November 18, 2025 • 47 mins
Rob and Max discuss more on the Steelers latest victory and chat with Alvaro Martin.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Man, thanks very much for being with us in the
locker room. We have Justin Miller running things back at
our Ihearts studio. We have Max Starks in Arizona. I'm
rob King King very much for being with us.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Max. How are you today, my friend?
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Today, Ron is a rainy day here in the desert.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Now, how yeah, does it rain? Yes? There?
Speaker 4 (00:52):
I mean I would probably say out of the year,
maybe third.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Maybe maybe last.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Year was thirty four days per years the average, Yeah,
about two point eight rainy days per month. I gotta
be honest. That's more than I thought. I didn't think
it would rain.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
And listen, listen at least because we have a month
of monsoons and then this time of year you'll get
four or five days that'll be like this. Because like today,
like it is completely gray, like no sun. It's supposed
to rain. A majority of the day. So yeah, so we.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Have, we have, we have, although it be few, we
do have some. Okay, into every life, a little rain
must fall.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Yeah, we're I mean we're still no Seattle, you know, no, no, yeah, yeah,
we're still We're still very far.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
From that type of world.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Yeah, but yeah, we do get more than people might
think at times. Just it gets so hot for like
nine months, you know, or I should say it's very
very good weather about seven months out of the year,
eight almost, but then for four of it's unbearable. It
used to be nine months of great weather and three
(02:11):
months of that now, you know, however you feel on
the on the global global warming subject, climate change, yeah,
climate change. It it does get hot as heck here
a lot more often. I mean we had like consecutive
last year, like consecutive days over one hundred and ten,
(02:32):
like we broke a record.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So, so, did you pay any attention Max to last
night's Monday night game, Because frankly, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
As I ever even turned it on. I'm gonna be honest,
I did not. I did not. I did not catch
the contest de football last evening because I was on
full daddy duty. Nice So so.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Yeah, So me and my daughters, we had we were
doing stuff and then they had they have a turkey
drive at school today, so we had to go running
grab some turkeys. We got homework done, and we got
all kinds of stuff. I was just full on dad,
you know, made dinner and stuff. So so I was
preoccupied with that last night. So because you know, the
game comes on a little bit earlier out here, so
(03:19):
by the time I sat down and got the girls
to bed, game was over. So it was like, oh darn.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, yeah, it's it was not a scintillating matchup to
begin with. You know, when you look at the Dallas
Cowboys and again it's just another disappointing season in Dallas,
and they improved a four or five and one.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Right now, they're tenth.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
In the NFC in playoff standings, and they're behind Carolina,
and okay, I could see Carolina, you know, I could
see them potentially faltering right and then maybe you you know,
you get ahead of them, but then you'd have to
catch San Francisco at seven and four. They're the seventh
seed right now, Detroit at six and four, and when
(04:09):
you look at Dallas's upcoming schedule they are home, they
are home.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Against Philadelphia and against Kansas City.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Then they're at Detroit on New Year's Day or not
Chris Thanksgiving Day. Now, the beauty of the NFL schedule,
and we could say the same thing about the Steelers,
is that the schedule, you play who's on your schedule.
And if you're the Cowboys and you win, you know,
all three of those games, and now you're seven to
five and one and you're back in playoff contention, then
(04:39):
you deserve to be in playoff contention. And if you're
four five and one and let's say you go one
and two in these next three games, difficult matchups, and
you're five seven and one and you're not in playoff contention, then.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
You don't deserve to be in playoff contention. You know
what I mean?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
If you can talk about the schedule a lot, but
I always figure, look, and it's the same thing with
the Steelers. Dealers have right now. The Teelers are the
three seed in the AFC, and they've got a difficult
schedule coming up, for sure, beginning with another other I
beg your part of the four seed, another difficult game
coming up against the division leader in the Bears. It's
a third time in the last four weeks that they'll
(05:16):
be playing a division leader. Then they take on Buffalo,
then they're at Baltimore. Miami looks up better all of
a sudden that Monday night matchup. Then you're at Detroit
before you finish up at Cleveland and against Baltimore, and
these next three games difficult games.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
You're six and four.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
You know what, if you're good enough, you'll get through
that and you'll be marching toward the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
And if you're not good enough, you won't.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Yeah, no, I mean, and that's simply how it is.
It's amazing to me, though, year after year the Cowboys
still get.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Monday night football games. Yeah, I think about this. They've
already had two.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Right Monday night football games, and they're gonna get the
the Thanksgiving Thursday.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Right, right, They get all of these.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Primetime games, and they're ill year after year, a pretty
bad team consistently, like they haven't really been a true
playoff like contender or must watch TV type of team,
you know, and but yet they they dominate the primetime headlines.
It's it's one of those things that's an anomaly to me,
(06:18):
and you know, kudos to Jerry Jones for knowing how
to stay. I guess relevant to where people believe that,
oh man, one more year, they're gonna they're gonna do something,
and it's like just do anything, you know what I'm saying, like,
and they just they can't do it. But you know, hey,
but they're but they're America's team. They are America's team.
(06:40):
I will say that phrase is old. It is it
is old. I will say this for the Cowboys.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
They're a little like the Bengals are right now, which
is they're not very good and the Cowboys are probably
a little bit better. They're not very good, but they
can sure put some points up. You know, they can
they can entertain you. They have a lot of weapons,
especially now you know they missed Ceedee Lamb when he
was gone. You know, you have Lamb and Pickens, you
(07:09):
have Prescott at the controls, you have Williams, you have
ferguson a tight end. You know, you have got a
lot of weapons offensively. You can't stop anybody, but you've
got a lot of weapons offensively, and so you know
when they take on Detroit on you know, actually it's uh,
let's say they have Kansas City. They have back to
(07:30):
back Thursday night games, by the way, at they take
on Kansas City on Thanksgiving and then they're at Detroit.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Wouldn't be surprised if they put up thirty points in
both those games and lost them both. But at least
they're I suppose at least they're entertaining. They're not just
you know, a horrendous watch.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yeah. No, well, it depends on what you're looking for exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I was gonna add that caveat and I thought, I
just I'm gonna let that slide and see that slides
by Max.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Yeah, no, that was not going to slide right there.
I mean, yes, you are correct. That's the only way.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
You can that is.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I am a fan of offense only what is defense.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
That's right, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yes, And I'm a fan of I'm a fan of
I'm just I'm just a fan of good football. You know,
you could appreciate whether it comes in a passing attack,
a running attack, you know, a great rush defense, a
great pass defense, you know, sometimes a combination of all
those things. I just like, you know, there's no particular
(08:38):
style I like. I think I would probably though rather
see you know, a hard hitting, physical, sixteen thirteen football
game than forty four to forty one football game.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Yeah, I mean, and I mean that's what we got
week one from the Bills and the Ravens, right.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, forty one forty I think it was, Yeah, yeah,
forty one forty.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
And that's when where you're just like, I mean, it's
fun and entertaining because you're like, okay, well, when is
someone going to get a stop? But at the same time,
you're like, god, you know, I do want to see
some defense. I do want to see some splash in
this game. That's like, Okay, this is really a challenge.
And when you have those high scoring games and it's
(09:24):
back and forth, you don't really see that, and you know,
the defenses are just getting the dog walked on them.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
And I'm with you.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
I'm good with games being in the twenties, possibly getting
to the thirties, you know at the most, but like
when you're seeing like forty high forties and almost fifty
point games like remember that one game?
Speaker 3 (09:47):
What was that? That was the oh I want to
say it.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Was was it Rams Chiefs like twenty twenty one or
twenty nineteen, like it was either right before right after
the COVID season, you had that high score like forty
five to forty three, Like I think, I want to say,
(10:16):
I think it Jared Goff was still on the Rams
and Patrick Mahomes was just starting for the Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
This is the future of the NFL.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
This is what's going to look like, high scoring games,
this is what the NFL wantsber do you remember that
game where it was like I do remembering Game of Quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I do know this.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I do know that there was a trend in which
it looked like the NFL was going full on passing
and they were it was all about let's entertain you know,
the casual fan. But you know what, man coaches find
a way to bring that back to the middle, you know,
(10:57):
and then what will happen is you'll have to legislate. Right,
we saw this is a brief aside. Here we saw
as an example, the TJ. Watt sack of Flaco. Now,
I think if I have this correct, I think they
you know, so the call and they weren't really specific.
They just called an intentional grounding. I could use it
(11:19):
a little more explanation because you and I were talking
about it. It felt to me like it was not
the fact that Watt hit Flaco late, but that he
put his weight on it, right, Like that's what they're saying,
And I think at the replay, I believe on TV
they said, I don't know, I don't know about that call.
