October 6, 2025 • 44 mins
Max and Rob go through the results of the entire AFC and what it means for the Steelers heading into their first divisional game of the season on Sunday!
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
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Speaker 2 (00:29):
Oh, there it is. Rob Optimist is back on the
prowl once again. He's barreling down towards Afrasure on Sunday
showdown with the Cleveland Brownies as they come to town
Sunday one o'clock. And of course we bid our friend
to do because we know he's busy. You know, he
(00:50):
didn't like to stop for much, but he does like
to stop past the locker room and let us know
that he's thinking about us. So great to have Optimists
to start the Power Hour number two in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Okay, So I wanted to follow that up, and that's
that's a tough.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Act to follow. Tough to follow up, Optimist.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I wanted to follow up our earlier conversation with your
thoughts on the quarterback position just as it relates to
team building, because it feels to me like, you know,
maybe the Browns were saying, we don't think we can
win it all with Baker Mayfield. Maybe the Vikings were saying,
(01:31):
we don't think we can win it all with Sam Donald.
And so if you're the Steelers who were reportedly interested
in at least talking to Sam Donald reportedly made an
offer to Justin Fields, you know, we're exploring the the
the notion of bringing Russell back, but all this with
(01:53):
the backdrop of of a pursuit of Aaron Rodgers. I
guess the question becomes, do you hope that you can
lift a quarterback up or do you need to only
go with a quarterback who can lift you up? And
I know there's no one answer because you know, again,
(02:14):
as we talked about with Jalen Hurts team, you know,
somebody might say it's a little bit of both. Jalen
Hurts is a good quarterback, but he's got a great
roster around him, and there therefore you win a Super Bowl.
A lesser quarterback might not be able to do it,
or maybe a lesser roster Jalen Hurts couldn't do it. Uh,
It's I think it's a it's it might be the
(02:35):
most important question in sports, because to me, it's the
most important position in sports. And of course the underlying
narrative to that is what are you after as a team?
Are you after some success or you after hoisting Lombardi Trophy?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Well, I think I think that's what it is. And
even for a Jalen Hurts, right, he came into the
situation as a fourth round draft pick, so much like
a Kirk Cousins when he came in. Remember the RG three.
I mean, here's the thing. People are like, oh my god,
why would the Browns draft Dylan Gabriel Sanders. I was
like the Washington Redskins at the time. Then Redskins now
(03:11):
commanders did the same exact thing, right with drafting two
quarterbacks of the same draft and the three draft right
with y RG three and Kirk Cousins. Yeah, so so
I mean, so it's like what the Browns did was
not as crazy as what the Redskins did because they
(03:34):
took RG three number a first round draft pick overall,
and then came back in the third round and double
dipped and got Kirk Cousins. And look how that worked out. Right. So,
by the way, Hurts the second round pick, so he
was a second round pick, but day two pick. He
wasn't a day one Prescott. Prescott was another. He was
(03:57):
the one that was a fourth round. That's right, that's
right to Romo was there, so okay, so I got
I got my I got my QBS confused there. But
it goes to show that it doesn't have to be
the first round guy first overall, that your bett that
you're hitching the entire franchise wagon to to make it happen.
I mean, we'd like to think that that's what it is.
When he's a first rounder. Oh, we could tie him
(04:19):
up for five years and and that he's going to
be the answer, the cure all. Sometimes like now we
need some other pieces. You know, we like you a
whole lot, but here's here's the laundry list of things
you're walking into, uh with this, and we got to
fill all these all these other needs as well. And
that's why roster construction is so important, because when you
(04:40):
take that guy, when you make that jump matters, and
you want to be a team that's on the cusp,
you know, normally, you want to be that team that's
normally in that ten to twenty range, because that means
you're flirting with the playoffs versus your top ten who
are bottom bottom of each of their respective divisions and
fighting for just relevancy, not and not not fighting for
(05:03):
me and fighting to get to mediocrity, whereas the other
teams are the mediocrity or the stasis. They're stable and
they're trying to make the jump to the next tier. Right,
So that's the proper way you want to do it
when you're looking at quarterbacks. But obviously coaches don't have
the timer that you would like. You know, they want
(05:25):
a crock pot. They get a microwave, hungry man meal,
and you've got to make it work as fast as possible.
So teams reach, teams jump, teams go out and above
and beyond to get what that what they think they need.
And every new head coach thinks they need a new quarterback.
(05:46):
That's what every coach thinks. Oh, I just I just
need a new quarterback. Very rarely do you see a
coach walk in and say nope, I like my situation.
I was like, we just need to we just need
to build around this guy. And we see it all
the time, and there's very few do you come in
and say, man, I got the guy. Mike Tomlin when
he came in almost two decades ago. Right, he had
the guy because he had a young Ben Roethlisberger. That
(06:09):
that that was that that was here, that stabilized that.
So you didn't have to go reach and grab for
quarterbacks for a very long time. Aaron Rodgers when he
was in Green Bay, you know, Eberflus, McCarthy, all of
them walk in. They don't have to struggle about a
quarterback because they got one in place already. And so
(06:29):
those teams and even look at look at what McVeigh.
McVeigh had a golf and said, now I need something different,
and they played Red Rover with the Detroit Lions and
swapped the quarterbacks. And you would argue that was the
right decision because both of those franchises love their quarterbacks now. Right. Yeah,
And the Rams won a Super.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Bowl, won a Super Bowl, which then't done yet, right.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Nope, they've been close, but they're now a relevant team.
Remember when Dan Campbell took over, they couldn't win a game,
right time. Let's let a load let alad talking about
playoffs year in and year out. They couldn't win a game.
And so I think that's what's just crazy impressive what
they've done because they've had a complete remodel. Like, there's
(07:13):
no way you mentioned the NFC North and you don't
mention the Lions first in the last couple of years, right, Right,
It's just it's the philosophy. The culture ship took time,
but Dan Campbell had a quarterback in place to be
able to build that identity with right, And so I
think that's that's where it works out for you. But
then you look at the Jets, the Panthers, the Browns,
(07:37):
there's way more the Saints. You know, you could find
all these other t's where it did not go well.
But every once in a while there's those couple of
outliers where it does work out in their favor, right
for sure?
Speaker 3 (07:50):
And you know, again I think that, and there's this
narrative Max that you know you should rip it down. Well,
you know, there are a lot of people and again
we talk about this one of the one of the
right ups I saw in the Steelers going into the season,
into this season, and you and I I think, you know,
I certainly I'm steadfast in my belief it's a better
(08:10):
team than than was ten and seven a year ago.
I'm I'm mystified and have been, and we'll see who's
right and who's wrong. Steelers are three and one. I'm
not trying to crow. It looks like they're in a
pretty good position. But we'll see. You know, it's not
a four game season, it's a seventeen game season. This
notion that the Steelers could implode, I've I've never seen that.
(08:32):
First of all, we've seen Mike Tomlin here for years.
They've never imploded. I just don't see that happening. I
see a team that has got a young good hopefully
good we'll see, but a young offensive line with two
first round picks, a tackle, you know, a second round
(08:55):
pick at center, a solid young guard in McCormick, maybe
spends Anderson comes in and starts. Maybe you maybe you
find another guard in free agency that comes in. If
Isaac ciamalo moves on. Uh, But then you know you've
got a solid group there. You've got a solid group
of running backs, You've got DK Metcalf leading a group
(09:16):
of receivers. You've got a very very good defense. That
to me sounds like a perfect spot. Should they go
this way to drop a young quarterback into uh, you know,
to go out and spend that first round pick, because,
let's face it, where there are success stories, the Hurtzes
and the Prescotts, brock Purty guys that have been taking
(09:38):
late in the draft, most of those, most of the
top quarterbacks are top ten selections, top ten, top twelve
type selections. You know, Ben Roethlisbergers, you mentioned Alan Mahomes.
You know, guys you have to trade up and get.
But it would seem to me max to be an
outstanding situation in which to drop a young quarterback.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, it's a tough situations. It's one of those that
I kind of look at it and it's just you know,
you know what the right way is, but you also
know that the right way sometimes is a two to
three year process. But the appetite's not there for that,
right from a lot of team owners. They're not willing
(10:20):
to sit and wait right, set it and forget it
and let it kind of come organically. Everybody's trying to
jump from step one to step seven in the ten
step process, right, and that's that's where the frustrations. But
that's also when you do that jump and you miss
(10:41):
the leg it kind of reminds me you remember Dark
Knight rises right the third Batman movie. Yep, remember when
you got tossed in the hole. Yes, and all those
guys would would would climb the hole, and they had
the rope and you know, you're trying to jump, but
you have the safety net and you know, and then finally,
(11:02):
you know, Bruce Wayne decides that the only way to
do this is to jump without the rope. Right. It
has to be that pressing jump without the rope to
make it work. A lot of teams are tethered to
the rope. Which the rope could be the salary cap,
the rope could be aging veterans, the rope could be
(11:24):
you know, coaching constraints. And so you keep trying to
make these leaps, but because you're tethered, you can't make
the jump, or when you do try and make the jump,
you end up missing the rock because you're still thinking
about the rope. And sometimes you have to take that
leap of faith and go like, hey, everything is set up.
