September 15, 2025 • 47 mins
Max and Rob discuss and share their takeaways from the Steelers' loss to the Seahawks 31-17.
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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
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dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hello, what a happy Monday to you all.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
The Steelers thirty one seventeen losers to Seattle and the
home opener yesterday alongside Max Starks.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I'm Rob King.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Max.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I was hoping we're gonna have lots of pleasant stuff
to talk about. And there was times throughout the course
of that game where I thought the Steelers were gonna
pull out a win and it didn't happen.
Speaker 5 (00:48):
No, it did not, And there was a lot of
a lot of things that you could point to that
would have caused that to not be true.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
And you know, this is kind of one of those days.
Speaker 5 (01:04):
It's the good, the bad, the ugly right of a
football and of our post game kind of analysis of
what went down yesterday. And you know, I know that
normally there's a victory donut Monday, and when there isn't,
you know, we we seek some sort of comfort.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
But you know in these moments.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
I mean, this is this is the good, the bad,
the ugly, and you have to kind of take a
sober approach to realize it.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
You know that sky's not falling, but this is.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
Not it's not it's not sunshine, rainbows and unicorns, you
know as well, So you kind of get a more
sobering type of analysis and look at you know, kind
of where you're at. You take stock of where you're
at and where you can be still as a team.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Well, let's continue with the big picture, Max. Where are
these dealers right now? You know, I was surprised that
they gave up. And look, I think, let me take
a step back and say this. I think when we
see a team make significant offseason moves, I know you
have camp, I know you have preseason, but it usually
doesn't click right away. Usually takes some time. And so
(02:18):
I think probably I'm guilty of thinking I'm going to
see you know, week fifteen, Week sixteen, Week seventeen Steelers,
and I'm just seeing.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Week two Steelers. So that han't been said.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I did not expect the Steelers run game to be
run on like they were in Week one or even
yesterday for that matter, I did not expect them to
not get more pressure on Sam Darnold. There's some things
that happened in that game that surprised me. But as
you look at the step back overall big picture of
the Steelers, what are you seeing through week two on
(02:50):
this one to one team?
Speaker 5 (02:53):
I mean, I'm just seeing a team that is still
figuring things out as as a team, Like they still
have to figure out how to work together, and the
communication and the chemistry that's needed still isn't there.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Even though.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
They've done a lot of the things at training camp
and being around each other and getting to know each other,
the professional skills set in game live action still needs work.
And that's where I kind of look at it. Where
(03:32):
this team is, is you see a team that's still
figuring out. There's like little things that you think that
you should use that the other person should know, but
they don't, and so you see that kind of lapse
in communication which then leads to a play or leads
to a big play. And it's frustrating at times to
(03:56):
watch because like, I know what they're supposed to be doing,
I know where they're supposed to be at times, and
when things go wrong. I can point to it, but
once again, players play, coaches coach, and broadcasters talk.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
So there's that aspect of it where.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
I'm trying to, you know, it's like you struggle with
some of the things and how you explain it to
the public as far as how I see it without
it being too over the heads, too sophisticated, because there's
just some basic concepts that I saw, and obviously I
(04:41):
know it's way more sophisticated than I'll ever make it sound,
but just the simple thing of when you're in a
zone and there's a two man route, passing off that
route to one another and not chasing because you're live endgame,
there's a certain level of pre snap communication that you
have to do. And granted, when I'm thinking about that,
(05:04):
it's like guys that, like you said, when you have injuries,
you have key players missing, you have key communicators missing.
That is what puts the strain on it. And then
guys get injured in game, and now it becomes do
my job self preservation communicate, But you know, you're still
(05:25):
thinking about yourself. This is the humanistic side of this sport.
Is I'm going to think about myself a runner that
runs a marathon and sprains their ankle or tweaks their
ankle is going to still finish the marathon, but they're
gonna be thinking about their ankle the entire time, right, Rob.
I mean, that's that's the human nature side of this.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
And so.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Where you get too critical versus they toughed it out
and other guys getting up to speed and guys who
don't play as much playing a lot more in this game,
it's you know, it's a lot So I mean, so
it's not just easy just to go bury someone, right
and just go take them, take them straight to the woodshed.
(06:08):
That's that's not the purpose of this, right because what
we saw last week, what we saw this week, what
we'll see in five weeks from now, what we'll see
in ten weeks from now, what we will see at
the end of the season are all going to be different.
This is a journey and teams, teams mature, develop and
evolve throughout that season. So let's let's I'm not going
(06:31):
to sit here and have this overreaction and the sky
is falling, life is ended, and everything is just bleak. No,
the positive in this moment is it happened this early.
You still have plenty of time to correctly believe Matt Williamson.
Matt put out put out a stat last night, and
(06:53):
he said that the differential I believe in Steelers explosive
plays versus the opponent for two weeks is negative twelve,
and the Steelers sack differential for the first two weeks
versus the two opponent is minus four.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Two stats.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
I never thought i'd see from that respective be so
stark difference. And so I was like, I saw that
while I was sitting on the plane, and I just
simply I was like, you know what, I'm going to
reply to this, and I hit the quote tweet button
just to make sure everybody saw what I was tweeting
about in reference to it, so it wasn't like some cryptic,
(07:30):
vague statement. And I said, Bill Cower said this best.
He would always tell us this. He's like, you're never
as good as you think you are, but you're never
as bad as they say. He's like, that's what you
got to remember throughout this whole process. And you still
have plenty of time left to right your story. I mean,
(07:51):
we still have fifteen more opportunities to change this narrative.
The one good thing is we're one in one and historically,
teams that go one and one have a better you know,
have at least a fifty plus percent chance of making
the playoffs. Teams that go oh and two, it's tough.
There's only like five to seven teams that have done it.
(08:13):
So you know which road would you rather be? I mean,
look at us versus where the Kansas City's right now.
Kansas City is sitting at oh and two right now,
we do have the one up on that. And when
you think about those statistics and analysis, you know we
are we're still on par like like our path still
has has a very very direct route. It's not some
(08:36):
roundabout route. And I've been in that situation where you're
sitting there at the end of the season the should.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
Have, could have would us.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
You're you're waiting to see if you make the playoffs
because you need three or four different teams to lose
or tie, and you're praying for the scenario. You're sitting
in the locker room and you have that kind of
excitement slash disappointment of of whether you get in or
whether you don't. So you control your own destiny still
(09:07):
to this point and that's the most important thing in
these moments. You control your own destiny. And it's just
one game. And let me remind everybody, it is a
non conference, non common opponent game.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
So when it comes on the list falls very far
down on the on the tie breaking category.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
That's essentially that comes down to just wins lost record
when it comes to that. So that's where you also
take the silver light. But you know what, but you're right,
it's still not fun Stealer Nation.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Listen.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
We're going to have it out throughout the course of
the show, but it is something that you don't you
never want to drop one at home, and especially the
season opener, and especially when it's a team that you
did business with in the off season to acquire one
of the players from that team.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
There's a lot of.
Speaker 5 (10:01):
And a lot you know, and it's a gut punch
when you don't take care of that business. And you know,
it's it's a tough one, but we know we're gonna
take it under the chin. But you know we're gonna
learn our lesson, you know, wash the front kick, and
and that's what we're and that's what we're gonna do
over through the course of the show. We're not gonna
make it feel better about it. We're just gonna put
(10:22):
things in a reality check with a good, the bad,
and the ugly Monday.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Okay, So as always, uh, there are there's a lot
to unpacked. And one of the things I wanted to
ask you about was the Seattle running game and whether
the Steelers should be encouraged by the fact that Zach
Charbonay fifteen carries ten yards.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Fifteen carries ten yards.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Walker had thirteen for one oh five, but he had
let's say, thirty nine forty nine fifty nine sixty seven
of his one hundred and five yards came on four runs,
by the way, and you talk about the explosives seventeen
to five as far as ten plus more plays, so
you know, there's obviously different definitions of explosives. Some use
(11:11):
you know, ten or more in the running game, twenty
more in the passing game, but plays of ten or
more yards. Pittsburgh had five Seattle at seventeen. So I
would like to think that those long runs are either
communication or something happening that you really kind of stuffed
(11:35):
them for most of the day except for those four runs. Now,
there's always the you know other than that, how was
the play missus Lincoln?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Right?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
I mean those things still count, yes, but can you
take any solace from that that, you know, maybe those
things were just simply you know, and listen Kenneth Walker.
