September 5, 2025 • 43 mins
Missi Matthews joins Max and Rob as the gameday crew discuss their outlooks on Sunday and the upcoming season. Max and Rob also break down the defenses on each sideline.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Oh will you hear that sounder? You know who it is.
It is the one the only Sideline Reporter Extraordinary and
of course aka team Mom for the broadcasting crew, it's
Missy Matthews. How we doing today, Missy?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I'm good. I've missed that intro music. It's been a bit.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
So, yes it has.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
We have to ask you so so the Missy intro music.
So I'm uh, you know, obviously I'm a little new here, Missy.
The intro music supersedes the Optimist Prime.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
It does it does, it does have.
Speaker 5 (01:04):
I was waiting for the Optimist Prime and then you know,
Max jumpson and took things over here. Okay, yeah, no, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yeah, so so yeah, no, it's WEX Wednesday. You get
Mike the Cammell at the top of the hour, and
then of course with Missy, Missy gets her own hip
hop intro she is one of the few, along with
Jim Wexel, that's superseded optimists in doing his job. Okay,
so we make sure that we have those those are
those are two VIPs in the in the program.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
Fully understood.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Uh, Missy, Yeah, well you know, consider who you're with. So, uh,
you know, Missy, you know you've seen this team through
mini camps. You've seen this team through O T A,
you see eight O t as, you saw the team
in training camp in the preseason. You know, in your
(01:57):
television duties with Katie k Ash point out.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Now you're back with you're not better?
Speaker 4 (02:04):
No, no, no, no no. If you heard that in
my voice, that might just might have been a coffee.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
Going down the wrong way.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
So, Missy, what are your what's your sort of overall
feel of kind of the vibe of this team for
lack of a better word, just going into this twenty
twenty five season.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
What is the sense you're getting?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
So I feel like I am not normally not an
overly optimistic person when it comes to football, but heading
into every week one, there is excitement, whether you try
to downplay it or not.
Speaker 6 (02:42):
I will say, however, going through all of the previous
off season things that you had mentioned, particularly training camp,
I can't help but not be optimistic and feel.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
That the vibes are high for the team overall. There's
just there's something about the.
Speaker 7 (03:01):
Additions that they added of Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey,
Darius Slade, just a million people that somehow make me
feel optimistic about both sides of the ball improving and
getting to where they want to be and not having
(03:21):
you know, a repeat of last season where things start
well but then they go downhill fast and you can
just feel it.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
For whatever reason, I can't really give you an exact
pinpoint reason why. There's just something about the chemistry that
has been built. I think you know coach Tomlin preaches it.
They go away to Latrobe. It is a tradition, but
it is because you build the team chemistry, the off
the field things that can sometimes help you get through
(03:49):
some really tough, difficult, crappy situations that could hit you
during a season.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
I have to tell you, Mac, I want to say
this real quick, because I'm glad you said that. I'm
just gonna I'm just gonna say this. I'll probably say
it several times throughout the course of the season. And
I've said it already. I am mystified by how nobody
I have seen, nobody picked the Steelers for the postseason.
(04:17):
Somebody said they saw one prognosticator pick them for the postseason.
And I was listening to a podcast that said it
could be anywhere from you know, losing season to the
super Bowl, that there's a wide range of outcome with
the students, wider than most teams. I guess I understand that.
I guess if you if you want to, you know,
(04:38):
if you want to go with those sort of wide
ranges as you can. But I'm just I don't understand it.
I think they're better almost everywhere across the board. They're
better at some very important positions. They short up their weaknesses.
I think a lot of their weaknesses have been handled.
And I don't think this is a one year thing.
I think they were better last year than they were
(04:58):
two years ago. I think it's uh And I again,
you know a lot of times, you know, so I
think there's when you're looking at for baseball, for example,
guys like I think there's you know, things are skewed
a little bit right. The attention goes on the Red
Sox and the Yankees. There's not gonna be much attention
paid to the pirates. Even with national guys, there's gonna
(05:20):
be like, okay, whatever, and they may not see that
something's building there. But with football, I think it's a
little different because, you know, it's with everything involved with
fan bases and fantasy football and gambling and all these things,
people are parsing and looking into every little aspect of
a team. With that having been said, I'm just I'm
(05:43):
I'm surprised that you know, this is a ten and
sevent team that I think got better. So I don't know, Missie,
I'm glad to hear that there's a lot of optimism
on the team.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yeah, and I kind of like the you know, not
touting them as like, hey, their destined to be in
the super Bowl. There's something about this underdog mentality and
I know the players have changed over the years, but
there's just something about it that works for this team.
And obviously coach Tomlin has not changed. It's like that
year they went into Cincinnati Week one, everyone thought they
(06:17):
were going to lose. Coach Tomlin got everybody the Black
Air Force one. He set the tone. They went out there,
they took care of business. There's something about it that
I do like in terms of that, and as you said,
just the upgrades that they have made. Watching the game
last night before I fell asleep during the weather delay,
I was thinking, man, but the Eagles missed Darius Lay
(06:38):
a little bit right now, you know, And I'm like, hey,
we have them and that's a good thing. And of
course rosters changed across the league every season, but I
just think that, as you said, the upgrade cannot be
understated in terms of the experience, the skill level, and
how it is allowing the team on both sides of
(07:00):
the ball to do and hopefully accomplish what they're trying
to accomplish.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
No, I think it is. And I think Missy, you
know you've been there all week. You you've been around
the practice facility. What's what what's just the vibe kind
of you know, is the is the business focus side
now kicking in for the team? Are still staying a
little loose getting ready for this knowing that the seasons
(07:27):
upon us. Uh, What's what's just the general temperature in
the locker room going into this game.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I think it's a little bit of both. I think
it's like, Hey, it's finally game week. We're finally going
to put all of our starters out on the field.
This one counts. We have a chance to, you know,
show what we have been working so hard at. I
think there is that excitement. Even Aaron Rodgers, who has
basically said, like I'm excited because it's week one, I'm
(07:55):
not excited. You know, everyone wants it to be well,
you're going back to play the team that cut you
this offseason, and he's not gonna He's not gonna bite
on that. And I truly think even when you talk
to his teammates, he maybe maybe in the back of
his mind cares a little bit. He's not letting onto
it at all. And I truly think it's more I
want to prove that I can still play, and I
(08:17):
want to prove that what we have worked on with
this team, that we can be a great offense, that
we can do big things. And you can just tell
his excitement of being around this team, Coach Tomlin, just everybody,
his teammates. He genuinely seems happy. And I think that
is contagious. And I mean we saw Jalen Ramsey, Joey Porter,
(08:39):
and Darius slay Big, every single defensive coach and coach
Tomlin to go back in the game in Charlotte, So
they're ready to go too.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Yeah, And I you know, again we've sort of talked about,
you know what those what those guys bring. And you know,
Aaron Rodgers, you know, I think if you're a young player,
you know, your eyes are popping out right, You're like,
whoa man? You know, this is the guy that I
you know, from the time I was a little kid,
I was watching this guy play. If you're a young corner,
(09:13):
you're looking at Jalen Ramsey and you know, as he
was described by Andy Widel in a pregame press conference
before the home preseason game, this guy's a future Hall
of Famer. And I love the attitude that those guys bring.
They bring a certain something that I think you have
to have. You have to be a veteran to have
(09:37):
almost invariably, and Max you can probably speak to this too,
like just that veteran.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
You know.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
The swagger, I guess is a word that's used a lot,
but whatever you want to say, I think that can
lift the team up.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
And I think they've got guys they brought in guys
that can do.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
That, and they have and I think that's where when
you think of this team now a year later or
a year further along, you see it in the depth.
The depth has veteran layers throughout every facet. Remember this
(10:14):
used to be, oh, this is the youngest offense you
know in the league. The oldest leader was Pat Fryarmouth
and Naji Harris, remember those days. And then we saw
a shift last year and you know, Russell Wilson was
that guy that came in and justin fields. They were
a little bit more experienced, but they didn't have experience here.
(10:35):
And now we've gotten even more experience. Now you have
a John new Smith, you have a DK Metcalf, you
have a Can gain Well, you have a more cross
section of experienced guys in this room. You have a
Calvin Anderson and Andrews Pete on the offensive line. You
have guys who are more been there, done that guys
on the offensive side. To add to an Aaron Rodgers.
(10:58):
So it's not just one guy that's older and is
the grizzled veteran on this team. You have the middle
tier age bracket of guys on this offense. It's got
to give you a sense. And then defensively as well.
It's not just TJ and Cam leading the way. You
have a leader in a Jalen Ramsey. You have guys
(11:19):
like Brandon Eccles who's won a Super Bowl on their
Juan Thorn Hill. You know, you have more. And the
depth of this team, I feel is so much better.
