September 22, 2025 • 45 mins
Rob and Wes react and break down the Steelers' big win in New England, highlight the drive of the game, and focus on the positives from the victory.
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Speaker 1 (00:24):
And we thank you very much for being with us
in the locker room on this victory Monday. Uh wes
raise a wes uler here by the way, because Max
Starks is I don't know, I don't you know, I
kind of want to use the word gallivanting, like he's
gallivanting around Ireland. He's got a big he got a driver,
people are driving him around and he's going and doing.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And meeting and greeting.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
I guess if it was us, we'd call that work.
But I'm kind of calling a galivanting. Max is galivanting
around Ireland, would you Rob?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Is that accurate?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
That is?
Speaker 4 (00:59):
That is completely accurate, aside from I'm sure the lack
of sleep that Max got on his red eye flight
last night from Boston to Dublin. I don't think I've
ever been more jealous of another human being in my
life than I am of Max for these next few
days until we get over there.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
And join them.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
If you follow the Steelers Ireland accounts on social media,
you could find out exactly where he is. But I mean,
our guy is literally on a terrible towel tour in
a Steeler's you know, branded van, driving around the country
of Ireland for the week, doing events, passing out terrible towels,
you know, visiting different youth football and all these different
(01:39):
things across the country. The content is going to be incredible.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
And I am just in insanely jealous. I think he's
somewhere in kill Arney or something like that. They left
Dublin this morning. Uh, and he is just he's doing
the tour, Kinger. I mean, he's he's going the full
gambit around the country this week, you know, before he
meets back with us, I think in Dublin on Thursday
or Friday. It's it's an awesome opportunity for him, and
(02:04):
I'm excited to follow along all the content for sure.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Man. That is well put look at look at West
just going at it.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
And and people can go to Steelers dot com and
check this stuff out.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Yes they can, Steelers dot Com, all the social media channels. Yeah,
and then if you if you like, I was sending
this to my family Kingers. So I've got my aunt
and uncle, uh, two of my cousins and their husbands
all who live in Tennessee. They are in Ireland right
now for the week. And so like I've been sending
them the every day the Steelers Ireland social media accounts
(02:35):
posting exactly where Max will be and everything.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So yeah, hey, it's a rob.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
It's a big man and a little van, uh going
across the Emerald Isle.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I'm not sure it gets any better than that.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
And you can't ask for a better ambassador for the
Steelers than Max. Just a great person and I don't
fun to be around. And you know, just you know,
he's uh, he's got like he's a seriously curious guy.
He loves to travel, so he's gonna be people are
gonna be asking him questions, but he's gonna be asking
(03:08):
them questions. He's a he's a We could not the
Steelers organization could not have picked a better guy to
go and make mary around the Merry Island of Ireland.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Rob.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
I I know that these Steelers, I mean, the Steelers
are much more than a football team. They're much more, uh.
And the Steelers are religion. I mean, you know, across
Western Pennsylvania, across Steeler Nation, across the entire world, it's
a it's a religion. And I know that there are plenty,
there are hundreds of thousands of people who live and
(03:46):
breathe and every day. The Steelers are at the forefront
of their mind. But I think Max might be at
the top of that list. Man. I mean, we all
love the Steelers, we all love what we do for
a living. But Max, it is, it is just like
at the forefront of everything he does. I think the
best way to say it, Kinger, the best way to
say it is, you know this. I think all your
(04:07):
listeners know this.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Max calls a lot of different college football games on
Saturdays as well too. Every time I see Max calling
a college football game, he's got his little Steelers pin
on his suit, on his shirt. He does not go anywhere,
He does not go anywhere without that logo.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Man, he loves it. He lives it, he breathes it.
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
He played for the team, now works for the organization.
I think you're spot on, uh not not a better
person in the entire world to be to be kicking
off Dublin weak uh and this terrible towel tour than
than our than our good friend Max starts.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
And he is an energetic you know he is you know?
Uh So I used to joke with my buddy Jay
Coffield all the time. Jay Jay's one of those people
that just can get by on five hours of sleep.
You know, I'm like, dude, you do you actually to better?
You just like you just you just hang from your
toes in the closet and then all right after a
couple just go get him. Know, And Max is kind
of like like for me, like if I've had like
(05:04):
two or three days of five or six hours of sleep,
you should turn on your radio and get one of
those warning warning everybody. You know, if you see him
at the dry cleaners or the or Giant Eagle, give
him a wide berth as a public you know, public announcement.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
But Max just rolls right, Hey, Max, had you do
last Well?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
You know, I got an hour and a half asleep
at the airport in Charlotte and now here I am
calling a game. Amazing so you mentioned, I mean he
flew directly over. I was shocked at how quickly stuff
started showing up and posting, and you know, we're getting
home and we're getting in our cars and I'm like,
wait a minute, is he an iron? It already amazing?
So I can't wait. I can't wait for the game
(05:46):
in Croke Park. But we have much, much, much to
get to Wesley on a victory donut Monday, So a
raise a donut up in the air as this Dealers
win and defeat the Patriots in a game that about.
You know, midway through the second quarter, I thought, man,
this Steelers might just blow this team out.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
This might be a laugher. And it wound up not being.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
It wasn't really all that funny until the very end,
and then it got funny again. Then it became a
laugher because this Steelers improved it.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Two and one.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
They did, and that's what matters most at the end
of the day. And I think, particularly in September, we
do so much overreacting in the month of September. What
really matters is staying relatively healthy and keeping your head
above water. And the Steelers haven't had much luck with
that first part, although albeit despite this influx of injuries.
Nothing yet, knock on wood. This is the part where
(06:42):
we knock on wood, Kinger. Nothing yet that's season ending
or long term or absolutely devastating, backbreaking loss. No one
is in super Bowl form right now. I mean, okay,
maybe the Eagles look really good. I think even despite
the loss, the la Rams look really good. Like Okay,
the Indianapolis Colts. Maybe, but is that gonna last September?
(07:02):
Football is about winning games and just start starting to
get better, figuring out your issues. Get to October, keep
again treading water, stay above five hundred B where you
want to be with all your goals still in front
of you while you're improving, and then hopefully by Thanksgiving,
when those you know turkeys are coming out of the
oven or the deep fryer or the smoker, however you
(07:24):
prepare your bird. That's when you're starting to play your
best football. That's when you're hitting your absolute peak. I mean, no, Kinger,
we could count on one hand right now the amount
of teams that are playing their best football. Maybe the
Chargers deserve to be in that conversation too, But this
is not the time where you're looking to be perfect
in every facet. This is the time where you're looking
(07:44):
to win games, stay relatively healthy, and improve. And yeah,
that win yesterday at Jillette Stadium, Kinger, I thought was
one of the more perplexing Steelers wins I can remember.
Because there's a lot to like, there is still plenty
that needs improved and cleaned up. I think you said it, man,
it felt like the Steelers were going to blow that
(08:05):
team out at one point, and then at one point
early in the second half in the third quarter, it
felt like the Patriots might run away with the thing
and win a little bit comfortably. It was a chaotic
September game, which is not unusual for this time of year.
You know where you were able to win and what
you did well. You obviously, I think the shortcomings now
(08:26):
through three games are undeniable. You know what those are
and how to address those. Uh, but that is to
me kind of the you know, what's at the forefront
of my mind here, just what about twenty hours removed
from that victory in Foxboro?
Speaker 1 (08:41):
You know, I want to start with some things that
were clearly positive and remain clearly positive. Chris Boswell's always
a positive, cordless weight man. I think has just become
a very steady positive. You just know what you're going
to get there, I thought the return game, and by
the way, you know, when we were doing, you know,
(09:02):
going back to those those hockey years, what I was
doing in the postgame shows with Jay and others. You know,
you're you're almost every postgame show was okay, Like you know,
Crosby had a goal in on it, syst. But what are
we going to talk about in the postgame show, right,
you know, because you could have talked you could talk
about Crosby every single night, right, and you have to Well,
(09:22):
you know, I feel that way about Chris Boswell. He's
such a weapon, he's so so good. And weight minut
has just become extremely steady. You know what you're gonna
get there, and there's the consistency I think is laudable.
And then the kick coverage team and again, you know,
I made a point of this on the broadcast West
(09:44):
and I think it had to be pointed out. The
very first play in preseason for New England, first play
kickoff to Travon Henderson touchdown return last week after a
punt return touchdown and the Patriots win over Miami, seemed
to flip the momentum toward Miami. Antonio Gibson ran one
(10:05):
back ninety yards on the ensuing kickoff. So this was
a dangerous kick return unit. And the kick return has
been the one part of special teams. Obviously we know
that the gaff you know against Seattle, but it's been
the one part that hasn't been quite what we normally
expect to see and from a Danny Smith coach unit,
and I thought last week or yesterday it was up
(10:29):
to snuff with the rest of those units that he coaches,
the rest of those coverage units which we've come to expect,
you know, elite stuff out of, and they were outstanding yesterday.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Kinger As you know, like we we all work the
games right. You and Max are broadcasting, our guy dan
Quinnlan is producing. I'm engineering, and so that makes it different. Obviously,
we have the best of you in the house a
lot of times. Our vantage point was outstanding yesterday. That's
got to be one of the best in the league.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Nomenal I'm saying I was further away with Wolf calling
games at Pine Richland than I was from that field exactly.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
There.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Pine Richland's got a heck of a stadium as well, doubt,
no doubt, that's a that's a great It is my
first time ever there at Gillette and that was my
biggest takeaway was Wow, I wish every team in the
league we had that broadcast vantage point. But there's different
aspects of our job obviously than just sitting there and
taking in three hours of football. You are trying to
(11:30):
figure out who's on the field, who's the number, who's
the ball carrier, who's the tackler. You're very focused Max
as well too.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
You know, I'm trying to make sure our signals are
good with Missy Matthews and all these different things that
we have to do. It's not like we're just sitting
there watching the game taking notes, but I try throughout
the game to jot down talking points and things that
I don't want to forget that we can all bring up,
you know when we have our two hour shows in
the immediate aftermath of the game, when none of us,
(11:59):
you know, we just got off a plane last night
and haven't had a chance to rewatch anything or really
dive deep into the numbers. And that's one of the
that's one of the three or four bullet points that
I had for my kind of instant reactions, instant observations.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Was kickoff coverage much better?