(11:47):
The only thing I have to do is make it
to that ledge. Right, I set to jump, reach out
and make it to the ledge, because actually the drop
is not that bad, but I keep thinking about the rope.
That's tethered to it, and it makes the drop feel
even more more treacherous. But that's what it because you
have to build the rest of your team before you
(12:08):
insert these guys, and that's a tough prospect. It doesn't
sound sexy to go draft and offensive guard and tackle
combo before you get the quarterback. It doesn't sound sexy
to go draft a defensive tackle and a safety, right
because we're all the sexy positions right. Sexy positions are
(12:30):
in the backfield. Quarterback, running back, wide receiver, corner, right
edge rusher. Those are the sexy ones. Those are the
safe ones. That's the tether that everybody feels comfortable with
at times. But then you don't want to think about
building your floor, which is your lineman. You know, that's
the back half's you know, strong safety, a guy who
(12:51):
could play in the box and also play at depth,
that free safety who's rangy. People don't fall in love
with those before you get a quarterback. If I don't
have a quarterback or ussell, why are you picking these
other positions? Right? We constantly talk about that. We fuel
that fire and that consternation. But will you sit back
and look go three drafts in a row, and then
(13:14):
now finally we find that quarterback, we can go find
a free agent to kind of be comparable and get
us through. But we need to build the rest of
that base so that the drop isn't that significant when
you take the tether off, and you can't be thinking
about the tether. And so that's kind of my weird
analogy some people out there, and.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
I think one of the things Max that again makes
this steelerway successful and why other teams have tried to
imitate that, and why other teams have looked at this
Steeler's success over the years and said we want to
be like them.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Look at Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Let's face it, it is hard not to look at
Baltimore and say they said, at some point, we want
to be like the Steelers. Steelers win with defense in
a running game. Okay, well, let's build the defense and
get Ray Lewis and all these guys. Let's get Jamal
Lewis and let's build. Let's win with defense in a
running game. Let's keep stability, Let's keep Ozzie Newsom in
at GM. Because the Steelers have kept their gms there
(14:17):
forever and their coaches forever. It is it is in
part when you get the right people. It is because
the decision making group is not overly. They're not their
jobs aren't on the line if they don't make the
playoffs and win a game and all that this year.
(14:37):
Now you go a long period of time without success,
of course, your job's gonna be on the line. But
the Steelers haven't had that, they haven't done that. They've
hired the right people. And so instead of saying, hey man,
there's a free agent quarterback out there, player X, and yeah,
we have to overpay to get him, but he might
get us into the playoffs. He might sneak us in
(14:59):
at nine. Well we got a floor here, you know what.
That gets us into the playoffs. That buys us job security,
and then we can figure it out from there. And
in the meantime, what is that done is you climb
up the scale to mediocrity and maybe you get a
little above mediocre and you get into the playoffs. Well,
you've passed up other players that could have helped build
(15:21):
a stable platform from which to truly get better, to
truly become a contender. You don't have to do that
in certain cities, Pittsburgh being number one in the list
for me because you don't worry about man. If I
don't get to the playoffs this year, I'm gonna get
(15:42):
fired now Again, you have to have success, you can't
just not have. But they've had success, Max, and I
think when you talk about the team building component and
when to get that quarterback, because that's the discussion point
we've had. Yeah, you're trying to win, Absolutely, you're trying
to win. But are you are you mortgaging the future
for a quarterback that maybe, deep in your gut, you
(16:05):
don't think can win it all for you. No, just
look at the Steeers haven't done that. They haven't done
that since Ben Roethlisberger. They haven't gone out and invested
tons of money and tons of term meaning length to
contract in a player that they really don't think can
win it for him.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Well, and even with the Kenny, even with Kenny Pickett, right,
you inserted Kenny Pickett into a quarterback room that had
a Mason Rudolph who'd been a long time backup right
behind Benny, been on the team since eighteen. You also
brought in a Mitch Trubisky former first round so you
put it into a competition and you let all three
(16:46):
of these guys kind of duke it out, and whereas
Chicago right just offloaded Justin Fields and went all in
on Kayleb Williams, and we're still not seeing the results
in the year two. Right of that, of that type
of process, you had a first round quarterback, you got
rid of one. The Jets have been doing it for
years where they've done it, this is the first time
(17:08):
they haven't drafted a number one quarterback. They brought Justin
Fields over to the Jets in free agency because they
were trying to do things a little bit different. Bryce Young, right,
you bring him in, tell him he's unequivocal number one
as he comes in here, and I think that's and
then you know, with c. J. Stroud kind of being
(17:29):
the exception, Jane Daniels kind of being the exceptions, those
teams they had constructed things to make sure that the
quarterback was going to have an easier time with how
they were going to be inserted. But everybody else just says, Nope,
that's it. We're fire sailing to get this guy. We
want this guy, and that's it, right, And that's where
(17:51):
a lot of teams get into trouble because you don't
have the levels of veteranship on the team. And it's
tough when you don't have vets in each and every
position group. I mean, something I argued, you know for
a long time with the Steelers was I didn't see
(18:14):
the veterans in that offensive line room, right, Chukes of
Corps for and when Dan Moore came in, you know,
Chukes didn't talk, and you brought in James Daniels and
you brought in Isaac Camalu to help curb that. But
they weren't guys who were vocal leaders, and they were
guys that were very quiet to themselves. And then now
you're starting to get this young room together, and now
(18:35):
you're starting to see the voices. Yeah, and some of them,
some of those voices might be more action voices than
vocal voices, like a Mason McCormick and a Zach Frasier,
but they bring a certain intensity level to the team.
Broderick Jones is it brings a certain intensity level to
this squad, and you know, they get to figure it
out together and they've been growing. You know, you throw
(18:56):
in a Troy as well, and then Isaac. Now, Isaac,
I think is a lot more vocal and they talk
as a unit. But this is a group that's coming together.
They're trying to figure it out all together in this process,
whereas a lot of teams, it's a bunch of a
bunch of guys looking around, like, who's going to be
(19:16):
the leader? Who's stepping up? Is it you do I
need to say something? No, I don't need to saything. Okay,
all right, cool. I want to say something, but I
don't feel confident enough to say something. Like you kind
of get that when you have a team that's just
been so upheaved to try and force in this guy
that might not be ready to be a leader. I
point back to Chicago, all the resources that were dedicated
(19:38):
to make Kayler Williams great. I mean, you draft a
whole bunch of young guys to put around. You go
in free agency and you get a whole bunch of
veteran guys that you think are great players, but you
don't know how well they'll go as teammates. And the
Bears are still the Bears right now, right all that
money they spent, the Bear are still the Bears in
(20:01):
that moment. And you know some people, Oh it's the coaches,
the coach has to figure that out, you know, and
I'm sure Ben Johnson will. Ben Johnson's is a fine
offensive coordinator, so he will get the offense going. But
you had that patience with the Ben Johnson and a
Caleb Wibbs because they're speaking two different languages and they
got to figure out where the commonality is. You know,
(20:22):
do they need to go to the Sesame Street School
of Offensive Football Terminology to get it together? I don't know,
but that's what you're gonna have to figure out. That's
why you brought a new coach in. That's why you
got rid of you recluse. You know, I look at
kind of how Carolina is going through it and trying
to figure it out with Bryce Young, you know, they
(20:43):
don't know what the code is and they're trying to
figure it out. But you put all these resources into it.
I'm sure you know. When I when I kind of
talked to some of the guys down there, they're like,
you know, Bryce Young, what that was an owner pick?
That was a vanity pick, right, came from the right university,
had the Act of AIDS. But he's small, and if
you don't have a good offensive line that can create
(21:05):
the windows for him, like a Kyler Murray is still
That's why Kyler Murray's career has been up and down.
When you have the smaller quarterback, you have to change
things on how you did it. And I think everybody
wants to point to maybe not this generation of that.