You know, maybe he's gonna have one or two, but
I don't feel like he should have four. I mean
the one that, the one that I just was mystified
by was, you know, when they decided to settle for
field goal, pitched it to Walker and he just ran
(12:04):
nineteen yards. I think he was untouched in for a touchdown. Yeah,
but can you take any solace in thinking, okay, because
that's a play design to get four or five yards.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
And kick a field goal, right, and you get nineteen?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Can you think to yourself, Okay, well, all we have
to do is tighten up a couple of things and
those long runs don't happen. And now Seattle's running the
ball instead of running the ball, you know, twenty nine
times for one seventeen. Maybe they're running the ball twenty
nine times for eighty four.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
No, they're absolutely fish Yeah, yeah, no is different.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
And you know that we're getting down to the fish
cheeks at this point, and like you said, because beautiful
job and a lot of the stretch outside zone stuff, right,
I mean Pat Queen, Peyton Wilson flying to the football
on the edges and really, like you said, Jack Charbonnay
(12:59):
was actually the main that was wearing those like Kenneth
Walker was there for more off tackle counter scheme, you know,
split flow type of belly stuff between the tackles. And
Zach Charbonay was was your speedster.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Yeah, that's on the outside the Clint Kubiak, you know
zone stretch play that he's known for. Yeah, yeah, and
you know we saw I don't know if you would
call it consider that walker nineteen yard touchdown run that way,
but that was one thing that did you know, and
again you know, maybe Max, it's the it's the offense
(13:32):
not giving the defensive break, but just the you know,
that last touchdown drive, I think it was the last
touchdown driver Seattle, they're moving left to right. They just
they just marched the ball and handed it to Walker
straight up the middle of the field, which can be
emasculating for defense. You don't want to see that happen.
But let me let me get back to the the
initial question about what do you feel like those are
(13:53):
those are communication issues and things that can be cleaned
up as far as allowing Walker to have you know,
sixty eight of his yards on four carries.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
Yeah, I think that's it. And that play actually wasn't
a kubiek. That was a toss crack. That was a
toss crack with a lead block with two leads on
the outside, So it was it was a different structure
because the traditional outside zone stretches a handoff versus a
toss right, and that was what got guys out of
leverage in that moment, and they didn't see the crack
(14:24):
guy coming down front because of the three x one
set to the left and it was going to the
closed into the end zone. I guess the opposite champions
club side on that play. And yeah, it was one
where it was just it was just like bad eye discipline,
so to speak. You know, and you know you're kind
of zeroed in on the person with the ball and
(14:45):
you're not looking at the support guys. You know, you're
supposed to take a snapshot of the entire picture. Who
could hurt me in this play as I'm running towards
that direction, and so you know, there was there was
some eye disciplined things. There was some communication things a
guy's getting not getting off the block, things like double
teams that were getting way too much penetration up the middle.
(15:06):
And when you talk about you know, and I talked
about this throughout the badcast about what we needed to
do on the offensive side was tenderize you with the
run game, and the damn will crack in the second half.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
You know, the dam will crack and.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
You will see you will see this team start to
will well, that's that.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
That was a game player.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
Apparently Seattle heard our broadcast, and that's what they were
deciding to do, was to do that. And because you
had those four explosives, right, guess what your eyes are
gonna be bad. Your eyes are because you're so worried
about the next gashing run that if you freeze for
a second at the second or third level, that guy's
(15:50):
back past you and makes a play in the zone.
And I think that's that's where the frustration or lack
of communication or lack of exp playing with each other
to get a feel for how you're going to play.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
And that's the tough part.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
They literally out geometreat us, you know, for lack of
better words, rob They out geometry us, meaning they took
better angles. They knew how to cut us off to
get from point A to point B and just enough
and Sam Darnold was good enough to hit those guys
on the quick strikes.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
They weren't worried about the big play.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
They were just concerned with making the play on a
play by play basis. And you know when you're in
a position and you know, let's face it, anytime you
get a free touchdown in this league, you celebrate it.
They got a big one at a critical juncture in
this game and put a lot of stress on the
(16:49):
office from a special teams perspective that was already kind
of on edge. And this just sets the nurses. It's
like where you go you say, you know, you go camping,
and you're like in your head before you get to
the camps, like, man, you know, it's nature's gonna be
a lost sounds. And you know, if I hear, if
I hear broken twigs, you know, you start to get
(17:11):
on alert that that was like a broken twig right
outside of your right outside of your tent, and you
heard a little bit of a growl.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
You know what I'm saying. Like, that's that's that's how
on edge you.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
Can get when you go down another play and you
haven't even touched the field. That's why we talk about
the double score opportunities being so like big and critical
and swinging a game that was a double score opportunity.
They had just scored and on the very next play
they score again and the offense hasn't even been on
(17:44):
the field to kind of defend the honor of the
previous touchdown.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Right.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
So that's why when we talk about end of half
mechanics and getting a score at the end of the
half and then you get the ball coming out of half,
that's that type of well they got to manufacture that
without it being a switch to the half. There was
no Gatoray break involved. It literally happened on the very
next play, and so that that that's a that's a backbreaker,
and that, like I said, that's that's a stress.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Not a lot of teams come.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
Back from those double scores, and the Steelers proved, hey, yeah,
we did not make it back from that from that opportunity,
So yeah, it's tough.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Yeah, a couple of things here. I don't want to
lose sight of the fact as we go along here
that much like our buddy Craig Wolfley, you have invented
a new word. I can just see the kids now
in fifth grade pens and papers out, you know, working
on the verb out geometry. I out geometry, You out geometry.
(18:45):
He she it out geometry. I think you should be
proud of yourself.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
You know what.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
I was reading the new book that will be out
very soon. If these walls could talk stories for the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Yeah, I did too. I'm already through the first four chapters.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
It is absolutely a joy to read, and it is,
you know, it's a little emotional, rights as one would
expect because.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
It sounds like Craig.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
It sounds exactly like you can hear his voice reading
it to you.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
Yes, you could hear his voice reading like in my heart.
If they would have ever gotten this a little bit
earlier and he could have done the audiobook version of this,
Oh my god, yeah, talking about tears. Tears would have
been flowing at all times. But yeah, yeah, but yeah,
so yeah, so no, I'm proud of that. So out
geometry will now be standard issue verbiage in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
All kids need to be able to conjugate that verb.
So one other thing on this topic of the big plays.
And there are reasons, and there are excuses, and I
don't want to make excuses, but I do want to
ask you, the former player, when you have shifting personnel
(20:03):
in there, three starters out and then Alex Highsmith gets hurt.
Now it's four starters out, and then for a while
there you're without Patrick Queen and they're trying to get
the green dot to Peyton Wilson. And are any of
those explosives in the passing game and the running game
a result of just having a lot of different personnel.
(20:26):
So not only have you not played together, but maybe
that grouping hasn't spent a whole lot of time playing
together either.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Yeah, yeah, I would say absolutely absolutely. It's when when
you're playing with a new guy and listen, I know
we're all professionals, you know, you're all professionals on that field,
but there is a chemistry, you know, cohesia that has
to take and kind of getting it on the fly
(20:54):
and trying to make up for it when you didn't
spend hours and practices together as a unit.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
It's an adjustment. It's a big adjustment. Throughout this process
and we're seeing them still work it out, you know,
because in practice, practice is practice. One thing.
Speaker 5 (21:12):
You know your personnel, you know the guy you're going against,
you know the scheme, you're calling it out before it happens,
and you could tend to be a little lazy with practice,
but that laziness will carry over into a game and
it will be an issue if.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
You deem it. So, and what I think is it's
it's a lack of communication, a lack of playing time together.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
You know, Chuck Clark got here as a Steeler a
little late, and now you have him starting and playing
a big amount of time together.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
When that was normally de Shaun Elliott.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
And so there's going to be some glitch in the
matrix at some point in the game. And we saw
some of those, or we saw, you know, where a
guy has to be vocal that's not used to being vocal,
has to pass some information, and you know, the trust
and faith in guys passing that information even after they've
(22:19):
passed it, still worrying about it after they've passed the information,
like did they really get this?
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Do they understand what I'm telling them?
Speaker 5 (22:26):
And all it takes is like I said, bad eye
discipline is I have to look there a second too long.
And even though I communicated it, I'm supposed to be
in a different area, You're still like covering yourself, like
did he okay? He got oh, oh crap, I'm not
in my place. Like that was the kind of game
of catchup that was going on throughout the game. And
(22:50):
you know, and this is me, of course, being able
to watch this on the tape afterwards and kind of
look at it because obviously, you know, it's like, well,
you greate a test after you have the answer key,
It's like, oh that makes perfect sense.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Dang it, why did I put that right?
Speaker 5 (23:07):
You know, or it's an open you know, it's an
open book test at that point, and I can actually
go to the specific passage that they're referencing and I
can see what it is.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Uh so that that's kind of what it was.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
So when I looked at it, it was just like, oh, man,
dang it, like I see exactly what it is as
soon as it starts, you know, in a game, when
we're going through this, you know, I didn't necessarily have
access to replay like i'd like.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
In fact, our TV coverage.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
You know, in the booth was a full minute behind,
it was full fifty seconds behind the actual gameplay action.