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I mean against the Jets and Seattle Kinger, it felt
like they were starting every drive at the thirty five
thirty eight yard line, one first down, and the Jets
and the Seahawks were at midfield. It was just too easy,
and and and it had to stop you you cannot.
I don't have the exact numbers in front of me,
(12:35):
but the difference in average scoring for an NFL offense
when they started driving at their twenty five yard line
versus their thirty five yard line is astronomical. It's a
massive deep It's a massive difference that like a jump
off the page difference. And that was a problem against
the Jets and against the Seahawks, you know, two teams
that you gave up over thirty points too. And I
(12:57):
know you know that that wasn't all just purely on
the defense. There were there were you know, other things
in there as well. But I think everybody gets what
I'm saying. That had to be one of the things
that needed to improve and improve quickly. You just can't
be starting opposing offenses at the thirty five, thirty eight,
forty yard line. And I thought that did a complete
one eighty. They did a great job with their kickoff coverage,
(13:19):
and I thought it showed, you know, the Patriots, like
they had a lot of long drives where they were
just unable to finish with points. And I think, you know,
if they if they start an extra ten, twelve, fourteen
yards down the field. That's a completely different conversation.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
And again that's a very very dangerous unit. So I
think the Steelers that that's a clear step in the
right direction for them. So that's that was very very
good to see, you know, I thought, I think for me, Wes,
most of the positives that I gleaned from this game
are going to start on the defensive side. But I
(13:57):
do want to mention this because I think there were
a couple of things that are happening on the offensive
side that we can't you know, overlook or shouldn't overlook.
One is three for three in the red zone. They
are now seven for eight in the red zone. So
if you're not going to be, you know, if you're
(14:17):
not going to be consistently where you need to be,
you know, you need to show the way I look
at this offense right now, if I want to look
on the bright side, I'm going to say it's an
offense that's shown character right when you when you've needed it.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
A couple of times, they've been able to come up
with big drives.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Now, of course, Boswell's sixty yarder helps you in New
York for sure, but you know they needed a big drive.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
At the end of that game.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
They came up with a big drive and they cashed
it in the big moments in the red zone. So
to me, that is an offense that's showing character. And
I do think that that's that that can't be, you know,
just completely dismissed, because hopefully this offense will be clicking
on all cylinders later and they'll have already set the
expectations for what they can do in the red zone.
(15:04):
The other one that I thought was a real positive
was once again scoring on an opening drive scoring a touchdown.
So again for fans, just a refresher twenty two consecutive
games without scoring a touchdown and an opening drive until
the opening drive this season. All last season and five
(15:24):
the last five games of the twenty twenty three season,
you did not have a single opening drive touchdown. Well,
now you have two and three games and the other
opening drive wound up at a field goal. That is
an awfully good way to start the game. And so
I think those are two real positives out of this offense.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
I am with you one hundred percent. That was another
thing that I had kind of written down in talking
points for today is listen one thing that I firmly
believe in Kinger, as you know someone who does what
we do for a living, is that your praise better
be as loud as your criticism, right, And I get it.
It's human nature. We see it not just in sports,
(16:05):
we see it all over the world in all aspects
of life. People love to criticize and scream and shout
about how bad things are, but they never give people
their credit when things go the other way.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
You go online and you read restaurant reviews.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Right, Kinger, and you always have to take those with
a grain of salt, because you know, the only people
that are getting online to review a restaurant are the
ones that are ticked off because something was wrong with
their waiter or their meal or things like that. I
think it can be the same way in sports analysis.
Like Broderick Jones is an example of this. We were
screaming and shouting and crushing him after week one, and
(16:38):
now that he's been solid week two, in week three,
it's not like everybody's running to the social media, running
to the microphone to give Broderick Jones praise. The criticism
is always louder than the credit. But I think this
is one of those instances where it might be the
exception because we have spent so many years back to Ben,
back to Matt Canada, yelling about how this offense starts
(17:02):
too slow. They had the worst first quarter differential in
the entire league last year. Now they had the best
third quarter differential, but they had the worst first quarter
scoring differential in the entire league, or maybe thirty first
out of thirty two teams. They were at the bottom
of the barrel. And now through three games, touchdown on
their first drive, fuel goal on their first drive, touchdown
(17:23):
on their first drive. That is something that deserves some credit.
Now they've got to figure out how to you know,
not stall out from there and to keep that momentum
going and to build off of that. But their starts,
without a doubt this season on offense have been much better.
And that's one of the things too, King or that
if this defense can really round into form, they're starting
(17:43):
to show signs of it. The turnovers are there, the
sack numbers are there, they're getting better against the run.
They still have a lot to clean up obviously getting
back to where we started. It is still September, They're
just three games into this. No one is a Mona Lisa.
No one is a work of art at this point,
but to me, like that is one of the things.
If this offense can consistently score points in the first quarter,
(18:05):
what that's gonna mean for a Steelers defense that has
in the past few years felt like it's always been
chasing the game in the first half. If they're able
to play from a position of advantage, they're able to
play with a lead, the way they're going to be
able to hunt the football, the way they're going to
be able to hunt quarterbacks, I think is going like
that whole Eco system of the offense and the defense
(18:25):
will work very well in tandem together. If the offense
can continue these positive starts to games, that is going
to be a huge benefit for the defense going forward
and what they do best, which is just getting after
quarterbacks and force and turnout.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
You know, you don't want to be you don't expect
to be immorally soon. You don't want to be in
a Hieronymous bosh, right, remember that the paintings of all
the ugly like devil creatures and all that stuff back
from the the art class you had, And you don't
want to be a salvad Or dial. You remember that
painting where you you know, all the steps wound up,
you wind up right back where you started from, no
(19:02):
matter which way you go on the painting. You don't
want to be that either. And I don't think the
Steelers are there, and I can understand. Look, we have
to understand where the fans are coming from. I understand
the criticism of them saying, oh man, this looks just
like the Steelers' teams in the last couple of years
that haven't been good enough, you know, kind of strangling out.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
A one score win.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
And by the way, again, when you talk about character
of a football team, character of an offense, that can
be widened to me to be character of a football team.
Mike Tomlin has a knack most teams. Most studies of
one score games show that most teams will revert to
(19:43):
the norm. So if your team this year went twelve
and five and they were ten and two in one
score games, well you can expect that team to get
back to six and six and one score games and
all of a sudden your twelve win teams and eight
win team. That's just the way it goes. Mike Tomlin
is the exception. He is year after year after year
(20:07):
the Steelers win one score games. I think they've won
two of them this year, right, two and zero on
one score games. So sure have he he just has
he has at Nack, Wes.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
And Kinger to have. It's funny you say that.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
I actually pulled the numbers on this this morning, going
into this past week. Okay, So since Mike Tomlin became
the coach of the Steelers in two thousand and seven,
the Steelers in one score games one hundred and five
sixty five and two. Okay, that was coming into this week,
So now they're one hundred and six sixty five and two.
(20:46):
They have played the most one possession games in the
NFL during that time, one hundred and seventy two of them.
They have the highest win percentage in the NFL in
that time period in one score games. The team with
the second most right on their heels, Kinger is the Chargers,
who have one hundred and sixty eight after another one
(21:07):
for them and winning on a late field goal the
LA Chargers this past Sunday yesterday as well too, So
the Steelers have played one hundred and seventy two of
them and have one hundred and five one hundred and
six part of me wins. The Chargers have played one
hundred and sixty seven one hundred and sixty eight of
them since two thousand and seven. Their record is seventy
three and ninety five in those games. Yep, well below
(21:31):
five hundred. So I know a lot of that is maddening.
And we can talk about if that's conducive to going
on runs in the postseason or if that's just a
dragon that is, you know, inevitably bound to burn you.
But this is what the Steelers do under Mike Tomlin.