I don't know if that's the right call. But the
(11:40):
point is that they're trying to keep quarterback up quarterbacks
up right, so there's more action, and there's because there's
such a drop off between the top quarterbacks and the
second string quarterbacks that you're trying to constantly adjust the rules.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
To keep the offense going.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
So anyway, I don't remember the specific game, but I
do know that that's always been a been something the
NFL is wanting to do.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
It is because they were trying to make the game
more exciting. It's almost like basketball right where there's like
no defense and everybody scoring like one hundred points.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Remember back in.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
The nineties and like well eighties and nineties, like getting
to the ninety was.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Like a treat.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah, like that was like that was too much because
then there was a lot of intentional fouling and it
got it got to the point where it's almost like,
you know, football in shorts, you know, guys, And.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
What's the problem. I don't I don't see a problem
with it. Rob, you haven't said anything to you.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
So I grew up as a Knicks fan, and that
was the way the Knicks played in those days, and
I rooted for him, the Knicks, the Nixt, the.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Pistons, the Celtics.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
I was like, come on, Kevin McHale, Robert Paars, Yeah,
go in the land if you want to.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
It's like you are leaving with a neck injury because
they are closelining you. My favorite Oh.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, yeah, So I'm I'm dating myself, but my favorite
era of basketball was the eighties. And all apologies to
Michael Jordan, who was incredible and all the guys we've
had since, Kobe and Lebron and all these guys.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I thought the Lakers, Celtics.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
You know, there was a there was a lot going
on there besides basketball. And I'm not going to do
oh no question that was going on. But I mean,
but those teams were loaded. Now it feels like, hey,
get get to get three superstars if you can phil
around the roster, you know, there's there. To me, there's
too much three point shooting. I'm sounded like a curmudgeon,
(13:43):
the old guy, But I thought the Lakers Celtics of
the eighties was like the pinnacle of basketball. I mean
every team, both those teams had Hall of famers. I mean,
you know, you know, you had guys like Bob McAdoo,
you know, and again later on in his career coming
off the bench, hall of famer as your seventh or
eighth man. You know, Dennis Johnson, another Hall of Famer,
(14:05):
kind of a almost a fringy starter for the Celtics
because he was later in his career. I mean, he's
still a starter and still a good player. But that
was my favorite era. You know, when you talk about
so if I were to look at a baseball game,
you know, I don't want one nothing all the time.
But I don't want eight to seven. I want every
I want every plate of matter. Guys on first, is
he gonna steal? They're gonna bun him over? What is
(14:25):
a strategy? You know, if you're just you know, if
it's just hey, don't worry about it. You know we're
gonna score next time down. Don't worry about it. We're
gonna hit a three run homer. We're gonna hit a
three point shot because there's no defense. We're gonna score
another touchdown our next possession.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
That's fine as as.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
An occasional diversion, but I don't want a steady diet
of that.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
I like a little bit of defense in there. And
even then I will say this an eight four game.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Actually I'm not mad at it's the it's like the
fifteen to twelve game. Yeah, right, sure, that that's the
one that's like, oh my god, this is just is
this a home run derby?
Speaker 3 (15:05):
You know you feel like that, but you're right.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
You do want to see both sides have success right
to a degree, obviously, you know, and then one kind
of breakthrough and crack the code later in the game, right,
It keeps your keeps your attention span going into.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
The later part of it.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
That's the whole point of it is to see offenses
trying to figure out defenses, and defenses trying to figure
out offenses and the chess match that goes on with it,
and you know, you want the games to be tight
to a degree, and then of course everybody wants their
team to like pull away in the fourth right, so
that you don't have a heart attack in.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
The fourth But that's why you watch the entire game.
And so I'm in the same boat.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
I love it interesting, Like you said, I mean, we
had we had a lot. Remember remember a week ago
before before we played the Chargers, and of course that
game wasn't as competitive at all.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
But remember the four o'clock slate.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
All three teams that won had over forty two points
and all teams that lost had under twenty two points.
You know, those are the games where you're like, oh
my god. I was like, well, I got stuff to do.
You need to watch this, this game's over with. You
don't want those, and I think that's that's what you
hope for. I mean, granted, you know, just like our game,
(16:23):
like on Sunday, that's a game, that's a game you want.
It's a tight game, and then you just start to
pull away late in the game. But yet there's still
a sense that, man, this team possibly could come back
because they scored fourteen was it fourteen or fifteen points
in fifty nine seconds. You know, right, you hit on
side that you get it done right. You like having
(16:43):
that in the back pocket, like, man, this game is
not set and you're gonna stay to the very end,
and then there comes a point two minutes in where
they just kind of give up.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
You know, you saw the Bengals give up.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
They're like, we're not really trying to push the ball,
but we're gonna We're gonna get there events and just
try and kill the clock.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Well, we're going to get to eventually. He's Alvro Martin.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
He's going to join us next, the outstanding play by
playman in the Spanish speaking Steelers broadcast. Good to see
him back in the booth, and this past week he
had missed the last couple on other assignments, including being
in Mexico calling the game down there in front of
a group of Steelers fans for the Chargers game on
Sunday night.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
He's going to join us next.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
And we continue in the Locker Room presented by our
neighborhood Ford Store and the Steelers Pro Shop on Steeers
Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one point fifty is the official truck of
the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop get it
direct from the team at the Steelers Pro shop at
shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
We love to hear that.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
We'd love to hear our Martin on the call because
he's phenomenal and he's our friend and he's joining us
now in the locker room. Alvaro, good to hear you
back behind the microphone. We missed you the last couple
of weeks that we know you had stuff going on
NBA a couple of weeks ago, a big event there,
and then last week you were down in Mexico City.
(18:19):
We talked to you about that about the watch party
for the Steelers. But good to have you back behind
the microphone making those outstanding calls.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
And thank you for being with us today.
Speaker 6 (18:29):
Well, thank you Rob, thank you Max. I have to say,
when I finished that call, I just get it. I
just kind of loose myself in the moment when I
finished that call. We're in a little booth right next
to yours, a little recessed a little further back, and
one of us. There's a row of folks and one
of them typically is the scout of the team that
Pittsburgh will play next week. This time it's Chicago. So
(18:52):
when I finish. I'm up, I'm standing up, I'm all
pumped up, and I finishing. The guy's shooting me a
look like dude piped down. I'm working here, you know what,
you know what, you know what, Alvro.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
That makes me want to win this game even a
little bit more for the Steelers.
Speaker 7 (19:12):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, I mean she got be a
huge test.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
He shooting you dirty. Look. We can't have that, he
shot look, he shot me a look.
Speaker 7 (19:19):
You know.
Speaker 6 (19:19):
And typically what happens is I come in and I
give him a little piece of gum right before we start,
and we tell him you know, we're.
Speaker 7 (19:26):
Right behind you.
Speaker 6 (19:27):
We maybe get carried away a couple of times during
the game. Here's a little something that puts kind of
make up for it. But I didn't do it this time.
I think maybe he's mad that they're gonna give me
a gum or.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I don't know they probably the fan scouts are probably talking.
That's probably what happened. He probably said, you know what, man,
no gum, no gum for me.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
If he took his eye off the play and he
missed something and he doesn't make it to the plan
next week, then you know, start the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Hey, Avra, what do you think student? But take go ahead.
Speaker 7 (20:00):
I'm going to warn you something.
Speaker 6 (20:01):
You know, that cloud Fair failure that's been going around
the country, in the world. If I say anything stupid today,
it's because of cloud Fair, Okay.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Mac, warn you fill me in on cloud Fair. Max.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
It's some kind of it's it's some kind of software
that makes the whole Internet run. So websites are down.
Everything's down, been down, up and down, up and down.
Now I think it's up, hopefully for for good. So
any mistake, any stupidity on my part, blame it on
cloud Fair.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah. I think it's a daily occurrence to cloud Fair
for me.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
Yeah, cloud Fair, cloudware, any type of cloud services.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Yeah, because you know, well, the good.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Thing is I mean you know, if you mentioned that
to Wolf, Wolf would have just looked up in the
sky and no, it's not there, Wolf. I mean, technically
it's there, but it's not really there. You don't have
to look at it. You're not You're never going to
see it. But yeah, but keep trying. Uh but uh
but no, I mean you know, and and that that's
(21:08):
one of the things when everything is digitally transferred wirelessly,
you know that there's always you know, the the fault
of it all, like you know, hey, do you have
your stuff back? Oh, it's backed up on the cloud.
It's huh what Yeah, there's no there's there's no floppy
discs anymore.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Rob, So I in case you were wondering, I could
probably well, I mean, you know, you never know.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
I mean you know, I mean Oregon Trail is still
encapsulated on a floppy disk. For me in my mind,
I don't think uh but no, I mean, you know,
as we kind of look at today, and today is
a dreary one out here. Alvaro, I filled a robin,
but Arizona's actually it's raining and raining because I actually
have my door open in my office because I appreciate
(21:56):
the rain and the cool weather.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
But you know, for what we what we witnessed, and I.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
Wish we would have had the one clip that you did.
I mean we heard on low Steelers the Darnel Washington
play oh boy, and I mean what yeah, I mean
that play alone, but just kind of talk about, you know,
from Sunday. I know we heard the call the Carl
Duger interception. Uh, we probably could have played the James
Pierre fumble recovery touchdown as well.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
There are a lot of highlights.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
In this game, but I think one of the biggest
stories coming out of that game obviously is going to
be Aaron Rodgers getting injured at the end of that
first half and Mason Rudolph coming in, and obviously the
status of Aaron going into the Chicago game, because, like
we said, you know the Steeler you know, well, we
(22:47):
haven't said this yet, but I'm about to say it now,
but the Steelers haven't won in good old Chicago in
a very long time. And who is the one guy
who has been a Chicago killer his almost his entire career.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
One Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah, so I think that's kind of the storyline as
we do that.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
So I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.
Speaker 6 (23:09):
Well, he's I think he's beat him twenty one times
when he was a Packer, so he just has their number.
He actually gets, he gets going. He's at one point
he used to say that he owns Chicago. The city's
keys to him because he owns it, you know, it depends.
