November 17, 2025 • 47 mins
Matt and Wes recap a wild win over the Bengals on Sunday.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Your tune's about Drive on your twenty four to seven
home of the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Good afternoon, Steelers Nation, It's the Drive on the Steelers
Audio Network. Here on a victory Monday, we was Shooler
and Matt Williamson with you for the next two hours
to recap Steelers thirty four Bengals twelve. And Matt, you
know this about me, I'm always trying to work the angles.
I'm always trying to think of the interesting way to
(00:48):
frame it and start the conversation and get into all
this different stuff. And I'm driving down here, you know,
this afternoon and thinking about man a lot to get
into from that game.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Where do we begin?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Do we start with the offense, Do we start with
the defense? Do we start with some of the injuries?
Do we start with some of the extra curriculars? And
it just kind of struck me. I heard I heard
the voice of our of our of our dear buddy Stan.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Savage in the back of my head, going root for
the story.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
You know, I always remember Stan saying that when all
else fails, just root for the story because it's what's
best for business.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Matt.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
How everything transpired yesterday from start to finish, the players
that were needed for the Steelers in relief, the drama
between Chase and Ramsey, couple huge defensive touchdowns for the Steelers,
everything going on with Mason Rudolph and Kenneth gain Well,
and that game yesterday was what's best for business man.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
There's a million different things to discuss.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Darnell Washington killing guys the list that's like eighth on
the list, James Pierre turning in an outstanding performance. I mean,
there was probably three, four five things from this game
that would normally be the headline on any other given Sunday.
And of course the Steelers end up winning comfortably, and
(02:05):
what was I think one of their most complete sixty
minute performances of the season.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
Yeah, and I don't know how to even retort to that,
or what is number one on the list? I mean, like,
what is that?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
If you're writing that, if you and I are Dale
or Jerry Dulac and we're writing the story, I don't
know what the I mean, I don't know what the
headline is.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
You know, I probably would go with something on the line.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Fight setbacks Steelers role. I don't know.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
I probably would go something along the lines of backup,
stepping up that.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
I think is, yeah, you know what talk about Ganewell
even even you know, our our good friend of the show,
Kyle Dugger.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Is right, defensive backs call into the drive.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
It's we we we We did get a couple of
tweets about that, and you actually pointed out, didn't you
and Dale had on Beanie Bishop last year?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Yeah, and I think that was true.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
So hey, Steelers, defensive backs call into the drive and
you'll have interceptions and maybe even find the end zone.
But I think you're right. I think that's where. I
think that's the headline. I think that's the starting point.
We talked about it so much during training camp how
it really felt like, yeah, we still had roster questions,
who's going to be wide receiver number two? You know,
(03:20):
all these all these different things that we did talk about.
But I think one of the things, one of the
areas where we gave the Steelers a lot of credit was, Man,
you look at this roster at training camp and into
the preseason and at the start of the year, and
it really felt like they had quality depth pretty much everywhere.
Maybe why especially at defense, especially especially on defense, I
(03:41):
think maybe offensive line and wide receiver were the only
two areas that that you would question, but everybody around
the league spoiler alert once more, offensive line depth.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
That's not just a Steelers thing.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And I thought that really really showed through on Sunday
thousand percent.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
You know, Rudolph coming off the bench gain well, much
like he did in Dublin, having to be the guy twice.
Now he's shown that he can excel in that role. Now,
maybe he wouldn't for seventeen games in a row, but
that's not never going to be asked to him, you
know what I mean? Right right all across the defense
led by Pierre but also Echols, and you had a
handful of significant defensive injuries before you walked into that game,
(04:22):
of course, totally. I think another headline, which is half good,
half bad, is if we take and I know you don't,
this is how the world works, but if you take
the two defensive scores out of the equation. You had
had a hard time convincing me on Friday that that
would be the final score, you know what I mean,
because every Bengals game is like fifty to fifty one.
You I mean, like, it's not how the Bengals play football,
(04:44):
So half of that's good and that you really can't.
You don't have a touchdown to those football team.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
It's his tech versus organ But you held him to
twelve points.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Yeah right, And on the other hand, you still didn't
produce a whole lot of points against what I still
think is a horrific defense. Feel as strong about that
as ever.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
You know, I do too, And I think that one
is at least a little easier to stomach when you
consider Aaron Rodgers only played half the game and James
Warren got injured too.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
You're also playing with the lead late. You know, you
don't have to push the ball down the field and
things like that, You know, right.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Good point.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
But yeah, I just I felt like from top to
bottom that was a all hands on deck, yeah type
type win for the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
I thought they had a solid game plan on defense.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
Man, Yes, and this is defense really rounding in the forum,
coaching the pieces of the puzzle wall, fitting Ramsey at
safety next to Dug Er like I think everyone's, you know,
the three linebacker thing that happens once in a while.
I think they're coaching, in particular, starting to understand how
this should work and it wasn't the original plan from
the summer.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
You know, No, it wasn't.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
And I know there was frustration when it wasn't work
working out, and it felt like the Steelers were kind
of trying to do the square peg round hole just
bank continue to bang your head against the wall type.
I also think, and this is hard to do in
the NFL. You and I have talked about this many times.
Only seventeen games a year, every Sunday or Thursday or Monday,
you know, feels like you're either winning the Super Bowl
(06:12):
or you're picking first over all in the draft. You know,
there's not a ton of of space between. But I
think they deserve some credit for figuring it out. Maybe
it didn't happen, is you know, in this instant gratification
world that we all live in as quickly as we
all wanted, Matt, A lot of times, like box scores
can be deceiving, I think sometimes, oh a.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
Lot of times. Yeah, we went.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Back after the Colts game and Pierce put up a
bunch of numbers and like they had two I think
hundred yard receivers.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Pittman and Piers put a bunch of numbers.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
But how it didn't really feel like that, Like, it
didn't feel like the passing attack for the Colts took
over dominated the game.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
It didn't feel like the Bengals first game exactly right
when you looked at you know, Jamar Chase had sixteen
receptions for one hundred and sixty yards.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Told me and right, I think T Higgins had nine
for like nine something like that. You look at the
box score here and I think it tells the complete story.
T Higgins three receptions sixty three yards and the twenty
eight yard touchdown. Okay, but after that first drive, two
receptions for thirty some yards for T Higgins and to.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
His credit, the touchdown they got him against Sawyer. Correct,
you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Correct?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
It was a nicely schemed up player by Cincinnati there,
Jamar Chase three receptions for thirty yards.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
If you would have told us, Matt those those.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
That's the most unbelievable thing, incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
If you would have said it hurt, If you would
have said to us on Friday, or if one of
us would have made the prediction, those guys are gonna
have six catches for ninety yards between the two of them,
we would have laughed you out of the building, No.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Way, no chance.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Did you watch the game a month ago. Have you
watched them against everybody recently.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Pretty much their whole career, but especially since Flacco took over.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
And it's another one of those matt We've laughed at this.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
No one's screaming about that one hundred and eighty million
dollar defense. No one's screaming about the money.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
They're not going. See that's what you.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Pay all that money for that defense.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Before they got it done, they made some game plans.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
They adjusted, but they did I thought that they had
a They did not do the square peg round whole thing.
They came in with a different mindset. We're gonna flood
those short passing routes. We're not gonna blitz nearly as much.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
Yeah, the blitz percentage going down, I think is here
to stay.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
And they just Joe Flacco and company just tackle.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
We're going a lot of people's ball. We're gonna play physical,
we're gonna hit, you know. Yeah, they just they look
fundamental stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
They were the course of sixty minutes, you know, played
out over three hours, and I think five minutes or
six minutes something like that was the final you know,
time from from opening kick to final whistle. Cincinnati really
kind of both sides of the ball, but especially on offense,
just never looked settled, never looked like they got comfortable,
never looked like they got into any kind of rhythm.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
And that hasn't happened to them.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
No, they've been they've been clicking, and frankly, I want
to address this too. Really since the first stealer game,
Chase been very productive too. I know that his stat
line eighteen ninety nine right is not perfect for the Steelers,
but really every step of the way, they say they
faced so many light boxes too, that his production has
(09:13):
been kind of like all the fantasy stuff like, oh,
he's back to the guy you drafted in the second
round of fantasy because they're they're getting him the football,
so it doesn't bother me quite as much. And I
wish I'd have talked about that a little leading up
to the game, like, don't just think because they're rushing
him was so bad the first time they met, that
you're gonna hold Brown the six carries for twelve yards.
(09:34):
I mean, like, sure, they're good. I mean he's good.
The other thing I think is noteworthy, I mean it's
not good it's not bad, but you talked about the
high priced defense. Like I love Cam Hayward, I love TJ. Watt,
but neither one of them were like the guys that
like took the game point, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Great to see somebody else, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
Yeah, exactly exactly. It's not like the studs that have
been doing it for ten years did it again? No,
it's new dudes.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
You know, it's absolutely right, Matt. You know, I'm raising
to two young girls, two young daughters. It's nice when
somebody else helps, uh, you know, shoulder the load besides
my wife and I for the day. Your grandparents are
in town and pick up some slack, right, you know,
my sister comes over and hangs out with the girls
(10:18):
for a couple hours.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
Heck, if you have to pay a babysitter just to
get out.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
My wife and I know that we can get it done,
but it's nice to have somebody else help us get
it done.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Takes a village, dude, it's a village. Takes a kid
or or develop a quarterback.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I am so glad that you said that, because you're
spot on there, especially in a game where you had
no Alex high Smith as well, too, banged up in
the secondary.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Dang it, I just did it as well too, son
of them done? Would you do as well too?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (10:45):
I thought you said. I was like, what's wrong with
banged up in the secondary? They were banged?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
I said banged. It was the three words that I said.
Speaker 6 (10:50):
After that, I never even catch it anymore. I mean
to put my radar up more I do. It's actually
become a joke. I was let Bob Labriola was laughing
with me. Someone sent an email in and said they
were a big fan of my work as well too.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Son of a gun.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
At least it's a good inside joe as long as
you're laughing with me and not at me with those guys.
And it's not like those guys did nothing and were invisible.
But you're right, they were not the lone straws stirring
the drink that it's felt like at times in the past.
You had no Alex Highsmith, you had no Sleigh, you
had no Deshaun Elliott.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
I mean, Holkom is a contributor.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
You're right, right, right, totally, totally, uh, And I was,
I was, You're absolutely right. It was nice to see
Pierre and Dugger and a lot of other guys making plays.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
How about kut of beer. I'm talking about like, I mean,
Benton's starter. But Benton and Harmon to me are leveling
up in a good way too. Ben's been really good
for a while now. We he really worried about the
beginning of the year.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
I was just gonna say we and I don't when
I when I say that, typically I don't mean you
and I. I mean the collective we, Steelers, media, Steelers fans,
everybody involved in this, in this sphere of Steelers fandom
and content and media. He was at the forefront of
a lot negative conversation the first few games.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
In the year.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
So much ability there, and I think, I think a
lot of people like you and I and I think
the people who don't just do this for clicks and
you know, really trying and analyze and be thoughtful.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Talked about how he wasn't.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Being deployed in the most ideal situation but that but
how it still looked really bad and he was struggling.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah, Game four, Week four in Dublin in Ireland.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
He gets back.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Harmon returns the week before he settles back into a
more appropriate role. He takes I mean he was great
against the Vikings and Ble and Matt he has been.
