October 20, 2025 • 42 mins
King and Starks continue to review what transpired over the weekend across the league and what it means for the Steelers and other contenders in their conference.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
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.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Com, and there we are. It is officially the power
our hour number two here inside the locker room, Optimists.
Good to see you, but we're gonna be rocking and rolling.
This season is still on tap for the Steelers. You
(00:51):
still have a lead. We might mourn a loss, but
we are still in control of our own destiny. It's
a bad game, yes, but once is an accident, twice
as a habit in a row when things go wrong,
And right now we're only sitting at one loss currently
on what we're hoping is not a streak. Right, it's
(01:14):
a one off, and we've had two one offs this season.
But we've also had four victories in between all of that.
So the sky is not falling, Chicken little, but it
is a little bit dimmer than it was before. And
that's this game. It is unforgiving. It is unapologetically tough,
(01:34):
no matter who you face when you get to the
top half percent of athletes in the world. This is
what happens. You play a team that you don't think
is good, but you forget they're full of good players
as well, and there's a chance to go out and
take on a good team and get a good victory,
(01:55):
just like you did against the New England Patriots, just
like you it against the Minnesota Vikings. And that's what
you have to do. That's what the job dictates. And
you got to put this taste of you know, of
sour Bengal meat out of out of your mouth. You've
got you got it. You realize it was a it
(02:15):
was a ransom animal. You can't you can't. You can't
eat everything you kill, you know. And uh, and so
that's what we're dealing with right now. You know, it
tastes like kitty litter. So you know, you got to
get that taste out of your mouth.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Yeah, thank you for that very graphic. Uh, look at
what we don't want to eat for lunch. I'm glad
you didn't. I'm glad you didn't save that for the
end of the show.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, that would have been a bad one.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
We didn't want that So let's go around the a
f C a little bit, shall we.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I just let's do it.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Why not take a little tool. Well, well, I'll tell you.
I'll tell you why we should. Because the AFC recap
is presented by U p m C, the official healthcare
provider and health plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and always
fascinating to look at what's going around in the rest
of the league. What are the trends? You know, I
said earlier about that the headline about ESPN what they
were wrong about, the teams that they were wrong about
(03:11):
AFC teams that they were wrong about. So let's start
with Denver who Denver had a crushing defeat earlier this
year to Indianapolis. Crushing and they were called kimber if
they blocked the field goal and the field goal was missed.
It was a long attempt by Indianapolis to try to
win it, regardless of the kick was not successful and
(03:35):
the Colts. The Colts were bailed out on a Denver
call for you know, kind of rushing the kicker in
a dangerous way that you know you can't do. There's
certain things you can't do up the middle of the
field with the snapper and they did that, and so
the Colts got another shot at it, kicked the field
goal and made it. And so now everybody's singing the
(03:57):
praises of the Colts. And I'm going to get to
the Colts in a minute. But how about Denver? And
you know, Max, we were talking about this last week,
like who's good right now? Who's good in the NFL? Who?
I don't know? And I'm thinking to myself, Man, the
Giants in the last three games have beatn the Chargers
and sent the Chargers reeling, right, I think it was
(04:19):
the Chargers sent the Chargers reeling.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Eagles they beat the Eagles, and you're like, well, and
now football, now, football again.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Now they're working over the Broncos, working them over. And
the Broncos score thirty three points in the fourth quarter,
thirty three points. They snapped a string of one thousand,
six hundred and two consecutive games in which a team
(04:51):
leading by eighteen points in the final six minutes of
the game had won. So they were the first team
in one thousand, six hundred and two games to find
themselves in that scenario and win. And they're five and two,
and you know, listen, they were lucky to beat the
Jets last week, and they were lucky to beat the Giants,
(05:14):
and they were unlucky to lose to the Colts. And
I don't know what to make of it other than
it's NFL football and they're five and two.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, And I had that game right after we came
back from Ireland. I had the Broncos Eagles game, and
they beat the Eagles in Philly, right and they were
down in the fourth They for three and a half quarters,
they could not get past the thirty five yard line
of the Eagles for three and a half quarters, and
end of the game, they march and similar to how
(05:45):
they did against the Giants, they found a way to
break into that glass wall and then once they were
in there, you couldn't kick them out. Two consecutive drives
put up touchdowns and then Sean Payton down won decides
instead of tying the game, he's going to go for
a two point conversion and take the one point lead,
(06:08):
and does it. I mean, we already talked about the
CEO Jones on that one, but it was Dan Campbell
esque and that's what the Broncos have been. And so
I was listening to interview last night on my drive
home from the airport, and they're talking to Evan Ingram,
and Evan Ingram was saying, He's like, in the middle
(06:30):
of a game, you don't draw on strength from things
you've done before. You just deal with the circus. And
I'm like, Bs, first of all, you're a former Giant,
and I get it trying not to burn a bridge here,
but you wanted that game. And I guarantee you told him, Hey,
we did it to the Eagles, we could do it
to them as well. Somebody said that on the sidelines.
I don't care who it was. Somebody said that, and
(06:55):
they they rose to the occasion. Bo Nicks was playing
some bully ball towards the end of that game. And
you know, the Giants, once again, a team that's not
used to winning, right, was playing not to lose.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, it's The Giants are a very very interesting case
and a cautionary tale for people that think, Okay, so
they're a two and five team. You know, whoever's playing
them should blow them out, right. They're now two and
five after losing to Denver. They're not a good football team.
So they lost to Washington with Russell Wilson at the
(07:31):
Controls twenty one to six. Okay, Washington team with Jayden Daniels.
Now they got some worries about Jayden Daniels with his hamstring.
They lose in overtime to Dallas forty to thirty seven.
They gave the Chiefs a tussle. They lost twenty two
to nine, but they gave the Chiefs a game. And
by the way, that was part of the head the
Chiefs man, they're not very good. Look at look at
how much they struggle with the Giants. Then they make
(07:53):
the switch to Jackson Dart. They beat the Chargers. They
lose to the Saints, in which Dark came out and
said that is my fault. Then they hammer Philadelphia, hammer
them by seventeen points. When was that game played, Max?
There's a night at home. Thursday night at home. There
you go. So, if you're a Philadelphia fan, what are
(08:15):
you thinking? You got hammered by a supposedly bad Giants
team and then this loss to Denver thirty three to
thirty two. I mean, if you're a Giants fan, right,
you're thinking three and four at the worst. And if
you win that overtime game against Dallas, you're four and three.
(08:36):
You are like literally two plays away from being four
and three and you're two and five. That's crazy, Max.
And that's all over the NFL this year. I mean
it is every year, but it just I gotta tell you, man,
it feels more. It feels like more this year than
than any year I can remember.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
No, I completely agree. I think I think it's the
parody that this league is. I mean, for all it
wasn't a year ago, it's made up for it this season.
And we're talking about as we look around this league.
We could point to Buffalo, right, Buffalo and Baltimore had
to buy this week and both of them coming off
(09:16):
of ugly losses to go into their bye, and it
was on the heels of not just one loss going
into the bye, but for Baltimore multiple losses. For Buffalo,
back to back losses against the New England Patriots and
the Atlanta Falcons. And then you could argue about the
(09:38):
ineptitude of where the Baltimore Ravens are that, like you said,
their schedule will get a little bit easier after the bye.
But you lost to the Rams, you lost to the Texas,
you got blown out the doors at home against the
Texans the week before that to get to this buy. So,
I mean we're seeing it just when we thought Detroit
(09:58):
was that team they got beat by. They got beat
handily by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
A week ago.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
And for all the praises we were giving Jacksonville who
beat the Kansas City Chiefs the week before, right, right,
And you're the team that goes to London all the time,
and you went out there and got the floor mopped
with you by the Rams. So that's what this league is,
(10:29):
right that. I mean, it's unforgiving. You can't predict from
week to week. And I think you know what's old
is now new. Run games are a plenty. Everybody's running
the football effectively. It's not that it's not an aird
out show. You know, all week in and week out,
people throwing for four hundred yards and everything. Like we
thought the league was trending towards a couple of years ago,
(10:51):
it's gone back to the run.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Games it had run. It has it really has. I
mean that's it really has. There's no doubt about it.
And you know, the NFL is gonna want to take
a look at that and say it's just what we
want and what what rules can we tweak now to
try to get the passing game going. But you mentioned Jacksonville.
