these people in a
(30:46):
panic mode about the Steelers at four and two and
the first place in the division by two games, they
are doing a lot of things right. They just for
one game in Cincinnati, did one thing terribly wrong. And
it's the one thing that we didn't expect, which is
to see two receivers gouge them like they always do.
And so I think that's the problem the Green Bay
(31:06):
Packers have, and for that reason, I expect it to
be another entertaining game. Let's face it, that was an
entertaining football game the other day, and when two forty
plus quarterbacks combined for almost six hundred yards and seven touchdowns,
you don't see that too often in an NFL game.
And that's too Joe Flacco's everlasting credit, and of course
(31:27):
Aaron Rodgers. So I think it's going to be a
bit of a shootout. But I think that Packer defense
has to worry about the Steeler offense. And you're seeing
what Arthur Smith is doing every game. When you look
at it, there's no one player. Yeah, they want to
get the ball to dkcaff, but they're running the ball,
they're getting the ball to midcaf Calvin Austin comes back.
It certainly appears to be will and you're using certainly
(31:51):
all three of your tight ends and on occasion your
fourth tight end and getting him involved. So there's a
lot of disparity to that offense, and I think that's
that's something that Green Bay there defensively have to be
concerned with and for the people not to lose focus
and lose sight of what the Steelers are doing very well.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, Jerry, I you have just echoed what I've been saying. Yes,
they're gonna get to ball to Metcalf and people talk
about a second receiver, and it'd be wonderful to have
a second receiver. More to me is insurance in cases
an injury. But with all those elements, the guy at
the controls Aaron Rodgers, I mean, you need I think
a guy okay, he called the plays. You need a
(32:35):
guy get to the line of scrimmage and make sure
the balls going to the right person. I think that
maybe some Steelers doubters around the country, you know, saw
what happened with Aaron Rodgers last year, the Jets saw
the Jets record, maybe didn't look at close take a
close look at what he did in the second half
of the season.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
But I think him at the controls.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
I think if you you know, one takeaway that you're
gonna have as a national guy might be like WHOA,
and Rogers has way more in the tank than I thought.
I don't see how you could come out of that
game if you were a doubter.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
I don't see how you.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Could watch that game and not think, Wow, there's a
lot more to Aaron Rodgers than I thought there was
at forty one years old.
Speaker 5 (33:14):
I agree with Robin. I'll give you a quick answer
before I have to head to the locker room. But
you know, when everybody had played just six games, that
means going into Sunday, Aaron Rodgers was tied for the
league league with fourteen touchdowns. He's thrown five interceptions if
you only thrown two in the last three games, and
one of them really wasn't as fault as we saw
on the sideline on the throat the DK metcalf and
(33:37):
as I mentioned earlier, his ability to start quick and
finish strong. That's the main thing. His ability to finish,
there's no question, and we saw him dancing around in
that pocket and moving around. Part of that too, is
testament to the offensive line the time they are giving him.
And so that's the other aspect. When I talk about
all the things they're doing well the offense, I don't
(33:58):
mean to ignore them. Defensive line has been very good
protecting him and getting the running game going. So there's
a lot of aspects to that. But when he's at
the and you're seeing what he does, he comes to
the line of scrimmage and he's moving players around, and
that's his greatest strength. And we would be remiss if
we didn't talk about that. Hail Mary at age forty
(34:20):
one to throw that ball seventy yards in the air
and he wanted to throw at two yards deep in
the end zone and he did. To me, it's just
amazing what the guy is still able to do. And yes,
does he have a lot left in his tank? I
think he has answered that so far.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
He is brought to you by Bellonote in the strip
two fifty bud light sixteen ounce draft for all Steelers games. Jerry,
thanks very much, man, see you a little bit later
on the south side. Jerry Dulac, you got a boys
freezing into the locker room, presented by your Neighborhood Ford
Store and the Steelers Pro Shop on the Steelers Nation Radio,
a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
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
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dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
And we welcome you back inside the locker room.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
And I do have to say that, uh, Max, I
know that Jerry was a little rush there toward the end,
but I think he made you know, the breeze has
got to blow through, right, He's got to keep he's
got to keep on the move. They called the breeze,
as Jjkal wrote and Leonard Skinner covered and others have covered,
called me the breeze. So I look, I think that
(35:45):
what he's talking about with the offense just in general,
and we're going to get into some specific matchups here
coming up in the next hour. But I really think
that he's right on that. You know, we're we're looking
at this thirty three thirty one loss and thinking, oh
my God, look at the defense and here we go again,
and we've seen this thing before, and what's happening? And
(36:05):
why is Cincinnati doing this again? Do us and all
this other stuff, and you know, then you forget, as
we kind of mentioned in yesterday's show, you forget the
three games before.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
Everyone say look at them.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Hey, they've unleashed the defense and they got the sacks,
and they're getting the turnovers and all this other stuff.
You know, it's quickly forgotten in the performance of one game.
But I think what shouldn't be forgotten is that the
offense put up thirty one points. You know what I mean,
you usually win when that happens. When you score thirty one,
you're not quite guaranteed, but almost guaranteed to win the game.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Well, yeah, we had We had to say almost because
we didn't.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
But right exactly again.
Speaker 6 (36:41):
Normal circumstances, thirty one is good enough to get you
out of the out of the stadium. I mean, you
think about you know, the last couple of games we've
had with them, they've all come down to one possession.
I mean, last ten games, you know, it has been
two thirty seven to two thirty seven, right, you know,
as far as points scored on both sides, so it's
never a blowout. But you know, you were just hoping,
(37:04):
I think, to see that progress show up in the reason.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
Why you got everything done.
Speaker 6 (37:11):
And I think that was where a lot of that
disappointment came from. Was just man, you know, we thought
this this was supposed to be the Cincinnati Killer defense, right,
this was supposed to neutralize those guys, and they just
had a bad outing like they did at the beginning
of the year. So and you know what I talked about,
what we talked about earlier this week, three good hey,
(37:32):
three three great performances and three not so good performances.
You know, you could probably bring them into bad category
when you come to season after six games. And so,
but you're right, not all, not all is lost. This
is not We're not the Ravens right now trying to
figure out how to clar our way back. We're not
Cleveland right now trying to figure out who our guys are.
(37:56):
We know who our guys are. We've identified them. They're
certified dudes, and they've shown us throughout throughout the season
that they're dudes. I mean, you think of Jalen Ramsey
and what Jerry said. I thought was very pointed. He's
done more than five games than Mika did all last
year as far as his impact and performance. So you know,
(38:16):
we and we look at kind of where the situation
where Miami is. You know, where Mika win, it has
it hasn't increased because he because of his presence, So
you know, he's absolutely right. It's like keeping it in
perspective about what to expect in this game coming up
based off of last week's performance, and it's not you know,
(38:36):
and I think we all get critical because you know,
when you lose, man, the microscope gets gets really magnified, right,
you can you can see down to the mitochondria and
nucleic bonds right when somebody loses. But when you win,
oh man, you'll look past all those wards like it's
two thirty am and the lights just came on at
the bar, right, you know what I'm saying, Like you
(38:57):
will just everything is great. You'll every superlative, every positive possible.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I think that.
