September 16, 2025 • 46 mins
The guys put a bow on the Steelers' loss to the Seahawks and chatted with Bob Labriola. Max and Rob also discuss headlines around the league.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is in the Locker Room with King and 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 2 (00:35):
That's right, our number two here inside the locker room,
aka the Powerhouer. And of course it wouldn't be a
heavy hitting, power sluging type of day if we did
not have the one, the only, the great one, mister
Bob Labriola joining us on a Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Bob, how are we doing today?
Speaker 4 (00:56):
You guys are gonna talk me off the ledge or what?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I don't know. Hey, hey, we shall we shall see.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
We've got twenty minutes to figure this out, right, So
I will, I will, I will figure this out. Let's
let's let's get the therapy sessions started, labs. What are
your concerns?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I mean, seriously, yeah, thres two.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
I list this one first only because I think if
Aaron Rodgers gets injured for any long period of time,
you know, I'm not gonna say, uh, you know, I
I think that a lot of the hopes and expectations
for the season go down the drain. I think he
is that good in that integral to what the Steelers
(01:51):
want and need to accomplish. And so because of that,
I will say past protection, I think he's taken way
too many hits. And I don't know what how you
if it's you know, because usually pass protection is a
combination of you know, the blocking, the route running, the ability,
the guys that get open, you know that kind of stuff.
(02:12):
It's all a combination of all that. So I don't
know exactly what the specific issue is or if it's
like popcorn where it's sometimes this and sometimes that, whatever
it is, but he's taken too many hits in my opinion,
So I would say that's one and then one A
and that's just a then it's just a sliver or
(02:33):
behind is run defense? I mean, if you can't stop
to run in the NFL, I mean I just think
it's you're you're you're looking at having to score forty
points a game to try and overcome that, and I
don't think that's a sustainable thing model to try and
win games. And I'll tell you what. You looked at
(02:57):
the numbers, Uh, Seattle's rushing totals compared to the jets
rushing totals, and in a lot of areas they weren't
as large as the Jets. The third and goal from
the nineteen, they turn around and hand the ball to
a running back. I don't know what you thought, and
(03:18):
you and Rob both thought when you were calling the
game on the radio. But what through my mind right
away when I saw that play was Seattle settle in
for a field goal. Absolutely, because you don't run. You
don't run a simple running play on third and goal
from the nineteen in the NFL if you're really trying
to score. No, no, no, And he went in the end
(03:43):
zone virtually untouched.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
Yeah, yeah, that wasn't a good look, by the way.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
I mean.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
Tuesday with Labs is presented by UPMC, the official healthcare
provider and health plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's only
two games. I think there are explanations that that could
handle it, all right, you know, lack of continuity. These guys,
you know, didn't a lot of guys that are out
(04:11):
there now with all the injuries on defense, they didn't
even practice together. So you already had a bunch of
new faces, so communication, that kind of thing. But as
we see here, as we sit here through two games,
you know, Chris Boswell, phenomenal, corless weightman, He's exactly what
he was last year. So those are positive signs. But
I'm not seeing a lot of other positive signs. I mean,
(04:35):
it would be it would be nice if two games
in you just said, Okay, well, the problem here is
we're just not stopping to run. Well, the problem here
is you're not stopping the run. You're not running the ball,
you're not protecting your quarterback, you're not getting pressure on
the other quarterback. I thought, Bob, I don't know what
you thought, but I thought in this particular game, Seattle's
(04:57):
receivers were open, and it didn't feel to me like
this Theer's receivers were open. So I mean, I don't
want to play a paint a too bleak of a
picture here, but I just doesn't feel like there's been
a whole lot established offensively or defensively through two weeks.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
I cannot disagree with anything you said, and I have
I have no real legitimate insight into any of the
reasons for all of this that is not happening in
the or all of this that is happening. That's not good.
(05:37):
But uh, you know, I don't know. You know, you
hear so many things and in we're just bombarded with information,
whether it's accurate or not, social media, via the internet.
You know, guys like us doing what we do, and
guys doing what we're doing who are are nowhere near
(05:59):
as accomplished as you guys are. So I don't know
what to believe. I don't know what the answers are.
But you know, as we've said a couple of times,
it's not a good look. And I don't know that
I'm that I feel pretty confident of it's not a
good look. Fixing it? What's next? I don't know. I
(06:22):
have no answers.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
I really don't, And I think labs.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
You know, when you kind of look at this, it's
tough when you've seen it one way for so long, right,
you know, we've always seen this defense come out hot
and just crush it early in the season, TJ flying
all over. Plays are being made, they're stifling, and then
the offense kind of picks its legs up, you know,
(06:50):
as the season gets going. But this is just a
different way of looking at it, where you're trying to
find where that silver lining is. And you know, week one,
it was the talent of Aaron through the air and
finding a multitude of different guys to contribute and to
(07:12):
make plays and passing for four touchdowns in the game.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
That was the bright spot.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
And then we go to week two and well, I
should also say special teams because that sixty yarder by
Boz was absolutely phenomenal. We get to week two, you
think you've got one one thing to put in your
back pocket, right, special teams.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
We don't have to worry about special teams.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Man, that we are good, And then you realize it's
not the specialist on the special teams because Corlus weightman
did his job.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Corlis flipped the field.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Amazingly and I'm just man, it was like he hit
the ball so perfectly on that sixty four yard I
was just so mad at rolled.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Into the end zone.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
But you look at the special team snaff fu on
the kickoff return. That's something that we did a week ago.
We turned them over on kickoff return. Now we turn
it over on kickoff so it felt like it just
flipped upside on his head. The run defense got marginally better,
but you still like you said, you list that that
(08:19):
big third and goal and the unabated on the toss
crack is just that that's a head scratcher. And then
Kenth Walker also burst on and had another twenty plus
yard run in the in the game, but you lock
up Zach Charbonnay, you effectively get two turnovers and Jalen
(08:42):
Ramsey getting his first turnover, Nick Herbig getting a turnover
as well.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
And you're like, man, okay, the splashes are there.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And in week one, the two fourth down conversion attempts
that were that were stopped by the Steelers defense. So
it's like you look for little bright spots in there,
But it's getting everybody to come together, right, It's getting
all the ingredients to just meld together. And then you
throw injuries in there, right, you know, you're you were
(09:14):
already down a man in your rotation on D line
with Derek Harmon being injurwed so now you're down to seven.
Now you lose Isaiah Laudima early in this game, and
it's literally just a six man rotation. You're when you're
used to having seven to eight. You lose Alex high Smith,
but you didn't have Nick herbig a week ago, so
they cancel each other out. And you also don't have
(09:36):
a Milie Harrison who could be that fourth filling guy,
inside outside guy. So it's just it was just like
so many like little things that are like, man, you know,
Murphy's law right now, whatever it could go wrong does
go wrong.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Whatever back could happen will happen.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
And it feels like Murphy's law right now with this team.
I think there's still a lot of talent. I just
think they just got to work a little bit harder
to communicate because a lot of it was just cleaning
up commun munication. I mean, I think about the Thornton
touchdown where or Horton Trey Horton, sorry, where he's running
that deep over route and you have three guys for
(10:12):
two guys it's two man route, but safety communication switching
off in the zone. They kind of they got discombobulated there.
The barner seemed touchdown the short one was the exact
same place that they ran in the middle of the
field with the royal to convert to keep the drive alive.
And it was they had learned from it because I
(10:34):
saw I saw Patrick que make the adjustment, I saw him.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
You know, when the running back went in.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Motion to the left, he signaled to Jack Sawyer, Jack,
you got that guy in the curl flat zone, I'm
taking your tight end and just came over in motion right.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
They switched places.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
But the trust of the communication is not all the
way there, because just like you said with Peyton Wilson,
you know, sorry, Alvaro talked about some communication.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
On its crack.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Same thing happened here where Pat just hold held his
eyes just a second too long to make sure that
that Jack got his assignment done and then tried to
go back and then boom the balls on him and
Barner has a touchdown and you know, Pat Queen's about
six inches too short on knocking that ball away, and
we have a different game. So it's just a little
things that I think a lack of preseason game time
(11:25):
play with a lot of the known guys out there
has just.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Kind of, you know, hurt them early on.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
And hopefully these are the two preseason games that we
could kind of write off when it comes to season time,
and that hopefully starting Week three, this team creates some
synergy that that's that's my hope.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
I mean, that's the only answer that I have when
I kind of look at it like that.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Yeah, and you know, Seattle didn't help the Steelers out
any either by not you know, missing some things that
you know, Darnold was accurate on those passes that you
dis So it's not like because sometimes guys will be open,
(12:07):
but the quarterback misses the throw or the receiver drops
the ball. You know, it doesn't always have to be
a play made by the defense to cause an incomplete pass.
