October 24, 2025 • 42 mins
Rob and Max continue to prepare Steelers' Nation for the big game Sunday night against Green Bay.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
And we thank you very much for being with us
on this Friday as we get you ready for a
matchup of division leaders, the AFC North Division leading Steelers
hosting the NFC North Division leading Green Bay Packers on
Sunday night. Max Starks, how you doing, my friend?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I am doing wonderful.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Happy Friday to you, Kinger, and you know we are
barreling down towards this matchup. I just did a show
on Hit on Green Bay on their radio station out
there earlier. Actually I take that back Milwaukee, but they covered,
they cover Green Bay and they're nervous. The fans are nervous.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
You know that.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
I feel like, you know, it's a little bit of
that uh, that guilt about how how things ended and
and you since that was kind of the undertone of
that of that kind of conversation that I had with them,
and you know, they definitely, you know, replaying the hits
in your head type of deal, and you're like, I'm like,
(01:34):
you know, I like this guy, but you know something
about that old dog. I mean, he was there. I mean,
when you think about it, I mean it was a
long time. Two thousand and five, he got drafted there
and of course left it did two years with the Jets,
and now year three here.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
You know, post Green Bay.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
He is he is a Steeler and so no, a
lot a lot of good stuff, but you know, a
lot of challenges in front of us.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
There's there's a.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Lot of a lot of stuff in between Aaron Rodgers
and getting a dub on on Sunday Night.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
So we're hopefully going to break that down.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
But I thought it was just funny having that conversation
with Packers Radio up there that they were feeling at
a little anxious.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
NFL dot Com they put a bunch of their.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
There for each game.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
They have their analysts and I think they have ten
of them, well I know they have ten of them
make their predictions. Seven of the ten at the Packers
winning on Sunday Night. For what that is worth, which
is really not much. But it also again when we
talk about these things, power rankings, what other people think.
It's a sense of what others believe outside of our
(02:54):
market about the Pittsburgh Steelers. So yesterday we spent some
time talking about the tight ends and the Steelers tight
ends are targeted more than any tight ends in the league.
Thirty six percent of the of the passes go to
or the completions go to tight ends. The green Bay
(03:16):
Packers are a team that they give up some stuff
to tight ends. They have one of the highest target
rates against when it comes to tight end. So we
identified that yesterday. Maybe not the spot that people would
think about leading off, but we let it off there
because I think it's it's relevant to what the Steelers
do offensively, clearly, and it's also relevant to something that
(03:39):
teams feel like they can they can exploit with Green Bay.
So that was one of the topics just again for
people that are just joining us today to recap where
where we left off yesterday. We think the tight ends
can be a big factor here for a Steelers victory.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Yeah, no, I believe that as well. And you know,
like I said, watching the film, you know, Trey McBride
had had had a nice game against against them, and
he he killed them with a couple of a couple
of really good plays.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Uh, you know, just Seki the week before.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Before he got injured, looked looked to be okay and
getting some opportunities.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
I'll start on a third game today.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
But you know, as I'm kind of looking at this,
I mean, it feels very similar as far as how
they want to attack. Obviously, Christian Watson, I think, is
that that that's the bigger news that he'll be back
in the fold for them potentially this week. Why is
it that that that wide receivers want to come back
(04:43):
against us?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
You know, well, you know what, I know that's it
was a little bit of a rhetorical question, but the
or or or one not you know, not expecting an answer,
but the Studish pass defense has not been very good
yards per game against Now. I know they're not related.
When a guy can play, he can play, but that
(05:05):
is something that we have to be concerned about in
this game.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
I think, No, you.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Got to be concerned about the Christian Watson effect. You know,
Do'ntavian Wis is not practiced at all this week. He's
still on the iffy train. But Christian Watson Romeo Dobbs
paired with a Tucker Craft presents a challenge, right, and
and the and the aerial department, and then of course
you got the backfield issues with Josh Jacobs. And you know, terall,
(05:30):
Austin was asked a lot about the run game yesterday,
and you know he had to answer for it. He said,
but you know, guy, he said, you know a lot
of guys saying the same thing. Guys do it too much,
But you got to trust a guy next to you,
and you just got to stay in your gap and
not try and do more when the same thing that
you might have got gashed on before happens again. Stop
(05:50):
trying to do too much is sticking your gap and
trust your guy. But those are those are some very
like you said, the past defense is not that great
against wide receivers. Also, so the run game's not that
great against you know, some good running backs as we've seen,
and teams that are intent on running the football. So
a lot of challenges for that defense coming up on Sunday,
(06:12):
and hopefully with the extended rest, little more reflection, a
little more steady time, they'll be prepared to handle the
Packers on Sunday night.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, and we're gonna get into all these matchups. Okay,
we're gonna get into We're gonna look at everything that's
important in this game. Missy Matthews is going to join
us as well. I'm weird. We are going to drill
down to the stuff that's important. We started yesterday. Excuse
me with the tight end position. You know, look, as
long as we're talking about receivers, let's maybe go there
next with the receivers on both sides. And you know,
(06:42):
Christian Watson coming back. He is their big play guy.
Jordan Love is not afraid to throw the ball down
the field. He is one of those guys in the league.
You know, Statistically, the stats back it up. The yards
per reception are very high. We talked about that in
terms of Tuck Craft yesterday. They're excellent young tight end.
(07:03):
Talking to Matt Williamson yesterday, he said Craft is his
favorite young tight end in the league. He's a guy
that you know, he came from South Dakota State Mason
McCormick school, and he is a yards after catch guy.
He's difficult to bring down. He doesn't like being tackled.
You know, he's a he's a combative runner. He has
(07:25):
good hands and he averages fourteen yards per reception. That
is a ton at the tight end position. That's really
good for a wide receiver. For a tight end, it's
out of this world. It's number two in the league
behind Pat Fryarmouth, who had the big explosive game last
week against Cincinnati. So he is going to be a factor.
But in the passing game, Christian Watson is the deep
(07:48):
ball threat.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
He's the guy. Not that Dobbs and others aren't capable.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Of it, but when you think, because they do have
a bunch of receivers that have had you go back
to last year when everybody was healthy, a bunch of
guys with you know whose long reception is fifty sixty yards.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
So he's not the only guy, but he is the
number one guy. So when he gets back in, you
get him in and even if Wicks can't play, I
think that's a net gain for green Bay, assuming of course,
that Watson's acl is fine, he's back practicing. This would
be his first game of the season, knocking off the
rust all that, but this is a deep play threat.
(08:27):
This is a stretch the field type of guy. If
Watson's back for Green Bay.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Yeah it is, and I think you know the you know,
Romeo Dobbs gets his buddy back. They were both they
were both drafted together in twenty twenty two and you know,
second and fourth round picks.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
So no, these both these.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Guys come in bringing about a minimum of one hundred
catches a piece. I think Christian Watson is just below.
I think only has ninety eight, but Romeodaves is one
hundred and seventy one. So you're going to have a
challenge because that familiarity is there now. Dontavian Wicks obviously
a year younger, but that was the trio and that's
(09:09):
the reason why you kind of go with the Jordan
Love because you had this young, wide receiving group that
he could grow with. And that's kind of how if
you anticipated in a perfect world, that is what it
shows is that you need to have consistency with that
growth together. And so that's why you probably make a
(09:30):
switch from Aaron Rodgers to a Jordan Love to grow
with this receiving corps and has paid dividends for them
already and working together. So you know, if you get
any two of the three, there's already a synergy there.
There's already there, already a connection there. And Romeo and
Christian both have a lot of long touchdown passes from
(09:50):
Jordan Love. Jordan Love is a has a strong arm,
he's a deep ball threat, and you know, and it
goes all the way back to his days at Utah State.
You know, I remember calling these games like, man, that
kid's gonna be in the NFL one day. Like watching him,
you know, seeing him play, seeing Josh Allen play, and
you're like something about those kids, like they come from
those quote unquote at the time group of five schools.
(10:13):
Now it's called a group of six schools. But when
you see them play and there's a tenacity or something
special about them that that's that X factor. And he
has some receivers to go with him, just like Josh
Allen got and it made them an even better quarterback.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Well and Matthew Golden, you know I talk about I
talked about Watson being the deep threat. Matthew Golden can fly,
he can really run. They've got speed on the outside.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
By the way.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
They will use these guys on reverses and jet sweeps
and they'll line them both up in the backfield.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Two guys.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
I mean, if Jacob's and a receiver, they'll run them
on little sweeps and other things. They're trying to take
advantage of it. The very creative offense, which we could
talk about a little bit in a little bit as
to you know what that does to a defense, and
it's sows doubt in the mind of a defense, which
I think is part of you know what the aim
is here for Matt Lafleur's offense. But you know, Goldvin
(11:08):
is another guy. So they've got receivers, particularly in Golden
and Watson with Watson's return, who are capable. We've seen
it with Watson, but we know Golden is capable of it.