I'm glad that you mentioned him as well too. I
think Keanu Benton deserves a lot of props. I think
at times earlier in the year it was quiet. Last
few weeks it's been loud. I mean he has been. Yeah,
he has been consistently showing up, consistent TFLs, consistently getting
(12:49):
after quarterbacks, and much better in the run game where
he was struggling the first few games of the year.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
That was what we're saying. I mean, there's some some
early tape from twenty twenty twenty five here where he's
just getting driven back in the Linebackers like, why is
the Queen and Wilson making more plays? I'm talking like
week one, week two. I'm like, yeah, because Benton's in
their life, right. They got a three hundred pounds twenty
pound guy pushing a three hundred pound guy on top
of them. That's a big reason why they can't because
(13:16):
there's nowhere to go because they're getting squashed. No, I'm
real happy with the defense, and particularly at corner. I
was worried we'd be like, oh, defense is building good momentum,
but then Flato through for four to twenty and Chase
you know, ripped Pierre apart or something like that could
definitely happen, you know, against this offense. But I'm confident,
(13:37):
you know, they got another test coming up against Chicago
that's sort of similar in that they're real good on offense,
real questionable on defense, and much different challenge, Kayleb Williams.
Couldn't be any different than Flash Show and you know,
different schemes and new coach and all that stuff. Unfamiliar
opponent and I'm not trying to get ahead of ourselves.
Steelers always struggle in Chicago. You talk, I was talking
(13:58):
to pursuitos or very.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Right, but it is true.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
Rogers is good there, but if you'll see him, you know.
But like I feel confident that they'll do well against
the Bears too. This isn't just a I kind of
feel like, whoever, what are our offense they play? They
should be able to play in a variety of manners
and a little more, a lot more fundamentally sound now,
not putting players in position not to succeed. And I
(14:22):
think they're in a good, really good spot defensively. Yes,
the offense. I still have a lot of concerns, you know, right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Especially with some of the injuries now that are piling up.
I think that's well said by you. I just I
keep looking at that receiving box score for Cincinnats. Yoshavas
had a great game against the Steelers a couple months
ago through receptions for twenty yards. I mean, well done
to everybody involved there under two hundred yards passing for Cincinnati.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
I don't want to pop the balloon, but I did
want to ask you something since you were at the game,
because Rob brought it up to me earlier today that
wind was an issue for both passing. Oh yeah, okay,
I mean it's not like that was nothing now.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
I actually this was one of the things I had.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
Writen Eagles game last night. I mean, like the wind
was whipping across Pa.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Yes, it was. You know, there's no doubt it was chilly.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
We had we had the window open like we always
do for the broadcast, but we all had our jackets
on because it was that wind was whipping. In the pregame,
you know, the you're watching the goalposts, goal post themselves,
the flags are going all which directions north, south, east west.
The goalposts themselves were moving, so it was it was
definitely windy down there, without a doubt. I think that's
(15:32):
certainly played a factor. One of the things I did
have in my notes though, was and I you know,
this was in the first half, obviously before he exited
the game, but I wrote down, Man, Aaron Rodgers continues
to miss some guys high and or long. Is that
becoming a pattern? Or is that just because of the
weather conditions.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
I think it's a fair question.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
I think it's a fair question. But again, he ends
up it was a lot.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
In the kicking game. But I think both coaches new
I don't want to be returning punts. I don't want
to try field goals as much as I possibly can either.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
You know, yes, and and you saw for for I
was almost said both quarterbacks, but I think all three
quarterbacks you saw that be a factor.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Like I I like to put myself in the seat
of a lot of our listeners that weren't at the game,
because I wasn't at the game. I'm sitting there watching too,
and they brought it up, and I knew it was
an issue. And I live in Pittsburgh, and I know
that's windy out, you know, but I wasn't on in
the stands, and it sounded like it was probably a
bigger issue than just US television watchers would have known.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Yeah, no, it was.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I would say it was the first time all year
with some where you really had to take the elements
into a yeah, yeah, like.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
It matters for a Steelers game, Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah, Actually been pretty fortunate to this point that there
hasn't been a pouring down, cats and dogs, buckets raging
type game Boby Field.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Yes you haven't laughing now to Windy City, it always has, like.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Maybe it was.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
For the Steelers in that regard, you know, nice tune
up of hey, here's a little taste of what you
could get next week in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
I looked it actually doesn't look too bad, as.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
A man knows, but it looks like that looks like.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Slow fifties for next weekend in Chicago. But this time
of year, that could change overnight, certainly, very quickly. But yeah, no,
I'm glad that you brought that up, because that was
definitely a factor. That was that was certainly a factor,
and I think that you know, the way that the
game played out was Cincinnati having to stretch the field
a little bit more and trying to play catch up
(17:30):
probably helped the Steelers. You know, that was probably a
benefit for the Steelers, Yeah, as much as it was
a detriment for Cincinnati. And with the.
Speaker 5 (17:37):
Wind away of your passing game, that favors the Steelers more.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Than it does a bank totally, totally.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
If the win could somehow take away twenty percent of
your defense, that would favor Cincinnati more than it would
the Steelers. Actually, So yeah, that I think did work
out in the favor of the Black and Gold. That's
why they call it home field advantage.
Speaker 5 (17:56):
Baby. Every game is different in every place you plays.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
It is.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Steelers moved to six and four, Cincinnati falls to three
and seven. You can stick a fork in the Bengals.
They are done and it'll be interesting to see what
the rest of the year looks like from them. Does
Joe Burrow still try and rush back at this point?
Do you just sit at ten Hendrickson done for the year.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
A lot of crossroads, a lot of big questions for
Cincinnati that are hard to find the answers to. But
fortunately we do not have to concern ourselves with any
of that.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
One of the guys that.
Speaker 5 (18:28):
Would be nice beat the Ravens in a week or
two though.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
That's a good point.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
Yeah, all right, Michiel might have a little something for
his old team. Who knows.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Just get one more win, Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
That's all you need there, One more win, baby, and
uh and help the Steelers out a little bit in
the process. One guy who typically has some answers and
some good things to say is, of course, the voice
of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Rob King.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
We will talk to him when we return on the
other side.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Get all of his thoughts on the Steelers victory over
the Cincinnati Bengals yesterday. Kinger, when we return more AFC
North talk on the other side. Wes Sheeler, Matt Williamson.
It's the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers
Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
You were tuned about Drive on your twenty four to
seven home of the Black and Goal. Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Back on the drive here as we roll along on
a victory Monday as the Steelers take care of.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Business against the Bengals. Joining us now is the man who.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Brought you all of the action on the Steelers flagship
DVE on the Steelers Audio Network. The voice of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and of course the co host of in the.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Locker Room as well, Rob King.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
The King is in the Castle, King or thank you
for taking the time as always here on a Monday,
And you know, Matt and I kind of started talking
about just all the different storylines and how much it
felt like went on during this game. But I don't know,
I feel like the biggest kind of you know, thing
that you have to discuss is what felt like perhaps
(20:12):
the most complete sixty minute performance that we've seen from
this defense all season, I think, especially when you consider
the level of competition and the way the Bengals offense
had been playing for the last month or so.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
I agree with that. And it's interesting too, isn't it
that the Citis have had to do that with some
different personnel than we expected to see at the beginning
of the season. Remember they drew it up and it
was going to be Ramsey, you know, following around the
other team's top receiver or playing in the slot, Slay
on the outside, Joey Porter Junior on the outside, Deshaun
(20:47):
Elliott at strong safety, jant thorn Hill at pre safety,
well Elliott's hurt Wan Thornhill is out. Ramsey's at pre
safety slays out. The only guy starting in the position
you expected is Joey Porter Jr. Which is your congratulations
to the to the uh you know, at least the
daff of the cap, to the personnel department for scrambling
(21:07):
around and finding players in the offseason and during the
season with the trade for Dugger who could step up
and play big roles. And then of course kudos too,
you know, in particular, you know Dugger made the big play,
But you know Eccles and Pierre. I mean, I think
if you went into this game, you know, just to
this fan, you might think, oh, you know, look what
Higgins and and Chase did when we had the guys
(21:29):
we wanted in their corner in the first meeting, and
now we have, you know, our fourth and fifth corners
in there were those guys stepped up and really for
the for the at least the second traate week for
Eccles and the second rate work for Pierre, really played
good ball games for the Steelers.
Speaker 5 (21:46):
Yeah, I was very impressed with the corners, but I
know two guys you've been impressed with pretty much every
step of the way that I think are improving, are
the two young defensive linemen, and that that's obviously why
he Black's a good young defensive lineman too, but he's
not starter. Benton and Harmon Rob We've talked about a
lot on and off the air all season, but I
(22:06):
think both those guys are really taking into a new level.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
I totally agree with you. I thought Benton was disruptive yesterday,
even if he didn't have the stats to back it up.
I thought he played a good game in Harmon. You know,
I think that the defensive line has long been considered
by some people an area of concern, and it was
especially an area of concern last year when you didn't
stop the run against the Ravens, and you didn't stop
(22:32):
the run against the Eagles. Then you played the Ravens
in the playoffs and didn't stop the run again, and
you know that was fresh in our minds. And you
go out and get a quality at quality gets hurt
on the defensive line. But you know, the investment of Harmon,
and you know Benton in his third year, supplementing what
we know Cam Hayward can do, has made a big,
(22:53):
big difference on this team. You know, I think where
I agree with Wes's assertion that this was a very good,
olid all around game. I still think there's more there.
I think it's trending in the right direction in a
number of different ways. I thought they played a good
game against the Chargers. I just thought they were out
there too long. Yeah, in LA. You know, I think
(23:13):
this is a defense that's capable of, you know, beginning
to slowly as we move down the stretch here constrict
what a defense, what an offense is able to do
in both fascets running and passing. Now they ran a
little bit last week. It's hard to take away everything,
especially from an offense. It's averaging, you know, the last
three games they came in, averaging almost thirty eight points
(23:35):
a game. But to be able to do what they did,
I thought it was a complete effort. But I'm encouraged
by the fact that I still think there's more there,
and those guys up front that are a big reason
I think that.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah, No, absolutely, And you know, I I think that's
well said. What you're kind of hearkening back to about
the Chargers and just kind of only being able to
hold off the dam for so long. Hopefully that's something
they continue to build on going forward. Talented Bears offense
that we got to see here in a few days obviously,
and what then Josh Allen and that Buffalo offense after that.