So being able to give a detailed judgment or a
detailed analysis afterwards, you know, it was kind of hindered
in that moment. So catching it live and trying to
look at twenty two different people at one time and
trying to figure out where the one flaw was, because,
(23:56):
like you said, if you're looking at a game, you're
watching it, you see ten guys doing it right, and
then the one guy doing it wrong was not in
the area that you had your attention on for that.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Give and play.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
You know you're going to miss that type of stuff
and you're not gonna be able to see it to
be able to understand it in real time what just
went on before the next play happened. And so this
was my opportunity. I literally got to look at the
same play three different times from three different angles, and
so I could be a little bit more in tuned
(24:31):
with how I look at it because I've now seen
it from those multiple angles, which you don't get that
in a live game, and you could just simply, you know,
make a broad generality based on where the ball where
the ball went or did not go based on where
you saw the hole versus where the whole ended up
being the block that was supposed to be made or
(24:53):
the tackle that was supposed to be shed. And it's
one of those frustrating things to watch it because now
I'm watching it go wrong three times in a row
versus seeing it just one time like you do in
a live game situation.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
And so I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
I was a little frustrated last night as I was
on my flight, like I'm sure you know, there was
a couple of Steeler fans on my first leg of
the flight and they just gave me by distance because
they saw by physical expression as I had my head set.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
On and I'm I'm and I'm watching and I'm watching
the film.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
And you know, they were kind of like very hesitant
after we got out the flight and by layover in
Dallas and just hey, it was strutched, so you're busy,
but you just want to say you're good fan, obviously
at the outcome we want, but you know, just want
to say hello, and you know, and I get that.
I mean, you know, I tend to go in a
silo and I still am working on rob how I
(25:49):
handled disappointment, let down and losses because even though I'm
sitting in the booth, even though I'm in a a sideline,
non combatant type of roles, as Craig Wolfy would say,
it's still it still stings, still stings. I mean, I
care about this game, I care about this organization. I
(26:09):
care about its success. I care about how it looks.
You know, I care about the legacy effect of all
these things because you know it just it means that much.
And and so I emote a little bit differently than
Craig does. You know, Craig is Craig is the eternal optimist,
and he he can always glean and find the silver
(26:32):
lining even in the worst of situations, right, And that's
something that I can see it and I can understand it.
But there's another thing about reconciling it. And so I'm good,
you know, especially twenty four hours later. I'm I'm good
with a lot of things. But in the moment, I mean,
(26:52):
you know, anybody can ask. I mean, if you if
you've ever been a teammate of mine, you understand how
I take these things.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
And you know, my wife understands all too well.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
You know, when I was a player, how I looked
at it, how I cared, and you know, it was
one of those things where back in the day, I'll
just give you a.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
Quick glimpse of insight into who Max Starks is and
how I work.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
In college, if we lost the game in college, if
it was a home game, we had we had an
elevator in the stadium from our locker room that would
go up to the main level, you know the stadium,
because it was right there, and the family would be
outside on the lower level outside of our locker room
in this parking lot area under the stadium if anybody knows,
(27:38):
you know the Gators Stadium, you know, you get out
of the south end zone and that's there's a parking
lot below.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
We parked all our scooters there. That's where the family met.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
After the game, I would take the elevator up to
the main concourse with the fans, and I would walk
out of the stadium with the fans and walk back
to my dorm room and turn my lights off and
unplug my phone. Like That's that's how I operated after
after a loss. And then when I got to the league,
obviously there was no elevator leave. You know, your family's there,
(28:08):
you got to kind of they rode there with you
more often than not, so you have to take that
walk and family rides in the car with you back
to the house.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
My wife, after we got.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Married, Tiffany just knew she would actually walk home because
we lived downtown. Tiffany would walk home after the game, back.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
To the house.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
She wouldn't even get in the car with me because
she knew, and she would usually get there before I would,
and she would just sit a cup, you know, on
the counter, and she would she would head to bed
and get ready for work the next day. She was
that gonna stay up because you know, I didn't want
to talk about it. I needed twenty four hours to
reconcile it. I would sit there and replay the game
(28:49):
in my head and go through everything that, you know,
kind of what we do here, the good, the bad,
the ugly. I would replay all of those plays in
my head and just go through what I need to
do and get my notebook out and then I would
just I would start jotting my own and grading myself
after the game off of memory. And so that's when
(29:13):
I kind of look at this like, obviously now I'm
a lot older.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
You think I'm more mature. I'm not.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
Surprise, surprise headline and a lot of those respects. But
you know, I still need time to reconcize, especially after
a game, especially the emotional involvement that's involved with it
a lot like our fans, right, I mean our fans.
There's an emotional attachment, there's emotional involvement. There's a vested
interest in the success and shortcomings of a team. You know,
(29:41):
and just know that players do the same thing. Players
feel the same way. So when a fan the ah man,
he's a bum. I can't stand that guy. You take
to social media and and your and and and your
and your thumb muscles get really strong in those moments.
Just realize there's nothing that you could say that I
(30:01):
haven't already said to myself. And I'm twenty times harder
than what you could ever possibly put out there in public,
because you know, if people check your social media, you
might not have a job. So trust me, players know this,
Players understand this, Players feel this. And just because it
might not outwardly emote and everything, yeah, there's a sense
(30:23):
of pride in what you do. You know, I mean,
nobody ever wants to go out in public and get
publicly humiliated, right, Nobody ever wants to come out of
the bathroom and have the toilet tissue on the back
of their shoe on purpose.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
You know that. Like, let's just so, let's just keep
that in mind as we go through this.
Speaker 5 (30:40):
I am keenly aware of that fact. But also I
know that critiques, criticism constructive in nature, still has a
place and can still be adhered to. So there's nothing
that you know, I would say that I wouldn't walk
up to each individual player and say it to their face. Ye,
So you know I operate in that type of moticum,
(31:03):
and we could definitely be constructive in these critiques. We're
not going to be destructive. That's the one thing we
will not be. Yeah, I know it won't be as happy,
it won't be as happy. I know, I'm still on
my sofax happy.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
No no, no, no, no, it won't be as happy, but it is.
Speaker 5 (31:18):
But it is going to be sobering. But it comes
from a very realistic point of view and an informed
position that that I present these things, and that we
present these things on this show.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Lots and lots to get too still. That is Max Starks.
I'm Rob King. You're inside the locker room with King
and Stark's presented by our neighborhood Ford Store. Here on
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
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 6 (31:59):
Get to snap back the pass looking at a loft
to the right up jump off brought in by DJ Metcalf.
Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers and touchdown pass number five hundred and
eight for Aaron Rodgers, tying him for fourth all.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
Time with Brett Farr.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Yeah, crowd was into it, man, it felt like it
was going on there.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Max.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
That is our Steelers drive of the game, presented by
our neighborhood Ford Stort. The F one fifty is the
official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That may have been
the high water mark of the game. It just felt
like at that point, Okay, they're on track, they're defending better.
Here we go and they just couldn't you know, they
(32:44):
couldn't add to that.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
And I'll give you my take on that.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Too, but that it was great to see history there
with Aaron Rodgers and fun to see it go to
DK Metcalf against his former team.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
And no, it absolutely was.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
I mean, like you said, the highlights, you know, we
don't have as many throughout this game, but that was
absolute great moment that we got to announce and thinking
about you know, when you move.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
Into that list and.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
And the guys that are on that list and we
get to see one of those guys live and in
person on our team, it's a pretty special moment. And
of course it kind of gets overshadowed by the overall
production of this game, but you know, that was one
of the moments that look at you're like, Okay, you know,
(33:34):
this is a justification for why you bring in a
Dk Metcalf, because those fifty to fifty balls suddenly become
eighty twenty balls or ninety ten balls when you have
a guy of that skill set, so you could be
a little bit more risk risk taking in your endeavors
on the field, you know. But you know, for Dk,
(33:56):
I mean, it was still it was still a tough day.
You know, you think about you know, will had him
with Shad Murray was also on him, and you know
they were down secondary members, so you thought that was
the place to go attack this this defense. But the
strength of the teeth of this defense was that front seven,
(34:18):
and that front seven, you know, did a lot of
did a lot of damage, especially in the interior side
of things. Jared Reid Byron Murphy, your main sack assailants,
so to speak, were the where those premo guys of course,
Leonard Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence off the edge. Derek Hall,
(34:41):
high round draft pick of a couple of years ago,
had a motor Tyrese Knight was really an Ernest Jones.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
You know, we kind of talked about it with Paul Moyer,
and Paul.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Moyer called him he is a hunter of tackles, not
a gatherer of tackles. As he made the analogy and
that was on display. He was he was hunting a
lot out there, so you know, kind of looking at that,
kind of knowing what their gameplay was and then being
then then being able to execute that game plan was
just very frustrating.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
You know, I as I was watching the game unfold,
and you know, Missy was giving us the reports on
the sideline.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
It was hot.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
You know, players are throwing up, you know, it was
it was just, you know, it was hotter than it
looked out there, right.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
It was the hot day he'd been playing football.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
And I really felt like, you know, once you got
that lead, and at various other points of the game,
there was a time when you needed a long drive,
even if it just resulted in a field goal, get
your defense off the field. You know, I think a
lot of people are going to look at the defense
and see the thirty one points surrendered if you didn't
(35:48):
watch the game, of course seven and that was on
special teams, that the Caleb Johnson gaff where you didn't
recover them all on the fumble, didn't recover themll on
the end own bag your pardon. You know, I think
that for me, there were times where the offense just
needed to help the defense just needed to go on
a long drive. And it wasn't like Seattle overwhelmingly won
(36:12):
the time of possession battle they want it by a
couple of minutes, but still it just felt like that
was one of those games where I felt like the
offense needed to do something to help the defense. They
needed to go on a long drive, and they just
really never could quite do it.
