HR2: Bengals Preview

The guys continue to preview the second divisional game for the Steelers in less than a week span and chat with Jim Wexell.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio. Presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Oh, guess what day it is? Guess what day it is? Eh? Anybody?

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Julie, Hey, guess what day it is? Come on, I
know you can hear me. Mike, Mike, Mike, what day
is it?

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Mike Leslie? Guess what today is?

Speaker 3 (00:40):
What's hump Day?

Speaker 2 (00:44):
And it is hump Day? That means hump Day headlines
with Wexel, presented by our neighborhood Ford Store. The F
one fifty is the official truck of Pittsburgh Steelers. We
are also entering Justin Miller the Power Hour. Do we
have Optimists Prime ready? Justin? Here we go? So, in

(01:08):
all fairness to Justin. Uh, that is a task usually
left for Max Starks, who does that? I think every time, guys,
and we have Wes Euler filling in for Max. Every
time Max does the bell lap, It's made me laugh.
So I'm guaranteed if at least one laugh a day
Monday through Friday at roughly eleven fifty because he just

(01:31):
does with such relish. It cracks me up. Anyway, Jim
Wexle's here, Hi wex How are you, Hikinger?

Speaker 4 (01:40):
I'm not good?

Speaker 2 (01:41):
What but.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
My daughter got married this weekend? Okay, I walked down
the aisle.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
That's good. I saw the pictures. Oh man, come on.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
Yeah, how coming?

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Did and like them? Did you check to see all
the people who liked him?

Speaker 3 (02:00):
I like, what the matter with you?

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (02:03):
What?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
You?

Speaker 4 (02:04):
As always? I was looking for Rob King.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
I need to be better on social media. It is.
It's seventy second on my list of goals to improve myself.
So once I get to the verse seventy one, I
will get to that.

Speaker 4 (02:20):
Is it like when you look at you're right?

Speaker 2 (02:23):
You're right? You know what? You know? I have told
this to people before. I don't know if I've ever
said of this on the air. Just to give you
an indication of where I stand with technology, which by
the way, constitutes eighty five percent of my foul language
fourteen I know, ten percent on the golf course, five

(02:44):
percent behind the wheel of the car. That's pretty much it.
That's my profanity quotient for the day. My favorite one
of my favorite movies, not my favorite. One of my
favorite movies is The Original Terminator, which is kind of
an anti technology or a technological warning UH movie, And
that's kind of where I am with technology. But you're right,
as long as I'm on Facebook, I can go ahead

(03:06):
and hit that thumbs up, and I will do that.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
But that's not the reason I'm feeling bad. I mean,
I'm feeling bad about that, but I'm feeling terrible because
I have shingles.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Oh my goodness, No, I've heard that. Unbelievable.

Speaker 4 (03:21):
You know, I've been putting off getting that vaccine. But
get your vaccine after you turn fifty, get that vaccine.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
I'm pretty sure this. Yeah, I think I got it.
I've heard it's you better make sure.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
Man.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
It is just not a good place to be.

Speaker 4 (03:36):
It's it's on my head and neck and face. And
I walked my You saw the pictures. You saw that.
I was looked okay. Then next day it started, and
you know, I'm a I'm housebound. I've been writing with
the help of you know, Teresa and uh and company
at Steers dot com. They've been helping me get the information.

(03:58):
I've been writing up my stuff for steeers dot com.
But yeah, so anyway, uh yeah, don't mess her out
with this stuff.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
You know. I'm just scrolling through Facebook, and uh I
noticed that I've I've liked several pictures of your wedding.
They're fantastic. He's rattled.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
He's rattled by this.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Congratulations man, that that's awesome. Dude, that's that's so great you.
I'm sure your daughter. I have not met her. I
looked forward to meeting her. Looks like a lovely young lady.
So congratulations.

Speaker 4 (04:35):
So well, and you know she's she is lovely. But
she really put together an event, man, I mean all
the minor details, and she kept her civility. Oh geez. Anyway,
I nailed the speech to brother.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Oh I had a boy.

Speaker 4 (04:49):
Yeah, I did mention you and Wess so uh yeah,
everybody liked it.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Man.

Speaker 3 (04:58):
That that's you get around that. I tell you get
a standing ovation right there.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
I gotta tell you that that that's affecting your nose
because it's growing like Pinocchio.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
That shingles well, so everything else is growing on my face.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that that is, that's miserable.
So WEX. Yeahs as long as we have headlines with WEX.
So what would your headline be for the Steelers right
now heading into this game on Thursday?

Speaker 4 (05:26):
Uh? Well, you know it's the forty year old old man.
He's a lot like you. Is was my headline the
other day, taken from the Neil Young song. So uh
from hart I great song?

Speaker 2 (05:43):
Go ahead? Sorry?

Speaker 4 (05:44):
Yeah, yeah, you know James Taylor played banjo on that song.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
I did not know that.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
Oh that's great information. Wes Ulers old buddy, his rollerblading buddy,
James Taylor. That's another story, my guy. That is another
story and a true story. But anyway, so the old
man bull yep, are we going to get there? We're
getting there. Let's get there. Oh sorry, I'll stop interrupting.
Take it away, WEX.