(24:08):
It's a good time for what feels like the Steelers
defense to be hitting their stride. Little different story on
the offensive side of the football. Kinger some big injuries,
namely to Aaron Rodgers and Jalen Warren. But I gotta
tell you one thing that I kind of take away
from from yesterday's win as well, too, is it's nice
having Kenneth Gainwell in the fold man.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
I think two times this.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Year you've really needed him in Dublin against Minnesota and
then on Sunday yesterday against the Bengals, and both times
he comes through with multi touchdown performances.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Yeah. You know, I harken back a little bit to
camp this summer and thinking that the Sooners had great depth,
and we talked about that on defense and the depth
and adaptability of a guy like Jalen Ramsey. That's not
that easy to switch from from slot corner to corner
to pre shafety and you know, echoes emerging and uh,
(25:03):
you know, Pierre emerging. You can say the same thing
about game Bo Game Well has never really had the
opportunity to be that guy. Well, he got an opportunity
in Minnesota and ran for ninety nine yards. You know,
he was a career number one guy they had to
lean on. So I think you feel really good about
what he can do. And that came to fruition on Sunday.
(25:24):
You needed him because Ron was out, and you also
utilized him in the past game where he had seven
receptions for eighty one yards and a pair of touchdowns.
So yeah, he he definitely came through for the offense.
You know, you're signing kind of saying, Look, they the
offense I think still needs to be more consistent, but
they've shown they've shown the character to help you win
(25:46):
six games. You know, other than the game against the Chargers. Uh,
you know, the offense has at least had moments, has
at least been able to capitalize in most games this season.
Give him a short field, will capitalize. You know, need
a big drive. They've been able to produce enough of those,
whether it's the first drive of a game, tone setting
or taking a turnover and turning it into points. I
(26:08):
think the cit As have been the offense has been
pretty good at that, and guys like gain Well other
guys that have been able to contribute offensively are part
of that. But I still would like to see more consistent,
more consistency offensively. I mean that talks about this all
the time that the defense that defends least usually defends best,
(26:29):
and so I think we're seeing the defense round in
the form. I think, you know, going up to Chicago,
the offense can continue to you know, I think we've
seen elements. If they can put it all together for
a few games, I think it's gonna be fun to watch.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
So Rob, I want to go back to the cornerback
situation and pecking order and future usage. We know Porter
is gonna be out there every snap good and I
think he's playing really well. I thought I was worried
and would have been, you know, justify that Pierre were
to come back to earth against Chase and Higgins, and
(27:04):
you know, Eccles had some low moments, but I thought
that got overblown against the Chargers in Maconkie. But those
two were phenomenal and way out kicked my expectations for
this particular matchup. I'd have a hard time taking either
off the field. And I think Eckles has pretty much
solidified himself as the starting slot anyway you cut it.
(27:25):
But you also have a Sante Samuel out there, which hey, great,
you can ease him into things or not or whatever.
But I tend to think Slay all of a sudden
might be last on that list.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
It'd be interesting. You know, there's an old adage in sports.
I don't know how true it is in football that
you know you don't lose your job with an injury, right,
So it's a fallback plan that says, listen, you know,
no matter how good the other guy is, we don't
want to play mental mind games with you, because the
other thing you don't necessarily want. I don't think is
(28:01):
James Pierre looking over his shoulder. Well, if I make
a mistake or two, am I out and his sleigh in.
So this is These are the kind of things, among
many others, that I think Mike Tomlin is really really
good at communicating with his team, letting him know what
the expectations are. You know, would have been very easy
for Examp Well to bench Keysjean Williams after the muff
punt late in the game against the Chargers, but he
(28:23):
left the game. I think it was a concussion, right,
He had a concussion and had to leave the game,
but he was back out there, returning the next week.
So that's one area where I really, among said many others,
that I trust Mike Tomlin and the way he deals
with people and the way he communicates with people to
(28:44):
be able to maximize that at first. Blush, Matt, It's
hard for me to disagree with you. These guys have
been good and they've earned the right to play in
my opinion. But we'll see, Rob.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
King, I tell you what it's uh uh, you know,
it's a It was a fun game, I think, from
a lot of different perspectives, a lot of different storylines,
a lot of different things going on, some injuries, backup quarterback,
divisional rivalry stuff, uh King, or just you know, just
do me a favor and make sure you're not hawking
Lugi's on anybody the rest of the week.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Okay, Oh no.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
No, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep my Lugis to myself.
And by the way, I've talked about it very little
on the airways today and not really sure why, but
kudos to Mason Rudolph for coming in yeah, really, you know,
what a what a pros pro coming in and changing
things of the line of scrimmage and and you know,
getting people into the right situations and the team into
the right situation, and you know, not shrinking from the moment,
(29:42):
and you know, just going out there and and proving
once again his works as we've seen in the past.
But kudos to him for a great job. And now
on to Chicago. We got all week to talk about it,
but another big game coming up, guys.
Speaker 5 (29:55):
No doubt, And yeah, I'm glad you mentioned Rudolph because
you said it perfectly. But I think that's exactly what
you want in your number two quarterback. You know, come
in when when you're not super prepared, or maybe he
has to play a stretch here for a month or
the rest of the season. I don't know, but you're
fine with it. You know. It's a professional.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Yeah he is, and he you know, it shows that
he's prepared, right, it shows that he's not just like wow,
Darren jobs. So you know, I'm going to be sitting
here in the meeting thinking about, you know what, I
want to get a giant eagle after the game for
dinner or after practice for dinner, right, you know, he's
clearly not doing that and so and that shows. It
(30:37):
shows when he comes in, and that's appreciated by his teammates.
Anytime a guy comes in and has to fill in,
I mean, he's he's not just your number two quarterback.
He's a number two quarterback behind a first ballot, four
time MVP, first ballot, Hall of Famer, superstar quarterback. And
he came in and the offense didn't misspeak.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Well said, well said, And that is what you want
for your backup quarterback. And hey, hopefully it's not too
long for Aaron Rodgers. Maybe he's good to go in
the Windy City. Maybe he does need a week or
so on the sidelines, but I think we all have
faith that Mason can captain the ship in the absence
of Aaron Rodgers. Great stuff from our friend from the
Voice of the Steelers co host of in the Locker Room,
(31:22):
Rob King King or thank you for taking the time
on Monday, Man.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
Always fun. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Guys, there he goes the King exiting the castle. Yeah,
you know what, let's talk a little bit more about that.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Mason. Rudolph Trot because I think I think you're right.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
I don't think we've highlight in a crazy game with
a million different things going on, where normally that might
be at the forefront of the conversation. Let's let's talk
a little bit more about that and and Mason's performance
in relief of Aaron Rodgers will do all that and
more to wrap up the first hour of the show
when we return West Shueler. Matt Williamson, it is the
Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network, your.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Tunes about Drive on your twenty four to seven home
of the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Back on the Drive here on a victory Monday, and Matt,
let's piggybacking off of how we kind of ended things
there with Rob King, Let's talk a little bit more
about this quarterback situation that the Steelers currently find themselves in.
Speaker 5 (32:50):
I assume Tuesday will get more news.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Yes, Tomorrow's yes, about twenty hours or so from now,
you know that'll be at the forefront.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
I'm sure Mike tom will even address it before he
opens things up for questions.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Starting quarterback, it's the starting quarterback.
Speaker 5 (33:07):
It's Jayleen Warren. I want to know about I mean
a lot of these guys.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
Absolutely absolutely, Alex Hi Smith R.
Speaker 5 (33:13):
Yeah, they didn't seem too far away, yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Right right, you know, so, yeah, there will obviously be
a ton around Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
I mean that this rail thing, but I mean that's
more of a middle of the week conversation. But He's
Samuel could be looming out there, right.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
It would be a good time to have that happen,
because you know, you just as many bodies as you
can get in the secondary at this point.
Speaker 5 (33:37):
But now we go to talk about the quarterback situation.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
We do and we need to give some some some
props to Mason Rudolph. But first, the latest, uh, via
Adam Schefter is and I'm sure everybody saw this last night,
but uh, the initial thought, initial concern is that Aaron
Rodgers has a slight break, a slight fracture in his
left wrist. I'm sure undergoing more tests probably today or
(34:00):
this morning already, And according to Chef there, it is
shaping up to be Mason Rudolph versus the Bears next week.
But there's also reports out there that Aaron Rodgers wants to.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Go and and and thinks he could be ready.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
So again, hopefully by tomorrow's show at least Thursday or
Friday shows, we'll have some more clarity in that regard.
Speaker 5 (34:23):
If you can on the practice field by Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Of course, of course.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
And I know a lot of people are thinking it's
his off it's not his throwing hands, so come.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
On his left hand, he'll be fine, all right.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
You should see the way that these guys snap the football.
Speaker 6 (34:40):
I mean it's taking.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
A stand up under center.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Is a violent I mean they are thrusting that football.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Into your hands.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
And of course he would wear some sort of cast
or apparatus or some.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Handling, but it's not Hey, Patrick Willis, go out there
and put a big club on and to mall people,
right right, right different for a quarterback.
Speaker 5 (35:02):
I mean, you gotta have strength of two hands on
the football in the pocket. I mean, like does that
lead the fumbles, let alone from the snap a hand off,
you know, even just manipulating you know, his offense he
holds a ball with one or two hands, running around
the pocket or trying to shrug someone off with his
left hand. Right, there's a lot to it, you know,
And not to mention he's gonna get hit in the.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Game, not to mention it could get worse, no wait,
no doubt, and likely would if you were to play
and get hit throughout the course of the game as
you as you said.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
So who knows? And again I hate playing doctor.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Saying and me too.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
But you know, it's it is one of I always
laugh when it's like a slight fracture, a slight break.
It's easy for us to say it's the old adage
of no irisk like it's it's like getting pregnant, Matt.
No one's a little bit pregnant. No one's slightly pregnant.
You're either pregnant or you're not. The broken bone, yeah,
either have a concussion or you don't. Either fractured your
(35:58):
bone or you did it. And now I understand obviously
there's severity to these things clean break versus pose a fracture.
It's like with you know, with tissue, with soft tissue injuries.
There's a difference between you know, like a tear and
a full rip in your hamstring or your quad or
whatever the case may be. But at forty one years old,
with hopefully a stretch run here and a playoff appearance
(36:22):
coming up shortly to me, I feel like, and I
should add this as well too, confidence in your backup
and your number two who would have to go in there.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Yeah, I feel like.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
You're not throwing Duck Hodges out there.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
I feel I feel like you have to You're not
throwing she Door Sanders out there.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
A we'll talk about that a little bit now or not.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Yeah, I feel like you gotta you gotta air on
the side of caution as much as you know, Aaron
wants to be out there, particularly in Chicago against an
old rival that he has owned.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Yeah, and Ben Roethlisberger going to Cleveland, you know what
I mean, Here comes your father walking through the gates
of the stair.
Speaker 5 (37:01):
Fans aren't real fond of Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
They are not.