We know he can really fly. And that is that's
something that I think that the corners have to be
wary of. And if you're looking at it from Green
Bay's perspective, the green Bay doesn't throw the ball a ton.
(11:29):
In fact, they have the fourth fewest pass attempts percentage
wise in the league, and you know they're behind the
teams you would kind of expect, the Seahawks, the Bills,
the Lions.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
Those are teams that like to run the football.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
The Bills are maybe a little bit surprising to me,
but you know, part of that is Josh Allen tucking it.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
In, Josh Allen some of those passes and rush. Yeah,
that's that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
So and by the way, some of these statistics were
throwing out, you are for Matt Staff. That's Matt Williamson
does a great job of coming up with a stat
packet for us. But you know, they want to sledge
hammer the ball with Josh Jacobs and just schematically speaking,
Jacob's not that Jacobs isn't capable of long runs, but
(12:15):
I think of him as a battering ram. Now there's
more to his game than that. Obviously, he's got you know,
he's he's able to catch the ball. He does have
some wiggle, but he's the kind of guy where they
will if they get if they think they can get
a few yards of crack, they're gonna hammer him at you.
By the same token, if you're a corner, you can't
(12:38):
creep up because next thing you know, it's play action
and Golden and Watson are flying past you. It's a
it's a difficult one to two punch to deal with,
it is it.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Is, But that's the balance that any good team and
you're talking about team this first place in the North
and you're competing with the Detroits of the world. Yeah,
gotta be you gotta be balanced. One dimensional teams don't
make it that far. And you know, if there's an opportunity,
it's it feels very similar to what we can do, right,
just in a different packaging. We don't have the receivers.
(13:13):
We have them in tight ends, so you kind of
go vice versa as far as tight end to wide
receiver production if you flip that. But the run games
consistent the play action game, how willing you are to
want to set the run up to get you some
passing opportunities, like, all those things factor into it. So
(13:34):
I think you're going to see two very mirrored teams
for a lot of intents and purposes and like you said,
opportunistic defense. So it stacks up and it just kind
of looks like you know, looking in the mirror, whether
it's a young mirror and older mirror, but you know,
you're kind of looking at yourself, and what the goals
are are still the same for both of these teams,
(13:56):
and that's going to be you know, their keys are
going to be very similar to winning the game on
Sunday night.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And just to once more, just to go back to Watson,
who is again you know, limited, officially limited in practice,
but he's talked about returning on Sunday night. He's expected
to play on Sunday Night. You know, you think of
DK Metcalf if you think of him in a Seattle
uniform as a Steelers fan, I think you're thinking of
a big play threat. We've seen that with the Steelers.
(14:21):
The eighteen point five yards per reception he's averaging right
now is the best of his career. It's also the
third best right now in the NFL. So DK Metcalf,
I think we all think of him as a big
play guy. I think that's fair to say. In twenty
twenty three, his second Pro Bowl season, he averaged sixteen
point nine yards per reception. Prior to this season, and
(14:43):
again this season isn't done, but prior to this season,
that's the highest yards perception of his career. Sixteen point
nine that he had in twenty twenty three, very very
good number. That's Christian Watson's career average. That's his average.
So Watson, just keep that in mind. You know, we
want you to keep in mind the tight ends for
(15:05):
both teams. For the Steelers, but as you're watching, you're
probably more if you're listening to the show, probably more
familiar with the Steelers than you are with Green Bay.
So this is what green Bay. We're talking about their offense,
and we'll talk about their defense coming up. We're talking
about their offense right now. This is what they bring
to bear and we'll get to Josh Jacobs coming up
next segment. But they bring to bear in the passing
(15:26):
game and they like to run it. Maybe we should
have started with a run, but we think the tight
ends are kind of a bit of a secret sauce
for both teams in this game. They want to get
the ball to the tight end and Tucker Craft they
can make explosive plays on the outside. So as a
fan coming in, just keep that in mind, right you know,
(15:47):
if you're saying, hey, we need press coverage, we need
to do all these things, keep in mind every time
you do that, you're running the risk of one of
these speedy wide receivers and a guy with Chris and
Christian Watson who's got a three your resume in the
NFL that says I will beat you over the top
if you think you can just roll the coverage up
(16:07):
on us.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Yeah, and you gotta, you gotta, you gotta stay very
vigilant about not allowing them to take over, not saying
you need to drop it into too high every single
time because you're scared.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
You got to be aggressive.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
But but but you need to hit home and that's
where pass rush really matters, and hopefully they can establish
an opportunity. Jordan Love not quite the the hair trigger
that Joe Flacco had, but you know, you know they
watched that film and it's a team that they just beat,
you know, they beat them prior to beating the Cardinals,
so they saw they're gonna take something for that game play, like, man,
(16:45):
we can minimize this pass rush, let's do this. They're
probably gonna try and take that opportunity, just like the
defense for Green Bays watching and saying nan Areng gets
the ball out quick, how are we gonna sack him?
Like you're gonna have to do that extra working, has
to go the extra mile to make sure that your
pass rush hits defensively so that those are receivers do
(17:05):
get taken out of that so he doesn't have time
to just launch an airball down down the field forty
fifty yards and make a completion. You got to have
pressure in his face. You've got to have him under
duress early and often in this ball game so that
they don't feel like they can settle in and do
what they want.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
One quick question for you, Max, before we go out
to the break and kind of wrap up our Packers
pass offense coverage. And again we're saying this just so
that you know, when you're watching on TV and of
course with a soundown and listening on the radio, be
wary of when the Steelers go up on press coverage.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
That's all we're saying.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Just beware of this, right, This is part of your
preparation for the game those people who are listening.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
Is that Tucker Craft is a guy.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
He's a dude at the tight end position, and these
receivers will try to run by you. So when you
see press coverage, think about that this week. The other
thing is, and this is just an aside in watching
their games, and I'm about eighty percent of the way
through the Packers season, Man Love takes some really really
(18:13):
deep drops, which, by the way, I think will benefit
the Steelers pass rush. This guy's coming around the edge,
but I don't know if he gets back. It's like
an old school Joe Namath seven step drop, I'm gonna
heave it deep kind of thing.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
It's kind of crazy.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I mean, some of that, I'm sure, as you know,
you're trying to time up the time up deeper patterns
by getting that longer break.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
But he also seems to drift back.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
And I don't know if that's by design or if
that's something that he does, but I mean you'll see
him ten yards behind the line of scrimmage looking downfield.
It's kind of crazy, and I don't know if it's
by design or whether that's something that he just kind
of drifts back when he's feeling the pass rush coming.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Now, I think I think it's an old like you know,
like you said, Joe name of you know, Noravel type
of offense where you know, you have seven step drops
in there to try and create an opportunity for the
receivers to get to their point by the time he
hits that back foot and he can launch it because
he has a strong arm. But yeah, no, the deep
drops are definitely what's put them in trouble when they
(19:16):
have had issues with pass rush. It's been because of
those type of things. An offensive lineman kind of not
knowing you know what that angle looks like. You know,
we talk about running the hula hoop is an offensive
line you're usually wanting to contact about four to five
and then run him an additional five on an arc
to create the ten yard pocket depth for a five
(19:37):
step drop. But you know when you're when you're in
a position of having that deeper drop, now you change
that angle a little bit.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
So we're going to take a break. We're going to
talk about the guy that really is the.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
Engine for this Packers offense.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
No disrespect to love or Craft or the passing game,
but you know who that guy is. It's Josh Jacobs
and how and the Steelers combat him and stop him.
Coming off a game in which Cincinnati was able to
pretty much run the ball will against the Steelers, we're
going to discuss that. Missy Matthews is going to be
joining us a little bit later on. We are in
the Locker Room, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store in
(20:14):
the Steer's Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part
of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
This is in the locker room when Kingyon starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store. The
F one point fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
And we want to remind you, with these new jerseys
coming out on Sunday night, that you can gear up
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Pro shops. Get the latest sideline apparel of jerseys, terrible towels,
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(21:04):
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You know, as we move on here and talk about
you know, Max, some of the key matchups, and we're
gonna get to Josh Jacobs in a moment, I did
want to point something out here that's that's kind of
(21:25):
hidden a little bit I think for fans watching these
teams is.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
That Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Look, every team, there's game, there's plays that happen here there,
and your record could be this and could be that,
and you are what your record is. They've had a
blocked field goal against Cleveland that cost them a victory
in a game in which they did not play it
all well, but.