Speaker 4 (06:10):
Uh. You know you could do something with the secondary
because this secondary was built for the Bengals. Yeah, we
built this secondary on Cincinnati or something like that. So
I kind of understand. H Tomlin's discussed to Cleveland Brown
for handing over a quarterback and people keep saying it

(06:32):
was for a mid round pick. Why not for a
mid round pick. It was a swap of late day
three picks. It was just a move up into the
fifth round for your starting quarterback. So I was watching
I was watching a Cleveland podcast and they were talking
about that, and the one guy made a great case

(06:56):
and the others believed it that Tomlin, who ever calls
out other people like that, he called out the Cleveland
GM by name, and he I don't I don't know
if he never does that. But they were saying that
I can't recall an example. I know he's been upset
over the eighteen years, but they think that the Cleveland

(07:19):
GM was instructed to do it by his boss up above,
and that he thought it was stupid, and that Tom
Win's helping him by pointing out how stupid this was.
And what now the GM could just look at his
boss and say, see, I told you, I told you
not to do this deal. So anyway that I thought

(07:42):
that was interesting. Uh So anyway this, Uh you know,
Flacco looked good last week. His his stats are hideous.
He's having a horrible year on paper, but he looked
good last week. If you watch that Packers game, they
were in it all the way. Yeah, yep, that's the
only hope they have. And I tell you, I know

(08:05):
they have their troubles on the road with division games,
usually because they're after a Ravens game, maybe a Sunday
night Ravens game, things like that. This was a rival
they played in Cleveland against Cleveland, but you know, you
saw TJ and Cam standing on the sideline smiling for

(08:28):
most of the fourth quarter. They took off, so they
looked ahead and they were able to get away with
looking ahead usually a no no, but this then they
were coming off a buye too, so they should be
much in a much better place emotionally for this Thursday
night road game than they usually are. And I like

(08:51):
the fact that Tom I was taking shots in favor
of Joe Flacco not only to you know, play up
but their ego a little bit make them feel better,
not so much adrenaline and hate, but also to pump
up the Steelers. This is a real team, This is

(09:11):
a real quarterback. You know, don't take this team lightly.
This isn't Jake Browning and these receivers. We've brought you
in for this and now we're finally healthy. They had
one game with their secondary finally played like the secondary
you and I Rob have been expecting. They allowed seven
point six yards per completion before that, the first four

(09:35):
games was eleven point eight. That wasn't the secondary I
was expecting. Of course, they were dealing with injuries, but
now they're not only healthy, but they've played one game
together and these are the guys that they were brought
in to face. So I just have a good feeling
about the Steelers. I know they played poorly on Thursday

(09:56):
night on the road, but I think that's going to
factor in as well. I think they're going to be
tired of losing. This Thursday night came.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Well.

Speaker 5 (10:06):
You know, WEX it's kind of a tale of two
different stories in that regard. We are aware of the
struggles you know, from Mike Tomlin, particularly on these Thursday
road games, particularly within the AFC North. It's a different
story for Aaron Rodgers. He's thirteen and six in his
career on these Thursday night Ers. He's nine and one

(10:28):
against division opponents on Thursday nights, and I've got to
think WEX that there is there's a real correlation between
how savvy Aaron Rodgers' game brain is at the line
of scrimmage, what he can do to diagnose and to
affect the defense. When you have that advantage with a
guy like him on a short week, when there's less practice,

(10:51):
less preparation than ever before, this feels like the kind
of perfect time for me to bust that slump. With
Aaron Rodgers under center.

Speaker 4 (11:02):
Yeah, the problem and I do it too. I use
Aaron Rodgers' stats to back up something I want to
be true. I mean, he's had he's had just such
a brilliant career. All his stats are positive, right, I
know he's playing well, He's not that guy. I mean
we saw his deep ball isn't what it used to be.

(11:26):
But I mean he's still showing a lot of arm
and that's savvy at the line, and that's gonna hurt
the Bengals, Yes, absolutely less. You know the Bengals are
worse stopping to run than than well, the Steelers have
made amends last two weeks, but these statistics, the Steelers
are a better running team and a better run defense.

(11:49):
So they've got the line of scrimmage and they've got
the quarterback to decide what he wants to do and
where he wants to go, and he's getting more. They're
getting more cohesive, and he's getting more of a grasp
of it all and they're going to start adding more
things in. It's it's really fun to watch. I'm enjoying
this team immntally and I and he doesn't want to

(12:12):
be my friend, he doesn't want to be any media
guy's friend, and he's not playing up to us at
all in any way. But I love hearing him talk.
I really do. I mean, it's it's always a shaky
interview and you you try to get fun with him,
and he'll just say, I'm not telling you that. But

(12:32):
he tells a lot of things and then he goes
away and he doesn't want to talk to us until
his next week's meeting or after the game. But I
just really like listening to him. He says he have
so much wisdom and he's using all of his wisdom
in team building to put this team together. And Mike

(12:56):
Tomlin has given him the space and the parameters to
take over pretty much the locker room. You know. Tom
and of course still has a lot of say and
pull in that regard, but he's let Aaron have at it,
do this, do that, do whatever you need, and he's
doing it. And man, it's the team is really responding

(13:20):
to him. It's really fascinating to watch.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
Agreed, and I love watching him play. You know, we
almost in another show we were talking about, you know,
the out to Darnell Washington moving left to right in
which he overshot him, and that that deep ball which
he underthrew. Now again, a couple of weeks ago, he
threw a ball I won't see a better throw all year.