Speaker 4 (37:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah, there's a little history there. There's a little jealousy there,
much like the Cleveland Browns and Ben Roethlisberger.
Speaker 5 (37:10):
There's a lot of football decisions, you know, Like I'm
fourth down. I like to look at it like, what
does my opponent want me to do? Well, the opponent's
fans don't want Rogers walk in that stadium. I can
just promise you that they have a lot of bad
memories of that.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
Yes, they do.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Yeah, they do, but that's we will wait and see.
This is still very early days in terms of this conversation,
but I just hope that they're going to air on
the side of caution and safety and being conservative as
opposed to.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
I bet they do.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Let's rush them back out there, and you might have to.
It might be a like a you gotta tell Aaron
Rodgers woe instead of sick of moment. You know, hey,
I get that this one means a lot to you
in that stadium against that franchise, but we got a
lot more to play for than just a November win
in Chicago.
Speaker 5 (37:54):
And the other aspect of it you touched on ninety
percent of it, and I agree with everything you said.
But the other aspect of it is you did just
get a win over a division foe. You're in better
shape in terms of standings, you know, the need for
a win than you were two days ago. And this
is an NFC team, So it just doesn't mean as much,
you know. I mean, it's not, oh, You're gonna lose
(38:17):
the tie breaker to the Jags because of this loss.
I mean, it's it's on AFC game. It's not a
division game.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
No, it is not and obviously you want to keep
that distance between you and Baltimore. But at the same time, again,
the bigger picture is you've got a lot of important
AFC games coming down the stretch at the Bills and
a couple of week.
Speaker 5 (38:39):
Right in the heat of the in the middle of
the playoff rus.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
You've got two against the Ravens and and Matt Again,
I think the biggest thing in this for me, I
know he said, we talked more about Mason Rudolph in
this segment. The biggest thing for me is it's it's
it's hashtag. With all due respect to these guys that
I'm about to throw under the bus, it's not Duck Hodges,
it's not shdor Sanders.
Speaker 5 (39:00):
To proven backup that's here for this reason.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
It's a proven backup that I mean literally, you and
I we did some over and unders before the season,
and one of them was over under one and a
half meaningful games of action for Mason Rudolph this year.
Speaker 5 (39:14):
Yeah, we word a half.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
We're right there.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Yeah, yeah, And that is why, as Mike Tomlin said
in his postgame and I thought it was a very
good way to put it. This is what this is
an exact quote, but I'm paraphrasing. He basically said, this
is why we value Mason Rudolph as a member of
this collective. Yeah, is because you trust him in situations
like this, not just to avoid all disaster and get
(39:41):
you out of the stadium, but to literally step in
and navigate that ship and keep your rolling. And I
thought he'd all be it against a poor defense and
all that different stuff, But at halftime, here you go.
You know, it's not like he had a whole week
to prepare like he would in this case. I think
you have to feel about as confident going for I'm
one of the best ever future Hall of Famer to
(40:03):
a backup. I think this is about as confident in
the backup realistically as you could hope for.
Speaker 5 (40:07):
Right And I've gotten this question a million times and
you will too. And I'm not avoiding it in this
conversation because I don't really know the answer. But you
can make the argument that his half of football was
better than Rogers, I mean, or that then the last
three havebs of football of Rogers. I'm not avoiding the
fact that Rogers hasn't played his best of late. And
I think Rudolpho a high quality dude, and it took
(40:28):
a lot of people a lot of time here to
realize that. I mean, I know he went to Tennessee
for a while, but before that, he became the darling,
you know, right there at the end, mostly because the
people around him were before him were so bad. Yeah,
but that doesn't discredit what he did at the end
of that stint or what he did yesterday. And now's
not the time about to talk about who the future
(40:51):
quarterback is or draft or any of that stuff. But
it wouldn't shock me one bit if the plan is
next year, Mason, you're going to start week one and
Noora Sellers is gonna be.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
I tell you what, he looked great.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
Lenora Sellers was looking like Lenora's Sellers again on Saturday.
We'll talk about that. We'll talk about that on Wednesday.
Don't get me too excited. I I'm with you. There's
a reason they brought him back. There's a reason that
they value him like they do. I think everything you
said about Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Listen.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
I know there's a lot of people and this is
another one of those I tell you this all the time.
I realized Twitter is not a real place. I realized,
social media, YouTube comments, all that stuff, it's not a
real place. There's a lot of people out there that
last night in this morning are like, just stick with Maason,
He's better than Aaron.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Anyways. I ain't going there.
Speaker 5 (41:42):
I'm not going there either, But.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
I agree with what you said that it's not like
Aaron had been lighting the world on fire his last
handful of halves of football.
Speaker 5 (41:50):
If he got hurt week five, nobody even throw it.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
Out there, correct, correct, And that maybe that maybe that's
the final piece of this.
Speaker 3 (41:56):
Matt Am.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
I crazy, as we talk this out in real time
to think that maybe even a week off might do
Aaron Rodgers a lot of good.
Speaker 5 (42:05):
I was thinking that too, you know, like, as you said,
err on the side of caution, but Rogers, sometimes it
happens though so many guys, you know, a little bit
of time away from the game, whether you're mostly for
young dudes. But I mean Flacco went to the couch
and then came back and played way better than before
he went to the couch, you know. I mean, I
(42:26):
don't know they'd be bad for him at all, not
to humble him or anything.
Speaker 3 (42:29):
Like that, but just have a chance to breathe.
Speaker 5 (42:31):
I mean, had his knees and back and shoulders and
things that aren't on the injury list don't feel great
right now either, you know what I mean? Yeah, right, Matt.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
If he was just a normal forty one year old,
I think that would be the case, and you know,
the weather starts to turn right. But especially when you
take the hits that he's taken over the.
Speaker 5 (42:48):
Last couple of weeks, he might come back a new guy.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
He might.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
He might come back with some renewed energy, some new vigor.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
It's it's not like and you said it perfectly, not
to humble him, or you need to sit down and
think about what's going on here.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
Might just be nice for him to breathe for a
Sunday and more.
Speaker 5 (43:02):
I think it through too, like, Hey, things aren't going
great on the offensive side of the ball. It's not disaster,
but it's not going great. I haven't done called them
San Diego in a long time, but the Chargers was
a disaster. You know, Sure, yesterday wasn't great, especially considering
the opponent's bad on defense. But I also think it
might not be bad for the whole organization, the coaching
(43:23):
staff to gain plan and execute a start to finish
Rudolph game and therefore put some of the skill guys
in different situations, you know, and we saw a lot
of yesterday. I mean, this is something we'll talk about
in the second hour or tomorrow or Wednesday. Wilson looked
like he took over as the number two to compare
to Austin Glad Washington. Washington's role keeps growing, you know
(43:46):
what I mean. And so is Warren going to be there?
You know, like you might learn more about the offense
with Rudolph as your quarterback too, even for a game man.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
That's a very interesting point that I completely agree with. Yeah,
Metcat Steelers snap counts are important, but for skill position guys,
I like the routes, run count.
Speaker 5 (44:09):
And situations and stuff like that too.
Speaker 2 (44:12):
Routes run by the Steelers yesterday, Metcalf thirty three, gain
Well twenty six, Wilson twenty one, ok. Number three, one
more than Washington who was at twenty, John who at eighteen,
Friarmouth at fourteen, Calvin Austin all the way down to
the bottom at twelve.
Speaker 5 (44:28):
Yeah. So again, I have already started compile Matt's stats
for the Bears have so in two receiver sets yesterday,
Wilson played fifty three percent of snaps obviously metcaps. On
the other side, Austin only played twenty percent of snaps
in two receiver sets. I think that's pretty telling. And
(44:49):
Austin's now been held under thirty five receiving yards in
six of his last seven games. Like, I think he
might be in the doghouse a little bit and he's
not producing.
Speaker 3 (44:58):
I think there's some of that, and I just think.
Speaker 5 (45:02):
And maybe Wilson's coming on. I mean, like it could be.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
A combination combination of things. I also think there's some.
Speaker 5 (45:08):
It's not like Wilson got eight balls yesterday though, either.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
The way the offense is operated is not necessarily conducive
to Calvian Austin's skill set tree.
Speaker 3 (45:17):
It was one thing.
Speaker 2 (45:18):
Last year when he's really fast and he can run
those nine routes, those go routes and get underneath the
Russ moonballs.
Speaker 3 (45:24):
That's not what they're doing. They're not doing any of
that this year.
Speaker 5 (45:26):
No, No, they're not just chucking it up and holding ball.
Speaker 3 (45:29):
I think I think that's a big part of it
as well too.
Speaker 5 (45:31):
So I think this was interesting with Washington too. Because
it's extreme. An eleven personnel, one back, one tight end,
three receivers. Washington is the loan tight end on ninety
percent of those snaps on just the eleven personnel.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
So there's no disguise in that anymore. He's the guy.
Speaker 5 (45:48):
He's the guy. But what's weird is when they had
two tight ends on the field, so there's double the
opportunity be out there, and he was out there thirty
six percent of the time, but ninety with one tight
end on the field.
Speaker 3 (46:01):
Interesting.
Speaker 5 (46:02):
Now, I have no problem with the ninety part, but
that I'm pulling them off right right right. I mean
some of it might be throwing situations. We just want
our best to past catchers.
Speaker 3 (46:12):
But it's hard. He's not one of those at this point.
Speaker 5 (46:15):
And see how hard it is to tackle that guy.
Speaker 2 (46:17):
Right, rumbling, bumbling, stumbling, Matt, you got to get your
son at Darnell Washington.
Speaker 5 (46:24):
Jersey told dude off the air. He texts me he's
like that. I'm in love with Darnell Washington, and I've
been telling him since week one. Anytime touchdown bet on daring.
Now the books have caught on, and it used to
show plus eleven hundred oh yeah, right, yeah, yeah, retire.
(46:44):
He's like, should I get a Darnel Washington Jersey. I'm
my god. That's He's like, he does have a ton
of money and he's buying. I'm like, I'll pay for it.
That's a good one.
Speaker 3 (46:53):
Christmas is right around the corner. Son. Gotta love it, Matt.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
When we come back to start Hour number two, breaking
news from Adam Schefter, y one Thornhills signed to the
Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad. That's not actually it, but Schefter
did just tweet something out as it relates.
Speaker 3 (47:08):
To Hakka Lugie Gate.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Oh boy, is that a good name that works one
of Hakka Loogie That is a island in Hawaii. It's
also something that Jamar Chase wanted to do against Jalen
Ramsey yesterday. Plenty more to get into from that game,
and we will continue to do that in Hour number
two as well as go around the league and talk
about Remember we teed it up on Friday. It was
(47:31):
a real separation Sunday and a lot of playoff in
division races around the league. We will recap all of
that action fun Sunday across the NFL in our number two,
all of that and more as we roll along West
Shouler Matt Williamson.