Speaker 5 (21:48):
A blockfield goal.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Cleveland gets it, they come back, they kick a field
goal in the waiting seconds, right there was wasn't much
time left in the in the game when that field
goal was blocked. And a blocked extra point against Dallas
that was returned for a two point conversion by Dallas,
So a three point swing in a game in which
you tied. So let's not forget special teams and the
(22:11):
importance they could play, especially if this game is close.
You know, Danny Smith's units have been very good in
the last several years. They've been outstanding with with blocking
kicks and with covering kicks, and I think we're starting
to see a little bit more out of the return
units as well. But I just want to put that
in the back of people's minds again, this is a
(22:33):
team that you know, if they execute a couple of
you know, sort of routine plays, a field goal that
was a long field goal attempt and an extra point.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
They could be six and zer right now.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
No, they very well could be. And I think that's
where you kind of take a little bit of solace
and thinking about just where they are from a special
team standpoint, very close on a lot of things. And
you know that unit is dynamic, it has some dynamic personnel.
They've done a great job since the beginning season really
(23:07):
understanding the new kickoff rule, the new alignments, and that's
a lot. I mean, you're literally changing the entire schematics
of how you ran. You know, a third of the
phases that you deal with kickoff and kickoff return is
one third of it, you know, punt, punt returned, and
of course field goal, field goal block or other aspects.
(23:29):
So you have six different phases. Two out of those
six changes one third. There we go, easy math for
the morning. And you know, you could see the adjustment
they had some early on bus plays where teams were
getting good field position. But now you know, Boz has
figured out his sweet little you know, kind of kind
of a nine iron shot right little lob edge action
(23:52):
to get the ball in the landing zone no longer
you really kicking it through the back of the end zone.
And he hasn't had any real like unintentional touchbacks.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
So he so he's a skill.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
Kicker and the guys are covering, so they're allowing for
enough time the depth to have an opportunity to keep
the ball, you know before or I should say beyond
the thirty five in the reverse direction, because obviously some
people think beyond thirty five is like forty I guess
to say under thirty five is that?
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Is that better? Is that a more literal way?
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Under thirty five yards on a return, So teams are
usually averaging around twenty seven to twenty eight yard line,
which is good because it's a net seven gain from
where it could be if they kicked into the end zone.
So I think that's been a really nice sight. Obviously,
you know, losing denals Killer Brew, a captain on that
team at multiple Pro bowler, hurts some of the leadership.
But there's a lot of other leaders on that team,
(24:44):
so guys are getting a chance to shine. I think
Carson Brunners had had a great special teams season thus far.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
He's been in on a lot of those plays. And
you know Ben.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
Scronic scrow Dirt Man, Scrow Dirt is one of those.
Is is one of those guys man. You know, that's
a guy you want on your team. You don't want
to go against him because he is just savvy. He
knows how to get down the field, he knows how
how do we how to we through blocks and make plays.
And you know that James Pierre has been another one
(25:15):
that's been really good on the coverage units. So Danny
Smith has his boys rocking at a high clip. And
you haven't really seen those jail break returns yet.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
No, And and that is again something to tuck away
and one more thing before we get to uh to
the running game here for Green Bay, because that is
and Josh Jacobs is really the straw that serves that drink.
I think for them offensively, Matt Lafleur has a lot
of creative stuff going on there are you know, look,
(25:44):
he'll he'll line up, you know, he'll motion somebody into
the backfield. He'll you know, they'll stand there. They'll flank
Jordan Love with Jacobs on the other side. And now
that guy will get it on a on a sweep
to the left and and they and they run a
lot of jet sweeps and wide receiver stuff, and they'll
they're not afraid to throw a flee flick.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Or they had a.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Play against Dallas in which Love was scrambling out to
his left and Jacobs was in the left flat with
Chris Brooks, So they had two running backs out there.
Brooks is their third running back. Brooks was standing in
front of Jacob's It was kind of a bizarre thing.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
And now Love is running.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Out to the left and as he runs out to
the left and gets about to the line of scrimmage,
he throws the ball overhand but backwards, so it's a
lateral to And I still can't figure this out to Jacobs.
And Jacobs runs twenty eight yards down the sideline and
gets down to the one yard line or twenty something yards,
And I watched it again and again and again, and
I couldn't figure out did they just happen to be
(26:40):
there or was that actually a designed play? Is that
something that maybe wasn't designed on that particular play, But
I mean, they had two running backs standing on the
left flat. I was trying to figure So I watched
it again and again Mack and I wouldn't put it
past Matt Lafleur if that was actually grifted somehow, And
(27:01):
I couldn't figure out whether it was or it wasn't.
I don't know if you know the play I'm referring to,
but they will run some stuff at you that I
think as a defense in general, it's designed to maybe
make you think and get you on your heels a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Yeah. No, I mean I think there's there.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
You know, there's a certain level of gamesmanship in trying
to create some smoking mirrors. Right, start looking this way,
we're gonna go the other way. Let's let's let's show
something un orthodox every once in a while.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
But I don't think that was. I think that was
more of a bust and assignment from somebody.
Speaker 5 (27:39):
I think so too. But why were they standing?
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Why was Chris Brooks standing four yards in front of Jacobs?
And why was Jacob standing? I mean, I could see
why Jacobs is standing behind the line of scrimmage, right,
he's the safety valve.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
And I'm sure you're right.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
I'm sure it was just a street yard play and
everybody was tuned in and everybody, but I mean, I
kept look at it and I'm like, there's no way.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
That was designed, was it. Yeah, it couldn't.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
I mean ranted the annexation of Puerto Rico worked for
a reason in the Little Giants, right, So you know, you
never know, but it does, like you said, it looked,
it looked gimmicky. It looked like somebody might have missed
something up, kind of like our Bosh flee flicker.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah, uh yeah, let's not let's not think about that.
So Josh Jacobs, you know, he's the guy. So first
of all, he had eleven straight games, including the playoffs.
They had one playoff game last year and lost in
which he had rushed for a touchdown. So that was
very getting very close to, you know, elite territory. It's
still incredible. It's an incredible run. Then he gets skunked
(28:47):
against Cleveland and he has subsequently come back with three
consecutive games in which he's had two rushing touchdowns. This
guy knows how to find the end zone. And I
think that, you know, Green as a team, we mentioned
this yesterday. They have one of the highest rush percentages
in the league, which means when they've got the ball,
they will run it a lot and they will run
(29:09):
Jacobs a lot. And I think coming off that game
last week, if you are the Steelers, you have to
you have to suspect. Okay, we got Tucker Kraft, we
have to worry about him. We have two guys in
the outside that can blow the cover off our defense.
We have to worry about them. But if we don't
stop Jacobs, we've got big problems. And I think Cincinnati
(29:31):
I don't know why they wouldn't look at last week's
game and think, Okay, whether they come out throwing to
loosen the Steelers up, or whether they come out running
to see if that works. Regardless if if they find
that running game working, I would expect to see a
ton of Josh Jacobs on Sunday night.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Yeah, no, I would.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I definitely expect to see him early often. He's averaging
three point seven yards of carry, so you know you
want to you want to definitely try and neutralize him.
I think, you know, when they get to the red zone,
that's what that that's and especially inside the ten yard line,
that's that's when you're getting a heavy dose of Josh Jacobs.
And that's why he's you know, had the touchdown streak
(30:12):
that he's had. He's got eight teddies on the season
on the ground, So he is a guy that's very
adept that when you get in those goal to go situations,
you get in that you know, that.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Low red zone.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
He's a guy that's a very viable option, especially with
the run rate. But you know that's the other thing.
Keep them out of those goal to go known rushing situations.
You have to create behind the line opportunities. You have
to create TFLs, get them off kilter, because, like you said,
Jordan Love, I mean, for everything we say about him,
(30:48):
this is also a guy who will cough the football up.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
And you know he hasn't done it as much this year.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
He's only got two interceptions on the year, averaging on
one to eight rating, but he's got twenty seven on
his career, a very young career where he didn't play
for two years.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
So when you think about that.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
There are the tendencies that he will give the ball
away if you put him in third and long situations,
you put him in backed up situations. They haven't been
in many of those this year, but there is that propensity.