(13:46):
It was on a penalty, moving to his right, sixty
yards in the air, right on the money, falling down
as he threw it to Pat Fryar, and if Pat
didn't hang on, Pat was covered on the play could
only be in one place. Was an incredible throw, which
nobody will ever see because it wasn't a reception. You know,
so I think he still has enough arm strength. He

(14:09):
really underthrew DK. But it reminds me of some of
the great athletes that I've covered, where you know, the
greatness is almost you almost begin to take it for granted,
like you know, yeah, I know Sid had a goal
and to assist, but you know he lost that meaningless
face off in the second period. Come on, man, seriously,

(14:31):
you know, I mean, let's get real here. A guy's
playing great football, but.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
Walk that guy in the f Yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
I mean, we're not used to seeing Paul Skens walk
two guys in a game. He went six shutout, but
he had those two walks. Yeah. I mean, so there's
a little bit of that. But and I totally fully
agree with what you're saying. But I think it's an
interesting and we'll see how it goes. Jim. As we know,
you lose a couple of games and all of a sudden,

(14:58):
the narrative is completely different. Right, That's just the way
it goes, and it's the way it would go here.
But they've brought in over the last couple of years
and a lot of guys who've won Super Bowls, and
they might not be Aaron Rodgers front and center, but
mixed with veteran guys who are hungry to win. Cam Hayward, TJ. Watt.

(15:24):
I think that when you have a team it's this deep,
and maybe guys aren't playing as much as they have
in previous years or as much as they think they're
going to play in future years. I think that that
veteran leadership, you know, pervasive throughout the team and that
we got to pull together in one direction mentality, and
it's not just having won Super Bowls. It's guys, veteran

(15:46):
guys with the right mentality, the win first mentality. I
think those are all positives pushing this team forward because
you just have to look around other rosters in the
NFL and guys complaining about not getting the ball enough
or not be utilize correctly. That's not happening.

Speaker 4 (16:02):
Here, right. You know, just take Dk Metcalf for instance.
He's been known as a complainer, but he complains not
about getting the ball, but about other people not being
on their details. He's adamant about that stuff and so

(16:23):
coming to play with Aaron Rodgers, it's just perfect for him.
So whereas George Pickens would be complaining about not getting
the ball and slamming his helmet even with a lead
on the sidelines. So I agree with all of that.
And you know, I've talked to guys over the years
and they would say, we have the perfect blend old,

(16:44):
intermediate and young, and I think this team has that.
You look at a guy like Derek Harmon, and then
you look at an intermediate guy like Deshaun Elliott or
Patrick Queen, and then you look at the old guys
Aaron Rodgers and Cam Hayward. They're not just old and
hanging on. They're old and thriving as leaders physically, not

(17:04):
just emotionally. I like the comment from Tara Austin yesterday
about Patrick Queen when he said he's placed so hard
and so violently, and it's just coming because now he's
getting familiar with the green dot and calling the play.
And when you have that guy playing as hard in

(17:26):
practice and in games as he does, it's like a
quarterback because he's the green dot guy. So when he's
doing it, it means a little more that your quarterback
or inside linebacker is performing that way, even though he's
regarded by the coach as liaison. So I like the element,

(17:50):
and you know, they're still underrated and people are still
looking at him as you know, fraudulent to a degree,
and that's fine. I like the talent, I like the camaraderie.
I like all of it. And it's fun to watch
because nobody believes in him, really and Rogers still has it.

(18:15):
You know, you saw that scramble run he made that
didn't look like an old man running down the field.
So yeah, yeah, a lot to like about this team.
Very exciting, very exciting. So Thursday night, and I like
what Rogers was saying about getting prepared for Thursday and

(18:38):
how difficult it is. But you have to realize you're
going to get a few days off. There is a
reward lets you get through this, and so yeah, it's exciting.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
He is Jim Wexel visiting us in the locker room. Jim,
feel better, man, feel better.

Speaker 4 (18:58):
And you know it kind of a year. There are
so many good things happening, and so I feel like, well,
you got to pay a price somewhere, So I'll pay
the price. I'll sit on the couch and talk on
the phone and right from my computer. If I have
to take the week off, and this Thursday night game
makes us easier, I won't be going to Cincinnati, but

(19:18):
I'll have the weekend off.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
So you're a good man, great attitude.

Speaker 4 (19:23):
Erroll pointing out man.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yeah, still good, good deal, my friend. Thank you very much,
really appreciate it. Into a hump day headlines with Wexel.
Want to remind you before we had to break to
gear up for the latest game day necessities at the
official Students Pro shops. Get the latest Sideline apparel Jerseys,
Terrible towels, authentic memorabilia and custom exclusives you can only

(19:45):
find directly from the team. Visit one of the official
Students Pro shops located at Akroscher Stadium, Grove City Premium
Outlets or Tanger out Let's, or gear up online at
shop dot Steelers dot com. Get it direct from the
team at to see this pro shop at shop dot
Steelers dot com. We're in the locker room Wes Euler
filling in for Max Starks. It is presented by our

(20:05):
neighborhood Ford Store in the Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers
Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
Okay, thank you very much for being with us in
the locker room and it is time to get Wes.
We have to go around the AFC. That's tomorrow. I'm sorry.
What we need to do now is we need to
get into these power ranks. That's what I want to do.
Are you ready? You're ready to play the power? I am?