Missy and we kind of talked, and we've talked about
this throughout the off season, Kinger and Missy, we've had
this guy like, man, this looks a lot different. This
feels a lot different when you watch it. But now
it's now it's for real. Now it's for real, and
(11:41):
now it's not hyperbole. But we now get to see
the full complement of the eleven guys that are listed
as starters playing on the offense. We could see the
eleven guys as listed on defense. We don't have eighteen
guys sitting out of a game anymore. Now it's all
we got forty six dressing and guess what, the only
guys that are going to be out are really healthy
(12:02):
scratches essentially, you know, and that's the guys that are
not allowed to play. And you know, we have a
Derek Harmon sitting there. He's probably the only one that's
a buggaboo that's been ruled out. But when you look
at the other pieces that you have, it's like, hey,
the cavalry's coming. You know, it's okay, We're okay. The
cavalry is coming in, and we're gonna get to see
that come Sunday afternoon, you know in MetLife Stadium, you.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Know, miss and I would imagine the veteran guys, even
the cams and the TJ. Watts, would welcome that. They
would welcome other veteran guys. You can come in and
take some of that leadership mantle.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Absolutely. I think they were voted team captains for obvious reasons.
But TJ. Watt has said he has gotten more comfortable
using his voice as he's gotten older. But he's not
a raw, raw guy. He is more like, this is
how I work out, this is how I take care
of my body. As me questions, I'll help you type
a deal. And I think they implemented and added some
(13:05):
people that are a little bit different in terms of leadership.
And I think leadership can be described multiple ways. It's
almost which kind of leadership do you need for the
group that you have, and we've gone through all of
the additions, and it is really crazy when you think
about if you sat there and listed every single person
through free agency trades, even Chuck Clark. You know that
(13:28):
was a training camp edition. So I do think it's
interesting the makeup of the team. I feel like omar
Con the GM has preached since the very early portions
of the off season they're looking for Steelers players. He
can't really describe it, but you know what it is,
and I think everybody does know what it is, and
you feel that. And there's a reason why a Jalen Ramsey,
(13:49):
who the Steelers took out for a pro day dinner,
knew they were never going to get them, even though
he was number one for them on their draft boards
for cornerback and safety. But you had a chance to
do business with him, and you build that relationship, and
he was ecstatic to come here, and it makes sense
that they gravitated towards each other when the opportunity was
(14:11):
finally there.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
I also, you know, when you talk about building a roster,
and you know these sort of thoughtful acquisitions, you do
wonder if you know, look, Jan Thornhill's won two super Bowls.
Jalen Ramsey's won a super Bowl, Kenneth Gainwell has won
a Super Bowl, Darius Slay has won a Super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (14:34):
Aaron Rodgers has won a Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
I don't know if this is something that has been done,
you know, purposefully, or it is something that you know,
you're just looking for Steelers kind of players. But I
don't think, Missy, that it can hurt having that super
Bowl vibe around, because that is what everybody on this
(14:57):
team wants to accomplish. And by the way, that includes
the veteran guys on the team that we've been talking
about that have already been here, who have also not
won a Super Bowl and are looking to get to
the promised Land.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Yeah there, I mean, there's no negative to it. I
think it's even why they brought in Isaac Sayumalu a
few seasons ago. He won a Super Bowl before he
came here. He is that grizzly veteran offensive line guy
who has worked with some of the best of the best,
who is one of the best himself and can help
the young guys that they have surrounded him with. You know,
(15:31):
that's a tall task, and again you talk about leadership style.
They said, he's not yelling at people on the field,
he's not saying this or that, but when they get
into a meeting room, he's breaking things down, he's helping
guys out, he's letting them know things in the locker room.
That's his leadership style. But it's definitely needed when you have,
you know, two guys who are very young going into
(15:52):
their second year and then two guys who are really
really starting at the positions they were drafted to play
for the first time this year. So it will be interesting,
to say the least, But it does make sense that
to your point, Rob, that Superbowl experience is not a
bad thing to have, and it does feel like you
could go through almost every position and there is somebody
(16:13):
who has that.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
And I think even more so, like you know, just
having that voice right missy in your in your ear,
that's had success, that's had that's had it, that that
could have an influence on what you do and they're
still contributing. I think sometimes it's like it's tough to
hear it when there's a guy that's maybe sitting on
(16:37):
the business a backup try trying to motivate you from
the sidelines, but No, you've got a guy in the
huddle with you breaking it down that has that experience
and that is that is a guidestone for a lot
of for a lot of these young guys out here
trying to achieve what they've they've achieved, and you're also
trying to help them get back to that promised land
that they've talked about. Right. It's it's like it's like
(16:59):
the old pirate that has a mat with the big
red ex aud It's like I saw it because I
put this ex here, but I got to get back
to it, and I need your help. I need your ship. Right.
You know, you have that kind of mentality that that
that breeds, that breeds uh, you know, a confidence and
it gives credibility to it versus a team that just
doesn't know. I mean, we look at a lot of
(17:21):
teams that have that that don't know and you wonder, Okay,
a lot of talent, but they just don't know what
to do because there's no guidance. The Steelers don't have
that kind of excuse as well, or I should say
they don't have that that that lack of a guide.
They have those guides and you have them at multiple layers.
(17:41):
You have them in each of your position rooms. That
knows what that feels like. So now it's not an
unknown or this this this variable that you can't quantify.
It's been quantified. They could wear the rings in the
facility and show you what that what that quantification looks like.
It's not it's not like, oh man, we're looking at
the old guys doing it right. You know. For us,
(18:02):
when I first came in, you know, we were looking
at the seventies guys and all the rings that they had,
and like you're like, man, you know, we hope to
get one of those things one of those days, and
then we finally become those guys. But now there's been
that disconnect from that type of opportunity. So now those
other guys come in now through free agency to be
able to hopefully bolster and support what they're trying to do.
(18:25):
It's a fun process. I'm just I'm so excited, man.
I cannot wait to get to New York, you know,
and see what this team's been working on and to
start the journey of this eighteen week, seventeen game regular season,
and then to see do you get the Golden ticket?
As I like to call it, missus, the Willy Wonka
(18:46):
Golden ticket to the playoffs, and only seven out of
sixteen get them on each conference. And you want to
see this team who's done it the last two years.
We've done it through all kinds of crazy situations. Five
for starting quarterbacks. But this is where the journey begins.
And you hope that you're one of those teams yet
again and.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Still hirate map references, Willy Wonka, I mean, you have
me fired up on a Friday, I am. I'm actually
I love one o'clock games, but I cannot imagine if
this game was not at one o'clock, I would be
up way too early doing nothing in a hotel room
waiting for the game. So I'm glad that it's like
wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, go to the stadium,
(19:27):
because I also can't wait to see all the the
new wrinkles and the differences that we see with the
new chess pieces and what they're trying to do.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Yeah, and Missy Max is like he's meant to whack
a mole for me.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Like he says, he says something, and like nineteen thoughts
sprout up in my mind. So Willie Wonka Golden ticket, Yeah,
all that stuff. Are you ready to join us for
some radio Missy?
Speaker 3 (19:53):
I am. I'm glad to be back with my guys.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Thank you, and we're happy. We're happy you're back. Missy.
We need it, needed your guidance.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
We we we brought it up yesterday. How you're are
maybe it was to it was two days ago. How
you bailed this out again? H I mentioned this? Uh
Max that.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
You know, we know there's no Yan team, so we're
we're going to officially change missy spelling to M T
e A M S s t e a M pronounced missy.
It's like one of those Gaelic words we'll see over
in Ireland. Wait a minute, how do you pronounce that word?
Speaker 2 (20:27):
So?
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Uh missy, Missy. Thank you so much for everything, much
much appreciated.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
You got it. That's why we have the.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
Yes led by led by my team Smith team. Uh,
miss thank you, Missy.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Throw take care.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
Can't wait, cannot wait.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
We got a football game, man, regular season football game
Jets and Steelers. We're gonna get to much more of
the breakdown of this game and the matchups when we
continue inside the locker room with King and Starks. Enter
by your neighborhood Ford Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward 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 5 (21:31):
And Missy Stark's leading us off this hour.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Getting the crew back together, Max and we're all going
to be there on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Is the
Steelers getting ready to open up against the New York Jets.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
Can't wait one little business.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
I just wanted to get to briefly because we talked
about the Steelers special teams and I just mentioned this
again briefly. Young punter and Austin McNamara for the Jets.
The big two big things to keep an eye on.