They are comfortable being uncomfortable in those situations. One hundred
(21:51):
and seventy three times they've won one hundred and six
of them. The Chargers, next closest in the league with
one hundred and sixty eight times, have only one seventy
three of them. I don't know what that secret sauce is,
but it's clear there's something there.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
There is and the Steelers do it again, and they
win again, which is wonderful to see right two and
one survive. In advance, especially early on, we're going to
talk about some of the some of the things that
are in place, some of the things that are maddening
right now and some of the things that appear to
be in place for this team moving forward, and that
hopefully we can be optimistic about when we can continue
(22:27):
inside the locker room with King and Starks today with
Wes justin Miller by the way at the controls here
as always, that is brought to you by your neighborhood
Fordstter and it's here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
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 Steelers
dot com.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
And thanks very much for being with us.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
You know, uh, we're here with Wes Juler filling in
for Max Starks who's in Ireland traversing the country.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I made it sound like.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Gallant, very unfair.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
It's very unfair King, or that they're expecting you and
I to like focus on work and life and real
responsibilities these next couple of days, you know, while Max
is over there gallivanting in the in the terrible tal
van I mean, come on.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
But you know that Max is the perfect guy to
spread joy and the love of Steelers football throughout the
nation of Ireland. Nation country, uh, which is already into
football and already into the Steelers. We got to keep
it going, man, that's that's the second home there.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Yeah, oh totally.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
But you know they could have sent us too, because
you know, Max needs his broadcast partner Rob king there obviously,
and then you know you guys need Aneer like someone
who can you know, help you do a broadcast. You know,
I can also do some video content as well too.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Kinger.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
I mean, you know, you and I could have found
a way to stay busy over there with it.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
It wouldn't have gone a mess. It's not a suggestion
that I would have looked to scance at. However, it
is what it is.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
We're happy to be here, we're happy to be part
of Steelers Nation, and we are happy to be going
over to Croke Park soon. But we are still putting
the finishing touches on yesterday's twenty one to fourteen went
over the Patriots. I gotta circle back to the offense
in a little bit, because we've got our drive of
the game coming up, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
I did want to talk a little bit about the
(24:38):
defense and offense, and one thing occurred to me. I
was on the morning show with the Guys DV Morning
Show and talking about where we think the offense is
and the team is and where we want it to be.
Like you said, nobody's the Mona, Lisa, yet nobody is
a finished product. And I also think there's some fear
in maybe peaking a little bit too early. You just
(25:00):
want to win the games. You just win the games
and hopefully find different ways to improve, incremental improvements, but
hopefully steady enough progress. Understanding that nothing there is no
bar graph from the bottom left to the top right
just doesn't work, but by and large marching in that
general direction. So I you know, I was looking at
(25:23):
Nick Herbig, who I thought just dominated Will Campbell yesterday,
and I just I thought Herbig.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Had a great game yesterday.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
And then you know, when I looked at that, and
we started thinking about, Okay, where's the Steelers offense going
to be? And how come they're not being more creative
or they're not establishing the run or not establishing the
pass or what have you, you know, maybe a little
grace toward an offensive line that is, you know, being
(25:52):
bookended by two guys who are new at what they're doing.
So Broderick Jones is making the move from right tackle
to left tackle. I asked Max how long that would take?
He said five six games before it's truly comfortable for
Roderick Jones, even with the NFL experience. So we're at
game three now, and I thought he played a better
game this week. I think he is steadily improved since
(26:15):
the first game. And then same thing with Troy foul Touner,
and I asked, is there a rookie component to that
for Troy? Do we need to give him more time?
And Max sid Now, if you have the ability, that's
why you got taken in the first round. Now, again
we also have to point out there's a difference between
a guy taken in his twenties and a guy taken
fourth overall. When you're picking a guy fourth overall, you're
(26:38):
expecting Joe allt You're expecting Will Campbell when you draft
in that high to be an all pro.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
That's what the expectation is.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Much like if you take Jamar Chase fifth overall, or
whatever he was taken. You're expecting an all pro, that's
what you're That is your expectation for a guy who
has taken that high in the draft, and your expectation
for guys that are taken a little bit later. Very
good player, and there's differences, right, maybe he's lacking the
(27:06):
proper arm length or maybe he's a little bit raw,
and the upside is there, but you don't really want
to spend that fourth overall pick on him. So there
are reasons that guys fallwhard they do, but there's also
certain expectations that come with being a first round pick.
I just think watching a guy taking fourth overall starting
his third game, which is basically with Troy foultona two,
(27:27):
and I know he had the one start in Denver
last year, and he's kind of a rookie and a
half with having gone through some of this, you know,
the OTAs and the team meetings and being around the
team last year. I understand that, but I mean, that
was a fourth overall pick in the draft, and I
thought Nick Herbig took it to him, and it just
reminded me that, you know, maybe a little bit of
(27:48):
grace here from us observing the Steelers to saying, hey,
look it's calm down to relax. You won the game.
That's the important part. We saw elements in the game.
First time Aaron Rodgers hasn't been sacked in a game
in since twenty twenty two? Did you game plan around
that a little bit?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Sure? You could probably say that.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Still the fact remains, first time he hasn't been sacked
in game since twenty twenty two. The running game going early, right,
So maybe a couple of puzzle pieces that have been
thrown out under the table. They don't all quite fit
together yet, but hopefully we can see you know, into
week seven into week eight that this is these are
things that are gonna be improving for the Steelers.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
The Will Campbell example is a good one. Like I
wonder what the temperature on him is this morning in
the Boston and New England areas. Obviously we know that
those people they can get wicked upset from time to time.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
By the way, good crowd yesterday, didn't you think they
were into it?
Speaker 2 (28:49):
That was a good crowd. That was a good crowd, I.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Gotta say, king Er, I was pleasantly surprised by Jillette
Stadium I was. I thought it was a pretty cool venue.
It's got a lot of unique character. You know, they've
got the lighthouse on the one side. As much as
I hate to admit this, man, I love the like
the backdrop of the scoreboard on the other end zone
where they have the six uh super Bowl banners hanging.
(29:12):
I'm like, you know, I'm I'm going don't worry, I'm
gonna I'm gonna lash myself. I'm gonna punish myself, uh
for you know, being a yinser saying nice things about
the Patriots super Bowl bannered.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
But the one end zone of.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
The stadium, they've got the six banners with the with
the jumbo tron the other side. It's like the lighthouse
looking thing. For the NFL stadiums that are in neighborhoods
in the middle of nowhere, which there's a couple of
those around the league. I thought this was by far
the best lively, crowd, well built stadium. It was easy
to get around everywhere. Like we said, press box location
(29:45):
was outstanding, and that place was into it. They They
absolutely were good crowd, good energy, perfect kind of fall
day for it. Man, that might be the best football
weather we get all year. You know, it's chilly, and
it's chilly and crisp, and the more it's like sixty
seven sixty eight degrees with a little sun by kickoff.
(30:05):
It was just absolutely perfect September football weather there. And
a really beautiful part of the country too. I'm always
reminded that every time I'm up in that kind of
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, you know, Providence, Boston area. Man, those
those those lake towns, those little just small towns are
all so cool. It's a very picturesque part of the country.
(30:26):
But it was not a picturesque performance for their for
their fourth overall pick at left tackle, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
And I think, listen, you know this is one of
those things.
Speaker 4 (30:37):
I'm sure you've talked with this, talked with him about
this before too, because you do a lot of shows
with with my colleague, our and our buddy Matt Williamson.
But offensive line play just takes longer at the start
of the season for them to get up to speed
when you've got young guys, even ones who were first
round picks, fourth overall, fourteenth overall, twentieth overall, Like some
(31:00):
of the tackles on both sides of the football for
these teams were it takes time, it is there is,
there is so much more synchronicity that has to come
together for those guys as opposed to it's it's third
and eight, I'm nick herbig, I'm pinning my ears back.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
And good luck.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
I think that is something that Listen, you want the
results because you've seen the investment. That's I understand the
if you want to call it lack of patience when
we when we have these conversations in Steelers circles. You've
taken a first round pickett tackle three years ago. You've
taken a first round picket tackle two years ago, a
second round picket center two years ago. You know, Mason
(31:41):
McCormick was was not a a an early draft pick
by any means, but he wasn't a schlub either. He
was an early day three guy. It's not like he
was some you know, the two hundredth pick in the
in the in the seventh round or something like that.
And then, of course Isaac Saamalu, who has been a consistent,
very solid, very good guard throughout the tenure of his career.
(32:05):
You want to see those guys growing by leaps and
bounds you don't want a little bit of progression. You know,
you don't want one or two little steps forward. You
want that linear progression, arrow pointing straight up. With all
that you've invested into that offensive line. I totally get that.
But at the same time, I think we see around
(32:25):
the league. We saw this with the Jets in Week one,
who have a lot of pedigree, but young offensive linemen
as well too.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
It's going to take time.
Speaker 4 (32:34):
I think yesterday was an encouraging step in the right direction,
and they're gonna continue to get tested because they've seen
three solid defensive fronts already this season, and they're gonna
see a fourth one this Sunday in Dublin in the
Minnesota Vikings. They're not the purple people Eaters Kinger, but
they've got talent and pass rushers and some bullies on
that defensive line too. That's kind of my hope in
(32:57):
all of this is they get four really this Steelers
offensive line for really good tests to start the season,
and then you get the bye week, and then you
get another really good defensive front at home in the
Cleveland Browns in Week six. By that standpoint, if you're
starting to click, if you're starting to gel. If you're
starting to fire on all cylinders, you will have I
(33:17):
think kind of navigated a lot of the major tests. So, yeah,
you're gonna see Baltimore and they've got a good front.
You're gonna see the Lions and they've got a good
front in Aiden Hutchinson and one of the You're gonna
see Green Bay and.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
They added Parses. Dude, it's like a it's week in
and week out, it really is. And there's a reason
that Green Bay gave up what they gave up for
Michaeh Parsons. There's a reason that this year's resigned TJ
Watt because those guys are You need those kind of
players for the most part to succeed, and every week
(33:49):
is a test. I'm the same with you. I was
started to think about that, and then I started to
look at the schedule. I'm like, man, there are no breaks.