Speaker 3 (20:55):
I am ready.

Speaker 5 (20:55):
Kinger there, king Er, there is no tomorrow, baby, Tomorrow's
game day, so you gotta leave it all out there
this morning.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
Come on now, I.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
Think we'll preview the AFC. We'll we'll make sure that
we get that sponsorship in there today. So, uh, we're
gonna go NFL dot Com Top three teams Tampa Bay, Detroit, Seattle. Okay,
Tampa Bay, Detroit.

Speaker 5 (21:20):
Tampa Bay, Detroit, Seattle, Tampa Bay or what are you
asking me for my opinion on this?

Speaker 2 (21:26):
Are you just I'm gonna tell you this is where.
This is where these guys stand. ESPN Tampa Bay, Detroit, Buffalo,
which keep in mind, they were, like I think they
were fifteenth according to the athletic. Uh, but I should
probably check that, double check that. Okay, So I think
we I think as we take the snapshot in time

(21:48):
right now, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Seattle, Seattle.
Too high? Is Buffalo too high? I'm gonna go ahead
and assume that the other words are too high.

Speaker 3 (22:02):
The other ones are not too high. Certainly.

Speaker 5 (22:04):
So this is one of those weird kinger You know, again,
when you do power rankings, like you kind of have
to be hyperbolic, you know, like you kind of have
to be living in the moment of right now Wednesday,
October fifteenth, not how good you think a team is
in the big picture, but how they are playing right
this moment. I still think Buffalo should be in the

(22:25):
top ten, but they have lost two games in a row.
I think Seattle is one of the more underrated teams
in the NFL. They are four and two. You know,
the record doesn't blow you away. You like them to
be at five and one at the same time, though
they lost a close one in Week one to San Francisco,

(22:45):
like they've they've had good quality losses, and they go
across the country and beat a Jacksonville team that was
four and one there in Florida. So yeah, I don't
think I have a problem with I don't know. Buffalo's
a very interesting one to me right now, because I
still think that's a good team, but I do not
think that they are playing well right now, certainly over
their last two performances. But I got less of an

(23:09):
issue with Seattle after again going, you know, one of
the furthest road trips you can make in this league
from Seattle to Jacksonville for a one o'clock East Coast
time game. And Seattle goes in there and takes care's
care of business, keeps Jacksonville out of the end zone
after Jacksonville had just had a huge Monday night win
against Kansas City.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
So I think I'm good with that. I'm talking myself
into it.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
I'm good, okay, because I think we saw with Kansas
City that, you know, a good team that is dormant
is still a good team. And how do you factor
that in a lot of the rankings in college football
are what do we think the team is gonna be,
not what are they now? So there, it's never a

(23:50):
linear process. It's never a complete snapshot in time. So okay,
let's go back to NFL dot Com. So once again,
we'll give you the top three from NFL dot Com.
So there's no concerns. Tampa Bay one, Detroit two, Seattle three,
Buffalo four, Green Bay five, Philadelphia six. Okay. Yeah, now

(24:18):
let's go over to this at NFL dot com. You said,
at NFL dot com, where they have Tampa Bay Detroit, Buffalo,
the Colts at four, the Eagles at five, Green Bay
at six, no sign of Seattle yet interesting and the
other At this point, I'm like, I'm putting Seattle ahead
of Philly at this point.

Speaker 5 (24:38):
You know, Philly has lost two in a row, and
one of them and hey, we're talking about Thursday night
road division games. Crazy things can happen. But you know, uh,
the Broncos loss at home. Okay, you can excuse that
to the Eagles, but going to MetLife and you know,
not even really being competitive against the Giants, Philly to
me would be closer to the probably seven eight nine

(24:59):
range at this point.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Okay, So we have not yet seen the Colts on
NFL dot Com, but we're about to. So they have
Rams Colts chiefs at number nine, Rams Colts Chiefs. We
have Rams Seahawks chiefs on the other side. So if

(25:23):
I'm not mistaken, and it's very possible i am, the
first nine teams are all the same, but in slightly
different orders.

Speaker 5 (25:33):
Yes, and I do think again we can kind of grovel.
Are the Rams a little a spot or too high
at seven? Are the Colts a spot or too low
at eight? Kansas City? You know, I know, they just
beat Detroit, but they're still three and three. Are they
getting a little bit of the bigger picture benefit.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
Of the doubt?

Speaker 3 (25:51):
But I think that that's about right. Honestly.

Speaker 5 (25:54):
Again, I might move a team one spot this way,
two spots that way, but in general, I think those
are the right teams.

