September 8, 2025 • 46 mins
The Drive reacts to the Steelers thrilling 34-32 win over the Jets to open the season. Rob King joins the guys to give his reactions.
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 (00:10):
Your tunes about drive on your twenty four to seven
home of the Black and Goal.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Steelers Nation Radio. What's going on Steelers NATIONE Radio. Welcome
(00:37):
to the Drive on a victory Monday here in early September,
Matt the Steelers, just like we both predicted a close win.
I mean, I think it went exactly where. I think
we all thought it was going to play out like that. No, exactly,
nobody thought that it was going to play out like that.
The lowest over under of the Week one NFL slate
(00:58):
ends up being the second highest score game insane until
until Buffalo Baltimore last night.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I didn't confirm this, but I think those are the
only two games that hit the over the whole weekend.
I know unders are big, and that was the lowest time.
I mean, it couldn't have been more. I mean, it
was one of the highest scoring games I predicted to
be one of the lowest scoring games. A lot to unpack.
I almost said, I don't want to overreact because it's week.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
One, Week one, and that's the easiest thing to do.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Yeah, week ones are weird, new coaching staff.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Even Week two's can be a little weird, no.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Doubt, No doubt, and it'd be a hard game to
prepare for. But I want to give the Jets a
lot of credit. I think they're a better football team
and a better coach football team than I expected. And
that's one thing I always do on Mondays is I
think you have to recognize the opponent. I mean, these
guys are getting paid too, and that was the best
I've ever seen fields play, and some of their first
(01:54):
round picks on both lines of scrimmage are going to
turn into really good players. And I like this coaching staff.
But that being said, so my point is a lot
of people look at Jets like that's one of the
worst two or three teams in the league.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
I don't think they're gonna be.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I don't think they're gonna be, but I also think
there's a lot of work to be done too. I mean,
the negative call one for the Steelers in that game
is pretty extensive and worrisome.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
It sure is, and we will obviously get to that today.
We're gonna catch up with our buddy Rob King about
fifteen twenty minutes from now as well, too, the voice
of the Steelers get his perspective from what he saw
there in the booth. But I think you're right. That's
the that's the beauty of a week one win. I
guess still, I don't even want to say ugly, but.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
We can do it with a smile on our face,
you know what I mean? Right, missus? That kick all
of a sudden burn the place down.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
You know, it's almost exactly what you want in a way.
There's positives to build off of. There's still plenty that
you can harp on these guys about this week so
that they're not feeling too good about themselves either. Yeah,
but you're one to zero and I think give a quarterback,
and I think you have a quarterback, And that's where
I wanted to start, that is, I think you have to.
There are some concern and some negatives and some things
(03:01):
that we'll get into certainly, But my goodness, I think
even the most optimistic Aaron Rodgers supporters heading into this
twenty twenty five season, and I think you were certainly
one of them, And I.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Think pretty impressive to be around a camp I think,
you know, and those type of things.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yes, I think I was maybe only half a step
behind you in terms of expectations for this guy and
what it would mean for the Steelers offense and what
he still had left in the tank. But I didn't
think that was going to translate to four touchdown passes
in the first game of the season or that many points.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah, I mean we have not or an opening drive touchdown.
Maybe we should have opened the show with the opening
drive last year.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
You want to know the last time the Steelers opened
a season with an opening drive touchdown? Oh Man two
thousand and eight against the Houston Texas.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Okay, wow, long time.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I was still in high school, Matt. Wow, I'm a
thirty four year old father a.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Tune right right.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So No, there's a lot of good I mean this game,
as much as I can remember, the good call them
we could really talk about, and we might as well
start there.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Of course, I think Rogers it with.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Boswell and the bad callum is as pretty obvien. I mean,
there's things that actually go in this call them or
this call them. Oh, I know, I call them to
put all these things in. So let's start with Rogers.