I'm sure they don't even know who Doug Flutie is
except for Auto commercial with Frank Thomas. But Doug Flutie
(21:25):
was that first short quarterback and you had to build
the team around him to get the success. Just like
Drew Brees when he came to the Saints, Sean Payton
had to craft an offense in an offensive line to
help maximize Drew's skills, but also deal with the drawbacks,
which is the height. And so when you're not ill
equipped and you're just trying to plan a guy and
(21:47):
you're telling the guy you have to conform to my
philosophy versus us compromising, that also leads to the issues,
right because you're saying the philosophy is the philosophy, that
is the philosophy, and it's like m that approach doesn't
work that well.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
And then the question becomes, if it doesn't work, who
gets more time?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
The quarterback of the coach, right.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Yeah, and then and now and now again. Now you're
in that process. Let's say you're the coach who's it's
not working out. Now you get rid of the quarterback.
You're two to three years into your regime. Now you
know you better win, right, you have to win now
because you have Now, maybe you go get that quarterback who,
(22:31):
in your heart of hearts you don't think can win
at all, but maybe gets you into the playoffs, which
saves your job. Which then I'm not saying these guys
don't want to try to win it all. But maybe
you're the GM and now maybe you're going out and
signing that guy and thinking, listen, we'll figure it out
on the other end. But if we if we don't
have our jobs, there's no figuring it out. It's it is,
(22:53):
I think, you know, as we look at team cycles
and building and the quarterback position involved in it, to
me an endlessly thing fascinating discussion because we see teams
doing it different ways, and the Steelers are doing it
their way and the Steelers are three and one, and
we have to get back to our trip around the AFC.
Which way do we do we want to remind people
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(23:15):
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Speaker 1 (23:56):
This is in the Locker Room with kingon Stars 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 3 (24:17):
And we thank you for being with us in the
locker room and we are going to continue our AFC
recap presented by UPMC, the official healthcare provider and health
plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Topsy Turvy. We started
this conversation oh a little over an hour ago, hour
and a half or so ago by looking at the
(24:39):
AFC North and again, looks good for the Steelers right now.
We don't want to put any carts before any horses.
We want to see where things go from here for
the Steelers, as we will turn our attention later this
week to the Cleveland Browns and hoping the Steelers improved
to four and one, so well, maybe we'll get to
the Monday night game before we're all said and done here, Max,
(25:00):
we talked about the Colts maybe being for real. That
led us into a quarterback discussion because of what Daniel
Jones is doing there.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Incidentally, before we jump.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Back into our recap, we have seen now with the
Colts and the Cardinals, two very very costly plays. The
Colts might be unbeaten right now. I don't think the
Cardinals yack up that big league lead yesterday if it's
not for the fact that twice now we have seen
(25:31):
players just before they crossed the goal line, running with
the football down the field, just about to go in
for a touchdown. Begin the celebration a little bit early,
you know, bring the football out wide to show it up.
This is an Orlando Lett having it knocked Was it
Orlando Let who had it knocked out?
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Leon Lett?
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Yeah, who had it knocked out at his hand? Don
biebe yet don Bibe doing the hustling down the field
there for the in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
But Max twice.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Now, you would think once would send up a warning
flag around the league. Do not do this. It might
cost your team a game. And yet we saw it
happen again yesterday. Hopefully this is not an epidemic that's
spreading because it's it's not.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Good, not smart at all, not smart at all. Like
you know, one of the things I always appreciated about.
You know, a guy like Hines, a guy like Adrian Peterson,
you know a guy like Larry Fitzgerald. Right, get the
ball in the end zone, see the hands go up
and then hand the ball off. Act like you've been
(26:38):
there before, or act like you're going to be there again. Right,
there's no need to make this a one And like
I said, and also it's in the spirit of sportsmanship,
I guess I have to put it that way. Make
sure that the eggs are cracked and are sizzling in
the skillet before before you talk about how good your
(26:59):
omelet is, right, you know, can we at least make
sure that it's there first. Guys trying to show bot
I get it. Dion made it cool, and a lot
of other guys, you know, Terrell Owens and the like,
Michael Irvin, like, we could think of countless guys who
who made it look easy. But they also made sure
(27:19):
that they were getting into the end zone and that
nobody was around them when it happened right. They weren't
getting hawked from behind. Now, I think of DK Metcalf
when Buddha Baker had the interception and thought he was
going to score. Dk Metcalf just absolutely throttles it right
before he gets there. There's way too many examples of
it not going right before it does go right. And
(27:43):
those guys in history were the absolute best at what
they did. They were the apex predators of their careers
and at their position. Groups you're not at that same position,
and you're not a team that's undefeated. Make sure you
secure the bag before you start counting it. And that's
that's the one thing I hope these young guys. You know,
(28:04):
everybody's trying to do something for social media, trying to
make it a TikTok you know, trend or you know,
something that will go viral on I G or X.
Now just stop, just stop, Just get the points, secure
the points, then do all the gloating. Right, Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
And you know, when you're old like me, you think,
you know, it's such a team sport that you're getting
to that position only happens because of the work of
so many other people. I don't care how great Michael
Jordan was. If you put him out there against five
Boston Celtics, he ain't winning, you know what I mean.
And you put one guy there against eleven, he ain't
(28:43):
winning either. So everybody's a part of the celebration. Yeah,
you're the you're the you're the focal point right as
you get into the end zone. But uh, it's just
you know, it's it's unfortunate for the players too, who
now have to live that down and be roundly criticized.
But in a larger sense and in the larger scope
of things, of course, it's more unfortunate for the team
(29:05):
because they literally let you're seeing the very definition of
a victory slipping through your fingers, the embodiment of it
as these guys exactly. So cults are not unbeaten, but
they only have one loss, and they're looking like a
team that's confident and and you know, maybe gonna be
some trouble down the line. As to thos, of course
(29:27):
that have them coming up. Jets still winless. They lose
to the Cowboys, no real need to talk much about them.
I don't think you had the Broncos now, you know,
this is the analogy that I was thinking about with.
You know, when I was a kid watching pro wrestling,
there was a wrestler name SD Jones Special Delivery Jones, right,
(29:47):
and he was always in there against the bad guy,
and he always gave him a really good matchup.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Usually, you know, the bad guy SD was about.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
To maybe pull out a victory and maybe a tongue
depressor came out of the shorts.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Whatever, it didn't matter. SD always lost.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
I think his career record must have been like, oh,
in you know, four hundred and eighty two. But it
was always a good match, right. He always let the
bad guy know that bad guy was getting ready to
challenge for the the Intercontinental World Championship whatever they used
to call it, right, So he was getting ready to
challenge for that, so he'd have to beat SD Jones
to solidify his status as a challenger, you know, the
(30:21):
new bad guy coming up. So I thought that's what
we were gonna see in that game. And last night
I thought New England was gonna show. Hey, listen, we're
not the same Ald New England. We're not quite Buffalo yet,
We're not that's the same old We're not an elite,
but we're We're you still gotta beat us.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
We're still a tough out. And I thought the same
thing with Denver.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
They were gonna go into Philadelphia still be a tough out, right,
but they weren't gonna win. And I was wrong on
both accounts. Are you reassessing Denver any differently?
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Now?
Speaker 3 (30:54):
After their victory yesterday which you called with Steve Levy
in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Six sacks by the Denver Broncos defense, the number one
sacking team in the NFL added to that against the
very vaunted offensive line for the Philadelphia Eagles, gave him problems. Now,
Landon Dickerson went out of that game early. Brett Toath
steps in at the guard position. But the pressure that
(31:22):
that Broncos defense can apply makes makes up for the
fact that, you know, not a lot of deep shots,
not a lot of actually by bow next in that game.
And you know JK. Dobbins was a solid runner. You know,
he just run for one hundred yards a week before,
and the Broncos hadn't had one hundred yard rusher in
(31:42):
like over thirty four games. It was crazy. And the
last time I had it back to back was Philip
Lindsay back in twenty eighteen. That's how long it's been.
So they've went back to back hundred yard rushers. This
offense is still a work in progress, even though there
were no turnovers. Saying that game, just watching defense go
(32:04):
apples to apples in that moment was crazy because you
know the names of the guys on the Philadelhia Eagles,
the rating Super Bowl champions, everybody knows who they are.
But that Denver Bronco squad was tough. They never stopped.
They kept at the run game. They had some gashing
plays in the run game, and then the passing game
(32:24):
picked up in the end when they needed to. So
I look at that and I say, the Broncos are
just a tough team. I mean, you know, think about this,
there are four points from being undefeated. You know, the
previous two losses before they saw the Bengals Monday night
came down to last second kicks when they had been leading.