They were the next team on my list. I had
to start with Denver, who's now five and two. And
(11:14):
you know, when when you look at Denver, you know
they could be better. Like they they lost. They were
up seven points to the Chargers, right, and they were
in the fourth quarter. Lost that game when the Chargers
looked invincible. The Chargers moved to three and oh, right,
they were the new team, and that everyone had to
be worried about. And I and I agree, I still
(11:34):
think they're good, you know, but but then, but then Denver,
you know, Denver's they could be seven and oh, but
I don't know if they could be four and three.
You know, they could be worse than this. It's it's
it's crazy, and everyone's gonna be singing their praises this week.
I'm gonna I'm eager to see where they're gonna jump
up in the power rankings. But Jacksonville was the next
(11:55):
team on my on my list, they were the I
wanted to start with Denver because of that amazing comeback.
But going sort of a little bit more chronologically here,
the Sunday morning game Jacksonville. Frankly, they look terrible. And
again to recap Jacksonville, and we're going around the AFC
here they beat Carolina, bad Carolina team. I think they
(12:21):
lose at Cincinnati when they still had Burrow, but that
was a game they kicked away. It was Jake Browning
who led that comeback late in the game to beat them.
Then they rip off, they rip off wins, and now
all of a sudden, they're looking like a pretty darn
good football team because here's their wins. Houston seventeen to ten,
San Francisco twenty six, twenty one, Kansas City thirty one
(12:46):
to twenty eight. So I have to admit, Max, I'm thinking, okay,
they were my team to take a big jump forward.
They got an offensive coach there for Trevor Lawrence. They
doubled down on that. They went out and added weapons
on offen. You know, I thought, okay, this is a
team that could jump up to that eight to nine
win category. Then I started thinking, well, maybe I sold
(13:07):
them short man. They're four and one. Look at those
wins Houston, San Francisco, Kansas City. Wow, what a squad.
And then you just get kind of beaten into the
ground by Seattle. By the way, Seattle does that, that's
what Seattle does. They beat you at the ground. Can't
wait tonight. And then just who could see that? No,
(13:29):
Puka Nakua and the Rams came out and just smoked them.
Now thirty five to seven. Again, we talked about that
at the beginning of the show. Probably, you know, could
have been closer, a break here or there. You pass
up some field goal attempts because you're chasing the game
in the third quarter. Maybe maybe you kick those field
goals and get a little momentum and maybe it's a
(13:50):
closer game. But the score is a score, man, thirty
five to seven. So I don't know what to make
of Jacksonville. I don't know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
They're an NFL team in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
That's exactly what it is, man, I think that's exactly what.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
It sounds like a twenty twenty five schedule.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
It's crazy. And who would have at the beginning of
the year, right as we just take a little mini
step back from Jacksonville, who would have had let's say
Indianapolis and first Jacksonville in second, Houston in third, Tennessee
and fourth. I don't think anybody would have been surprised
(14:32):
about that South, right, that's they're one in six. In
seven games, they have scored a grand total of ninety
six points. Ninety six points and seven.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's how you get a head coach fired. Oh, that's
how you get a head coach fired. That's an offensive
head coach. By the way, Marian Callahan right OC for
the Cincinnati Bengals before he took that job. And yeah,
when you claim to be offensive guy and you can't
produce offense, yep, that that that's the pink slip.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
They have a minus ninety six point differential minus ninety six.
Uh so, no surprise that they're worst, right, no surprise.
But who would have had Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Houston. I'll tell
you who. Nobody, Nobody in Indianapolis would have had that.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Nope, there and then and then to boot that it
was gonna be Daniel Jones. That was that was leading
the way. Yep, well you thought maybe, hey, if it was,
it was gonna be Anthony Richardson dual threat, physical capabilities,
first round draft pick. Eh.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
So I want to mention the Bears are the Bear
the Bears are not, as we know, an AFC team.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Yeah, I wanted to make sure I'm making up for
I got in case anyone joining us. Now, I got
all the days of the week wrong. So I wanted
to make a I wanted to make a factual statement
and let it hang there. The Bears are an NFC team.
They've eat New Orleans, they won four in a row. Now,
the reason they're relevant is the Bears are. They have
back to back games road games against AFC North teams.
(16:10):
They're at Baltimore on Sunday and at Cincinnati on the
following Sunday, and so again, you know, these games are
these games are big for everybody involved because everything is
so close. Chicago is four and two, so Green Bay's
four one on one. They lead the division. They have
this you know, this steer that's coming up. Detroit four
(16:31):
and two and Chicago four and two. So they're taking
on Baltimore, they're taken on Cincinnati. You know what, let's
take a break and let's talk about the relevance of
those games in the AFC North if we take a
look around the AFC. But let's do that after we return.
I also wanted to mention that you can gear up
(16:52):
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(17:12):
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We will be back in the Locker Room presented by
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Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
This is in the locker Room with kingon Starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store. The
F one P fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at Shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
And we thank you very much for being with us
as we wind up this Monday edition in the locker room,
obviously looking back a little bit to the Steelers loss
on Thursday. We discussed that some on Friday. We're gonna
use it as a pivot point in which to get
ready for Sunday Nights game, which again, as you know,
does not figure to be easy for the Steelers. But
(18:15):
as we have found out this year, nothing's easy, right,
There are no easy games, and for the Steelers, really
really interesting schedule now with Cincinnati kind of being back
in it. You've got a stretch of games here Max
in which it's just going to be a dog fight
(18:36):
Green Bay, Indianapolis at home. Nobody saw that coming as
being a dogfight at La Cincinnati back at home at Chicago,
who has turned out to be formidable. They've won four
in a row, Buffalo and then Baltimore at Baltimore. That
takes us through the twelfth and that is a stretch
(18:57):
of seven games that is going to be difficult, to
say the least.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Yeah, especially when you probably looked at the beginning of
the season it said, nah, would be okay, Yeah, just
like no, you're not all it's not fine, and you
can't take any of these games on the schedule, for granted,
and we witnessed that, right, Obviously, we didn't know who
Seattle was going to be when we played them in
Week two, but they've proven to us that, Okay, we
(19:25):
lost to a good team, because that team is proving
to be good. Cincinnati has the makings of being good.
And you know from Minnesota derailed backup quarterback playing and
you win that game, you play three and a half
quarters of beautiful football, and you win that game in Ireland,
(19:46):
I would consider that one of the must wins of
the season, right just because of location, history and opportunity
right on a foreign market. You had to win that game.
The Patriots game the week before, we didn't really know
who the were, right, it's Mike Rabriel, Drake May.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
We don't really know who he is.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
They don't really have this compliment of receivers. It's uneasy.
But then we find out, no, this seems pretty good.
They just went they went into Buffalo and buffaloed Buffalo. Yep,
so proving their division leader right now, so you know
who they are now. Of course Cleveland with Dylan Gabriel,
you're wondering who they were, Well, they just gave it
(20:27):
to Miami at home, right yep. And inklet bit whether
they they literally beat the brakes off with them. I
was I was almost concerned that Mike McDaniels can get
left in Cleveland. Yeah, and he would probably end up
like driving to Pittsburgh to catch a flight home.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Because yeah, we're kind of waiting for this. We're kind
of waiting for that reporter, aren't we.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Yeah, we are, we are, And especially after what Tua
said the week before, right, yeah, you know about the
teammates and stuff and and then that whole aftermath. So
I mean, you're just kind of waiting for the shoe
to drop down in Miami. There will be a vacancy
at some point this year.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
And you're hoping. By the way, as we look at
the end of the season, Max, I just mentioned the
games through December seventh, but Miami's that one game. You'll
hope it. But who knows where they're gonna be. Who
knows if a duke coach comes in and now up
here Miami night game team, it doesn't do well in
cold weather traditionally Miami at Detroit at Cleveland Baltimore to
(21:26):
end up the season. So not exactly easy pas there either,
you know me, Just Deshaun Watson gonna be back for Cleveland.
Some rumblin's going on with that, man, It's just fun, Max,
It's you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
It's the NFL, right, Yeah, exactly, It's the NFL. So
that's why we can't take that for granted.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
We can't.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
You know, sometimes an interim coach, you know, comes in
and proves that. I mean, we watched with Steve Wilkes
right when they fired Matt Ruhle, and Carolina goes all
the way to the hilt try to make a playoff
push after they were abysmal almost the whole season, and
did it with and did it with Steve Wilkes, changing
the vibes. Now we went down there and we had
(22:06):
a masterful game against them. I think that was a
difference between them getting the playoffs and not. But that
was that was a way better team than we anticipated.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
So you can't take any of these for granted. These
guys are highly compensated, highly skilled, and the best the
best at what they do, right, you know, And I
think that's what you kind of have to understand that
week to week, you don't know, sometimes some teams just
match up better with you than others. And that's where
(22:35):
for the Steelers. You have to come in with your
head screwed on tight every single week. You can't take
a moment off. You can't say I've been doing this.