Speaker 6 (39:03):
And you have to fall somewhere in between both of those, right,
you know, to give that sober and reality and the
other sober reality is you got to be better at
stopping the run.
Speaker 4 (39:11):
That's what it comes down to.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
You've got to stop the run.
Speaker 6 (39:14):
And yes, Jerry said that was two big runs, but
there was still consistency on four five seven yard gains
that don't necessarily get logged in the explosive category, but
keep the pace for the for the opposing offense that
we have to eliminate.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
We have to make these and we tried early blitzing.
Speaker 6 (39:33):
Remember I was talking about it the Shawn Elliott nearly
close on the diagnose and dive and detect category, but
just narrowly missed. Like I mean, you think six inches
left or right, and you're talking about a negative game
versus an eight yard game. And so that's where you
know we're gonna be tough because that's our job. But
(39:56):
at the same time, you can still give grace.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Yes, I agree with all that, and I am I
am bullish on what this offense has done, what it's
capable of doing. I truly believe it is going to
be more you know, and I maybe this maybe you
know coaches would be insulted by my saying more matchup
(40:22):
oriented than it has been in the past. When you
have a quarterback who can come to the line of
scrimmage and exploit. You know, I always thought that one
of the things that the Patriots did really well. And
you could go back and forth on this. You know,
teams talk about wanting to be multiple. Hey we see
a Cover two shell, We're gonna run the football. We
(40:44):
see Cover three, We're gonna throw the football. You know,
eight seven man box versus eight man box. And you know,
teams are but teams are going with spread offenses and
so a lot of those things don't exist anymore. It
just feels to me like going back to and I
hate to pray that the Patriots and the Bill Belichick era,
but the Patriots might come out one game and run
the ball fifteen straight times. They might come out another
(41:07):
time another game and throw the ball seventeen consecutive times
without running it. You know, I think that the Steelers
are and those are extremes I'm talking about, but I
think they are more equipped with the diversity of talent
and Arthur Smith's scheme and Aaron Rodgers at the control.
(41:28):
You can put those in any order you want, but
they are more capable of truly lining up and saying, Okay,
you want to do a We're gonna do b than
this Steers have been in a long time.
Speaker 6 (41:44):
And I completely agree with you. I think this team
is so varied and the talent that they have, and
a lot of that lies within that tight end room.
And it's versatility that gives you that comfort and that
flexibility along with Aaron's football IQ right, it allows you
to be smarter.
Speaker 3 (42:05):
And like I said, outside of really.
Speaker 6 (42:08):
Uh three plays in that Cincinnati game, I think that
holds true, right, you know, but I think the communication
on the box flee flicker.
Speaker 3 (42:22):
Was the first.
Speaker 6 (42:23):
Aaron trying to throw that ball into bad coverage and
that interception was on him was a second, and then
the third is unfortunate, you know, type of situation where
the bounce of the football was really the difference in
the DJ Turner touchdown right or DJ Turner interception on
(42:44):
DK metcalf. Like the ball was placed perfectly, DK did
not secure it and as he's going down loses that
control and DJ Turner gets a knee down in bounds
for the interception to count. So you take away those
three plays in the game, and this offense dictated whatever
it wanted to. I mean, hello, Pat Fryarmouth, right, he'd
(43:06):
had depressed numbers all throughout the beginning of the season
and then boom, you know, Week seven, Game six, he
comes alive and has a fantastic, you know game in
that process.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
So you know, if we look.
Speaker 6 (43:25):
At it, and you know, we're always going to go
through it with a fine tooth comb, right, our job
is to figure out what went right, what went wrong,
and obviously talk about what the result and what it means.
But you know, to come back and have a shot
still at the end, it's pretty impressive. You're never really
(43:46):
out of it. I mean the only game they've been
out of it was a Seahawks game and that was
just a hole wacky that was lack of a doodle
type type of game as well, and that was another
multiple interception game for Aaron, Right, So we've come to
prove that, hey, when you don't throw touchdowns, everybody's on
(44:07):
is on target. You get the fourteen touchdowns and less
of the five interceptions, right, you know, that's kind of
how we have to look at it.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
And it's league tying.
Speaker 6 (44:18):
It was league leading, league tying for where he's at
at the age he's at, I mean, he's the oldest
quarterback out there playing and he looked. He looks like
he fits right in with everybody else of the group
and sometimes outpacing some of the younger guys.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly, and I do think that there
are some really really intriguing offensive stats for the Steelers
that I think will open people's eyes. I would just
say as quickly, you know, you lost the turnover battle
in Cincinnati. It was even against Seattle, but keep in
mind that the kickoff that the Steelers didn't cover in
(44:54):
the end zone that gifted Seattle seven points is not
considered a turnover and was clear you know, you're still like, okay,
let's get it, let's march down the field. The offense
is doing well. That clearly was you know, the turning
point of the game. Uh that you know, if you're
looking at you know, you can look at the pass
from from uh in that game, from Darnold to Jackson
(45:15):
Smith and jig but beautifully executed play. You know, I
think you could look at the the flat go pass,
the yoshavash down the middle, another beautifully excavated executed play.
A lot of games come down to two or three plays,
and sometimes those two or three plays are are turnovers,
which is why this. Yearers constantly preached that and not
only preach at max, but are always uh, certainly the
(45:39):
last couple of years and again this season, always seemed
to be at the top of the league in plus
minus turnover differential in the in the in the positive light,
in the positive way.
Speaker 3 (45:51):
Yeah, no, I completely agree.
Speaker 6 (45:53):
I think you know, the Steelers have a knack and
a skill set for being able to turn the ball
over and force teams into bad situations, bad looks, and
take advantage of that. And that's something I think I
really love about this team, is that tenacity and that
(46:14):
willingness to go out there, battle, duel, and and usually
come out on on on the right side of it.
It's it's those moments, you know, when that when they
are so dependent on it that you start to worry,
right because at the end of the day, at some
point you're going to have to play this guy in man.
(46:35):
At some point you're going to have to, you know,
do what you need to do that's necessary to win.
But at the same time, you know something is going
to give, something is going to go awry, and how
how do you handle that? That's that's the one thing
that we look at, right now we say, Okay, this
team has got to get X out of the way,
(46:59):
they've got to figure route you know Z in the process.