First of all, I'm not gonna start with Rogers. I'm
just going to talk about old guys in leadership and
being around the block.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I think that was huge in this game.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
That one team is trying to learn how to win
and first time head coach. The other one has been
always has a winning record and wins one score games
like it's their job, and has Cam Hayward and Watt
and Rogers and Ramsey and Sleigh and metcalf. A lot
of these guys are new, not all of them that
(04:51):
understand that the fight is not lost just because we're
not good at some things. You know that in the end,
this is going to come down to a couple of plays,
probably in the fourth quarter. And I think there's an
art to making those plays. And obviously the guy that
touches the ball every snap, the quarterback, has a ton
to do with that.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
You know, we've joked.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I mean it just ended, but Pat Mahomes won seventeen
to one score games in a row.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
I mean that's not an accident, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Let alone the Rogers and Cams and guys that have
been around the block over and over and over and
understand what it takes to win in this league. And
Tomlin's really good at that too, And I think that
they overcame some major deficiencies to play to make plays
at the most opportune times, both sides of the ball
and especially on special teams. And that's why you won.
(05:39):
You know, I'm down and down out. I didn't think
they were the better team.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I think that's fair to say. Yeah, Yeah, I'm gonna
do my reat day. I'm gonna do my rewatch tonight.
And I was thinking maybe tomorrow we could unveil like
a new segment, maybe like a Tuesday rewind or something
like that, where we bring up something that we didn't
discuss on Monday that we noticed from our rewatch. What's
that's so crazy to me? Is? I mean, hey, I
was thinking driving in here, like it's been a long
(06:05):
time since we saw the Steelers offense win a game.
But that's not technically true, because they did last year
in Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
True.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I mean, they scored forty two points in the defense
game up thirty eight I believe was the final score
of that game. If I'm remembering correctly. The offense won
the Steelers a game that day.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
That's happened often in the last five years or so.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
But yeah, right, And I think if I would have
called you up at halftime or maybe even told you
before the game, the Steelers are gonna have twenty two
rush yards on ten attempts at the half. Ugh, they're
gonna have twenty two yards on the ground, averaging two
point two yards per carry in the first thirty minutes
of that game. I think we would have both said,
even if Aaron Rodgers plays great, it's not gonna be
enough to overcome that.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Yeah, he's not the superman that's gonna throw four touchs.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
That's the most impressive part of the offense winning the
game to me, yes, is that they still had nothing
on the ground.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
And frankly, I thought their protection was terrible too, not
very good. I mean, if you've coupled that, I'd be like, oh,
they lost thirty to nothing, you know, like they can't
protect you know, Quinn Williams the other those two first
round picks coming off the edge. Where the Jets are
winning consistently in the pass rush department, where are the
points coming from? Well, I think a lot of it.
(07:11):
I give credit to Rogers and Arthur Smith matching their
philosophies and working together for the first time and figuring out,
we don't know exactly what we're getting from his defense.
We know they have some good players. Sauce the Williams brothers,
those two edge guys. We note this a defensive minded
head coach who's aggressive, and they obviously had a game
(07:33):
plan like any game going in, but you didn't have
any tape to go off of, and you're gonna have
to improv on the fly. And there were some themes
that really worked. First off, one theme was terrible, as
they couldn't run the ball at all. And then let's
say they gave up trying, but they didn't just keep
pounding their head against the rock either. I know Metcalf
(07:54):
had a really good day, but they rarely threw its sauce.
I mean, Metcalf had most of his production when it
wasn't sauce. Austin was a just don't throw at sauce
situation because the rest are secondary is pretty bad, to
be honest with you, So why would you Why test
their best, dude when there's a noticeable drop off? To me,
one of the most important things or telling things from
(08:15):
the passing game though, and people are going to take
this as a negative, but I think it was forced
and they still made it work really well. Rogers didn't
throw a pass twenty yards down field or further his
average depth of target was remarkably low. Ball came out
of his fast of his hands really really fast because
they couldn't protect and so he's a very quick processor.