They never they'd never have been behind in the fourth
(32:46):
quarter this season until the first half of the fourth
quarter against the Eagles, and then they overcame that. So
it was a short lifts. So they've only been They've
only trailed in the fourth quarter for seven minutes in
five games. Crazy, So they are they are a team
that's on the good right yep. Well, so.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Well, they've got a They've got a heck of a coach.
Say what you want about Sean Payton. The guy has
shown he can coach for sure. You know, he stuck
his neck out in the bow Knicks pick. You know,
I don't think he needed to handle the Russell Wilson
situation the way.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
He did, but he did. You know. JK.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Dobbins when he's been healthy. Uh, by the way, a
guy that I I root for in in part because
of all the injuries and how good he is when
he's healthy, but also when he got hurt. There were
players like crying at practice when JK dobbin. That tells
(33:48):
you how much he was liked. He's well liked by
his Teammates' supposed to be a terrific guy. I've never
met him, but I root for him and he's a
good player.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Man. They're an interesting team.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
The Broncos are the team, so uh, Dolphins, they don't
interest me.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Very much at all.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
And you have to wonder when when that whole experiment,
just the plug gets pulled. It is just it's not
a good situation down in Miami there now one and four.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Yeah, Miami Vice baby is coming over. Sorry, Mike McDaniels.
The cool glasses on the sidelines, the rolled up sleeves
over over there, you know, trying to look trying to
look cool. Yeah that you got to have production and
you have the pieces and you know you you you
(34:36):
know you traded you traded away Jalen and John No,
thank you again. Once again. We appreciate your organizational contributions there, guys,
But it's going to it's going to come to a head.
It's going to blow up. And you know, now you've
lost Tyreek Hill yep on the season as well, So
now you're hampered even further. I know, you got a
(34:58):
good running back in Devon a Chain. He still have
a Jalen model. But this team has severely underperformed. And
and I called the game yesterday the that that contest
was the who wants to lose the least, right, because
it wasn't about who wanted to win that contest? And
we found out the Carolina Panthers wanted to lose the
(35:19):
least as they were the ones that okay, that overcame
the deficit and the entire game, and Miami could not
close them out. And it just goes to show you, man,
this league is fickle. I mean, as high as they
were just a couple of years ago and everything about
two O tongua Iloa, it's now falling apart. And this
(35:40):
franchise is you know, kind of been in the in
the in those doomsday books, flirting with it, never quite
achieving what the roster and the talent dictated. And so
you wonder, I mean I don't wonder, I mean they
will be on the chopping bock. Yeah, and they will be.
They will be looking for a new head coach next season.
(36:01):
It's not a little bit sooner, if not before it
can't be avoided. We talked about the Texans Ravens. From
the Ravens perspective, the Textans. Are they back now at
two and three? I mean, they've made a case for themselves.
I don't know if they're back. I think they took
advantage of a of a shorthanded team that wasn't really
good going into that even with Lamar Jackson to you know,
(36:25):
finally making making it possible that they can now compete
in the NFC South Against Indianapolis, I think they've they've
re entered the picture as a potential contender. But you've
once as an accident, twice as a habit. So I
need to see them do it in back to back games.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Yeah, I mean they you look at their losses. Five
points at the Rams, one point to Tampa Bay, a
touchdown at Jacksonville, you know, so you know, to me,
it's a team that that that could and that was
a late touchdown by the way, that for Jacksonville finishing
off of a long drive that you hate to see
(37:04):
your defense give up. But I think of the teams
that don't have the records they want, I probably because
of the fact that they've played.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Strong teams and lost narrowly.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
The Texans might be my pick of the team that's
in the best shape of those teams that are struggling.
We mentioned the Titans Cardinals struggling record wise. The Titans
get their win, come back win, We talked about the gaff.
Good for the Titans. Bengals, we talked about them. They
lose to the Lions thirty seven to twenty four. The
(37:39):
Commanders working over the Chargers. That one surprised me because
I thought, you know, I'm always leary of the team
that makes that jump up to the top of the division,
and can they follow it up. Teams are better prepared
the schedule gets tougher. We saw Houston do that last
year and answer the bell. Washington was a team I
(38:01):
had questions about this year. But after yesterday's game against
a really solid Chargers squad to beat them twenty seven
to ten, that was to me, that was an eye opener.
And by the way, twenty seven unanswered points. They were
down ten nothing in that game, And here I am thinking, aha,
(38:22):
see Robin patting myself in the back.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
You were right, Chargers are pretty good.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
You know, the Commanders aren't quite as good as people
hang on now, twenty seven straight points and the Commanders
look good. But this is an AFC segment, So the
Chargers got to regroup at home. You get you lose
by seventeen points. That says we gotta, we gotta. We
got some work to do.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
They have a lot of work to do, and they've
got to work on it really quickly. Yeah, the Washington
Washington Commanders absolutely dismantled all the progress that the Chargers had.
The saving graces for the Chargers.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
You're three and zero in your division, right, that's right,
keep saying that second, right, we said that right.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
And they have a lot on the competition. So the
rest of the field has to catch up to them
in the AFC West, and I believe you know, and
we'll get to Kansas City. But well, you see what
Denver's done. Denver saying okay, next time around. Not an
easy out, Bud. And did the Commanders give away the
(39:32):
blueprint on how to defeat the LA Chargers. I mean
doing it at home? Fine, clear cross country to LA
playing so far and to like you said, to be
down ten zip as the as the away team and
to rally back in the way that they did and
just absolutely shut down Justin Herbert. You know, the fumble
(39:56):
by Quentin Johnston proved very costly. You know, Mario and
Hampton got injured during that game. That's another one. So,
like you look at all of these different things that
could happen, every bad thing happened. It was like Murphy's law,
what can go wrong will go wrong? Right, And you know,
(40:18):
for for for Jim Harbaugh, he's he's gonna have to
figure out how to get it. Now. Granted, I get it,
you've lost both of your tackles for the year. That's
tough to overcome. Right, Your edge protection does not help
Justin Herbert in those moments. But you got you got
to read toool. You got to figure out how to
work around you know, those losses. Everybody's lost somebody this
season of note, Right, your your problem is not unique.
(40:43):
You're not the only one going through it. But the
positive is is that you still got plenty of games
left and you have a three to zero lead in
the division. Yep. So you drop a game to a
non conference opponent, but it was an embarrassing one, but
you still love it, right, I mean, heck, we lost
to the Seahawks, right, But it's non conference. So that's
(41:05):
where you take your solace. If you're the Chargers, you
still are in charge, still at the top of your division.
You just got to retool and figure out because you
still got three more division games. You still got a
lot more conference games to play for the season. But yeah,
they gotta go back to the drawing board and figure
out how are they going to not allow the pressure
on Justin Herbert like they did in that game because
Washington was giving them all they could handle him more.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yep, And so we have we looked at the head
of the program at last night's Sunday night game, the
Patriots maybe make me a statement in Buffalo. Gonna take
a quick glance at tonight's game, an intriguing matchup as
we continue our a FC recap presented by UPMC, the
official healthcare provider and health planning the Pittsburgh Steelers in
(41:47):
the Locker Room presented by your Neighborhood Ford Store and
the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio apart of
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
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 (42:23):
You know what time it is, Robs with the bell
low oh, early lunch warning system is in gage. Make
sure you get out there. You got about five and
a half minutes to get there to the noonclock hour.
Make sure you have something good. It's getting it's getting
a little bit chillier now, so make sure you partake.
Maybe a soup, I'm a big soup fan, or maybe
(42:46):
it's just something, you know, just warm comfort food. This
is getting to be that time of year. We are
well in to fall, even though the weather might not
dictate it every day, but that's the time of year.
So you turn on the mental weather alert, not the
physical weather alert, and you'll be fine.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
So Max, just a minute or so left here. Chiefs
two and two, Jaguars three and one. This was my
third SD Special Delivery Jones of the week so far,
I'm zero to two. I have the Chiefs going into Jacksonville, Jacksonville,
giving him a good close game and letting everybody know, hey,
we're to.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
Much improved squad.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
But the Chiefs winning much as I predicted the Patriots
would do last night to Buffalo and Denver would do
in Philadelphia. And I'm over for two. What are your
thoughts quickly on tonight's game.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
This is the Chiefs trying to be trying to chief
if they're good to chief, and get back into this conversation,
and it has to be a victory tonight. Buffalo falls
to the Patriots. So now there's no more unbeatens in
the NFL, and you're sitting there in the striking range.
You need to close that distance, make that loss in
Buffalo count if you're the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (43:58):
He is Max Starks, I'm right, King, Justin Miller is
at the controls in our studios, and we are all
grateful that you are along with us in the Locker Room,
presented by our neighborhood Ford 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.