So but as I said, you know, the Seahawks made
plays in the game that again, like I said, they
(12:29):
they didn't really give the Steelers any help. You know,
Seattle didn't have a lot of unforced airs if it
was a tennis match, uh, and a lot of times,
you know, that's the way you win unforced airs. So yeah,
I uh, you know, we were talking about Seattle on
the pregame show. You know one of the things I
thought about Seattle when you looked at him. I mean,
(12:51):
I don't really know that much about Seattle. They're in
the NFC and they're on the West Coast. But just
from the early you know, regular season talk about football
and stuff. You know, the two areas where the Seahawks
seem to be, you know, pretty decent. Was their defensive
line and their ability to run the football. And that's
(13:17):
a bad matchup for the Steelers right now to play
an opponent that's good on the defensive line and can
run the football.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
And I felt, Labs about the Jets going into that game.
That was their strength too.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
So I mean, yeah, like I said, the opponents haven't
really lined up to help the Steelers out with some
of this. You know, early season. You know, sometimes you
can count on the opponent to play September football, maybe
maybe even a little worse than you do, and you
can get out of the building with a win. But
(13:53):
you know, it didn't happen Sunday, And you know, at
this point, I don't know what so expect in Foxborough.
I don't know what I'm gonna see.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
It's a great question.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Yeah, yeah, you know, Labs, when you talk about Seattle,
first of all, we should remember they were a ten
and seven football team a year ago, seven and one
in the road, same record as this year. It's a
solid football team for sure, and they seem to have
somehow figured out how to win one o'clock East Coast games.
If you believe in those kind of statistics. They have
an incredible record traveling across the country, and that's supposed
(14:27):
to be tough for teams. It is a good football team.
And I do think you know, the throw Rogers made,
I just I'm still can't even explain it. I was
stunned that the throw he made, the Friar move down
the right sideline out of the pocket, I would hasten.
I don't know as any you know, how many guys
in the NFL could make that throw. But Pat didn't
(14:48):
come down with it. Later, Sam Darnold gets one on
one coverage and and he throws a ball to Jackson
Swift and Jig, but he does come down with it.
You know, you turn a ball over in the end zone,
you have a kick that you don't cover, and they
wind up getting a free seven. Those are the things
we we usually see. The Steelers come out on top.
You know, so, hey, this is kind of an ugly win.
(15:09):
But you know, Mike Tomlin is majored in ugly wins.
His his record in one score games is phenomenal because
he knows how to win him right. I mean, yeah,
it's it's hard for me to draw any other kind
of conclusion. So I do think that it was just
a game in which, you know, to some degree, if
some of those things have gone to steer this way,
we might be talking about a two and oh Steelers
(15:31):
team right now.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Yeah, and you know, but h and again, I agree
with what you're saying. And you know, the optimist in me,
you know, wants to wants to go with that. I'm
just hoping now that you know, in Max can speak
to this certainly better Rob than you or I being
a you know, being in the huddle, being in the
locker room, that kind of stuff. But you know, they
(15:56):
always say flush it in terms of the previous performance.
Let's hope that happens, because I mean, uh, you know,
once it happens once it's you know, it's misfortune or
however you want to describe it. Uh, it does happening twice.
Now you're looking at a trend or a characteristic and
(16:16):
if your your mind goes to the wrong place, you
know that then can even fester and and linger longer.
So uh, you know, I don't know how to you know,
because like I said, I don't know what I'm going
to see in Foxborough. I certainly hope that's not the
case in the minds of the players who are going
(16:36):
to be wearing the black helmets in Foxborough on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Well, and I think I think that's that That's what
you know makes this game beautiful but also frustrating, right Labs,
is that, well, you don't know what you're going to get,
and you know you would hope seven days later something
clicks or something sticks in the case of like a victory.
But this is that kind of terminal where you have
(17:06):
essentially fifty three guys trying to come together as one,
and sometimes it takes longer than others. But the fact
of the matter that you know they come into this
game one on one. You know there's still a lot
and you know I made this point. I said, Seattle
is not a common opponent and is also not a
(17:26):
conference opponent. That's the one thing you can glean from
that loss is that it doesn't hurt you in the
grand scheme of things, outside of just your numerical win
value coming up.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
So you know, for this team, everything is still in
front of them. They're one to zero in the AFC,
and that is that is a huge thing. They're just
zero to.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
One in an NFC non common opponent is the seventeenth
game type of opponent that they have because the division
that they're rotating with is the NFC North, So that's
what they'll be measured with against the rest of the
division when we're talking about slotting and playoffs and everything else.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
So you know, this one off game, if there was one.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
That mattered the least, if it was a loss, the
one thing you can at least say at least it
was Seattle.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
At least it was early in the season.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
And that's why I'm hoping that boom, we get back
to AFC talent, AFC matters, historical significance of playing against
the Patriots, that all of that kicks in at Foxborough,
and that and that this squad can rebound and like
you said, flush it and move on to the next week.
As a guy famously in New England to say, onto
(18:37):
the next game, you know that's what you want?
Speaker 4 (18:39):
You know, yes, and you know, thanks for I'll say this, Max,
I have taken two fairly large steps away from the
railing on the bridge since we started talking. And good.
But I'll tell you what on Sunday if you ask
me it and the one how you're feeling. I will
(19:02):
tell you I'm feeling very nervous and living in my
fears because that that is my personality, and so I've
learned to try to manage that on my own. But uh, yeah,
it was it was a bad it was a bad
game Sunday, and it's it's leading to somewhat of a
(19:22):
bad week. Uh to this point so far.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
Here here's Bob, I'm gonna leave you this. Here's the
one reason that I'm the most optimistic is I looked
at the move the moves the team made. You essentially
added three draft class picks from last year's class, because
those guys didn't play. One of them was the first round.
One of them was a third rounder. You had this
year's draft class, which I liked. You upgraded at the
(19:49):
quarterback position. You should be no worse on the offensive line.
You are better at the receiver position. I think you're
about the same at the running back position. We'll see
what the loss of Najie Harris means. I think you
improved your defensive line, you improved yourself at the cornerback position.
In other words, I still see this as the team
that was ten and seven a year ago and is
(20:10):
a better football team now, and I just so I'm
clinging to that and trying to wade through the whys
and why not as to why the team didn't play
that well against the Jets and certainly didn't play that
well against Seattle. I'm trying to push that aside because
I just think it's a ten and seven football team
(20:30):
that got better in virtually every area.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
I'll tell you what, Rob King, you may have a
future as a therapist, because you know that was that
was nicely stated and logically presented and made a lot
of sense.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
So let's just talk that.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
I will, I will, I will give my insurance card
to the receptionist on my way out, and I'll expect
I'll build for the cope and I'll pay for it.
Speaker 5 (21:04):
Labs are the best, man. Thank you very much for
spending time with us. Appreciate it, and we will see
you over on If we don't see on the south side,
we will see you uh soon, right, yep.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
It's possible, all rights talk to you guys.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
That's Tuesday with Labs, presented by UPMC, the official healthcare
provider and health plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and you know,
not far off from what everybody else is seeing, like
a little bit of trepidation. Now, Max are the one
and one football team, Like what do we have here?
I still go back to the fact that I think
they're a better team, but you know, some at some
(21:41):
point you have to prove it on the field. And
I have not seen the evidence of my beliefs displayed
in the first two games of the season.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, no, I mean and that, but that, but that,
that's that's the rocky road we travel at the beginning
of a season, right because everything seems great in the
preseason because you're with your threes or fours guys who
might not be every every game contributors moving into the
season and when you you know, a lot of the
(22:09):
NFL has adopted this.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
System of just we're not going to play our guys.
We're not going to play our guys.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
And right now those teams you know, are are are struggling,
and the teams that did play their guys, with the
exception of the Kansas City Chiefs that play guys are
are on are on the fast track. They're moving along
quicker with this season. So you know, it's just a
matter everything cyclical, and you know, you try and do
(22:39):
the best job that you can. But nobody can predict injuries.
If you could, you would make a lot of lot
of money if you could predict your and and that's
just that's the human element of it that you can't control.
You don't know how close something is to straining or popping.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
You don't know how close it is for some to
just give out on you. We don't know that.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
You know, if we did, you know we would be
playing with completely healthy people at all times.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
But that's that's the tough thing.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
You wonder where the run of injuries is going to go,
what position group is going to get hit, because we've
had one every year at different points throughout the season,
and so right now the defense is getting tested as
a whole.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
You know, you're down one, two.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Three starters, four starters, Sorry, you're down four starters right now.
And three of those four weren't even available to you
on game day on Sunday, and then we lost another
one during there.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
And obviously we'll see the extent after coming up.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
I mean, in what thirty five minutes, we'll here, we'll
go live to the Mike time with press conference and
we'll hear the assessment about where it is. But you know,
four starters, two key starters in waiting or second wave
guys that also we're injured in the game and all
of that just you know, it piles up and and
(24:04):
you know, we talked about this, the matchups did not
suit the Steelers. Teams that want to run the ball
have good run defense. We've gotten that in the first
two weeks. I don't think we're gonna have that in
week three, but you never know.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
And Can well he does. He does want to run the.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Football, but you know, the passing game, they're really trying
to see what Drake may has and I thought they
aired it out a little.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
Bit last week. And so we shall see.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I know I'll start my breakdowns tomorrow of the Patriots.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
And we're gonna we're gonna see. I mean, Riman J.