Nick Folk, the most accurate kicker in the NFL the
last two years. Each of the last two seasons he
led the league in field goal percentage. He comes in
(22:08):
to join a team that had the worst field goal
percentage in the NFL a year ago. That's going to
be an upgrade for the Jets. So keep in mind
that last year. You know, a team that misses almost
thirty percent of their field goals is going to be
much better. And just one name for fans out there
to keep in mind, and that's Kenna wan Wu and
(22:28):
kanay wan Wu is a kick returner. He has four
kick return touchdowns in the last three years, four and
it's and it's not with a huge amount of chances.
I would expect he's going to be their primary kick
returner along with probably Xavier Gibson, who averaged twenty eight
point eight yards per kickoff return last year.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
So keep in mind they have a guy.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
And when you are max a team looking to pull
an up set, they have a guy that can help
you on your way. You know, if and and again
this there's gonna be slight favorites in this game. You're
the underdog. You're thinking, can we win the turnover battle?
Can we and again it's so hard to tell favorite
uh underdogs in the year, but can you win the
turnover battle? Can you make something happen on special teams?
(23:17):
Those are the kind of things every team is looking for,
but which can tip the scales certainly when you're an underdog.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Oh, they absolutely can special teams. Is it's that unwritten,
un talked about game changer. Is field position matters so much?
And what can a dynamic returner do flip the field
for you? No matter how dynamic you know a kicker
might be, that returner has the ability to neutralize that
(23:48):
that that skill set. And I think with the dynamic
kickoff rule being the way that it is, they're trying
to promote that because they want more points scored, right,
they want more action they want but in seats they
don't want, you know, concession line building moments in a football.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
Game, right, No, they don't. They don't want to.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Stadiums might want that a little bit, but uh so, Max,
we've talked a little bit about this Jets defense. We
haven't talked as much about how the Steelers will attack
him and what the plan might look like. The only
thing we can tell you is that Aaron Rodgers has
looked good. Reports are he's looked good. Ben Roethlisberger was
(24:34):
up at camp. He said he looks good. Ryan Clark
was up in camp. He says he looks good again.
Not just Steelers media, not just Steelers coaches, not just
Steelers teammates saying he looked good. He made a throw
yesterday to DK matc Metcalf I was like, whoa man,
I think that. You know, I was standing behind him
(24:55):
that went down the sideline. Yeah, I was standing with
Charlie Batch and and I was like, I don't even know.
I didn't say it's Charlie, but I thought, I don't
even know how many guys would try to throw that pass.
Guy was he was, he was not open, you know,
the expecsion he threw him open. Incredible throw, you know,
(25:19):
I look, a lot of people were calling for Jail
and Warren to get more touches, and Arthur Smith asked
about that, you know, you know, look, you don't want
to take for granted what Nage did.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Nag answered the bell.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
So we're gonna see maybe more balanced with Warren and
Gainwell and Caleb Johnson. I think again, just to give
you my thumbnail, I think Darnel Washington is due to
make take another big step forward. I would not be
surprised if he finds a touchdown, finds the end zone
on a few different occasions. And you know, Pat Fryermuth
(25:50):
has been so good and so steady and so consistent.
Don't forget about Johnny Smith. You know, people say, well
this Deelers didn't you know, didn't do enough for the receiving. Well,
they upgraded with DK Metcalf over George Pickens. As you
alluded to earlier, you get Roman Wilson, who missed all
of last year. Third round pick. You're adding a third
round pick to this mix. Essentially you throw john Us
(26:13):
Smith into the deal with the Calvin Austins and the
other guys. You have back John Smith at eighty eight
catches from a year ago. I am intrigued. I do
not expect to see the finished product on Sunday against
the Jets, but I am intrigued to see what this
Aaron Rodgers led offense can do, not only in Week one,
(26:35):
but moving forward this season.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah, the next iteration, right, the next step in the
progress of a team, and this will be the first
board meeting or you know, check in with how that
progress looks personnel wise, matching what you know we think
it to be. And like I said, you think you
have depth until you really test that depth. But at
(27:00):
the end of the day, you've got to go out
and play the games to test said depth, and we're
going to get that opportunity to see, Okay, what have
we done to expand we've seen some previews, we've gotten
the appetizer course, right, but we haven't seen the main entree.
And this is what this is going to be an
opportunity for us to see what a main entree could
(27:22):
look like from the Steelers, what they went and acquired,
how does it mix with everything else that's already currently
on the team. I am I am in that mold
that you've got. You got to show me. You know,
I'm not from Missouri, but I believe in the show
me state and this team has a lot to show.
(27:44):
But I think they have a lot to offer as well.
And that's why I think that's why we have this
cautious optimism because, like you said, this team looks better
than it did a year ago. This is the most
depth I've seen in you know, my five seasons back
on the broadcast team. And this is what you can't
(28:05):
You can't really overstate enough that you feel good now.
Other times, you know, yeah, you feel good, but it's
kind of like where's the other shoe? Gonna drop it?
And listen, there's plenty of shoes to drop. But I
feel more optimistic at this point than I did any
(28:25):
of the other points. The other ones, you have cautious
and kind of nervous, misplaced optimism at times throughout the year,
but this one is like, no, I've felt this feeling
before and I don't know where, And usually good things
happen when you have this type of feeling. That's what
I'm kind of getting the beginning of those, and I
(28:46):
don't I don't want to sit there and try and
oversell this, but there are some very good things on
this team, and I just want to make sure that
I'm referencing and creating, as you say through my words,
a very tempered emotion, but yet it's an excitable emotion,
(29:09):
like I can't wait for Sunday to get here. I
could say that there was a couple of times where
I was like, man, I wish there was an extra
day here, which there was was can they get thirty
six hours? Can we get like a can we can
we get a delay? You know? I mean, you know
sometimes those COVID rules didn't really hurt, you know, you
get those type of moments, But I think this is
(29:31):
this is one where man, I can't I can't wait
to see Aaron Rodgers throw the football because of what
I've seen in training camp. I can't wait for DK
to make those catches Like you just saw what was
that Thursday's practice. I think it was was that was
it was? Was that sideline throw. I can't wait for that.
I can't wait for that seven shots when he hit
he hit Pat Fryarmouth on the on the back on
(29:52):
the inline drag route and pierced it between two defenders
only where Pat could catch it, and Pat gets three
steps in before he goes out about I can't wait
for those moments. I can't wait for a Jalen Warren,
you know, pinball style bounce between the tackles and explode
out the gates. I can't wait. You're like, I'm looking
(30:13):
forward to those things because I've kind of gotten the
previews of them and now I want to see it
for the rest of the world to understand why I
feel the way that I feel. Does that make sense?
Speaker 4 (30:23):
Oh? I mean yes, it absolutely makes sense. I totally
agree with you. I just think this is you know,
and again I just go back to I go back
to this Max, you know, two years ago going up
to Buffalo for a playoff game.
Speaker 5 (30:40):
You know, I'm thinking no chance.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
Really, They're just wasn't any They're just they just weren't
good enough. They weren't as good as the Bills last year. Yeah,
you lost down the stretch. But I remember going in
and talking, you know, we're talking to the Ravens broadcasters
for the game, and well, like, I can't believe the
line in this game is this gonna be another three
point game? Well it wasn't a three point game. And
you didn't measure up against the Ravens and the Eagles
(31:06):
and the Chiefs for that matter, down the stretch, and
that three games in eleven day stretch. No excuses about
the schedule. You just weren't good enough. It's just that simple.
Speaker 5 (31:15):
Now.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
Having said that, you know you you pitched the ball
the Nagy in Philadelphia late in the third quarter, marching
in to tie the game after a horrendous start. Naji,
in one of the rare times we ever saw him
in a Steelers uniform, just simply fumbles, Just drop the football.
Philadelphia recovers, and then that the five three and outs
with which you began that game caught up to you. Right,
(31:38):
But you were in there with the with the world champions,
you know, Baltimore, you talk about a Murphy's Law game.
Everything possibly that could go wrong went wrong, and yet
you march the ball in the fourth quarter into their
territory with a chance to come down and tie the
game or take it was tie they I think it
was tie the game at that point.
Speaker 5 (31:59):
You know, then an off.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Side, Yeah, there's a penalty on Brodrick, and then some
other things happened, and then you know, so the scores
wound up being worse. Then I think the games indicated.
But just the eye test told you that this team
that couldn't really compete, and we saw blowout losses going
back three or four years ago. Those are not happening.
(32:22):
Was the team good enough last year? No, we saw
the proof down the stretch they weren't good enough. Were
they better than they were two years ago? I absolutely
think they were. Were they better two years ago than
they were three years ago? Yes, I think they were.