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 (00:29):
Oh, there it is. Rob Optimist is back on the
prowl once again. He's barreling down towards Afrasure on Sunday
showdown with the Cleveland Brownies as they come to town
Sunday one o'clock. And of course we bid our friend
to do because we know he's busy. You know, he
(00:50):
didn't like to stop for much, but he does like
to stop past the locker room and let us know
that he's thinking about us. So great to have Optimists
to start the Power Hour number two in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Okay, So I wanted to follow that up, and that's
that's a tough.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Act to follow. Tough to follow up, Optimist.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I wanted to follow up our earlier conversation with your
thoughts on the quarterback position just as it relates to
team building, because it feels to me like, you know,
maybe the Browns were saying, we don't think we can
win it all with Baker Mayfield. Maybe the Vikings were saying,
(01:31):
we don't think we can win it all with Sam Donald.
And so if you're the Steelers who were reportedly interested
in at least talking to Sam Donald reportedly made an
offer to Justin Fields, you know, we're exploring the the
the notion of bringing Russell back, but all this with
(01:53):
the backdrop of of a pursuit of Aaron Rodgers. I
guess the question becomes, do you hope that you can
lift a quarterback up or do you need to only
go with a quarterback who can lift you up? And
I know there's no one answer because you know, again,
(02:14):
as we talked about with Jalen Hurts team, you know,
somebody might say it's a little bit of both. Jalen
Hurts is a good quarterback, but he's got a great
roster around him, and there therefore you win a Super Bowl.
A lesser quarterback might not be able to do it,
or maybe a lesser roster Jalen Hurts couldn't do it. Uh,
It's I think it's a it's it might be the
(02:35):
most important question in sports, because to me, it's the
most important position in sports. And of course the underlying
narrative to that is what are you after as a team?
Are you after some success or you after hoisting Lombardi Trophy?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Well, I think I think that's what it is. And
even for a Jalen Hurts, right, he came into the
situation as a fourth round draft pick, so much like
a Kirk Cousins when he came in. Remember the RG three.
I mean, here's the thing. People are like, oh my god,
why would the Browns draft Dylan Gabriel Sanders. I was
like the Washington Redskins at the time. Then Redskins now
(03:11):
commanders did the same exact thing, right with drafting two
quarterbacks of the same draft and the three draft right
with y RG three and Kirk Cousins. Yeah, so so
I mean, so it's like what the Browns did was
not as crazy as what the Redskins did because they
(03:34):
took RG three number a first round draft pick overall,
and then came back in the third round and double
dipped and got Kirk Cousins. And look how that worked out. Right. So,
by the way, Hurts the second round pick, so he
was a second round pick, but day two pick. He
wasn't a day one Prescott. Prescott was another. He was
(03:57):
the one that was a fourth round. That's right, that's
right to Romo was there, so okay, so I got
I got my I got my QBS confused there. But
it goes to show that it doesn't have to be
the first round guy first overall, that your bett that
you're hitching the entire franchise wagon to to make it happen.
I mean, we'd like to think that that's what it is.
When he's a first rounder. Oh, we could tie him
(04:19):
up for five years and and that he's going to
be the answer, the cure all. Sometimes like now we
need some other pieces. You know, we like you a
whole lot, but here's here's the laundry list of things
you're walking into, uh with this, and we got to
fill all these all these other needs as well. And
that's why roster construction is so important, because when you
(04:40):
take that guy, when you make that jump matters, and
you want to be a team that's on the cusp,
you know, normally, you want to be that team that's
normally in that ten to twenty range, because that means
you're flirting with the playoffs versus your top ten who
are bottom bottom of each of their respective divisions and
fighting for just relevancy, not and not not fighting for
(05:03):
me and fighting to get to mediocrity, whereas the other
teams are the mediocrity or the stasis. They're stable and
they're trying to make the jump to the next tier. Right,
So that's the proper way you want to do it
when you're looking at quarterbacks. But obviously coaches don't have
the timer that you would like. You know, they want
(05:25):
a crock pot. They get a microwave, hungry man meal,
and you've got to make it work as fast as possible.
So teams reach, teams jump, teams go out and above
and beyond to get what that what they think they need.
And every new head coach thinks they need a new quarterback.
(05:46):
That's what every coach thinks. Oh, I just I just
need a new quarterback. Very rarely do you see a
coach walk in and say nope, I like my situation.
I was like, we just need to we just need
to build around this guy. And we see it all
the time, and there's very few do you come in
and say, man, I got the guy. Mike Tomlin when
he came in almost two decades ago. Right, he had
the guy because he had a young Ben Roethlisberger. That
(06:09):
that that was that that was here, that stabilized that.
So you didn't have to go reach and grab for
quarterbacks for a very long time. Aaron Rodgers when he
was in Green Bay, you know, Eberflus, McCarthy, all of
them walk in. They don't have to struggle about a
quarterback because they got one in place already. And so
(06:29):
those teams and even look at look at what McVeigh.
McVeigh had a golf and said, now I need something different,
and they played Red Rover with the Detroit Lions and
swapped the quarterbacks. And you would argue that was the
right decision because both of those franchises love their quarterbacks now. Right. Yeah,
And the Rams won a Super.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Bowl, won a Super Bowl, which then't done yet, right.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Nope, they've been close, but they're now a relevant team.
Remember when Dan Campbell took over, they couldn't win a game,
right time. Let's let a load let alad talking about
playoffs year in and year out. They couldn't win a game.
And so I think that's what's just crazy impressive what
they've done because they've had a complete remodel. Like, there's
(07:13):
no way you mentioned the NFC North and you don't
mention the Lions first in the last couple of years, right, Right,
It's just it's the philosophy. The culture ship took time,
but Dan Campbell had a quarterback in place to be
able to build that identity with right, And so I
think that's that's where it works out for you. But
then you look at the Jets, the Panthers, the Browns,
(07:37):
there's way more the Saints. You know, you could find
all these other t's where it did not go well.
But every once in a while there's those couple of
outliers where it does work out in their favor, right
for sure?
Speaker 3 (07:50):
And you know, again I think that, and there's this
narrative Max that you know you should rip it down. Well,
you know, there are a lot of people and again
we talk about this one of the one of the
right ups I saw in the Steelers going into the season,
into this season, and you and I I think, you know,
I certainly I'm steadfast in my belief it's a better
(08:10):
team than than was ten and seven a year ago.
I'm I'm mystified and have been, and we'll see who's
right and who's wrong. Steelers are three and one. I'm
not trying to crow. It looks like they're in a
pretty good position. But we'll see. You know, it's not
a four game season, it's a seventeen game season. This
notion that the Steelers could implode, I've I've never seen that.
(08:32):
First of all, we've seen Mike Tomlin here for years.
They've never imploded. I just don't see that happening. I
see a team that has got a young good hopefully
good we'll see, but a young offensive line with two
first round picks, a tackle, you know, a second round
(08:55):
pick at center, a solid young guard in McCormick, maybe
spends Anderson comes in and starts. Maybe you maybe you
find another guard in free agency that comes in. If
Isaac ciamalo moves on. Uh, But then you know you've
got a solid group there. You've got a solid group
of running backs, You've got DK Metcalf leading a group
(09:16):
of receivers. You've got a very very good defense. That
to me sounds like a perfect spot. Should they go
this way to drop a young quarterback into uh, you know,
to go out and spend that first round pick, because,
let's face it, where there are success stories, the Hurtzes
and the Prescotts, brock Purty guys that have been taking
(09:38):
late in the draft, most of those, most of the
top quarterbacks are top ten selections, top ten, top twelve
type selections. You know, Ben Roethlisbergers, you mentioned Alan Mahomes.
You know, guys you have to trade up and get.
But it would seem to me max to be an
outstanding situation in which to drop a young quarterback.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, it's a tough situations. It's one of those that
I kind of look at it and it's just you know,
you know what the right way is, but you also
know that the right way sometimes is a two to
three year process. But the appetite's not there for that,
right from a lot of team owners. They're not willing
(10:20):
to sit and wait right, set it and forget it
and let it kind of come organically. Everybody's trying to
jump from step one to step seven in the ten
step process, right, and that's that's where the frustrations. But
that's also when you do that jump and you miss
(10:41):
the leg it kind of reminds me you remember Dark
Knight rises right the third Batman movie. Yep, remember when
you got tossed in the hole. Yes, and all those
guys would would would climb the hole, and they had
the rope and you know, you're trying to jump, but
you have the safety net and you know, and then finally,
(11:02):
you know, Bruce Wayne decides that the only way to
do this is to jump without the rope. Right. It
has to be that pressing jump without the rope to
make it work. A lot of teams are tethered to
the rope. Which the rope could be the salary cap,
the rope could be aging veterans, the rope could be
(11:24):
you know, coaching constraints. And so you keep trying to
make these leaps, but because you're tethered, you can't make
the jump, or when you do try and make the jump,
you end up missing the rock because you're still thinking
about the rope. And sometimes you have to take that
leap of faith and go like, hey, everything is set up.