Speaker 5 (36:28):
Yeah, it was it was essentially two steps forward, two
steps back, right, And that was what kind of the
frustration was because you would see these great individual plays
that said, okay, all right, you know, pressure is about
to be applied. We're about to get into a groove here.
We figured it out. We figured out the Rubik's cube.
(36:48):
And then you realize, I only figure out what side
of the Rubik's cube, and it's like the other side
looks still very mosaic, a lot of colors all over
the place, and they're dotting all over.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
So how do I get this?
Speaker 5 (37:01):
I know, I focused on one side the entire time,
or one area, but there's a lot of areas in
the course of a game.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
And for the Steelers, you.
Speaker 5 (37:11):
Would see a big play, think about the Jalen Warren
sixty five yarder, right, and then you come away with
an interception in the red zone and I'm not even
gonna put redzon.
Speaker 4 (37:21):
I'm gonna call that Dardnair goal line situation.
Speaker 5 (37:25):
Stop opportunity there, and you know, and simple miscommunication. Calvin
Oss is coming on an in cut and Pat Friarman's
is running a corner route and the ball looked like
it was a post. He was trying to fit it
in there for Pat. As Pat's going to the ground
kind of to secure this ball in the back corner
of the end zone. Calvin's coming in, hits off his
(37:48):
left hand at ricochet's into Darien Kendrick, and Kendrick secures
the football as he goes to the down interception touchback
ball out to the twenty, you know, and it's like
those little ones like ah, you know, it's like, man,
you know what happened there?
Speaker 4 (38:04):
Where was that miscommunication?
Speaker 5 (38:06):
Was Cow I'm supposed to cut it off shorter and
be in there sooner so that it cleared so that
he could fit that ball into Pat? Or did Pat
run the angle too deep and maybe he was supposed
to be in front of Calvin when that ball was
like those are the little things that you know that
just absolutely just tailspin.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
Right.
Speaker 5 (38:28):
And then we talk about playing complimentary football, Well, when
you don't possess the ball along drives consistently, you don't
give your defensive break. You put them out there, Like
you said, it's a hot day. The little sunscreen protector
things and ball boys were out there, and you're trying
to cover guys up, trying to not expose them to
(38:48):
as much of that heat that was out there, but
it was doing, you know, favors in that process. And
so now you put an additional stress on the defense
that was already tie, that already had to deal with
their lengthy drives, and a team that, you know, when
you're talking about winning football as a unit, one of
(39:09):
those marks that you always strive for is time of possession.
Time of possession is a key factory in one of
these type of This is an attrition style game where
both teams are physical, both teams are wearing down, and
if I hold the ball longer.
Speaker 4 (39:27):
I win the game of attrition.
Speaker 5 (39:29):
And so that attrition unfortunately fell not in the Steelers' favor.
It was in the Seahawks favor of that game because
I think before they even touched the ball, before that
last drive of theirs, they had already won.
Speaker 4 (39:42):
The time was in.
Speaker 5 (39:43):
They were already like thirty fifty seven or something like that.
So you were already in a behind position on the
side of the ball that had taken a lot of
losses right going into this game, he had two guys
already out JPJ Derek Harmon. That's what we knew, and
then oh, I'm sorry three and Deshaun Elliott. We knew
(40:04):
that was it at the beginning of the game. We're
without all three of those guys. Then is the game unfolds,
you lose an Alice higher Well, you lose Isaiah Laudermilk first,
so that's now a second defensive lineman out of your eight.
So there's only six guys now for the rotation. You
didn lose your your starting outside backer and Alice high
(40:25):
Smith next, well, you just lost some Malie Harrison, who's
kind of that hybrid guy that was filling in you
know it could do inside and outside duty.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
Already lost him as well, and.
Speaker 5 (40:37):
So now you lose Alex high Smith, but you get
a Nick herbig back from the previous week, so it's like,
you know, you get him back, but then you lose
a starter. So now you're back down to three three
of your outside linebackers. And Jack Sawyer's there. He's a rookie,
he still learned. Every snap is a new world for him.
(40:59):
Every snap is downloaded information that he can then use
later in his career, say, I remember being in the
same exact position, but until that point, every every down
is a new position that he's he's now going through
and he's working it out in real time. Then you
(41:19):
have Patrick Queen and Peyton Wilson both go out at
different times Cole Holcomb, I mean the green dot passed
all the way down to Cole Holcomb and then came
back eventually. And you had guys out there at that
secondary level toughing it out and trying to trying to
at least be there as a teammate and kind of
(41:42):
put yourself aside. There's a couple of those tackles that
Pat Queen made and you do visibly. You know, it
was reported he had a he had a rib injury.
So however that comes and I don't know how many
people out there have had a rib injury. But the
ability to take deep breasts when you're tired is at
an all time low.
Speaker 4 (42:02):
Everything is like little small breaths.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Like Danny I yellow and coming on Harlem Knights right
when he gets locked in the safe, like the key
to this.
Speaker 4 (42:13):
You survive it short breaths. That's kind of what it is.
And so you know, that's a that's a tough thing
to deal with as a player. But the intestinal fortitude it.
Speaker 5 (42:23):
Takes to go out there and say, now, I'm still
gonna put my life out and put my put my
health on the on the line here, and if it's
a hairline fracture or some type of you know, muscular
strain in between the rib cages and you're still going
out there, you're making a full contact hits on guys
running a full head of steam at run back, running
(42:44):
back position. Zach Charbon a Kenneth Walker, Come on, man,
that that's that's the stuff that you know that that
superhumans are made of in that moment, but we have
that to deal with throughout the game. And that just
simply a guys that don't want to be hurt, because
we see enough guys other guys get hurt, so they're
(43:04):
trying to tuck through it as well, even though they
might have a nick or an issue or a problem.
So there's a lot of things. And once again i'm
giving I'm giving reasons, I'm not giving excuses.
Speaker 4 (43:17):
But you realize that this sport is not just mindless,
it's a human game. So you're not.
Speaker 5 (43:23):
Only fighting those eleven guys on the other side of
the ball. You're fighting that thing between your ears, above
your eyeballs. You're fighting that mind, and you're constantly having
a battle for your body to overtake the mind in
a lot of those moments, to make sure that you
don't show weakness, that you don't give up, that you
don't quit, and that you don't find solace in the
(43:49):
fact that you are not succeeding at the fastest. I'm
not running as fast. So what happens when you're not
as fast your body needs to control your mind and say, hey,
we just need to be over here. We got to
be a step high, because that's the assignment, and that's
what we got to do. You can't you can't jump this,
you can't outrun this, you can't make up speed, you
can't make up the play if you get out of position.
(44:11):
You've got to be technically sound in that moment. And
that's where you know a lot of that. When I
looked at the defense, you know, guys have to do
their job and other guys have to get out of
their own heads at times, and that's kind of what
the microcosm of that game is. And that's why you
end up, you know, having the score that you had. Now,
granted you can take the seven point seven points of
(44:32):
that off and and you could say, all right, that
we only gave up twenty four, but at the end
of the day is still a loss. You still gave
up more than your offense could produce. So that's where
you know, you kind of draw that line of demarcation like, Okay,
I'm gonna give you this, but you know this, this
you still have the answer for this. Even still if
(44:54):
you take that touchdown off the board from special teams,
guess what still was below the line? Still wasn't up
to the standard. Still wasn't up to the expectations that
every man had in that huddle, plus everybody watching had,
and everybody on the coaching staff had, and everybody that
(45:14):
watched it home had. It didn't live. It didn't live
up to that expectation that you could see. And listen,
there's plenty of prime examples.
Speaker 4 (45:22):
We'd go around the league.
Speaker 5 (45:23):
Listen, the woe is means are at an all time
low because everybody's got him, everybody's got him, And for
another weekend, half the league one half the league loss.
Just remember that sick fifteen. Other teams went through the
same thing that we went through, and I'm sure a
lot of them did not anticipate that, as a lot
(45:43):
of teams are in a way worse position that lost
over the weekend than we were. And so when you
kind of put it in that perspective, you understand any
given Sunday, anything that happened, and this was one of those,
you know, the worst happened.
Speaker 3 (45:58):
He is Max Stark's I'm Rob King. You're inside the
Locker Room with King and Stark's presented by our neighborhood
Forward Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one P fifty is the official truck of
the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it
direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at
Shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (46:31):
And welcome back inside the locker room as we examine
the key points, key moments, key players in yesterday's thirty
one to seventeen loss to Seattle, the home opener for
the Steelers that wound up with the Steelers now with
a one to one record through their first two games.
Later in a week, of course, we'll get through England,
but still plenty to get to. In this game, we'll
(46:51):
also take a look around the AFC, including a huge
injury for the Cincinnati Bengals who overcame that injury and
we're still still able to win their game. So the
Bengals now have improved the two and zero, so plenty
to get to. I'll look around the afc'll look at
some of the key players and moments from this recent
loss to the Seahawks yesterday, and we'll get that for
(47:15):
you when we continue inside the locker room with King
and Starks forrestentybod Our neighborhood of Ford Store here on
the Steelers 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):
Hello, what a happy Monday to you all.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
The Steelers thirty one seventeen losers to Seattle and the
home opener yesterday alongside Max Starks.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I'm Rob King.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Max.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I was hoping we're gonna have lots of pleasant stuff
to talk about. And there was times throughout the course
of that game where I thought the Steelers were gonna
pull out a win and it didn't happen.