Stevenson is a is.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
A is a good back. I don't think he's a
great back, and I don't think the offensive line is
quite there. I know they're working on the on the
on the on the restructure of those guys, but I
also didn't think Seattle was good who was gonna be
able to run the ball effective?
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So I don't know, but I like to be optimistic.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
He's Max Starks Our thanks again to Bob Labriola. I'm
Rob King. You're inside in the locker room with King
and Starks, presented by our neighborhood Ford Store. Here on
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
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
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Speaker 5 (25:38):
And with Max Starks, I'm Rob King. We thank you
for being with us. It is time to go around
the NFL. Presented by your neighborhood Force Store. The F
one fifty is the official truck of the Pittsburgh The
others kind of did a little glance at you know,
what can we glean through two weeks of play, and
I suppose Max, we can we can start there and
(26:00):
you know, just do a quick run through and then
you know, then we'll take a look at some of
these games that are going to be really interesting this
week and just you know, kind of take a quick
glance at those as well. But you know, when I
look at the when I look at the NFL standings, right,
we mentioned this Buffalo two and o, right, but we
know they're good. Cincinnati to me surprising two and o
(26:21):
with the injury to Joe Burrow and how they were
able to overcome that LA Maybe they're one of those
teams that moves from that ten and seven nine and
eight type of class of team. Hey, we're good enough
to make the playoffs, but not really good enough to
contend to Hey, we are good enough to contend. We
(26:42):
are someone to be to be reckoned with. So we'll see.
I just don't see India two and o. I don't
know as anybody sees that in the NFC Philadelphia at
two and o, Green Bay at two and o, Tampa
Bay at two and o, and then the very intriguing
NFC West. And I think you know, as we as
(27:04):
we looked at this at the beginning of the year, Max,
I think we both said this is going to be
one of the most competitive divisions in football. Maybe not
that elite type of team, but San Francisco's two and oh,
Arizona's two and oh, the Rams are two and oh,
Seattle's one and one that's a that is a solid
(27:25):
conference as far as just you know, competitive and who's
going to win the division?
Speaker 2 (27:31):
No, it is and I think and also you know
that first month of the season, you know, is window
dressing or it can be you know, a launch pad.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
That's the other thing we don't know, you know. And
and that's.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
What you know as everybody starts to jocket those positions,
Like you said, I have to believe that Kensey is
not going to remain winless. First and foremost, I know
that there's going to be some adversity that that befalls
these two and oh teams that are starting.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
They're going to have have a lull at some point.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
And you know, you're never you know, And coach Kawr
said this best, and I said this after the game
on that tweet said Coach Cowr said it best. And
he always used to preach this to us. You're never
as good as you think you are, but never as
bad as they say. And I have to believe that
mantra that propels and pushes you in that direction, you know,
(28:26):
leads to that excellence.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
You know.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
It's the one phrase I saw on the wall on
a little poster when I was in fifth grade and
miss and Gardner's class at Princeton Elementary School in College Park, Florida,
it was you shoot for the moon and you land
amongst the stars, right, and that's.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
What you're all reaching for. Only one team is going
to reach the moon by the end of the season. Right.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
But along the way, if you can reach for the stars,
you've exceeded the expectations of Right now, the expectations don't
look great for the team. Looks like you can't even
get the rocket off the ground, right, it's failure to launch.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Right, But that's not the whole story.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
You have fifteen more games to go out there and
write your own story and prove your path. And in
the grand scheme of the season and the schedule, this
game mattered the least.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
This was the filler game. This was number seventeen. That
is true. So I kind of look at it from
that lens that you know it can be.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
I mean, I play, you know, in my experience just
seeing it, it's never as bad as it seems, and
it's never as good as you think it is. And
so you know, we kind of got the bitter pill, right,
you know, we got we got the good taste that
we can win a shootout in week one, you know,
we can win a game scoring high and then we
got the letdown this week of man, we can't, we can't.
(29:50):
We can't stop a nosebleed at this point. So you know,
I don't think either one or truly indicative of the team,
but I think both of those are very important in
the team's path because does it creates requisite experience and
for the amount of youth that we still have playing
on here Projerck had a new position, Troy really getting
his first time starting is the most games he's played.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
So far, for sure.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Uh in a season we can't forget me Zach Frazier still, Yeah, Zach,
Zach and.
Speaker 5 (30:16):
Mason are young, right, and you got is this early
in the season. To me, Max, reasons not excuses.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Now.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
If these are the problems in week six or seven,
then we then there are larger problems. But right now
I think it's easily explained away and reasonably explained the way.
It's not like you you have to make excuses for this.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
Yeah, no, you don't.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
And that's what I think it is, like people have
to and it's also putting it in perspective, right, Rob.
I think that's the other thing. When you put things
in perspective, it changes.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
How you view it. It changes the focus.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Right when you go when you go to the eye
doctor and you're getting that exam and they keep switching
those lenses to see, oh, this looks a little bit clearer,
this looks a little bit fuzzier. As they're adjusting the
dial to see where your vision is. That's the same thing.
This is just this is just perspective. We're switching the
lens so that you can see things clearly and that
it's not operating from a place of you know, straight
(31:15):
negativity or straight eternal optimism, and you fall somewhere in
between in reality, and the reality is there's things they
still need to work on and things that are not good.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Enough right now.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
But what's not good enough right now might not necessarily
be good enough later. As we heard that stat, right,
they were first in mistackles a year ago. Now they're
the worst in mistackles through two games. Through two games,
accumulative stat correct, And we're still accumulating. We have a
lot more to accumulate than we've already accumulated in this process.
(31:51):
So just it's just about providing that perspective, just to
see it soberly from that perspective, and you don't have
to be reaction to every little thing that happens. And
at the end of the day, it's just one game. Yes,
would you have loved to have had that victory, absolutely, absolutely,
But you learn more and a loss that you do
(32:13):
in victory, and that was apparent. We did not learn
as much from the victory carrying it into week two,
and it showed and now it.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Became a loss.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
So hopefully now the lesson takes and now you can
use that over these next five days to go and
attack it full head on and make your weakness now
a strength moving forward, or put the building blocks in
place to start working towards that.
Speaker 5 (32:38):
Totally agree with all that. So let's let's take a
look at at some of the key matchups this week
in the NFL, because I think we begin to get
an idea of where teams are and how good they
are as we start to see who's going to separate
themselves from the pack. So billst Off, I'm all over
(33:01):
the Bills in that one. That's the Thursday night game. Packers,
Browns all over the Packers, Colts Titans. Can you imagine
if the Colts start the season three now they're at Tennessee. Yeah, okay,
we have a little bit of a connection issue with Max,
(33:22):
so we'll get him reconnected. That would be an amazing
story because a lot of people thought the Colts would
be terrible, and they're two and oh and they're going
to visit zero and two Tennessee. That will be interesting.
One of the games of the week, for my money,
is the two and oho Bengals at the one to
one Vikings. The Vikings, you could almost draw parallel with
(33:44):
the Steelers. They didn't look good for a lot of
the game against Chicago and the opener, and they came
on late and whiskeda the game away from the Bears
and wound up winning the game. And then they did
not look good in week two. So they're one and one,
they're at home, and they're taking on the Bengals, And
of course that's a special interest too, because that's who
the Steelers will face after they get after this week,
(34:05):
they get home from Foxborough head out over to Ireland.
Before the buye they'll be taking on the Minnesota Vikings.
Steelers Patriots two one and one teams, and boy, the
huge difference psychologically and in the standings and in your
playoff hopes if you're two and one versus one and two.
So at New England, to me, it's one of the
(34:26):
games of the week just because you're trying to separate
teams out in New England would like one of that
handful of teams. It would like to think that they
took a big step forward in the offseason and ready
to you know, nobody's saying ready to compete for a
super Bowl, but maybe ready to compete for a playoff spot.
So that's and the Steelers are trying to kind of
shuck that off and get ready to compete with the
(34:46):
big boys. So interesting game going to Foxborough for that one.
The other the game of the week in the NFC,
and I think it's hard to say this isn't. The
game of the week in the NFL is the two
and oh Rams at the two and oh Eagles. And
when you look at Philadelphia, you know, it's easy to
(35:07):
remember back to Philadelphia looking invincible in the playoffs, just
steamrolling everybody. Well they kind of did, but they didn't
steamroll the Rams. The Rams are right there the Rams
had every opportunity to win that game. Uh. They are
a team that just always seems to be competitive. But
(35:30):
that Uh okay, So I do think that that Rams
Eagles game, Max, that might be the game of the week.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
No, I'm with you.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
I think I think that's going to be a heck
of a game and one that you know, kind kind
of how you talked about it like that was.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
That was a hotly contested game in Philly a year
ago in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Like the Eagles gave, the gave the Eagles, I'm sorry,
the Rams gave the Eagles.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
So the Eagles gave the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
The Rams gave the Eagles all they could handle and
it was a very tough matchup for them. And the
Rams were dealing with the aftermath of the fires in LA.