(11:47):
The only thing I have to do is make it
to that ledge. Right, I set to jump, reach out
and make it to the ledge, because actually the drop
is not that bad, but I keep thinking about the rope.
That's tethered to it, and it makes the drop feel
even more more treacherous. But that's what it because you
have to build the rest of your team before you
(12:08):
insert these guys, and that's a tough prospect. It doesn't
sound sexy to go draft and offensive guard and tackle
combo before you get the quarterback. It doesn't sound sexy
to go draft a defensive tackle and a safety, right
because we're all the sexy positions right. Sexy positions are
(12:30):
in the backfield. Quarterback, running back, wide receiver, corner, right
edge rusher. Those are the sexy ones. Those are the
safe ones. That's the tether that everybody feels comfortable with
at times. But then you don't want to think about
building your floor, which is your lineman. You know, that's
the back half's you know, strong safety, a guy who
(12:51):
could play in the box and also play at depth,
that free safety who's rangy. People don't fall in love
with those before you get a quarterback. If I don't
have a quarterback or ussell, why are you picking these
other positions? Right? We constantly talk about that. We fuel
that fire and that consternation. But will you sit back
and look go three drafts in a row, and then
(13:14):
now finally we find that quarterback, we can go find
a free agent to kind of be comparable and get
us through. But we need to build the rest of
that base so that the drop isn't that significant when
you take the tether off, and you can't be thinking
about the tether. And so that's kind of my weird
analogy some people out there, and.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
I think one of the things Max that again makes
this steelerway successful and why other teams have tried to
imitate that, and why other teams have looked at this
Steeler's success over the years and said we want to
be like them.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Look at Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Let's face it, it is hard not to look at
Baltimore and say they said, at some point, we want
to be like the Steelers. Steelers win with defense in
a running game. Okay, well, let's build the defense and
get Ray Lewis and all these guys. Let's get Jamal
Lewis and let's build. Let's win with defense in a
running game. Let's keep stability, Let's keep Ozzie Newsom in
at GM. Because the Steelers have kept their gms there
(14:17):
forever and their coaches forever. It is it is in
part when you get the right people. It is because
the decision making group is not overly. They're not their
jobs aren't on the line if they don't make the
playoffs and win a game and all that this year.
(14:37):
Now you go a long period of time without success,
of course, your job's gonna be on the line. But
the Steelers haven't had that, they haven't done that. They've
hired the right people. And so instead of saying, hey man,
there's a free agent quarterback out there, player X, and yeah,
we have to overpay to get him, but he might
get us into the playoffs. He might sneak us in
(14:59):
at nine. Well we got a floor here, you know what.
That gets us into the playoffs. That buys us job security,
and then we can figure it out from there. And
in the meantime, what is that done is you climb
up the scale to mediocrity and maybe you get a
little above mediocre and you get into the playoffs. Well,
you've passed up other players that could have helped build
(15:21):
a stable platform from which to truly get better, to
truly become a contender. You don't have to do that
in certain cities, Pittsburgh being number one in the list
for me because you don't worry about man. If I
don't get to the playoffs this year, I'm gonna get
(15:42):
fired now Again, you have to have success, you can't
just not have. But they've had success, Max, and I
think when you talk about the team building component and
when to get that quarterback, because that's the discussion point
we've had. Yeah, you're trying to win, Absolutely, you're trying
to win. But are you are you mortgaging the future
for a quarterback that maybe, deep in your gut, you
(16:05):
don't think can win it all for you. No, just
look at the Steeers haven't done that. They haven't done
that since Ben Roethlisberger. They haven't gone out and invested
tons of money and tons of term meaning length to
contract in a player that they really don't think can
win it for him.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Well, and even with the Kenny, even with Kenny Pickett, right,
you inserted Kenny Pickett into a quarterback room that had
a Mason Rudolph who'd been a long time backup right
behind Benny, been on the team since eighteen. You also
brought in a Mitch Trubisky former first round so you
put it into a competition and you let all three
(16:46):
of these guys kind of duke it out, and whereas
Chicago right just offloaded Justin Fields and went all in
on Kayleb Williams, and we're still not seeing the results
in the year two. Right of that, of that type
of process, you had a first round quarterback, you got
rid of one. The Jets have been doing it for
years where they've done it, this is the first time
(17:08):
they haven't drafted a number one quarterback. They brought Justin
Fields over to the Jets in free agency because they
were trying to do things a little bit different. Bryce Young, right,
you bring him in, tell him he's unequivocal number one
as he comes in here, and I think that's and
then you know, with c. J. Stroud kind of being
(17:29):
the exception, Jane Daniels kind of being the exceptions, those
teams they had constructed things to make sure that the
quarterback was going to have an easier time with how
they were going to be inserted. But everybody else just says, Nope,
that's it. We're fire sailing to get this guy. We
want this guy, and that's it, right, And that's where
(17:51):
a lot of teams get into trouble because you don't
have the levels of veteranship on the team. And it's
tough when you don't have vets in each and every
position group. I mean, something I argued, you know for
a long time with the Steelers was I didn't see
(18:14):
the veterans in that offensive line room, right, Chukes of
Corps for and when Dan Moore came in, you know,
Chukes didn't talk, and you brought in James Daniels and
you brought in Isaac Camalu to help curb that. But
they weren't guys who were vocal leaders, and they were
guys that were very quiet to themselves. And then now
you're starting to get this young room together, and now
(18:35):
you're starting to see the voices. Yeah, and some of them,
some of those voices might be more action voices than
vocal voices, like a Mason McCormick and a Zach Frasier,
but they bring a certain intensity level to the team.
Broderick Jones is it brings a certain intensity level to
this squad, and you know, they get to figure it
out together and they've been growing. You know, you throw
(18:56):
in a Troy as well, and then Isaac. Now, Isaac,
I think is a lot more vocal and they talk
as a unit. But this is a group that's coming together.
They're trying to figure it out all together in this process,
whereas a lot of teams, it's a bunch of a
bunch of guys looking around, like, who's going to be
(19:16):
the leader? Who's stepping up? Is it you do I
need to say something? No, I don't need to saything. Okay,
all right, cool. I want to say something, but I
don't feel confident enough to say something. Like you kind
of get that when you have a team that's just
been so upheaved to try and force in this guy
that might not be ready to be a leader. I
point back to Chicago, all the resources that were dedicated
(19:38):
to make Kayler Williams great. I mean, you draft a
whole bunch of young guys to put around. You go
in free agency and you get a whole bunch of
veteran guys that you think are great players, but you
don't know how well they'll go as teammates. And the
Bears are still the Bears right now, right all that
money they spent, the Bear are still the Bears in
(20:01):
that moment. And you know some people, Oh it's the coaches,
the coach has to figure that out, you know, and
I'm sure Ben Johnson will. Ben Johnson's is a fine
offensive coordinator, so he will get the offense going. But
you had that patience with the Ben Johnson and a
Caleb Wibbs because they're speaking two different languages and they
got to figure out where the commonality is. You know,
(20:22):
do they need to go to the Sesame Street School
of Offensive Football Terminology to get it together? I don't know,
but that's what you're gonna have to figure out. That's
why you brought a new coach in. That's why you
got rid of you recluse. You know, I look at
kind of how Carolina is going through it and trying
to figure it out with Bryce Young, you know, they
(20:43):
don't know what the code is and they're trying to
figure it out. But you put all these resources into it.
I'm sure you know. When I when I kind of
talked to some of the guys down there, they're like,
you know, Bryce Young, what that was an owner pick?
That was a vanity pick, right, came from the right university,
had the Act of AIDS. But he's small, and if
you don't have a good offensive line that can create
(21:05):
the windows for him, like a Kyler Murray is still
That's why Kyler Murray's career has been up and down.
When you have the smaller quarterback, you have to change
things on how you did it. And I think everybody
wants to point to maybe not this generation of that.