I can walk, I can sleep walk through it. No sleepwalking,
eyes wide open, full intent, full energy. As as Deadpool
would say from one of my Marvel comics, maximum effort
(22:56):
must be given at all time. That and you know
and and you know, you know, Jimmy Chonkins. But anyways,
that's what you have to that's what you have to
bring to every game. And I think this this season,
if of any season in recent memory, it is true
here because it's truly up for grabs for whoever wants
(23:18):
to take it. It's like money in the bank.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It's like you know, in wrestling they hang this briefcase
up there is money in the bank.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
You have the ladder and then you.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Throw this all you know, this all out brawl to
get to the bank. Well, the super Bowl Trophy is
hanging up there, and the money in the bank this
time around, and anybody can get it. And I think
that's where you have to realize. The parody is at
an all time high this season, except if you're the
new York Jets. Anyways, we won't talk about that. Yeah,
but for every other, let's say twenty eight out of
(23:47):
thirty two teams, it is it is a it is
a battle royale. It's a royal rumble to get to
the playoffs and then get to the super Bowl and
then win that super Bowl. It can be anybody's game.
Like you said, one through twenty is a toss up.
Just picked two teams.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
And you'll be all right.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Because the second you pick a number one team, that
number oneam feels like they're going to lose. It's like
almost like like you put like like you just put
an X on their back, right, and they become the target.
And literally the very next week they fall. I mean
the Eagles. Look at the Eagles where they're at. Look
at where the Buffalo Bills were. We tried to put
them up. Look at where the Detroit Lions. What happened
to them when we tried to put them up there? Right,
they all came tumbling down. In fact, Buffalo had had
(24:26):
probably the well, no, I take that back, the Patriot No, No,
the Chiefs had the worst fall, right, they went from
five to fifteen. Yeah, Buffalo, even though they had back
to back losses didn't take that big of a tumble.
But now you look at the Chiefs that could you
not put them in the top five, Absolutely not, especially
(24:48):
after what they did Sunday. And this is a team
that's fighting that just got above five hundred literally yesterday.
So that just goes to show you that you can't
take any Instagram and when teams figure it out, hold
on to your butts in those moments. And I think
that's what this league offers. But when you do have
(25:08):
a lead, you you can't give it up. Look at
the LA Chargers, right, they're reeling. They went three and
oh and they were three and oh in the division
at the same time. Yep, that's like, oh crap, they're
they're they're about to march into this. Oh my god,
look what look what Harball's done. And now we say,
we'll look what Harball's done of voice.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. That's that's why I don't
like texting. What is that? What's the inflection in that text?
I don't know. I can't exact out.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Why'd you put an excavation point? Why are you yelling
at me? Right right?
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I all caps? I just want to talk to somebody
on the phone. So the uh so, So the Bears
just mentioned that because they've got students, have to still
play them, and we're going to find out a little
bit more about them in the next two weeks. They've
won four in a row. They're at Baltimore at Cincinnati.
Gigantic game for Baltimore. You know, if you lose this game,
(26:04):
I still think Baltimore's got a puncher's chance to get
back in this thing as far as an AFC playoff picture.
And if you lose that game, I don't see one
in six. I mean, you gotta go what you're nine
and won the rest of the way. I just I
don't see that happening.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
And you still don't know when you're gonna get Lamar back?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Right, Well, are they gonna get him back for this game?
Well we'll find out, right, Well no, later, Yeah, how about.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Saying we will find out? I haven't.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
We will find out. We'll find out later because they're
at Baltimore at Sincy, and of course the Steelers playing,
so they're gonna have a They're gonna have a lot
to say about the AFC North Race. That's why we
wanted to mention them. The Browns hammering the Dolphins. You know,
we talked about this in the week leading up to
the Browns. Uh. You can see some of the pieces
(26:53):
starting to fall in place for that team. Uh, it
looks like they've got a plan.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
You know, Dylan Gabriel is gonna be a huge part
of I mean, if Dylan Gabriel is not the guy,
then they gotta worry about Deshaun Watson. Right, do you
come back to give him another chance? You have to
worry about that anyway. And then, but if you thought
you could get by with Gabriel, you could use all
those draft choices. You have to shore up what is
(27:21):
gonna be your biggest weakness in the offseason, and that's
your offensive line. Keep in mind, you don't have much
cap space. You got a couple of good tight ends.
Looks like you found your running back. You have depth
at running back. You're gonna need another receiver probably, and
you're gonna need your offensive line. That defense is in
pretty good shape, man. And they just hammered the Dolphins
thirty one to six. The Patriots, you mentioned them five
(27:45):
and two. They took care of business against the Titans.
You know, again, if you identify bad teams in the NFL,
New Orleans isn't a good team. The Dolphins aren't a
good team. The Titans aren't a good team. We mentioned
Denver a thehead of this New England's won four in
a row. Man, and Denver's won four in a row.
And I don't know what that means right now other
(28:05):
than the fact that they've won four in a row
and they're at the very least two pretty good football teams.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Yeah, I mean, like I said, you know, you got
some division leaders in there, and it's not going to
be easy. And like you said, the Bears team that
we thought was a laughing stock last year and even
at the beginning of this year giving away a victory,
you know that was seemingly theirs to the Vikings and
JJ McCarthy. You thought, oh man, here's the Bears again.
(28:34):
But now they're charging. So that's a team you can't take.
You can't take for granted. That's the week before Thanksgiving,
right where that game comes down. So in Chicago, you've
got yeah, in Chicago, you you know that weather is formidable.
We aren't great in Chicago. I remember when we went
to Chicago and you know, they're kicking up dirt, you know,
(28:54):
in pregame because they had repatched it at the last second.
So there's just a lot of stuff that you had
that you can't control. But you can only control your effort,
your attitude, and your execution. That's it. So that's what
you have to focus on at all times, is those
three tenants are what are what's going to determine if
you're a winner or a loser in this league. And
(29:17):
like you said, it's wide open. There are opportunities for
everybody as long as they take advantage of those opportunities.
And you know, if you're the Steelers, come on, man,
we got an opportunity to kill down our division lead,
no doubt.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
At the Chiefs. Yeah, look, we talked about that earlier
with Max Max at the call of that game national Radio,
and he's made mention of it. The Chiefs took like
a powerhouse again. They just pummeled the Raiders thirty one
to nothing. I know it's not a very good Raiders team,
but they just they pound and they had some injuries,
but they pounded them. Other AFC games, the Panthers over
(29:54):
the Jets thirteen to six. Poor New York just can't
seem to find a way game Justice Fields win a game.
Just the Fields got benched that one and then the
last game I really wanted to talk about. I saved
this started with Denver for a reason, and saved this
one for a reason. The Colts over the Chargers thirty
eight to twenty four, and it was never a game
(30:16):
Max they pounded him. I would have loved to have
seen the game. It was a game I was extremely
interested in. We didn't have it here in Pittsburgh. The
Colts suddenly looked really good. And you know, again it's
a Chargers team that looked like world beaters earlier in
the season. I think, you know it's still at this point,
(30:37):
they're still a first place team, right, you have to
consider them a quality team. You have to. And for
everybody that said, you know, who's Indianapolis beaten? Rightly, so
people were saying that about the Steelers, Right, who have
you beaten? Well, that went over New England looks a
lot better. You know, you beat a three and three
Minnesota team. You look at this Colts and you're like, well,
(30:57):
they beat Miami, but then they beat Denver in a miracle.
They beat a bad Tennessee team. They lost to the Rams,
who that that certainly doesn't look like any disgrace right
in LA. You know, in a game in which you
know the Rams, you're up twenty to thirteen with less
(31:17):
than nine minutes left in the fourth. The Rams needed
to score two touchdowns in the last three minutes and
twenty seconds to beat you. So all of a sudden,
you're like, well, that's I think more than their wins
that got people's attention. Now, the Denver win was fun,
it was exciting. Then you beat a bad Tennessee team.
I think that loss may have garnered them some respect
(31:39):
because everybody knows that the Rams are a pretty good team.