So you have to do everything in your power to
blunt run that run game and I know Josh Jacobs
is a really good back, but you've got to be
(31:29):
really good tacklers. You can't have the perimeter mistackle game
like you did against Cincinnati. And when you do blitz
and you get in the hole, you've got to make sure.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
That you hit the mark.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
You can't miss the mark or else it's going to
be a really long day and we're going to see,
you know, a relapse by this union. I think this
unit has a lot of pride in they're a very
skilled unit, but you know, momentum, confidence and everything else
is another thing because you have to build that trust
with a man next to you, and so they're still
building that. You have a lot of really good guys,
(32:00):
but it hasn't become a really great units a really
good unit and has had its moments. But the idea
of what makes a team good is consistency and is
it sustainable. We saw, I mean, we saw a three
game streak where those guys were just undeniable sack of
the quarterback, turning the ball over and just wreaking havoc.
(32:23):
And you know, that kind of covers up some of
the ills. But when you don't have splash plays like
you did against Cincinnati. That makes it really tough for
a unit, and you could wear guys out. They have
to get out of the situation of getting worn out,
and they got to start wearing guys out. And also,
I think there's a good opportunity there offensively to keep
drive sustained.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
And when the time possession battle is a very real thing.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
I know people don't see it because it's not as
tangible as the other stats, but time of possession is
a key stat. If you could hold the ball longer
than your opponent, that keeps your defense that much fresher
to go hunt. They can't be on the field forty
two minutes, thirty five minutes, or thirty four minutes. You've
(33:07):
got to get them in that twenty seven to twenty
six range is a sweet spot and that that's golden territory.
Twenty eight twenty nine is probably more than norm uh,
if you're gonna be an elite unit. But you know,
and they got to get out the field on third downs,
got to get up the field in third downs. So
there's a lot of stuff in there that they have
to work on. But they're a unit that is capable
(33:28):
of it.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
It has been done yeah, And I think what you
brought up with Jacobs when you mentioned the three point
seven yards per carry, I think you bring up you know,
you're bringing up the point of what green Bay is
after and everything you've just talked about, this is what
green Bay is after. So you know, in his in
his you know, Pro Bowl season a couple of years ago,
(33:51):
that the season in Vegas in which he just exploded,
you second in the league in yr and attempts per.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
Game, he was.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
You know, he's he's this year, he's third, just barely,
he's almost first. But this is a guy. He's a
high volume runner. And think about you know, when the
Steelers were going well with Najee Harris or prior to that,
Jerome Bettis and I had put Jacob somewhere in between
those two guys. They are It's not all about hey,
are you getting five yards of carry? It is are
(34:23):
you controlling the clock? Are you hammering it at the
other team? Are you softening them up? Are you getting
into third and manageables by getting that three point seven?
His career average is only four point two yards per
carry because that's the way he's been utilized. Hammer hammer,
And guess what guess who the number one offense is
in third down conversions. It's the Green Bay It's the
(34:46):
Green Bay Packers because they get themselves into those third
and manageable situations. So again something there to keep in mind.
Told we got to go to break. So you know
what when I'm told we got to go to break
by Justin Miller, when he gets on the wire and
says go to break, you know we do, Max to break.
Speaker 5 (35:02):
We go to break.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
And you're in the Locker Room presented by your neighborhood
Ford Store and the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio,
part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
And thanks very much for being with us and Max
last week the Arizona Cardinals. And this is the last
time we're going to talk about with the with Green
Bay's offense before we make the switch to Green Bays
Defense and talk to Missy Matthews coming up next hour.
Speaker 5 (35:49):
They gave up. They had six sachs. Did the Packers
rush And.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
We're going to talk about that in a little bit,
but I want to talk about because everyone's talking about
that part of it, but I want to talk about
the other side because against Cleveland, the Packers offensive line
was completely overwhelmed by the Browns front. And we saw
in a game against the Cowboys that one of those
deep rushes by Love and the ball slapped that out
(36:17):
of his hand on the backside rush coming around the edge.
Because of that deep drop, I believe there's I believe
there's opportunity here for the Steelers pass rush to make
life difficult on Jordan Love, much as the Browns were
able to do in that game that the Browns won,
thanks again in part to the late block field goal,
(36:38):
But certainly that you know that it's the only game
this year in which the Packers offense hasn't scored twenty
seven or more points.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
Well, I think you know that's how you have to
kind of go at it, like what are they good at?
What are they skilled at? And you got to take
it away because this team can't put points up and
they put points up in bunches. In the third quarter.
In that Cardinals game especially, they got into a rhythm.
They scored two touchdowns and you know in that third quarter,
and that gave them momentum going into the fourth.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
They have been.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
Depressed, you know, the whole time, even against Cincinnati, like
Cincinnati held them to only was it ten points I
believe at the end of the first half defensively, so
you know, there there is an opportunity to keep this
offense at Bay. But once they figure it out, their
halftime adjustments has been really their key thing that's.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Helped them in a lot of these games. But they
do get frustrated.
Speaker 4 (37:32):
They do take risks, and they do gamble, and they
do fail, and you've got to make sure that they're
gambling and failing more often, kind of like did Las
Vegas theory, right? You know, you know the lights aren't
on by accidents, not because of the winners, right, So
you've got to make them pay when they give you
an opportunity. That's why I said, when you do decide
(37:54):
to go press pass, rush has to hit home. When
you do decide to blitz, must be a TfL or
a stimy at the line of scrimmage. You can't bounce
off and allow them second life and second effort. You've
got to make sure that you stick with him and
force him into a bad situation. And Dallas did that
that hence why they ended in a tie. So weird
(38:17):
to see that on the record, But you know, they're
not They're not an infallible group and people can get
after them. And like you said, the Browns held them
to just ten points total. So you have these other
games where you have you know, good starts and and
good games. I mean, I think about the lines and
(38:38):
the Commanders to start the season, you know, as a
team that was highly motivated, you know, the whole Micah
Parson's honeymoon glow was all over them, and that was
a factor that played into it. But then they're like,
he's just a guy. Wait a second, he didn't win
any Super Bowls, he didn't win any playoff games. Like,
this guy is good, but you're only as good as
the guys you're around as well, and not necessarily you're
(38:58):
you're picking on him, you're actually going away from him,
or you're dedicating resources to him to keep him away.
But offensively speaking, specifically, they're a unit that can be overwhelmed.
And I think we have a front that can overwhelm
that offensive line and give them some issues. I mean,
Elton Jenkins. You know, I love Elton Jenks, but Elton
(39:20):
Jingks has.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
Played everywhere on this offensive line.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
Like he started, he started his career as a tackle
and now he's now he's a center for the team.
So you know there is still some uncertainty there. Obviously
a big, long armed guy, but you put him in
a phone booth. That's not exactly going to be his
strong suit. So try and make him pay. He's a
very tall center at six foot five. You can get
(39:44):
under him. Hello, Keanu Benton, you know Hello, you know
Logan Lee, Ya Black and company. Like you've got to
be able to get into those situations. And then you know,
for a lot of these other guys, they're young, Zach,
Tom and Sean on the right side, just forth your guys.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
And you know you can do some things.
Speaker 4 (40:06):
I mean, I look at Derek Harmon and look at
Cam Heyward, right, you know those are guys who can
who can smash, bash and crash a lot of a
lot of the things that you don't want to do.
And if you can pick a corner or sorry that corner,
pick a side. You can force them up the field.
They'll get they'll give the soft shoulder to the inside.
So you want to put them in as many awkward
(40:30):
situations that you can to just force them down and
force them not to not to be effective. And you
know that puts pressure. You know what's what where's the
one place of quarterback hates to get pressure right right
right up the middle, right right in the gullet, right
in the gullet, you know. So we got we got
(40:50):
the interior guys to do that. We got enough interior
press guys. Have guys have to win their one on
one bouts and whip those blocks at the beginning and put.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
That pressure on them right up the middle. Yeah, and
the second leading rushers, you have to be careful of them.
But he's not a he's not a prototypical running quarterback,
but he'll he'll put up decent He can run, that's
the thing. He prefers to throw it, but he's got
the capability running. I'm just gonna run down some of
the stats in that Cleveland game because we have to
get to a break.
Speaker 5 (41:16):
Miss is coming up.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
But even when they even when Cleveland held them number
one rush defense to two point six yards to carry,
they still ran it thirty one times, averaging two point six.
So you don't think this Green Bay team will stick
to the run. They will stick to the run. Twenty
five pass attempts, five sacks. So you want to talk
about a recipe for beating anybody, obviously, but going back
(41:41):
to what the Steelers were doing effectively in that three
game stretch before Cincinnati, stop the run, get to the passer,
obvious keys, But it's what the Steelers do well when
they're playing well, and what they will try to do
against Jordan Love coming up on Sunday night in this
battle of first place teams. Missy Matthews going to join us.