They had just played the Vikings in State Farm Stadium
in Phoenix a week before going back home and trying
(36:25):
to trying to wade through all of that emotionally, and
then you still and then you fly cross country to Philly.
It's gonna be very interesting to see a team that
has confidence that does not dealing with tragedy and a
lot of things going on around them that can distract
them very easily because life creeps in. So it's gonna
be really interesting to see how they play. And you know,
(36:46):
this Eagle squad is not the same Eagle squad.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
For a year ago.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
You know, when you win teams poach and they lost
a lot of guys. They still have a lot of
their main guys. But how does this new look Eagles
team really respond? Because we see what the new look
Rams are looking like already this year, and you listed
the addition of DeVante Adams to that to that crew,
and you throw them already with Puka Takua, who's a
(37:11):
heck of a young wide receiver, and man, it's a
recipe for a really good matchup.
Speaker 5 (37:16):
Right for sure? I think I think that's kind of
the one uh oh and two Jets at the two
and oh Buccaneers. I don't know is that interests me
to any large degree? The one and one Raiders at
the one and one Commanders, And again, I think every
one and one matchup max is fascinating to me because
(37:38):
one team is gonna feel really good about themselves coming
out and the other team's gonna be one and two
and not feeling that great about themselves.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
Yes, Uh, I completely agree, And you know, it's it's
tough because when you kind of look at it, these
are those games that just they start to separate, they
start to manifest, and for a team that's never had
(38:09):
successful before, it can take you down a very dark,
spiraling path. But if your team that can hold those
emotions in check and understand that it's just one week,
you know, those are the teams that usually end up
overcoming that, and then you start to see things start.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
To click together.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
So it's very interesting how this dynamic works, especially in
this game. It's gonna it's gonna be a fun one
to watch or.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
Keep an eye on. I should say, I agree.
Speaker 5 (38:34):
I think there's a I think there's a bunch of
them like that. Uh. I think the Broncos one in
one taking on the Chargers at two and zero is
another one. So by the way, the Texans at oh
and two take I skipped that game, didn't meant to
the Texans at oh and two taking on the Jaguars
and suddenly this feels like almost like a must win
(38:54):
game for the Texans.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
Oh. Absolutely, this is a musket must wit. I mean,
you know, when you look at where.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
The Texans have been the last two years they've owned
the AFC South, and they've had two really tough losses
in the first two weeks. So you have to feel
like something's got to break, something's got to break in
our favor. You know, they did a lot of retooling
in the off season, brought in a new offensive coordinator,
and they added all these new pieces. You got rid
(39:25):
of Tunsul and you know you got young guys in
the offensive line, you have some weapons. Uh you know, no,
no Joe Mixon. So insert Nick Chubb who who looked
looked good. I mean he had he had a nice
run last night, longest since since since his injury against
US in Week two, almost two years ago. And you
know you're like, okay, well he's getting back into rhythms.
(39:46):
So you know they're gonna go. And they take the lead.
They take the lead with very little time left, and
the Buccaneers figured out a way to get into the
end zone with six seconds left and take a one
point lead. That is that is just that's one of
those emotional just drainers. You know for Texas team that
(40:08):
has a lot of pride, You're playing at home, you're
in primetime football.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
You're you're, you're the you're, you're, you're the you're the
first first entree of that of the double header.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Dejure and man is rough, But you know, you got
to bounce back, and you got a divisional game, and
this game matters a lot more because you're you know,
Tampa Bay. That game mattered because it's a common opponent.
They're playing the NFC South, so you want to win those.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
But this is at a direct rival in your division,
and you've got to come away with something and blean
glean some hope in the process with a victory here.
You got to get your first.
Speaker 5 (40:47):
Victory, agreed. I mean that would that would be a
tough one. And then a game that I think is
really intriguing. You know a lot of people when we
looked at the AFC West, I think there's a feeling. Okay,
it might still be the Chiefs who have got to
start winning some games, but the Broncos and Chargers are
nipping at their heels. They are ready, they're yapping away,
(41:09):
teeth bared, and the Broncos are one and one, the
Chargers are two and oh. The game is in La,
A big, big game for both these teams.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Yeah. Oh, three in a row. Just think about that, Rob,
Three straight division games in a row for the Chargers.
That is man. I've never seen that before, but the
Chargers have answered the call so far.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
So you wonder if you can, if you can, if
you can go three and oh and go three and
oh in division, you have half of your division contests
already settled before we get out of September.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
How crazy is that? Rob? Yeah, that's wild. Yeah. And
and a team like us, like the Steelers, we don't
get that luxury.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Remember last year we get our first division into like
week eleven and the Chargers get three in the first
three weeks.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Like, what are you kidding me? It's wild?
Speaker 2 (42:10):
And they could take a commanding lead in this division
and they could potentially outpace the chiefs in this department
if they could go three and oh to Technically two
of those were at home, one was away. We're talking
about South Paulo Brazil being a home game, you know.
And yes, you have to make the daunting task of
(42:32):
going to Denver and going to Kansas City, and Kansas
City will be in December. But if I could go
three to zero in my division and three and oh
on the season. That's double dipping at its finest. Ye
forget about forget about the double play. They're going for
a triple play in the first three weeks of the season.
At the healthiest this team is going to be. I mean, yes,
(42:54):
you lost over Shaun Slater, but Joe Alt has looked
fantastic at left tackle right now.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
So man, that's just it's crazy to think.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
And like you said, yeah, everything's in front of them,
but you do have a young, hungry Denver team, and
you know, I'm not gonna I'm not I'm not gonna,
you know, give too much credence to the spat on
the sidelines with Bo and Sean Payton because frustrations run
high in the moment. But they are a good combo.
(43:23):
Nobody expected them to make the playoffs a year ago
and they surprised everybody jumping on the scenes. Now expectations
of reality are starting to kind of creep up to them.
But this would be a big feather in the imagine.
You could take down the Chargers if you're the dinner
for Broncos in so far right this early in the year, Like.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
That's so that's gonna be. That's gonna be a very
electric game to watch.
Speaker 5 (43:43):
And then just real quickly, just run through these Saints,
the Seahawks, Cowboys at the Bears, Cardinals at the forty
nine Ers, A pair of two and zero teams. That's
gonna be a fun one. The Chiefs have to win
a game, right They're at the Giants on Sunday Night
football and then another marquee matchup on Monday Night. We
could talk about these later the week. The Lions taking
on the Ravens around the NFL is presented by your
(44:04):
neighborhood Forard Store. The F one fifty is the official
truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Back to wrap things up
as you get you ready for the Mike Tomlin press conference,
a lot of injury news to get to when we
continue here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
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 5 (44:46):
And just a few moments left inside the locker room
and max I get the sense that you know, as
we've worked toward hump day, we're not over the hump yet,
but we're getting there. We're working up our optimism level
optimist pri uh to get ready for this game against
New England. I'm feeling better already. Are you feeling better already?
Speaker 3 (45:07):
You know I will be feeling better in a second
because it's the bell lap.
Speaker 5 (45:11):
Oh my goodness game.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
The early lunch warning system has been engaged. But I
encourage everybody to stick around for the Mike Tomlin press conference.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
But dude, you can double dip, you can multitask. Here,
you can go.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
You could have a sandwich in the hand and your
ear to the end, your ear to the Steelers audio
network at the same time.
Speaker 3 (45:30):
It works well.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
Heck, even go to a place that might welcome it
and play it over their airwaves. I don't know, but
you know you do want to hear that as well.
And it is lunchtime, so I just want to get that.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
Out the way. But you're right, I'm feeling better about it.
Speaker 2 (45:43):
And you know, I know it's just one game, and
I know that people want to extrapolate a lot from
a little but that's the reason why you need a
viable sample size, and for me, five weeks or five
games gives me that sample size that I want to
then start making assessments, start making doing more deeper analysis
because now you know what trends look like, and you
(46:03):
also know where the deficions are, what held, what didn't
hold for the squad. So really really okay with everything,
And we got a big matchup. You got, you got
to go to Boston, you got and you gotta take
a victory. Nobody's gonna give it to you. I think
the guys have learned that you've got to go and
you've got to snatch victory away from from all these
opponents that you play this season.