Speaker 2 (26:03):
So remind me to make a sort of a generalization
when we're finished here, because I may forget because we'll
get all fired up here. I don't want to forget
to make a generalization about the state of the NFL
coming up in moments. So back to NFL dot com.
Ten eleven twelve, ten you're Pittsburgh Steelers. They were eleventh

(26:25):
in the athletic up two spots on NFL dot com.
They have moved up five spots. They weren't believers at
three and one. They had them at fifteenth, right smack
in the middle of the pack for the most part. Sixteenth,
I guess would technically be right in the middle of
the pack, but they have him moving up from fifteen
to ten. They are tenth, the Broncos eleventh, the Commander's

(26:49):
down three spots twelfth. Okay, on the other side, it's
the Broncos tenth, the forty nine Ers eleventh, down six
spots and then uh and you know, some some injuries.
So again, you know, I think that they're they're starting

(27:10):
to add up what they think the forty nine Ers
can be in this case as to as opposed to
what they are right now after the thirty to nineteen
loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and coming in at
number twelve, up one spot, your four and one Pittsburgh Steelers.

Speaker 5 (27:28):
So the Steelers are ten on NFL dot Com and
twelve on ESPN dot com.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
That is correct, and eleven on the Athletic.

Speaker 5 (27:38):
I think that's about the right right range. I think
I would lean closer to ten. Yeah, I got no
problem with that. I would lean closer to ten than twelve.
But I think that that's that that's the about range,
right range. You know, one that surprises me, Kinger is
NFL dot Com having the Commanders at twelve. I think
that's a little bit, you know, going off a preseason act.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
You know, Texas.

Speaker 5 (28:01):
Still being ranked, you know, despite having a ton of
bad losses and everything like that. In the collegiate polls.
You know, Oklahoma still being ranked despite losing to an
unranked Texas and seemingly having a lot of issues. The
Commanders were in the Final four last year. They made
the playoffs last year. I still think they've got a
great shot to make the playoffs again. But they're three

(28:24):
and three and just had a bad loss at home
to the Bears on Monday night. I mean, they fumbled
that game away. I realized the weather was pouring down
and all that, but they had to lead late. They
had the ball, they muffed an exchange between the quarterback
and the running back. Chicago recovered, Chicago went down the
field and won the game. Like I don't want to say,

(28:45):
I'm not saying the Commanders should be ranked nineteenth on
this list, but having them ahead of Jacksonville who's four
and two, and I realized that they just lost a
close one to Seattle, but they're four and two better
record than the Commanders. The Chargers four and two, who
just won a close one over Arizona. Like I, Washington
is a few spots again, not a massive I can't

(29:06):
believe this, but I think Washington is getting a little
bit of that too, much of that benefit of the
doubt of you were in the NFC Championship game last year.
Everyone loved Jayden and Daniels and what he was able
to do. But you know what, you're three and three
and you just had a really bad loss at home.
I think I would have the Jags and the Chargers
and probably the Patriots as well too at this point

(29:28):
over the Commanders.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
Yeah. So I think it's interesting because what you're describing
is a team that outplayed another pretty good team and
lost it because they fumbled the ball away. And then
you can say, well, you know, you know what I'm saying,
like beauty is in the hie of the beholder. So
what did you see to show a team that should
have won and ninety eight percent of the time would
have won, but they didn't win. Okay, So back to

(29:53):
NFL dot Com, we're toggling back and forth Jacksonville thirteen,
Chargers four seen forty nine, Ers fifteen. On the other
side with NFL dot Com, with the ESPN, it's the
Chargers thirteen. There's your Patriots at fourteen, the Jaguars at fifteen.
So here's what I'm gonna do. I am just simply

(30:15):
going to run through a number of these and make
this statement that I said I was gonna make By
the way, the forty nine Ers down two spots, so
backnfl dot Com sixteen the Patriots at four and two.
By the way, you'll notice no one loss teams behind
the Steelers and two and even three loss teams ahead
of the Steelers. That's okay. Again, how much of that

(30:37):
is a little bit of bias, which still okay? Now
now I'm taking it a one step back from my
one step back, still mystified by that, still mystified ten
and seven better team, A good draft class. You trade
for Metcalf, you improve across the board. You add three guys,

(30:58):
including your first round pick from last year, who basically
didn't even play into this mix in addition to the
veteran moves you made better at the quarterback position, and
nobody picking them to win the Super Bowl, nobody picking
them to win the division. I forget the Super Bowl.
I'm sorry I misspoke. Nobody picking him to win the division,
nobody picking even them to even make the playoffs, even

(31:18):
make the playoffs. And again I will apologize if I'm wrong, right,
if maybe everybody else is right, I just and I
think we're seeing this reflected in the rankings teams the
prognosticators out there really don't believe in the Steelers right now,
that's what we're seeing. Okay, So that's one step back.
Now I'm gonna get one step closer to what I
was gonna say, Patriots four and two at sixteen, Falcons

(31:42):
three and two, seventeen Bears three and two, eighteen, Vikings
three and two, nineteen. I'm gonna include the Texans because
and I'm not gonna include the Carolina because this is
my own bias. I still believe in the Texans. I
do not believing the Panthers, who are twenty one. So
I'm gonna make that cutoff spot at NFL dot Com. Okay,

(32:06):
then I'm gonna go back the other way.