Then we continue in the Locker Room, presented by your
(42:02):
neighborhood Ford Store in the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers
Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
And we thank you very much for being with us
on this Friday as we get you ready for a
matchup of division leaders, the AFC North Division leading Steelers
hosting the NFC North Division leading Green Bay Packers on
Sunday night. Max Starks, how you doing, my friend?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I am doing wonderful.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Happy Friday to you, Kinger, and you know we are
barreling down towards this matchup. I just did a show
on Hit on Green Bay on their radio station out
there earlier. Actually I take that back Milwaukee, but they covered,
they cover Green Bay and they're nervous. The fans are nervous.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
You know that.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
I feel like, you know, it's a little bit of
that uh, that guilt about how how things ended and
and you since that was kind of the undertone of
that of that kind of conversation that I had with them,
and you know, they definitely, you know, replaying the hits
in your head type of deal, and you're like, I'm like,
(01:34):
you know, I like this guy, but you know something
about that old dog. I mean, he was there. I mean,
when you think about it, I mean it was a
long time. Two thousand and five, he got drafted there
and of course left it did two years with the Jets,
and now year three here.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
You know, post Green Bay.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
He is he is a Steeler and so no, a
lot a lot of good stuff, but you know, a
lot of challenges in front of us.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
There's there's a.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Lot of a lot of stuff in between Aaron Rodgers
and getting a dub on on Sunday Night.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
So we're hopefully going to break that down.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
But I thought it was just funny having that conversation
with Packers Radio up there that they were feeling at
a little anxious.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
NFL dot Com they put a bunch of their.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
There for each game.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
They have their analysts and I think they have ten
of them, well I know they have ten of them
make their predictions. Seven of the ten at the Packers
winning on Sunday Night. For what that is worth, which
is really not much. But it also again when we
talk about these things, power rankings, what other people think.
It's a sense of what others believe outside of our
(02:54):
market about the Pittsburgh Steelers. So yesterday we spent some
time talking about the tight ends and the Steelers tight
ends are targeted more than any tight ends in the league.
Thirty six percent of the of the passes go to
or the completions go to tight ends. The green Bay
(03:16):
Packers are a team that they give up some stuff
to tight ends. They have one of the highest target
rates against when it comes to tight end. So we
identified that yesterday. Maybe not the spot that people would
think about leading off, but we let it off there
because I think it's it's relevant to what the Steelers
do offensively, clearly, and it's also relevant to something that
(03:39):
teams feel like they can they can exploit with Green Bay.
So that was one of the topics just again for
people that are just joining us today to recap where
where we left off yesterday. We think the tight ends
can be a big factor here for a Steelers victory.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Yeah, no, I believe that as well. And you know,
like I said, watching the film, you know, Trey McBride
had had had a nice game against against them, and
he he killed them with a couple of a couple
of really good plays.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Uh, you know, just Seki the week before.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Before he got injured, looked looked to be okay and
getting some opportunities.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
I'll start on a third game today.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
But you know, as I'm kind of looking at this,
I mean, it feels very similar as far as how
they want to attack. Obviously, Christian Watson, I think, is
that that that's the bigger news that he'll be back
in the fold for them potentially this week. Why is
it that that that wide receivers want to come back
(04:43):
against us?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
You know, well, you know what, I know that's it
was a little bit of a rhetorical question, but the
or or or one not you know, not expecting an answer,
but the Studish pass defense has not been very good
yards per game against Now. I know they're not related.
When a guy can play, he can play, but that
(05:05):
is something that we have to be concerned about in
this game.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
I think, No, you.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Got to be concerned about the Christian Watson effect. You know,
Do'ntavian Wis is not practiced at all this week. He's
still on the iffy train. But Christian Watson Romeo Dobbs
paired with a Tucker Craft presents a challenge, right, and
and the and the aerial department, and then of course
you got the backfield issues with Josh Jacobs. And you know, terall,
(05:30):
Austin was asked a lot about the run game yesterday,
and you know he had to answer for it. He said,
but you know, guy, he said, you know a lot
of guys saying the same thing. Guys do it too much,
But you got to trust a guy next to you,
and you just got to stay in your gap and
not try and do more when the same thing that
you might have got gashed on before happens again. Stop
(05:50):
trying to do too much is sticking your gap and
trust your guy. But those are those are some very
like you said, the past defense is not that great
against wide receivers. Also, so the run game's not that
great against you know, some good running backs as we've seen,
and teams that are intent on running the football. So
a lot of challenges for that defense coming up on Sunday,
(06:12):
and hopefully with the extended rest, little more reflection, a
little more steady time, they'll be prepared to handle the
Packers on Sunday night.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, and we're gonna get into all these matchups. Okay,
we're gonna get into We're gonna look at everything that's
important in this game. Missy Matthews is going to join
us as well. I'm weird. We are going to drill
down to the stuff that's important. We started yesterday. Excuse
me with the tight end position. You know, look, as
long as we're talking about receivers, let's maybe go there
next with the receivers on both sides. And you know,
(06:42):
Christian Watson coming back. He is their big play guy.
Jordan Love is not afraid to throw the ball down
the field. He is one of those guys in the league.
You know, Statistically, the stats back it up. The yards
per reception are very high. We talked about that in
terms of Tuck Craft yesterday. They're excellent young tight end.
(07:03):
Talking to Matt Williamson yesterday, he said Craft is his
favorite young tight end in the league. He's a guy
that you know, he came from South Dakota State Mason
McCormick school, and he is a yards after catch guy.
He's difficult to bring down. He doesn't like being tackled.
You know, he's a he's a combative runner. He has
(07:25):
good hands and he averages fourteen yards per reception. That
is a ton at the tight end position. That's really
good for a wide receiver. For a tight end, it's
out of this world. It's number two in the league
behind Pat Fryarmouth, who had the big explosive game last
week against Cincinnati. So he is going to be a factor.
But in the passing game, Christian Watson is the deep
(07:48):
ball threat.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
He's the guy. Not that Dobbs and others aren't capable.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Of it, but when you think, because they do have
a bunch of receivers that have had you go back
to last year when everybody was healthy, a bunch of
guys with you know whose long reception is fifty sixty yards.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
So he's not the only guy, but he is the
number one guy. So when he gets back in, you
get him in and even if Wicks can't play, I
think that's a net gain for green Bay, assuming of course,
that Watson's acl is fine, he's back practicing. This would
be his first game of the season, knocking off the
rust all that, but this is a deep play threat.
(08:27):
This is a stretch the field type of guy. If
Watson's back for Green Bay.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Yeah it is, and I think you know the you know,
Romeo Dobbs gets his buddy back. They were both they
were both drafted together in twenty twenty two and you know,
second and fourth round picks.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
So no, these both these.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Guys come in bringing about a minimum of one hundred
catches a piece. I think Christian Watson is just below.
I think only has ninety eight, but Romeodaves is one
hundred and seventy one. So you're going to have a
challenge because that familiarity is there now. Dontavian Wicks obviously
a year younger, but that was the trio and that's
(09:09):
the reason why you kind of go with the Jordan
Love because you had this young, wide receiving group that
he could grow with. And that's kind of how if
you anticipated in a perfect world, that is what it
shows is that you need to have consistency with that
growth together. And so that's why you probably make a
(09:30):
switch from Aaron Rodgers to a Jordan Love to grow
with this receiving corps and has paid dividends for them
already and working together. So you know, if you get
any two of the three, there's already a synergy there.
There's already there, already a connection there. And Romeo and
Christian both have a lot of long touchdown passes from
(09:50):
Jordan Love. Jordan Love is a has a strong arm,
he's a deep ball threat, and you know, and it
goes all the way back to his days at Utah State.
You know, I remember calling these games like, man, that
kid's gonna be in the NFL one day. Like watching him,
you know, seeing him play, seeing Josh Allen play, and
you're like something about those kids, like they come from
those quote unquote at the time group of five schools.
(10:13):
Now it's called a group of six schools. But when
you see them play and there's a tenacity or something
special about them that that's that X factor. And he
has some receivers to go with him, just like Josh
Allen got and it made them an even better quarterback.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Well and Matthew Golden, you know I talk about I
talked about Watson being the deep threat. Matthew Golden can fly,
he can really run. They've got speed on the outside.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
By the way.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
They will use these guys on reverses and jet sweeps
and they'll line them both up in the backfield.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Two guys.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
I mean, if Jacob's and a receiver, they'll run them
on little sweeps and other things. They're trying to take
advantage of it. The very creative offense, which we could
talk about a little bit in a little bit as
to you know what that does to a defense, and
it's sows doubt in the mind of a defense, which
I think is part of you know what the aim
is here for Matt Lafleur's offense. But you know, Goldvin
(11:08):
is another guy. So they've got receivers, particularly in Golden
and Watson with Watson's return, who are capable. We've seen
it with Watson, but we know Golden is capable of it.