Speaker 5 (46:24):
He's Max Starks. I'm Rob Can. We want to thank
Alvaro Martin, the great play by play man on the
Spanish speaking broadcast for the Steelers. It's a Labs Tuesday,
so Bob Labriolo was with us, and of course we
want to thank Justin Miller, our producer, and you for
listening today Inside the Locker Room with King and Starks,
presented by your neighborhood Ford Store here on the Steelers
(46:44):
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 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 2 (00:35):
That's right, our number two here inside the locker room,
aka the Powerhouer. And of course it wouldn't be a
heavy hitting, power sluging type of day if we did
not have the one, the only, the great one, mister
Bob Labriola joining us on a Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Bob, how are we doing today?
Speaker 4 (00:56):
You guys are gonna talk me off the ledge or what?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I don't know. Hey, hey, we shall we shall see.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
We've got twenty minutes to figure this out, right, So
I will, I will, I will figure this out. Let's
let's let's get the therapy sessions started, labs. What are
your concerns?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I mean, seriously, yeah, thres two.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
I list this one first only because I think if
Aaron Rodgers gets injured for any long period of time,
you know, I'm not gonna say, uh, you know, I
I think that a lot of the hopes and expectations
for the season go down the drain. I think he
is that good in that integral to what the Steelers
(01:51):
want and need to accomplish. And so because of that,
I will say past protection, I think he's taken way
too many hits. And I don't know what how you
if it's you know, because usually pass protection is a
combination of you know, the blocking, the route running, the ability,
the guys that get open, you know that kind of stuff.
(02:12):
It's all a combination of all that. So I don't
know exactly what the specific issue is or if it's
like popcorn where it's sometimes this and sometimes that, whatever
it is, but he's taken too many hits in my opinion,
So I would say that's one and then one A
and that's just a then it's just a sliver or
(02:33):
behind is run defense? I mean, if you can't stop
to run in the NFL, I mean I just think
it's you're you're you're looking at having to score forty
points a game to try and overcome that, and I
don't think that's a sustainable thing model to try and
win games. And I'll tell you what. You looked at
(02:57):
the numbers, Uh, Seattle's rushing totals compared to the jets
rushing totals, and in a lot of areas they weren't
as large as the Jets. The third and goal from
the nineteen, they turn around and hand the ball to
a running back. I don't know what you thought, and
(03:18):
you and Rob both thought when you were calling the
game on the radio. But what through my mind right
away when I saw that play was Seattle settle in
for a field goal. Absolutely, because you don't run. You
don't run a simple running play on third and goal
from the nineteen in the NFL if you're really trying
to score. No, no, no, And he went in the end
(03:43):
zone virtually untouched.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
Yeah, yeah, that wasn't a good look, by the way.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
I mean.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
Tuesday with Labs is presented by UPMC, the official healthcare
provider and health plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's only
two games. I think there are explanations that that could
handle it, all right, you know, lack of continuity. These guys,
you know, didn't a lot of guys that are out
(04:11):
there now with all the injuries on defense, they didn't
even practice together. So you already had a bunch of
new faces, so communication, that kind of thing. But as
we see here, as we sit here through two games,
you know, Chris Boswell, phenomenal, corless weightman, He's exactly what
he was last year. So those are positive signs. But
I'm not seeing a lot of other positive signs. I mean,
(04:35):
it would be it would be nice if two games
in you just said, Okay, well, the problem here is
we're just not stopping to run. Well, the problem here
is you're not stopping the run. You're not running the ball,
you're not protecting your quarterback, you're not getting pressure on
the other quarterback. I thought, Bob, I don't know what
you thought, but I thought in this particular game, Seattle's
(04:57):
receivers were open, and it didn't feel to me like
this Theer's receivers were open. So I mean, I don't
want to play a paint a too bleak of a
picture here, but I just doesn't feel like there's been
a whole lot established offensively or defensively through two weeks.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
I cannot disagree with anything you said, and I have
I have no real legitimate insight into any of the
reasons for all of this that is not happening in
the or all of this that is happening. That's not good.
(05:37):
But uh, you know, I don't know. You know, you
hear so many things and in we're just bombarded with information,
whether it's accurate or not, social media, via the internet.
You know, guys like us doing what we do, and
guys doing what we're doing who are are nowhere near
(05:59):
as accomplished as you guys are. So I don't know
what to believe. I don't know what the answers are.
But you know, as we've said a couple of times,
it's not a good look. And I don't know that
I'm that I feel pretty confident of it's not a
good look. Fixing it? What's next? I don't know. I
(06:22):
have no answers.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
I really don't, And I think labs.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
You know, when you kind of look at this, it's
tough when you've seen it one way for so long, right,
you know, we've always seen this defense come out hot
and just crush it early in the season, TJ flying
all over. Plays are being made, they're stifling, and then
the offense kind of picks its legs up, you know,
(06:50):
as the season gets going. But this is just a
different way of looking at it, where you're trying to
find where that silver lining is. And you know, week one,
it was the talent of Aaron through the air and
finding a multitude of different guys to contribute and to
(07:12):
make plays and passing for four touchdowns in the game.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
That was the bright spot.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
And then we go to week two and well, I
should also say special teams because that sixty yarder by
Boz was absolutely phenomenal. We get to week two, you
think you've got one one thing to put in your
back pocket, right, special teams.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
We don't have to worry about special teams.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Man, that we are good, And then you realize it's
not the specialist on the special teams because Corlus weightman
did his job.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Corlis flipped the field.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Amazingly and I'm just man, it was like he hit
the ball so perfectly on that sixty four yard I
was just so mad at rolled.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Into the end zone.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
But you look at the special team snaff fu on
the kickoff return. That's something that we did a week ago.
We turned them over on kickoff return. Now we turn
it over on kickoff so it felt like it just
flipped upside on his head. The run defense got marginally better,
but you still like you said, you list that that
(08:19):
big third and goal and the unabated on the toss
crack is just that that's a head scratcher. And then
Kenth Walker also burst on and had another twenty plus
yard run in the in the game, but you lock
up Zach Charbonnay, you effectively get two turnovers and Jalen
(08:42):
Ramsey getting his first turnover, Nick Herbig getting a turnover
as well.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
And you're like, man, okay, the splashes are there.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And in week one, the two fourth down conversion attempts
that were that were stopped by the Steelers defense. So
it's like you look for little bright spots in there,
But it's getting everybody to come together, right, It's getting
all the ingredients to just meld together. And then you
throw injuries in there, right, you know, you're you were
(09:14):
already down a man in your rotation on D line
with Derek Harmon being injurwed so now you're down to seven.
Now you lose Isaiah Laudima early in this game, and
it's literally just a six man rotation. You're when you're
used to having seven to eight. You lose Alex high Smith,
but you didn't have Nick herbig a week ago, so
they cancel each other out. And you also don't have
(09:36):
a Milie Harrison who could be that fourth filling guy,
inside outside guy. So it's just it was just like
so many like little things that are like, man, you know,
Murphy's law right now, whatever it could go wrong does
go wrong.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Whatever back could happen will happen.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
And it feels like Murphy's law right now with this team.
I think there's still a lot of talent. I just
think they just got to work a little bit harder
to communicate because a lot of it was just cleaning
up commun munication. I mean, I think about the Thornton
touchdown where or Horton Trey Horton, sorry, where he's running
that deep over route and you have three guys for
(10:12):
two guys it's two man route, but safety communication switching
off in the zone. They kind of they got discombobulated there.
The barner seemed touchdown the short one was the exact
same place that they ran in the middle of the
field with the royal to convert to keep the drive alive.
And it was they had learned from it because I
(10:34):
saw I saw Patrick que make the adjustment, I saw him.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
You know, when the running back went in.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Motion to the left, he signaled to Jack Sawyer, Jack,
you got that guy in the curl flat zone, I'm
taking your tight end and just came over in motion right.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
They switched places.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
But the trust of the communication is not all the
way there, because just like you said with Peyton Wilson,
you know, sorry, Alvaro talked about some communication.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
On its crack.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Same thing happened here where Pat just hold held his
eyes just a second too long to make sure that
that Jack got his assignment done and then tried to
go back and then boom the balls on him and
Barner has a touchdown and you know, Pat Queen's about
six inches too short on knocking that ball away, and
we have a different game. So it's just a little
things that I think a lack of preseason game time
(11:25):
play with a lot of the known guys out there
has just.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Kind of, you know, hurt them early on.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
And hopefully these are the two preseason games that we
could kind of write off when it comes to season time,
and that hopefully starting Week three, this team creates some
synergy that that's that's my hope.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
I mean, that's the only answer that I have when
I kind of look at it like that.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Yeah, and you know, Seattle didn't help the Steelers out
any either by not you know, missing some things that
you know, Darnold was accurate on those passes that you
dis So it's not like because sometimes guys will be open,
(12:07):
but the quarterback misses the throw or the receiver drops
the ball. You know, it doesn't always have to be
a play made by the defense to cause an incomplete pass.