Then you just hand it to Vegas forty to six.
You beat Arizona thirty one to twenty seven, another one
that Arizona kind of kind of kicked away, and you're thinking, Okay,
what have we got here? What are you? You know,
where can you hang your hat on? Which one of
(32:01):
those wins? And then they just destroyed the Chargers in
LA just never a game. And I think that even
if you were the sternest critic of this team, you
have to look at them and say they're pretty good.
They're a good team. The Cults are maybe more than
pretty good, maybe really good. And you know, we shouldn't
(32:23):
be shocked. They were eight and nine a year ago
and now they're getting better quarterback play. And that's the
NFL for you.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
It is and that's why any given Sunday, anybody can
beat you. And I think that's where you have to
understand that, hey, this is not going to be easy.
This is what the league is made of. It's made
of teams that can beat you if you take them lightly.
If you take them lightly, it is going to be
(32:53):
a rough day in the office. And if you can
keep your head about you, you know.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
And allow for.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Yourself to say, hey, we're okay, we're not great yet,
but we're on the way to it, and keep that
that humility right, keep that humbleness of mind. You can
achieve a lot of success. You can achieve a lot
of good A lot of good things can happen if
you could keep your head about you. But that's tough
to do, right. See press clippings, you see you see
(33:25):
what everybody else is saying about you, and you want
you want you want to read it. You you want
to you want to sniff the roses you wanna, you
want to say, hey, look at me, pound the chest right,
you know, well, King Kong action. But this league also
has a way of humbling you when you do. So,
make sure if you are going to read those press copies,
(33:45):
if you are going to, you know, smell yourself a
little bit, make sure you understand that you washed properly
before you do that.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Uh. Good advice, sanitation advice, and that's probably widely a
likable member of folks. If you take nothing else from
this show, wash yourself, please.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Yes, yes, So if you're gonna smell yourself, wash yourself first.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Now, it's been thus far, in my opinion, in the
games that I was watching and I was super looking
forward to, it has been something of a disappointing NFL weekend. Actually, frankly,
the disappointment began on Thursday night. I gotta be honest,
heck of a football game. Disappointing conclusion, disappointing bunch of
games for me personally. On Sunday, they didn't live up
(34:30):
to my hype. But we got a chance to bail
the whole weekend out tonight and I cannot wait. And
we will talk about that when we conclude this show
in the Locker Room presented by our neighborhood Ford Store
and this Steeler's Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a
part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
This is in the Locker Room with Kingon Starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store. The
F one 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 (35:18):
We're waiting, don't we have something that needs to happen here,
justin Max somebody so I will handle the honors this time.
(35:39):
It's not as good coming for me as it is
for Max. But it is time for the Bell Lap,
And as Max likes to say, this is your early
warning system to get yourself ready for some lunch which
is coming up the lunch hour in seven minutes. So
get yourself mentally prepared for a physical beatdown of your
(36:02):
inerts with a good, solid, powerful lunch to get you
carried through the rest of the day. That is the
bell Lap lunch coming up soon. Enjoy your lunch, anybody, remember,
sit down right, don't hurry through your lunch. Here in
this country, we like to like to make it a
you know, sort of a show of pride that you
(36:23):
eat your breakfast on the go and you eat your
lunch at your desk. I guess that's sometimes unavoidable. But
if you can avoid it, enjoy your lunch, enjoy your meal,
your repast. Uh So that's it. Actually anything to add
to that. Uh No, I don't like it when I
tell the belt left. Let's never have that again. I
(36:45):
don't make me laugh.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
You try, you gotta, you gotta try it out.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
Yeah, try this is this is a team show.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah, you're a team show. So all right, we've established
that I am now I am officially the bell lap guy.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
Yep. We gave a shot. It didn't work. I could
just I don't need the reviews. I don't need to
I don't need to read the equipment.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Do well with optimists though. At the top of the
power out.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
No, no, no, that's you. I can't even get his
name right, that's all. That's all you. We gotta it's
got to be you, So Max, we have we have
a chance to bail out for me. I was a
little disappointed about this week int of football. I was.
I was hoping for more. I was expecting more. I
didn't get more tonight. I am expecting two phenomenal games.
(37:31):
Bucks at the Lions. Now the bucks Is are there
number one and everybody's power rankings this past week. Now
they go to Detroit. Detroit had been number one on
power rankings. That's a tremendous matchup. And then the Texans
at the Seahawks. Man, you can you better believe I'm
watching both tonight. The Texans are. They are trying to
(37:55):
clamber back to respectability after an atrocious start to their season.
They're game below five hundred, but I still think they
are a team that can factor into the AFC. They're
they're certainly closer to doing that than another team. I
feel that way. Baltimore. They're not one and five, they're
two and three. They're right there. I cannot wait for
(38:17):
both these matchups tonight.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Now they're both gonna be good. I'll be covering both
of them tonight on the post game, so I'll be
watching intently. So I'm really excited about this. I mean,
you know, you look at what this Detroit team is, right,
he had a and hutcheson back your defense seems to
be clicking. Jarrett Goff's Jarrett Golf right, But you got
(38:40):
I'm and Ross Saint Brown. You have some great pieces there,
Jamier Gibbs, Dave Montgomery, Sam Laporta. You got a lot
of offensive firepower.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Can the defense step up for the challenge? Is gonna
be it as they continue their quest, That's gonna be
the big question. Tampa Bay red hot, even though they've
they have injuries galore on that roster. But when you
have Baker Mayfield, I guess you have to say you
have a chance. He's tough as nails. He knows how
to find you know, his receivers, even when you didn't
have Mike Evans. Right, you know, Tess Johnson comes to
(39:10):
play a really stout defense, a really good run game,
and it's gonna it's gonna be a heavyweight fight tonight,
and I'm excited about it.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
And then look ahead, yeah, and then yeah the other
one in.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
The next one. See, they hung forty four on the
on the Ravens at home. Some of the Ravens do
not do prideful team, especially at home. And you beat
the brakes off of them. So there there's something to say,
and like you said, two and three puts you back
in the mix, especially with the Steelers the way that
they fell. Now you're gonna have to claw your way
into your division, you know, because Indianapolis has set themselves
(39:45):
with a nice cushion, but that by no means is
a solid division in and of itself. Jacksonville just fell
and got embarrassed. So THEFC South is still a winnable
division for them. And they have a really good defense,
like they are really good. It's an offense that's been
the issue. They've had some misfires, but best believe they are.
(40:06):
They're looking at this as a prime opportunity to kind
of get some foothold back, And I think that's how
you have to approach this, like, hey, no, there's no
gimmeis we didn't know nobody has won divisions in October.
I hate to tell you that in the history of
the NFL, nobody's coming and said, you know what divisions
wrapped up so you could just go ahead and hang
(40:27):
up your season. Not at all. It's going to be
a really solid matchup. And I can't wait really for
how you know football is going to unfold? Because I
think this could potentially change the outcub you know of
how we look at teams, because Seattle has been on
a tear and they've been a solid team at four
(40:49):
and two. So you have two really good matchups against
two really good teams. You know, ken thea Houston defense
defeat the Seattle offense, the one that we saw firsthand
uphand in per up close and personal in Afrosure Stadium.
Can Houston take that on the road and go into
Seattle and do that? So I'm looking forward to both
of these.
Speaker 3 (41:08):
Yeah, give give Houston a desperation factor maybe, but give
Seattle home field advantage. And it's not like Seattle can
afford to stumble, right, I mean, you know, you're looking
at a division in which San Francisco's five and two,
the Rams are five and two. You want to keep pace.
I can't wait. It's gonna be so exciting, Max, my friend,
(41:31):
enjoy your postgame show activities tonight. Look forward to talking
to you tomorrow when Alvaro Martin will join us. Bob
Labriola will join us as well. That's coming up tomorrow
for Justin.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Miller West conference tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
What's that press conference tomorrow after our show? Yeah, it'd
be interesting to see you know, Calvin Austin I think
is the loan sort of injured guy out there right
what what will his status be? So anyway, Yeah, lots
of the exciting day coming up tomorrow. Thanks to Justin Miller,
our producer. Thanks to Max Starks, I'm Rob King. We
(42:04):
thank you for being in the Locker Room, presented by
your neighborhood Ford Store in the Steelers Pro Shop on
Steel's 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.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Com, and there we are. It is officially the power
our hour number two here inside the locker room, Optimists.
Good to see you, but we're gonna be rocking and rolling.