I think this is a team that is getting better,
that's gotten better, and they I think they took another
big step this offseason. So everything you said, Max, Yes,
(32:45):
I cannot wait for the twenty twenty five Steelers I
think they're I think they're a very overlooked team. But again,
we'll see, right, we will see.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Yeah, we will see. Hey, we had we have we
have time, not on our side, but we have time
ticking away till we get that opportunity to really see
what this team is going to be. And and like
you said, I I have cautious optimism and I have
a belief in this team. You know that that they're
gonna go out there and put their best foot forward.
(33:19):
And once again I cautioned everybody, it's week one. It
is week one, and we saw it last night, So
don't expect this to be, oh man, you know we're
going to be a forty points scoring team. No, I'm
not saying that. I'm just saying this team is going
to compete. The games that we're going to see from
them are going to reflect that. And we are going
(33:40):
to have a squad that's that's that's gonna that that's
gonna be something that we're going to be happy about
seeing play because I love the depth, I love the desire.
It's just going to be about execution and making sure
that they show up you know, every week. I believe
they'll be ready in lather to play us about execution
(34:01):
and getting used to each other as teammates. That's the
biggest adjustment.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
You can win every game three to two, as far
as I'm concerned. But also by the way typical Max,
we go from rolling Stones. Time is on our side.
The time is ticking away Pink Floyd within one sentence,
I don't even know if there's a comment between them.
Lots to think about, can't wait. The time is ticking.
We are getting ready for the opener. Haven't even talked
about the Steelers defense. We will try to get to
(34:27):
that quickly as they face this Jets offense. When we continue,
inside the Locker Room with King and Starks presented by
your neighborhood Ford Store.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
This is in the locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one point fifty is the official truck of
the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it
direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at
shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 5 (35:02):
And man, are we fired up? Inside the locker room?
Speaker 4 (35:04):
We got a game week the Steelers visiting the New
York Jets. You never know what you're gonna see in
Week one. The Steelers have been installed as early favorites,
but not a lot of national optimism for what the
Steelers can get done. That's okay, fly in under the radar.
We wanted to take a look max at the Steelers
defense and the Jets and how they might match up.
(35:27):
And one of the things that I really like as
I look at the matchup is, again we've sort of
talked about this, No, no Elijah vera Tucker for the Jets.
That's a big blow to them. But Joe Tipman's a
nice player. He performed well at guard before they moved
him back to center in his rookie season when he
was pressed into duty. Josh Myers is a three year
starter plus for the Green Bay Packers at the center position.
(35:52):
My assumption is at some combination of those guys will
step forward. You still have bookend first round offensive line,
you know, or I should say offensive tackles on either
side of the formation. But I just think this is
a team that's going to try to take high Smith
out of the game and Watt out of the game,
and those edge rushers out of the game. Jam it
(36:14):
down your throat, Now, the Steelers don't have Harmon. The
Jets don't have Elijah Vera Tucker. But what the Jets
do have is they have justin fields. They have a
stable of running backs. The Steelers went out because of
the problems we saw at the end of the year
stopping to run against elite running teams. They went out
in the offseason to add to Benton, Hayward and Loudermilk.
(36:40):
They pick up a qualite who started every game last year.
He played for New England, Oda Maywell, who's a veteran guy.
You get Logan Lee back, another guy like and Tana
played that one game that was lost to injury, you know,
last year, so he's basically a new starter. You get
Logan Lee back on that defensive line, six round pick
(37:00):
from a year ago who was an arrow up guy,
appeared to be before he got hurt. H Then you
add Ya Black, who already looks like a steal from
what we've seen in camp. Now le's see him in action.
Looks like he could be a real fine in the
fifth round. In other words, Max, they have shored up
this defensive line to prevent what happened from happening again
(37:23):
last year. In Baltimore, and I think the Jets are
going to try to do exactly what Baltimore did. They're
going to try to do the same thing. And I
think it's going to be an instant taught, instant test
for this revamp defensive line of the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Absolutely, it's gonna see did you learn from them from
the mistakes of the past, and what have you learned?
And think about this. Also, Justin Fields was on this
team a year ago. He knows a lot of the
personnel he's going to be facing, so that's an advantage
for him. But I think also Aaron Rodgers also knows
the personnel that was the just the year ago, so
(37:59):
but your Corey. So I feel like that kind of
is a moot point and probably give a little advantage
to Aaron because Aaron played the whole season last year
with the team, whereas Justin had six games. I think
Aaron Curry over there on the defense side of the
ball is a guy that's gonna have reference points because
he was one of our linebacker coaches a year ago
(38:21):
and was on this it was a coach for a
couple of years here, so he kind of knows. Also
the identity and kind of the tendencies of Arrel Austin,
so he's probably he's probably feeding that to the offensive
side of the ball, trying to give the keys that
he knows to him. So there's a lot of like
crossover and and that also leads to another complication that
you're gonna have to deal with. You know, how do
(38:43):
you change up some of the signals and some of
the calls so that you could disguise them so that
Ac isn't feeding that to them or Justin is not
paying attention to those things. Those are the things that
you're gonna have to kind of mitigate throughout the process
of this game as you play this chess match against
the Jets. But the test is the test. At the
end of the day, whether it's open book or not,
(39:04):
you still got to fill in the answers, you still
got to read through, and you still gotta gotta finish
what you start. And so that's where the beauty of
this game is is that all these other side informations
are great. It's great cannon fodder, it's a great cliff
notes to have, but we all know reading cliff notes
(39:24):
versus reading the actual book or two different things, and
that's what you're getting here. So you're getting cliff notes
right now to get you ready.
Speaker 4 (39:29):
Absolutely, And just one last thing I wanted to point out.
You know when you talk about hey, new team, new season,
new quarterback facing his old team, that's what the students is.
Speaker 5 (39:41):
Well, the Jets are saying the same thing.
Speaker 4 (39:43):
Man, they got the they even got a new coaching
but Field is facing his old team. It's like Aaron
Rodgers is the big story. And I get it because
Aaron Rodgers Aaron Rodgers. But you know, hey, you want
revenge on the Jets, Well, Justin Fields might be thinking
the same kind of thing. But the last thing I
would say about this Jets team is that even though
I think they want to be a ground and pound team,
they do have three real playmakers that can take the ball,
(40:07):
take a little bit of opportunity and go a long
way with it. And I'm gonna include Fields in that,
and then Brees Hall at the running back position, and
Garrett Wilson, whose receptions have gone from eighty three to
ninety five to one oh one to twenty twenty two
Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 5 (40:25):
Again.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
We talked about Kane wan Wu in the return game.
You know, maybe he breaks one for the Jets and
they're they're happy, and that's something that they think can
tilt the balance. You got to make this Jets team
earn it. You can't let one of those game breaking
guys break the game.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
No, you can't. You have to mitigate the explosive plays
and you have to keep them in front of you because,
like you said, if you give those guys a little
bit of surface room, it's going to cause a problem.
And you know, if you're the Jets as well, you're like, hey,
we can't let dk Metcalf bully us. We can't let
Aaron pass the ball all over the yard on us
(41:04):
because we had this you know better, as I quoted
the stat earlier. You know, this is pretty decent pass defense.
But it was like, because everybody ran on us, and
we can't let Jalen Warren take advantage of his newfound responsibility.
You can't give him confidence because I can tell you what,
if he gets confidence, it's gonna be a long day
for that Jets defense running around trying to play whack
(41:25):
the mole with him.
Speaker 4 (41:26):
Max, I cannot wait, really looking forward to it. We're
gonna have it for for those listening, we are going
to have it and never forgotten, and of course long
time listeners to the locker room, We're gonna have a
tribute to Wolf in the pregame show. Looking forward to
that and looking forward to some some NFL Steelers football.
(41:48):
I want to thank the other person who's gonna be
joining us in the broadcast, Missy Matthews, Missy Matthews of
the Year today.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Yeah. Now we're excited to have Missy back in the fold.
We've now pulled her back from the from the trappings
of television, and now she will be back in our
radio broadcast circle of trust. We are so excited to
have Missy back. And of course it's gonna be a
fun game even though I love having Ramone. Ramone was
awesome pinch hitter, you know for us, and his season
started off last weekend Tennessee got their victory down in Atlanta.
(42:21):
So a lot of well wishes to Ramone as his
first year as the color commentator for the Tennessee Balls.
But we're here for NFL football now, so we can't wait.
Only what two sleeps left? Two sleeps left till we
have game day, So sweep, I'm really excited.
Speaker 5 (42:38):
Gave it. By the way I got it. Got a
quick listen to Ramone.
Speaker 4 (42:40):
He's talking about his basketball play playing days back in
the day, so we have to ask, we have to
get the skinny on that from from Ramone. Foster uh
calling the game with the with Tennessee. So great to
have him looking forward to uh to being back on
H on the Students Broadcast Network on Sunday as the
Students get ready to take on the New York Jets.