There are no breaks in the NFL. And even if
it's not a front like Cincinnati's front is not very good, Well,
Trey Hendrickson can ruin the game by himself, right, He
can do it by himself last year, right. I mean,
you know there's always a test somewhere along the line,
(34:11):
by the way, I have to just quickly. I want
to go back before we lean back into the offense again.
I want to go back to the stadium thing, because
you know, this is my first time in years around
the league, and some of the stadiums are new. I mean,
we used to cover back in the Fox Sports Net days.
You know, we'd go on the road to Cincinnati and
Cleveland and Baltimore and and a lot of this too.
(34:31):
There's a lot of the locations around the league, but
this is my first look at you know, like Atlanta
New Stadium and you know it.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Looks like a spaceship, right.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
A lot of these new places they have this modern
sort of feel to them, like you know, if all
of a sudden, your headsets instead of hearing Dan Quinlan
say hey you got to read this card for me
or whatever or whatever, Dan stand in your here. You know,
if I heard Liftoff coming in ten nine, I would
I don't know, I don't know if i'd bat an eye.
You know, they do these modern, uh cool buildings, and
(35:04):
I do love them, but I there was there's something
about walking into we saw Denver last year, the Patriots
Stadium this year. You know, Akroscher Stadium, the old school,
uh you know, just football, Kinger, Yeah, football, Yeah, the
field to it, and I understand, you know, we were
(35:24):
walking by Jacksonville and they had these behind uh behind
the end zones, not just like Glasston like suits. So
you've got a little sitting area and then you've got
your kitchen, and then you could walk outside in your
own private seating section to watch the game. We're walking
(35:46):
by that in the way to the press box. I'm like,
that's kind of amazing. You know, that's kind of cool.
But I also think there's just something there's something cool
about We're here to watch a football game, you know,
And I got that feel from that stadium. It's my
first time in that stadium, and I know that's got
that's It's a place that does not have a lot
of fond memories in Steelers history, but I thought it
(36:08):
was a cool place.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Kinger.
Speaker 4 (36:11):
As much as I love Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta,
and I'm trying to go to a World Cup game
there next summer, that's how much I want to just
go to that place as a fan. As much as
we love Have you been to Sofi in La? I
don't know you've been out there yet, have you Nope.
As much as you will, your mind will be blown
by Sofi. It is an engineering marvel. It is so cool.
It's got a roof, but it's still open air like.
(36:34):
It is amazing. As much as as those places are cool,
like my my favorite arena still in the history of
my thirty four years is the Civic Arena.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
Is the Igloo like me. I.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
As much as these modern marvels are great, I'm not
going to a football game. I'm not going to a
hockey game to instagram the experience and talk about how
cool all the amenities are. Some of these places, like
Orchard Park in Buffalo is the best example.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
It's bleacher seats. There's hardly any suites.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
No one is there for some corporate fancy day out,
dress up, get on Instagram, show off my outfit.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
They are there.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
Seventy thousand people to scream and yell and cheer on
the team and watch football. It's just the way it
is at Mountaineer Field, right rob King and Morgantown. Nobody
is there for a fancy dress up day out. They
are there to scream and yell and support the team.
And you're right as much as I do love these
new modern marvels, Allegiate Stadium in Vegas is incredible. There
(37:37):
is something to be said about the acressures about the
Gillette stadiums where people just show up ready for football,
ready for the game. It's very cool, it's very nostalgic.
And yeah, I know we are not supposed to say
nice things about the new about New England, about the Patriots,
about their fans, about anything. But I do joy those
(38:00):
those throwback experiences, you know, where it feels like going
to the game at the turn of the twenty first century,
where the modern technology was still there, but people are
more interested in the game than they are their phone
or what's being served at the concession stands or the
fancy suite that they get to sit in.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
It is.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
I do always, always love those kind of throwback locations.
In Gillette Stadium certainly one of those.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
And I'm sure you feel the same way.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
It's fine if that if people want to go to
the game for different reasons. Hey man, we're seven billion
different humans on this planet.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
Whatever floats your boat man is fine with me. That's okay.
I will say this your phone and support the team.
I will say this driving to that stadium. You know,
we're driving through these neighborhoods and I'm like, where in
that is this stadium? Where could it possibly be? Like,
there is nothing around you. You were just driving through
(38:53):
a neighborhood. It would be like driving through the back
streets of Wexford, you know, some of those pretty roads
back there, and all of a sudden You're like, wait
a minute. So there was just before you turn in.
I think it was a house. I didn't get a
great look at it. It looked to me like it
was a house with a gravel driveway in front. There
having a big tailgate party, and you know, so now
(39:13):
I'm like, I've given up.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Okay, I don't know where the stadium is going to be,
you know, but.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Hey, look at that cocktail party everyone's having, or the
tailgate party. Everyone's hanging out and they're tossing a football around,
and there's a big lawn in the back of the house.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Really nice home.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Pretty not you know, not a you know, twenty thousand
square foot house, just a really nice house with a backyard.
And then you turn the corner and I'm like, oh,
there's a stadium. You know, I'd actually given up.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I'm like, I don't know what the stadium is.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
No, there it was right this guy's backyard. I thought
that was kind of cool.
Speaker 4 (39:45):
Gillette stadiums like this, orchard parks like this, like they're
like college towns. Kinger, Yes, you're driving through backyards and
houses and small neighborhoods, and every piece of asphalt, every
piece of grass has turned into parking or tailgating, and
it's like, bang, right in the middle of everything of civilization.
(40:07):
Here's the here's the stadium. It's a it is again,
it's I cannot imagine. It's fun navigating in and out
of there just as a fan.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Oh no, no police escort like we do.
Speaker 4 (40:18):
Yeah, but there's also again, there is a throwback charm
about it.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
It was a two lane highway getting in there. Two
lane road. Not even it's a thirty mile hour road.
That's what it was going in there. Okay, So we
spent enough time on that and we feel better about it.
We feel good about it because, of course the Steelers
one and they improved the two and one drive the
game much more to get to when we continue inside
the locker room with King and Starks presented by a
neighborhood Ford.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 5 (40:46):
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 Steeler Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Raises the foot gets a snap back to pass looking
throwing left towards the end zone, back shoulder touchdown, Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
It's Calvin Austin in the end zone.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Rogers to Austin, second touchdown, passing the game for Rogers,
and the Steelers have.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
Retaken the lead at the two sixteen mark of.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
The fourth quarter.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
And that is the Steelers drive of the game, presented
by your neighborhood Ford Store. The F one to fifty,
don't forget that is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And that was a just a quality drive by the
Steelers West and by the way West Steeler in Formax
(41:48):
Starks who is on assignment in Ireland, getting the nation ready,
softening up the nation for the arrival of Steelers Nation
coming in drove throughout the course of the week. Max
will be there with open arms to welcome everybody. Get
everybody in the Republic of Ireland all ready to go.
I think that's the Republic of Ireland, right, Yeah, the
(42:09):
Republic of Ireland already.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
I still get confused with the Ireland Northern and it's
changed since I was a kid and were learning about
the troubles High the troubles so a.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Wes. That was a drive they.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Needed and they came up with it, and that was
our drive of the game and just a great way
to to kind of end that thing off and turn
it over to the defense. And at that point you
felt pretty good about where the defense was because they
didn't need three, they needed seven because of that touchdown pass.
Speaker 4 (42:40):
Yeah, absolutely, Kinger, and I think that that just, you know,
the drive of the game came at the exact moment
that the Steelers defense needed it as well, too. Like
throughout that third quarter and early into the fourth quarter
of the defense was just gassed. I mean the offense
was going three and out, three and out, three and out.
Drake May was looking too comfortable making plays with his
(43:02):
arms and his legs. The Patriots were like automatic on
a few fourth down conversions, and it it was it
was like they weren't even hesitating in some of those
situations that weren't just fourth and inches, They were fourth
in a couple of yards. Man, you needed that pass
interference call, you know on DK Metcalf was it was
(43:23):
a big kickstarter. And then I think for the offense
it was like, all right, that's what we needed. Were
into plus territory or close to it, I believe, let's
get moving here. They started to make a couple of plays.
Aaron Rodgers looked more comfortable. The wide receivers were getting
open and getting separation. The offensive line was doing their
job and that so that was not just the drive
(43:45):
of the game to me, Kinger, because they obviously needed
to score. They got a touchdown, they took the lead.
Like you said, they made New England need a touchdown
and not just a field goal as well. But that
was massive to just to give the defense the blow
the few minutes that the defense need to catch their breath,
settle down on the sideline and get ready to go
out there and kind of shut the door one more time.
(44:07):
That was big for everybody involved.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
So I agree and you know, you said the offense
is going three and out, three and out, three and out,
and I know you were making a point, but they were.
Actually they actually went three and out, three and out,
three and out, three and out, three and out. Oh
wait a minute, a penalty. Let's keep that alive. Up
three and out. So it was not good. And we're
going to dive into that a little bit, because look,
(44:32):
you won, you stacked up another victory. That's the important part.