Speaker 5 (00:48):
No, it did not, And there was a lot of
a lot of things that you could point to that
would have caused that to not be true.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
And you know, this is kind of one of those days.
Speaker 5 (01:04):
It's the good, the bad, the ugly right of a
football and of our post game kind of analysis of
what went down yesterday. And you know, I know that
normally there's a victory donut Monday, and when there isn't,
you know, we we seek some sort of comfort.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
But you know in these moments.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
I mean, this is this is the good, the bad,
the ugly, and you have to kind of take a
sober approach to realize it.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
You know that sky's not falling, but this is.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
Not it's not it's not sunshine, rainbows and unicorns, you
know as well, So you kind of get a more
sobering type of analysis and look at you know, kind
of where you're at. You take stock of where you're
at and where you can be still as a team.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Well, let's continue with the big picture, Max. Where are
these dealers right now? You know, I was surprised that
they gave up. And look, I think, let me take
a step back and say this. I think when we
see a team make significant offseason moves, I know you
have camp, I know you have preseason, but it usually
doesn't click right away. Usually takes some time. And so
(02:18):
I think probably I'm guilty of thinking I'm going to
see you know, week fifteen, Week sixteen, Week seventeen Steelers,
and I'm just seeing.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Week two Steelers. So that han't been said.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I did not expect the Steelers run game to be
run on like they were in Week one or even
yesterday for that matter, I did not expect them to
not get more pressure on Sam Darnold. There's some things
that happened in that game that surprised me. But as
you look at the step back overall big picture of
the Steelers, what are you seeing through week two on
(02:50):
this one to one team?
Speaker 5 (02:53):
I mean, I'm just seeing a team that is still
figuring things out as as a team, Like they still
have to figure out how to work together, and the
communication and the chemistry that's needed still isn't there.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Even though.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
They've done a lot of the things at training camp
and being around each other and getting to know each other,
the professional skills set in game live action still needs work.
And that's where I kind of look at it. Where
(03:32):
this team is, is you see a team that's still
figuring out. There's like little things that you think that
you should use that the other person should know, but
they don't, and so you see that kind of lapse
in communication which then leads to a play or leads
to a big play. And it's frustrating at times to
(03:56):
watch because like, I know what they're supposed to be doing,
I know where they're supposed to be at times, and
when things go wrong. I can point to it, but
once again, players play, coaches coach, and broadcasters talk.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
So there's that aspect of it where.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
I'm trying to, you know, it's like you struggle with
some of the things and how you explain it to
the public as far as how I see it without
it being too over the heads, too sophisticated, because there's
just some basic concepts that I saw, and obviously I
(04:41):
know it's way more sophisticated than I'll ever make it sound,
but just the simple thing of when you're in a
zone and there's a two man route, passing off that
route to one another and not chasing because you're live endgame,
there's a certain level of pre snap communication that you
have to do. And granted, when I'm thinking about that,
(05:04):
it's like guys that, like you said, when you have injuries,
you have key players missing, you have key communicators missing.
That is what puts the strain on it. And then
guys get injured in game, and now it becomes do
my job self preservation communicate, But you know, you're still
(05:25):
thinking about yourself. This is the humanistic side of this sport.
Is I'm going to think about myself a runner that
runs a marathon and sprains their ankle or tweaks their
ankle is going to still finish the marathon, but they're
gonna be thinking about their ankle the entire time, right, Rob.
I mean, that's that's the human nature side of this.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
And so.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Where you get too critical versus they toughed it out
and other guys getting up to speed and guys who
don't play as much playing a lot more in this game,
it's you know, it's a lot So I mean, so
it's not just easy just to go bury someone, right
and just go take them, take them straight to the woodshed.
(06:08):
That's that's not the purpose of this, right because what
we saw last week, what we saw this week, what
we'll see in five weeks from now, what we'll see
in ten weeks from now, what we will see at
the end of the season are all going to be different.
This is a journey and teams, teams mature, develop and
evolve throughout that season. So let's let's I'm not going
(06:31):
to sit here and have this overreaction and the sky
is falling, life is ended, and everything is just bleak. No,
the positive in this moment is it happened this early.
You still have plenty of time to correctly believe Matt Williamson.
Matt put out put out a stat last night, and
(06:53):
he said that the differential I believe in Steelers explosive
plays versus the opponent for two weeks is negative twelve,
and the Steelers sack differential for the first two weeks
versus the two opponent is minus four.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Two stats.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
I never thought i'd see from that respective be so
stark difference. And so I was like, I saw that
while I was sitting on the plane, and I just
simply I was like, you know what, I'm going to
reply to this, and I hit the quote tweet button
just to make sure everybody saw what I was tweeting
about in reference to it, so it wasn't like some cryptic,
(07:30):
vague statement. And I said, Bill Cower said this best.
He would always tell us this. He's like, you're never
as good as you think you are, but you're never
as bad as they say. He's like, that's what you
got to remember throughout this whole process. And you still
have plenty of time left to right your story. I mean,
(07:51):
we still have fifteen more opportunities to change this narrative.
The one good thing is we're one in one and historically,
teams that go one and one have a better you know,
have at least a fifty plus percent chance of making
the playoffs. Teams that go oh and two, it's tough.
There's only like five to seven teams that have done it.
(08:13):
So you know which road would you rather be? I mean,
look at us versus where the Kansas City's right now.
Kansas City is sitting at oh and two right now,
we do have the one up on that. And when
you think about those statistics and analysis, you know we
are we're still on par like like our path still
has has a very very direct route. It's not some
(08:36):
roundabout route. And I've been in that situation where you're
sitting there at the end of the season the should.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
Have, could have would us.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
You're you're waiting to see if you make the playoffs
because you need three or four different teams to lose
or tie, and you're praying for the scenario. You're sitting
in the locker room and you have that kind of
excitement slash disappointment of of whether you get in or
whether you don't. So you control your own destiny still
(09:07):
to this point and that's the most important thing in
these moments. You control your own destiny. And it's just
one game. And let me remind everybody, it is a
non conference, non common opponent game.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
So when it comes on the list falls very far
down on the on the tie breaking category.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
That's essentially that comes down to just wins lost record
when it comes to that. So that's where you also
take the silver light. But you know what, but you're right,
it's still not fun Stealer Nation.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Listen.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
We're going to have it out throughout the course of
the show, but it is something that you don't you
never want to drop one at home, and especially the
season opener, and especially when it's a team that you
did business with in the off season to acquire one
of the players from that team.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
There's a lot of.
Speaker 5 (10:01):
And a lot you know, and it's a gut punch
when you don't take care of that business. And you know,
it's it's a tough one, but we know we're gonna
take it under the chin. But you know we're gonna
learn our lesson, you know, wash the front kick, and
and that's what we're and that's what we're gonna do
over through the course of the show. We're not gonna
make it feel better about it. We're just gonna put
(10:22):
things in a reality check with a good, the bad,
and the ugly Monday.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Okay, So as always, uh, there are there's a lot
to unpacked. And one of the things I wanted to
ask you about was the Seattle running game and whether
the Steelers should be encouraged by the fact that Zach
Charbonay fifteen carries ten yards.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Fifteen carries ten yards.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Walker had thirteen for one oh five, but he had
let's say, thirty nine forty nine fifty nine sixty seven
of his one hundred and five yards came on four runs,
by the way, and you talk about the explosives seventeen
to five as far as ten plus more plays, so
you know, there's obviously different definitions of explosives. Some use
(11:11):
you know, ten or more in the running game, twenty
more in the passing game, but plays of ten or
more yards. Pittsburgh had five Seattle at seventeen. So I
would like to think that those long runs are either
communication or something happening that you really kind of stuffed
(11:35):
them for most of the day except for those four runs. Now,
there's always the you know other than that, how was
the play missus Lincoln?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Right?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
I mean those things still count, yes, but can you
take any solace from that that, you know, maybe those
things were just simply you know, and listen Kenneth Walker.