But we forget that this team also has that skill
where if they turn it on, really, who's going to
stop them? Who's gonna who's gonna stop the squad when
they get to full strength and they just start dictating
the terms to the opposing team. And hopefully, you know,
(47:20):
like I said, we get back to that, Hopefully we
don't lose sight of that, and that we understand how
important it is for this team to be consistent across
the board with each other, to be constantly fighting to
be the best, and that there is no lost looks,
there is no complacency, There is no you know, resting
(47:46):
on laurels so to speak with them, because we still
got a lot of football left and and this team
is highly skilled and it has the ability to do that.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
So much to talk about in this game. We're going
to really dive into some of the key matchups, some
of which Max is alluded to, but we will get
that to you when we continue. You are, of course
listening in the locker room presented by your neighborhood Forward
Store and Before we get to the break, we wanted
to remind you that one of our other sponsors is
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(48:16):
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(48:38):
dot steelers dot com. Back with more in the Locker
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Audio Network
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 (00:26):
Well, hello, everybody, thanks very much for being with us
on this Thursday as we get you ready for Sunday
night game. The weather's termed cool here in the Burg,
and it's got that football feel to it, and I
hope everybody's anticipating a matchup of two top teams in
their division AFC North leading Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Steelers AF the
(00:47):
NFC North leading Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Max.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Does it feel like football weather in Arizona?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
It does? It does?
Speaker 5 (00:56):
Yea?
Speaker 6 (00:57):
You know why I say that is a sixty one
degrees right now?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Brutal, Yeah, brutal.
Speaker 6 (01:03):
Arctic Arctic chili, frosty frozen desert stuff with sun and cacti.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I don't know, I'm trying.
Speaker 6 (01:16):
I'm trying to There's like there's like not really cold
weather things associated with Arizona ever.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (01:22):
Flagstaff, there we go, flag Staff you go two hours north. Yes,
really cold there and freezy and snowy.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Flag Staff, right.
Speaker 6 (01:31):
Yeah, oh yeah, that's where that that's so that's where
we do the North Pole experience and you know, uh
nic fantas Christmas Town and wait a minute, seriously, a
couple hours from two hours two hours?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Two hours?
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Speaker 6 (01:46):
Got the elevation baby, that's right there at the precipice.
You know, that's like the precursor to the Grand Canyon.
So you know, very high up.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So if you go so correct me if I'm if
I'm wrong, you dry up from Phoenix pretty much north.
Sedona's over to your left if you decide to take
and then you come up and you see Flagstaff. But
then there's a highway that runs east west, and if
you go west, you're going toward the Grand Canyon. If
you go east, you're going toward chin Lay and the
(02:17):
Navajo Reservation and the uh and the caverns or the
cliff dwellings up there. But right, you cut basically a
te right. You see, I've never been to Flagstaff, but
you see it in the distance and you can see
the I think you can. I think in my I'm
trying to remember. It's been a while, but I think
you can see a mountain and some snow on the top, right,
you can. You can see it from the highway, can't you?
(02:37):
Or am I imagining that?
Speaker 6 (02:39):
No, you kind of get up there, and yes you can,
But the trees are so tall as well at that
elevation that you kind of have to get off of
the highway going a little bit west, further west, Okay,
then you can see it, if that makes sense. Now,
maybe on the other side passing through you can see it.
I've never I've only driven two flag stacks because it's like,
a I'm driving that far north, I'm only going to
(03:01):
flag Staff.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
I've gone, I've gone.
Speaker 6 (03:03):
Well, we've driven to the Grand Canyon once, but that
was like like.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Twelve twelve years ago, and.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
That's what a five hour drive from you Maybe something
like that, four or five hours maybe Grand.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
Canyon or a flat yeah, Grand Canyon, Yeah, about four
and a half yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Five okay, all right.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I would highly recommend the uh the Anasazi Cliff dwellings
to the northeast in Chinley.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
I think it's.
Speaker 6 (03:30):
Yeah, that or Antelope Canyon is supposed to be magnificent
as well, and we have some secret waterfalls that you
got to hike too.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
I got to add that. I got to add that
to my list. I do remember the first time I
was in Arizona. I was there for the first time.
I was there for a for a while. My wife
had family out there, so I'm you know, the timeline's
a little goofy. But I was there for the Fiesta Bowl.
So we're there for a week covering stuff to pit
and and I remember I wanted to go up and
(04:00):
go to Sedona and they got an inch of rain,
one inch, and they said all the roads were closed.
There was flooding. I'm like, flo, how could you have
one inch of flooding?
Speaker 4 (04:09):
How did that? I don't know how that made any sense?
But there you have.
Speaker 7 (04:13):
Desert, desert, but it is not as if bathtub with
an inch of water. It's nobody's uh, nobody's in danger
unless Jason Bourne's lurking in the background and drowning you
that or something.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
But you know, you know what I mean, Like I
was so I couldn't go. Eventually I got there.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
It's where I mean, it's a lot of ground space,
and if you get an inch with all that runoff
in space. That's a lot of water, you know. And
then it's it's one inch on a regular place. But
then you think of low ground, like on the freeways
where they're built lower, that's where it gets worse than
an inch, right, because of drain off or right. Yeah,
so it it's one inch on normal streets, but you
(04:52):
get to some areas and you can't have the flash
flood warning the elevation slope. Like, hey, you know, one
inch can do a a lot of damage depending on.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Where it is, you know.
Speaker 6 (05:03):
Yeah, I'm saying that as I drive a high profile vehicle.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Right yeah, so yeah, so I will say this, you know,
and we're not We're not here to do it.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Arizona infomercial.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
But when you think about it, like I think of
Arizona as being you know, you can call it desert.
I'm a Northeast guy, so I call it dirt. Hey,
do you like Arizona. Well, there's a lot of dirt
out there. I kind of like green, you know, there's
a lot of brown, but it's very varied. Even within Arizona.
You have Cammelback Mountain and then you go up north
and it's like, you know, you think of I think
of other states. California is being varied because you have
(05:35):
the ocean, and you have the mountains, and you have
everything in between, and the Sequoias and the cities, and
there's a lot of variety in California. There's some variety
in Pennsylvania because you have the mountains and the hills.
But I guess now that we're talking about it, there's
a I kind of underrated the variety of Arizona.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
See exactly. You know, just all you have to do
is think outside the box.
Speaker 6 (05:58):
And realize we have a lot to offer. Character Wise,
we can give you heat, but we could also give
you refuse by going a little bit north. We can
give serenity, or that you can go crazy with four
wheeling and.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
All that kind of stuff, hiking spas.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
I mean, you know, there's a lot, there's a lot.
There's a lot to offer. It's a hidden gym. So
you know, don't visit Arizona during football season. You can
do it in the offseason.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So it is football season, so so let's get to
let's get to some some some football. Now that we've
ascertained that sixty one degrees is football weather in the
morning in Arizona at seven to ten in the morning.
So just a couple of procedural things that Yesterday after
we concluded our show, the Steelers released their injury updates,
(06:52):
and so the updates were Zach Frasier limited with a calf.