We've seen Terry Bradshaw back in the day play with
a bump left wrist with a big old cast. I
(23:32):
don't know how he's centered the ball. Don't know if
Aaron would well come out and do that. We'll find
out soon enough because we have Tomlin at noon. But
you know, they're different quarterbacks. There's something about Aaron Rodgers, though,
which I think is what makes him great, which is
he sets a very high bar for everybody around him.
The way you see it, he throws very hard passes
(23:55):
into very tight windows early and receive have to be
ready earlier.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
Than they normally would be.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
So he'll set the bar and he'll challenge you, and
he'll if you didn't turn around, you get hit in
the head, or you won't catch a ball, and it'll
be your fault, not his. Mason is receiver friendly. I
mean some of the throws he makes. He doesn't have
the same arm obviously that Aaron has even at this age.
But some of the throws he makes are just plucked.
(24:27):
You just you don't have to catch them. They've been
hovering above you. You go reach it and pluck them.
It's like pulling an apple off a tree. That's the
kind of throw he makes. It's very receiver friendly. They're
typically all of them very very short. He is also
has improved tremendously in terms of his inner clock. He
(24:48):
used to kind of think he had more time than
he actually did. He's a little bit more decisive in
making reads and moving around and getting rid of the ball,
and that's helped him tremendously. But it is so friendly.
It is less explosive an offense with Mason than it
would be with Aaron, because I think Aaron's a little
(25:09):
bit more of a yaker and Mason's more of a
station the station guy. Again, I'm simplifying here, that's not
always the case with Aaron. That's not always the case
with Mason. So you'll get the time possession you need
more likely with Mason just by design then you get
with Aaron. You won't get the explosion and the points
that you get with Aaron with Mason, and.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
That's sort of the trade off.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
Roughly speaking, all this being said against the Cincinnati team
that was really the worst team, this utiful.
Speaker 7 (25:41):
Face all season long. It was easy.
Speaker 6 (25:43):
It was easy, so it wasn't This is not the
kind of game that you judge everybody against.
Speaker 7 (25:50):
But I think, just broadly spoken, that's the trade off here.
Speaker 6 (25:55):
It's a little bit more explosive with Aaron, Mason's just
going to move the chains. It will take longer. He
will eat up clock and the defense will be rested.
And that's an interesting trade off for Pittsburgh right now.
Speaker 7 (26:11):
Very interesting.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
What did you like from the performance most Alvaro in
this win over the Bengals.
Speaker 6 (26:20):
I think he made the right read very quickly and
again short you know, behind line scrimmage, five ten yards
pass the line scrimmage. He didn't diddle battle. He saw
what he wanted and he went to it. Very decisive.
The pass rush, which is an emic. Again, Cincinnati did
not have their two top you know, pass rushers, so
(26:45):
it wasn't just great, but he just very quickly got
the ball out, made that offensive line look great.
Speaker 7 (26:52):
Everybody got great and great.
Speaker 6 (26:54):
It had a lot to do with Mason and Aaron
in the first in the first half as well, but
really more Mason and so quick decisions. The old, the
old Mason Rudolph would think he had more time than
he really did, and then he would get hit when
he threw, or get hit in the back, or get
slammed into the turf. He decided that was not going
to happen again, and he shortened me By the way,
(27:16):
this is the only game where both quarterbacks or any
Pittsford quarterback had more than three seconds to throw the
ball on average. That will never happen again. So for
this game again, I say that again, over and over again.
Against Cincinnati, this was beautiful. Now let's face Chicago, Let's
make those throws in less than two point seven seconds,
(27:38):
and we'll see how that works for both, for either
one of them. But I think for this game, he
did a great job of making those reads. He made
that offensive line look good, got rid of the ball great.
I mean, at one point that Roman Wilson catch when
he gets in motion towards the line, turns left and
I think he gained about seventeen yards he's written. I mean,
he had to wait for that ball come down. But
(28:01):
then when he caught it, it was his stride. He
had a chance to catch it, gather himself, advanced a
few more yards, and he got seventeen out of that play,
five out of six third downs converted to first downs
in the second half. You can't you can't argue against that,
and clock lots of clock. So he did a great job,
(28:22):
he really did. And so Bittsford has to be very
happy knowing that the same Mason Rulp that won those
three games at the end of the season a couple
of years ago is still here and as good, if
not better. And then you have to talk about Mason
also in terms of his story.
Speaker 7 (28:40):
It is just an amazing story.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
You know, blammed by Earl Thomas, beaten up by Miles Garrett.
Speaker 7 (28:49):
Broke his collar bone.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
In and out of the in and out of the
position when we never had a quarterback through Visky Ticket
or him, and he never complained, He never said a word,
He never lobbied for anything. He just kept quiet. He
just kept working at it. When he had his chance,
he showed it. After that first of the three games
(29:14):
that he won, people decided, well, we don't have another quarterback,
and he played very well. So this is the Mason
Ruural who's going to cheer as opposed to the one
we used to boo earlier or prior to that.
Speaker 7 (29:26):
He didn't change.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
He didn't change when things were down, didn't change when
things were up. I mean, this is exactly the kind
of person anybody wants around them any enterprise, any family,
any person. Really exemplary and it's just good to see
that the chance. You didn't want to see Aaron get hurt.
(29:48):
But when the chance came up, this is a different Mason.
Rudolph and and Pittford should be very very happy and
fortunate to have them.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
And I agree, a bro.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
I think, you know, you always wonder what the depth is,
and for the offense, really we hadn't had that depth
tested this season, you know. I mean we've had some
offensive line ins and outs, right, Isaac c Amalo in
the La Chargers game not available, was injured kind of
off and on before that in the Colts game. But
(30:20):
you know, offense hasn't really dealt with a guy being
out for an extended amount of time, nothing to the
degree of the defense. So you always wonder about losing
a key guy and how a team will manage themselves.
And I think you kind of laid it out perfectly.
You know, we do historically what Mason was, But what
(30:41):
have you done for me lately? Is always is always
the question that has asked And I thought, you know,
in that moment, he stood and he answered the call right,
he had no qualms about it, got in there, fit in,
and he was able to lead the team on two
very crucial drives to get points and essentially put that
away offensively. And then of course the defense stepped up
(31:02):
in the absence of Aaron as well, and they had
their day as we as we kind of think about,
you know, I think the other thing, and we kind
of alluded to it a little bit earlier in this conversation,
the emergence of Darnell Washington as as this viable you
(31:22):
know La Bestia, I believe you called him in your broadcast. Yes,
the beast and none better. I mean, I'm trying to
find a play harder than that this season. I think
Camp Scataboo might have had one very similar, but of
course Camp Scataboo. Now for the year for the Giants,
(31:44):
I mean, that was one of the most powerful and
just punishing runs I've seen in a very long time,
you know, I mean.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
It literally looked it looked.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
Like the running of the Bulls, and it was like
it was like every guy that has a red scarf
around his next spear is seeing that guy. In fact,
they might have had PTSD if they were watching the
game on TV. They might have jumped behind their couch
just remembering if you've ran with the bulls in Seville,
but it was just amazing to see that type of
(32:19):
dominance in one play from our team. Right, I think
we've seen other teams do it, and you know, unfortunately,
I think we've had that done to us by Derrick Henry.
But to see Darnell doing that and realize kind of
what we what we were kind of expecting when we
drafted him a number of years ago, but to see
that live in an action, just kind of talk about
(32:40):
his emergence. And he's also a viable target, which we've
been talking about for years, like why would you not
throw to a guy the six foot eight and pounds right,
because see, yeah, you know he's still he's still.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
A tight end.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
I don't know how tight you know he is is
an end, but he's definitely a large human. Just kind
of talk about just his play and his emergence in
the game.
Speaker 8 (33:03):
On Sunday, somebody posted a reel of high school plays,
and of course in high school, he had a huge body,
a man child, and he dominated physically the way he
does in the NFL.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
So that's the way he plays. That's the only way
he knows.
Speaker 7 (33:21):
How to play.
Speaker 6 (33:22):
What's surprising to me is as he moved up in level.
He still plays the same way. The other thing that's
really really good is how Arthur Smith just creates the
matchup where he puts them out in space, and I
can only imagine defensive coordinator saying, how do I find
(33:43):
film of people in the secondary stopping Darneld Washington? Because
there isn't any so he can't show them.
Speaker 7 (33:52):
What to do.
Speaker 6 (33:53):
If he shows them what not to do, then I'm
sitting in that room.
Speaker 7 (33:57):
I'm going, you know what, let somebody else talk go him.
I can't do that. This is gonna end my career.
Take a bitious decision. No no, no, no no.
Speaker 6 (34:09):
The safety is already right. The safeties are gonna take
this guy right, not me, not me. It's just it really,
it comes to the point where it's demoralizing. Okay, I'm
gonna make an effort to get in the way, but
he's gonna throw me to the ground anyway. So I'm
just gonna pick my spot here and try to live
for another play. I mean, seriously, how do you, if
(34:31):
you're a member, if you're a DV defensive fact, how
do you even approach the task because you've seen the film?
Speaker 7 (34:40):
Now. The other thing they have to say, I don't know.
Speaker 6 (34:42):
If any Faulkner's teaching these people the Antonio Brown leap
and sort of kick or leap and put your knee
in the opponent's chest technique that Antonio Brown did in
twenty fourteen.
Speaker 7 (34:54):
But we saw two instances of that.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Yep, you know, Darnell did one and.
Speaker 7 (35:00):
Tackled two people, just got clear two people.
Speaker 6 (35:02):
Out of the way, and then Gilan Warren did as well,
the great effect.