(43:02):
We thank you for listening inside the Locker Room with
King and Starks, presented by our neighborhood Ford Store here
on the Steelers Audio Network
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Oh will you hear that sounder? You know who it is.
It is the one the only Sideline Reporter Extraordinary and
of course aka team Mom for the broadcasting crew, it's
Missy Matthews. How we doing today, Missy?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I'm good. I've missed that intro music. It's been a bit.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
So, yes it has.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
We have to ask you so so the Missy intro music.
So I'm uh, you know, obviously I'm a little new here, Missy.
The intro music supersedes the Optimist Prime.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
It does it does, it does have.
Speaker 5 (01:04):
I was waiting for the Optimist Prime and then you know,
Max jumpson and took things over here. Okay, yeah, no, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yeah, so so yeah, no, it's WEX Wednesday. You get
Mike the Cammell at the top of the hour, and
then of course with Missy, Missy gets her own hip
hop intro she is one of the few, along with
Jim Wexel, that's superseded optimists in doing his job. Okay,
so we make sure that we have those those are
those are two VIPs in the in the program.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
Fully understood.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Uh, Missy, Yeah, well you know, consider who you're with. So, uh,
you know, Missy, you know you've seen this team through
mini camps. You've seen this team through O T A,
you see eight O t as, you saw the team
in training camp in the preseason. You know, in your
(01:57):
television duties with Katie k Ash point out.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Now you're back with you're not better?
Speaker 4 (02:04):
No, no, no, no no. If you heard that in
my voice, that might just might have been a coffee.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
Going down the wrong way.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
So, Missy, what are your what's your sort of overall
feel of kind of the vibe of this team for
lack of a better word, just going into this twenty
twenty five season.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
What is the sense you're getting?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
So I feel like I am not normally not an
overly optimistic person when it comes to football, but heading
into every week one, there is excitement, whether you try
to downplay it or not.
Speaker 6 (02:42):
I will say, however, going through all of the previous
off season things that you had mentioned, particularly training camp,
I can't help but not be optimistic and feel.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
That the vibes are high for the team overall. There's
just there's something about the.
Speaker 7 (03:01):
Additions that they added of Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey,
Darius Slade, just a million people that somehow make me
feel optimistic about both sides of the ball improving and
getting to where they want to be and not having
(03:21):
you know, a repeat of last season where things start
well but then they go downhill fast and you can
just feel it.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
For whatever reason, I can't really give you an exact
pinpoint reason why. There's just something about the chemistry that
has been built. I think you know coach Tomlin preaches it.
They go away to Latrobe. It is a tradition, but
it is because you build the team chemistry, the off
the field things that can sometimes help you get through
(03:49):
some really tough, difficult, crappy situations that could hit you
during a season.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
I have to tell you, Mac, I want to say
this real quick, because I'm glad you said that. I'm
just gonna I'm just gonna say this. I'll probably say
it several times throughout the course of the season. And
I've said it already. I am mystified by how nobody
I have seen, nobody picked the Steelers for the postseason.
(04:17):
Somebody said they saw one prognosticator pick them for the postseason.
And I was listening to a podcast that said it
could be anywhere from you know, losing season to the
super Bowl, that there's a wide range of outcome with
the students, wider than most teams. I guess I understand that.
I guess if you if you want to, you know,
(04:38):
if you want to go with those sort of wide
ranges as you can. But I'm just I don't understand it.
I think they're better almost everywhere across the board. They're
better at some very important positions. They short up their weaknesses.
I think a lot of their weaknesses have been handled.
And I don't think this is a one year thing.
I think they were better last year than they were
(04:58):
two years ago. I think it's uh And I again,
you know a lot of times, you know, so I
think there's when you're looking at for baseball, for example,
guys like I think there's you know, things are skewed
a little bit right. The attention goes on the Red
Sox and the Yankees. There's not gonna be much attention
paid to the pirates. Even with national guys, there's gonna
(05:20):
be like, okay, whatever, and they may not see that
something's building there. But with football, I think it's a
little different because, you know, it's with everything involved with
fan bases and fantasy football and gambling and all these things,
people are parsing and looking into every little aspect of
a team. With that having been said, I'm just I'm
(05:43):
I'm surprised that you know, this is a ten and
sevent team that I think got better. So I don't know, Missie,
I'm glad to hear that there's a lot of optimism
on the team.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Yeah, and I kind of like the you know, not
touting them as like, hey, their destined to be in
the super Bowl. There's something about this underdog mentality and
I know the players have changed over the years, but
there's just something about it that works for this team.
And obviously coach Tomlin has not changed. It's like that
year they went into Cincinnati Week one, everyone thought they
(06:17):
were going to lose. Coach Tomlin got everybody the Black
Air Force one. He set the tone. They went out there,
they took care of business. There's something about it that
I do like in terms of that, and as you said,
just the upgrades that they have made. Watching the game
last night before I fell asleep during the weather delay,
I was thinking, man, but the Eagles missed Darius Lay
(06:38):
a little bit right now, you know, And I'm like, hey,
we have them and that's a good thing. And of
course rosters changed across the league every season, but I
just think that, as you said, the upgrade cannot be
understated in terms of the experience, the skill level, and
how it is allowing the team on both sides of
(07:00):
the ball to do and hopefully accomplish what they're trying
to accomplish.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
No, I think it is. And I think Missy, you
know you've been there all week. You you've been around
the practice facility. What's what what's just the vibe kind
of you know, is the is the business focus side
now kicking in for the team? Are still staying a
little loose getting ready for this knowing that the seasons
(07:27):
upon us. Uh, What's what's just the general temperature in
the locker room going into this game.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I think it's a little bit of both. I think
it's like, Hey, it's finally game week. We're finally going
to put all of our starters out on the field.
This one counts. We have a chance to, you know,
show what we have been working so hard at. I
think there is that excitement. Even Aaron Rodgers, who has
basically said, like I'm excited because it's week one, I'm
(07:55):
not excited. You know, everyone wants it to be well,
you're going back to play the team that cut you
this offseason, and he's not gonna He's not gonna bite
on that. And I truly think even when you talk
to his teammates, he maybe maybe in the back of
his mind cares a little bit. He's not letting onto
it at all. And I truly think it's more I
want to prove that I can still play, and I
(08:17):
want to prove that what we have worked on with
this team, that we can be a great offense, that
we can do big things. And you can just tell
his excitement of being around this team, Coach Tomlin, just everybody,
his teammates. He genuinely seems happy. And I think that
is contagious. And I mean we saw Jalen Ramsey, Joey Porter,
(08:39):
and Darius slay Big, every single defensive coach and coach
Tomlin to go back in the game in Charlotte, So
they're ready to go too.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Yeah, And I you know, again we've sort of talked about,
you know what those what those guys bring. And you know,
Aaron Rodgers, you know, I think if you're a young player,
you know, your eyes are popping out right, You're like,
whoa man? You know, this is the guy that I
you know, from the time I was a little kid,
I was watching this guy play. If you're a young corner,
(09:13):
you're looking at Jalen Ramsey and you know, as he
was described by Andy Widel in a pregame press conference
before the home preseason game, this guy's a future Hall
of Famer. And I love the attitude that those guys bring.
They bring a certain something that I think you have
to have. You have to be a veteran to have
(09:37):
almost invariably, and Max you can probably speak to this too,
like just that veteran.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
You know.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
The swagger, I guess is a word that's used a lot,
but whatever you want to say, I think that can
lift the team up.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
And I think they've got guys they brought in guys
that can do.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
That, and they have and I think that's where when
you think of this team now a year later or
a year further along, you see it in the depth.
The depth has veteran layers throughout every facet. Remember this
(10:14):
used to be, oh, this is the youngest offense you
know in the league. The oldest leader was Pat Fryarmouth
and Naji Harris, remember those days. And then we saw
a shift last year and you know, Russell Wilson was
that guy that came in and justin fields. They were
a little bit more experienced, but they didn't have experience here.
(10:35):
And now we've gotten even more experience. Now you have
a John new Smith, you have a DK Metcalf, you
have a Can gain Well, you have a more cross
section of experienced guys in this room. You have a
Calvin Anderson and Andrews Pete on the offensive line. You
have guys who are more been there, done that guys
on the offensive side. To add to an Aaron Rodgers.
(10:58):
So it's not just one guy that's older and is
the grizzled veteran on this team. You have the middle
tier age bracket of guys on this offense. It's got
to give you a sense. And then defensively as well.
It's not just TJ and Cam leading the way. You
have a leader in a Jalen Ramsey. You have guys
(11:19):
like Brandon Eccles who's won a Super Bowl on their
Juan Thorn Hill. You know, you have more. And the
depth of this team, I feel is so much better.