This season is still on tap for the Steelers. You
(00:51):
still have a lead. We might mourn a loss, but
we are still in control of our own destiny. It's
a bad game, yes, but once is an accident, twice
as a habit in a row when things go wrong,
And right now we're only sitting at one loss currently
on what we're hoping is not a streak. Right, it's
(01:14):
a one off, and we've had two one offs this season.
But we've also had four victories in between all of that.
So the sky is not falling, Chicken little, but it
is a little bit dimmer than it was before. And
that's this game. It is unforgiving. It is unapologetically tough,
(01:34):
no matter who you face when you get to the
top half percent of athletes in the world. This is
what happens. You play a team that you don't think
is good, but you forget they're full of good players
as well, and there's a chance to go out and
take on a good team and get a good victory,
(01:55):
just like you did against the New England Patriots, just
like you it against the Minnesota Vikings. And that's what
you have to do. That's what the job dictates. And
you got to put this taste of you know, of
sour Bengal meat out of out of your mouth. You've
got you got it. You realize it was a it
(02:15):
was a ransom animal. You can't you can't. You can't
eat everything you kill, you know. And uh, and so
that's what we're dealing with right now. You know, it
tastes like kitty litter. So you know, you got to
get that taste out of your mouth.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Yeah, thank you for that very graphic. Uh, look at
what we don't want to eat for lunch. I'm glad
you didn't. I'm glad you didn't save that for the
end of the show.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, that would have been a bad one.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
We didn't want that So let's go around the a
f C a little bit, shall we.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I just let's do it.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Why not take a little tool. Well, well, I'll tell you.
I'll tell you why we should. Because the AFC recap
is presented by U p m C, the official healthcare
provider and health plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and always
fascinating to look at what's going around in the rest
of the league. What are the trends? You know, I
said earlier about that the headline about ESPN what they
were wrong about, the teams that they were wrong about
(03:11):
AFC teams that they were wrong about. So let's start
with Denver who Denver had a crushing defeat earlier this
year to Indianapolis. Crushing and they were called kimber if
they blocked the field goal and the field goal was missed.
It was a long attempt by Indianapolis to try to
win it, regardless of the kick was not successful and
(03:35):
the Colts. The Colts were bailed out on a Denver
call for you know, kind of rushing the kicker in
a dangerous way that you know you can't do. There's
certain things you can't do up the middle of the
field with the snapper and they did that, and so
the Colts got another shot at it, kicked the field
goal and made it. And so now everybody's singing the
(03:57):
praises of the Colts. And I'm going to get to
the Colts in a minute. But how about Denver? And
you know, Max, we were talking about this last week,
like who's good right now? Who's good in the NFL? Who?
I don't know? And I'm thinking to myself, Man, the
Giants in the last three games have beatn the Chargers
and sent the Chargers reeling, right, I think it was
(04:19):
the Chargers sent the Chargers reeling.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Eagles they beat the Eagles, and you're like, well, and
now football, now, football again.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Now they're working over the Broncos, working them over. And
the Broncos score thirty three points in the fourth quarter,
thirty three points. They snapped a string of one thousand,
six hundred and two consecutive games in which a team
(04:51):
leading by eighteen points in the final six minutes of
the game had won. So they were the first team
in one thousand, six hundred and two games to find
themselves in that scenario and win. And they're five and two,
and you know, listen, they were lucky to beat the
Jets last week, and they were lucky to beat the Giants,
(05:14):
and they were unlucky to lose to the Colts. And
I don't know what to make of it other than
it's NFL football and they're five and two.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, And I had that game right after we came
back from Ireland. I had the Broncos Eagles game, and
they beat the Eagles in Philly, right and they were
down in the fourth They for three and a half quarters,
they could not get past the thirty five yard line
of the Eagles for three and a half quarters, and
end of the game, they march and similar to how
(05:45):
they did against the Giants, they found a way to
break into that glass wall and then once they were
in there, you couldn't kick them out. Two consecutive drives
put up touchdowns and then Sean Payton down won decides
instead of tying the game, he's going to go for
a two point conversion and take the one point lead,
(06:08):
and does it. I mean, we already talked about the
CEO Jones on that one, but it was Dan Campbell
esque and that's what the Broncos have been. And so
I was listening to interview last night on my drive
home from the airport, and they're talking to Evan Ingram,
and Evan Ingram was saying, He's like, in the middle
(06:30):
of a game, you don't draw on strength from things
you've done before. You just deal with the circus. And
I'm like, Bs, first of all, you're a former Giant,
and I get it trying not to burn a bridge here,
but you wanted that game. And I guarantee you told him, Hey,
we did it to the Eagles, we could do it
to them as well. Somebody said that on the sidelines.
I don't care who it was. Somebody said that, and
(06:55):
they they rose to the occasion. Bo Nicks was playing
some bully ball towards the end of that game. And
you know, the Giants, once again, a team that's not
used to winning, right, was playing not to lose.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, it's The Giants are a very very interesting case
and a cautionary tale for people that think, Okay, so
they're a two and five team. You know, whoever's playing
them should blow them out, right. They're now two and
five after losing to Denver. They're not a good football team.
So they lost to Washington with Russell Wilson at the
(07:31):
Controls twenty one to six. Okay, Washington team with Jayden Daniels.
Now they got some worries about Jayden Daniels with his hamstring.
They lose in overtime to Dallas forty to thirty seven.
They gave the Chiefs a tussle. They lost twenty two
to nine, but they gave the Chiefs a game. And
by the way, that was part of the head the
Chiefs man, they're not very good. Look at look at
how much they struggle with the Giants. Then they make
(07:53):
the switch to Jackson Dart. They beat the Chargers. They
lose to the Saints, in which Dark came out and
said that is my fault. Then they hammer Philadelphia, hammer
them by seventeen points. When was that game played, Max?
There's a night at home. Thursday night at home. There
you go. So, if you're a Philadelphia fan, what are
(08:15):
you thinking? You got hammered by a supposedly bad Giants
team and then this loss to Denver thirty three to
thirty two. I mean, if you're a Giants fan, right,
you're thinking three and four at the worst. And if
you win that overtime game against Dallas, you're four and three.
(08:36):
You are like literally two plays away from being four
and three and you're two and five. That's crazy, Max.
And that's all over the NFL this year. I mean
it is every year, but it just I gotta tell you, man,
it feels more. It feels like more this year than
than any year I can remember.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
No, I completely agree. I think I think it's the
parody that this league is. I mean, for all it
wasn't a year ago, it's made up for it this season.
And we're talking about as we look around this league.
We could point to Buffalo, right, Buffalo and Baltimore had
to buy this week and both of them coming off
(09:16):
of ugly losses to go into their bye, and it
was on the heels of not just one loss going
into the bye, but for Baltimore multiple losses. For Buffalo,
back to back losses against the New England Patriots and
the Atlanta Falcons. And then you could argue about the
(09:38):
ineptitude of where the Baltimore Ravens are that, like you said,
their schedule will get a little bit easier after the bye.
But you lost to the Rams, you lost to the Texas,
you got blown out the doors at home against the
Texans the week before that to get to this buy. So,
I mean we're seeing it just when we thought Detroit
(09:58):
was that team they got beat by. They got beat
handily by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
A week ago.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
And for all the praises we were giving Jacksonville who
beat the Kansas City Chiefs the week before, right, right,
And you're the team that goes to London all the time,
and you went out there and got the floor mopped
with you by the Rams. So that's what this league is,
(10:29):
right that. I mean, it's unforgiving. You can't predict from
week to week. And I think you know what's old
is now new. Run games are a plenty. Everybody's running
the football effectively. It's not that it's not an aird
out show. You know, all week in and week out,
people throwing for four hundred yards and everything. Like we
thought the league was trending towards a couple of years ago,
(10:51):
it's gone back to the run.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Games it had run. It has it really has. I
mean that's it really has. There's no doubt about it.
And you know, the NFL is gonna want to take
a look at that and say it's just what we
want and what what rules can we tweak now to
try to get the passing game going. But you mentioned Jacksonville.
They were the next team on my list. I had
to start with Denver, who's now five and two. And
(11:14):
you know, when when you look at Denver, you know
they could be better. Like they they lost. They were
up seven points to the Chargers, right, and they were
in the fourth quarter. Lost that game when the Chargers
looked invincible. The Chargers moved to three and oh, right,
they were the new team, and that everyone had to
be worried about. And I and I agree, I still
(11:34):
think they're good, you know, but but then, but then Denver,
you know, Denver's they could be seven and oh, but
I don't know if they could be four and three.