Hopefully Zach can go, you know, is early in the week,
so we'll see how that progresses. And then Calvin Austin
is full practice and going, and then Will Howard is
full practice, Malik Harrison full practice second week that Malik
has been out there with the team. Now they've got
(07:14):
this twenty one day window in which the rules are
if you're you know, there's certain kinds of IRR, it
could be placed on IR and be out for the year.
There's other IR stints in which you can come back.
You have to be on it for a minimum of
four weeks, and then there's a twenty one day practice
window during which or at the conclusion of which the
(07:35):
team can either activate you, put you on the active roster,
or you're finished for the season. You go back on
IR and you're done. So what's your take on those injuries.
Hopefully Zach will be okay, Calvin Austin full practice, Will
Howard Malik Harrison, any take on those things, you.
Speaker 6 (07:56):
Know, I think, you know, obviously Zach probably the most
sign forgat of those that I worry about. But you know, Malik,
I think you know, we we could use another thumper.
We could always use another thumper at the linebacker position.
I mean, that was kind of one of the reasons
why we had signed him initially was to bring him
(08:17):
in for that purpose alone.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
You know. For Will.
Speaker 6 (08:23):
I mean, it's the window you're gonna be emergency third.
Mason is the second. You're not leapfrogging him anytime soon.
And he's technically he and he and he was at
the game last week, so you know, it would be nice,
I guess, to see if he can be activated enough
as the emergency third so that he can travel I
really start learning kind of a on game day type
(08:44):
of situations, like seeing how the sideline works and hearing
the information that Aaron's disseminating on the sidelines, talking with Arthur,
you know, just to get into that kind of routine.
I would love for that for Will cal happy. You know,
I thought that maybe last week would have been a
little bit early for him to rush back from the
shoulder after everything happening and him going to the hospital
(09:08):
in Ireland and everything. So I am happy that that
he's back active. I thought this would be the week
that he would be back. So I think when you
kind of hear that, it kind of sounds status quo
kind of week. I guess you would say for those injuries,
we have definitely something to monitor for Zach. Then you know,
obviously we would have Ryan McCollum in if Zach can't go,
(09:30):
But you know that that's one of the guys you
want in there.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
I mean, he's he's a war daddy.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
So a couple of things here that I just wanted
to to get to as it pertains to this injury.
By the way, Jerry Dulac is going to be joining
us momentarily, So before we get to the break and
get to Jerry, I want to talk specifically about will
Howard and Malie Harrison and something about Calvin Austin. So
(09:57):
let me tackle Calvin Austin first. So keishun Williams. You know,
he would be the natural guy. I suppose if you're
looking at, you know, adding Malik Harris into the roster.
I think that I believe the roster now stands at
fifty two, he would be uh, fifty three, I think
is that correct now? And let me double check that.
(10:19):
But let me ask you this, because with that.
Speaker 6 (10:22):
You know it would just Calvin never went off the
active roster, so right, yeah, so and Miles killerbrew h
by the way, on I are, yeah, he's out for
the year.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Right, So.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Is Keishawn Williams a guy that you think that they
might keep around him? Would you be interested in keeping
around maybe take the punt return off Calvin's off Calvin's plate.
But he also showed something in the kick return game
as well. I was really intrigued with what I saw
with Keishawn Williams. But you know, in today's NFL, I
(10:56):
mean there were there was a time when you know,
they were there were specialists, just return guys, but I
think a lot of teams now want more versatility and
and you know, the wide receiver group is deep enough
where it's hard to get you know, you start to think, hey,
if Calvin comes back, what does that mean for Roman
Wilson's targets?
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Right?
Speaker 2 (11:13):
He kind of started to flash a little something. So
you know, there's a lot involved with some of these
roster decisions and making these roster decisions. But I got
to say, Keishawn Williams really really intrigued me.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, No, I mean Keyshawn definitely intrigued.
Speaker 6 (11:28):
And like you said, there's an open roster spot where
it becomes tricky is obviously your dress forty six, right,
that's where it manages.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
You could have the guys on fifty three.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
I don't thk there's aybody else they think to elevate
and whatever happens with Will, whether you keep them on
the active roster where you drop him down to peace
squad and have him as an emergency third, I mean,
that's that's where you kind of have to look. But
he's in the twenty day one day window, so you
technically have you know, I'm saying another week or so
before you have to make that decision with Will.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
And you know, if you are going to.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Activate Malik, yes, he would naturally fit in and that
would give your defensive balance, right, you lose a defensive guy,
you add a defensive guy, So it would make sense
in the interim time and then of course make some decisions.
You would be carrying now what six wide receivers are
You're carrying six? Now you'd have six to choose from
for game day activation, and that would be obviously DK
(12:24):
obviously not deactivating him Calvin, if he's healthy and he's practicing,
he's gonna go. And then after that that's where it
becomes that that's where that's where you have a little
bit of a weaving of guys and that would be
you know, between Roman Wilson, Ben Scaroni, Scottie Miller, and
Keishawan Williams of the other four that you would have
(12:46):
to figure out. And we obviously know Scaronic and Miller
are both on special teams, so then you'd have Keishaan
also on special teams.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
So now what does Roman do?
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Right?
Speaker 6 (12:54):
Because Rome is not doing any any any I should say,
outside of he's not doing real core for special team stuff.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
So I would feel like.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
In that naturally it would probably be between Roman and
Kishan in that situation as to who would be active,
But there's there should be a room on them before
you make the decision on Will because if you if
you acted Will Howard, somebody's got to go off your
roster exactly, yeah, because you have to put him on
the active roster.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
But you don't you have now two more weeks to
make that decision correct.
Speaker 6 (13:26):
Correct, So in the interim you're fine, right, in the interim,
you can keep Kishawan and then it's just a matter
of who's active on game day you can elevate.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Okay, so let me take a step back. Calvin doesn't
take up a roster spot because he never went on
IR You're at fifty two with the injury to Miles
Killer rou you elevate Malik Harrison off the injured, not elevate,
you activate them off the injured reserve list. Now you're
at fifty three, will Howard, then you can wait a
couple extra weeks because if you do activate him, somebody's
(13:54):
got to go. And so the decision on Keishawn Williams
is do you put them out there as a return
specialist and say maybe fifth receiver?
Speaker 4 (14:04):
And if you do that, who has cost a spot
on the active roster? Is that? Is that a summation
that's accurate? Yes? Yes, right, nice, you got it. Look
at that. Look at that.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
The brain is going. How much coffee do you have
this morning?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
I am finishing up my second mug by the way,
By the way, I would you know, I'm just fooling
myself right, like I've i've the coffee cup. If you
remember going to a diner, the coffee cup used to
be just tiny in America, right, like basically a thimbleful.
Now we have these giant mugs with big hands. Like
(14:40):
you used to slip your index finger through a coffee cup, right,
that's it. That's what you could fit through a coffee cup.
It was like a tea cup. Well, now they're massive.
So you know when somebody says, how many cups of
coffee do you have? Well, I have two giant mugs?