You know, maybe he's gonna have one or two, but
I don't feel like he should have four. I mean
the one that, the one that I just was mystified
by was, you know, when they decided to settle for
field goal, pitched it to Walker and he just ran
(12:04):
nineteen yards. I think he was untouched in for a touchdown. Yeah,
but can you take any solace in thinking, okay, because
that's a play design to get four or five yards.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
And kick a field goal, right, and you get nineteen?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Can you think to yourself, Okay, well, all we have
to do is tighten up a couple of things and
those long runs don't happen. And now Seattle's running the
ball instead of running the ball, you know, twenty nine
times for one seventeen. Maybe they're running the ball twenty
nine times for eighty four.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
No, they're absolutely fish Yeah, yeah, no is different.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
And you know that we're getting down to the fish
cheeks at this point, and like you said, because beautiful
job and a lot of the stretch outside zone stuff, right,
I mean Pat Queen, Peyton Wilson flying to the football
on the edges and really, like you said, Jack Charbonnay
(12:59):
was actually the main that was wearing those like Kenneth
Walker was there for more off tackle counter scheme, you know,
split flow type of belly stuff between the tackles. And
Zach Charbonay was was your speedster.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Yeah, that's on the outside the Clint Kubiak, you know
zone stretch play that he's known for. Yeah, yeah, and
you know we saw I don't know if you would
call it consider that walker nineteen yard touchdown run that way,
but that was one thing that did you know, and
again you know, maybe Max, it's the it's the offense
(13:32):
not giving the defensive break, but just the you know,
that last touchdown drive, I think it was the last
touchdown driver Seattle, they're moving left to right. They just
they just marched the ball and handed it to Walker
straight up the middle of the field, which can be
emasculating for defense. You don't want to see that happen.
But let me let me get back to the the
initial question about what do you feel like those are
(13:53):
those are communication issues and things that can be cleaned
up as far as allowing Walker to have you know,
sixty eight of his yards on four carries.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
Yeah, I think that's it. And that play actually wasn't
a kubiek. That was a toss crack. That was a
toss crack with a lead block with two leads on
the outside, So it was it was a different structure
because the traditional outside zone stretches a handoff versus a
toss right, and that was what got guys out of
leverage in that moment, and they didn't see the crack
(14:24):
guy coming down front because of the three x one
set to the left and it was going to the
closed into the end zone. I guess the opposite champions
club side on that play. And yeah, it was one
where it was just it was just like bad eye discipline,
so to speak. You know, and you know you're kind
of zeroed in on the person with the ball and
(14:45):
you're not looking at the support guys. You know, you're
supposed to take a snapshot of the entire picture. Who
could hurt me in this play as I'm running towards
that direction, and so you know, there was there was
some eye disciplined things. There was some communication things a
guy's getting not getting off the block, things like double
teams that were getting way too much penetration up the middle.
(15:06):
And when you talk about you know, and I talked
about this throughout the badcast about what we needed to
do on the offensive side was tenderize you with the
run game, and the damn will crack in the second half.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
You know, the dam will crack and.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
You will see you will see this team start to
will well, that's that.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
That was a game player.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
Apparently Seattle heard our broadcast, and that's what they were
deciding to do, was to do that. And because you
had those four explosives, right, guess what your eyes are
gonna be bad. Your eyes are because you're so worried
about the next gashing run that if you freeze for
a second at the second or third level, that guy's
(15:50):
back past you and makes a play in the zone.
And I think that's that's where the frustration or lack
of communication or lack of exp playing with each other
to get a feel for how you're going to play.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
And that's the tough part.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
They literally out geometreat us, you know, for lack of
better words, rob They out geometry us, meaning they took
better angles. They knew how to cut us off to
get from point A to point B and just enough
and Sam Darnold was good enough to hit those guys
on the quick strikes.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
They weren't worried about the big play.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
They were just concerned with making the play on a
play by play basis. And you know when you're in
a position and you know, let's face it, anytime you
get a free touchdown in this league, you celebrate it.
They got a big one at a critical juncture in
this game and put a lot of stress on the
(16:49):
office from a special teams perspective that was already kind
of on edge. And this just sets the nurses. It's
like where you go you say, you know, you go camping,
and you're like in your head before you get to
the camps, like, man, you know, it's nature's gonna be
a lost sounds. And you know, if I hear, if
I hear broken twigs, you know, you start to get
(17:11):
on alert that that was like a broken twig right
outside of your right outside of your tent, and you
heard a little bit of a growl.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
You know what I'm saying. Like, that's that's that's how
on edge you.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
Can get when you go down another play and you
haven't even touched the field. That's why we talk about
the double score opportunities being so like big and critical
and swinging a game that was a double score opportunity.
They had just scored and on the very next play
they score again and the offense hasn't even been on
(17:44):
the field to kind of defend the honor of the
previous touchdown.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Right.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
So that's why when we talk about end of half
mechanics and getting a score at the end of the
half and then you get the ball coming out of half,
that's that type of well they got to manufacture that
without it being a switch to the half. There was
no Gatoray break involved. It literally happened on the very
next play, and so that that that's a that's a backbreaker,
and that, like I said, that's that's a stress.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Not a lot of teams come.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
Back from those double scores, and the Steelers proved, hey, yeah,
we did not make it back from that from that opportunity,
So yeah, it's tough.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Yeah, a couple of things here. I don't want to
lose sight of the fact as we go along here
that much like our buddy Craig Wolfley, you have invented
a new word. I can just see the kids now
in fifth grade pens and papers out, you know, working
on the verb out geometry. I out geometry, You out geometry.
(18:45):
He she it out geometry. I think you should be
proud of yourself.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
You know what.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
I was reading the new book that will be out
very soon. If these walls could talk stories for the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Yeah, I did too. I'm already through the first four chapters.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
It is absolutely a joy to read, and it is,
you know, it's a little emotional, rights as one would
expect because.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
It sounds like Craig.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
It sounds exactly like you can hear his voice reading
it to you.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
Yes, you could hear his voice reading like in my heart.
If they would have ever gotten this a little bit
earlier and he could have done the audiobook version of this,
Oh my god, yeah, talking about tears. Tears would have
been flowing at all times. But yeah, yeah, but yeah,
so yeah, so no, I'm proud of that. So out
geometry will now be standard issue verbiage in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
All kids need to be able to conjugate that verb.
So one other thing on this topic of the big plays.
And there are reasons, and there are excuses, and I
don't want to make excuses, but I do want to
ask you, the former player, when you have shifting personnel
(20:03):
in there, three starters out and then Alex Highsmith gets hurt.
Now it's four starters out, and then for a while
there you're without Patrick Queen and they're trying to get
the green dot to Peyton Wilson. And are any of
those explosives in the passing game and the running game
a result of just having a lot of different personnel.
(20:26):
So not only have you not played together, but maybe
that grouping hasn't spent a whole lot of time playing
together either.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Yeah, yeah, I would say absolutely absolutely. It's when when
you're playing with a new guy and listen, I know
we're all professionals, you know, you're all professionals on that field,
but there is a chemistry, you know, cohesia that has
to take and kind of getting it on the fly
(20:54):
and trying to make up for it when you didn't
spend hours and practices together as a unit.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
It's an adjustment. It's a big adjustment. Throughout this process
and we're seeing them still work it out, you know,
because in practice, practice is practice. One thing.
Speaker 5 (21:12):
You know your personnel, you know the guy you're going against,
you know the scheme, you're calling it out before it happens,
and you could tend to be a little lazy with practice,
but that laziness will carry over into a game and
it will be an issue if.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
You deem it. So, and what I think is it's
it's a lack of communication, a lack of playing time together.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
You know, Chuck Clark got here as a Steeler a
little late, and now you have him starting and playing
a big amount of time together.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
When that was normally de Shaun Elliott.
Speaker 5 (21:54):
And so there's going to be some glitch in the
matrix at some point in the game. And we saw
some of those, or we saw, you know, where a
guy has to be vocal that's not used to being vocal,
has to pass some information, and you know, the trust
and faith in guys passing that information even after they've
(22:19):
passed it, still worrying about it after they've passed the information,
like did they really get this?
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Do they understand what I'm telling them?
Speaker 5 (22:26):
And all it takes is like I said, bad eye
discipline is I have to look there a second too long.
And even though I communicated it, I'm supposed to be
in a different area, You're still like covering yourself, like
did he okay? He got oh, oh crap, I'm not
in my place. Like that was the kind of game
of catchup that was going on throughout the game. And
(22:50):
you know, and this is me, of course, being able
to watch this on the tape afterwards and kind of
look at it because obviously, you know, it's like, well,
you greate a test after you have the answer key,
It's like, oh that makes perfect sense.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Dang it, why did I put that right?
Speaker 5 (23:07):
You know, or it's an open you know, it's an
open book test at that point, and I can actually
go to the specific passage that they're referencing and I
can see what it is.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Uh so that that's kind of what it was.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
So when I looked at it, it was just like, oh, man,
dang it, like I see exactly what it is as
soon as it starts, you know, in a game, when
we're going through this, you know, I didn't necessarily have
access to replay like i'd like.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
In fact, our TV coverage.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
You know, in the booth was a full minute behind,
it was full fifty seconds behind the actual gameplay action.