(08:38):
They threw a lot of screens, some of them worked,
some didn't. They had one hundred and seventy one yards
after the catch. And we haven't talked about this a lot,
but we've talked about how sacks are as much a
quarterback stat as.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
O line stat After the catch.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Is as much a quarterback stat as having tyreek and
good guys after the catch.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
You gotta hit him in.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
The ball's got to be there on time, throw them over,
throw them open, go to the right people at the
right time.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
So that stuff was wonderful.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
So it wasn't we're just gonna drop back and sling
it fifty times.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
We're gonna get it out.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
We're gonna nickel and dimia, we're gonna let our guys
make plays after the catch, and we're gonna avoid sauce
and we're gonna avoid their pass rushers because we're not
handling those things very well and we're not running the
ball at all. And you still generated a lot of points.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
That to me is promising it's promising.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
I think some of it. I wish they could.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
It's promising if they improve in the in the deficient areas.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
To still get a W out of that is promise.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And score over thirty points right right.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
And it wasn't a thirteen and nine game, it was it.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Was on bral week. You just had to do that
one too. I Uh, I think I think that's spot
on that that passing chart is weird to look at,
isn't It is weird because you could see good one.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
We haven't seen it go in the thousand years.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I was gonna say, I think I think it's exciting
because there's a lot of middle of the field stuff,
which haven't we been screaming about in this town for
the length of a presidential election. I mean, it's like
the Olympic cycle right right right, And there was a
ton of that. The twenty yards downfield you see that
you see I think what his average average depth of
(10:20):
target was like four point six four under five under
five yards. But I still think all things considered that
you couldn't run the ball like you wanted to. Sauce
was was doing sauce things. Yeah, Aaron Rodgers got sacked
four times.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
And he's not gonna lude to rush like I mean,
he's gonna recognize unblocked defenders. He's gonna know where the
blitzes are coming from, and that's it's a pretty blitz
heavy team too. He's gonna know Quinn Williams is giving
our guys problems. I mean, he's gonna know everything. But
that doesn't mean it's not It's not gonna be like
the game last night, you know where Lamar does this
crazy stuff. I mean, like those days I think are
(10:57):
gone with Rogers. But he is willing to sit there
and take the hits, which worried me. I mean, I
don't think he.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Was a couple of those.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Right it was, you know, And I just don't think
he's going to extend plays. But if the blocking would
be a little better for him, the average up target's
going to go up and there was and he throws wall.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Well, let's it's like burying the lead, you know.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Still, I mean it looks different coming off his hand.
It's it's absolutely crazy.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
He's still really impressive.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
It's a very good way to put it. And I
figured that we would see that from Aaron Rodgers this season.
I didn't think it was going to be weak one. Yeah,
I mean I didn't think it was going to be
that kind of performance, throwing the ball that much, doing
it that successfully.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
I kind of just assumed, and we said this to
some degree more or less, whoever runs the ball or
deals with the run game better is probably going to
win this.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
And it's clear which team.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Did on both sides of the ball much better, way.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Better, and they still lost. The team that did that,
they sure did.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
And it's not like there was some crazy turnover differential
outlier nor or something like that. It was just finding
a way to win. I mean in the past the Steelers,
Steelers go down nine points there right late in the
second quarter, Like in the past, it'd be like we're
down two possessions, we're in trouble. This game might be
I know it's only for an outlook. No, it's a
little before halftime here, but this game might be over.
(12:20):
It is a certainly a different outlook. And Aaron Rodgers
I think was definitely the guy that was the straw
that was stirring that drink.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
No, absolutely the catalyst for it all.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
And again I think a lot of it is a
lot of veteran leadership led by a quarterback that the
game's never quite over and we'll figure out a way
to win because we've got a lot of time left,
you know. Now, there were a couple plays, but there's
an art to this too. That Boz hitting a sixty
yard or is incredible. Oh, by the way, he hit
a fifty six as well. People don't even talk about that.
(12:50):
That's like walking up.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Just assume at this point.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Yeah, nothing to it.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Obviously the game, well, causing a fumble on the kickoff
return was gave him a short field turn into seven
to meet was a massive, massive play. But that's not
a fluke. I'm not saying these things are flukes. And
the other thing was the Jets chasing these two point conversions,
you know, I mean they got zero points out of
what could have been two extra points or two point conversions.