I'm sure they don't even know who Doug Flutie is
except for Auto commercial with Frank Thomas. But Doug Flutie
(21:25):
was that first short quarterback and you had to build
the team around him to get the success. Just like
Drew Brees when he came to the Saints, Sean Payton
had to craft an offense in an offensive line to
help maximize Drew's skills, but also deal with the drawbacks,
which is the height. And so when you're not ill
equipped and you're just trying to plan a guy and
(21:47):
you're telling the guy you have to conform to my
philosophy versus us compromising, that also leads to the issues,
right because you're saying the philosophy is the philosophy, that
is the philosophy, and it's like m that approach doesn't
work that well.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
And then the question becomes, if it doesn't work, who
gets more time?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
The quarterback of the coach, right.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Yeah, and then and now and now again. Now you're
in that process. Let's say you're the coach who's it's
not working out. Now you get rid of the quarterback.
You're two to three years into your regime. Now you
know you better win, right, you have to win now
because you have Now, maybe you go get that quarterback who,
(22:31):
in your heart of hearts you don't think can win
at all, but maybe gets you into the playoffs, which
saves your job. Which then I'm not saying these guys
don't want to try to win it all. But maybe
you're the GM and now maybe you're going out and
signing that guy and thinking, listen, we'll figure it out
on the other end. But if we if we don't
have our jobs, there's no figuring it out. It's it is,
(22:53):
I think, you know, as we look at team cycles
and building and the quarterback position involved in it, to
me an endlessly thing fascinating discussion because we see teams
doing it different ways, and the Steelers are doing it
their way and the Steelers are three and one, and
we have to get back to our trip around the AFC.
Which way do we do we want to remind people
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(23:15):
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on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
This is in the Locker Room with kingon Stars 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 3 (24:17):
And we thank you for being with us in the
locker room and we are going to continue our AFC
recap presented by UPMC, the official healthcare provider and health
plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Topsy Turvy. We started
this conversation oh a little over an hour ago, hour
and a half or so ago by looking at the
(24:39):
AFC North and again, looks good for the Steelers right now.
We don't want to put any carts before any horses.
We want to see where things go from here for
the Steelers, as we will turn our attention later this
week to the Cleveland Browns and hoping the Steelers improved
to four and one, so well, maybe we'll get to
the Monday night game before we're all said and done here, Max,
(25:00):
we talked about the Colts maybe being for real. That
led us into a quarterback discussion because of what Daniel
Jones is doing there.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Incidentally, before we jump.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Back into our recap, we have seen now with the
Colts and the Cardinals, two very very costly plays. The
Colts might be unbeaten right now. I don't think the
Cardinals yack up that big league lead yesterday if it's
not for the fact that twice now we have seen
(25:31):
players just before they crossed the goal line, running with
the football down the field, just about to go in
for a touchdown. Begin the celebration a little bit early,
you know, bring the football out wide to show it up.
This is an Orlando Lett having it knocked Was it
Orlando Let who had it knocked out?
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Leon Lett?
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Yeah, who had it knocked out at his hand? Don
biebe yet don Bibe doing the hustling down the field
there for the in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
But Max twice.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Now, you would think once would send up a warning
flag around the league. Do not do this. It might
cost your team a game. And yet we saw it
happen again yesterday. Hopefully this is not an epidemic that's
spreading because it's it's not.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Good, not smart at all, not smart at all. Like
you know, one of the things I always appreciated about.
You know, a guy like Hines, a guy like Adrian Peterson,
you know a guy like Larry Fitzgerald. Right, get the
ball in the end zone, see the hands go up
and then hand the ball off. Act like you've been
(26:38):
there before, or act like you're going to be there again. Right,
there's no need to make this a one And like
I said, and also it's in the spirit of sportsmanship,
I guess I have to put it that way. Make
sure that the eggs are cracked and are sizzling in
the skillet before before you talk about how good your
(26:59):
omelet is, right, you know, can we at least make
sure that it's there first. Guys trying to show bot
I get it. Dion made it cool, and a lot
of other guys, you know, Terrell Owens and the like,
Michael Irvin, like, we could think of countless guys who
who made it look easy. But they also made sure
(27:19):
that they were getting into the end zone and that
nobody was around them when it happened right. They weren't
getting hawked from behind. Now, I think of DK Metcalf
when Buddha Baker had the interception and thought he was
going to score. Dk Metcalf just absolutely throttles it right
before he gets there. There's way too many examples of
it not going right before it does go right. And
(27:43):
those guys in history were the absolute best at what
they did. They were the apex predators of their careers
and at their position. Groups you're not at that same position,
and you're not a team that's undefeated. Make sure you
secure the bag before you start counting it. And that's
that's the one thing I hope these young guys. You know,
(28:04):
everybody's trying to do something for social media, trying to
make it a TikTok you know, trend or you know,
something that will go viral on I G or X.
Now just stop, just stop, Just get the points, secure
the points, then do all the gloating. Right, Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
And you know, when you're old like me, you think,
you know, it's such a team sport that you're getting
to that position only happens because of the work of
so many other people. I don't care how great Michael
Jordan was. If you put him out there against five
Boston Celtics, he ain't winning, you know what I mean.
And you put one guy there against eleven, he ain't
(28:43):
winning either. So everybody's a part of the celebration. Yeah,
you're the you're the you're the focal point right as
you get into the end zone. But uh, it's just
you know, it's it's unfortunate for the players too, who
now have to live that down and be roundly criticized.
But in a larger sense and in the larger scope
of things, of course, it's more unfortunate for the team
(29:05):
because they literally let you're seeing the very definition of
a victory slipping through your fingers, the embodiment of it
as these guys exactly. So cults are not unbeaten, but
they only have one loss, and they're looking like a
team that's confident and and you know, maybe gonna be
some trouble down the line. As to thos, of course
(29:27):
that have them coming up. Jets still winless. They lose
to the Cowboys, no real need to talk much about them.
I don't think you had the Broncos now, you know,
this is the analogy that I was thinking about with.
You know, when I was a kid watching pro wrestling,
there was a wrestler name SD Jones Special Delivery Jones, right,
(29:47):
and he was always in there against the bad guy,
and he always gave him a really good matchup.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Usually, you know, the bad guy SD was about.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
To maybe pull out a victory and maybe a tongue
depressor came out of the shorts.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Whatever, it didn't matter. SD always lost.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
I think his career record must have been like, oh,
in you know, four hundred and eighty two. But it
was always a good match, right. He always let the
bad guy know that bad guy was getting ready to
challenge for the the Intercontinental World Championship whatever they used
to call it, right, So he was getting ready to
challenge for that, so he'd have to beat SD Jones
to solidify his status as a challenger, you know, the
(30:21):
new bad guy coming up. So I thought that's what
we were gonna see in that game. And last night
I thought New England was gonna show. Hey, listen, we're
not the same Ald New England. We're not quite Buffalo yet,
We're not that's the same old We're not an elite,
but we're We're you still gotta beat us.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
We're still a tough out. And I thought the same
thing with Denver.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
They were gonna go into Philadelphia still be a tough out, right,
but they weren't gonna win. And I was wrong on
both accounts. Are you reassessing Denver any differently?
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Now?
Speaker 3 (30:54):
After their victory yesterday which you called with Steve Levy
in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Six sacks by the Denver Broncos defense, the number one
sacking team in the NFL added to that against the
very vaunted offensive line for the Philadelphia Eagles, gave him problems. Now,
Landon Dickerson went out of that game early. Brett Toath
steps in at the guard position. But the pressure that
(31:22):
that Broncos defense can apply makes makes up for the
fact that, you know, not a lot of deep shots,
not a lot of actually by bow next in that game.
And you know JK. Dobbins was a solid runner. You know,
he just run for one hundred yards a week before,
and the Broncos hadn't had one hundred yard rusher in
(31:42):
like over thirty four games. It was crazy. And the
last time I had it back to back was Philip
Lindsay back in twenty eighteen. That's how long it's been.
So they've went back to back hundred yard rushers. This
offense is still a work in progress, even though there
were no turnovers. Saying that game, just watching defense go
(32:04):
apples to apples in that moment was crazy because you
know the names of the guys on the Philadelhia Eagles,
the rating Super Bowl champions, everybody knows who they are.
But that Denver Bronco squad was tough. They never stopped.
They kept at the run game. They had some gashing
plays in the run game, and then the passing game
(32:24):
picked up in the end when they needed to. So
I look at that and I say, the Broncos are
just a tough team. I mean, you know, think about this,
there are four points from being undefeated. You know, the
previous two losses before they saw the Bengals Monday night
came down to last second kicks when they had been leading.
They never they'd never have been behind in the fourth
(32:46):
quarter this season until the first half of the fourth
quarter against the Eagles, and then they overcame that. So
it was a short lifts. So they've only been They've
only trailed in the fourth quarter for seven minutes in
five games. Crazy, So they are they are a team
that's on the good right yep. Well, so.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Well, they've got a They've got a heck of a coach.