So being able to give a detailed judgment or a
detailed analysis afterwards, you know, it was kind of hindered
in that moment. So catching it live and trying to
look at twenty two different people at one time and
trying to figure out where the one flaw was, because,
(23:56):
like you said, if you're looking at a game, you're
watching it, you see ten guys doing it right, and
then the one guy doing it wrong was not in
the area that you had your attention on for that.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Give and play.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
You know you're going to miss that type of stuff
and you're not gonna be able to see it to
be able to understand it in real time what just
went on before the next play happened. And so this
was my opportunity. I literally got to look at the
same play three different times from three different angles, and
so I could be a little bit more in tuned
(24:31):
with how I look at it because I've now seen
it from those multiple angles, which you don't get that
in a live game, and you could just simply, you know,
make a broad generality based on where the ball where
the ball went or did not go based on where
you saw the hole versus where the whole ended up
being the block that was supposed to be made or
(24:53):
the tackle that was supposed to be shed. And it's
one of those frustrating things to watch it because now
I'm watching it go wrong three times in a row
versus seeing it just one time like you do in
a live game situation.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
And so I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
I was a little frustrated last night as I was
on my flight, like I'm sure you know, there was
a couple of Steeler fans on my first leg of
the flight and they just gave me by distance because
they saw by physical expression as I had my head set.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
On and I'm I'm and I'm watching and I'm watching
the film.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
And you know, they were kind of like very hesitant
after we got out the flight and by layover in
Dallas and just hey, it was strutched, so you're busy,
but you just want to say you're good fan, obviously
at the outcome we want, but you know, just want
to say hello, and you know, and I get that.
I mean, you know, I tend to go in a
silo and I still am working on rob how I
(25:49):
handled disappointment, let down and losses because even though I'm
sitting in the booth, even though I'm in a a sideline,
non combatant type of roles, as Craig Wolfy would say,
it's still it still stings, still stings. I mean, I
care about this game, I care about this organization. I
(26:09):
care about its success. I care about how it looks.
You know, I care about the legacy effect of all
these things because you know it just it means that much.
And and so I emote a little bit differently than
Craig does. You know, Craig is Craig is the eternal optimist,
and he he can always glean and find the silver
(26:32):
lining even in the worst of situations, right, And that's
something that I can see it and I can understand it.
But there's another thing about reconciling it. And so I'm good,
you know, especially twenty four hours later. I'm I'm good
with a lot of things. But in the moment, I mean,
(26:52):
you know, anybody can ask. I mean, if you if
you've ever been a teammate of mine, you understand how
I take these things.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
And you know, my wife understands all too well.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
You know, when I was a player, how I looked
at it, how I cared, and you know, it was
one of those things where back in the day, I'll
just give you a.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
Quick glimpse of insight into who Max Starks is and
how I work.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
In college, if we lost the game in college, if
it was a home game, we had we had an
elevator in the stadium from our locker room that would
go up to the main level, you know the stadium,
because it was right there, and the family would be
outside on the lower level outside of our locker room
in this parking lot area under the stadium if anybody knows,
(27:38):
you know the Gators Stadium, you know, you get out
of the south end zone and that's there's a parking
lot below.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
We parked all our scooters there. That's where the family met.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
After the game, I would take the elevator up to
the main concourse with the fans, and I would walk
out of the stadium with the fans and walk back
to my dorm room and turn my lights off and
unplug my phone. Like That's that's how I operated after
after a loss. And then when I got to the league,
obviously there was no elevator leave. You know, your family's there,
(28:08):
you got to kind of they rode there with you
more often than not, so you have to take that
walk and family rides in the car with you back
to the house.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
My wife, after we got.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Married, Tiffany just knew she would actually walk home because
we lived downtown. Tiffany would walk home after the game, back.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
To the house.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
She wouldn't even get in the car with me because
she knew, and she would usually get there before I would,
and she would just sit a cup, you know, on
the counter, and she would she would head to bed
and get ready for work the next day. She was
that gonna stay up because you know, I didn't want
to talk about it. I needed twenty four hours to
reconcile it. I would sit there and replay the game
(28:49):
in my head and go through everything that, you know,
kind of what we do here, the good, the bad,
the ugly. I would replay all of those plays in
my head and just go through what I need to
do and get my notebook out and then I would
just I would start jotting my own and grading myself
after the game off of memory. And so that's when
(29:13):
I kind of look at this like, obviously now I'm
a lot older.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
You think I'm more mature. I'm not.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
Surprise, surprise headline and a lot of those respects. But
you know, I still need time to reconcize, especially after
a game, especially the emotional involvement that's involved with it
a lot like our fans, right, I mean our fans.
There's an emotional attachment, there's emotional involvement. There's a vested
interest in the success and shortcomings of a team. You know,
(29:41):
and just know that players do the same thing. Players
feel the same way. So when a fan the ah man,
he's a bum. I can't stand that guy. You take
to social media and and your and and and your
and your thumb muscles get really strong in those moments.
Just realize there's nothing that you could say that I
(30:01):
haven't already said to myself. And I'm twenty times harder
than what you could ever possibly put out there in public,
because you know, if people check your social media, you
might not have a job. So trust me, players know this,
Players understand this, Players feel this. And just because it
might not outwardly emote and everything, yeah, there's a sense
(30:23):
of pride in what you do. You know, I mean,
nobody ever wants to go out in public and get
publicly humiliated, right, Nobody ever wants to come out of
the bathroom and have the toilet tissue on the back
of their shoe on purpose.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
You know that. Like, let's just so, let's just keep
that in mind as we go through this.
Speaker 5 (30:40):
I am keenly aware of that fact. But also I
know that critiques, criticism constructive in nature, still has a
place and can still be adhered to. So there's nothing
that you know, I would say that I wouldn't walk
up to each individual player and say it to their face. Ye,
So you know I operate in that type of moticum,
(31:03):
and we could definitely be constructive in these critiques. We're
not going to be destructive. That's the one thing we
will not be. Yeah, I know it won't be as happy,
it won't be as happy. I know, I'm still on
my sofax happy.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
No no, no, no, no, it won't be as happy, but it is.
Speaker 5 (31:18):
But it is going to be sobering. But it comes
from a very realistic point of view and an informed
position that that I present these things, and that we
present these things on this show.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Lots and lots to get too still. That is Max Starks.
I'm Rob King. You're inside the locker room with King
and Stark's presented by our neighborhood Ford Store. Here on
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
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 6 (31:59):
Get to snap back the pass looking at a loft
to the right up jump off brought in by DJ Metcalf.
Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers and touchdown pass number five hundred and
eight for Aaron Rodgers, tying him for fourth all.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
Time with Brett Farr.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Yeah, crowd was into it, man, it felt like it
was going on there.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Max.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
That is our Steelers drive of the game, presented by
our neighborhood Ford Stort. The F one fifty is the
official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That may have been
the high water mark of the game. It just felt
like at that point, Okay, they're on track, they're defending better.
Here we go and they just couldn't you know, they
(32:44):
couldn't add to that.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
And I'll give you my take on that.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Too, but that it was great to see history there
with Aaron Rodgers and fun to see it go to
DK Metcalf against his former team.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
And no, it absolutely was.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
I mean, like you said, the highlights, you know, we
don't have as many throughout this game, but that was
absolute great moment that we got to announce and thinking
about you know, when you move.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
Into that list and.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
And the guys that are on that list and we
get to see one of those guys live and in
person on our team, it's a pretty special moment. And
of course it kind of gets overshadowed by the overall
production of this game, but you know, that was one
of the moments that look at you're like, Okay, you know,
(33:34):
this is a justification for why you bring in a
Dk Metcalf, because those fifty to fifty balls suddenly become
eighty twenty balls or ninety ten balls when you have
a guy of that skill set, so you could be
a little bit more risk risk taking in your endeavors
on the field, you know. But you know, for Dk,
(33:56):
I mean, it was still it was still a tough day.
You know, you think about you know, will had him
with Shad Murray was also on him, and you know
they were down secondary members, so you thought that was
the place to go attack this this defense. But the
strength of the teeth of this defense was that front seven,
(34:18):
and that front seven, you know, did a lot of
did a lot of damage, especially in the interior side
of things. Jared Reid Byron Murphy, your main sack assailants,
so to speak, were the where those premo guys of course,
Leonard Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence off the edge. Derek Hall,
(34:41):
high round draft pick of a couple of years ago,
had a motor Tyrese Knight was really an Ernest Jones.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
You know, we kind of talked about it with Paul Moyer,
and Paul.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Moyer called him he is a hunter of tackles, not
a gatherer of tackles. As he made the analogy and
that was on display. He was he was hunting a
lot out there, so you know, kind of looking at that,
kind of knowing what their gameplay was and then being
then then being able to execute that game plan was
just very frustrating.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
You know, I as I was watching the game unfold,
and you know, Missy was giving us the reports on
the sideline.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
It was hot.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
You know, players are throwing up, you know, it was
it was just, you know, it was hotter than it
looked out there, right.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
It was the hot day he'd been playing football.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
And I really felt like, you know, once you got
that lead, and at various other points of the game,
there was a time when you needed a long drive,
even if it just resulted in a field goal, get
your defense off the field. You know, I think a
lot of people are going to look at the defense
and see the thirty one points surrendered if you didn't
(35:48):
watch the game, of course seven and that was on
special teams, that the Caleb Johnson gaff where you didn't
recover them all on the fumble, didn't recover themll on
the end own bag your pardon. You know, I think
that for me, there were times where the offense just
needed to help the defense just needed to go on
a long drive. And it wasn't like Seattle overwhelmingly won
(36:12):
the time of possession battle they want it by a
couple of minutes, but still it just felt like that
was one of those games where I felt like the
offense needed to do something to help the defense. They
needed to go on a long drive, and they just
really never could quite do it.