Speaker 3 (47:44):
Halfway home.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
It's the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers
Audio Network
Your tune's about Drive on your twenty four to seven
home of the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Good afternoon, Steelers Nation, It's the Drive on the Steelers
Audio Network. Here on a victory Monday, we was Shooler
and Matt Williamson with you for the next two hours
to recap Steelers thirty four Bengals twelve. And Matt, you
know this about me, I'm always trying to work the angles.
I'm always trying to think of the interesting way to
(00:48):
frame it and start the conversation and get into all
this different stuff. And I'm driving down here, you know,
this afternoon and thinking about man a lot to get
into from that game.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Where do we begin?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Do we start with the offense, Do we start with
the defense? Do we start with some of the injuries?
Do we start with some of the extra curriculars? And
it just kind of struck me. I heard I heard
the voice of our of our of our dear buddy Stan.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Savage in the back of my head, going root for
the story.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
You know, I always remember Stan saying that when all
else fails, just root for the story because it's what's
best for business.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Matt.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
How everything transpired yesterday from start to finish, the players
that were needed for the Steelers in relief, the drama
between Chase and Ramsey, couple huge defensive touchdowns for the Steelers,
everything going on with Mason Rudolph and Kenneth gain Well,
and that game yesterday was what's best for business man.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
There's a million different things to discuss.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Darnell Washington killing guys the list that's like eighth on
the list, James Pierre turning in an outstanding performance. I mean,
there was probably three, four five things from this game
that would normally be the headline on any other given Sunday.
And of course the Steelers end up winning comfortably, and
(02:05):
what was I think one of their most complete sixty
minute performances of the season.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
Yeah, and I don't know how to even retort to that,
or what is number one on the list? I mean, like,
what is that?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
If you're writing that, if you and I are Dale
or Jerry Dulac and we're writing the story, I don't
know what the I mean, I don't know what the
headline is.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
You know, I probably would go with something on the line.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Fight setbacks Steelers role. I don't know.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
I probably would go something along the lines of backup,
stepping up that.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
I think is, yeah, you know what talk about Ganewell
even even you know, our our good friend of the show,
Kyle Dugger.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Is right, defensive backs call into the drive.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
It's we we we We did get a couple of
tweets about that, and you actually pointed out, didn't you
and Dale had on Beanie Bishop last year?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Yeah, and I think that was true.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
So hey, Steelers, defensive backs call into the drive and
you'll have interceptions and maybe even find the end zone.
But I think you're right. I think that's where. I
think that's the headline. I think that's the starting point.
We talked about it so much during training camp how
it really felt like, yeah, we still had roster questions,
who's going to be wide receiver number two? You know,
(03:20):
all these all these different things that we did talk about.
But I think one of the things, one of the
areas where we gave the Steelers a lot of credit was, Man,
you look at this roster at training camp and into
the preseason and at the start of the year, and
it really felt like they had quality depth pretty much everywhere.
Maybe why especially at defense, especially especially on defense, I
(03:41):
think maybe offensive line and wide receiver were the only
two areas that that you would question, but everybody around
the league spoiler alert once more, offensive line depth.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
That's not just a Steelers thing.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And I thought that really really showed through on Sunday
thousand percent.
Speaker 5 (03:58):
You know, Rudolph coming off the bench gain well, much
like he did in Dublin, having to be the guy twice.
Now he's shown that he can excel in that role. Now,
maybe he wouldn't for seventeen games in a row, but
that's not never going to be asked to him, you
know what I mean? Right right all across the defense
led by Pierre but also Echols, and you had a
handful of significant defensive injuries before you walked into that game,
(04:22):
of course, totally. I think another headline, which is half good,
half bad, is if we take and I know you don't,
this is how the world works, but if you take
the two defensive scores out of the equation. You had
had a hard time convincing me on Friday that that
would be the final score, you know what I mean,
because every Bengals game is like fifty to fifty one.
You I mean, like, it's not how the Bengals play football,
(04:44):
So half of that's good and that you really can't.
You don't have a touchdown to those football team.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
It's his tech versus organ But you held him to
twelve points.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Yeah right, And on the other hand, you still didn't
produce a whole lot of points against what I still
think is a horrific defense. Feel as strong about that
as ever.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
You know, I do too, And I think that one
is at least a little easier to stomach when you
consider Aaron Rodgers only played half the game and James
Warren got injured too.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
You're also playing with the lead late. You know, you
don't have to push the ball down the field and
things like that, You know, right.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Good point.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
But yeah, I just I felt like from top to
bottom that was a all hands on deck, yeah type
type win for the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
I thought they had a solid game plan on defense.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
Man, Yes, and this is defense really rounding in the forum,
coaching the pieces of the puzzle wall, fitting Ramsey at
safety next to Dug Er like I think everyone's, you know,
the three linebacker thing that happens once in a while.
I think they're coaching, in particular, starting to understand how
this should work and it wasn't the original plan from
the summer.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
You know, No, it wasn't.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
And I know there was frustration when it wasn't work
working out, and it felt like the Steelers were kind
of trying to do the square peg round hole just
bank continue to bang your head against the wall type.
I also think, and this is hard to do in
the NFL. You and I have talked about this many times.
Only seventeen games a year, every Sunday or Thursday or Monday,
you know, feels like you're either winning the Super Bowl
(06:12):
or you're picking first over all in the draft. You know,
there's not a ton of of space between. But I
think they deserve some credit for figuring it out. Maybe
it didn't happen, is you know, in this instant gratification
world that we all live in as quickly as we
all wanted, Matt, A lot of times, like box scores
can be deceiving, I think sometimes, oh a.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
Lot of times. Yeah, we went.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Back after the Colts game and Pierce put up a
bunch of numbers and like they had two I think
hundred yard receivers.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Pittman and Piers put a bunch of numbers.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
But how it didn't really feel like that, Like, it
didn't feel like the passing attack for the Colts took
over dominated the game.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
It didn't feel like the Bengals first game exactly right
when you looked at you know, Jamar Chase had sixteen
receptions for one hundred and sixty yards.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Told me and right, I think T Higgins had nine
for like nine something like that. You look at the
box score here and I think it tells the complete story.
T Higgins three receptions sixty three yards and the twenty
eight yard touchdown. Okay, but after that first drive, two
receptions for thirty some yards for T Higgins and to.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
His credit, the touchdown they got him against Sawyer. Correct,
you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Correct?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
It was a nicely schemed up player by Cincinnati there,
Jamar Chase three receptions for thirty yards.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
If you would have told us, Matt those those.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
That's the most unbelievable thing, incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
If you would have said it hurt, If you would
have said to us on Friday, or if one of
us would have made the prediction, those guys are gonna
have six catches for ninety yards between the two of them,
we would have laughed you out of the building, No.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Way, no chance.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Did you watch the game a month ago. Have you
watched them against everybody recently.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Pretty much their whole career, but especially since Flacco took over.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
And it's another one of those matt We've laughed at this.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
No one's screaming about that one hundred and eighty million
dollar defense. No one's screaming about the money.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
They're not going. See that's what you.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Pay all that money for that defense.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Before they got it done, they made some game plans.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
They adjusted, but they did I thought that they had
a They did not do the square peg round whole thing.
They came in with a different mindset. We're gonna flood
those short passing routes. We're not gonna blitz nearly as much.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
Yeah, the blitz percentage going down, I think is here
to stay.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
And they just Joe Flacco and company just tackle.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
We're going a lot of people's ball. We're gonna play physical,
we're gonna hit, you know. Yeah, they just they look
fundamental stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
They were the course of sixty minutes, you know, played
out over three hours, and I think five minutes or
six minutes something like that was the final you know,
time from from opening kick to final whistle. Cincinnati really
kind of both sides of the ball, but especially on offense,
just never looked settled, never looked like they got comfortable,
never looked like they got into any kind of rhythm.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
And that hasn't happened to them.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
No, they've been they've been clicking, and frankly, I want
to address this too. Really since the first stealer game,
Chase been very productive too. I know that his stat
line eighteen ninety nine right is not perfect for the Steelers,
but really every step of the way, they say they
faced so many light boxes too, that his production has
(09:13):
been kind of like all the fantasy stuff like, oh,
he's back to the guy you drafted in the second
round of fantasy because they're they're getting him the football,
so it doesn't bother me quite as much. And I
wish I'd have talked about that a little leading up
to the game, like, don't just think because they're rushing
him was so bad the first time they met, that
you're gonna hold Brown the six carries for twelve yards.
(09:34):
I mean, like, sure, they're good. I mean he's good.
The other thing I think is noteworthy, I mean it's
not good it's not bad, but you talked about the
high priced defense. Like I love Cam Hayward, I love TJ. Watt,
but neither one of them were like the guys that
like took the game point, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Great to see somebody else, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
Yeah, exactly exactly. It's not like the studs that have
been doing it for ten years did it again? No,
it's new dudes.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
You know, it's absolutely right, Matt. You know, I'm raising
to two young girls, two young daughters. It's nice when
somebody else helps, uh, you know, shoulder the load besides
my wife and I for the day. Your grandparents are
in town and pick up some slack, right, you know,
my sister comes over and hangs out with the girls
(10:18):
for a couple hours.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
Heck, if you have to pay a babysitter just to
get out.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
My wife and I know that we can get it done,
but it's nice to have somebody else help us get
it done.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Takes a village, dude, it's a village. Takes a kid
or or develop a quarterback.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I am so glad that you said that, because you're
spot on there, especially in a game where you had
no Alex high Smith as well, too, banged up in
the secondary.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Dang it, I just did it as well too, son
of them done? Would you do as well too?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (10:45):
I thought you said. I was like, what's wrong with
banged up in the secondary? They were banged?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
I said banged. It was the three words that I said.
Speaker 6 (10:50):
After that, I never even catch it anymore. I mean
to put my radar up more I do. It's actually
become a joke. I was let Bob Labriola was laughing
with me. Someone sent an email in and said they
were a big fan of my work as well too.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Son of a gun.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
At least it's a good inside joe as long as
you're laughing with me and not at me with those guys.
And it's not like those guys did nothing and were invisible.
But you're right, they were not the lone straws stirring
the drink that it's felt like at times in the past.
You had no Alex Highsmith, you had no Sleigh, you
had no Deshaun Elliott.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
I mean, Holkom is a contributor.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
You're right, right, right, totally, totally, uh, And I was,
I was, You're absolutely right. It was nice to see
Pierre and Dugger and a lot of other guys making plays.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
How about kut of beer. I'm talking about like, I mean,
Benton's starter. But Benton and Harmon to me are leveling
up in a good way too. Ben's been really good
for a while now. We he really worried about the
beginning of the year.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
I was just gonna say we and I don't when
I when I say that, typically I don't mean you
and I. I mean the collective we, Steelers, media, Steelers fans,
everybody involved in this, in this sphere of Steelers fandom
and content and media. He was at the forefront of
a lot negative conversation the first few games.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
In the year.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
So much ability there, and I think, I think a
lot of people like you and I and I think
the people who don't just do this for clicks and
you know, really trying and analyze and be thoughtful.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Talked about how he wasn't.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Being deployed in the most ideal situation but that but
how it still looked really bad and he was struggling.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah, Game four, Week four in Dublin in Ireland.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
He gets back.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Harmon returns the week before he settles back into a
more appropriate role. He takes I mean he was great
against the Vikings and Ble and Matt he has been.