Speaker 7 (35:07):
So this is the sort of physical.
Speaker 6 (35:10):
Team that Andy Widel saw in Philadelphia and wanted to
bring here to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 7 (35:16):
It's taken a while to show. It's still not there that.
Speaker 6 (35:20):
I think that offensive line has a few members that
are very light for their position, but you have a
chance to see that sort of dominant, dominant physical you know,
stuff you're facing the ground, pancake you on occasion. It's
just a joy to watch. Hey, listen, Skolronic played I
think fifteen snaps and you knew he was there repeatedly
(35:44):
because they wanted to be physical with Cincinnati, and he
made a difference in that game. Broderick Jones had a
bunch of injuries, and I think the injuries actually helped
them not to lunge not to kind of do too much.
Speaker 7 (35:57):
He had to sort of stay with it himself.
Speaker 6 (36:00):
And that was one of his best games, again against
you know, weak competition compared to what he's gonna see
down the road. But still you saw that there. Somlow
was very, very good today. Zach Fraser had a tremendous
block in this game. Tremendous block in this game down
the field, and so you're talking about what the envision
(36:23):
beginning to happen. This may have been one of the
finest offensive line performances for the Steelers this season, again
against the weak opponent, but still you have to give
him props for that. And so it was just great
to watch. And when you see we see our nell,
we call him Mount Washington. Obviously everybody does, a lot
of people outside of Pittsurg.
Speaker 7 (36:43):
What does that mean.
Speaker 6 (36:44):
Come to Bittsford. We'll show you and then you see
that kind of play. It's just an amazing thing. I mean,
this is what I call the sub MVP player, not
the person that gets the highlights and the the sort
of the the headline. It's the guy that without who's presence,
the team is just a whole different group of people.
Speaker 7 (37:07):
He is right there.
Speaker 6 (37:08):
He is a sub MVP in the team.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
The great Alvaro Martin. Alvaro, will we see you in
Chicago this weekend?
Speaker 7 (37:17):
Oh yes, because I like the cold.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Looking forward to my friend. Thank you so much for
your time, appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (37:29):
Thank you very much. Guys to you then the great.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Thanks Alvaro Martin joining us, giving you his insight. Always
has some very interesting takes and shared those with you.
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(37:52):
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Speaker 3 (38:06):
Back with more in the.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Locker Room presented by our neighborhood Forard Store and the
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Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
This is in the locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
Neighborhood Ford Store.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
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Speaker 3 (38:43):
And thanks very much for being one of us.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Want to remind you we just served from the Great
Alvaro Martine and we will be joining by Bob Labriola
coming up at eleven o'clock.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
It is a Tuesday with Labs, and.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
I think at this stage of the game, Max, we'll
get to some power rankings. New power rankings are out,
and you know where how are the Steelers perceived nationwide?
You're gonna be happy, Max, because I believe the AFC
is finally showing up. It has been a heavily NFC
rated NFL in the power rankings by pretty much everybody
(39:19):
throughout pretty much all season. We've seen the Rams up there,
the Seahawks have crept up, the Eagles have been up
there as a as a constant, the Lions have been
up there as a constant. But now you know, we
were times we'd get down to we'd have six teams
and one of them would be an AFC team. I
think we're going to find a change in that. We'll
see though, We'll see, we'll find that out and we'll
(39:40):
let you know, and we get to that a little
bit later on. But you know, we're waiting for Mike
tom Win to speak today and I think, you know,
will Darius Slay be back and some other But you know,
the biggest question right now, I think clearly is Aaron
Rodgers and whether he might be available against the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:59):
No, that's that's the most prevailing question going into this week.
And and I'm sure a lot of people are gonna
be paying extra attention right at the top top of
the day at noon for the Mike Donland press conference
to hear the status of one quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. And
you know, I think you know whether eight is able
(40:21):
to go or not, or however that works out. I
think as a team, you've got to you've got to
have your head on the swivel for Chicago because Chicago
is a team that when they're hot, they're red hot.
When they're cold, they are ice cold. And that's what
you don't know what you're going to get, and always
(40:43):
one of the biggest things is going to Chicago and
playing in the still outdoor stadium. Now, obviously we don't
know how much long that's going to be. Might be
losing Chicago to a dome just like Cleveland, but as
it remains, it is a very very tough environment.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
To play in.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
I would argue probably one of the worst as you
get later in the year and we've got weather that's
up and down, you know, to say the least right
now this year. So it really depends on what you're getting.
I mean the wind and lake effect snow that could
come into play in this game. You need an exceptionally
(41:24):
strong arm for this game. And for Caleb Booms, he's
going to be tested as well, because you have to
remember the Chicago Bears, like no quarterback for them really
has any success.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
At home. They actually do better on the road than
they do away.
Speaker 4 (41:43):
I can't remember the biggest stat, but there's a thirty
year stat talking about Chicago Bear quarterbacks in the months
of November December and how to play From what you
get in September and October, there's a precipitous drop in
their production and because of the weather condition. Buffalo, there's
(42:03):
another one you could throw into that conversation. But even
for Buffalo, like it's not as legendary as Chicago with
their bad weather.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
Buffalo, you get it.
Speaker 4 (42:14):
But Buffalo the way it's kind of built down into
like a bowl, so to speak, so you kind of
get some of that top top wind when it hits perfectly,
will scoop down to the stadium and does a swirl
in the stadium. But they'll soon have a new stadium
as well that will you know, prevent the wind. And
(42:35):
you know, if you watch the whole hard Knocks and
all that kind of stuff, you learned about some of
the technical aspects that they were trying to plan for
with the weather. But Chicago has always been and will
always be a tough, tough place. I mean proximity to
you know, one of the great lakes, and I mean
(42:56):
the wind is legendary there.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
And then you're throw in weather on top of that.
Speaker 4 (43:00):
If there's any type of moisture precipitation in the environment,
it just makes it worse.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
It just makes it absolutely worse.
Speaker 4 (43:06):
So it's gonna be interesting to see what that forecast
is as we get closer to the game, because I
don't trust any meteorologists this early in the week. You know,
give me a Friday Saturday prediction. I don't want to
hear about it on Monday, which you're anticipating for Saturday
and Sundays.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
That is interesting because I would think of Buffalo with
those you know, those huge snowstorms. It was a couple
of years ago, wasn't it, where they were thinking about
moving the location to the game and they couldn't get
him there.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
But is it because of the wind? You think that
makes it worse? Yeah, it is the wind, because the
wind plays such a role. So if if you had
if you add.
Speaker 4 (43:46):
Rain, or you add snow, and then you just add
in that wind, you're already dealing with something bad, right,
you know, wet, muggy conditions, not the best of grip already,
But then now you have to deal with I have
a slicker football and I have wind. So if I'm
(44:08):
trying to air it out, it literally gets caught in
the air and it's out of play. Like that brings
a different dimension to airing it out, and that that's
that's what you risk if you get a particularly blustery
day in a city that's aptly known as the Windy City.
Speaker 3 (44:27):
You don't get that name.
Speaker 4 (44:28):
By accident, Rob, you know what I'm saying, Like you don't,
you don't necessarily, Ah, you know what, it was just
a little windy today, that must be the Windy City. No, No,
it's it's you're walking the Miracle Mile and you turn
a corner and you get hit in the face by
some unknown object and you you feel like you want
to fight somebody, but you realize, no, it's just the
air moving through because it has now created a you know,
(44:51):
a wind tunnel or a funnel of pointed air in
your direction, and it can knock you off your feet literally.
And you know, if you don't believe me, just go
to YouTube or go anywhere and you will see video
footage of people getting knocked on their arses that as
they come around the corner of a building and that wind.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
Just hits you.
Speaker 4 (45:12):
Nowhere else have I seen that type of wind effect.
So that that is a very realistic thing. And when
you're coming off the Oce, you have to remember the
reason why I talk about the lake so much is
because it's a void of elevation. So you think about
it like when you don't have any objects to block it. Trees, houses,
(45:36):
buildings right that divert a concentration of wind. That's where
you get it. And because of where the stadium is,
there is a huge void area where if wind is
coming from that direction, it's going to gain speed. Right
Like when I talk about you talk about like with
a car, a car. That's why drag racing, right, you see,
(45:59):
drag racing is just you' hit one hundred and twenty
hundred and forty hundred and fifty one hundred and eighty
miles an hour right in a straight line. The second
you go to veer a little bit, you lose speed,
You can lose control going at that highest speed. But
if it's concentrated going in a straight line, the fastest
you know, direction from point A to point B.
Speaker 3 (46:20):
What is a straight line.
Speaker 4 (46:21):
If it has to curve or has to adjust, it
takes something off of it. So that's what that's why
it makes it so tough. And that's why I say
Buffalo is right behind them. But Buffalo because it's kind
of dug into a bowl. You got trees, you got
houses around a neighborhood, all these things, and the ocean's
a little bit further or the Great Lakes is a
little bit further away, so it can lose a little
(46:42):
bit of that steep. In Chicago, there is nothing. There's
a void of obstructions for it to get to the
stadium until it gets to the stadium. So that's why
it's more apparent in Chicago than in other places.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
He's Max Stark's I'm Rob King. We're soon going to
be joined by Bob Labriola. That's up next in the
Locker Room, presented by o Neighborhood, Fords Store and the
Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of
the Steelers Audio Network,
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
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Speaker 2 (00:27):
Man, thanks very much for being with us in the
locker room. We have Justin Miller running things back at
our Ihearts studio. We have Max Starks in Arizona. I'm
rob King King very much for being with us.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Max. How are you today, my friend?