Speaker 3 (32:07):
That's fair.

Speaker 2 (32:08):
Then we have the Falcon sixteen, commander's seventeen, Vikings, eighteen Bears, nineteen,
Texans twenty and they also have Carolina twenty one. So
I think there's a cutoff, and I think.

Speaker 5 (32:23):
See that's about that's about right for the commanders for
me right now.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
Okay, So, Wes, it is a season of parody that
I don't remember seeing in a while. It was a
long time since we reached the point of this season.
This early in which there is no unbeaten teams left.
You have to go back quite a while to find

(32:47):
the last time an unbeaten team had not carried further
into the season than it did this year. My own
opinion is that if you are any one of these
twenty teams, almost without exception, you are feeling great about
yourself and you could flip flop these teams. I mean,

(33:08):
we have so just again to recap. Moving up the
line here, you know the Bills, the Lions have lost
twice their second they're four and two. The Bills are
four and two. They're ahead of the five and one Cults.
I understand that the Eagles are four and two. These
are the teams that everybody was picking to win it all.
They've got two losses. You know, they're on pace to

(33:32):
go eleven and six. That's your super teams. We're not.
We're looking at like last year. You know, fifteen and
two type of teams, the Package and sixty three to
one and one. You know the Rams, the Seahawks, the
Chiefs are three and three. I think zero through one

(33:52):
through where there's no zero one through twenty. You could
throw a blanket over him and you could make a
strong case, and I'm throwing the Texans in there. You
can't really with the Texans, but I think there, I think,
you know, there's still a threat to win that conference
or they win that that division, and I still think
they're a good team. I don't remember seeing this kind

(34:15):
of parody in the NFL.

Speaker 4 (34:17):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
You know, I don't want to be too hyperbolic, but
maybe ever like this is just I don't know you that.

Speaker 5 (34:27):
I completely agree with you on that, Kinger. And to
pull in another college football analogy for you, like a
lot of times you hear you'll have you know, you'll
have one SEC team, right, You'll have like Georgia or
Texas or Alabama who is eleven and one or twelve
and zero and clearly like the best team in the country.

(34:47):
But then you'll have a lot of other two loss,
three loss SEC teams. And there's one side of the
aisle that's telling you, ah, those teams are all great,
they just beat up on each other. And there's the
other side of the aisle telling you know, they're all
slightly overrated. They're good, but they're a little overrated. They're
not truly great, and that's why they all have a
couple losses. I think that's kind of how it is

(35:09):
at like the top of the NFL pyramid right now.
You could look at it and you could say, yeah,
the Lions are four and two, but look at who
their losses are too.

Speaker 3 (35:16):
They lost to the Chiefs and the Packers, great teams.
You know, Seattle.

Speaker 5 (35:21):
They're four and two, but they lost to two great teams,
you know, the Buccaneers and the Niners.

Speaker 3 (35:26):
You know, look at the Buffalo Bills.

Speaker 5 (35:28):
They're four and two, but man, the Falcons are playing
well and b Jean Robinson's the best player in football,
and they lost a tough one doing a division opponent,
the New England Patriots, who have a great quarterback.

Speaker 3 (35:40):
Like I am leaning.

Speaker 5 (35:42):
Towards the side of there's a lot of good teams,
but no great one at this moment. Maybe Tampa Bay
would be the exception. But even despite being five and one,
they are really banged up. They are down some key players,
and it's a testament to them that they've kept winning.
But I you know, I don't think we are giving
them as much credit as we would if they were

(36:02):
five and one and healthier and we thought, wow, really
this is is sustainable it to me right now, there's
some you know, you're you're looking like the SEC, you know,
minus a great Georgia team or a great Texas or
Alabama team, and you're like, yeah, hey, there's six or
seven really good teams here.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
But I'm not sure who's elite. I'm not sure who's great.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
I'm gonna I'm gonna say this. Sorry.

Speaker 3 (36:29):
I should have put the Tennessee volunteers in there too.

Speaker 5 (36:31):
Oh, I don't want to I want to make any
I don't want to make anybody mad.

Speaker 3 (36:34):
I don't want to make anybody mad.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
Crimson Tide on Saturday, getting ready for another heartbreaking.

Speaker 3 (36:42):
Big one.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
I'm married into Tennessee. So so if you told me,
you know, if we advanced the calendar and you told
me that we're going to be spending you know that
last week of January and the first week of February
getting ready for a tam Bay Houston Super Bowl, and
I'm pointing out those teams because Tampa Bay is currently

(37:04):
won in the NFC, the Texans are currently twenty in
the AFC. I wouldn't feel like I woke up in
the future on the other side of Mars, wondering what
I'm witnessing. I'd have been like, okay, I'd be like, okay, yeah,
you know that that could make sense because everybody thought
the Texans are going to win that division. They were

(37:25):
maybe the biggest lock to win a division in all
of football. And they're two and three and they're chasing
the five and one Colts. But I wouldn't be surprised
if they rebounded. I just think it could be almost
any of those top twenty teams. And look, I understand
I'm going counter to my own rule, which is winterly

(37:45):
start to start to gain that identity in the middle
third of the season, if you broke it up into thirds,
win games, start to build your identity. And then, as
Aaron Rodgers just said the other day, you know, let's
see who's peaking in December. And I believe that I do.
So I'm going counter to my own, uh to my
own in a way because they are they're these rankings
are out there, right, They're out there, so we're just

(38:07):
following along with what they're doing. But I wouldn't shock me,
Wes if it was if you told me it's Texans Bucks,
I'd be like, Okay, let's go.