So but as I said, you know, the Seahawks made
plays in the game that again, like I said, they
(12:29):
they didn't really give the Steelers any help. You know,
Seattle didn't have a lot of unforced airs if it
was a tennis match, uh, and a lot of times,
you know, that's the way you win unforced airs. So yeah,
I uh, you know, we were talking about Seattle on
the pregame show. You know one of the things I
thought about Seattle when you looked at him. I mean,
(12:51):
I don't really know that much about Seattle. They're in
the NFC and they're on the West Coast. But just
from the early you know, regular season talk about football
and stuff. You know, the two areas where the Seahawks
seem to be, you know, pretty decent. Was their defensive
line and their ability to run the football. And that's
(13:17):
a bad matchup for the Steelers right now to play
an opponent that's good on the defensive line and can
run the football.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
And I felt, Labs about the Jets going into that game.
That was their strength too.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
So I mean, yeah, like I said, the opponents haven't
really lined up to help the Steelers out with some
of this. You know, early season. You know, sometimes you
can count on the opponent to play September football, maybe
maybe even a little worse than you do, and you
can get out of the building with a win. But
(13:53):
you know, it didn't happen Sunday, And you know, at
this point, I don't know what so expect in Foxborough.
I don't know what I'm gonna see.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
It's a great question.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Yeah, yeah, you know, Labs, when you talk about Seattle,
first of all, we should remember they were a ten
and seven football team a year ago, seven and one
in the road, same record as this year. It's a
solid football team for sure, and they seem to have
somehow figured out how to win one o'clock East Coast games.
If you believe in those kind of statistics. They have
an incredible record traveling across the country, and that's supposed
(14:27):
to be tough for teams. It is a good football team.
And I do think you know, the throw Rogers made,
I just I'm still can't even explain it. I was
stunned that the throw he made, the Friar move down
the right sideline out of the pocket, I would hasten.
I don't know as any you know, how many guys
in the NFL could make that throw. But Pat didn't
(14:48):
come down with it. Later, Sam Darnold gets one on
one coverage and and he throws a ball to Jackson
Swift and Jig, but he does come down with it.
You know, you turn a ball over in the end zone,
you have a kick that you don't cover, and they
wind up getting a free seven. Those are the things
we we usually see. The Steelers come out on top.
You know, so, hey, this is kind of an ugly win.
(15:09):
But you know, Mike Tomlin is majored in ugly wins.
His his record in one score games is phenomenal because
he knows how to win him right. I mean, yeah,
it's it's hard for me to draw any other kind
of conclusion. So I do think that it was just
a game in which, you know, to some degree, if
some of those things have gone to steer this way,
we might be talking about a two and oh Steelers
(15:31):
team right now.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Yeah, and you know, but h and again, I agree
with what you're saying. And you know, the optimist in me,
you know, wants to wants to go with that. I'm
just hoping now that you know, in Max can speak
to this certainly better Rob than you or I being
a you know, being in the huddle, being in the
locker room, that kind of stuff. But you know, they
(15:56):
always say flush it in terms of the previous performance.
Let's hope that happens, because I mean, uh, you know,
once it happens once it's you know, it's misfortune or
however you want to describe it. Uh, it does happening twice.
Now you're looking at a trend or a characteristic and
(16:16):
if your your mind goes to the wrong place, you
know that then can even fester and and linger longer.
So uh, you know, I don't know how to you know,
because like I said, I don't know what I'm going
to see in Foxborough. I certainly hope that's not the
case in the minds of the players who are going
(16:36):
to be wearing the black helmets in Foxborough on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Well, and I think I think that's that That's what
you know makes this game beautiful but also frustrating, right Labs,
is that, well, you don't know what you're going to get,
and you know you would hope seven days later something
clicks or something sticks in the case of like a victory.
But this is that kind of terminal where you have
(17:06):
essentially fifty three guys trying to come together as one,
and sometimes it takes longer than others. But the fact
of the matter that you know they come into this
game one on one. You know there's still a lot
and you know I made this point. I said, Seattle
is not a common opponent and is also not a
(17:26):
conference opponent. That's the one thing you can glean from
that loss is that it doesn't hurt you in the
grand scheme of things, outside of just your numerical win
value coming up.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
So you know, for this team, everything is still in
front of them. They're one to zero in the AFC,
and that is that is a huge thing. They're just
zero to.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
One in an NFC non common opponent is the seventeenth
game type of opponent that they have because the division
that they're rotating with is the NFC North, So that's
what they'll be measured with against the rest of the
division when we're talking about slotting and playoffs and everything else.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
So you know, this one off game, if there was one.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
That mattered the least, if it was a loss, the
one thing you can at least say at least it
was Seattle.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
At least it was early in the season.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
And that's why I'm hoping that boom, we get back
to AFC talent, AFC matters, historical significance of playing against
the Patriots, that all of that kicks in at Foxborough,
and that and that this squad can rebound and like
you said, flush it and move on to the next week.
As a guy famously in New England to say, onto
(18:37):
the next game, you know that's what you want?
Speaker 4 (18:39):
You know, yes, and you know, thanks for I'll say this, Max,
I have taken two fairly large steps away from the
railing on the bridge since we started talking. And good.
But I'll tell you what on Sunday if you ask
me it and the one how you're feeling. I will
(19:02):
tell you I'm feeling very nervous and living in my
fears because that that is my personality, and so I've
learned to try to manage that on my own. But uh, yeah,
it was it was a bad it was a bad
game Sunday, and it's it's leading to somewhat of a
(19:22):
bad week. Uh to this point so far.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
Here here's Bob, I'm gonna leave you this. Here's the
one reason that I'm the most optimistic is I looked
at the move the moves the team made. You essentially
added three draft class picks from last year's class, because
those guys didn't play. One of them was the first round.
One of them was a third rounder. You had this
year's draft class, which I liked. You upgraded at the
(19:49):
quarterback position. You should be no worse on the offensive line.
You are better at the receiver position. I think you're
about the same at the running back position. We'll see
what the loss of Najie Harris means. I think you
improved your defensive line, you improved yourself at the cornerback position.
In other words, I still see this as the team
that was ten and seven a year ago and is
(20:10):
a better football team now, and I just so I'm
clinging to that and trying to wade through the whys
and why not as to why the team didn't play
that well against the Jets and certainly didn't play that
well against Seattle. I'm trying to push that aside because
I just think it's a ten and seven football team
(20:30):
that got better in virtually every area.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
I'll tell you what, Rob King, you may have a
future as a therapist, because you know that was that
was nicely stated and logically presented and made a lot
of sense.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
So let's just talk that.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
I will, I will, I will give my insurance card
to the receptionist on my way out, and I'll expect
I'll build for the cope and I'll pay for it.
Speaker 5 (21:04):
Labs are the best, man. Thank you very much for
spending time with us. Appreciate it, and we will see
you over on If we don't see on the south side,
we will see you uh soon, right, yep.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
It's possible, all rights talk to you guys.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
That's Tuesday with Labs, presented by UPMC, the official healthcare
provider and health plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and you know,
not far off from what everybody else is seeing, like
a little bit of trepidation. Now, Max are the one
and one football team, Like what do we have here?
I still go back to the fact that I think
they're a better team, but you know, some at some
(21:41):
point you have to prove it on the field. And
I have not seen the evidence of my beliefs displayed
in the first two games of the season.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, no, I mean and that, but that, but that,
that's that's the rocky road we travel at the beginning
of a season, right because everything seems great in the
preseason because you're with your threes or fours guys who
might not be every every game contributors moving into the
season and when you you know, a lot of the
(22:09):
NFL has adopted this.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
System of just we're not going to play our guys.
We're not going to play our guys.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
And right now those teams you know, are are are struggling,
and the teams that did play their guys, with the
exception of the Kansas City Chiefs that play guys are
are on are on the fast track. They're moving along
quicker with this season. So you know, it's just a
matter everything cyclical, and you know, you try and do
(22:39):
the best job that you can. But nobody can predict injuries.
If you could, you would make a lot of lot
of money if you could predict your and and that's
just that's the human element of it that you can't control.
You don't know how close something is to straining or popping.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
You don't know how close it is for some to
just give out on you. We don't know that.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
You know, if we did, you know we would be
playing with completely healthy people at all times.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
But that's that's the tough thing.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
You wonder where the run of injuries is going to go,
what position group is going to get hit, because we've
had one every year at different points throughout the season,
and so right now the defense is getting tested as
a whole.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
You know, you're down one, two.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Three starters, four starters, Sorry, you're down four starters right now.
And three of those four weren't even available to you
on game day on Sunday, and then we lost another
one during there.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
And obviously we'll see the extent after coming up.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
I mean, in what thirty five minutes, we'll here, we'll
go live to the Mike time with press conference and
we'll hear the assessment about where it is. But you know,
four starters, two key starters in waiting or second wave
guys that also we're injured in the game and all
of that just you know, it piles up and and
(24:04):
you know, we talked about this, the matchups did not
suit the Steelers. Teams that want to run the ball
have good run defense. We've gotten that in the first
two weeks. I don't think we're gonna have that in
week three, but you never know.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
And Can well he does. He does want to run the.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Football, but you know, the passing game, they're really trying
to see what Drake may has and I thought they
aired it out a little.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
Bit last week. And so we shall see.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I know I'll start my breakdowns tomorrow of the Patriots.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
And we're gonna we're gonna see. I mean, Riman J.