Still some things that need to be rectified here and
hopefully moving in the right direction for the Steelers. We're
going to get to that, and we're going to get
to the Steelers defense, which boy oh boy, you want
to talk about showing some good signs.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
They certainly did.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
We're going to recap what happened around the AFC with
another big game coming up tonight in the AFC North
for the Baltimore Ravens. When we continue inside in the
locker room with King and Starks, presented by your neighborhood
Ford Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
And we thank you very much for being with us
in the locker room on this victory Monday. Uh wes
raise a wes uler here by the way, because Max
Starks is I don't know, I don't you know, I
kind of want to use the word gallivanting, like he's
gallivanting around Ireland. He's got a big he got a driver,
people are driving him around and he's going and doing.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And meeting and greeting.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
I guess if it was us, we'd call that work.
But I'm kind of calling a galivanting. Max is galivanting
around Ireland, would you Rob?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Is that accurate?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
That is?
Speaker 4 (00:59):
That is completely accurate, aside from I'm sure the lack
of sleep that Max got on his red eye flight
last night from Boston to Dublin. I don't think I've
ever been more jealous of another human being in my
life than I am of Max for these next few
days until we get over there.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
And join them.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
If you follow the Steelers Ireland accounts on social media,
you could find out exactly where he is. But I mean,
our guy is literally on a terrible towel tour in
a Steeler's you know, branded van, driving around the country
of Ireland for the week, doing events, passing out terrible towels,
you know, visiting different youth football and all these different
(01:39):
things across the country. The content is going to be incredible.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
And I am just in insanely jealous. I think he's
somewhere in kill Arney or something like that. They left
Dublin this morning. Uh, and he is just he's doing
the tour, Kinger. I mean, he's he's going the full
gambit around the country this week, you know, before he
meets back with us, I think in Dublin on Thursday
or Friday. It's it's an awesome opportunity for him, and
(02:04):
I'm excited to follow along all the content for sure.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Man. That is well put look at look at West
just going at it.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
And and people can go to Steelers dot com and
check this stuff out.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Yes they can, Steelers dot Com, all the social media channels. Yeah,
and then if you if you like, I was sending
this to my family Kingers. So I've got my aunt
and uncle, uh, two of my cousins and their husbands
all who live in Tennessee. They are in Ireland right
now for the week. And so like I've been sending
them the every day the Steelers Ireland social media accounts
(02:35):
posting exactly where Max will be and everything.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So yeah, hey, it's a rob.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
It's a big man and a little van, uh going
across the Emerald Isle.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I'm not sure it gets any better than that.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
And you can't ask for a better ambassador for the
Steelers than Max. Just a great person and I don't
fun to be around. And you know, just you know,
he's uh, he's got like he's a seriously curious guy.
He loves to travel, so he's gonna be people are
gonna be asking him questions, but he's gonna be asking
(03:08):
them questions. He's a he's a We could not the
Steelers organization could not have picked a better guy to
go and make mary around the Merry Island of Ireland.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Rob.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
I I know that these Steelers, I mean, the Steelers
are much more than a football team. They're much more, uh.
And the Steelers are religion. I mean, you know, across
Western Pennsylvania, across Steeler Nation, across the entire world, it's
a it's a religion. And I know that there are plenty,
there are hundreds of thousands of people who live and
(03:46):
breathe and every day. The Steelers are at the forefront
of their mind. But I think Max might be at
the top of that list. Man. I mean, we all
love the Steelers, we all love what we do for
a living. But Max, it is, it is just like
at the forefront of everything he does. I think the
best way to say it, Kinger, the best way to
say it is, you know this. I think all your
(04:07):
listeners know this.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
Max calls a lot of different college football games on
Saturdays as well too. Every time I see Max calling
a college football game, he's got his little Steelers pin
on his suit, on his shirt. He does not go anywhere,
He does not go anywhere without that logo.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Man, he loves it. He lives it, he breathes it.
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
He played for the team, now works for the organization.
I think you're spot on, uh not not a better
person in the entire world to be to be kicking
off Dublin weak uh and this terrible towel tour than
than our than our good friend Max starts.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
And he is an energetic you know he is you know?
Uh So I used to joke with my buddy Jay
Coffield all the time. Jay Jay's one of those people
that just can get by on five hours of sleep.
You know, I'm like, dude, you do you actually to better?
You just like you just you just hang from your
toes in the closet and then all right after a
couple just go get him. Know, And Max is kind
of like like for me, like if I've had like
(05:04):
two or three days of five or six hours of sleep,
you should turn on your radio and get one of
those warning warning everybody. You know, if you see him
at the dry cleaners or the or Giant Eagle, give
him a wide berth as a public you know, public announcement.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
But Max just rolls right, Hey, Max, had you do
last Well?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
You know, I got an hour and a half asleep
at the airport in Charlotte and now here I am
calling a game. Amazing so you mentioned, I mean he
flew directly over. I was shocked at how quickly stuff
started showing up and posting, and you know, we're getting
home and we're getting in our cars and I'm like,
wait a minute, is he an iron? It already amazing?
So I can't wait. I can't wait for the game
(05:46):
in Croke Park. But we have much, much, much to
get to Wesley on a victory donut Monday, So a
raise a donut up in the air as this Dealers
win and defeat the Patriots in a game that about.
You know, midway through the second quarter, I thought, man,
this Steelers might just blow this team out.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
This might be a laugher. And it wound up not being.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
It wasn't really all that funny until the very end,
and then it got funny again. Then it became a
laugher because this Steelers improved it.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Two and one.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
They did, and that's what matters most at the end
of the day. And I think, particularly in September, we
do so much overreacting in the month of September. What
really matters is staying relatively healthy and keeping your head
above water. And the Steelers haven't had much luck with
that first part, although albeit despite this influx of injuries.
Nothing yet, knock on wood. This is the part where
(06:42):
we knock on wood, Kinger. Nothing yet that's season ending
or long term or absolutely devastating, backbreaking loss. No one
is in super Bowl form right now. I mean, okay,
maybe the Eagles look really good. I think even despite
the loss, the la Rams look really good. Like Okay,
the Indianapolis Colts. Maybe, but is that gonna last September?
(07:02):
Football is about winning games and just start starting to
get better, figuring out your issues. Get to October, keep
again treading water, stay above five hundred B where you
want to be with all your goals still in front
of you while you're improving, and then hopefully by Thanksgiving,
when those you know turkeys are coming out of the
oven or the deep fryer or the smoker, however you
(07:24):
prepare your bird. That's when you're starting to play your
best football. That's when you're hitting your absolute peak. I mean, no, Kinger,
we could count on one hand right now the amount
of teams that are playing their best football. Maybe the
Chargers deserve to be in that conversation too, But this
is not the time where you're looking to be perfect
in every facet. This is the time where you're looking
(07:44):
to win games, stay relatively healthy, and improve. And yeah,
that win yesterday at Jillette Stadium, Kinger, I thought was
one of the more perplexing Steelers wins I can remember.
Because there's a lot to like, there is still plenty
that needs improved and cleaned up. I think you said it, man,
it felt like the Steelers were going to blow that
(08:05):
team out at one point, and then at one point
early in the second half in the third quarter, it
felt like the Patriots might run away with the thing
and win a little bit comfortably. It was a chaotic
September game, which is not unusual for this time of year.
You know where you were able to win and what
you did well. You obviously, I think the shortcomings now
(08:26):
through three games are undeniable. You know what those are
and how to address those. Uh, but that is to
me kind of the you know, what's at the forefront
of my mind here, just what about twenty hours removed
from that victory in Foxboro?
Speaker 1 (08:41):
You know, I want to start with some things that
were clearly positive and remain clearly positive. Chris Boswell's always
a positive, cordless weight man. I think has just become
a very steady positive. You just know what you're going
to get there, I thought the return game, and by
the way, you know, when we were doing, you know,
(09:02):
going back to those those hockey years, what I was
doing in the postgame shows with Jay and others. You know,
you're you're almost every postgame show was okay, Like you know,
Crosby had a goal in on it, syst. But what are
we going to talk about in the postgame show, right,
you know, because you could have talked you could talk
about Crosby every single night, right, and you have to Well,
(09:22):
you know, I feel that way about Chris Boswell. He's
such a weapon, he's so so good. And weight minut
has just become extremely steady. You know what you're gonna
get there, and there's the consistency I think is laudable.
And then the kick coverage team and again, you know,
I made a point of this on the broadcast West
(09:44):
and I think it had to be pointed out. The
very first play in preseason for New England, first play
kickoff to Travon Henderson touchdown return last week after a
punt return touchdown and the Patriots win over Miami, seemed
to flip the momentum toward Miami. Antonio Gibson ran one
(10:05):
back ninety yards on the ensuing kickoff. So this was
a dangerous kick return unit. And the kick return has
been the one part of special teams. Obviously we know
that the gaff you know against Seattle, but it's been
the one part that hasn't been quite what we normally
expect to see and from a Danny Smith coach unit,
and I thought last week or yesterday it was up
(10:29):
to snuff with the rest of those units that he coaches,
the rest of those coverage units which we've come to expect,
you know, elite stuff out of, and they were outstanding yesterday.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Kinger As you know, like we we all work the
games right. You and Max are broadcasting, our guy dan
Quinnlan is producing. I'm engineering, and so that makes it different. Obviously,
we have the best of you in the house a
lot of times. Our vantage point was outstanding yesterday. That's
got to be one of the best in the league.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Nomenal I'm saying I was further away with Wolf calling
games at Pine Richland than I was from that field exactly.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
There.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Pine Richland's got a heck of a stadium as well, doubt,
no doubt, that's a that's a great It is my
first time ever there at Gillette and that was my
biggest takeaway was Wow, I wish every team in the
league we had that broadcast vantage point. But there's different
aspects of our job obviously than just sitting there and
taking in three hours of football. You are trying to
(11:30):
figure out who's on the field, who's the number, who's
the ball carrier, who's the tackler. You're very focused Max
as well too.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
You know, I'm trying to make sure our signals are
good with Missy Matthews and all these different things that
we have to do. It's not like we're just sitting
there watching the game taking notes, but I try throughout
the game to jot down talking points and things that
I don't want to forget that we can all bring up,
you know when we have our two hour shows in
the immediate aftermath of the game, when none of us,
(11:59):
you know, we just got off a plane last night
and haven't had a chance to rewatch anything or really
dive deep into the numbers. And that's one of the
that's one of the three or four bullet points that
I had for my kind of instant reactions, instant observations.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Was kickoff coverage much better?