Missy and we kind of talked, and we've talked about
this throughout the off season, Kinger and Missy, we've had
this guy like, man, this looks a lot different. This
feels a lot different when you watch it. But now
it's now it's for real. Now it's for real, and
(11:41):
now it's not hyperbole. But we now get to see
the full complement of the eleven guys that are listed
as starters playing on the offense. We could see the
eleven guys as listed on defense. We don't have eighteen
guys sitting out of a game anymore. Now it's all
we got forty six dressing and guess what, the only
guys that are going to be out are really healthy
(12:02):
scratches essentially, you know, and that's the guys that are
not allowed to play. And you know, we have a
Derek Harmon sitting there. He's probably the only one that's
a buggaboo that's been ruled out. But when you look
at the other pieces that you have, it's like, hey,
the cavalry's coming. You know, it's okay, We're okay. The
cavalry is coming in, and we're gonna get to see
that come Sunday afternoon, you know in MetLife Stadium, you.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Know, miss and I would imagine the veteran guys, even
the cams and the TJ. Watts, would welcome that. They
would welcome other veteran guys. You can come in and
take some of that leadership mantle.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Absolutely. I think they were voted team captains for obvious reasons.
But TJ. Watt has said he has gotten more comfortable
using his voice as he's gotten older. But he's not
a raw, raw guy. He is more like, this is
how I work out, this is how I take care
of my body. As me questions, I'll help you type
a deal. And I think they implemented and added some
(13:05):
people that are a little bit different in terms of leadership.
And I think leadership can be described multiple ways. It's
almost which kind of leadership do you need for the
group that you have, and we've gone through all of
the additions, and it is really crazy when you think
about if you sat there and listed every single person
through free agency trades, even Chuck Clark. You know that
(13:28):
was a training camp edition. So I do think it's
interesting the makeup of the team. I feel like omar
Con the GM has preached since the very early portions
of the off season they're looking for Steelers players. He
can't really describe it, but you know what it is,
and I think everybody does know what it is, and
you feel that. And there's a reason why a Jalen Ramsey,
(13:49):
who the Steelers took out for a pro day dinner,
knew they were never going to get them, even though
he was number one for them on their draft boards
for cornerback and safety. But you had a chance to
do business with him, and you build that relationship, and
he was ecstatic to come here, and it makes sense
that they gravitated towards each other when the opportunity was
(14:11):
finally there.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
I also, you know, when you talk about building a roster,
and you know these sort of thoughtful acquisitions, you do
wonder if you know, look, Jan Thornhill's won two super Bowls.
Jalen Ramsey's won a super Bowl, Kenneth Gainwell has won
a Super Bowl, Darius Slay has won a Super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (14:34):
Aaron Rodgers has won a Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
I don't know if this is something that has been done,
you know, purposefully, or it is something that you know,
you're just looking for Steelers kind of players. But I
don't think, Missy, that it can hurt having that super
Bowl vibe around, because that is what everybody on this
(14:57):
team wants to accomplish. And by the way, that includes
the veteran guys on the team that we've been talking
about that have already been here, who have also not
won a Super Bowl and are looking to get to
the promised Land.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Yeah there, I mean, there's no negative to it. I
think it's even why they brought in Isaac Sayumalu a
few seasons ago. He won a Super Bowl before he
came here. He is that grizzly veteran offensive line guy
who has worked with some of the best of the best,
who is one of the best himself and can help
the young guys that they have surrounded him with. You know,
(15:31):
that's a tall task, and again you talk about leadership style.
They said, he's not yelling at people on the field,
he's not saying this or that, but when they get
into a meeting room, he's breaking things down, he's helping
guys out, he's letting them know things in the locker room.
That's his leadership style. But it's definitely needed when you have,
you know, two guys who are very young going into
(15:52):
their second year and then two guys who are really
really starting at the positions they were drafted to play
for the first time this year. So it will be interesting,
to say the least, But it does make sense that
to your point, Rob, that Superbowl experience is not a
bad thing to have, and it does feel like you
could go through almost every position and there is somebody
(16:13):
who has that.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
And I think even more so, like you know, just
having that voice right missy in your in your ear,
that's had success, that's had that's had it, that that
could have an influence on what you do and they're
still contributing. I think sometimes it's like it's tough to
hear it when there's a guy that's maybe sitting on
(16:37):
the business a backup try trying to motivate you from
the sidelines, but No, you've got a guy in the
huddle with you breaking it down that has that experience
and that is that is a guidestone for a lot
of for a lot of these young guys out here
trying to achieve what they've they've achieved, and you're also
trying to help them get back to that promised land
that they've talked about. Right. It's it's like it's like
(16:59):
the old pirate that has a mat with the big
red ex aud It's like I saw it because I
put this ex here, but I got to get back
to it, and I need your help. I need your ship. Right.
You know, you have that kind of mentality that that
that breeds, that breeds uh, you know, a confidence and
it gives credibility to it versus a team that just
doesn't know. I mean, we look at a lot of
(17:21):
teams that have that that don't know and you wonder, Okay,
a lot of talent, but they just don't know what
to do because there's no guidance. The Steelers don't have
that kind of excuse as well, or I should say
they don't have that that that lack of a guide.
They have those guides and you have them at multiple layers.
(17:41):
You have them in each of your position rooms. That
knows what that feels like. So now it's not an
unknown or this this this variable that you can't quantify.
It's been quantified. They could wear the rings in the
facility and show you what that what that quantification looks like.
It's not it's not like, oh man, we're looking at
the old guys doing it right. You know. For us,
(18:02):
when I first came in, you know, we were looking
at the seventies guys and all the rings that they had,
and like you're like, man, you know, we hope to
get one of those things one of those days, and
then we finally become those guys. But now there's been
that disconnect from that type of opportunity. So now those
other guys come in now through free agency to be
able to hopefully bolster and support what they're trying to do.
(18:25):
It's a fun process. I'm just I'm so excited, man.
I cannot wait to get to New York, you know,
and see what this team's been working on and to
start the journey of this eighteen week, seventeen game regular season,
and then to see do you get the Golden ticket?
As I like to call it, missus, the Willy Wonka
(18:46):
Golden ticket to the playoffs, and only seven out of
sixteen get them on each conference. And you want to
see this team who's done it the last two years.
We've done it through all kinds of crazy situations. Five
for starting quarterbacks. But this is where the journey begins.
And you hope that you're one of those teams yet
again and.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Still hirate map references, Willy Wonka, I mean, you have
me fired up on a Friday, I am. I'm actually
I love one o'clock games, but I cannot imagine if
this game was not at one o'clock, I would be
up way too early doing nothing in a hotel room
waiting for the game. So I'm glad that it's like
wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, go to the stadium,
(19:27):
because I also can't wait to see all the the
new wrinkles and the differences that we see with the
new chess pieces and what they're trying to do.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Yeah, and Missy Max is like he's meant to whack
a mole for me.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Like he says, he says something, and like nineteen thoughts
sprout up in my mind. So Willie Wonka Golden ticket, Yeah,
all that stuff. Are you ready to join us for
some radio Missy?
Speaker 3 (19:53):
I am. I'm glad to be back with my guys.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Thank you, and we're happy. We're happy you're back. Missy.
We need it, needed your guidance.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
We we we brought it up yesterday. How you're are
maybe it was to it was two days ago. How
you bailed this out again? H I mentioned this? Uh
Max that.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
You know, we know there's no Yan team, so we're
we're going to officially change missy spelling to M T
e A M S s t e a M pronounced missy.
It's like one of those Gaelic words we'll see over
in Ireland. Wait a minute, how do you pronounce that word?
Speaker 2 (20:27):
So?
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Uh missy, Missy. Thank you so much for everything, much
much appreciated.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
You got it. That's why we have the.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
Yes led by led by my team Smith team. Uh,
miss thank you, Missy.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Throw take care.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
Can't wait, cannot wait.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
We got a football game, man, regular season football game
Jets and Steelers. We're gonna get to much more of
the breakdown of this game and the matchups when we
continue inside the locker room with King and Starks. Enter
by your neighborhood Ford Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward 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 5 (21:31):
And Missy Stark's leading us off this hour.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Getting the crew back together, Max and we're all going
to be there on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Is the
Steelers getting ready to open up against the New York Jets.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
Can't wait one little business.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
I just wanted to get to briefly because we talked
about the Steelers special teams and I just mentioned this
again briefly. Young punter and Austin McNamara for the Jets.
The big two big things to keep an eye on.
Nick Folk, the most accurate kicker in the NFL the
last two years. Each of the last two seasons he
led the league in field goal percentage. He comes in
(22:08):
to join a team that had the worst field goal
percentage in the NFL a year ago. That's going to
be an upgrade for the Jets. So keep in mind
that last year. You know, a team that misses almost
thirty percent of their field goals is going to be
much better. And just one name for fans out there
to keep in mind, and that's Kenna wan Wu and
(22:28):
kanay wan Wu is a kick returner. He has four
kick return touchdowns in the last three years, four and
it's and it's not with a huge amount of chances.