You know, they could be worse than this. It's it's
it's crazy, and everyone's gonna be singing their praises this week.
I'm gonna I'm eager to see where they're gonna jump
up in the power rankings. But Jacksonville was the next
(11:55):
team on my on my list, they were the I
wanted to start with Denver because of that amazing comeback.
But going sort of a little bit more chronologically here,
the Sunday morning game Jacksonville. Frankly, they look terrible. And
again to recap Jacksonville, and we're going around the AFC
here they beat Carolina, bad Carolina team. I think they
(12:21):
lose at Cincinnati when they still had Burrow, but that
was a game they kicked away. It was Jake Browning
who led that comeback late in the game to beat them.
Then they rip off, they rip off wins, and now
all of a sudden, they're looking like a pretty darn
good football team because here's their wins. Houston seventeen to ten,
San Francisco twenty six, twenty one, Kansas City thirty one
(12:46):
to twenty eight. So I have to admit, Max, I'm thinking, okay,
they were my team to take a big jump forward.
They got an offensive coach there for Trevor Lawrence. They
doubled down on that. They went out and added weapons
on offen. You know, I thought, okay, this is a
team that could jump up to that eight to nine
win category. Then I started thinking, well, maybe I sold
(13:07):
them short man. They're four and one. Look at those
wins Houston, San Francisco, Kansas City. Wow, what a squad.
And then you just get kind of beaten into the
ground by Seattle. By the way, Seattle does that, that's
what Seattle does. They beat you at the ground. Can't
wait tonight. And then just who could see that? No,
(13:29):
Puka Nakua and the Rams came out and just smoked them.
Now thirty five to seven. Again, we talked about that
at the beginning of the show. Probably, you know, could
have been closer, a break here or there. You pass
up some field goal attempts because you're chasing the game
in the third quarter. Maybe maybe you kick those field
goals and get a little momentum and maybe it's a
(13:50):
closer game. But the score is a score, man, thirty
five to seven. So I don't know what to make
of Jacksonville. I don't know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
They're an NFL team in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
That's exactly what it is, man, I think that's exactly what.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
It sounds like a twenty twenty five schedule.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
It's crazy. And who would have at the beginning of
the year, right as we just take a little mini
step back from Jacksonville, who would have had let's say
Indianapolis and first Jacksonville in second, Houston in third, Tennessee
and fourth. I don't think anybody would have been surprised
(14:32):
about that South, right, that's they're one in six. In
seven games, they have scored a grand total of ninety
six points. Ninety six points and seven.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's how you get a head coach fired. Oh, that's
how you get a head coach fired. That's an offensive
head coach. By the way, Marian Callahan right OC for
the Cincinnati Bengals before he took that job. And yeah,
when you claim to be offensive guy and you can't
produce offense, yep, that that that's the pink slip.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
They have a minus ninety six point differential minus ninety six.
Uh so, no surprise that they're worst, right, no surprise.
But who would have had Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Houston. I'll tell
you who. Nobody, Nobody in Indianapolis would have had that.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Nope, there and then and then to boot that it
was gonna be Daniel Jones. That was that was leading
the way. Yep, well you thought maybe, hey, if it was,
it was gonna be Anthony Richardson dual threat, physical capabilities,
first round draft pick. Eh.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
So I want to mention the Bears are the Bear
the Bears are not, as we know, an AFC team.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Yeah, I wanted to make sure I'm making up for
I got in case anyone joining us. Now, I got
all the days of the week wrong. So I wanted
to make a I wanted to make a factual statement
and let it hang there. The Bears are an NFC team.
They've eat New Orleans, they won four in a row. Now,
the reason they're relevant is the Bears are. They have
back to back games road games against AFC North teams.
(16:10):
They're at Baltimore on Sunday and at Cincinnati on the
following Sunday, and so again, you know, these games are
these games are big for everybody involved because everything is
so close. Chicago is four and two, so Green Bay's
four one on one. They lead the division. They have
this you know, this steer that's coming up. Detroit four
(16:31):
and two and Chicago four and two. So they're taking
on Baltimore, they're taken on Cincinnati. You know what, let's
take a break and let's talk about the relevance of
those games in the AFC North if we take a
look around the AFC. But let's do that after we return.
I also wanted to mention that you can gear up
(16:52):
with the latest game day necessities at the official Steers
Pro shops. Get the latest Sideline apparel, jerseys, Terrible towles,
authentic Memory, Rebelia and custom exclusives you can only find
directly from the team. Visit one of the official Steelers
Pro shops located at Akroscher Stadium, Grove City Premium Outlets
or Tanger Outlets, or gear up online at shop dot
(17:12):
Steelers dot com. Get it direct from the team at
the Steelers Pro Shop at Shop dot Steelers dot com.
We will be back in the Locker Room presented by
your neighborhood Ford Store and the Steelers Pro Shop on
Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
This is in the locker Room with kingon Starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store. The
F one P fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at Shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
And we thank you very much for being with us
as we wind up this Monday edition in the locker room,
obviously looking back a little bit to the Steelers loss
on Thursday. We discussed that some on Friday. We're gonna
use it as a pivot point in which to get
ready for Sunday Nights game, which again, as you know,
does not figure to be easy for the Steelers. But
(18:15):
as we have found out this year, nothing's easy, right,
There are no easy games, and for the Steelers, really
really interesting schedule now with Cincinnati kind of being back
in it. You've got a stretch of games here Max
in which it's just going to be a dog fight
(18:36):
Green Bay, Indianapolis at home. Nobody saw that coming as
being a dogfight at La Cincinnati back at home at Chicago,
who has turned out to be formidable. They've won four
in a row, Buffalo and then Baltimore at Baltimore. That
takes us through the twelfth and that is a stretch
(18:57):
of seven games that is going to be difficult, to
say the least.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Yeah, especially when you probably looked at the beginning of
the season it said, nah, would be okay, Yeah, just
like no, you're not all it's not fine, and you
can't take any of these games on the schedule, for granted,
and we witnessed that, right, Obviously, we didn't know who
Seattle was going to be when we played them in
Week two, but they've proven to us that, Okay, we
(19:25):
lost to a good team, because that team is proving
to be good. Cincinnati has the makings of being good.
And you know from Minnesota derailed backup quarterback playing and
you win that game, you play three and a half
quarters of beautiful football, and you win that game in Ireland,
(19:46):
I would consider that one of the must wins of
the season, right just because of location, history and opportunity
right on a foreign market. You had to win that game.
The Patriots game the week before, we didn't really know
who the were, right, it's Mike Rabriel, Drake May.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
We don't really know who he is.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
They don't really have this compliment of receivers. It's uneasy.
But then we find out, no, this seems pretty good.
They just went they went into Buffalo and buffaloed Buffalo. Yep,
so proving their division leader right now, so you know
who they are now. Of course Cleveland with Dylan Gabriel,
you're wondering who they were, Well, they just gave it
(20:27):
to Miami at home, right yep. And inklet bit whether
they they literally beat the brakes off with them. I
was I was almost concerned that Mike McDaniels can get
left in Cleveland. Yeah, and he would probably end up
like driving to Pittsburgh to catch a flight home.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Because yeah, we're kind of waiting for this. We're kind
of waiting for that reporter, aren't we.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Yeah, we are, we are, And especially after what Tua
said the week before, right, yeah, you know about the
teammates and stuff and and then that whole aftermath. So
I mean, you're just kind of waiting for the shoe
to drop down in Miami. There will be a vacancy
at some point this year.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
And you're hoping. By the way, as we look at
the end of the season, Max, I just mentioned the
games through December seventh, but Miami's that one game. You'll
hope it. But who knows where they're gonna be. Who
knows if a duke coach comes in and now up
here Miami night game team, it doesn't do well in
cold weather traditionally Miami at Detroit at Cleveland Baltimore to
(21:26):
end up the season. So not exactly easy pas there either,
you know me, Just Deshaun Watson gonna be back for Cleveland.