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I mean against the Jets and Seattle Kinger, it felt
like they were starting every drive at the thirty five
thirty eight yard line, one first down, and the Jets
and the Seahawks were at midfield. It was just too easy,
and and and it had to stop you you cannot.
I don't have the exact numbers in front of me,
(12:35):
but the difference in average scoring for an NFL offense
when they started driving at their twenty five yard line
versus their thirty five yard line is astronomical. It's a
massive deep It's a massive difference that like a jump
off the page difference. And that was a problem against
the Jets and against the Seahawks, you know, two teams
that you gave up over thirty points too. And I
(12:57):
know you know that that wasn't all just purely on
the defense. There were there were you know, other things
in there as well. But I think everybody gets what
I'm saying. That had to be one of the things
that needed to improve and improve quickly. You just can't
be starting opposing offenses at the thirty five, thirty eight,
forty yard line. And I thought that did a complete
one eighty. They did a great job with their kickoff coverage,
(13:19):
and I thought it showed, you know, the Patriots, like
they had a lot of long drives where they were
just unable to finish with points. And I think, you know,
if they if they start an extra ten, twelve, fourteen
yards down the field. That's a completely different conversation.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
And again that's a very very dangerous unit. So I
think the Steelers that that's a clear step in the
right direction for them. So that's that was very very
good to see, you know, I thought, I think for me, Wes,
most of the positives that I gleaned from this game
are going to start on the defensive side. But I
(13:57):
do want to mention this because I think there were
a couple of things that are happening on the offensive
side that we can't you know, overlook or shouldn't overlook.
One is three for three in the red zone. They
are now seven for eight in the red zone. So
if you're not going to be, you know, if you're
(14:17):
not going to be consistently where you need to be,
you know, you need to show the way I look
at this offense right now, if I want to look
on the bright side, I'm going to say it's an
offense that's shown character right when you when you've needed it.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
A couple of times, they've been able to come up
with big drives.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Now, of course, Boswell's sixty yarder helps you in New
York for sure, but you know they needed a big drive.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
At the end of that game.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
They came up with a big drive and they cashed
it in the big moments in the red zone. So
to me, that is an offense that's showing character. And
I do think that that's that that can't be, you know,
just completely dismissed, because hopefully this offense will be clicking
on all cylinders later and they'll have already set the
expectations for what they can do in the red zone.
(15:04):
The other one that I thought was a real positive
was once again scoring on an opening drive scoring a touchdown.
So again for fans, just a refresher twenty two consecutive
games without scoring a touchdown and an opening drive until
the opening drive this season. All last season and five
(15:24):
the last five games of the twenty twenty three season,
you did not have a single opening drive touchdown. Well,
now you have two and three games and the other
opening drive wound up at a field goal. That is
an awfully good way to start the game. And so
I think those are two real positives out of this offense.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
I am with you one hundred percent. That was another
thing that I had kind of written down in talking
points for today is listen one thing that I firmly
believe in Kinger, as you know someone who does what
we do for a living, is that your praise better
be as loud as your criticism, right, And I get it.
It's human nature. We see it not just in sports,
(16:05):
we see it all over the world in all aspects
of life. People love to criticize and scream and shout
about how bad things are, but they never give people
their credit when things go the other way.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
You go online and you read restaurant reviews.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Right, Kinger, and you always have to take those with
a grain of salt, because you know, the only people
that are getting online to review a restaurant are the
ones that are ticked off because something was wrong with
their waiter or their meal or things like that. I
think it can be the same way in sports analysis.
Like Broderick Jones is an example of this. We were
screaming and shouting and crushing him after week one, and
(16:38):
now that he's been solid week two, in week three,
it's not like everybody's running to the social media, running
to the microphone to give Broderick Jones praise. The criticism
is always louder than the credit. But I think this
is one of those instances where it might be the
exception because we have spent so many years back to Ben,
back to Matt Canada, yelling about how this offense starts
(17:02):
too slow. They had the worst first quarter differential in
the entire league last year. Now they had the best
third quarter differential, but they had the worst first quarter
scoring differential in the entire league, or maybe thirty first
out of thirty two teams. They were at the bottom
of the barrel. And now through three games, touchdown on
their first drive, fuel goal on their first drive, touchdown
(17:23):
on their first drive. That is something that deserves some credit.
Now they've got to figure out how to you know,
not stall out from there and to keep that momentum
going and to build off of that. But their starts,
without a doubt this season on offense have been much better.
And that's one of the things too, King or that
if this defense can really round into form, they're starting
(17:43):
to show signs of it. The turnovers are there, the
sack numbers are there, they're getting better against the run.
They still have a lot to clean up obviously getting
back to where we started. It is still September, They're
just three games into this. No one is a Mona Lisa.
No one is a work of art at this point,
but to me, like that is one of the things.
If this offense can consistently score points in the first quarter,
(18:05):
what that's gonna mean for a Steelers defense that has
in the past few years felt like it's always been
chasing the game in the first half. If they're able
to play from a position of advantage, they're able to
play with a lead, the way they're going to be
able to hunt the football, the way they're going to
be able to hunt quarterbacks, I think is going like
that whole Eco system of the offense and the defense
(18:25):
will work very well in tandem together. If the offense
can continue these positive starts to games, that is going
to be a huge benefit for the defense going forward
and what they do best, which is just getting after
quarterbacks and force and turnout.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
You know, you don't want to be you don't expect
to be immorally soon. You don't want to be in
a Hieronymous bosh, right, remember that the paintings of all
the ugly like devil creatures and all that stuff back
from the the art class you had, And you don't
want to be a salvad Or dial. You remember that
painting where you you know, all the steps wound up,
you wind up right back where you started from, no
(19:02):
matter which way you go on the painting. You don't
want to be that either. And I don't think the
Steelers are there, and I can understand. Look, we have
to understand where the fans are coming from. I understand
the criticism of them saying, oh man, this looks just
like the Steelers' teams in the last couple of years
that haven't been good enough, you know, kind of strangling out.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
A one score win.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
And by the way, again, when you talk about character
of a football team, character of an offense, that can
be widened to me to be character of a football team.
Mike Tomlin has a knack most teams. Most studies of
one score games show that most teams will revert to
(19:43):
the norm. So if your team this year went twelve
and five and they were ten and two in one
score games, well you can expect that team to get
back to six and six and one score games and
all of a sudden your twelve win teams and eight
win team. That's just the way it goes. Mike Tomlin
is the exception. He is year after year after year
(20:07):
the Steelers win one score games. I think they've won
two of them this year, right, two and zero on
one score games. So sure have he he just has
he has at Nack, Wes.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
And Kinger to have. It's funny you say that.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
I actually pulled the numbers on this this morning, going
into this past week. Okay, So since Mike Tomlin became
the coach of the Steelers in two thousand and seven,
the Steelers in one score games one hundred and five
sixty five and two. Okay, that was coming into this week,
So now they're one hundred and six sixty five and two.
(20:46):
They have played the most one possession games in the
NFL during that time, one hundred and seventy two of them.
They have the highest win percentage in the NFL in
that time period in one score games. The team with
the second most right on their heels, Kinger is the Chargers,
who have one hundred and sixty eight after another one
(21:07):
for them and winning on a late field goal the
LA Chargers this past Sunday yesterday as well too, So
the Steelers have played one hundred and seventy two of
them and have one hundred and five one hundred and
six part of me wins. The Chargers have played one
hundred and sixty seven one hundred and sixty eight of
them since two thousand and seven. Their record is seventy
three and ninety five in those games. Yep, well below
(21:31):
five hundred. So I know a lot of that is maddening.
And we can talk about if that's conducive to going
on runs in the postseason or if that's just a
dragon that is, you know, inevitably bound to burn you.
But this is what the Steelers do under Mike Tomlin.
They are comfortable being uncomfortable in those situations. One hundred
(21:51):
and seventy three times they've won one hundred and six
of them. The Chargers, next closest in the league with
one hundred and sixty eight times, have only one seventy
three of them. I don't know what that secret sauce is,
but it's clear there's something there.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
There is and the Steelers do it again, and they
win again, which is wonderful to see right two and
one survive. In advance, especially early on, we're going to
talk about some of the some of the things that
are in place, some of the things that are maddening
right now and some of the things that appear to
be in place for this team moving forward, and that
hopefully we can be optimistic about when we can continue
(22:27):
inside the locker room with King and Starks today with
Wes justin Miller by the way at the controls here
as always, that is brought to you by your neighborhood
Fordstter and it's here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
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 Steelers
dot com.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
And thanks very much for being with us.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
You know, uh, we're here with Wes Juler filling in
for Max Starks who's in Ireland traversing the country.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I made it sound like.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Gallant, very unfair.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
It's very unfair King, or that they're expecting you and
I to like focus on work and life and real
responsibilities these next couple of days, you know, while Max
is over there gallivanting in the in the terrible tal
van I mean, come on.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
But you know that Max is the perfect guy to
spread joy and the love of Steelers football throughout the
nation of Ireland. Nation country, uh, which is already into
football and already into the Steelers. We got to keep
it going, man, that's that's the second home there.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Yeah, oh totally.