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Today, Ron is a rainy day here in the desert.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Now, how yeah, does it rain? Yes? There?
Speaker 4 (00:52):
I mean I would probably say out of the year,
maybe third.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Maybe maybe last.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Year was thirty four days per years the average, Yeah,
about two point eight rainy days per month. I gotta
be honest. That's more than I thought. I didn't think
it would rain.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
And listen, listen at least because we have a month
of monsoons and then this time of year you'll get
four or five days that'll be like this. Because like today,
like it is completely gray, like no sun. It's supposed
to rain. A majority of the day. So yeah, so we.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Have, we have, we have, although it be few, we
do have some. Okay, into every life, a little rain
must fall.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Yeah, we're I mean we're still no Seattle, you know, no, no, yeah, yeah,
we're still We're still very far.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
From that type of world.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Yeah, but yeah, we do get more than people might
think at times. Just it gets so hot for like
nine months, you know, or I should say it's very
very good weather about seven months out of the year,
eight almost, but then for four of it's unbearable. It
used to be nine months of great weather and three
(02:11):
months of that now, you know, however you feel on
the on the global global warming subject, climate change, yeah,
climate change. It it does get hot as heck here
a lot more often. I mean we had like consecutive
last year, like consecutive days over one hundred and ten,
(02:32):
like we broke a record.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So, so, did you pay any attention Max to last
night's Monday night game, Because frankly, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
As I ever even turned it on. I'm gonna be honest,
I did not. I did not. I did not catch
the contest de football last evening because I was on
full daddy duty. Nice So so.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Yeah, So me and my daughters, we had we were
doing stuff and then they had they have a turkey
drive at school today, so we had to go running
grab some turkeys. We got homework done, and we got
all kinds of stuff. I was just full on dad,
you know, made dinner and stuff. So so I was
preoccupied with that last night. So because you know, the
game comes on a little bit earlier out here, so
(03:19):
by the time I sat down and got the girls
to bed, game was over. So it was like, oh darn.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah, yeah, it's it was not a scintillating matchup to
begin with. You know, when you look at the Dallas
Cowboys and again it's just another disappointing season in Dallas,
and they improved a four or five and one.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Right now, they're tenth.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
In the NFC in playoff standings, and they're behind Carolina,
and okay, I could see Carolina, you know, I could
see them potentially faltering right and then maybe you you know,
you get ahead of them, but then you'd have to
catch San Francisco at seven and four. They're the seventh
seed right now, Detroit at six and four, and when
(04:09):
you look at Dallas's upcoming schedule they are home, they
are home.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Against Philadelphia and against Kansas City.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Then they're at Detroit on New Year's Day or not
Chris Thanksgiving Day. Now, the beauty of the NFL schedule,
and we could say the same thing about the Steelers,
is that the schedule, you play who's on your schedule.
And if you're the Cowboys and you win, you know,
all three of those games, and now you're seven to
five and one and you're back in playoff contention, then
(04:39):
you deserve to be in playoff contention. And if you're
four five and one and let's say you go one
and two in these next three games, difficult matchups, and
you're five seven and one and you're not in playoff contention, then.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
You don't deserve to be in playoff contention. You know
what I mean?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
If you can talk about the schedule a lot, but
I always figure, look, and it's the same thing with
the Steelers. Dealers have right now. The Teelers are the
three seed in the AFC, and they've got a difficult
schedule coming up, for sure, beginning with another other I
beg your part of the four seed, another difficult game
coming up against the division leader in the Bears. It's
a third time in the last four weeks that they'll
(05:16):
be playing a division leader. Then they take on Buffalo,
then they're at Baltimore. Miami looks up better all of
a sudden that Monday night matchup. Then you're at Detroit
before you finish up at Cleveland and against Baltimore, and
these next three games difficult games.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
You're six and four.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
You know what, if you're good enough, you'll get through
that and you'll be marching toward the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
And if you're not good enough, you won't.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Yeah, no, I mean, and that's simply how it is.
It's amazing to me, though, year after year the Cowboys
still get.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Monday night football games. Yeah, I think about this. They've
already had two.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Right Monday night football games, and they're gonna get the
the Thanksgiving Thursday.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Right, right, They get all of these.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Primetime games, and they're ill year after year, a pretty
bad team consistently, like they haven't really been a true
playoff like contender or must watch TV type of team,
you know, and but yet they they dominate the primetime headlines.
It's it's one of those things that's an anomaly to me,
(06:18):
and you know, kudos to Jerry Jones for knowing how
to stay. I guess relevant to where people believe that,
oh man, one more year, they're gonna they're gonna do something,
and it's like just do anything, you know what I'm saying, like,
and they just they can't do it. But you know, hey,
but they're but they're America's team. They are America's team.
(06:40):
I will say that phrase is old. It is it
is old. I will say this for the Cowboys.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
They're a little like the Bengals are right now, which
is they're not very good and the Cowboys are probably
a little bit better. They're not very good, but they
can sure put some points up. You know, they can
they can entertain you. They have a lot of weapons,
especially now you know they missed Ceedee Lamb when he
was gone. You know, you have Lamb and Pickens, you
(07:09):
have Prescott at the controls, you have Williams, you have
ferguson a tight end. You know, you have got a
lot of weapons offensively. You can't stop anybody, but you've
got a lot of weapons offensively, and so you know
when they take on Detroit on you know, actually it's uh,
let's say they have Kansas City. They have back to
(07:30):
back Thursday night games, by the way, at they take
on Kansas City on Thanksgiving and then they're at Detroit.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I mean, I.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Wouldn't be surprised if they put up thirty points in
both those games and lost them both. But at least
they're I suppose at least they're entertaining. They're not just
you know, a horrendous watch.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yeah. No, well, it depends on what you're looking for exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I was gonna add that caveat and I thought, I
just I'm gonna let that slide and see that slides
by Max.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Yeah, no, that was not going to slide right there.
I mean, yes, you are correct. That's the only way.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
You can that is.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I am a fan of offense only what is defense.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
That's right, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yes, And I'm a fan of I'm a fan of
I'm just I'm just a fan of good football. You know,
you could appreciate whether it comes in a passing attack,
a running attack, you know, a great rush defense, a
great pass defense, you know, sometimes a combination of all
those things. I just like, you know, there's no particular
(08:38):
style I like. I think I would probably though rather
see you know, a hard hitting, physical, sixteen thirteen football
game than forty four to forty one football game.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Yeah, I mean, and I mean that's what we got
week one from the Bills and the Ravens, right.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah, forty one forty I think it was, Yeah, yeah,
forty one forty.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
And that's when where you're just like, I mean, it's
fun and entertaining because you're like, okay, well, when is
someone going to get a stop? But at the same time,
you're like, god, you know, I do want to see
some defense. I do want to see some splash in
this game. That's like, Okay, this is really a challenge.
And when you have those high scoring games and it's
(09:24):
back and forth, you don't really see that, and you know,
the defenses are just getting the dog walked on them.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
And I'm with you.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
I'm good with games being in the twenties, possibly getting
to the thirties, you know at the most, but like
when you're seeing like forty high forties and almost fifty
point games like remember that one game?
Speaker 3 (09:47):
What was that? That was the oh I want to
say it.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Was was it Rams Chiefs like twenty twenty one or
twenty nineteen, like it was either right before right after
the COVID season, you had that high score like forty
five to forty three, Like I think, I want to say,
(10:16):
I think it Jared Goff was still on the Rams
and Patrick Mahomes was just starting for the Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
This is the future of the NFL.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
This is what's going to look like, high scoring games,
this is what the NFL wantsber do you remember that
game where it was like I do remembering Game of Quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I do know this.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I do know that there was a trend in which
it looked like the NFL was going full on passing
and they were it was all about let's entertain you know,
the casual fan. But you know what, man coaches find
a way to bring that back to the middle, you know,
(10:57):
and then what will happen is you'll have to legislate. Right,
we saw this is a brief aside. Here we saw
as an example, the TJ. Watt sack of Flaco. Now,
I think if I have this correct, I think they
you know, so the call and they weren't really specific.
They just called an intentional grounding. I could use it
(11:19):
a little more explanation because you and I were talking
about it. It felt to me like it was not
the fact that Watt hit Flaco late, but that he
put his weight on it, right, Like that's what they're saying,
And I think at the replay, I believe on TV
they said, I don't know, I don't know about that call.