Speaker 5 (36:28):
Yeah, it was it was essentially two steps forward, two
steps back, right, And that was what kind of the
frustration was because you would see these great individual plays
that said, okay, all right, you know, pressure is about
to be applied. We're about to get into a groove here.
We figured it out. We figured out the Rubik's cube.
(36:48):
And then you realize, I only figure out what side
of the Rubik's cube, and it's like the other side
looks still very mosaic, a lot of colors all over
the place, and they're dotting all over.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
So how do I get this?
Speaker 5 (37:01):
I know, I focused on one side the entire time,
or one area, but there's a lot of areas in
the course of a game.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
And for the Steelers, you.
Speaker 5 (37:11):
Would see a big play, think about the Jalen Warren
sixty five yarder, right, and then you come away with
an interception in the red zone and I'm not even
gonna put redzon.
Speaker 4 (37:21):
I'm gonna call that Dardnair goal line situation.
Speaker 5 (37:25):
Stop opportunity there, and you know, and simple miscommunication. Calvin
Oss is coming on an in cut and Pat Friarman's
is running a corner route and the ball looked like
it was a post. He was trying to fit it
in there for Pat. As Pat's going to the ground
kind of to secure this ball in the back corner
of the end zone. Calvin's coming in, hits off his
(37:48):
left hand at ricochet's into Darien Kendrick, and Kendrick secures
the football as he goes to the down interception touchback
ball out to the twenty, you know, and it's like
those little ones like ah, you know, it's like, man,
you know what happened there?
Speaker 4 (38:04):
Where was that miscommunication?
Speaker 5 (38:06):
Was Cow I'm supposed to cut it off shorter and
be in there sooner so that it cleared so that
he could fit that ball into Pat? Or did Pat
run the angle too deep and maybe he was supposed
to be in front of Calvin when that ball was
like those are the little things that you know that
just absolutely just tailspin.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
Right.
Speaker 5 (38:28):
And then we talk about playing complimentary football, Well, when
you don't possess the ball along drives consistently, you don't
give your defensive break. You put them out there, Like
you said, it's a hot day. The little sunscreen protector
things and ball boys were out there, and you're trying
to cover guys up, trying to not expose them to
(38:48):
as much of that heat that was out there, but
it was doing, you know, favors in that process. And
so now you put an additional stress on the defense
that was already tie, that already had to deal with
their lengthy drives, and a team that, you know, when
you're talking about winning football as a unit, one of
(39:09):
those marks that you always strive for is time of possession.
Time of possession is a key factory in one of
these type of This is an attrition style game where
both teams are physical, both teams are wearing down, and
if I hold the ball longer.
Speaker 4 (39:27):
I win the game of attrition.
Speaker 5 (39:29):
And so that attrition unfortunately fell not in the Steelers' favor.
It was in the Seahawks favor of that game because
I think before they even touched the ball, before that
last drive of theirs, they had already won.
Speaker 4 (39:42):
The time was in.
Speaker 5 (39:43):
They were already like thirty fifty seven or something like that.
So you were already in a behind position on the
side of the ball that had taken a lot of
losses right going into this game, he had two guys
already out JPJ Derek Harmon. That's what we knew, and
then oh, I'm sorry three and Deshaun Elliott. We knew
(40:04):
that was it at the beginning of the game. We're
without all three of those guys. Then is the game unfolds,
you lose an Alice higher Well, you lose Isaiah Laudermilk first,
so that's now a second defensive lineman out of your eight.
So there's only six guys now for the rotation. You
didn lose your your starting outside backer and Alice high
(40:25):
Smith next, well, you just lost some Malie Harrison, who's
kind of that hybrid guy that was filling in you
know it could do inside and outside duty.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
Already lost him as well, and.
Speaker 5 (40:37):
So now you lose Alex high Smith, but you get
a Nick herbig back from the previous week, so it's like,
you know, you get him back, but then you lose
a starter. So now you're back down to three three
of your outside linebackers. And Jack Sawyer's there. He's a rookie,
he still learned. Every snap is a new world for him.
(40:59):
Every snap is downloaded information that he can then use
later in his career, say, I remember being in the
same exact position, but until that point, every every down
is a new position that he's he's now going through
and he's working it out in real time. Then you
(41:19):
have Patrick Queen and Peyton Wilson both go out at
different times Cole Holcomb, I mean the green dot passed
all the way down to Cole Holcomb and then came
back eventually. And you had guys out there at that
secondary level toughing it out and trying to trying to
at least be there as a teammate and kind of
(41:42):
put yourself aside. There's a couple of those tackles that
Pat Queen made and you do visibly. You know, it
was reported he had a he had a rib injury.
So however that comes and I don't know how many
people out there have had a rib injury. But the
ability to take deep breasts when you're tired is at
an all time low.
Speaker 4 (42:02):
Everything is like little small breaths.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Like Danny I yellow and coming on Harlem Knights right
when he gets locked in the safe, like the key
to this.
Speaker 4 (42:13):
You survive it short breaths. That's kind of what it is.
And so you know, that's a that's a tough thing
to deal with as a player. But the intestinal fortitude it.
Speaker 5 (42:23):
Takes to go out there and say, now, I'm still
gonna put my life out and put my put my
health on the on the line here, and if it's
a hairline fracture or some type of you know, muscular
strain in between the rib cages and you're still going
out there, you're making a full contact hits on guys
running a full head of steam at run back, running
(42:44):
back position. Zach Charbon a Kenneth Walker, Come on, man,
that that's that's the stuff that you know that that
superhumans are made of in that moment, but we have
that to deal with throughout the game. And that just
simply a guys that don't want to be hurt, because
we see enough guys other guys get hurt, so they're
(43:04):
trying to tuck through it as well, even though they
might have a nick or an issue or a problem.
So there's a lot of things. And once again i'm
giving I'm giving reasons, I'm not giving excuses.
Speaker 4 (43:17):
But you realize that this sport is not just mindless,
it's a human game. So you're not.
Speaker 5 (43:23):
Only fighting those eleven guys on the other side of
the ball. You're fighting that thing between your ears, above
your eyeballs. You're fighting that mind, and you're constantly having
a battle for your body to overtake the mind in
a lot of those moments, to make sure that you
don't show weakness, that you don't give up, that you
don't quit, and that you don't find solace in the
(43:49):
fact that you are not succeeding at the fastest. I'm
not running as fast. So what happens when you're not
as fast your body needs to control your mind and say, hey,
we just need to be over here. We got to
be a step high, because that's the assignment, and that's
what we got to do. You can't you can't jump this,
you can't outrun this, you can't make up speed, you
can't make up the play if you get out of position.
(44:11):
You've got to be technically sound in that moment. And
that's where you know a lot of that. When I
looked at the defense, you know, guys have to do
their job and other guys have to get out of
their own heads at times, and that's kind of what
the microcosm of that game is. And that's why you
end up, you know, having the score that you had. Now,
granted you can take the seven point seven points of
(44:32):
that off and and you could say, all right, that
we only gave up twenty four, but at the end
of the day is still a loss. You still gave
up more than your offense could produce. So that's where
you know, you kind of draw that line of demarcation like, Okay,
I'm gonna give you this, but you know this, this
you still have the answer for this. Even still if
(44:54):
you take that touchdown off the board from special teams,
guess what still was below the line? Still wasn't up
to the standard. Still wasn't up to the expectations that
every man had in that huddle, plus everybody watching had,
and everybody on the coaching staff had, and everybody that
(45:14):
watched it home had. It didn't live. It didn't live
up to that expectation that you could see. And listen,
there's plenty of prime examples.
Speaker 4 (45:22):
We'd go around the league.
Speaker 5 (45:23):
Listen, the woe is means are at an all time
low because everybody's got him, everybody's got him, And for
another weekend, half the league one half the league loss.
Just remember that sick fifteen. Other teams went through the
same thing that we went through, and I'm sure a
lot of them did not anticipate that, as a lot
(45:43):
of teams are in a way worse position that lost
over the weekend than we were. And so when you
kind of put it in that perspective, you understand any
given Sunday, anything that happened, and this was one of those,
you know, the worst happened.
Speaker 3 (45:58):
He is Max Stark's I'm Rob King. You're inside the
Locker Room with King and Stark's presented by our neighborhood
Forward Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one P fifty is the official truck of
the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it
direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at
Shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (46:31):
And welcome back inside the locker room as we examine
the key points, key moments, key players in yesterday's thirty
one to seventeen loss to Seattle, the home opener for
the Steelers that wound up with the Steelers now with
a one to one record through their first two games.
Later in a week, of course, we'll get through England,
but still plenty to get to. In this game, we'll
(46:51):
also take a look around the AFC, including a huge
injury for the Cincinnati Bengals who overcame that injury and
we're still still able to win their game. So the
Bengals now have improved the two and zero, so plenty
to get to. I'll look around the afc'll look at
some of the key players and moments from this recent
loss to the Seahawks yesterday, and we'll get that for
(47:15):
you when we continue inside the locker room with King
and Starks forrestentybod Our neighborhood of Ford Store here on
the Steelers Audio Network
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