Some rumblin's going on with that, man, It's just fun, Max,
It's you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
It's the NFL, right, Yeah, exactly, It's the NFL. So
that's why we can't take that for granted.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
We can't.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
You know, sometimes an interim coach, you know, comes in
and proves that. I mean, we watched with Steve Wilkes
right when they fired Matt Ruhle, and Carolina goes all
the way to the hilt try to make a playoff
push after they were abysmal almost the whole season, and
did it with and did it with Steve Wilkes, changing
the vibes. Now we went down there and we had
(22:06):
a masterful game against them. I think that was a
difference between them getting the playoffs and not. But that
was that was a way better team than we anticipated.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
So you can't take any of these for granted. These
guys are highly compensated, highly skilled, and the best the
best at what they do, right, you know, And I
think that's what you kind of have to understand that
week to week, you don't know, sometimes some teams just
match up better with you than others. And that's where
(22:35):
for the Steelers. You have to come in with your
head screwed on tight every single week. You can't take
a moment off. You can't say I've been doing this.
I can walk, I can sleep walk through it. No sleepwalking,
eyes wide open, full intent, full energy. As as Deadpool
would say from one of my Marvel comics, maximum effort
(22:56):
must be given at all time. That and you know
and and you know, you know, Jimmy Chonkins. But anyways,
that's what you have to that's what you have to
bring to every game. And I think this this season,
if of any season in recent memory, it is true
here because it's truly up for grabs for whoever wants
(23:18):
to take it. It's like money in the bank.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It's like you know, in wrestling they hang this briefcase
up there is money in the bank.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
You have the ladder and then you.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Throw this all you know, this all out brawl to
get to the bank. Well, the super Bowl Trophy is
hanging up there, and the money in the bank this
time around, and anybody can get it. And I think
that's where you have to realize. The parody is at
an all time high this season, except if you're the
new York Jets. Anyways, we won't talk about that. Yeah,
but for every other, let's say twenty eight out of
(23:47):
thirty two teams, it is it is a it is
a battle royale. It's a royal rumble to get to
the playoffs and then get to the super Bowl and
then win that super Bowl. It can be anybody's game.
Like you said, one through twenty is a toss up.
Just picked two teams.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
And you'll be all right.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Because the second you pick a number one team, that
number oneam feels like they're going to lose. It's like
almost like like you put like like you just put
an X on their back, right, and they become the target.
And literally the very next week they fall. I mean
the Eagles. Look at the Eagles where they're at. Look
at where the Buffalo Bills were. We tried to put
them up. Look at where the Detroit Lions. What happened
to them when we tried to put them up there? Right,
they all came tumbling down. In fact, Buffalo had had
(24:26):
probably the well, no, I take that back, the Patriot No, No,
the Chiefs had the worst fall, right, they went from
five to fifteen. Yeah, Buffalo, even though they had back
to back losses didn't take that big of a tumble.
But now you look at the Chiefs that could you
not put them in the top five, Absolutely not, especially
(24:48):
after what they did Sunday. And this is a team
that's fighting that just got above five hundred literally yesterday.
So that just goes to show you that you can't
take any Instagram and when teams figure it out, hold
on to your butts in those moments. And I think
that's what this league offers. But when you do have
(25:08):
a lead, you you can't give it up. Look at
the LA Chargers, right, they're reeling. They went three and
oh and they were three and oh in the division
at the same time. Yep, that's like, oh crap, they're
they're they're about to march into this. Oh my god,
look what look what Harball's done. And now we say,
we'll look what Harball's done of voice.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. That's that's why I don't
like texting. What is that? What's the inflection in that text?
I don't know. I can't exact out.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Why'd you put an excavation point? Why are you yelling
at me? Right right?
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I all caps? I just want to talk to somebody
on the phone. So the uh so, So the Bears
just mentioned that because they've got students, have to still
play them, and we're going to find out a little
bit more about them in the next two weeks. They've
won four in a row. They're at Baltimore at Cincinnati.
Gigantic game for Baltimore. You know, if you lose this game,
(26:04):
I still think Baltimore's got a puncher's chance to get
back in this thing as far as an AFC playoff picture.
And if you lose that game, I don't see one
in six. I mean, you gotta go what you're nine
and won the rest of the way. I just I
don't see that happening.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
And you still don't know when you're gonna get Lamar back?
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Right, Well, are they gonna get him back for this game?
Well we'll find out, right, Well no, later, Yeah, how about.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Saying we will find out? I haven't.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
We will find out. We'll find out later because they're
at Baltimore at Sincy, and of course the Steelers playing,
so they're gonna have a They're gonna have a lot
to say about the AFC North Race. That's why we
wanted to mention them. The Browns hammering the Dolphins. You know,
we talked about this in the week leading up to
the Browns. Uh. You can see some of the pieces
(26:53):
starting to fall in place for that team. Uh, it
looks like they've got a plan.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
You know, Dylan Gabriel is gonna be a huge part
of I mean, if Dylan Gabriel is not the guy,
then they gotta worry about Deshaun Watson. Right, do you
come back to give him another chance? You have to
worry about that anyway. And then, but if you thought
you could get by with Gabriel, you could use all
those draft choices. You have to shore up what is
(27:21):
gonna be your biggest weakness in the offseason, and that's
your offensive line. Keep in mind, you don't have much
cap space. You got a couple of good tight ends.
Looks like you found your running back. You have depth
at running back. You're gonna need another receiver probably, and
you're gonna need your offensive line. That defense is in
pretty good shape, man. And they just hammered the Dolphins
thirty one to six. The Patriots, you mentioned them five
(27:45):
and two. They took care of business against the Titans.
You know, again, if you identify bad teams in the NFL,
New Orleans isn't a good team. The Dolphins aren't a
good team. The Titans aren't a good team. We mentioned
Denver a thehead of this New England's won four in
a row. Man, and Denver's won four in a row.
And I don't know what that means right now other
(28:05):
than the fact that they've won four in a row
and they're at the very least two pretty good football teams.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Yeah, I mean, like I said, you know, you got
some division leaders in there, and it's not going to
be easy. And like you said, the Bears team that
we thought was a laughing stock last year and even
at the beginning of this year giving away a victory,
you know that was seemingly theirs to the Vikings and
JJ McCarthy. You thought, oh man, here's the Bears again.
(28:34):
But now they're charging. So that's a team you can't take.
You can't take for granted. That's the week before Thanksgiving,
right where that game comes down. So in Chicago, you've
got yeah, in Chicago, you you know that weather is formidable.
We aren't great in Chicago. I remember when we went
to Chicago and you know, they're kicking up dirt, you know,
(28:54):
in pregame because they had repatched it at the last second.
So there's just a lot of stuff that you had
that you can't control. But you can only control your effort,
your attitude, and your execution. That's it. So that's what
you have to focus on at all times, is those
three tenants are what are what's going to determine if
you're a winner or a loser in this league. And
(29:17):
like you said, it's wide open. There are opportunities for
everybody as long as they take advantage of those opportunities.
And you know, if you're the Steelers, come on, man,
we got an opportunity to kill down our division lead,
no doubt.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
At the Chiefs. Yeah, look, we talked about that earlier
with Max Max at the call of that game national Radio,
and he's made mention of it. The Chiefs took like
a powerhouse again. They just pummeled the Raiders thirty one
to nothing. I know it's not a very good Raiders team,
but they just they pound and they had some injuries,
but they pounded them. Other AFC games, the Panthers over
(29:54):
the Jets thirteen to six. Poor New York just can't
seem to find a way game Justice Fields win a game.
Just the Fields got benched that one and then the
last game I really wanted to talk about. I saved
this started with Denver for a reason, and saved this
one for a reason. The Colts over the Chargers thirty
eight to twenty four, and it was never a game
(30:16):
Max they pounded him. I would have loved to have
seen the game. It was a game I was extremely
interested in. We didn't have it here in Pittsburgh. The
Colts suddenly looked really good. And you know, again it's
a Chargers team that looked like world beaters earlier in
the season. I think, you know it's still at this point,
(30:37):
they're still a first place team, right, you have to
consider them a quality team. You have to. And for
everybody that said, you know, who's Indianapolis beaten? Rightly, so
people were saying that about the Steelers, Right, who have
you beaten? Well, that went over New England looks a
lot better. You know, you beat a three and three
Minnesota team. You look at this Colts and you're like, well,
(30:57):
they beat Miami, but then they beat Denver in a miracle.
They beat a bad Tennessee team. They lost to the Rams,
who that that certainly doesn't look like any disgrace right
in LA. You know, in a game in which you
know the Rams, you're up twenty to thirteen with less
(31:17):
than nine minutes left in the fourth. The Rams needed
to score two touchdowns in the last three minutes and
twenty seconds to beat you. So all of a sudden,
you're like, well, that's I think more than their wins
that got people's attention. Now, the Denver win was fun,
it was exciting. Then you beat a bad Tennessee team.