I would expect he's going to be their primary kick
returner along with probably Xavier Gibson, who averaged twenty eight
point eight yards per kickoff return last year.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
So keep in mind they have a guy.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
And when you are max a team looking to pull
an up set, they have a guy that can help
you on your way. You know, if and and again
this there's gonna be slight favorites in this game. You're
the underdog. You're thinking, can we win the turnover battle?
Can we and again it's so hard to tell favorite
uh underdogs in the year, but can you win the
turnover battle? Can you make something happen on special teams?
(23:17):
Those are the kind of things every team is looking for,
but which can tip the scales certainly when you're an underdog.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
Oh, they absolutely can special teams. Is it's that unwritten,
un talked about game changer. Is field position matters so much?
And what can a dynamic returner do flip the field
for you? No matter how dynamic you know a kicker
might be, that returner has the ability to neutralize that
(23:48):
that that skill set. And I think with the dynamic
kickoff rule being the way that it is, they're trying
to promote that because they want more points scored, right,
they want more action they want but in seats they
don't want, you know, concession line building moments in a football.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
Game, right, No, they don't. They don't want to.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Stadiums might want that a little bit, but uh so, Max,
we've talked a little bit about this Jets defense. We
haven't talked as much about how the Steelers will attack
him and what the plan might look like. The only
thing we can tell you is that Aaron Rodgers has
looked good. Reports are he's looked good. Ben Roethlisberger was
(24:34):
up at camp. He said he looks good. Ryan Clark
was up in camp. He says he looks good again.
Not just Steelers media, not just Steelers coaches, not just
Steelers teammates saying he looked good. He made a throw
yesterday to DK matc Metcalf I was like, whoa man,
I think that. You know, I was standing behind him
(24:55):
that went down the sideline. Yeah, I was standing with
Charlie Batch and and I was like, I don't even know.
I didn't say it's Charlie, but I thought, I don't
even know how many guys would try to throw that pass.
Guy was he was, he was not open, you know,
the expecsion he threw him open. Incredible throw, you know,
(25:19):
I look, a lot of people were calling for Jail
and Warren to get more touches, and Arthur Smith asked
about that, you know, you know, look, you don't want
to take for granted what Nage did.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Nag answered the bell.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
So we're gonna see maybe more balanced with Warren and
Gainwell and Caleb Johnson. I think again, just to give
you my thumbnail, I think Darnel Washington is due to
make take another big step forward. I would not be
surprised if he finds a touchdown, finds the end zone
on a few different occasions. And you know, Pat Fryermuth
(25:50):
has been so good and so steady and so consistent.
Don't forget about Johnny Smith. You know, people say, well
this Deelers didn't you know, didn't do enough for the receiving. Well,
they upgraded with DK Metcalf over George Pickens. As you
alluded to earlier, you get Roman Wilson, who missed all
of last year. Third round pick. You're adding a third
round pick to this mix. Essentially you throw john Us
(26:13):
Smith into the deal with the Calvin Austins and the
other guys. You have back John Smith at eighty eight
catches from a year ago. I am intrigued. I do
not expect to see the finished product on Sunday against
the Jets, but I am intrigued to see what this
Aaron Rodgers led offense can do, not only in Week one,
(26:35):
but moving forward this season.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah, the next iteration, right, the next step in the
progress of a team, and this will be the first
board meeting or you know, check in with how that
progress looks personnel wise, matching what you know we think
it to be. And like I said, you think you
have depth until you really test that depth. But at
(27:00):
the end of the day, you've got to go out
and play the games to test said depth, and we're
going to get that opportunity to see, Okay, what have
we done to expand we've seen some previews, we've gotten
the appetizer course, right, but we haven't seen the main entree.
And this is what this is going to be an
opportunity for us to see what a main entree could
(27:22):
look like from the Steelers, what they went and acquired,
how does it mix with everything else that's already currently
on the team. I am I am in that mold
that you've got. You got to show me. You know,
I'm not from Missouri, but I believe in the show
me state and this team has a lot to show.
(27:44):
But I think they have a lot to offer as well.
And that's why I think that's why we have this
cautious optimism because, like you said, this team looks better
than it did a year ago. This is the most
depth I've seen in you know, my five seasons back
on the broadcast team. And this is what you can't
(28:05):
You can't really overstate enough that you feel good now.
Other times, you know, yeah, you feel good, but it's
kind of like where's the other shoe? Gonna drop it?
And listen, there's plenty of shoes to drop. But I
feel more optimistic at this point than I did any
(28:25):
of the other points. The other ones, you have cautious
and kind of nervous, misplaced optimism at times throughout the year,
but this one is like, no, I've felt this feeling
before and I don't know where, And usually good things
happen when you have this type of feeling. That's what
I'm kind of getting the beginning of those, and I
(28:46):
don't I don't want to sit there and try and
oversell this, but there are some very good things on
this team, and I just want to make sure that
I'm referencing and creating, as you say through my words,
a very tempered emotion, but yet it's an excitable emotion,
(29:09):
like I can't wait for Sunday to get here. I
could say that there was a couple of times where
I was like, man, I wish there was an extra
day here, which there was was can they get thirty
six hours? Can we get like a can we can
we get a delay? You know? I mean, you know
sometimes those COVID rules didn't really hurt, you know, you
get those type of moments, But I think this is
(29:31):
this is one where man, I can't I can't wait
to see Aaron Rodgers throw the football because of what
I've seen in training camp. I can't wait for DK
to make those catches Like you just saw what was
that Thursday's practice. I think it was was that was
it was? Was that sideline throw. I can't wait for that.
I can't wait for that seven shots when he hit
he hit Pat Fryarmouth on the on the back on
(29:52):
the inline drag route and pierced it between two defenders
only where Pat could catch it, and Pat gets three
steps in before he goes out about I can't wait
for those moments. I can't wait for a Jalen Warren,
you know, pinball style bounce between the tackles and explode
out the gates. I can't wait. You're like, I'm looking
(30:13):
forward to those things because I've kind of gotten the
previews of them and now I want to see it
for the rest of the world to understand why I
feel the way that I feel. Does that make sense?
Speaker 4 (30:23):
Oh? I mean yes, it absolutely makes sense. I totally
agree with you. I just think this is you know,
and again I just go back to I go back
to this Max, you know, two years ago going up
to Buffalo for a playoff game.
Speaker 5 (30:40):
You know, I'm thinking no chance.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
Really, They're just wasn't any They're just they just weren't
good enough. They weren't as good as the Bills last year. Yeah,
you lost down the stretch. But I remember going in
and talking, you know, we're talking to the Ravens broadcasters
for the game, and well, like, I can't believe the
line in this game is this gonna be another three
point game? Well it wasn't a three point game. And
you didn't measure up against the Ravens and the Eagles
(31:06):
and the Chiefs for that matter, down the stretch, and
that three games in eleven day stretch. No excuses about
the schedule. You just weren't good enough. It's just that simple.
Speaker 5 (31:15):
Now.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
Having said that, you know you you pitched the ball
the Nagy in Philadelphia late in the third quarter, marching
in to tie the game after a horrendous start. Naji,
in one of the rare times we ever saw him
in a Steelers uniform, just simply fumbles, Just drop the football.
Philadelphia recovers, and then that the five three and outs
with which you began that game caught up to you. Right,
(31:38):
But you were in there with the with the world champions,
you know, Baltimore, you talk about a Murphy's Law game.
Everything possibly that could go wrong went wrong, and yet
you march the ball in the fourth quarter into their
territory with a chance to come down and tie the
game or take it was tie they I think it
was tie the game at that point.
Speaker 5 (31:59):
You know, then an off.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Side, Yeah, there's a penalty on Brodrick, and then some
other things happened, and then you know, so the scores
wound up being worse. Then I think the games indicated.
But just the eye test told you that this team
that couldn't really compete, and we saw blowout losses going
back three or four years ago. Those are not happening.
(32:22):
Was the team good enough last year? No, we saw
the proof down the stretch they weren't good enough. Were
they better than they were two years ago? I absolutely
think they were. Were they better two years ago than
they were three years ago? Yes, I think they were.
I think this is a team that is getting better,
that's gotten better, and they I think they took another
big step this offseason. So everything you said, Max, Yes,
(32:45):
I cannot wait for the twenty twenty five Steelers I
think they're I think they're a very overlooked team. But again,
we'll see, right, we will see.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Yeah, we will see. Hey, we had we have we
have time, not on our side, but we have time
ticking away till we get that opportunity to really see
what this team is going to be. And and like
you said, I I have cautious optimism and I have
a belief in this team. You know that that they're
gonna go out there and put their best foot forward.