Is that can I can I consider that two cups
of coffee in the morning?
Speaker 6 (14:57):
I mean, if we're if we're going off of America
standard value, yes.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, because it's not actually, but if you're yes, if
you're going with the if you're going with the measurement.
Speaker 6 (15:07):
Cup, yeah, we did not go with numerical value, yes
right yeah, or ounces ounces consumed. We're just going with
the physical filling and emptying.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Of said cup.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
Yeah, because I think this is aster. But it's a
thirty two ounce you know, cup I'm drinking out of.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
So I have two cups of water.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I just know that when the coffee the coffee, Uh,
you know, uh kerraf or whatever you call it that
we use mister coffee whatever it is is, uh it
shows up as twelve and I have half of that.
So am I actually having two cups of coffee? Or am
I having six cups of coffee? Well, the same thing
I ideal with. I have thirty two ounce cup here
(15:45):
and I drink two cups of water. That's technically the
American standard of eight glasses, right, But you're not hiding
from that. See that's that's that's a positive good. So
now you want to use the cup measurement system, right
because it because it goes to your favorite.
Speaker 6 (15:59):
But I'm just it's like, but in my head, I'm like, yeah,
how much water you drinking?
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Two cups?
Speaker 4 (16:04):
See, I think you need to convert there.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I think you need to go sixty four ounces because
that sounds impressive and you want to have that one.
Nobody's saying. I don't think there's anybody out there saying
stop drinking water, right, yeah, no, But they're different takes
on the car. Okay, we got to take a break.
We did get some football and then we're gonna get
a lot of football. And I cannot wait for this
match I'm totally fired up about this. Jerry Jula's going
(16:28):
to be joining us next when we continue in the
Locker Room presented by your neighborhood Ford Store in the
Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
And blowing into the locker room on the cool breeze
provided by Belanote. In the strip two dollars and fifty
cent button light sixteen out drafts for all Steelers games.
We thank Bellonote for bringing us Jerry Dulac, who's also
he puts the do like in French, the do because
he has two dia the de. He has two sponsors,
(17:24):
that's how big he is. Brought to you also by
your neighborhood Ford Star. The F one fifties the official
truck of the Pittsburgh Steers. So thanks to Bellinote, thanks
to Ford, and thanks to Jerry Dulac for joining us
in the locker room.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
Do before we move too far ahead.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I wanted to ask you. You know, we're now a
week removed from Thursday night game in Cincinnati. You know
plenty of hand ringing in Pittsburgh, and I think that
you know, fans can can see things any way they
want to see things, The team can see things the
way they want to see things. How do you see
things with the stat of the Steelers particularly, I want both,
(18:04):
but particularly on defense, when the team had looked really
good for three weeks and then really Cincinnati had their
way with them on Thursday night.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
Yeah, Rob, good morning. I would say there were two
aspects of that, and that was one of them. The
way they had been playing against the run the previous
two games against Minnesota and then against Cleveland one hundred
and thirty five yards I think it was. And then
(18:33):
here comes the worst running team in the league, and
they rushed for one hundred and forty two yards, and
more significantly, Chase Brown on each of their two touchdown drives,
started to drive with a twenty five yard run on
the one, and on the first play of the ensuing drive,
broke off a thirty eight yard run and that energized
(18:58):
the Bengals who were trailing tend nothing at the start,
which is testament to the Steelers offense. And the second part,
I think is what is annoying and upsetting to people
is what we saw in the secondary. After all, the
moves that were made in the offseason brought in five
(19:19):
new players, including two cornerbacks who were known for their
man coverage, and Mike Tommin saying during the preseason we
can run and cover with anyone and left unsaid was
in particular the Cincinnati Bengals with two receivers such as
(19:40):
Jamar Chase and t Higgins, and that failed miserably. And
I think the problem with that is that how free
those guys were running for the most part. And the
problem I had with it is they might have been
playing man coverage, but there's a difference between man coverage
(20:03):
and press man coverage. And what I saw and others
saw others who matter saw is that the Steelers played
it appeared as though, and I think they did. They
played scared against the Bengals. They didn't want to get
up on the line of scrimmage. If Joe Flacco was
going to get rid of the ball in two some seconds,
(20:26):
then disrupt his receivers right off the back, hold them up,
disrupt their route, whatever the case may be. And so
don't give them the opportunity to release the ball in
two seconds because his receivers are off their routes. And
that was the problem that I saw, beyond the fact
(20:47):
that those two guys were targeted thirty times and had
twenty three catches for two hundred however many yards and
two big touchdowns.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
Yeah, it was it was very frustrating, Jerry. And you know,
I've kind of made this kind of comment all week
about was this was why you did what you did right,
This was the secondary that was built to.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Combat the Bengals, and the Bengals won round one of this.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
Obviously you'll get another shot at them in a couple
of weeks, but you're absolutely right, like, if you know
this is the.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Game plan, why didn't you do that?
Speaker 6 (21:27):
And you know, funny enough, we were talking to Alvaro
Martin on Tuesday, Jerry, he brought up this. He said,
you know, well you have two twenty five twenty six
year olds and you got guys who are thirty. He's like,
the twenty six year olds are faster and so it
was so it was like and it showed, and I
think that was the other thing is a fear of
(21:49):
getting beat if you do jam at the line.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
So everything was short.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
But Joe Flacco took what they gave us and that
was and there was no adjustment in the second half
to that approach. And then obviously very evident end of
the game situation, you have a go I got to
stop a third down and Jamar Chase gets a sixteen
yard catch right to go along with his fifteen other
catches that he had throughout the game in that moment.
(22:16):
But you know, I asked you this, you know, mood
tenant this week around the locker room as they.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Get ready for Green Bay. I mean, do you feel like.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
They learned anything from that situation, you know, from dealing
with that. Do you think they're going to be, you know,
more prepared moving forward for those type of situations. Now, granted,
obviously you're not going to have that duo to that
degree until you see them again, and you handled the
Addison Jefferson when I felt like, pretty well, just a
(22:47):
couple of weeks prior, do you think there's still some
room for growth or any admission of hey, we played
scared from the players, or for you're gonna obviously talk
to Terrell Austin today and Arthur Smith.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
But do you have a sense of that being around.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
The locker room.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
Well, let me say this, Max, and I agree with
you with the point of what you have against a
couple of young receivers. But if that's the case, then
why did you bring in the guys that you brought
in and believed that they could run and cover with
anyone and then you don't do it? And so, you know,
was that false Bravado, I don't think so. I think
(23:25):
he firmly. You know, it was beyond just saying it
to get to to get his guys to believe it.
You know, we saw Mike Tomley was almost giddy with
the idea of what he would be able to do
with his new cornerbacks, and we haven't seen it now,
you know, to the to the you bring up Justin
(23:46):
Jefferson and Jordan Madison. One of the things that surprised
me then is Justin Jefferson has eight catches at halftime.