I'm glad that you mentioned him as well too. I
think Keanu Benton deserves a lot of props. I think
at times earlier in the year it was quiet. Last
few weeks it's been loud. I mean he has been. Yeah,
he has been consistently showing up, consistent TFLs, consistently getting
(12:49):
after quarterbacks, and much better in the run game where
he was struggling the first few games of the year.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
That was what we're saying. I mean, there's some some
early tape from twenty twenty twenty five here where he's
just getting driven back in the Linebackers like, why is
the Queen and Wilson making more plays? I'm talking like
week one, week two. I'm like, yeah, because Benton's in
their life, right. They got a three hundred pounds twenty
pound guy pushing a three hundred pound guy on top
of them. That's a big reason why they can't because
(13:16):
there's nowhere to go because they're getting squashed. No, I'm
real happy with the defense, and particularly at corner. I
was worried we'd be like, oh, defense is building good momentum,
but then Flato through for four to twenty and Chase
you know, ripped Pierre apart or something like that could
definitely happen, you know, against this offense. But I'm confident,
(13:37):
you know, they got another test coming up against Chicago
that's sort of similar in that they're real good on offense,
real questionable on defense, and much different challenge, Kayleb Williams.
Couldn't be any different than Flash Show and you know,
different schemes and new coach and all that stuff. Unfamiliar
opponent and I'm not trying to get ahead of ourselves.
Steelers always struggle in Chicago. You talk, I was talking
(13:58):
to pursuitos or very.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Right, but it is true.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
Rogers is good there, but if you'll see him, you know.
But like I feel confident that they'll do well against
the Bears too. This isn't just a I kind of
feel like, whoever, what are our offense they play? They
should be able to play in a variety of manners
and a little more, a lot more fundamentally sound now,
not putting players in position not to succeed. And I
(14:22):
think they're in a good, really good spot defensively. Yes,
the offense. I still have a lot of concerns, you know, right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Especially with some of the injuries now that are piling up.
I think that's well said by you. I just I
keep looking at that receiving box score for Cincinnats. Yoshavas
had a great game against the Steelers a couple months
ago through receptions for twenty yards. I mean, well done
to everybody involved there under two hundred yards passing for Cincinnati.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
I don't want to pop the balloon, but I did
want to ask you something since you were at the game,
because Rob brought it up to me earlier today that
wind was an issue for both passing. Oh yeah, okay,
I mean it's not like that was nothing now.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
I actually this was one of the things I had.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
Writen Eagles game last night. I mean, like the wind
was whipping across Pa.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Yes, it was. You know, there's no doubt it was chilly.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
We had we had the window open like we always
do for the broadcast, but we all had our jackets
on because it was that wind was whipping. In the pregame,
you know, the you're watching the goalposts, goal post themselves,
the flags are going all which directions north, south, east west.
The goalposts themselves were moving, so it was it was
definitely windy down there, without a doubt. I think that's
(15:32):
certainly played a factor. One of the things I did
have in my notes though, was and I you know,
this was in the first half, obviously before he exited
the game, but I wrote down, Man, Aaron Rodgers continues
to miss some guys high and or long. Is that
becoming a pattern? Or is that just because of the
weather conditions.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
I think it's a fair question.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
I think it's a fair question. But again, he ends
up it was a lot.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
In the kicking game. But I think both coaches new
I don't want to be returning punts. I don't want
to try field goals as much as I possibly can either.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
You know, yes, and and you saw for for I
was almost said both quarterbacks, but I think all three
quarterbacks you saw that be a factor.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Like I I like to put myself in the seat
of a lot of our listeners that weren't at the game,
because I wasn't at the game. I'm sitting there watching too,
and they brought it up, and I knew it was
an issue. And I live in Pittsburgh, and I know
that's windy out, you know, but I wasn't on in
the stands, and it sounded like it was probably a
bigger issue than just US television watchers would have known.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Yeah, no, it was.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I would say it was the first time all year
with some where you really had to take the elements
into a yeah, yeah, like.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
It matters for a Steelers game, Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah, Actually been pretty fortunate to this point that there
hasn't been a pouring down, cats and dogs, buckets raging
type game Boby Field.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Yes you haven't laughing now to Windy City, it always has, like.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Maybe it was.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
For the Steelers in that regard, you know, nice tune
up of hey, here's a little taste of what you
could get next week in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
I looked it actually doesn't look too bad, as.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
A man knows, but it looks like that looks like.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Slow fifties for next weekend in Chicago. But this time
of year, that could change overnight, certainly, very quickly. But yeah, no,
I'm glad that you brought that up, because that was
definitely a factor. That was that was certainly a factor,
and I think that you know, the way that the
game played out was Cincinnati having to stretch the field
a little bit more and trying to play catch up
(17:30):
probably helped the Steelers. You know, that was probably a
benefit for the Steelers, Yeah, as much as it was
a detriment for Cincinnati. And with the.
Speaker 5 (17:37):
Wind away of your passing game, that favors the Steelers more.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Than it does a bank totally, totally.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
If the win could somehow take away twenty percent of
your defense, that would favor Cincinnati more than it would
the Steelers. Actually, So yeah, that I think did work
out in the favor of the Black and Gold. That's
why they call it home field advantage.
Speaker 5 (17:56):
Baby. Every game is different in every place you plays.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
It is.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Steelers moved to six and four, Cincinnati falls to three
and seven. You can stick a fork in the Bengals.
They are done and it'll be interesting to see what
the rest of the year looks like from them. Does
Joe Burrow still try and rush back at this point?
Do you just sit at ten Hendrickson done for the year.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
A lot of crossroads, a lot of big questions for
Cincinnati that are hard to find the answers to. But
fortunately we do not have to concern ourselves with any
of that.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
One of the guys that.
Speaker 5 (18:28):
Would be nice beat the Ravens in a week or
two though.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
That's a good point.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
Yeah, all right, Michiel might have a little something for
his old team. Who knows.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Just get one more win, Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
That's all you need there, One more win, baby, and
uh and help the Steelers out a little bit in
the process. One guy who typically has some answers and
some good things to say is, of course, the voice
of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Rob King.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
We will talk to him when we return on the
other side.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Get all of his thoughts on the Steelers victory over
the Cincinnati Bengals yesterday. Kinger, when we return more AFC
North talk on the other side. Wes Sheeler, Matt Williamson.
It's the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers
Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
You were tuned about Drive on your twenty four to
seven home of the Black and Goal. Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Back on the drive here as we roll along on
a victory Monday as the Steelers take care of.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Business against the Bengals. Joining us now is the man who.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Brought you all of the action on the Steelers flagship
DVE on the Steelers Audio Network. The voice of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and of course the co host of in the.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Locker Room as well, Rob King.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
The King is in the Castle, King or thank you
for taking the time as always here on a Monday,
And you know, Matt and I kind of started talking
about just all the different storylines and how much it
felt like went on during this game. But I don't know,
I feel like the biggest kind of you know, thing
that you have to discuss is what felt like perhaps
(20:12):
the most complete sixty minute performance that we've seen from
this defense all season, I think, especially when you consider
the level of competition and the way the Bengals offense
had been playing for the last month or so.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
I agree with that. And it's interesting too, isn't it
that the Citis have had to do that with some
different personnel than we expected to see at the beginning
of the season. Remember they drew it up and it
was going to be Ramsey, you know, following around the
other team's top receiver or playing in the slot, Slay
on the outside, Joey Porter Junior on the outside, Deshaun
(20:47):
Elliott at strong safety, jant thorn Hill at pre safety,
well Elliott's hurt Wan Thornhill is out. Ramsey's at pre
safety slays out. The only guy starting in the position
you expected is Joey Porter Jr. Which is your congratulations
to the to the uh you know, at least the
daff of the cap, to the personnel department for scrambling
(21:07):
around and finding players in the offseason and during the
season with the trade for Dugger who could step up
and play big roles. And then of course kudos too,
you know, in particular, you know Dugger made the big play,
But you know Eccles and Pierre. I mean, I think
if you went into this game, you know, just to
this fan, you might think, oh, you know, look what
Higgins and and Chase did when we had the guys
(21:29):
we wanted in their corner in the first meeting, and
now we have, you know, our fourth and fifth corners
in there were those guys stepped up and really for
the for the at least the second traate week for
Eccles and the second rate work for Pierre, really played
good ball games for the Steelers.
Speaker 5 (21:46):
Yeah, I was very impressed with the corners, but I
know two guys you've been impressed with pretty much every
step of the way that I think are improving, are
the two young defensive linemen, and that that's obviously why
he Black's a good young defensive lineman too, but he's
not starter. Benton and Harmon Rob We've talked about a
lot on and off the air all season, but I
(22:06):
think both those guys are really taking into a new level.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
I totally agree with you. I thought Benton was disruptive yesterday,
even if he didn't have the stats to back it up.
I thought he played a good game in Harmon. You know,
I think that the defensive line has long been considered
by some people an area of concern, and it was
especially an area of concern last year when you didn't
stop the run against the Ravens, and you didn't stop
(22:32):
the run against the Eagles. Then you played the Ravens
in the playoffs and didn't stop the run again, and
you know that was fresh in our minds. And you
go out and get a quality at quality gets hurt
on the defensive line. But you know, the investment of Harmon,
and you know Benton in his third year, supplementing what
we know Cam Hayward can do, has made a big,
(22:53):
big difference on this team. You know, I think where
I agree with Wes's assertion that this was a very good,
olid all around game. I still think there's more there.
I think it's trending in the right direction in a
number of different ways. I thought they played a good
game against the Chargers. I just thought they were out
there too long. Yeah, in LA. You know, I think
(23:13):
this is a defense that's capable of, you know, beginning
to slowly as we move down the stretch here constrict
what a defense, what an offense is able to do
in both fascets running and passing. Now they ran a
little bit last week. It's hard to take away everything,
especially from an offense. It's averaging, you know, the last
three games they came in, averaging almost thirty eight points
(23:35):
a game. But to be able to do what they did,
I thought it was a complete effort. But I'm encouraged
by the fact that I still think there's more there,
and those guys up front that are a big reason
I think that.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah, No, absolutely, And you know, I I think that's
well said. What you're kind of hearkening back to about
the Chargers and just kind of only being able to
hold off the dam for so long. Hopefully that's something
they continue to build on going forward. Talented Bears offense
that we got to see here in a few days obviously,
and what then Josh Allen and that Buffalo offense after that.