We know he can really fly. And that is that's
something that I think that the corners have to be
wary of. And if you're looking at it from Green
Bay's perspective, the green Bay doesn't throw the ball a ton.
(11:29):
In fact, they have the fourth fewest pass attempts percentage
wise in the league, and you know they're behind the
teams you would kind of expect, the Seahawks, the Bills,
the Lions.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
Those are teams that like to run the football.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
The Bills are maybe a little bit surprising to me,
but you know, part of that is Josh Allen tucking it.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
In, Josh Allen some of those passes and rush. Yeah,
that's that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
So and by the way, some of these statistics were
throwing out, you are for Matt Staff. That's Matt Williamson
does a great job of coming up with a stat
packet for us. But you know, they want to sledge
hammer the ball with Josh Jacobs and just schematically speaking,
Jacob's not that Jacobs isn't capable of long runs, but
(12:15):
I think of him as a battering ram. Now there's
more to his game than that. Obviously, he's got you know,
he's he's able to catch the ball. He does have
some wiggle, but he's the kind of guy where they
will if they get if they think they can get
a few yards of crack, they're gonna hammer him at you.
By the same token, if you're a corner, you can't
(12:38):
creep up because next thing you know, it's play action
and Golden and Watson are flying past you. It's a
it's a difficult one to two punch to deal with,
it is it.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Is, But that's the balance that any good team and
you're talking about team this first place in the North
and you're competing with the Detroits of the world. Yeah,
gotta be you gotta be balanced. One dimensional teams don't
make it that far. And you know, if there's an opportunity,
it's it feels very similar to what we can do, right,
just in a different packaging. We don't have the receivers.
(13:13):
We have them in tight ends, so you kind of
go vice versa as far as tight end to wide
receiver production if you flip that. But the run games
consistent the play action game, how willing you are to
want to set the run up to get you some
passing opportunities, like, all those things factor into it. So
(13:34):
I think you're going to see two very mirrored teams
for a lot of intents and purposes and like you said,
opportunistic defense. So it stacks up and it just kind
of looks like you know, looking in the mirror, whether
it's a young mirror and older mirror, but you know,
you're kind of looking at yourself, and what the goals
are are still the same for both of these teams,
(13:56):
and that's going to be you know, their keys are
going to be very similar to winning the game on
Sunday night.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And just to once more, just to go back to Watson,
who is again you know, limited, officially limited in practice,
but he's talked about returning on Sunday night. He's expected
to play on Sunday Night. You know, you think of
DK Metcalf if you think of him in a Seattle
uniform as a Steelers fan, I think you're thinking of
a big play threat. We've seen that with the Steelers.
(14:21):
The eighteen point five yards per reception he's averaging right
now is the best of his career. It's also the
third best right now in the NFL. So DK Metcalf,
I think we all think of him as a big
play guy. I think that's fair to say. In twenty
twenty three, his second Pro Bowl season, he averaged sixteen
point nine yards per reception. Prior to this season, and
(14:43):
again this season isn't done, but prior to this season,
that's the highest yards perception of his career. Sixteen point
nine that he had in twenty twenty three, very very
good number. That's Christian Watson's career average. That's his average.
So Watson, just keep that in mind. You know, we
want you to keep in mind the tight ends for
(15:05):
both teams. For the Steelers, but as you're watching, you're
probably more if you're listening to the show, probably more
familiar with the Steelers than you are with Green Bay.
So this is what green Bay. We're talking about their offense,
and we'll talk about their defense coming up. We're talking
about their offense right now. This is what they bring
to bear and we'll get to Josh Jacobs coming up
next segment. But they bring to bear in the passing
(15:26):
game and they like to run it. Maybe we should
have started with a run, but we think the tight
ends are kind of a bit of a secret sauce
for both teams in this game. They want to get
the ball to the tight end and Tucker Craft they
can make explosive plays on the outside. So as a
fan coming in, just keep that in mind, right you know,
(15:47):
if you're saying, hey, we need press coverage, we need
to do all these things, keep in mind every time
you do that, you're running the risk of one of
these speedy wide receivers and a guy with Chris and
Christian Watson who's got a three your resume in the
NFL that says I will beat you over the top
if you think you can just roll the coverage up
(16:07):
on us.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Yeah, and you gotta, you gotta, you gotta stay very
vigilant about not allowing them to take over, not saying
you need to drop it into too high every single
time because you're scared.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
You got to be aggressive.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
But but but you need to hit home and that's
where pass rush really matters, and hopefully they can establish
an opportunity. Jordan Love not quite the the hair trigger
that Joe Flacco had, but you know, you know they
watched that film and it's a team that they just beat,
you know, they beat them prior to beating the Cardinals,
so they saw they're gonna take something for that game play, like, man,
(16:45):
we can minimize this pass rush, let's do this. They're
probably gonna try and take that opportunity, just like the
defense for Green Bays watching and saying nan Areng gets
the ball out quick, how are we gonna sack him?
Like you're gonna have to do that extra working, has
to go the extra mile to make sure that your
pass rush hits defensively so that those are receivers do
(17:05):
get taken out of that so he doesn't have time
to just launch an airball down down the field forty
fifty yards and make a completion. You got to have
pressure in his face. You've got to have him under
duress early and often in this ball game so that
they don't feel like they can settle in and do
what they want.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
One quick question for you, Max, before we go out
to the break and kind of wrap up our Packers
pass offense coverage. And again we're saying this just so
that you know, when you're watching on TV and of
course with a soundown and listening on the radio, be
wary of when the Steelers go up on press coverage.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
That's all we're saying.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Just beware of this, right, This is part of your
preparation for the game those people who are listening.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
Is that Tucker Craft is a guy.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
He's a dude at the tight end position, and these
receivers will try to run by you. So when you
see press coverage, think about that this week. The other
thing is, and this is just an aside in watching
their games, and I'm about eighty percent of the way
through the Packers season, Man Love takes some really really
(18:13):
deep drops, which, by the way, I think will benefit
the Steelers pass rush. This guy's coming around the edge,
but I don't know if he gets back. It's like
an old school Joe Namath seven step drop, I'm gonna
heave it deep kind of thing.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
It's kind of crazy.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I mean, some of that, I'm sure, as you know,
you're trying to time up the time up deeper patterns
by getting that longer break.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
But he also seems to drift back.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
And I don't know if that's by design or if
that's something that he does, but I mean you'll see
him ten yards behind the line of scrimmage looking downfield.
It's kind of crazy, and I don't know if it's
by design or whether that's something that he just kind
of drifts back when he's feeling the pass rush coming.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Now, I think I think it's an old like you know,
like you said, Joe name of you know, Noravel type
of offense where you know, you have seven step drops
in there to try and create an opportunity for the
receivers to get to their point by the time he
hits that back foot and he can launch it because
he has a strong arm. But yeah, no, the deep
drops are definitely what's put them in trouble when they
(19:16):
have had issues with pass rush. It's been because of
those type of things. An offensive lineman kind of not
knowing you know what that angle looks like. You know,
we talk about running the hula hoop is an offensive
line you're usually wanting to contact about four to five
and then run him an additional five on an arc
to create the ten yard pocket depth for a five
(19:37):
step drop. But you know when you're when you're in
a position of having that deeper drop, now you change
that angle a little bit.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
So we're going to take a break. We're going to
talk about the guy that really is the.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
Engine for this Packers offense.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
No disrespect to love or Craft or the passing game,
but you know who that guy is. It's Josh Jacobs
and how and the Steelers combat him and stop him.
Coming off a game in which Cincinnati was able to
pretty much run the ball will against the Steelers, we're
going to discuss that. Missy Matthews is going to be
joining us a little bit later on. We are in
the Locker Room, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store in
(20:14):
the Steer's Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part
of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
This is in the locker room when Kingyon starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store. The
F one point fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
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Speaker 2 (20:44):
And we want to remind you, with these new jerseys
coming out on Sunday night, that you can gear up
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Pro shops. Get the latest sideline apparel of jerseys, terrible towels,
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(21:04):
tanger Oute Let's, or gear up online at shop dot
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this Steerers Pro Shop at shop dot Steelers dot com.
You know, as we move on here and talk about
you know, Max, some of the key matchups, and we're
gonna get to Josh Jacobs in a moment, I did
want to point something out here that's that's kind of
(21:25):
hidden a little bit I think for fans watching these
teams is.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
That Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Look, every team, there's game, there's plays that happen here there,
and your record could be this and could be that,
and you are what your record is. They've had a
blocked field goal against Cleveland that cost them a victory
in a game in which they did not play it
all well, but.