What did he have in the game? Eleven one hundred
some yards and they never once put Jalen Ramsey on
him to slow down the one guy who was hurting them. Now,
I'm going to assume that they didn't because Joey Porter
(24:09):
didn't play in that game, and then they didn't want
to then weaken the other side of the field, maybe
because Joey Porter's not playing. So do I believe they
can adjust and fix it.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
I do.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
I don't think there's any question because for the most part,
let's face it, we've seen them be very good through
five games. For the most part, Jalen Ramsey made more
plays than five games, and Mink and Fitzpatrick made all
of last year. And he stood up after that game
and he acknowledged basically what we've been saying. He was
brought in for that reason and he didn't do his job,
(24:46):
and he stood there and said it, and I give
him tons of credit for that. So I think I
think certainly, look, we've seen I don't think. I don't
think the sky has fallen.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Boys.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
There was a big defensive laps against the Bengals, but
guess what, there was a big defensive laps against them
last year too, So this is really nothing new. For
whatever reason, the Bengals match up very well against the
Steelers for the same reason the Steelers offense matches up
very well against the Bengals defense. So you know, will
they bounce back, Yeah, I expect them to. And you know,
(25:25):
it wasn't like they got goals repeatedly by the run.
It was those two runs, and it was the fact
that the Bengals, who have been averaging fifty some yards
doubled that total. I think they doubled it exactly. But
you know, I and one more thing, Max, as you
will though robbed as well. When you're going to play
sub package defense with two don Lyman, teams are going
(25:47):
to come out and try to exploit it by running
the football and forcing you to change. And that's what
happened as well in Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Well and Jerry, there is no question that in my mind,
again we'll see, of course's question because they haven't played
the game yet, but there's no question in my mind
that the Packers, having seen that, will ram Josh Jacobs
at that defense and make the Steelers prove they can
stop them on I believe that's the first thing that
(26:15):
they you know, listen, they may go come out and
play action, but I think that's going to be top
of mind for them. You know, Josh Jacobs isn't having
quite the year he's had for them. He's you know,
he's been to multiple Pro Bowls, but he runs the
ball a lot. They run the ball a lot. They stick.
Teams talk about sticking to the run. Green Bay sticks
to the run, and I think they will try to
(26:36):
hammer the ball at the Steelers.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
I'd be surprised if they don't.
Speaker 5 (26:41):
I would agree with you, Rob, and you know we
you know, we hear Mike Thomas talk all the time
about stopping the run and making a team a one
dimensional but they didn't do that against the Bengals because
they were fearful of those runs that they were busting off,
and so don't want to clean that up. They'll want
to get back to maybe what they were able to
(27:03):
do in the previous two games. But I'm with you,
I would expect the Packers to come out and do that.
And you know darn well though too, they're going to
throw the football because that's what they like to do.
Josh Jacobs is a big time back and that's what
we'll start it. But I wouldn't be surprised if you
(27:24):
see them coming out throwing the ball first and then
loosening up the run lanes. So either way, I'm with you.
I think that's what they'll try to do to exploit them.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Yep.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Well, and I think, you know, because I've already broken
down the Arizona film and you know, I look at
one of the unique challenges it's going to be Michael
Parsons with Sean Gary right on the defensive side of
the ball and stopping their pass rush. I mean, I
think we've done a pretty good job. We've seen escalation
(27:56):
in play, especially Miles Garrett right kind of neutralized him.
But you know, having these two elite guys off the
edge and then their interior.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Guys are pretty good, you know.
Speaker 6 (28:07):
But but Arizona was still able to run the ball
effectively against them. And like you said, you know, this
is a team that's very heavy on Josh Jacobs. But
you know, the one thing we haven't really talked about
is tight ends really taking over games. And I think
this is the one thing where Green Bay it'll be interesting.
Whereas we've had the receivers being the emphasis the last
(28:28):
couple of weeks, and yes, they have some decent receivers, right,
you know, Romeo Dobbs there. You know, Christian Watson not
so much, he's kind of been hampered, but Tucker Craft.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
Has been has been one of those guys I'm looking at.
Speaker 6 (28:40):
And so now the question is if you are going
to get in the heavy stuff and you are going
to try and stop the run and blunt Josh Jacobs,
you know, how are we going to do in coverage
of Tucker Craft. That's gonna be my next kind of
thing I think I look at is how do you
handle a top rated tight end? Because Tucker Craft, you know,
almost single handily in that second half, took out the
(29:01):
Arizona Cardinals. Is the reason why Green Bay was able
to win that game.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
You know our.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
Linebackers, you know, Malik Harrison potentially could be back this week.
I mean you've seen an upside to him being back,
and especially with knowing that we have have more of
a tight end problem to worry about this week.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
Well, Max, I think right now in Green Bay in
they're in the locker room show, they are talking about
stopping the Steeler tight end and what they've been able
to do. And I want to go back to what
you started to say about, you know, the Packers defense,
and that's the problem they're going to have. And let's
(29:40):
focus on the positive here. Look at what this Steeler
offense does. They use their tight ends. Last two games, No,
Calvin Austin nineteen catches two hundred and forty four yards
five touchdowns. That's a heck of a tight end right there.
But they're using four of them to do that, and
so what. And look at the way Jalen Warren is
running the football. And then look at what they did
(30:04):
in Cincinnati. The people forget they got off to a
ten to nothing lead, and when we saw that up
and down the field twice. Now that fourth and one
penalty against Mason McCormick hurt. They had to settle for
a field goal, but up and down the field twice,
and then at the end when they have to up
and down the field twice for touchdowns. This offense is
(30:25):
doing what they need to do. Now they have a
little law everything you know in the middle, every team
has a law. But they are able to utilize the
tight ends. We have seen not so much in Cincinnati,
but we've seen dk Metcalf get loose. And now you're
running the football with Jalen Warren. That offense is pretty
darn good. And so for all these people in a
(30:46):
panic mode about the Steelers at four and two and
the first place in the division by two games, they
are doing a lot of things right. They just for
one game in Cincinnati, did one thing terribly wrong. And
it's the one thing that we didn't expect, which is
to see two receivers gouge them like they always do.
And so I think that's the problem the Green Bay
(31:06):
Packers have, and for that reason, I expect it to
be another entertaining game. Let's face it, that was an
entertaining football game the other day, and when two forty
plus quarterbacks combined for almost six hundred yards and seven touchdowns,
you don't see that too often in an NFL game.
And that's too Joe Flacco's everlasting credit, and of course
(31:27):
Aaron Rodgers. So I think it's going to be a
bit of a shootout. But I think that Packer defense
has to worry about the Steeler offense. And you're seeing
what Arthur Smith is doing every game. When you look
at it, there's no one player. Yeah, they want to
get the ball to dkcaff, but they're running the ball,
they're getting the ball to midcaf Calvin Austin comes back.