I don't know if that's the right call. But the
(11:40):
point is that they're trying to keep quarterback up quarterbacks
up right, so there's more action, and there's because there's
such a drop off between the top quarterbacks and the
second string quarterbacks that you're trying to constantly adjust the rules.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
To keep the offense going.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
So anyway, I don't remember the specific game, but I
do know that that's always been a been something the
NFL is wanting to do.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
It is because they were trying to make the game
more exciting. It's almost like basketball right where there's like
no defense and everybody scoring like one hundred points.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Remember back in.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
The nineties and like well eighties and nineties, like getting
to the ninety was.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Like a treat.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah, like that was like that was too much because
then there was a lot of intentional fouling and it
got it got to the point where it's almost like,
you know, football in shorts, you know, guys, And.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
What's the problem. I don't I don't see a problem
with it. Rob, you haven't said anything to you.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
So I grew up as a Knicks fan, and that
was the way the Knicks played in those days, and
I rooted for him, the Knicks, the Nixt, the.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Pistons, the Celtics.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
I was like, come on, Kevin McHale, Robert Paars, Yeah,
go in the land if you want to.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
It's like you are leaving with a neck injury because
they are closelining you. My favorite Oh.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, yeah, So I'm I'm dating myself, but my favorite
era of basketball was the eighties. And all apologies to
Michael Jordan, who was incredible and all the guys we've
had since, Kobe and Lebron and all these guys.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I thought the Lakers, Celtics.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
You know, there was a there was a lot going
on there besides basketball. And I'm not going to do
oh no question that was going on. But I mean,
but those teams were loaded. Now it feels like, hey,
get get to get three superstars if you can phil
around the roster, you know, there's there. To me, there's
too much three point shooting. I'm sounded like a curmudgeon,
(13:43):
the old guy, But I thought the Lakers Celtics of
the eighties was like the pinnacle of basketball. I mean
every team, both those teams had Hall of famers. I mean,
you know, you know, you had guys like Bob McAdoo,
you know, and again later on in his career coming
off the bench, hall of famer as your seventh or
eighth man. You know, Dennis Johnson, another Hall of Famer,
(14:05):
kind of a almost a fringy starter for the Celtics
because he was later in his career. I mean, he's
still a starter and still a good player. But that
was my favorite era. You know, when you talk about
so if I were to look at a baseball game,
you know, I don't want one nothing all the time.
But I don't want eight to seven. I want every
I want every plate of matter. Guys on first, is
he gonna steal? They're gonna bun him over? What is
(14:25):
a strategy? You know, if you're just you know, if
it's just hey, don't worry about it. You know we're
gonna score next time down. Don't worry about it. We're
gonna hit a three run homer. We're gonna hit a
three point shot because there's no defense. We're gonna score
another touchdown our next possession.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
That's fine as as.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
An occasional diversion, but I don't want a steady diet
of that.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
I like a little bit of defense in there. And
even then I will say this an eight four game.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Actually I'm not mad at it's the it's like the
fifteen to twelve game. Yeah, right, sure, that that's the
one that's like, oh my god, this is just is
this a home run derby?
Speaker 3 (15:05):
You know you feel like that, but you're right.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
You do want to see both sides have success right
to a degree, obviously, you know, and then one kind
of breakthrough and crack the code later in the game, right,
It keeps your keeps your attention span going into.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
The later part of it.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
That's the whole point of it is to see offenses
trying to figure out defenses, and defenses trying to figure
out offenses and the chess match that goes on with it,
and you know, you want the games to be tight
to a degree, and then of course everybody wants their
team to like pull away in the fourth right, so
that you don't have a heart attack in.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
The fourth But that's why you watch the entire game.
And so I'm in the same boat.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
I love it interesting, Like you said, I mean, we
had we had a lot. Remember remember a week ago
before before we played the Chargers, and of course that
game wasn't as competitive at all.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
But remember the four o'clock slate.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
All three teams that won had over forty two points
and all teams that lost had under twenty two points.
You know, those are the games where you're like, oh
my god. I was like, well, I got stuff to do.
You need to watch this, this game's over with. You
don't want those, and I think that's that's what you
hope for. I mean, granted, you know, just like our game,
(16:23):
like on Sunday, that's a game, that's a game you want.
It's a tight game, and then you just start to
pull away late in the game. But yet there's still
a sense that, man, this team possibly could come back
because they scored fourteen was it fourteen or fifteen points
in fifty nine seconds. You know, right, you hit on
side that you get it done right. You like having
(16:43):
that in the back pocket, like, man, this game is
not set and you're gonna stay to the very end,
and then there comes a point two minutes in where
they just kind of give up.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
You know, you saw the Bengals give up.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
They're like, we're not really trying to push the ball,
but we're gonna We're gonna get there events and just
try and kill the clock.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Well, we're going to get to eventually. He's Alvro Martin.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
He's going to join us next, the outstanding play by
playman in the Spanish speaking Steelers broadcast. Good to see
him back in the booth, and this past week he
had missed the last couple on other assignments, including being
in Mexico calling the game down there in front of
a group of Steelers fans for the Chargers game on
Sunday night.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
He's going to join us next.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
And we continue in the Locker Room presented by our
neighborhood Ford Store and the Steelers Pro Shop on Steeers
Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one point fifty is the official truck of
the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop get it
direct from the team at the Steelers Pro shop at
shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
We love to hear that.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
We'd love to hear our Martin on the call because
he's phenomenal and he's our friend and he's joining us
now in the locker room. Alvaro, good to hear you
back behind the microphone. We missed you the last couple
of weeks that we know you had stuff going on
NBA a couple of weeks ago, a big event there,
and then last week you were down in Mexico City.
(18:19):
We talked to you about that about the watch party
for the Steelers. But good to have you back behind
the microphone making those outstanding calls.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
And thank you for being with us today.
Speaker 6 (18:29):
Well, thank you Rob, thank you Max. I have to say,
when I finished that call, I just get it. I
just kind of loose myself in the moment when I
finished that call. We're in a little booth right next
to yours, a little recessed a little further back, and
one of us. There's a row of folks and one
of them typically is the scout of the team that
Pittsburgh will play next week. This time it's Chicago. So
(18:52):
when I finish. I'm up, I'm standing up, I'm all
pumped up, and I finishing. The guy's shooting me a
look like dude piped down. I'm working here, you know what,
you know what, you know what, Alvro.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
That makes me want to win this game even a
little bit more for the Steelers.
Speaker 7 (19:12):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, I mean she got be a
huge test.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
He shooting you dirty. Look. We can't have that, he
shot look, he shot me a look.
Speaker 7 (19:19):
You know.
Speaker 6 (19:19):
And typically what happens is I come in and I
give him a little piece of gum right before we start,
and we tell him you know, we're.
Speaker 7 (19:26):
Right behind you.
Speaker 6 (19:27):
We maybe get carried away a couple of times during
the game. Here's a little something that puts kind of
make up for it. But I didn't do it this time.
I think maybe he's mad that they're gonna give me
a gum or.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I don't know they probably the fan scouts are probably talking.
That's probably what happened. He probably said, you know what, man,
no gum, no gum for me.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
If he took his eye off the play and he
missed something and he doesn't make it to the plan
next week, then you know, start the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Hey, Avra, what do you think student? But take go ahead.
Speaker 7 (20:00):
I'm going to warn you something.
Speaker 6 (20:01):
You know, that cloud Fair failure that's been going around
the country, in the world. If I say anything stupid today,
it's because of cloud Fair, Okay.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Mac, warn you fill me in on cloud Fair. Max.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
It's some kind of it's it's some kind of software
that makes the whole Internet run. So websites are down.
Everything's down, been down, up and down, up and down.
Now I think it's up, hopefully for for good. So
any mistake, any stupidity on my part, blame it on
cloud Fair.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah. I think it's a daily occurrence to cloud Fair
for me.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
Yeah, cloud Fair, cloudware, any type of cloud services.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Yeah, because you know, well, the good.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Thing is I mean you know, if you mentioned that
to Wolf, Wolf would have just looked up in the
sky and no, it's not there, Wolf. I mean, technically
it's there, but it's not really there. You don't have
to look at it. You're not You're never going to
see it. But yeah, but keep trying. Uh but uh
but no, I mean you know, and and that that's
(21:08):
one of the things when everything is digitally transferred wirelessly,
you know that there's always you know, the the fault
of it all, like you know, hey, do you have
your stuff back? Oh, it's backed up on the cloud.
It's huh what Yeah, there's no there's there's no floppy
discs anymore.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Rob, So I in case you were wondering, I could
probably well, I mean, you know, you never know.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
I mean you know, I mean Oregon Trail is still
encapsulated on a floppy disk. For me in my mind,
I don't think uh but no, I mean, you know,
as we kind of look at today, and today is
a dreary one out here. Alvaro, I filled a robin,
but Arizona's actually it's raining and raining because I actually
have my door open in my office because I appreciate
(21:56):
the rain and the cool weather.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
But you know, for what we what we witnessed, and I.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
Wish we would have had the one clip that you did.
I mean we heard on low Steelers the Darnel Washington
play oh boy, and I mean what yeah, I mean
that play alone, but just kind of talk about, you know,
from Sunday. I know we heard the call the Carl
Duger interception. Uh, we probably could have played the James
Pierre fumble recovery touchdown as well.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
There are a lot of highlights.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
In this game, but I think one of the biggest
stories coming out of that game obviously is going to
be Aaron Rodgers getting injured at the end of that
first half and Mason Rudolph coming in, and obviously the
status of Aaron going into the Chicago game, because, like
we said, you know the Steeler you know, well, we
(22:47):
haven't said this yet, but I'm about to say it now,
but the Steelers haven't won in good old Chicago in
a very long time. And who is the one guy
who has been a Chicago killer his almost his entire career.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
One Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah, so I think that's kind of the storyline as
we do that.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
So I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.
Speaker 6 (23:09):
Well, he's I think he's beat him twenty one times
when he was a Packer, so he just has their number.
He actually gets, he gets going. He's at one point
he used to say that he owns Chicago. The city's
keys to him because he owns it, you know, it depends.
We've seen Terry Bradshaw back in the day play with
a bump left wrist with a big old cast. I
(23:32):
don't know how he's centered the ball. Don't know if
Aaron would well come out and do that. We'll find
out soon enough because we have Tomlin at noon. But
you know, they're different quarterbacks. There's something about Aaron Rodgers, though,
which I think is what makes him great, which is
he sets a very high bar for everybody around him.