Speaker 5 (21:48):
A blockfield goal.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Cleveland gets it, they come back, they kick a field
goal in the waiting seconds, right there was wasn't much
time left in the in the game when that field
goal was blocked. And a blocked extra point against Dallas
that was returned for a two point conversion by Dallas,
So a three point swing in a game in which
you tied. So let's not forget special teams and the
(22:11):
importance they could play, especially if this game is close.
You know, Danny Smith's units have been very good in
the last several years. They've been outstanding with with blocking
kicks and with covering kicks, and I think we're starting
to see a little bit more out of the return
units as well. But I just want to put that
in the back of people's minds again, this is a
(22:33):
team that you know, if they execute a couple of
you know, sort of routine plays, a field goal that
was a long field goal attempt and an extra point.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
They could be six and zer right now.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
No, they very well could be. And I think that's
where you kind of take a little bit of solace
and thinking about just where they are from a special
team standpoint, very close on a lot of things. And
you know that unit is dynamic, it has some dynamic personnel.
They've done a great job since the beginning season really
(23:07):
understanding the new kickoff rule, the new alignments, and that's
a lot. I mean, you're literally changing the entire schematics
of how you ran. You know, a third of the
phases that you deal with kickoff and kickoff return is
one third of it, you know, punt, punt returned, and
of course field goal, field goal block or other aspects.
(23:29):
So you have six different phases. Two out of those
six changes one third. There we go, easy math for
the morning. And you know, you could see the adjustment
they had some early on bus plays where teams were
getting good field position. But now you know, Boz has
figured out his sweet little you know, kind of kind
of a nine iron shot right little lob edge action
(23:52):
to get the ball in the landing zone no longer
you really kicking it through the back of the end zone.
And he hasn't had any real like unintentional touchbacks.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
So he so he's a skill.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
Kicker and the guys are covering, so they're allowing for
enough time the depth to have an opportunity to keep
the ball, you know before or I should say beyond
the thirty five in the reverse direction, because obviously some
people think beyond thirty five is like forty I guess
to say under thirty five is that?
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Is that better? Is that a more literal way?
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Under thirty five yards on a return, So teams are
usually averaging around twenty seven to twenty eight yard line,
which is good because it's a net seven gain from
where it could be if they kicked into the end zone.
So I think that's been a really nice sight. Obviously,
you know, losing denals Killer Brew, a captain on that
team at multiple Pro bowler, hurts some of the leadership.
But there's a lot of other leaders on that team,
(24:44):
so guys are getting a chance to shine. I think
Carson Brunners had had a great special teams season thus far.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
He's been in on a lot of those plays. And
you know Ben.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
Scronic scrow Dirt Man, Scrow Dirt is one of those.
Is is one of those guys man. You know, that's
a guy you want on your team. You don't want
to go against him because he is just savvy. He
knows how to get down the field, he knows how
how do we how to we through blocks and make plays.
And you know that James Pierre has been another one
(25:15):
that's been really good on the coverage units. So Danny
Smith has his boys rocking at a high clip. And
you haven't really seen those jail break returns yet.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
No, And and that is again something to tuck away
and one more thing before we get to uh to
the running game here for Green Bay, because that is
and Josh Jacobs is really the straw that serves that drink.
I think for them offensively, Matt Lafleur has a lot
of creative stuff going on there are you know, look,
(25:44):
he'll he'll line up, you know, he'll motion somebody into
the backfield. He'll you know, they'll stand there. They'll flank
Jordan Love with Jacobs on the other side. And now
that guy will get it on a on a sweep
to the left and and they and they run a
lot of jet sweeps and wide receiver stuff, and they'll
they're not afraid to throw a flee flick.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Or they had a.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Play against Dallas in which Love was scrambling out to
his left and Jacobs was in the left flat with
Chris Brooks, So they had two running backs out there.
Brooks is their third running back. Brooks was standing in
front of Jacob's It was kind of a bizarre thing.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
And now Love is running.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Out to the left and as he runs out to
the left and gets about to the line of scrimmage,
he throws the ball overhand but backwards, so it's a
lateral to And I still can't figure this out to Jacobs.
And Jacobs runs twenty eight yards down the sideline and
gets down to the one yard line or twenty something yards,
And I watched it again and again and again, and
I couldn't figure out did they just happen to be
(26:40):
there or was that actually a designed play? Is that
something that maybe wasn't designed on that particular play, But
I mean, they had two running backs standing on the
left flat. I was trying to figure So I watched
it again and again Mack and I wouldn't put it
past Matt Lafleur if that was actually grifted somehow, And
(27:01):
I couldn't figure out whether it was or it wasn't.
I don't know if you know the play I'm referring to,
but they will run some stuff at you that I
think as a defense in general, it's designed to maybe
make you think and get you on your heels a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Yeah. No, I mean I think there's there.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
You know, there's a certain level of gamesmanship in trying
to create some smoking mirrors. Right, start looking this way,
we're gonna go the other way. Let's let's let's show
something un orthodox every once in a while.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
But I don't think that was. I think that was
more of a bust and assignment from somebody.
Speaker 5 (27:39):
I think so too. But why were they standing?
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Why was Chris Brooks standing four yards in front of Jacobs?
And why was Jacob standing? I mean, I could see
why Jacobs is standing behind the line of scrimmage, right,
he's the safety valve.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
And I'm sure you're right.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
I'm sure it was just a street yard play and
everybody was tuned in and everybody, but I mean, I
kept look at it and I'm like, there's no way.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
That was designed, was it. Yeah, it couldn't.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
I mean ranted the annexation of Puerto Rico worked for
a reason in the Little Giants, right, So you know, you
never know, but it does, like you said, it looked,
it looked gimmicky. It looked like somebody might have missed
something up, kind of like our Bosh flee flicker.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah, uh yeah, let's not let's not think about that.
So Josh Jacobs, you know, he's the guy. So first
of all, he had eleven straight games, including the playoffs.
They had one playoff game last year and lost in
which he had rushed for a touchdown. So that was
very getting very close to, you know, elite territory. It's
still incredible. It's an incredible run. Then he gets skunked
(28:47):
against Cleveland and he has subsequently come back with three
consecutive games in which he's had two rushing touchdowns. This
guy knows how to find the end zone. And I
think that, you know, Green as a team, we mentioned
this yesterday. They have one of the highest rush percentages
in the league, which means when they've got the ball,
they will run it a lot and they will run
(29:09):
Jacobs a lot. And I think coming off that game
last week, if you are the Steelers, you have to
you have to suspect. Okay, we got Tucker Kraft, we
have to worry about him. We have two guys in
the outside that can blow the cover off our defense.
We have to worry about them. But if we don't
stop Jacobs, we've got big problems. And I think Cincinnati
(29:31):
I don't know why they wouldn't look at last week's
game and think, Okay, whether they come out throwing to
loosen the Steelers up, or whether they come out running
to see if that works. Regardless if if they find
that running game working, I would expect to see a
ton of Josh Jacobs on Sunday night.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Yeah, no, I would.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
I definitely expect to see him early often. He's averaging
three point seven yards of carry, so you know you
want to you want to definitely try and neutralize him.
I think, you know, when they get to the red zone,
that's what that that's and especially inside the ten yard line,
that's that's when you're getting a heavy dose of Josh Jacobs.
And that's why he's you know, had the touchdown streak
(30:12):
that he's had. He's got eight teddies on the season
on the ground, So he is a guy that's very
adept that when you get in those goal to go situations,
you get in that you know, that.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Low red zone.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
He's a guy that's a very viable option, especially with
the run rate. But you know that's the other thing.
Keep them out of those goal to go known rushing situations.
You have to create behind the line opportunities. You have
to create TFLs, get them off kilter, because, like you said,
Jordan Love, I mean, for everything we say about him,
(30:48):
this is also a guy who will cough the football up.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
And you know he hasn't done it as much this year.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
He's only got two interceptions on the year, averaging on
one to eight rating, but he's got twenty seven on
his career, a very young career where he didn't play
for two years.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
So when you think about that.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
There are the tendencies that he will give the ball
away if you put him in third and long situations,
you put him in backed up situations. They haven't been
in many of those this year, but there is that propensity.