It certainly appears to be will and you're using certainly
(31:51):
all three of your tight ends and on occasion your
fourth tight end and getting him involved. So there's a
lot of disparity to that offense, and I think that's
that's something that Green Bay there defensively have to be
concerned with and for the people not to lose focus
and lose sight of what the Steelers are doing very well.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, Jerry, I you have just echoed what I've been saying. Yes,
they're gonna get to ball to Metcalf and people talk
about a second receiver, and it'd be wonderful to have
a second receiver. More to me is insurance in cases
an injury. But with all those elements, the guy at
the controls Aaron Rodgers, I mean, you need I think
a guy okay, he called the plays. You need a
(32:35):
guy get to the line of scrimmage and make sure
the balls going to the right person. I think that
maybe some Steelers doubters around the country, you know, saw
what happened with Aaron Rodgers last year, the Jets saw
the Jets record, maybe didn't look at close take a
close look at what he did in the second half
of the season.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
But I think him at the controls.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
I think if you you know, one takeaway that you're
gonna have as a national guy might be like WHOA,
and Rogers has way more in the tank than I thought.
I don't see how you could come out of that
game if you were a doubter.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
I don't see how you.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Could watch that game and not think, Wow, there's a
lot more to Aaron Rodgers than I thought there was
at forty one years old.
Speaker 5 (33:14):
I agree with Robin. I'll give you a quick answer
before I have to head to the locker room. But
you know, when everybody had played just six games, that
means going into Sunday, Aaron Rodgers was tied for the
league league with fourteen touchdowns. He's thrown five interceptions if
you only thrown two in the last three games, and
one of them really wasn't as fault as we saw
on the sideline on the throat the DK metcalf and
(33:37):
as I mentioned earlier, his ability to start quick and
finish strong. That's the main thing. His ability to finish,
there's no question, and we saw him dancing around in
that pocket and moving around. Part of that too, is
testament to the offensive line the time they are giving him.
And so that's the other aspect. When I talk about
all the things they're doing well the offense, I don't
(33:58):
mean to ignore them. Defensive line has been very good
protecting him and getting the running game going. So there's
a lot of aspects to that. But when he's at
the and you're seeing what he does, he comes to
the line of scrimmage and he's moving players around, and
that's his greatest strength. And we would be remiss if
we didn't talk about that. Hail Mary at age forty
(34:20):
one to throw that ball seventy yards in the air
and he wanted to throw at two yards deep in
the end zone and he did. To me, it's just
amazing what the guy is still able to do. And yes,
does he have a lot left in his tank? I
think he has answered that so far.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
He is brought to you by Bellonote in the strip
two fifty bud light sixteen ounce draft for all Steelers games. Jerry,
thanks very much, man, see you a little bit later
on the south side. Jerry Dulac, you got a boys
freezing into the locker room, presented by your Neighborhood Ford
Store and the Steelers Pro Shop on the Steelers Nation Radio,
a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
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
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dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
And we welcome you back inside the locker room.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
And I do have to say that, uh, Max, I
know that Jerry was a little rush there toward the end,
but I think he made you know, the breeze has
got to blow through, right, He's got to keep he's
got to keep on the move. They called the breeze,
as Jjkal wrote and Leonard Skinner covered and others have covered,
called me the breeze. So I look, I think that
(35:45):
what he's talking about with the offense just in general,
and we're going to get into some specific matchups here
coming up in the next hour. But I really think
that he's right on that. You know, we're we're looking
at this thirty three thirty one loss and thinking, oh
my God, look at the defense and here we go again,
and we've seen this thing before, and what's happening? And
(36:05):
why is Cincinnati doing this again? Do us and all
this other stuff, and you know, then you forget, as
we kind of mentioned in yesterday's show, you forget the
three games before.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
Everyone say look at them.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Hey, they've unleashed the defense and they got the sacks,
and they're getting the turnovers and all this other stuff.
You know, it's quickly forgotten in the performance of one game.
But I think what shouldn't be forgotten is that the
offense put up thirty one points. You know what I mean,
you usually win when that happens. When you score thirty one,
you're not quite guaranteed, but almost guaranteed to win the game.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Well, yeah, we had We had to say almost because
we didn't.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
But right exactly again.
Speaker 6 (36:41):
Normal circumstances, thirty one is good enough to get you
out of the out of the stadium. I mean, you
think about you know, the last couple of games we've
had with them, they've all come down to one possession.
I mean, last ten games, you know, it has been
two thirty seven to two thirty seven, right, you know,
as far as points scored on both sides, so it's
never a blowout. But you know, you were just hoping,
(37:04):
I think, to see that progress show up in the reason.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
Why you got everything done.
Speaker 6 (37:11):
And I think that was where a lot of that
disappointment came from. Was just man, you know, we thought
this this was supposed to be the Cincinnati Killer defense, right,
this was supposed to neutralize those guys, and they just
had a bad outing like they did at the beginning
of the year. So and you know what I talked about,
what we talked about earlier this week, three good hey,
(37:32):
three three great performances and three not so good performances.
You know, you could probably bring them into bad category
when you come to season after six games. And so,
but you're right, not all, not all is lost. This
is not We're not the Ravens right now trying to
figure out how to clar our way back. We're not
Cleveland right now trying to figure out who our guys are.
(37:56):
We know who our guys are. We've identified them. They're
certified dudes, and they've shown us throughout throughout the season
that they're dudes. I mean, you think of Jalen Ramsey
and what Jerry said. I thought was very pointed. He's
done more than five games than Mika did all last
year as far as his impact and performance. So you know,
(38:16):
we and we look at kind of where the situation
where Miami is. You know, where Mika win, it has
it hasn't increased because he because of his presence, So
you know, he's absolutely right. It's like keeping it in
perspective about what to expect in this game coming up
based off of last week's performance, and it's not you know,
(38:36):
and I think we all get critical because you know,
when you lose, man, the microscope gets gets really magnified, right,
you can you can see down to the mitochondria and
nucleic bonds right when somebody loses. But when you win,
oh man, you'll look past all those wards like it's
two thirty am and the lights just came on at
the bar, right, you know what I'm saying, Like you
(38:57):
will just everything is great. You'll every superlative, every positive possible.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I think that.
Speaker 6 (39:03):
And you have to fall somewhere in between both of those, right,
you know, to give that sober and reality and the
other sober reality is you got to be better at
stopping the run.
Speaker 4 (39:11):
That's what it comes down to.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
You've got to stop the run.
Speaker 6 (39:14):
And yes, Jerry said that was two big runs, but
there was still consistency on four five seven yard gains
that don't necessarily get logged in the explosive category, but
keep the pace for the for the opposing offense that
we have to eliminate.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
We have to make these and we tried early blitzing.