Speaker 4 (23:52):
But you know they could have sent us too, because
you know, Max needs his broadcast partner Rob king there obviously,
and then you know you guys need Aneer like someone
who can you know, help you do a broadcast. You know,
I can also do some video content as well too.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Kinger.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
I mean, you know, you and I could have found
a way to stay busy over there with it.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
It wouldn't have gone a mess. It's not a suggestion
that I would have looked to scance at. However, it
is what it is.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
We're happy to be here, we're happy to be part
of Steelers Nation, and we are happy to be going
over to Croke Park soon. But we are still putting
the finishing touches on yesterday's twenty one to fourteen went
over the Patriots. I gotta circle back to the offense
in a little bit, because we've got our drive of
the game coming up, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
I did want to talk a little bit about the
(24:38):
defense and offense, and one thing occurred to me. I
was on the morning show with the Guys DV Morning
Show and talking about where we think the offense is
and the team is and where we want it to be.
Like you said, nobody's the Mona, Lisa, yet nobody is
a finished product. And I also think there's some fear
in maybe peaking a little bit too early. You just
(25:00):
want to win the games. You just win the games
and hopefully find different ways to improve, incremental improvements, but
hopefully steady enough progress. Understanding that nothing there is no
bar graph from the bottom left to the top right
just doesn't work, but by and large marching in that
general direction. So I you know, I was looking at
(25:23):
Nick Herbig, who I thought just dominated Will Campbell yesterday,
and I just I thought Herbig.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Had a great game yesterday.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
And then you know, when I looked at that, and
we started thinking about, Okay, where's the Steelers offense going
to be? And how come they're not being more creative
or they're not establishing the run or not establishing the
pass or what have you, you know, maybe a little
grace toward an offensive line that is, you know, being
(25:52):
bookended by two guys who are new at what they're doing.
So Broderick Jones is making the move from right tackle
to left tackle. I asked Max how long that would take?
He said five six games before it's truly comfortable for
Roderick Jones, even with the NFL experience. So we're at
game three now, and I thought he played a better
game this week. I think he is steadily improved since
(26:15):
the first game. And then same thing with Troy foul Touner,
and I asked, is there a rookie component to that
for Troy? Do we need to give him more time?
And Max sid Now, if you have the ability, that's
why you got taken in the first round. Now, again
we also have to point out there's a difference between
a guy taken in his twenties and a guy taken
fourth overall. When you're picking a guy fourth overall, you're
(26:38):
expecting Joe allt You're expecting Will Campbell when you draft
in that high to be an all pro.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
That's what the expectation is.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Much like if you take Jamar Chase fifth overall, or
whatever he was taken. You're expecting an all pro, that's
what you're That is your expectation for a guy who
has taken that high in the draft, and your expectation
for guys that are taken a little bit later. Very
good player, and there's differences, right, maybe he's lacking the
(27:06):
proper arm length or maybe he's a little bit raw,
and the upside is there, but you don't really want
to spend that fourth overall pick on him. So there
are reasons that guys fallwhard they do, but there's also
certain expectations that come with being a first round pick.
I just think watching a guy taking fourth overall starting
his third game, which is basically with Troy foultona two,
(27:27):
and I know he had the one start in Denver
last year, and he's kind of a rookie and a
half with having gone through some of this, you know,
the OTAs and the team meetings and being around the
team last year. I understand that, but I mean, that
was a fourth overall pick in the draft, and I
thought Nick Herbig took it to him, and it just
reminded me that, you know, maybe a little bit of
(27:48):
grace here from us observing the Steelers to saying, hey,
look it's calm down to relax. You won the game.
That's the important part. We saw elements in the game.
First time Aaron Rodgers hasn't been sacked in a game
in since twenty twenty two? Did you game plan around
that a little bit?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Sure? You could probably say that.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Still the fact remains, first time he hasn't been sacked
in game since twenty twenty two. The running game going early, right,
So maybe a couple of puzzle pieces that have been
thrown out under the table. They don't all quite fit
together yet, but hopefully we can see you know, into
week seven into week eight that this is these are
things that are gonna be improving for the Steelers.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
The Will Campbell example is a good one. Like I
wonder what the temperature on him is this morning in
the Boston and New England areas. Obviously we know that
those people they can get wicked upset from time to time.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
By the way, good crowd yesterday, didn't you think they
were into it?
Speaker 2 (28:49):
That was a good crowd. That was a good crowd, I.
Speaker 4 (28:51):
Gotta say, king Er, I was pleasantly surprised by Jillette
Stadium I was. I thought it was a pretty cool venue.
It's got a lot of unique character. You know, they've
got the lighthouse on the one side. As much as
I hate to admit this, man, I love the like
the backdrop of the scoreboard on the other end zone
where they have the six uh super Bowl banners hanging.
(29:12):
I'm like, you know, I'm I'm going don't worry, I'm
gonna I'm gonna lash myself. I'm gonna punish myself, uh
for you know, being a yinser saying nice things about
the Patriots super Bowl bannered.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
But the one end zone of.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
The stadium, they've got the six banners with the with
the jumbo tron the other side. It's like the lighthouse
looking thing. For the NFL stadiums that are in neighborhoods
in the middle of nowhere, which there's a couple of
those around the league. I thought this was by far
the best lively, crowd, well built stadium. It was easy
to get around everywhere. Like we said, press box location
(29:45):
was outstanding, and that place was into it. They They
absolutely were good crowd, good energy, perfect kind of fall
day for it. Man, that might be the best football
weather we get all year. You know, it's chilly, and
it's chilly and crisp, and the more it's like sixty
seven sixty eight degrees with a little sun by kickoff.
(30:05):
It was just absolutely perfect September football weather there. And
a really beautiful part of the country too. I'm always
reminded that every time I'm up in that kind of
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, you know, Providence, Boston area. Man, those
those those lake towns, those little just small towns are
all so cool. It's a very picturesque part of the country.
(30:26):
But it was not a picturesque performance for their for
their fourth overall pick at left tackle, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
And I think, listen, you know this is one of
those things.
Speaker 4 (30:37):
I'm sure you've talked with this, talked with him about
this before too, because you do a lot of shows
with with my colleague, our and our buddy Matt Williamson.
But offensive line play just takes longer at the start
of the season for them to get up to speed
when you've got young guys, even ones who were first
round picks, fourth overall, fourteenth overall, twentieth overall, Like some
(31:00):
of the tackles on both sides of the football for
these teams were it takes time, it is there is,
there is so much more synchronicity that has to come
together for those guys as opposed to it's it's third
and eight, I'm nick herbig, I'm pinning my ears back.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
And good luck.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
I think that is something that Listen, you want the
results because you've seen the investment. That's I understand the
if you want to call it lack of patience when
we when we have these conversations in Steelers circles. You've
taken a first round pickett tackle three years ago. You've
taken a first round picket tackle two years ago, a
second round picket center two years ago. You know, Mason
(31:41):
McCormick was was not a a an early draft pick
by any means, but he wasn't a schlub either. He
was an early day three guy. It's not like he
was some you know, the two hundredth pick in the
in the in the seventh round or something like that.
And then, of course Isaac Saamalu, who has been a consistent,
very solid, very good guard throughout the tenure of his career.
(32:05):
You want to see those guys growing by leaps and
bounds you don't want a little bit of progression. You know,
you don't want one or two little steps forward. You
want that linear progression, arrow pointing straight up. With all
that you've invested into that offensive line. I totally get that.
But at the same time, I think we see around
(32:25):
the league. We saw this with the Jets in Week one,
who have a lot of pedigree, but young offensive linemen
as well too.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
It's going to take time.
Speaker 4 (32:34):
I think yesterday was an encouraging step in the right direction,
and they're gonna continue to get tested because they've seen
three solid defensive fronts already this season, and they're gonna
see a fourth one this Sunday in Dublin in the
Minnesota Vikings. They're not the purple people Eaters Kinger, but
they've got talent and pass rushers and some bullies on
that defensive line too. That's kind of my hope in
(32:57):
all of this is they get four really this Steelers
offensive line for really good tests to start the season,
and then you get the bye week, and then you
get another really good defensive front at home in the
Cleveland Browns in Week six. By that standpoint, if you're
starting to click, if you're starting to gel. If you're
starting to fire on all cylinders, you will have I
(33:17):
think kind of navigated a lot of the major tests. So, yeah,
you're gonna see Baltimore and they've got a good front.
You're gonna see the Lions and they've got a good
front in Aiden Hutchinson and one of the You're gonna
see Green Bay and.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
They added Parses. Dude, it's like a it's week in
and week out, it really is. And there's a reason
that Green Bay gave up what they gave up for
Michaeh Parsons. There's a reason that this year's resigned TJ
Watt because those guys are You need those kind of
players for the most part to succeed, and every week
(33:49):
is a test. I'm the same with you. I was
started to think about that, and then I started to
look at the schedule. I'm like, man, there are no breaks.