So you have to do everything in your power to
blunt run that run game and I know Josh Jacobs
is a really good back, but you've got to be
(31:29):
really good tacklers. You can't have the perimeter mistackle game
like you did against Cincinnati. And when you do blitz
and you get in the hole, you've got to make sure.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
That you hit the mark.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
You can't miss the mark or else it's going to
be a really long day and we're going to see,
you know, a relapse by this union. I think this
unit has a lot of pride in they're a very
skilled unit, but you know, momentum, confidence and everything else
is another thing because you have to build that trust
with a man next to you, and so they're still
building that. You have a lot of really good guys,
(32:00):
but it hasn't become a really great units a really
good unit and has had its moments. But the idea
of what makes a team good is consistency and is
it sustainable. We saw, I mean, we saw a three
game streak where those guys were just undeniable sack of
the quarterback, turning the ball over and just wreaking havoc.
(32:23):
And you know, that kind of covers up some of
the ills. But when you don't have splash plays like
you did against Cincinnati. That makes it really tough for
a unit, and you could wear guys out. They have
to get out of the situation of getting worn out,
and they got to start wearing guys out. And also,
I think there's a good opportunity there offensively to keep
drive sustained.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
And when the time possession battle is a very real thing.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
I know people don't see it because it's not as
tangible as the other stats, but time of possession is
a key stat. If you could hold the ball longer
than your opponent, that keeps your defense that much fresher
to go hunt. They can't be on the field forty
two minutes, thirty five minutes, or thirty four minutes. You've
(33:07):
got to get them in that twenty seven to twenty
six range is a sweet spot and that that's golden territory.
Twenty eight twenty nine is probably more than norm uh,
if you're gonna be an elite unit. But you know,
and they got to get out the field on third downs,
got to get up the field in third downs. So
there's a lot of stuff in there that they have
to work on. But they're a unit that is capable
(33:28):
of it.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
It has been done yeah, And I think what you
brought up with Jacobs when you mentioned the three point
seven yards per carry, I think you bring up you know,
you're bringing up the point of what green Bay is
after and everything you've just talked about, this is what
green Bay is after. So you know, in his in
his you know, Pro Bowl season a couple of years ago,
(33:51):
that the season in Vegas in which he just exploded,
you second in the league in yr and attempts per.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
Game, he was.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
You know, he's he's this year, he's third, just barely,
he's almost first. But this is a guy. He's a
high volume runner. And think about you know, when the
Steelers were going well with Najee Harris or prior to that,
Jerome Bettis and I had put Jacob somewhere in between
those two guys. They are It's not all about hey,
are you getting five yards of carry? It is are
(34:23):
you controlling the clock? Are you hammering it at the
other team? Are you softening them up? Are you getting
into third and manageables by getting that three point seven?
His career average is only four point two yards per
carry because that's the way he's been utilized. Hammer hammer,
And guess what guess who the number one offense is
in third down conversions. It's the Green Bay It's the
(34:46):
Green Bay Packers because they get themselves into those third
and manageable situations. So again something there to keep in mind.
Told we got to go to break. So you know
what when I'm told we got to go to break
by Justin Miller, when he gets on the wire and
says go to break, you know we do, Max to break.
Speaker 5 (35:02):
We go to break.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
And you're in the Locker Room presented by your neighborhood
Ford Store and the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio,
part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
And thanks very much for being with us and Max
last week the Arizona Cardinals. And this is the last
time we're going to talk about with the with Green
Bay's offense before we make the switch to Green Bays
Defense and talk to Missy Matthews coming up next hour.
Speaker 5 (35:49):
They gave up. They had six sachs. Did the Packers
rush And.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
We're going to talk about that in a little bit,
but I want to talk about because everyone's talking about
that part of it, but I want to talk about
the other side because against Cleveland, the Packers offensive line
was completely overwhelmed by the Browns front. And we saw
in a game against the Cowboys that one of those
deep rushes by Love and the ball slapped that out
(36:17):
of his hand on the backside rush coming around the edge.
Because of that deep drop, I believe there's I believe
there's opportunity here for the Steelers pass rush to make
life difficult on Jordan Love, much as the Browns were
able to do in that game that the Browns won,
thanks again in part to the late block field goal,
(36:38):
But certainly that you know that it's the only game
this year in which the Packers offense hasn't scored twenty
seven or more points.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
Well, I think you know that's how you have to
kind of go at it, like what are they good at?
What are they skilled at? And you got to take
it away because this team can't put points up and
they put points up in bunches. In the third quarter.
In that Cardinals game especially, they got into a rhythm.
They scored two touchdowns and you know in that third quarter,
and that gave them momentum going into the fourth.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
They have been.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
Depressed, you know, the whole time, even against Cincinnati, like
Cincinnati held them to only was it ten points I
believe at the end of the first half defensively, so
you know, there there is an opportunity to keep this
offense at Bay. But once they figure it out, their
halftime adjustments has been really their key thing that's.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Helped them in a lot of these games. But they
do get frustrated.
Speaker 4 (37:32):
They do take risks, and they do gamble, and they
do fail, and you've got to make sure that they're
gambling and failing more often, kind of like did Las
Vegas theory, right? You know, you know the lights aren't
on by accidents, not because of the winners, right, So
you've got to make them pay when they give you
an opportunity. That's why I said, when you do decide
(37:54):
to go press pass, rush has to hit home. When
you do decide to blitz, must be a TfL or
a stimy at the line of scrimmage. You can't bounce
off and allow them second life and second effort. You've
got to make sure that you stick with him and
force him into a bad situation. And Dallas did that
that hence why they ended in a tie. So weird
(38:17):
to see that on the record, But you know, they're
not They're not an infallible group and people can get
after them. And like you said, the Browns held them
to just ten points total. So you have these other
games where you have you know, good starts and and
good games. I mean, I think about the lines and
(38:38):
the Commanders to start the season, you know, as a
team that was highly motivated, you know, the whole Micah
Parson's honeymoon glow was all over them, and that was
a factor that played into it. But then they're like,
he's just a guy. Wait a second, he didn't win
any Super Bowls, he didn't win any playoff games. Like,
this guy is good, but you're only as good as
the guys you're around as well, and not necessarily you're
(38:58):
you're picking on him, you're actually going away from him,
or you're dedicating resources to him to keep him away.
But offensively speaking, specifically, they're a unit that can be overwhelmed.
And I think we have a front that can overwhelm
that offensive line and give them some issues. I mean,
Elton Jenkins. You know, I love Elton Jenks, but Elton
(39:20):
Jingks has.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
Played everywhere on this offensive line.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
Like he started, he started his career as a tackle
and now he's now he's a center for the team.
So you know there is still some uncertainty there. Obviously
a big, long armed guy, but you put him in
a phone booth. That's not exactly going to be his
strong suit. So try and make him pay. He's a
very tall center at six foot five. You can get
(39:44):
under him. Hello, Keanu Benton, you know Hello, you know
Logan Lee, Ya Black and company. Like you've got to
be able to get into those situations. And then you know,
for a lot of these other guys, they're young, Zach,
Tom and Sean on the right side, just forth your guys.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
And you know you can do some things.
Speaker 4 (40:06):
I mean, I look at Derek Harmon and look at
Cam Heyward, right, you know those are guys who can
who can smash, bash and crash a lot of a
lot of the things that you don't want to do.
And if you can pick a corner or sorry that corner,
pick a side. You can force them up the field.
They'll get they'll give the soft shoulder to the inside.
So you want to put them in as many awkward
(40:30):
situations that you can to just force them down and
force them not to not to be effective. And you
know that puts pressure. You know what's what where's the
one place of quarterback hates to get pressure right right
right up the middle, right right in the gullet, right
in the gullet, you know. So we got we got
(40:50):
the interior guys to do that. We got enough interior
press guys. Have guys have to win their one on
one bouts and whip those blocks at the beginning and put.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
That pressure on them right up the middle. Yeah, and
the second leading rushers, you have to be careful of them.
But he's not a he's not a prototypical running quarterback,
but he'll he'll put up decent He can run, that's
the thing. He prefers to throw it, but he's got
the capability running. I'm just gonna run down some of
the stats in that Cleveland game because we have to
get to a break.
Speaker 5 (41:16):
Miss is coming up.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
But even when they even when Cleveland held them number
one rush defense to two point six yards to carry,
they still ran it thirty one times, averaging two point six.
So you don't think this Green Bay team will stick
to the run. They will stick to the run. Twenty
five pass attempts, five sacks. So you want to talk
about a recipe for beating anybody, obviously, but going back
(41:41):
to what the Steelers were doing effectively in that three
game stretch before Cincinnati, stop the run, get to the passer,
obvious keys, But it's what the Steelers do well when
they're playing well, and what they will try to do
against Jordan Love coming up on Sunday night in this
battle of first place teams. Missy Matthews going to join us.
Then we continue in the Locker Room, presented by your
(42:02):
neighborhood Ford Store in the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers
Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network
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