(24:08):
It's a good time for what feels like the Steelers
defense to be hitting their stride. Little different story on
the offensive side of the football. Kinger some big injuries,
namely to Aaron Rodgers and Jalen Warren. But I gotta
tell you one thing that I kind of take away
from from yesterday's win as well, too, is it's nice
having Kenneth Gainwell in the fold man.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
I think two times this.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Year you've really needed him in Dublin against Minnesota and
then on Sunday yesterday against the Bengals, and both times
he comes through with multi touchdown performances.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Yeah. You know, I harken back a little bit to
camp this summer and thinking that the Sooners had great depth,
and we talked about that on defense and the depth
and adaptability of a guy like Jalen Ramsey. That's not
that easy to switch from from slot corner to corner
to pre shafety and you know, echoes emerging and uh,
(25:03):
you know, Pierre emerging. You can say the same thing
about game Bo Game Well has never really had the
opportunity to be that guy. Well, he got an opportunity
in Minnesota and ran for ninety nine yards. You know,
he was a career number one guy they had to
lean on. So I think you feel really good about
what he can do. And that came to fruition on Sunday.
(25:24):
You needed him because Ron was out, and you also
utilized him in the past game where he had seven
receptions for eighty one yards and a pair of touchdowns.
So yeah, he he definitely came through for the offense.
You know, you're signing kind of saying, Look, they the
offense I think still needs to be more consistent, but
they've shown they've shown the character to help you win
(25:46):
six games. You know, other than the game against the Chargers. Uh,
you know, the offense has at least had moments, has
at least been able to capitalize in most games this season.
Give him a short field, will capitalize. You know, need
a big drive. They've been able to produce enough of those,
whether it's the first drive of a game, tone setting
or taking a turnover and turning it into points. I
(26:08):
think the cit As have been the offense has been
pretty good at that, and guys like gain Well other
guys that have been able to contribute offensively are part
of that. But I still would like to see more consistent,
more consistency offensively. I mean that talks about this all
the time that the defense that defends least usually defends best,
(26:29):
and so I think we're seeing the defense round in
the form. I think, you know, going up to Chicago,
the offense can continue to you know, I think we've
seen elements. If they can put it all together for
a few games, I think it's gonna be fun to watch.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
So Rob, I want to go back to the cornerback
situation and pecking order and future usage. We know Porter
is gonna be out there every snap good and I
think he's playing really well. I thought I was worried
and would have been, you know, justify that Pierre were
to come back to earth against Chase and Higgins, and
(27:04):
you know, Eccles had some low moments, but I thought
that got overblown against the Chargers in Maconkie. But those
two were phenomenal and way out kicked my expectations for
this particular matchup. I'd have a hard time taking either
off the field. And I think Eckles has pretty much
solidified himself as the starting slot anyway you cut it.
(27:25):
But you also have a Sante Samuel out there, which hey, great,
you can ease him into things or not or whatever.
But I tend to think Slay all of a sudden
might be last on that list.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
It'd be interesting. You know, there's an old adage in sports.
I don't know how true it is in football that
you know you don't lose your job with an injury, right,
So it's a fallback plan that says, listen, you know,
no matter how good the other guy is, we don't
want to play mental mind games with you, because the
other thing you don't necessarily want. I don't think is
(28:01):
James Pierre looking over his shoulder. Well, if I make
a mistake or two, am I out and his sleigh in.
So this is These are the kind of things, among
many others, that I think Mike Tomlin is really really
good at communicating with his team, letting him know what
the expectations are. You know, would have been very easy
for Examp Well to bench Keysjean Williams after the muff
punt late in the game against the Chargers, but he
(28:23):
left the game. I think it was a concussion, right,
He had a concussion and had to leave the game,
but he was back out there, returning the next week.
So that's one area where I really, among said many others,
that I trust Mike Tomlin and the way he deals
with people and the way he communicates with people to
(28:44):
be able to maximize that at first. Blush, Matt, It's
hard for me to disagree with you. These guys have
been good and they've earned the right to play in
my opinion. But we'll see, Rob.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
King, I tell you what it's uh uh, you know,
it's a It was a fun game, I think, from
a lot of different perspectives, a lot of different storylines,
a lot of different things going on, some injuries, backup quarterback,
divisional rivalry stuff, uh King, or just you know, just
do me a favor and make sure you're not hawking
Lugi's on anybody the rest of the week.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Okay, Oh no.
Speaker 4 (29:19):
No, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep my Lugis to myself.
And by the way, I've talked about it very little
on the airways today and not really sure why, but
kudos to Mason Rudolph for coming in yeah, really, you know,
what a what a pros pro coming in and changing
things of the line of scrimmage and and you know,
getting people into the right situations and the team into
the right situation, and you know, not shrinking from the moment,
(29:42):
and you know, just going out there and and proving
once again his works as we've seen in the past.
But kudos to him for a great job. And now
on to Chicago. We got all week to talk about it,
but another big game coming up, guys.
Speaker 5 (29:55):
No doubt, And yeah, I'm glad you mentioned Rudolph because
you said it perfectly. But I think that's exactly what
you want in your number two quarterback. You know, come
in when when you're not super prepared, or maybe he
has to play a stretch here for a month or
the rest of the season. I don't know, but you're
fine with it. You know. It's a professional.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Yeah he is, and he you know, it shows that
he's prepared, right, it shows that he's not just like wow,
Darren jobs. So you know, I'm going to be sitting
here in the meeting thinking about, you know what, I
want to get a giant eagle after the game for
dinner or after practice for dinner, right, you know, he's
clearly not doing that and so and that shows. It
(30:37):
shows when he comes in, and that's appreciated by his teammates.
Anytime a guy comes in and has to fill in,
I mean, he's he's not just your number two quarterback.
He's a number two quarterback behind a first ballot, four
time MVP, first ballot, Hall of Famer, superstar quarterback. And
he came in and the offense didn't misspeak.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Well said, well said, And that is what you want
for your backup quarterback. And hey, hopefully it's not too
long for Aaron Rodgers. Maybe he's good to go in
the Windy City. Maybe he does need a week or
so on the sidelines, but I think we all have
faith that Mason can captain the ship in the absence
of Aaron Rodgers. Great stuff from our friend from the
Voice of the Steelers co host of in the Locker Room,
(31:22):
Rob King King or thank you for taking the time
on Monday, Man.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
Always fun. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Guys, there he goes the King exiting the castle. Yeah,
you know what, let's talk a little bit more about that.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Mason. Rudolph Trot because I think I think you're right.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
I don't think we've highlight in a crazy game with
a million different things going on, where normally that might
be at the forefront of the conversation. Let's let's talk
a little bit more about that and and Mason's performance
in relief of Aaron Rodgers will do all that and
more to wrap up the first hour of the show
when we return West Shueler. Matt Williamson, it is the
Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network, your.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Tunes about Drive on your twenty four to seven home
of the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Back on the Drive here on a victory Monday, and Matt,
let's piggybacking off of how we kind of ended things
there with Rob King, Let's talk a little bit more
about this quarterback situation that the Steelers currently find themselves in.
Speaker 5 (32:50):
I assume Tuesday will get more news.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Yes, Tomorrow's yes, about twenty hours or so from now,
you know that'll be at the forefront.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
I'm sure Mike tom will even address it before he
opens things up for questions.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Starting quarterback, it's the starting quarterback.
Speaker 5 (33:07):
It's Jayleen Warren. I want to know about I mean
a lot of these guys.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
Absolutely absolutely, Alex Hi Smith R.
Speaker 5 (33:13):
Yeah, they didn't seem too far away, yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Right right, you know, so, yeah, there will obviously be
a ton around Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
I mean that this rail thing, but I mean that's
more of a middle of the week conversation. But He's
Samuel could be looming out there, right.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
It would be a good time to have that happen,
because you know, you just as many bodies as you
can get in the secondary at this point.
Speaker 5 (33:37):
But now we go to talk about the quarterback situation.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
We do and we need to give some some some
props to Mason Rudolph. But first, the latest, uh, via
Adam Schefter is and I'm sure everybody saw this last night,
but uh, the initial thought, initial concern is that Aaron
Rodgers has a slight break, a slight fracture in his
left wrist. I'm sure undergoing more tests probably today or
(34:00):
this morning already, And according to Chef there, it is
shaping up to be Mason Rudolph versus the Bears next week.
But there's also reports out there that Aaron Rodgers wants to.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
Go and and and thinks he could be ready.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
So again, hopefully by tomorrow's show at least Thursday or
Friday shows, we'll have some more clarity in that regard.
Speaker 5 (34:23):
If you can on the practice field by Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Of course, of course.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
And I know a lot of people are thinking it's
his off it's not his throwing hands, so come.
Speaker 5 (34:32):
On his left hand, he'll be fine, all right.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
You should see the way that these guys snap the football.
Speaker 6 (34:40):
I mean it's taking.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
A stand up under center.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Is a violent I mean they are thrusting that football.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Into your hands.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
And of course he would wear some sort of cast
or apparatus or some.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Handling, but it's not Hey, Patrick Willis, go out there
and put a big club on and to mall people,
right right, right different for a quarterback.
Speaker 5 (35:02):
I mean, you gotta have strength of two hands on
the football in the pocket. I mean, like does that
lead the fumbles, let alone from the snap a hand off,
you know, even just manipulating you know, his offense he
holds a ball with one or two hands, running around
the pocket or trying to shrug someone off with his
left hand. Right, there's a lot to it, you know,
And not to mention he's gonna get hit in the.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Game, not to mention it could get worse, no wait,
no doubt, and likely would if you were to play
and get hit throughout the course of the game as
you as you said.
Speaker 5 (35:33):
So who knows? And again I hate playing doctor.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Saying and me too.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
But you know, it's it is one of I always
laugh when it's like a slight fracture, a slight break.
It's easy for us to say it's the old adage
of no irisk like it's it's like getting pregnant, Matt.
No one's a little bit pregnant. No one's slightly pregnant.
You're either pregnant or you're not. The broken bone, yeah,
either have a concussion or you don't. Either fractured your
(35:58):
bone or you did it. And now I understand obviously
there's severity to these things clean break versus pose a fracture.
It's like with you know, with tissue, with soft tissue injuries.
There's a difference between you know, like a tear and
a full rip in your hamstring or your quad or
whatever the case may be. But at forty one years old,
with hopefully a stretch run here and a playoff appearance
(36:22):
coming up shortly to me, I feel like, and I
should add this as well too, confidence in your backup
and your number two who would have to go in there.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
Yeah, I feel like.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
You're not throwing Duck Hodges out there.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
I feel I feel like you have to You're not
throwing she Door Sanders out there.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
A we'll talk about that a little bit now or not.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Yeah, I feel like you gotta you gotta air on
the side of caution as much as you know, Aaron
wants to be out there, particularly in Chicago against an
old rival that he has owned.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Yeah, and Ben Roethlisberger going to Cleveland, you know what
I mean, Here comes your father walking through the gates
of the stair.
Speaker 5 (37:01):
Fans aren't real fond of Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
They are not.