The way you see it, he throws very hard passes
(23:55):
into very tight windows early and receive have to be
ready earlier.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
Than they normally would be.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
So he'll set the bar and he'll challenge you, and
he'll if you didn't turn around, you get hit in
the head, or you won't catch a ball, and it'll
be your fault, not his. Mason is receiver friendly. I
mean some of the throws he makes. He doesn't have
the same arm obviously that Aaron has even at this age.
But some of the throws he makes are just plucked.
(24:27):
You just you don't have to catch them. They've been
hovering above you. You go reach it and pluck them.
It's like pulling an apple off a tree. That's the
kind of throw he makes. It's very receiver friendly. They're
typically all of them very very short. He is also
has improved tremendously in terms of his inner clock. He
(24:48):
used to kind of think he had more time than
he actually did. He's a little bit more decisive in
making reads and moving around and getting rid of the ball,
and that's helped him tremendously. But it is so friendly.
It is less explosive an offense with Mason than it
would be with Aaron, because I think Aaron's a little
(25:09):
bit more of a yaker and Mason's more of a
station the station guy. Again, I'm simplifying here, that's not
always the case with Aaron. That's not always the case
with Mason. So you'll get the time possession you need
more likely with Mason just by design then you get
with Aaron. You won't get the explosion and the points
that you get with Aaron with Mason, and.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
That's sort of the trade off.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
Roughly speaking, all this being said against the Cincinnati team
that was really the worst team, this utiful.
Speaker 7 (25:41):
Face all season long. It was easy.
Speaker 6 (25:43):
It was easy, so it wasn't This is not the
kind of game that you judge everybody against.
Speaker 7 (25:50):
But I think, just broadly spoken, that's the trade off here.
Speaker 6 (25:55):
It's a little bit more explosive with Aaron, Mason's just
going to move the chains. It will take longer. He
will eat up clock and the defense will be rested.
And that's an interesting trade off for Pittsburgh right now.
Speaker 7 (26:11):
Very interesting.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
What did you like from the performance most Alvaro in
this win over the Bengals.
Speaker 6 (26:20):
I think he made the right read very quickly and
again short you know, behind line scrimmage, five ten yards
pass the line scrimmage. He didn't diddle battle. He saw
what he wanted and he went to it. Very decisive.
The pass rush, which is an emic. Again, Cincinnati did
not have their two top you know, pass rushers, so
(26:45):
it wasn't just great, but he just very quickly got
the ball out, made that offensive line look great.
Speaker 7 (26:52):
Everybody got great and great.
Speaker 6 (26:54):
It had a lot to do with Mason and Aaron
in the first in the first half as well, but
really more Mason and so quick decisions. The old, the
old Mason Rudolph would think he had more time than
he really did, and then he would get hit when
he threw, or get hit in the back, or get
slammed into the turf. He decided that was not going
to happen again, and he shortened me By the way,
(27:16):
this is the only game where both quarterbacks or any
Pittsford quarterback had more than three seconds to throw the
ball on average. That will never happen again. So for
this game again, I say that again, over and over again.
Against Cincinnati, this was beautiful. Now let's face Chicago, Let's
make those throws in less than two point seven seconds,
(27:38):
and we'll see how that works for both, for either
one of them. But I think for this game, he
did a great job of making those reads. He made
that offensive line look good, got rid of the ball great.
I mean, at one point that Roman Wilson catch when
he gets in motion towards the line, turns left and
I think he gained about seventeen yards he's written. I mean,
he had to wait for that ball come down. But
(28:01):
then when he caught it, it was his stride. He
had a chance to catch it, gather himself, advanced a
few more yards, and he got seventeen out of that play,
five out of six third downs converted to first downs
in the second half. You can't you can't argue against that,
and clock lots of clock. So he did a great job,
(28:22):
he really did. And so Bittsford has to be very
happy knowing that the same Mason Rulp that won those
three games at the end of the season a couple
of years ago is still here and as good, if
not better. And then you have to talk about Mason
also in terms of his story.
Speaker 7 (28:40):
It is just an amazing story.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
You know, blammed by Earl Thomas, beaten up by Miles Garrett.
Speaker 7 (28:49):
Broke his collar bone.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
In and out of the in and out of the
position when we never had a quarterback through Visky Ticket
or him, and he never complained, He never said a word,
He never lobbied for anything. He just kept quiet. He
just kept working at it. When he had his chance,
he showed it. After that first of the three games
(29:14):
that he won, people decided, well, we don't have another quarterback,
and he played very well. So this is the Mason
Ruural who's going to cheer as opposed to the one
we used to boo earlier or prior to that.
Speaker 7 (29:26):
He didn't change.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
He didn't change when things were down, didn't change when
things were up. I mean, this is exactly the kind
of person anybody wants around them any enterprise, any family,
any person. Really exemplary and it's just good to see
that the chance. You didn't want to see Aaron get hurt.
(29:48):
But when the chance came up, this is a different Mason.
Rudolph and and Pittford should be very very happy and
fortunate to have them.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
And I agree, a bro.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
I think, you know, you always wonder what the depth is,
and for the offense, really we hadn't had that depth
tested this season, you know. I mean we've had some
offensive line ins and outs, right, Isaac c Amalo in
the La Chargers game not available, was injured kind of
off and on before that in the Colts game. But
(30:20):
you know, offense hasn't really dealt with a guy being
out for an extended amount of time, nothing to the
degree of the defense. So you always wonder about losing
a key guy and how a team will manage themselves.
And I think you kind of laid it out perfectly.
You know, we do historically what Mason was, But what
(30:41):
have you done for me lately? Is always is always
the question that has asked And I thought, you know,
in that moment, he stood and he answered the call right,
he had no qualms about it, got in there, fit in,
and he was able to lead the team on two
very crucial drives to get points and essentially put that
away offensively. And then of course the defense stepped up
(31:02):
in the absence of Aaron as well, and they had
their day as we as we kind of think about,
you know, I think the other thing, and we kind
of alluded to it a little bit earlier in this conversation,
the emergence of Darnell Washington as as this viable you
(31:22):
know La Bestia, I believe you called him in your broadcast. Yes,
the beast and none better. I mean, I'm trying to
find a play harder than that this season. I think
Camp Scataboo might have had one very similar, but of
course Camp Scataboo. Now for the year for the Giants,
(31:44):
I mean, that was one of the most powerful and
just punishing runs I've seen in a very long time,
you know, I mean.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
It literally looked it looked.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
Like the running of the Bulls, and it was like
it was like every guy that has a red scarf
around his next spear is seeing that guy. In fact,
they might have had PTSD if they were watching the
game on TV. They might have jumped behind their couch
just remembering if you've ran with the bulls in Seville,
but it was just amazing to see that type of
(32:19):
dominance in one play from our team. Right, I think
we've seen other teams do it, and you know, unfortunately,
I think we've had that done to us by Derrick Henry.
But to see Darnell doing that and realize kind of
what we what we were kind of expecting when we
drafted him a number of years ago, but to see
that live in an action, just kind of talk about
(32:40):
his emergence. And he's also a viable target, which we've
been talking about for years, like why would you not
throw to a guy the six foot eight and pounds right,
because see, yeah, you know he's still he's still.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
A tight end.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
I don't know how tight you know he is is
an end, but he's definitely a large human. Just kind
of talk about just his play and his emergence in
the game.
Speaker 8 (33:03):
On Sunday, somebody posted a reel of high school plays,
and of course in high school, he had a huge body,
a man child, and he dominated physically the way he
does in the NFL.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
So that's the way he plays. That's the only way
he knows.
Speaker 7 (33:21):
How to play.
Speaker 6 (33:22):
What's surprising to me is as he moved up in level.
He still plays the same way. The other thing that's
really really good is how Arthur Smith just creates the
matchup where he puts them out in space, and I
can only imagine defensive coordinator saying, how do I find
(33:43):
film of people in the secondary stopping Darneld Washington? Because
there isn't any so he can't show them.
Speaker 7 (33:52):
What to do.
Speaker 6 (33:53):
If he shows them what not to do, then I'm
sitting in that room.
Speaker 7 (33:57):
I'm going, you know what, let somebody else talk go him.
I can't do that. This is gonna end my career.
Take a bitious decision. No no, no, no no.
Speaker 6 (34:09):
The safety is already right. The safeties are gonna take
this guy right, not me, not me. It's just it really,
it comes to the point where it's demoralizing. Okay, I'm
gonna make an effort to get in the way, but
he's gonna throw me to the ground anyway. So I'm
just gonna pick my spot here and try to live
for another play. I mean, seriously, how do you, if
(34:31):
you're a member, if you're a DV defensive fact, how
do you even approach the task because you've seen the film?
Speaker 7 (34:40):
Now. The other thing they have to say, I don't know.
Speaker 6 (34:42):
If any Faulkner's teaching these people the Antonio Brown leap
and sort of kick or leap and put your knee
in the opponent's chest technique that Antonio Brown did in
twenty fourteen.
Speaker 7 (34:54):
But we saw two instances of that.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Yep, you know, Darnell did one and.
Speaker 7 (35:00):
Tackled two people, just got clear two people.
Speaker 6 (35:02):
Out of the way, and then Gilan Warren did as well,
the great effect.
Speaker 7 (35:07):
So this is the sort of physical.
Speaker 6 (35:10):
Team that Andy Widel saw in Philadelphia and wanted to
bring here to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 7 (35:16):
It's taken a while to show. It's still not there that.