Stevenson is a is.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
A is a good back. I don't think he's a
great back, and I don't think the offensive line is
quite there. I know they're working on the on the
on the on the restructure of those guys, but I
also didn't think Seattle was good who was gonna be
able to run the ball effective?
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So I don't know, but I like to be optimistic.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
He's Max Starks Our thanks again to Bob Labriola. I'm
Rob King. You're inside in the locker room with King
and Starks, presented by our neighborhood Ford Store. Here on
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
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 5 (25:38):
And with Max Starks, I'm Rob King. We thank you
for being with us. It is time to go around
the NFL. Presented by your neighborhood Force Store. The F
one fifty is the official truck of the Pittsburgh The
others kind of did a little glance at you know,
what can we glean through two weeks of play, and
I suppose Max, we can we can start there and
(26:00):
you know, just do a quick run through and then
you know, then we'll take a look at some of
these games that are going to be really interesting this
week and just you know, kind of take a quick
glance at those as well. But you know, when I
look at the when I look at the NFL standings, right,
we mentioned this Buffalo two and o, right, but we
know they're good. Cincinnati to me surprising two and o
(26:21):
with the injury to Joe Burrow and how they were
able to overcome that LA Maybe they're one of those
teams that moves from that ten and seven nine and
eight type of class of team. Hey, we're good enough
to make the playoffs, but not really good enough to
contend to Hey, we are good enough to contend. We
(26:42):
are someone to be to be reckoned with. So we'll see.
I just don't see India two and o. I don't
know as anybody sees that in the NFC Philadelphia at
two and o, Green Bay at two and o, Tampa
Bay at two and o, and then the very intriguing
NFC West. And I think you know, as we as
(27:04):
we looked at this at the beginning of the year, Max,
I think we both said this is going to be
one of the most competitive divisions in football. Maybe not
that elite type of team, but San Francisco's two and oh,
Arizona's two and oh, the Rams are two and oh,
Seattle's one and one that's a that is a solid
(27:25):
conference as far as just you know, competitive and who's
going to win the division?
Speaker 2 (27:31):
No, it is and I think and also you know
that first month of the season, you know, is window
dressing or it can be you know, a launch pad.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
That's the other thing we don't know, you know. And
and that's.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
What you know as everybody starts to jocket those positions,
Like you said, I have to believe that Kensey is
not going to remain winless. First and foremost, I know
that there's going to be some adversity that that befalls
these two and oh teams that are starting.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
They're going to have have a lull at some point.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
And you know, you're never you know, And coach Kawr
said this best, and I said this after the game
on that tweet said Coach Cowr said it best. And
he always used to preach this to us. You're never
as good as you think you are, but never as
bad as they say. And I have to believe that
mantra that propels and pushes you in that direction, you know,
(28:26):
leads to that excellence.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
You know.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
It's the one phrase I saw on the wall on
a little poster when I was in fifth grade and
miss and Gardner's class at Princeton Elementary School in College Park, Florida,
it was you shoot for the moon and you land
amongst the stars, right, and that's.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
What you're all reaching for. Only one team is going
to reach the moon by the end of the season. Right.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
But along the way, if you can reach for the stars,
you've exceeded the expectations of Right now, the expectations don't
look great for the team. Looks like you can't even
get the rocket off the ground, right, it's failure to launch.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Right, But that's not the whole story.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
You have fifteen more games to go out there and
write your own story and prove your path. And in
the grand scheme of the season and the schedule, this
game mattered the least.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
This was the filler game. This was number seventeen. That
is true. So I kind of look at it from
that lens that you know it can be.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
I mean, I play, you know, in my experience just
seeing it, it's never as bad as it seems, and
it's never as good as you think it is. And
so you know, we kind of got the bitter pill, right,
you know, we got we got the good taste that
we can win a shootout in week one, you know,
we can win a game scoring high and then we
got the letdown this week of man, we can't, we can't.
(29:50):
We can't stop a nosebleed at this point. So you know,
I don't think either one or truly indicative of the team,
but I think both of those are very important in
the team's path because does it creates requisite experience and
for the amount of youth that we still have playing
on here Projerck had a new position, Troy really getting
his first time starting is the most games he's played.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
So far, for sure.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Uh in a season we can't forget me Zach Frazier still, Yeah, Zach,
Zach and.
Speaker 5 (30:16):
Mason are young, right, and you got is this early
in the season. To me, Max, reasons not excuses.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Now.
Speaker 5 (30:24):
If these are the problems in week six or seven,
then we then there are larger problems. But right now
I think it's easily explained away and reasonably explained the way.
It's not like you you have to make excuses for this.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
Yeah, no, you don't.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
And that's what I think it is, like people have
to and it's also putting it in perspective, right, Rob.
I think that's the other thing. When you put things
in perspective, it changes.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
How you view it. It changes the focus.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Right when you go when you go to the eye
doctor and you're getting that exam and they keep switching
those lenses to see, oh, this looks a little bit clearer,
this looks a little bit fuzzier. As they're adjusting the
dial to see where your vision is. That's the same thing.
This is just this is just perspective. We're switching the
lens so that you can see things clearly and that
it's not operating from a place of you know, straight
(31:15):
negativity or straight eternal optimism, and you fall somewhere in
between in reality, and the reality is there's things they
still need to work on and things that are not good.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Enough right now.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
But what's not good enough right now might not necessarily
be good enough later. As we heard that stat, right,
they were first in mistackles a year ago. Now they're
the worst in mistackles through two games. Through two games,
accumulative stat correct, And we're still accumulating. We have a
lot more to accumulate than we've already accumulated in this process.
(31:51):
So just it's just about providing that perspective, just to
see it soberly from that perspective, and you don't have
to be reaction to every little thing that happens. And
at the end of the day, it's just one game. Yes,
would you have loved to have had that victory, absolutely, absolutely,
But you learn more and a loss that you do
(32:13):
in victory, and that was apparent. We did not learn
as much from the victory carrying it into week two,
and it showed and now it.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Became a loss.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
So hopefully now the lesson takes and now you can
use that over these next five days to go and
attack it full head on and make your weakness now
a strength moving forward, or put the building blocks in
place to start working towards that.
Speaker 5 (32:38):
Totally agree with all that. So let's let's take a
look at at some of the key matchups this week
in the NFL, because I think we begin to get
an idea of where teams are and how good they
are as we start to see who's going to separate
themselves from the pack. So billst Off, I'm all over
(33:01):
the Bills in that one. That's the Thursday night game. Packers,
Browns all over the Packers, Colts Titans. Can you imagine
if the Colts start the season three now they're at Tennessee. Yeah, okay,
we have a little bit of a connection issue with Max,
(33:22):
so we'll get him reconnected. That would be an amazing
story because a lot of people thought the Colts would
be terrible, and they're two and oh and they're going
to visit zero and two Tennessee. That will be interesting.
One of the games of the week, for my money,
is the two and oho Bengals at the one to
one Vikings. The Vikings, you could almost draw parallel with
(33:44):
the Steelers. They didn't look good for a lot of
the game against Chicago and the opener, and they came
on late and whiskeda the game away from the Bears
and wound up winning the game. And then they did
not look good in week two. So they're one and one,
they're at home, and they're taking on the Bengals, And
of course that's a special interest too, because that's who
the Steelers will face after they get after this week,
(34:05):
they get home from Foxborough head out over to Ireland.
Before the buye they'll be taking on the Minnesota Vikings.
Steelers Patriots two one and one teams, and boy, the
huge difference psychologically and in the standings and in your
playoff hopes if you're two and one versus one and two.
So at New England, to me, it's one of the
(34:26):
games of the week just because you're trying to separate
teams out in New England would like one of that
handful of teams. It would like to think that they
took a big step forward in the offseason and ready
to you know, nobody's saying ready to compete for a
super Bowl, but maybe ready to compete for a playoff spot.
So that's and the Steelers are trying to kind of
shuck that off and get ready to compete with the
(34:46):
big boys. So interesting game going to Foxborough for that one.
The other the game of the week in the NFC,
and I think it's hard to say this isn't. The
game of the week in the NFL is the two
and oh Rams at the two and oh Eagles. And
when you look at Philadelphia, you know, it's easy to
(35:07):
remember back to Philadelphia looking invincible in the playoffs, just
steamrolling everybody. Well they kind of did, but they didn't
steamroll the Rams. The Rams are right there the Rams
had every opportunity to win that game. Uh. They are
a team that just always seems to be competitive. But
(35:30):
that Uh okay, So I do think that that Rams
Eagles game, Max, that might be the game of the week.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
No, I'm with you.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
I think I think that's going to be a heck
of a game and one that you know, kind kind
of how you talked about it like that was.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
That was a hotly contested game in Philly a year
ago in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Like the Eagles gave, the gave the Eagles, I'm sorry,
the Rams gave the Eagles.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
So the Eagles gave the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
The Rams gave the Eagles all they could handle and
it was a very tough matchup for them. And the
Rams were dealing with the aftermath of the fires in LA.