Speaker 3 (38:16):
I think this is this.

Speaker 5 (38:17):
And I know we got to get to a break here,
but just real quick, I want I want a yes
or no. I'm gonna run through some of these teams
and just tell me yes or no. Would it surprise
you if they were in their conference championship game in January?

Speaker 3 (38:30):
Okay?

Speaker 6 (38:31):
Tampa Bay Nope, Detroit nope, Seattle nope, Buffalo no, Green Bay, Philadelphia.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no no, No.

Speaker 5 (38:45):
Rams, Colts, Chiefs, Steelers, Broncos, No, Commanders. I mean they
were just there last year Jacksonville. The the Chargers may
be because they're so beat up on.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
That little surprise in Jacksonville, I'd be I still think
Denver's eye away. You know, there there are teams that
surprised me more. You know who's on that list. It
would surprise a lot of people. The Pittsburgh Steelers because
they don't believe in them. Uh And and why do
I say that? Because they're ranked tenth and they're four
and one? Right, Yeah, that tells you, I mean tells

(39:17):
you what people call around the country. Right, what's that? Yeah? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (39:22):
The Colts are eighth at five and one, so kind
of in the similar boat is the Steelers there, But
I think that that's a fine place to be right now.
You know, the I think the Steelers have slowly but
surely started to move. You know, they were after Dublin,
they were fourteenth and thirteenth on a lot of these lists.
If now they're eleventh, Yeah, now they're eleven and ten

(39:42):
and twelve, you know.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
And I'm okay with it. I'm okay. This is just
for fun, right, It doesn't exactly matter exactly right, at
the end of the year, They're not going to crown
the team that's ranked number one on any of these ranks.

Speaker 5 (39:53):
Right, and there's not going to be a committee that's
gonna pay twelve of these teams to go to the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
It's gonna be the one whole up that Lombardi Trophy,
and just fast we'll go through I'm just gonna just
run through these. You know, twenty one Carolina, they're three
and three. I don't believe in them, but hey, a
couple of weeks from now, they we might be saying
one through twenty one. We might be saying one through
twenty two. Because the Cowboys are twenty two. I've heard

(40:18):
people making a pretty good case for them. Two years ago.
They were good. Last year they were bad. They're suffering
from recency bias. I think Arizona, I think they're solid
at two and four, but they just keep shooting themselves
in the foot. I mean, they could easily be four
and two easily, no exaggeration, easily, but they're not. They're

(40:39):
two and four. The Ravens at twenty four, they I
am not standing over them counting right now. I Am
not pointing somebody to a neutral corner. They still scare
me when they get healthy. And then it's teams that
I think are kind of in that rebuild mode. We
have the Giants at twenty five. You have Vegas at
twenty six, the Bengals. We will see after Thursday night.

(41:02):
It's still I still they've got my attention for sure.
Twenty eight is the Saints twenty nine, the Browns thirty
the Dolphins U thirty one, the Titans thirty two, the
winless New York Jets. Our attention back to Thursday Night's
game against the Bengals when we continue in the Locker Room,
presented by your neighborhood Ford Store and this Steer's Pro

(41:24):
Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
Audio Network.

Speaker 1 (41:37):
Locker Room with King and Starks on Steelers Nation Radio,
presented by your neighborhood Ford Store. The F one point
fifty is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers and
by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct from the team
at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop dot Steelers dot com.

Speaker 2 (41:58):
And thank you very much for being with us as
we continue in the locker room for just a couple
more moments getting ready for Thursday night's game in Cincinnati.
I'm gonna go off the board here with one of
the things Wes as we wrap up that concerns me
about the Bengals. Look, we know about the offense, we
know about Joe Flacco, we know about the weapons that

(42:18):
he has in the outside. Jim Wexel, you know saying
this the same thing I said, and I think I
speak for you as well earlier in the show that
Joe Flacco looked better in his one game with the Bengals,
and he probably looked in the games that he quarterback
for the Browns prior to the trade. But you know,
we always talk about and I've talked about this with

(42:40):
Max in terms of units teams coming together. You know,
he talked about. Max has said this and I've parroted
it on this show and several others. The fact that
you move Broderick Jones from right to left, gonna take
him five or six games to get used to that adjustment.
You move Troy Faltanu from left tack where he played

(43:00):
in college to write tackle in the NFL, gonna take
five or six games for that to come together. Cohesiveness,
you know what you have on a team, that sort
of thing, Well, I'm gonna you know, we're we're giving
grace and I've been giving grace to this year. There's
a little bit after probably not giving them enough early
in the season for understanding that a team takes time.