There are no breaks in the NFL. And even if
it's not a front like Cincinnati's front is not very good, Well,
Trey Hendrickson can ruin the game by himself, right, He
can do it by himself last year, right. I mean,
you know there's always a test somewhere along the line,
(34:11):
by the way, I have to just quickly. I want
to go back before we lean back into the offense again.
I want to go back to the stadium thing, because
you know, this is my first time in years around
the league, and some of the stadiums are new. I mean,
we used to cover back in the Fox Sports Net days.
You know, we'd go on the road to Cincinnati and
Cleveland and Baltimore and and a lot of this too.
(34:31):
There's a lot of the locations around the league, but
this is my first look at you know, like Atlanta
New Stadium and you know it.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Looks like a spaceship, right.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
A lot of these new places they have this modern
sort of feel to them, like you know, if all
of a sudden, your headsets instead of hearing Dan Quinlan
say hey you got to read this card for me
or whatever or whatever, Dan stand in your here. You know,
if I heard Liftoff coming in ten nine, I would
I don't know, I don't know if i'd bat an eye.
You know, they do these modern, uh cool buildings, and
(35:04):
I do love them, but I there was there's something
about walking into we saw Denver last year, the Patriots
Stadium this year. You know, Akroscher Stadium, the old school,
uh you know, just football, Kinger, Yeah, football, Yeah, the
field to it, and I understand, you know, we were
(35:24):
walking by Jacksonville and they had these behind uh behind
the end zones, not just like Glasston like suits. So
you've got a little sitting area and then you've got
your kitchen, and then you could walk outside in your
own private seating section to watch the game. We're walking
(35:46):
by that in the way to the press box. I'm like,
that's kind of amazing. You know, that's kind of cool.
But I also think there's just something there's something cool
about We're here to watch a football game, you know,
And I got that feel from that stadium. It's my
first time in that stadium, and I know that's got
that's It's a place that does not have a lot
of fond memories in Steelers history, but I thought it
(36:08):
was a cool place.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Kinger.
Speaker 4 (36:11):
As much as I love Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta,
and I'm trying to go to a World Cup game
there next summer, that's how much I want to just
go to that place as a fan. As much as
we love Have you been to Sofi in La? I
don't know you've been out there yet, have you Nope.
As much as you will, your mind will be blown
by Sofi. It is an engineering marvel. It is so cool.
It's got a roof, but it's still open air like.
(36:34):
It is amazing. As much as as those places are cool,
like my my favorite arena still in the history of
my thirty four years is the Civic Arena.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
Is the Igloo like me. I.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
As much as these modern marvels are great, I'm not
going to a football game. I'm not going to a
hockey game to instagram the experience and talk about how
cool all the amenities are. Some of these places, like
Orchard Park in Buffalo is the best example.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
It's bleacher seats. There's hardly any suites.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
No one is there for some corporate fancy day out,
dress up, get on Instagram, show off my outfit.
Speaker 3 (37:13):
They are there.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
Seventy thousand people to scream and yell and cheer on
the team and watch football. It's just the way it
is at Mountaineer Field, right rob King and Morgantown. Nobody
is there for a fancy dress up day out. They
are there to scream and yell and support the team.
And you're right as much as I do love these
new modern marvels, Allegiate Stadium in Vegas is incredible. There
(37:37):
is something to be said about the acressures about the
Gillette stadiums where people just show up ready for football,
ready for the game. It's very cool, it's very nostalgic.
And yeah, I know we are not supposed to say
nice things about the new about New England, about the Patriots,
about their fans, about anything. But I do joy those
(38:00):
those throwback experiences, you know, where it feels like going
to the game at the turn of the twenty first century,
where the modern technology was still there, but people are
more interested in the game than they are their phone
or what's being served at the concession stands or the
fancy suite that they get to sit in.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
It is.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
I do always, always love those kind of throwback locations.
In Gillette Stadium certainly one of those.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
And I'm sure you feel the same way.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
It's fine if that if people want to go to
the game for different reasons. Hey man, we're seven billion
different humans on this planet.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
Whatever floats your boat man is fine with me. That's okay.
I will say this your phone and support the team.
I will say this driving to that stadium. You know,
we're driving through these neighborhoods and I'm like, where in
that is this stadium? Where could it possibly be? Like,
there is nothing around you. You were just driving through
(38:53):
a neighborhood. It would be like driving through the back
streets of Wexford, you know, some of those pretty roads
back there, and all of a sudden You're like, wait
a minute. So there was just before you turn in.
I think it was a house. I didn't get a
great look at it. It looked to me like it
was a house with a gravel driveway in front. There
having a big tailgate party, and you know, so now
(39:13):
I'm like, I've given up.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Okay, I don't know where the stadium is going to be,
you know, but.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Hey, look at that cocktail party everyone's having, or the
tailgate party. Everyone's hanging out and they're tossing a football around,
and there's a big lawn in the back of the house.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Really nice home.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Pretty not you know, not a you know, twenty thousand
square foot house, just a really nice house with a backyard.
And then you turn the corner and I'm like, oh,
there's a stadium. You know, I'd actually given up.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I'm like, I don't know what the stadium is.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
No, there it was right this guy's backyard. I thought
that was kind of cool.
Speaker 4 (39:45):
Gillette stadiums like this, orchard parks like this, like they're
like college towns. Kinger, Yes, you're driving through backyards and
houses and small neighborhoods, and every piece of asphalt, every
piece of grass has turned into parking or tailgating, and
it's like, bang, right in the middle of everything of civilization.
(40:07):
Here's the here's the stadium. It's a it is again,
it's I cannot imagine. It's fun navigating in and out
of there just as a fan.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Oh no, no police escort like we do.
Speaker 4 (40:18):
Yeah, but there's also again, there is a throwback charm
about it.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
It was a two lane highway getting in there. Two
lane road. Not even it's a thirty mile hour road.
That's what it was going in there. Okay, So we
spent enough time on that and we feel better about it.
We feel good about it because, of course the Steelers
one and they improved the two and one drive the
game much more to get to when we continue inside
the locker room with King and Starks presented by a
neighborhood Ford.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 5 (40:46):
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 Steeler Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Raises the foot gets a snap back to pass looking
throwing left towards the end zone, back shoulder touchdown, Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
It's Calvin Austin in the end zone.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Rogers to Austin, second touchdown, passing the game for Rogers,
and the Steelers have.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
Retaken the lead at the two sixteen mark of.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
The fourth quarter.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
And that is the Steelers drive of the game, presented
by your neighborhood Ford Store. The F one to fifty,
don't forget that is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And that was a just a quality drive by the
Steelers West and by the way West Steeler in Formax
(41:48):
Starks who is on assignment in Ireland, getting the nation ready,
softening up the nation for the arrival of Steelers Nation
coming in drove throughout the course of the week. Max
will be there with open arms to welcome everybody. Get
everybody in the Republic of Ireland all ready to go.
I think that's the Republic of Ireland, right, Yeah, the
(42:09):
Republic of Ireland already.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
I still get confused with the Ireland Northern and it's
changed since I was a kid and were learning about
the troubles High the troubles so a.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Wes. That was a drive they.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Needed and they came up with it, and that was
our drive of the game and just a great way
to to kind of end that thing off and turn
it over to the defense. And at that point you
felt pretty good about where the defense was because they
didn't need three, they needed seven because of that touchdown pass.
Speaker 4 (42:40):
Yeah, absolutely, Kinger, and I think that that just, you know,
the drive of the game came at the exact moment
that the Steelers defense needed it as well, too. Like
throughout that third quarter and early into the fourth quarter
of the defense was just gassed. I mean the offense
was going three and out, three and out, three and out.
Drake May was looking too comfortable making plays with his
(43:02):
arms and his legs. The Patriots were like automatic on
a few fourth down conversions, and it it was it
was like they weren't even hesitating in some of those
situations that weren't just fourth and inches, They were fourth
in a couple of yards. Man, you needed that pass
interference call, you know on DK Metcalf was it was
(43:23):
a big kickstarter. And then I think for the offense
it was like, all right, that's what we needed. Were
into plus territory or close to it, I believe, let's
get moving here. They started to make a couple of plays.
Aaron Rodgers looked more comfortable. The wide receivers were getting
open and getting separation. The offensive line was doing their
job and that so that was not just the drive
(43:45):
of the game to me, Kinger, because they obviously needed
to score. They got a touchdown, they took the lead.
Like you said, they made New England need a touchdown
and not just a field goal as well. But that
was massive to just to give the defense the blow
the few minutes that the defense need to catch their breath,
settle down on the sideline and get ready to go
out there and kind of shut the door one more time.
(44:07):
That was big for everybody involved.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
So I agree and you know, you said the offense
is going three and out, three and out, three and out,
and I know you were making a point, but they were.
Actually they actually went three and out, three and out,
three and out, three and out, three and out. Oh
wait a minute, a penalty. Let's keep that alive. Up
three and out. So it was not good. And we're
going to dive into that a little bit, because look,
(44:32):
you won, you stacked up another victory. That's the important part.
Still some things that need to be rectified here and
hopefully moving in the right direction for the Steelers. We're
going to get to that, and we're going to get
to the Steelers defense, which boy oh boy, you want
to talk about showing some good signs.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
They certainly did.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
We're going to recap what happened around the AFC with
another big game coming up tonight in the AFC North
for the Baltimore Ravens. When we continue inside in the
locker room with King and Starks, presented by your neighborhood
Ford Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
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