Say what you want about Sean Payton. The guy has
shown he can coach for sure. You know, he stuck
his neck out in the bow Knicks pick. You know,
I don't think he needed to handle the Russell Wilson
situation the way.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
He did, but he did. You know. JK.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Dobbins when he's been healthy. Uh, by the way, a
guy that I I root for in in part because
of all the injuries and how good he is when
he's healthy, but also when he got hurt. There were
players like crying at practice when JK dobbin. That tells
(33:48):
you how much he was liked. He's well liked by
his Teammates' supposed to be a terrific guy. I've never
met him, but I root for him and he's a
good player.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Man. They're an interesting team.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
The Broncos are the team, so uh, Dolphins, they don't
interest me.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Very much at all.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
And you have to wonder when when that whole experiment,
just the plug gets pulled. It is just it's not
a good situation down in Miami there now one and four.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Yeah, Miami Vice baby is coming over. Sorry, Mike McDaniels.
The cool glasses on the sidelines, the rolled up sleeves
over over there, you know, trying to look trying to
look cool. Yeah that you got to have production and
you have the pieces and you know you you you
(34:36):
know you traded you traded away Jalen and John No,
thank you again. Once again. We appreciate your organizational contributions there, guys,
But it's going to it's going to come to a head.
It's going to blow up. And you know, now you've
lost Tyreek Hill yep on the season as well, So
now you're hampered even further. I know, you got a
(34:58):
good running back in Devon a Chain. He still have
a Jalen model. But this team has severely underperformed. And
and I called the game yesterday the that that contest
was the who wants to lose the least, right, because
it wasn't about who wanted to win that contest? And
we found out the Carolina Panthers wanted to lose the
(35:19):
least as they were the ones that okay, that overcame
the deficit and the entire game, and Miami could not
close them out. And it just goes to show you, man,
this league is fickle. I mean, as high as they
were just a couple of years ago and everything about
two O tongua Iloa, it's now falling apart. And this
(35:40):
franchise is you know, kind of been in the in
the in those doomsday books, flirting with it, never quite
achieving what the roster and the talent dictated. And so
you wonder, I mean I don't wonder, I mean they
will be on the chopping bock. Yeah, and they will be.
They will be looking for a new head coach next season.
(36:01):
It's not a little bit sooner, if not before it
can't be avoided. We talked about the Texans Ravens. From
the Ravens perspective, the Textans. Are they back now at
two and three? I mean, they've made a case for themselves.
I don't know if they're back. I think they took
advantage of a of a shorthanded team that wasn't really
good going into that even with Lamar Jackson to you know,
(36:25):
finally making making it possible that they can now compete
in the NFC South Against Indianapolis, I think they've they've
re entered the picture as a potential contender. But you've
once as an accident, twice as a habit. So I
need to see them do it in back to back games.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Yeah, I mean they you look at their losses. Five
points at the Rams, one point to Tampa Bay, a
touchdown at Jacksonville, you know, so you know, to me,
it's a team that that that could and that was
a late touchdown by the way, that for Jacksonville finishing
off of a long drive that you hate to see
(37:04):
your defense give up. But I think of the teams
that don't have the records they want, I probably because
of the fact that they've played.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Strong teams and lost narrowly.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
The Texans might be my pick of the team that's
in the best shape of those teams that are struggling.
We mentioned the Titans Cardinals struggling record wise. The Titans
get their win, come back win, We talked about the gaff.
Good for the Titans. Bengals, we talked about them. They
lose to the Lions thirty seven to twenty four. The
(37:39):
Commanders working over the Chargers. That one surprised me because
I thought, you know, I'm always leary of the team
that makes that jump up to the top of the division,
and can they follow it up. Teams are better prepared
the schedule gets tougher. We saw Houston do that last
year and answer the bell. Washington was a team I
(38:01):
had questions about this year. But after yesterday's game against
a really solid Chargers squad to beat them twenty seven
to ten, that was to me, that was an eye opener.
And by the way, twenty seven unanswered points. They were
down ten nothing in that game, And here I am thinking, aha,
(38:22):
see Robin patting myself in the back.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
You were right, Chargers are pretty good.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
You know, the Commanders aren't quite as good as people
hang on now, twenty seven straight points and the Commanders
look good. But this is an AFC segment, So the
Chargers got to regroup at home. You get you lose
by seventeen points. That says we gotta, we gotta. We
got some work to do.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
They have a lot of work to do, and they've
got to work on it really quickly. Yeah, the Washington
Washington Commanders absolutely dismantled all the progress that the Chargers had.
The saving graces for the Chargers.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
You're three and zero in your division, right, that's right,
keep saying that second, right, we said that right.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
And they have a lot on the competition. So the
rest of the field has to catch up to them
in the AFC West, and I believe you know, and
we'll get to Kansas City. But well, you see what
Denver's done. Denver saying okay, next time around. Not an
easy out, Bud. And did the Commanders give away the
(39:32):
blueprint on how to defeat the LA Chargers. I mean
doing it at home? Fine, clear cross country to LA
playing so far and to like you said, to be
down ten zip as the as the away team and
to rally back in the way that they did and
just absolutely shut down Justin Herbert. You know, the fumble
(39:56):
by Quentin Johnston proved very costly. You know, Mario and
Hampton got injured during that game. That's another one. So,
like you look at all of these different things that
could happen, every bad thing happened. It was like Murphy's law,
what can go wrong will go wrong? Right, And you know,
(40:18):
for for for Jim Harbaugh, he's he's gonna have to
figure out how to get it. Now. Granted, I get it,
you've lost both of your tackles for the year. That's
tough to overcome. Right, Your edge protection does not help
Justin Herbert in those moments. But you got you got
to read toool. You got to figure out how to
work around you know, those losses. Everybody's lost somebody this
season of note, Right, your your problem is not unique.
(40:43):
You're not the only one going through it. But the
positive is is that you still got plenty of games
left and you have a three to zero lead in
the division. Yep. So you drop a game to a
non conference opponent, but it was an embarrassing one, but
you still love it, right, I mean, heck, we lost
to the Seahawks, right, But it's non conference. So that's
(41:05):
where you take your solace. If you're the Chargers, you
still are in charge, still at the top of your division.
You just got to retool and figure out because you
still got three more division games. You still got a
lot more conference games to play for the season. But yeah,
they gotta go back to the drawing board and figure
out how are they going to not allow the pressure
on Justin Herbert like they did in that game because
Washington was giving them all they could handle him more.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yep, And so we have we looked at the head
of the program at last night's Sunday night game, the
Patriots maybe make me a statement in Buffalo. Gonna take
a quick glance at tonight's game, an intriguing matchup as
we continue our a FC recap presented by UPMC, the
official healthcare provider and health planning the Pittsburgh Steelers in
(41:47):
the Locker Room presented by your Neighborhood Ford Store and
the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio apart of
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
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 (42:23):
You know what time it is, Robs with the bell
low oh, early lunch warning system is in gage. Make
sure you get out there. You got about five and
a half minutes to get there to the noonclock hour.
Make sure you have something good. It's getting it's getting
a little bit chillier now, so make sure you partake.
Maybe a soup, I'm a big soup fan, or maybe
(42:46):
it's just something, you know, just warm comfort food. This
is getting to be that time of year. We are
well in to fall, even though the weather might not
dictate it every day, but that's the time of year.
So you turn on the mental weather alert, not the
physical weather alert, and you'll be fine.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
So Max, just a minute or so left here. Chiefs
two and two, Jaguars three and one. This was my
third SD Special Delivery Jones of the week so far,
I'm zero to two. I have the Chiefs going into Jacksonville, Jacksonville,
giving him a good close game and letting everybody know, hey,
we're to.
Speaker 2 (43:21):
Much improved squad.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
But the Chiefs winning much as I predicted the Patriots
would do last night to Buffalo and Denver would do
in Philadelphia. And I'm over for two. What are your
thoughts quickly on tonight's game.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
This is the Chiefs trying to be trying to chief
if they're good to chief, and get back into this conversation,
and it has to be a victory tonight. Buffalo falls
to the Patriots. So now there's no more unbeatens in
the NFL, and you're sitting there in the striking range.
You need to close that distance, make that loss in
Buffalo count if you're the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (43:58):
He is Max Starks, I'm right, King, Justin Miller is
at the controls in our studios, and we are all
grateful that you are along with us in the Locker Room,
presented by our neighborhood Ford Store and the Steelers Pro
Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
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