(43:23):
As much as I've been around the game, I should
have known better. I think they're starting to grow into
the team that again I expected him to be. Like
when we talk about with rankings, but I'm looking at
this Bengals defense, and I'm seeing a lot of draft picks,
a lot of high draft picks put into this team
over the last couple of years. Now. We saw Green

(43:44):
Bay do that toward the end of the Aaron Rodgers rain,
and it really didn't pay off. It didn't even begin
to look like it was paying off to you got
Micah Parsons and and now all of a sudden, those
former first round picks are looking better, although some of
them are gone. It's possible they didn't select the right guys,
but it's also possible that it's a unit that's about

(44:06):
to click. You know. Uh, They've got a lot of
a lot of high picks invested at every level, mostly
on the d line, but a second round pick in
Demetrius Night, first and second round picks at the cornerback position,
not at safety, but a cornerback position. If I'm going
to throw a flyer out of left field as to
something that that could cause me concern, it's that a

(44:29):
new coordinator could come in, take these high draft, high
pedigree defensive players and begin to mold them into a
unit that they envisioned when they spent all these picks
on these guys. And that my fear is that that
begins to happen on Thursday Night. It's out of left field.

Speaker 5 (44:50):
I know, maybe I I just I don't know, because
even if like I'm I would almost be shocked if
Trey Hendrickson play. I know we're still awaiting final word
on that, but again, it feels like it feels like
there's at least a fifty to fifty chance he gets
dealt the next couple of weeks. And if you're him

(45:11):
and you because remember he still is going to want
his next team to give him a longer term contract.
So if you're him, do you really want to go
out there tomorrow night compromised, not fully fit and ready
to go when you might be hoping to get to
another team and go on a run and get yourself
a longer term contract. If you're the Bengals and you're thinking, okay,

(45:31):
maybe not a first round pick, but we could probably
get a second round pick, certainly a nice package for
Trey Hendrickson. We don't want to trot him out there
and risk ruining that as well too. And then just
they do have some talented pedigree guys on that defense.
You're absolutely right. You know, Shimer Stewart from last year
was what the twelfth overall pick or whatever out of
Texas A and m edge Rush. Yeah yeah, yeah this year. Yeah,

(45:55):
part of me, I just those guys, and you know this,
like we saw this with with Derek Harmon, we saw this.

Speaker 3 (46:04):
You know, we've seen this with.

Speaker 5 (46:05):
Our young guys on both sides of the ball in
the trenches.

Speaker 3 (46:10):
It's very rare that you go from quiet, quiet, quiet.

Speaker 5 (46:14):
To explosion right like you've you've usually got you know,
Nick Herbig didn't just come out of nowhere. He started
making a play here, and making a play there, and
making more plays here and more plays there, until all
of a sudden it was like, we can't keep this
guy off the field. They just they haven't even shown
much life in that regard, much promise in that regard.
So I hope you're just doing the broadcaster jinx thing

(46:37):
here and making sure that it doesn't happen tomorrow night.

Speaker 2 (46:39):
Well I'm looking at you know, And so here's I mean.
I'll say this, like I I get into the aspect
of studying for a team, and so you know, I
rely on others to be more knowledgeable about about far
flung teams, teams that aren't playing. Usually I'm home in
time to watch the sun that I can and the

(47:00):
Monday night game and then I am into game week right,
And so last week I was in the the announcer
booth with the Browns guys talking about next year's salary cap,
and who's going to be gone after this year? And
what are they thinking about the future of the team.
Can any of these offensive linemen step up? Because you
got four guys coming off of their contracts next year,

(47:24):
So those are things the average fan probably doesn't know.
But I like to dig into the team that the
Steelers are playing, and if I'm a Bengals fan and
I'm looking for optimism and looking for hope, that's where
I got to find it because that's where they've spent
the picks. And if that doesn't pay off, wow, you've
got a lot of issues to fix on this team.

(47:45):
If it does show signs of paying off and you
have invested those picks. Chris Jenkins is a guy who
looks like he's taking a step forward this year in
the interior defensive line. And if Hendrickson can't go, that
means opportunity. Right like Nick Herbig, some of his numbers
have been, you know, subsumed by the fact that he's

(48:06):
playing behind Alex Heismith. But when he gets an opportunity
to get out there, who's your sack leader. It's Nick
Herbig sacks right now. So maybe Stewart and Miles Murphy.
Are are guys who just need an opportunity and might
get that with Trey Hendrickson. We'll see, we'll find out.
It's a bit of a long shot. I understand that.

(48:28):
But when you look at that defense and you see
all those high picks, there's a reason they made him
move a coordinator, and that's because they think there's more
there than they're getting out of it.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
Completely agree, Completely agree.

Speaker 5 (48:41):
Although it looks like that coordinator is doing all right
in Indianapolis right now. But but but I digress. Yeah, No,
they do absolutely need the counter to that. That's right,
That is the counter to that. He's Wes Euler. I'm
Rob King.

Speaker 2 (48:54):
West. I will see you one set apart in the plane,
one or two seats scene of three at Mours. Don't
you dare lean your seatback? Rob King? No, I'm not
that guy. I'm not that guy. He's West Euler filling
in for Max Starks. The guy at the controls is
our friend and producer, Justin Miller. I'm Rob King. Next
stop is Cincinnati. We thank you for being in the

(49:17):
Locker Room, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store and the
Steelers Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of
the Steelers Audio Network.