Speaker 6 (35:20):
I think that offensive line has a few members that
are very light for their position, but you have a
chance to see that sort of dominant, dominant physical you know,
stuff you're facing the ground, pancake you on occasion. It's
just a joy to watch. Hey, listen, Skolronic played I
think fifteen snaps and you knew he was there repeatedly
(35:44):
because they wanted to be physical with Cincinnati, and he
made a difference in that game. Broderick Jones had a
bunch of injuries, and I think the injuries actually helped
them not to lunge not to kind of do too much.
Speaker 7 (35:57):
He had to sort of stay with it himself.
Speaker 6 (36:00):
And that was one of his best games, again against
you know, weak competition compared to what he's gonna see
down the road. But still you saw that there. Somlow
was very, very good today. Zach Fraser had a tremendous
block in this game. Tremendous block in this game down
the field, and so you're talking about what the envision
(36:23):
beginning to happen. This may have been one of the
finest offensive line performances for the Steelers this season, again
against the weak opponent, but still you have to give
him props for that. And so it was just great
to watch. And when you see we see our nell,
we call him Mount Washington. Obviously everybody does, a lot
of people outside of Pittsurg.
Speaker 7 (36:43):
What does that mean.
Speaker 6 (36:44):
Come to Bittsford. We'll show you and then you see
that kind of play. It's just an amazing thing. I mean,
this is what I call the sub MVP player, not
the person that gets the highlights and the the sort
of the the headline. It's the guy that without who's presence,
the team is just a whole different group of people.
Speaker 7 (37:07):
He is right there.
Speaker 6 (37:08):
He is a sub MVP in the team.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
The great Alvaro Martin. Alvaro, will we see you in
Chicago this weekend?
Speaker 7 (37:17):
Oh yes, because I like the cold.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Looking forward to my friend. Thank you so much for
your time, appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (37:29):
Thank you very much. Guys to you then the great.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Thanks Alvaro Martin joining us, giving you his insight. Always
has some very interesting takes and shared those with you.
I want to remind you can gear up with the
latest game day necessities at the official Students Pro shops.
Get the latest sideline appareled jerseys, Terrible towels, authentic memorabilia
and custom exclusives you can only find directly from the team.
(37:52):
Visit one of the official Students Pro shops located at
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or gear up online at shops dot com. Get it
direct from the team at the Studis Pro Shop at
shop dot Steelers dot Com.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
Back with more in the.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Locker Room presented by our neighborhood Forard Store and the
Students Pro Shop on Stephize Nation Radio, part of the
Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
This is in the locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
Neighborhood Ford Store.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
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dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
And thanks very much for being one of us.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Want to remind you we just served from the Great
Alvaro Martine and we will be joining by Bob Labriola
coming up at eleven o'clock.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
It is a Tuesday with Labs, and.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
I think at this stage of the game, Max, we'll
get to some power rankings. New power rankings are out,
and you know where how are the Steelers perceived nationwide?
You're gonna be happy, Max, because I believe the AFC
is finally showing up. It has been a heavily NFC
rated NFL in the power rankings by pretty much everybody
(39:19):
throughout pretty much all season. We've seen the Rams up there,
the Seahawks have crept up, the Eagles have been up
there as a as a constant, the Lions have been
up there as a constant. But now you know, we
were times we'd get down to we'd have six teams
and one of them would be an AFC team. I
think we're going to find a change in that. We'll
see though, We'll see, we'll find that out and we'll
(39:40):
let you know, and we get to that a little
bit later on. But you know, we're waiting for Mike
tom Win to speak today and I think, you know,
will Darius Slay be back and some other But you know,
the biggest question right now, I think clearly is Aaron
Rodgers and whether he might be available against the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:59):
No, that's that's the most prevailing question going into this week.
And and I'm sure a lot of people are gonna
be paying extra attention right at the top top of
the day at noon for the Mike Donland press conference
to hear the status of one quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. And
you know, I think you know whether eight is able
(40:21):
to go or not, or however that works out. I
think as a team, you've got to you've got to
have your head on the swivel for Chicago because Chicago
is a team that when they're hot, they're red hot.
When they're cold, they are ice cold. And that's what
you don't know what you're going to get, and always
(40:43):
one of the biggest things is going to Chicago and
playing in the still outdoor stadium. Now, obviously we don't
know how much long that's going to be. Might be
losing Chicago to a dome just like Cleveland, but as
it remains, it is a very very tough environment.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
To play in.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
I would argue probably one of the worst as you
get later in the year and we've got weather that's
up and down, you know, to say the least right
now this year. So it really depends on what you're getting.
I mean the wind and lake effect snow that could
come into play in this game. You need an exceptionally
(41:24):
strong arm for this game. And for Caleb Booms, he's
going to be tested as well, because you have to
remember the Chicago Bears, like no quarterback for them really
has any success.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
At home. They actually do better on the road than
they do away.
Speaker 4 (41:43):
I can't remember the biggest stat, but there's a thirty
year stat talking about Chicago Bear quarterbacks in the months
of November December and how to play From what you
get in September and October, there's a precipitous drop in
their production and because of the weather condition. Buffalo, there's
(42:03):
another one you could throw into that conversation. But even
for Buffalo, like it's not as legendary as Chicago with
their bad weather.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
Buffalo, you get it.
Speaker 4 (42:14):
But Buffalo the way it's kind of built down into
like a bowl, so to speak, so you kind of
get some of that top top wind when it hits perfectly,
will scoop down to the stadium and does a swirl
in the stadium. But they'll soon have a new stadium
as well that will you know, prevent the wind. And
(42:35):
you know, if you watch the whole hard Knocks and
all that kind of stuff, you learned about some of
the technical aspects that they were trying to plan for
with the weather. But Chicago has always been and will
always be a tough, tough place. I mean proximity to
you know, one of the great lakes, and I mean
(42:56):
the wind is legendary there.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
And then you're throw in weather on top of that.
Speaker 4 (43:00):
If there's any type of moisture precipitation in the environment,
it just makes it worse.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
It just makes it absolutely worse.
Speaker 4 (43:06):
So it's gonna be interesting to see what that forecast
is as we get closer to the game, because I
don't trust any meteorologists this early in the week. You know,
give me a Friday Saturday prediction. I don't want to
hear about it on Monday, which you're anticipating for Saturday
and Sundays.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
That is interesting because I would think of Buffalo with
those you know, those huge snowstorms. It was a couple
of years ago, wasn't it, where they were thinking about
moving the location to the game and they couldn't get
him there.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
But is it because of the wind? You think that
makes it worse? Yeah, it is the wind, because the
wind plays such a role. So if if you had
if you add.
Speaker 4 (43:46):
Rain, or you add snow, and then you just add
in that wind, you're already dealing with something bad, right,
you know, wet, muggy conditions, not the best of grip already,
But then now you have to deal with I have
a slicker football and I have wind. So if I'm
(44:08):
trying to air it out, it literally gets caught in
the air and it's out of play. Like that brings
a different dimension to airing it out, and that that's
that's what you risk if you get a particularly blustery
day in a city that's aptly known as the Windy City.
Speaker 3 (44:27):
You don't get that name.
Speaker 4 (44:28):
By accident, Rob, you know what I'm saying, Like you don't,
you don't necessarily, Ah, you know what, it was just
a little windy today, that must be the Windy City. No, No,
it's it's you're walking the Miracle Mile and you turn
a corner and you get hit in the face by
some unknown object and you you feel like you want
to fight somebody, but you realize, no, it's just the
air moving through because it has now created a you know,
(44:51):
a wind tunnel or a funnel of pointed air in
your direction, and it can knock you off your feet literally.
And you know, if you don't believe me, just go
to YouTube or go anywhere and you will see video
footage of people getting knocked on their arses that as
they come around the corner of a building and that wind.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
Just hits you.
Speaker 4 (45:12):
Nowhere else have I seen that type of wind effect.
So that that is a very realistic thing. And when
you're coming off the Oce, you have to remember the
reason why I talk about the lake so much is
because it's a void of elevation. So you think about
it like when you don't have any objects to block it. Trees, houses,
(45:36):
buildings right that divert a concentration of wind. That's where
you get it. And because of where the stadium is,
there is a huge void area where if wind is
coming from that direction, it's going to gain speed. Right
Like when I talk about you talk about like with
a car, a car. That's why drag racing, right, you see,
(45:59):
drag racing is just you' hit one hundred and twenty
hundred and forty hundred and fifty one hundred and eighty
miles an hour right in a straight line. The second
you go to veer a little bit, you lose speed,
You can lose control going at that highest speed. But
if it's concentrated going in a straight line, the fastest
you know, direction from point A to point B.
Speaker 3 (46:20):
What is a straight line.
Speaker 4 (46:21):
If it has to curve or has to adjust, it
takes something off of it. So that's what that's why
it makes it so tough. And that's why I say
Buffalo is right behind them. But Buffalo because it's kind
of dug into a bowl. You got trees, you got
houses around a neighborhood, all these things, and the ocean's
a little bit further or the Great Lakes is a
little bit further away, so it can lose a little
(46:42):
bit of that steep. In Chicago, there is nothing. There's
a void of obstructions for it to get to the
stadium until it gets to the stadium. So that's why
it's more apparent in Chicago than in other places.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
He's Max Stark's I'm Rob King. We're soon going to
be joined by Bob Labriola. That's up next in the
Locker Room, presented by o Neighborhood, Fords Store and the
Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of
the Steelers Audio Network,
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