(33:19):
And once again I cautioned everybody, it's week one. It
is week one, and we saw it last night, So
don't expect this to be, oh man, you know we're
going to be a forty points scoring team. No, I'm
not saying that. I'm just saying this team is going
to compete. The games that we're going to see from
them are going to reflect that. And we are going
(33:40):
to have a squad that's that's that's gonna that that's
gonna be something that we're going to be happy about
seeing play because I love the depth, I love the desire.
It's just going to be about execution and making sure
that they show up you know, every week. I believe
they'll be ready in lather to play us about execution
(34:01):
and getting used to each other as teammates. That's the
biggest adjustment.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
You can win every game three to two, as far
as I'm concerned. But also by the way typical Max,
we go from rolling Stones. Time is on our side.
The time is ticking away Pink Floyd within one sentence,
I don't even know if there's a comment between them.
Lots to think about, can't wait. The time is ticking.
We are getting ready for the opener. Haven't even talked
about the Steelers defense. We will try to get to
(34:27):
that quickly as they face this Jets offense. When we continue,
inside the Locker Room with King and Starks presented by
your neighborhood Ford Store.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
This is in the locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one point fifty is the official truck of
the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it
direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at
shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 5 (35:02):
And man, are we fired up? Inside the locker room?
Speaker 4 (35:04):
We got a game week the Steelers visiting the New
York Jets. You never know what you're gonna see in
Week one. The Steelers have been installed as early favorites,
but not a lot of national optimism for what the
Steelers can get done. That's okay, fly in under the radar.
We wanted to take a look max at the Steelers
defense and the Jets and how they might match up.
(35:27):
And one of the things that I really like as
I look at the matchup is, again we've sort of
talked about this, No, no Elijah vera Tucker for the Jets.
That's a big blow to them. But Joe Tipman's a
nice player. He performed well at guard before they moved
him back to center in his rookie season when he
was pressed into duty. Josh Myers is a three year
starter plus for the Green Bay Packers at the center position.
(35:52):
My assumption is at some combination of those guys will
step forward. You still have bookend first round offensive line,
you know, or I should say offensive tackles on either
side of the formation. But I just think this is
a team that's going to try to take high Smith
out of the game and Watt out of the game,
and those edge rushers out of the game. Jam it
(36:14):
down your throat, Now, the Steelers don't have Harmon. The
Jets don't have Elijah Vera Tucker. But what the Jets
do have is they have justin fields. They have a
stable of running backs. The Steelers went out because of
the problems we saw at the end of the year
stopping to run against elite running teams. They went out
in the offseason to add to Benton, Hayward and Loudermilk.
(36:40):
They pick up a qualite who started every game last year.
He played for New England, Oda Maywell, who's a veteran guy.
You get Logan Lee back, another guy like and Tana
played that one game that was lost to injury, you know,
last year, so he's basically a new starter. You get
Logan Lee back on that defensive line, six round pick
(37:00):
from a year ago who was an arrow up guy,
appeared to be before he got hurt. H Then you
add Ya Black, who already looks like a steal from
what we've seen in camp. Now le's see him in action.
Looks like he could be a real fine in the
fifth round. In other words, Max, they have shored up
this defensive line to prevent what happened from happening again
(37:23):
last year. In Baltimore, and I think the Jets are
going to try to do exactly what Baltimore did. They're
going to try to do the same thing. And I
think it's going to be an instant taught, instant test
for this revamp defensive line of the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Absolutely, it's gonna see did you learn from them from
the mistakes of the past, and what have you learned?
And think about this. Also, Justin Fields was on this
team a year ago. He knows a lot of the
personnel he's going to be facing, so that's an advantage
for him. But I think also Aaron Rodgers also knows
the personnel that was the just the year ago, so
(37:59):
but your Corey. So I feel like that kind of
is a moot point and probably give a little advantage
to Aaron because Aaron played the whole season last year
with the team, whereas Justin had six games. I think
Aaron Curry over there on the defense side of the
ball is a guy that's gonna have reference points because
he was one of our linebacker coaches a year ago
(38:21):
and was on this it was a coach for a
couple of years here, so he kind of knows. Also
the identity and kind of the tendencies of Arrel Austin,
so he's probably he's probably feeding that to the offensive
side of the ball, trying to give the keys that
he knows to him. So there's a lot of like
crossover and and that also leads to another complication that
you're gonna have to deal with. You know, how do
(38:43):
you change up some of the signals and some of
the calls so that you could disguise them so that
Ac isn't feeding that to them or Justin is not
paying attention to those things. Those are the things that
you're gonna have to kind of mitigate throughout the process
of this game as you play this chess match against
the Jets. But the test is the test. At the
end of the day, whether it's open book or not,
(39:04):
you still got to fill in the answers, you still
got to read through, and you still gotta gotta finish
what you start. And so that's where the beauty of
this game is is that all these other side informations
are great. It's great cannon fodder, it's a great cliff
notes to have, but we all know reading cliff notes
(39:24):
versus reading the actual book or two different things, and
that's what you're getting here. So you're getting cliff notes
right now to get you ready.
Speaker 4 (39:29):
Absolutely, And just one last thing I wanted to point out.
You know when you talk about hey, new team, new season,
new quarterback facing his old team, that's what the students is.
Speaker 5 (39:41):
Well, the Jets are saying the same thing.
Speaker 4 (39:43):
Man, they got the they even got a new coaching
but Field is facing his old team. It's like Aaron
Rodgers is the big story. And I get it because
Aaron Rodgers Aaron Rodgers. But you know, hey, you want
revenge on the Jets, Well, Justin Fields might be thinking
the same kind of thing. But the last thing I
would say about this Jets team is that even though
I think they want to be a ground and pound team,
they do have three real playmakers that can take the ball,
(40:07):
take a little bit of opportunity and go a long
way with it. And I'm gonna include Fields in that,
and then Brees Hall at the running back position, and
Garrett Wilson, whose receptions have gone from eighty three to
ninety five to one oh one to twenty twenty two
Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 5 (40:25):
Again.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
We talked about Kane wan Wu in the return game.
You know, maybe he breaks one for the Jets and
they're they're happy, and that's something that they think can
tilt the balance. You got to make this Jets team
earn it. You can't let one of those game breaking
guys break the game.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
No, you can't. You have to mitigate the explosive plays
and you have to keep them in front of you because,
like you said, if you give those guys a little
bit of surface room, it's going to cause a problem.
And you know, if you're the Jets as well, you're like, hey,
we can't let dk Metcalf bully us. We can't let
Aaron pass the ball all over the yard on us
(41:04):
because we had this you know better, as I quoted
the stat earlier. You know, this is pretty decent pass defense.
But it was like, because everybody ran on us, and
we can't let Jalen Warren take advantage of his newfound responsibility.
You can't give him confidence because I can tell you what,
if he gets confidence, it's gonna be a long day
for that Jets defense running around trying to play whack
(41:25):
the mole with him.
Speaker 4 (41:26):
Max, I cannot wait, really looking forward to it. We're
gonna have it for for those listening, we are going
to have it and never forgotten, and of course long
time listeners to the locker room, We're gonna have a
tribute to Wolf in the pregame show. Looking forward to
that and looking forward to some some NFL Steelers football.
(41:48):
I want to thank the other person who's gonna be
joining us in the broadcast, Missy Matthews, Missy Matthews of
the Year today.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Yeah. Now we're excited to have Missy back in the fold.
We've now pulled her back from the from the trappings
of television, and now she will be back in our
radio broadcast circle of trust. We are so excited to
have Missy back. And of course it's gonna be a
fun game even though I love having Ramone. Ramone was
awesome pinch hitter, you know for us, and his season
started off last weekend Tennessee got their victory down in Atlanta.
(42:21):
So a lot of well wishes to Ramone as his
first year as the color commentator for the Tennessee Balls.
But we're here for NFL football now, so we can't wait.
Only what two sleeps left? Two sleeps left till we
have game day, So sweep, I'm really excited.
Speaker 5 (42:38):
Gave it. By the way I got it. Got a
quick listen to Ramone.
Speaker 4 (42:40):
He's talking about his basketball play playing days back in
the day, so we have to ask, we have to
get the skinny on that from from Ramone. Foster uh
calling the game with the with Tennessee. So great to
have him looking forward to uh to being back on
H on the Students Broadcast Network on Sunday as the
Students get ready to take on the New York Jets.
(43:02):
We thank you for listening inside the Locker Room with
King and Starks, presented by our neighborhood Ford Store here
on the Steelers Audio Network
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