They had just played the Vikings in State Farm Stadium
in Phoenix a week before going back home and trying
(36:25):
to trying to wade through all of that emotionally, and
then you still and then you fly cross country to Philly.
It's gonna be very interesting to see a team that
has confidence that does not dealing with tragedy and a
lot of things going on around them that can distract
them very easily because life creeps in. So it's gonna
be really interesting to see how they play. And you know,
(36:46):
this Eagle squad is not the same Eagle squad.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
For a year ago.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
You know, when you win teams poach and they lost
a lot of guys. They still have a lot of
their main guys. But how does this new look Eagles
team really respond? Because we see what the new look
Rams are looking like already this year, and you listed
the addition of DeVante Adams to that to that crew,
and you throw them already with Puka Takua, who's a
(37:11):
heck of a young wide receiver, and man, it's a
recipe for a really good matchup.
Speaker 5 (37:16):
Right for sure? I think I think that's kind of
the one uh oh and two Jets at the two
and oh Buccaneers. I don't know is that interests me
to any large degree? The one and one Raiders at
the one and one Commanders, And again, I think every
one and one matchup max is fascinating to me because
(37:38):
one team is gonna feel really good about themselves coming
out and the other team's gonna be one and two
and not feeling that great about themselves.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
Yes, Uh, I completely agree, And you know, it's it's
tough because when you kind of look at it, these
are those games that just they start to separate, they
start to manifest, and for a team that's never had
(38:09):
successful before, it can take you down a very dark,
spiraling path. But if your team that can hold those
emotions in check and understand that it's just one week,
you know, those are the teams that usually end up
overcoming that, and then you start to see things start.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
To click together.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
So it's very interesting how this dynamic works, especially in
this game. It's gonna it's gonna be a fun one
to watch or.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
Keep an eye on. I should say, I agree.
Speaker 5 (38:34):
I think there's a I think there's a bunch of
them like that. Uh. I think the Broncos one in
one taking on the Chargers at two and zero is
another one. So by the way, the Texans at oh
and two take I skipped that game, didn't meant to
the Texans at oh and two taking on the Jaguars
and suddenly this feels like almost like a must win
(38:54):
game for the Texans.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
Oh. Absolutely, this is a musket must wit. I mean,
you know, when you look at where.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
The Texans have been the last two years they've owned
the AFC South, and they've had two really tough losses
in the first two weeks. So you have to feel
like something's got to break, something's got to break in
our favor. You know, they did a lot of retooling
in the off season, brought in a new offensive coordinator,
and they added all these new pieces. You got rid
(39:25):
of Tunsul and you know you got young guys in
the offensive line, you have some weapons. Uh you know, no,
no Joe Mixon. So insert Nick Chubb who who looked
looked good. I mean he had he had a nice
run last night, longest since since since his injury against
US in Week two, almost two years ago. And you
know you're like, okay, well he's getting back into rhythms.
(39:46):
So you know they're gonna go. And they take the lead.
They take the lead with very little time left, and
the Buccaneers figured out a way to get into the
end zone with six seconds left and take a one
point lead. That is that is just that's one of
those emotional just drainers. You know for Texas team that
(40:08):
has a lot of pride, You're playing at home, you're
in primetime football.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
You're you're, you're the you're, you're, you're the you're the
first first entree of that of the double header.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Dejure and man is rough, But you know, you got
to bounce back, and you got a divisional game, and
this game matters a lot more because you're you know,
Tampa Bay. That game mattered because it's a common opponent.
They're playing the NFC South, so you want to win those.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
But this is at a direct rival in your division,
and you've got to come away with something and blean
glean some hope in the process with a victory here.
You got to get your first.
Speaker 5 (40:47):
Victory, agreed. I mean that would that would be a
tough one. And then a game that I think is
really intriguing. You know a lot of people when we
looked at the AFC West, I think there's a feeling. Okay,
it might still be the Chiefs who have got to
start winning some games, but the Broncos and Chargers are
nipping at their heels. They are ready, they're yapping away,
(41:09):
teeth bared, and the Broncos are one and one, the
Chargers are two and oh. The game is in La,
A big, big game for both these teams.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Yeah. Oh, three in a row. Just think about that, Rob,
Three straight division games in a row for the Chargers.
That is man. I've never seen that before, but the
Chargers have answered the call so far.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
So you wonder if you can, if you can, if
you can go three and oh and go three and
oh in division, you have half of your division contests
already settled before we get out of September.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
How crazy is that? Rob? Yeah, that's wild. Yeah. And
and a team like us, like the Steelers, we don't
get that luxury.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Remember last year we get our first division into like
week eleven and the Chargers get three in the first
three weeks.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Like, what are you kidding me? It's wild?
Speaker 2 (42:10):
And they could take a commanding lead in this division
and they could potentially outpace the chiefs in this department
if they could go three and oh to Technically two
of those were at home, one was away. We're talking
about South Paulo Brazil being a home game, you know.
And yes, you have to make the daunting task of
(42:32):
going to Denver and going to Kansas City, and Kansas
City will be in December. But if I could go
three to zero in my division and three and oh
on the season. That's double dipping at its finest. Ye
forget about forget about the double play. They're going for
a triple play in the first three weeks of the season.
At the healthiest this team is going to be. I mean, yes,
(42:54):
you lost over Shaun Slater, but Joe Alt has looked
fantastic at left tackle right now.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
So man, that's just it's crazy to think.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
And like you said, yeah, everything's in front of them,
but you do have a young, hungry Denver team, and
you know, I'm not gonna I'm not I'm not gonna,
you know, give too much credence to the spat on
the sidelines with Bo and Sean Payton because frustrations run
high in the moment. But they are a good combo.
(43:23):
Nobody expected them to make the playoffs a year ago
and they surprised everybody jumping on the scenes. Now expectations
of reality are starting to kind of creep up to them.
But this would be a big feather in the imagine.
You could take down the Chargers if you're the dinner
for Broncos in so far right this early in the year, Like.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
That's so that's gonna be. That's gonna be a very
electric game to watch.
Speaker 5 (43:43):
And then just real quickly, just run through these Saints,
the Seahawks, Cowboys at the Bears, Cardinals at the forty
nine Ers, A pair of two and zero teams. That's
gonna be a fun one. The Chiefs have to win
a game, right They're at the Giants on Sunday Night
football and then another marquee matchup on Monday Night. We
could talk about these later the week. The Lions taking
on the Ravens around the NFL is presented by your
(44:04):
neighborhood Forard Store. The F one fifty is the official
truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Back to wrap things up
as you get you ready for the Mike Tomlin press conference,
a lot of injury news to get to when we
continue here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
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 5 (44:46):
And just a few moments left inside the locker room
and max I get the sense that you know, as
we've worked toward hump day, we're not over the hump yet,
but we're getting there. We're working up our optimism level
optimist pri uh to get ready for this game against
New England. I'm feeling better already. Are you feeling better already?
Speaker 3 (45:07):
You know I will be feeling better in a second
because it's the bell lap.
Speaker 5 (45:11):
Oh my goodness game.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
The early lunch warning system has been engaged. But I
encourage everybody to stick around for the Mike Tomlin press conference.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
But dude, you can double dip, you can multitask. Here,
you can go.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
You could have a sandwich in the hand and your
ear to the end, your ear to the Steelers audio
network at the same time.
Speaker 3 (45:30):
It works well.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
Heck, even go to a place that might welcome it
and play it over their airwaves. I don't know, but
you know you do want to hear that as well.
And it is lunchtime, so I just want to get that.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
Out the way. But you're right, I'm feeling better about it.
Speaker 2 (45:43):
And you know, I know it's just one game, and
I know that people want to extrapolate a lot from
a little but that's the reason why you need a
viable sample size, and for me, five weeks or five
games gives me that sample size that I want to
then start making assessments, start making doing more deeper analysis
because now you know what trends look like, and you
(46:03):
also know where the deficions are, what held, what didn't
hold for the squad. So really really okay with everything,
And we got a big matchup. You got, you got
to go to Boston, you got and you gotta take
a victory. Nobody's gonna give it to you. I think
the guys have learned that you've got to go and
you've got to snatch victory away from from all these
opponents that you play this season.
Speaker 5 (46:24):
He's Max Starks. I'm Rob Can. We want to thank
Alvaro Martin, the great play by play man on the
Spanish speaking broadcast for the Steelers. It's a Labs Tuesday,
so Bob Labriolo was with us, and of course we
want to thank Justin Miller, our producer, and you for
listening today Inside the Locker Room with King and Starks,
presented by your neighborhood Ford Store here on the Steelers
(46:44):
Audio Network.
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