Speaker 6 (39:33):
Remember I was talking about it the Shawn Elliott nearly
close on the diagnose and dive and detect category, but
just narrowly missed. Like I mean, you think six inches
left or right, and you're talking about a negative game
versus an eight yard game. And so that's where you
know we're gonna be tough because that's our job. But
(39:56):
at the same time, you can still give grace.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Yes, I agree with all that, and I am I
am bullish on what this offense has done, what it's
capable of doing. I truly believe it is going to
be more you know, and I maybe this maybe you
know coaches would be insulted by my saying more matchup
(40:22):
oriented than it has been in the past. When you
have a quarterback who can come to the line of
scrimmage and exploit. You know, I always thought that one
of the things that the Patriots did really well. And
you could go back and forth on this. You know,
teams talk about wanting to be multiple. Hey we see
a Cover two shell, We're gonna run the football. We
(40:44):
see Cover three, We're gonna throw the football. You know,
eight seven man box versus eight man box. And you know,
teams are but teams are going with spread offenses and
so a lot of those things don't exist anymore. It
just feels to me like going back to and I
hate to pray that the Patriots and the Bill Belichick era,
but the Patriots might come out one game and run
the ball fifteen straight times. They might come out another
(41:07):
time another game and throw the ball seventeen consecutive times
without running it. You know, I think that the Steelers
are and those are extremes I'm talking about, but I
think they are more equipped with the diversity of talent
and Arthur Smith's scheme and Aaron Rodgers at the control.
(41:28):
You can put those in any order you want, but
they are more capable of truly lining up and saying, Okay,
you want to do a We're gonna do b than
this Steers have been in a long time.
Speaker 6 (41:44):
And I completely agree with you. I think this team
is so varied and the talent that they have, and
a lot of that lies within that tight end room.
And it's versatility that gives you that comfort and that
flexibility along with Aaron's football IQ right, it allows you
to be smarter.
Speaker 3 (42:05):
And like I said, outside of really.
Speaker 6 (42:08):
Uh three plays in that Cincinnati game, I think that
holds true, right, you know, but I think the communication
on the box flee flicker.
Speaker 3 (42:22):
Was the first.
Speaker 6 (42:23):
Aaron trying to throw that ball into bad coverage and
that interception was on him was a second, and then
the third is unfortunate, you know, type of situation where
the bounce of the football was really the difference in
the DJ Turner touchdown right or DJ Turner interception on
(42:44):
DK metcalf. Like the ball was placed perfectly, DK did
not secure it and as he's going down loses that
control and DJ Turner gets a knee down in bounds
for the interception to count. So you take away those
three plays in the game, and this offense dictated whatever
it wanted to. I mean, hello, Pat Fryarmouth, right, he'd
(43:06):
had depressed numbers all throughout the beginning of the season
and then boom, you know, Week seven, Game six, he
comes alive and has a fantastic, you know game in
that process.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
So you know, if we look.
Speaker 6 (43:25):
At it, and you know, we're always going to go
through it with a fine tooth comb, right, our job
is to figure out what went right, what went wrong,
and obviously talk about what the result and what it means.
But you know, to come back and have a shot
still at the end, it's pretty impressive. You're never really
(43:46):
out of it. I mean the only game they've been
out of it was a Seahawks game and that was
just a hole wacky that was lack of a doodle
type type of game as well, and that was another
multiple interception game for Aaron, Right, So we've come to
prove that, hey, when you don't throw touchdowns, everybody's on
(44:07):
is on target. You get the fourteen touchdowns and less
of the five interceptions, right, you know, that's kind of
how we have to look at it.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
And it's league tying.
Speaker 6 (44:18):
It was league leading, league tying for where he's at
at the age he's at, I mean, he's the oldest
quarterback out there playing and he looked. He looks like
he fits right in with everybody else of the group
and sometimes outpacing some of the younger guys.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly, and I do think that there
are some really really intriguing offensive stats for the Steelers
that I think will open people's eyes. I would just
say as quickly, you know, you lost the turnover battle
in Cincinnati. It was even against Seattle, but keep in
mind that the kickoff that the Steelers didn't cover in
(44:54):
the end zone that gifted Seattle seven points is not
considered a turnover and was clear you know, you're still like, okay,
let's get it, let's march down the field. The offense
is doing well. That clearly was you know, the turning
point of the game. Uh that you know, if you're
looking at you know, you can look at the pass
from from uh in that game, from Darnold to Jackson
(45:15):
Smith and jig but beautifully executed play. You know, I
think you could look at the the flat go pass,
the yoshavash down the middle, another beautifully excavated executed play.
A lot of games come down to two or three plays,
and sometimes those two or three plays are are turnovers,
which is why this. Yearers constantly preached that and not
only preach at max, but are always uh, certainly the
(45:39):
last couple of years and again this season, always seemed
to be at the top of the league in plus
minus turnover differential in the in the in the positive light,
in the positive way.
Speaker 3 (45:51):
Yeah, no, I completely agree.
Speaker 6 (45:53):
I think you know, the Steelers have a knack and
a skill set for being able to turn the ball
over and force teams into bad situations, bad looks, and
take advantage of that. And that's something I think I
really love about this team, is that tenacity and that
(46:14):
willingness to go out there, battle, duel, and and usually
come out on on on the right side of it.
It's it's those moments, you know, when that when they
are so dependent on it that you start to worry,
right because at the end of the day, at some
point you're going to have to play this guy in man.
(46:35):
At some point you're going to have to, you know,
do what you need to do that's necessary to win.
But at the same time, you know something is going
to give, something is going to go awry, and how
how do you handle that? That's that's the one thing
that we look at, right now we say, Okay, this
team has got to get X out of the way,
(46:59):
they've got to figure route you know Z in the process.
But we forget that this team also has that skill
where if they turn it on, really, who's going to
stop them? Who's gonna who's gonna stop the squad when
they get to full strength and they just start dictating
the terms to the opposing team. And hopefully, you know,
(47:20):
like I said, we get back to that, Hopefully we
don't lose sight of that, and that we understand how
important it is for this team to be consistent across
the board with each other, to be constantly fighting to
be the best, and that there is no lost looks,
there is no complacency, There is no you know, resting
(47:46):
on laurels so to speak with them, because we still
got a lot of football left and and this team
is highly skilled and it has the ability to do that.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
So much to talk about in this game. We're going
to really dive into some of the key matchups, some
of which Max is alluded to, but we will get
that to you when we continue. You are, of course
listening in the locker room presented by your neighborhood Forward
Store and Before we get to the break, we wanted
to remind you that one of our other sponsors is
this Steer's Pro Shopping. Gear up at the latest game
(48:16):
day necessities at the Official Steelers Pro Shops. Get the
latest sideline apparel, jerseys, terrible tows, authentic memorabilia and custom
exclusives you can only find directly from the team. Visit
one of the Official Steelers Pro Shops located at Akrocher Stadium,
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online at shop dot Steelers dot com. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at Shop
(48:38):
dot steelers dot com. Back with more in the Locker
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Pro Shop on Studars Nation Radio apart of the Steeers
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