Speaker 4 (37:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah, there's a little history there. There's a little jealousy there,
much like the Cleveland Browns and Ben Roethlisberger.
Speaker 5 (37:10):
There's a lot of football decisions, you know, Like I'm
fourth down. I like to look at it like, what
does my opponent want me to do? Well, the opponent's
fans don't want Rogers walk in that stadium. I can
just promise you that they have a lot of bad
memories of that.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
Yes, they do.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Yeah, they do, but that's we will wait and see.
This is still very early days in terms of this conversation,
but I just hope that they're going to air on
the side of caution and safety and being conservative as
opposed to.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
I bet they do.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Let's rush them back out there, and you might have to.
It might be a like a you gotta tell Aaron
Rodgers woe instead of sick of moment. You know, hey,
I get that this one means a lot to you
in that stadium against that franchise, but we got a
lot more to play for than just a November win
in Chicago.
Speaker 5 (37:54):
And the other aspect of it you touched on ninety
percent of it, and I agree with everything you said.
But the other aspect of it is you did just
get a win over a division foe. You're in better
shape in terms of standings, you know, the need for
a win than you were two days ago. And this
is an NFC team, So it just doesn't mean as much,
you know. I mean, it's not, oh, You're gonna lose
(38:17):
the tie breaker to the Jags because of this loss.
I mean, it's it's on AFC game. It's not a
division game.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
No, it is not and obviously you want to keep
that distance between you and Baltimore. But at the same time, again,
the bigger picture is you've got a lot of important
AFC games coming down the stretch at the Bills and
a couple of week.
Speaker 5 (38:39):
Right in the heat of the in the middle of
the playoff rus.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
You've got two against the Ravens and and Matt Again,
I think the biggest thing in this for me, I
know he said, we talked more about Mason Rudolph in
this segment. The biggest thing for me is it's it's
it's hashtag. With all due respect to these guys that
I'm about to throw under the bus, it's not Duck Hodges,
it's not shdor Sanders.
Speaker 5 (39:00):
To proven backup that's here for this reason.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
It's a proven backup that I mean literally, you and
I we did some over and unders before the season,
and one of them was over under one and a
half meaningful games of action for Mason Rudolph this year.
Speaker 5 (39:14):
Yeah, we word a half.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
We're right there.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Yeah, yeah, And that is why, as Mike Tomlin said
in his postgame and I thought it was a very
good way to put it. This is what this is
an exact quote, but I'm paraphrasing. He basically said, this
is why we value Mason Rudolph as a member of
this collective. Yeah, is because you trust him in situations
like this, not just to avoid all disaster and get
(39:41):
you out of the stadium, but to literally step in
and navigate that ship and keep your rolling. And I
thought he'd all be it against a poor defense and
all that different stuff, But at halftime, here you go.
You know, it's not like he had a whole week
to prepare like he would in this case. I think
you have to feel about as confident going for I'm
one of the best ever future Hall of Famer to
(40:03):
a backup. I think this is about as confident in
the backup realistically as you could hope for.
Speaker 5 (40:07):
Right And I've gotten this question a million times and
you will too. And I'm not avoiding it in this
conversation because I don't really know the answer. But you
can make the argument that his half of football was
better than Rogers, I mean, or that then the last
three havebs of football of Rogers. I'm not avoiding the
fact that Rogers hasn't played his best of late. And
I think Rudolpho a high quality dude, and it took
(40:28):
a lot of people a lot of time here to
realize that. I mean, I know he went to Tennessee
for a while, but before that, he became the darling,
you know, right there at the end, mostly because the
people around him were before him were so bad. Yeah,
but that doesn't discredit what he did at the end
of that stint or what he did yesterday. And now's
not the time about to talk about who the future
(40:51):
quarterback is or draft or any of that stuff. But
it wouldn't shock me one bit if the plan is
next year, Mason, you're going to start week one and
Noora Sellers is gonna be.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
I tell you what, he looked great.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
Lenora Sellers was looking like Lenora's Sellers again on Saturday.
We'll talk about that. We'll talk about that on Wednesday.
Don't get me too excited. I I'm with you. There's
a reason they brought him back. There's a reason that
they value him like they do. I think everything you
said about Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Listen.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
I know there's a lot of people and this is
another one of those I tell you this all the time.
I realized Twitter is not a real place. I realized,
social media, YouTube comments, all that stuff, it's not a
real place. There's a lot of people out there that
last night in this morning are like, just stick with Maason,
He's better than Aaron.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Anyways. I ain't going there.
Speaker 5 (41:42):
I'm not going there either, But.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
I agree with what you said that it's not like
Aaron had been lighting the world on fire his last
handful of halves of football.
Speaker 5 (41:50):
If he got hurt week five, nobody even throw it.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
Out there, correct, correct, And that maybe that maybe that's
the final piece of this.
Speaker 3 (41:56):
Matt Am.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
I crazy, as we talk this out in real time
to think that maybe even a week off might do
Aaron Rodgers a lot of good.
Speaker 5 (42:05):
I was thinking that too, you know, like, as you said,
err on the side of caution, but Rogers, sometimes it
happens though so many guys, you know, a little bit
of time away from the game, whether you're mostly for
young dudes. But I mean Flacco went to the couch
and then came back and played way better than before
he went to the couch, you know. I mean, I
(42:26):
don't know they'd be bad for him at all, not
to humble him or anything.
Speaker 3 (42:29):
Like that, but just have a chance to breathe.
Speaker 5 (42:31):
I mean, had his knees and back and shoulders and
things that aren't on the injury list don't feel great
right now either, you know what I mean? Yeah, right, Matt.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
If he was just a normal forty one year old,
I think that would be the case, and you know,
the weather starts to turn right. But especially when you
take the hits that he's taken over the.
Speaker 5 (42:48):
Last couple of weeks, he might come back a new guy.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
He might.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
He might come back with some renewed energy, some new vigor.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
It's it's not like and you said it perfectly, not
to humble him, or you need to sit down and
think about what's going on here.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
Might just be nice for him to breathe for a
Sunday and more.
Speaker 5 (43:02):
I think it through too, like, Hey, things aren't going
great on the offensive side of the ball. It's not disaster,
but it's not going great. I haven't done called them
San Diego in a long time, but the Chargers was
a disaster. You know, Sure, yesterday wasn't great, especially considering
the opponent's bad on defense. But I also think it
might not be bad for the whole organization, the coaching
(43:23):
staff to gain plan and execute a start to finish
Rudolph game and therefore put some of the skill guys
in different situations, you know, and we saw a lot
of yesterday. I mean, this is something we'll talk about
in the second hour or tomorrow or Wednesday. Wilson looked
like he took over as the number two to compare
to Austin Glad Washington. Washington's role keeps growing, you know
(43:46):
what I mean. And so is Warren going to be there?
You know, like you might learn more about the offense
with Rudolph as your quarterback too, even for a game man.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
That's a very interesting point that I completely agree with. Yeah,
Metcat Steelers snap counts are important, but for skill position guys,
I like the routes, run count.
Speaker 5 (44:09):
And situations and stuff like that too.
Speaker 2 (44:12):
Routes run by the Steelers yesterday, Metcalf thirty three, gain
Well twenty six, Wilson twenty one, ok. Number three, one
more than Washington who was at twenty, John who at eighteen,
Friarmouth at fourteen, Calvin Austin all the way down to
the bottom at twelve.
Speaker 5 (44:28):
Yeah. So again, I have already started compile Matt's stats
for the Bears have so in two receiver sets yesterday,
Wilson played fifty three percent of snaps obviously metcaps. On
the other side, Austin only played twenty percent of snaps
in two receiver sets. I think that's pretty telling. And
(44:49):
Austin's now been held under thirty five receiving yards in
six of his last seven games. Like, I think he
might be in the doghouse a little bit and he's
not producing.
Speaker 3 (44:58):
I think there's some of that, and I just think.
Speaker 5 (45:02):
And maybe Wilson's coming on. I mean, like it could be.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
A combination combination of things. I also think there's some.
Speaker 5 (45:08):
It's not like Wilson got eight balls yesterday though, either.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
The way the offense is operated is not necessarily conducive
to Calvian Austin's skill set tree.
Speaker 3 (45:17):
It was one thing.
Speaker 2 (45:18):
Last year when he's really fast and he can run
those nine routes, those go routes and get underneath the
Russ moonballs.
Speaker 3 (45:24):
That's not what they're doing. They're not doing any of
that this year.
Speaker 5 (45:26):
No, No, they're not just chucking it up and holding ball.
Speaker 3 (45:29):
I think I think that's a big part of it
as well too.
Speaker 5 (45:31):
So I think this was interesting with Washington too. Because
it's extreme. An eleven personnel, one back, one tight end,
three receivers. Washington is the loan tight end on ninety
percent of those snaps on just the eleven personnel.
Speaker 3 (45:46):
So there's no disguise in that anymore. He's the guy.
Speaker 5 (45:48):
He's the guy. But what's weird is when they had
two tight ends on the field, so there's double the
opportunity be out there, and he was out there thirty
six percent of the time, but ninety with one tight
end on the field.
Speaker 3 (46:01):
Interesting.
Speaker 5 (46:02):
Now, I have no problem with the ninety part, but
that I'm pulling them off right right right. I mean
some of it might be throwing situations. We just want
our best to past catchers.
Speaker 3 (46:12):
But it's hard. He's not one of those at this point.
Speaker 5 (46:15):
And see how hard it is to tackle that guy.
Speaker 2 (46:17):
Right, rumbling, bumbling, stumbling, Matt, you got to get your
son at Darnell Washington.
Speaker 5 (46:24):
Jersey told dude off the air. He texts me he's
like that. I'm in love with Darnell Washington, and I've
been telling him since week one. Anytime touchdown bet on daring.
Now the books have caught on, and it used to
show plus eleven hundred oh yeah, right, yeah, yeah, retire.
(46:44):
He's like, should I get a Darnel Washington Jersey. I'm
my god. That's He's like, he does have a ton
of money and he's buying. I'm like, I'll pay for it.
That's a good one.
Speaker 3 (46:53):
Christmas is right around the corner. Son. Gotta love it, Matt.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
When we come back to start Hour number two, breaking
news from Adam Schefter, y one Thornhills signed to the
Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad. That's not actually it, but Schefter
did just tweet something out as it relates.
Speaker 3 (47:08):
To Hakka Lugie Gate.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Oh boy, is that a good name that works one
of Hakka Loogie That is a island in Hawaii. It's
also something that Jamar Chase wanted to do against Jalen
Ramsey yesterday. Plenty more to get into from that game,
and we will continue to do that in Hour number
two as well as go around the league and talk
about Remember we teed it up on Friday. It was
(47:31):
a real separation Sunday and a lot of playoff in
division races around the league. We will recap all of
that action fun Sunday across the NFL in our number two,
all of that and more as we roll along West
Shouler Matt Williamson.
Speaker 3 (47:44):
Halfway home.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
It's the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers
Audio Network
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.