I think that loss may have garnered them some respect
(31:39):
because everybody knows that the Rams are a pretty good team.
Then you just hand it to Vegas forty to six.
You beat Arizona thirty one to twenty seven, another one
that Arizona kind of kind of kicked away, and you're thinking, Okay,
what have we got here? What are you? You know,
where can you hang your hat on? Which one of
(32:01):
those wins? And then they just destroyed the Chargers in
LA just never a game. And I think that even
if you were the sternest critic of this team, you
have to look at them and say they're pretty good.
They're a good team. The Cults are maybe more than
pretty good, maybe really good. And you know, we shouldn't
(32:23):
be shocked. They were eight and nine a year ago
and now they're getting better quarterback play. And that's the
NFL for you.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
It is and that's why any given Sunday, anybody can
beat you. And I think that's where you have to
understand that, hey, this is not going to be easy.
This is what the league is made of. It's made
of teams that can beat you if you take them lightly.
If you take them lightly, it is going to be
(32:53):
a rough day in the office. And if you can
keep your head about you, you know.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
And allow for.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Yourself to say, hey, we're okay, we're not great yet,
but we're on the way to it, and keep that
that humility right, keep that humbleness of mind. You can
achieve a lot of success. You can achieve a lot
of good A lot of good things can happen if
you could keep your head about you. But that's tough
to do, right. See press clippings, you see you see
(33:25):
what everybody else is saying about you, and you want
you want you want to read it. You you want
to you want to sniff the roses you wanna, you
want to say, hey, look at me, pound the chest right,
you know, well, King Kong action. But this league also
has a way of humbling you when you do. So,
make sure if you are going to read those press copies,
(33:45):
if you are going to, you know, smell yourself a
little bit, make sure you understand that you washed properly
before you do that.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Uh. Good advice, sanitation advice, and that's probably widely a
likable member of folks. If you take nothing else from
this show, wash yourself, please.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Yes, yes, So if you're gonna smell yourself, wash yourself first.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Now, it's been thus far, in my opinion, in the
games that I was watching and I was super looking
forward to, it has been something of a disappointing NFL weekend. Actually, frankly,
the disappointment began on Thursday night. I gotta be honest,
heck of a football game. Disappointing conclusion, disappointing bunch of
games for me personally. On Sunday, they didn't live up
(34:30):
to my hype. But we got a chance to bail
the whole weekend out tonight and I cannot wait. And
we will talk about that when we conclude this show
in the Locker Room presented by our neighborhood Ford Store
and this Steeler's Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a
part of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
This is in the Locker Room with Kingon Starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store. The
F one 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 (35:18):
We're waiting, don't we have something that needs to happen here,
justin Max somebody so I will handle the honors this time.
(35:39):
It's not as good coming for me as it is
for Max. But it is time for the Bell Lap,
And as Max likes to say, this is your early
warning system to get yourself ready for some lunch which
is coming up the lunch hour in seven minutes. So
get yourself mentally prepared for a physical beatdown of your
(36:02):
inerts with a good, solid, powerful lunch to get you
carried through the rest of the day. That is the
bell Lap lunch coming up soon. Enjoy your lunch, anybody, remember,
sit down right, don't hurry through your lunch. Here in
this country, we like to like to make it a
you know, sort of a show of pride that you
(36:23):
eat your breakfast on the go and you eat your
lunch at your desk. I guess that's sometimes unavoidable. But
if you can avoid it, enjoy your lunch, enjoy your meal,
your repast. Uh So that's it. Actually anything to add
to that. Uh No, I don't like it when I
tell the belt left. Let's never have that again. I
(36:45):
don't make me laugh.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
You try, you gotta, you gotta try it out.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
Yeah, try this is this is a team show.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah, you're a team show. So all right, we've established
that I am now I am officially the bell lap guy.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
Yep. We gave a shot. It didn't work. I could
just I don't need the reviews. I don't need to
I don't need to read the equipment.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Do well with optimists though. At the top of the
power out.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
No, no, no, that's you. I can't even get his
name right, that's all. That's all you. We gotta it's
got to be you, So Max, we have we have
a chance to bail out for me. I was a
little disappointed about this week int of football. I was.
I was hoping for more. I was expecting more. I
didn't get more tonight. I am expecting two phenomenal games.
(37:31):
Bucks at the Lions. Now the bucks Is are there
number one and everybody's power rankings this past week. Now
they go to Detroit. Detroit had been number one on
power rankings. That's a tremendous matchup. And then the Texans
at the Seahawks. Man, you can you better believe I'm
watching both tonight. The Texans are. They are trying to
(37:55):
clamber back to respectability after an atrocious start to their season.
They're game below five hundred, but I still think they
are a team that can factor into the AFC. They're
they're certainly closer to doing that than another team. I
feel that way. Baltimore. They're not one and five, they're
two and three. They're right there. I cannot wait for
(38:17):
both these matchups tonight.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Now they're both gonna be good. I'll be covering both
of them tonight on the post game, so I'll be
watching intently. So I'm really excited about this. I mean,
you know, you look at what this Detroit team is, right,
he had a and hutcheson back your defense seems to
be clicking. Jarrett Goff's Jarrett Golf right, But you got
(38:40):
I'm and Ross Saint Brown. You have some great pieces there,
Jamier Gibbs, Dave Montgomery, Sam Laporta. You got a lot
of offensive firepower.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Can the defense step up for the challenge? Is gonna
be it as they continue their quest, That's gonna be
the big question. Tampa Bay red hot, even though they've
they have injuries galore on that roster. But when you
have Baker Mayfield, I guess you have to say you
have a chance. He's tough as nails. He knows how
to find you know, his receivers, even when you didn't
have Mike Evans. Right, you know, Tess Johnson comes to
(39:10):
play a really stout defense, a really good run game,
and it's gonna it's gonna be a heavyweight fight tonight,
and I'm excited about it.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
And then look ahead, yeah, and then yeah the other
one in.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
The next one. See, they hung forty four on the
on the Ravens at home. Some of the Ravens do
not do prideful team, especially at home. And you beat
the brakes off of them. So there there's something to say,
and like you said, two and three puts you back
in the mix, especially with the Steelers the way that
they fell. Now you're gonna have to claw your way
into your division, you know, because Indianapolis has set themselves
(39:45):
with a nice cushion, but that by no means is
a solid division in and of itself. Jacksonville just fell
and got embarrassed. So THEFC South is still a winnable
division for them. And they have a really good defense,
like they are really good. It's an offense that's been
the issue. They've had some misfires, but best believe they are.
(40:06):
They're looking at this as a prime opportunity to kind
of get some foothold back, And I think that's how
you have to approach this, like, hey, no, there's no
gimmeis we didn't know nobody has won divisions in October.
I hate to tell you that in the history of
the NFL, nobody's coming and said, you know what divisions
wrapped up so you could just go ahead and hang
(40:27):
up your season. Not at all. It's going to be
a really solid matchup. And I can't wait really for
how you know football is going to unfold? Because I
think this could potentially change the outcub you know of
how we look at teams, because Seattle has been on
a tear and they've been a solid team at four
(40:49):
and two. So you have two really good matchups against
two really good teams. You know, ken thea Houston defense
defeat the Seattle offense, the one that we saw firsthand
uphand in per up close and personal in Afrosure Stadium.
Can Houston take that on the road and go into
Seattle and do that? So I'm looking forward to both
of these.
Speaker 3 (41:08):
Yeah, give give Houston a desperation factor maybe, but give
Seattle home field advantage. And it's not like Seattle can
afford to stumble, right, I mean, you know, you're looking
at a division in which San Francisco's five and two,
the Rams are five and two. You want to keep pace.
I can't wait. It's gonna be so exciting, Max, my friend,
(41:31):
enjoy your postgame show activities tonight. Look forward to talking
to you tomorrow when Alvaro Martin will join us. Bob
Labriola will join us as well. That's coming up tomorrow
for Justin.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Miller West conference tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
What's that press conference tomorrow after our show? Yeah, it'd
be interesting to see you know, Calvin Austin I think
is the loan sort of injured guy out there right
what what will his status be? So anyway, Yeah, lots
of the exciting day coming up tomorrow. Thanks to Justin Miller,
our producer. Thanks to Max Starks, I'm Rob King. We
(42:04):
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