(13:15):
And frankly, I don't even blame the rookie head coach
for going for two after the penalty, because you're half
the distance you probably should do it. But then he
chased it again you lose by two. That could have
been two extra points, you know, like in these fine lines,
those games, those couple plays all went the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Way and man, they've just had a knack for doing that. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
Yeah, again, that's that's what I'm not saying.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
That's flukey, you know, it's not. It's part of their DNA.
And right, right, right, you do that and you get
a performance like you got from Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, you
can overcome a lot of that negative that we discussed.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Usually it's like, oh, they won in the margins with
turnovers and that that extra point and right right, yeah,
but the quarterback was the twenty fifth best quarterback of
the week.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Well, this exactly right.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
He certainly was. He certainly was. Let's talk about all
these things and more with our buddy Rob King, the
voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers, called it all from MetLife
Stadium there in East Rutherford. We'll talk to the Kinger
when we return. On the other side, get his thoughts
on that Week one victory against the Jets. Westeler Matt
Williams said, it's the drive on a victory Monday, Steelers
Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Your tunes about Drive on your twenty four to seven
home of the Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Back on the drive here on a victory Monday, as
we have plenty to get to and who better to
join us to discuss then the voice of your Pittsburgh Steelers.
He's here, He's there, He's everywhere, Matt doing a million
different shows and a million different things. It's our buddy,
Rob king what's up, Kinger?
Speaker 5 (15:13):
What's going on?
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Guys? How are you? Man? Couldn't be better?
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Little victory?
Speaker 5 (15:19):
Yeah, that was a good segment.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Week all right, sounds good. Thanks for your time, Rob.
We'll see you against Seattle. Kinger. Let's let's dive right
into it, cause I'm sure plenty that we want to
discuss with you, and we don't want to keep you
here for an entire hour. But I think as there
is so much to get into from that Week one game,
there always is Week one, but this one felt even
a little more ramped up. But it feels like every
(15:44):
conversation kind of starts and ends with Aaron Rodgers doing
four time MVP things, and despite an offense that couldn't
run the ball very well or protect him, he still
finds a way to score seventeen points in the fourth quarter,
a big shout out to the serial killer Chris Boswell,
and to throw for four touchdowns after no preseason action.
(16:06):
I mean, if that's this, I don't expect him to
do that every week obviously, but if that's the starting
point for him, wow.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Yeah, it's a wow. I mean I think he and
you know the game plan the stealers put together, and
you know, he mentioned that in his postgame comments. You know,
that was that was the number one great thing you're
going to take out of that game. Because you know,
Aaron Rodgers is a guy that has had an unbelievable career.
(16:34):
We all know that disappointment in New York the last
two years. We all know that. You know, the one
year you know Trunk Cad what was it eight plays
or whatever. I don't even know if he played that
many before he had the Achilles injury. So, you know,
not not what he wanted and I don't I don't
think that's the way he wants to go out, And
so there's there are a lot of eyebrows raised about what.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Can he do?
Speaker 5 (16:54):
And people look at the overall numbers and the passer
rating and maybe they don't do the deeper into what
he did in the last half of the season, which
has put up great numbers. Still, you have to see it,
and we hadn't seen it because he didn't playing the preseason,
So to be able to see all that with that
sort of backdrop of expectations, and you know a lot
of the expectations are you know, through whichever lens you
(17:17):
want to see it. It's a personal thing, but what
he showed yesterday was not personal, not a personal thing.
You had to look at that and say that was impressive.
I think it was. The number one takeaway of the
game was how good Aaron Rodgers looked.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
You mentioned often just now you know you could see it.
You could see it.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I bet when you're calling the game and doing the
play by play and describing each play individually, you can.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Feel it too.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
It has to be a lot different than the other guys,
with all respect to those dudes behind center, since you've
been doing this.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
Yeah, I mean he's a different guy, you know. I
think Russell Wilson was a little bit different guy too.
I mean, you know, Russell is a guy that you
know justin field, you're you're kind of hoping along with him, right,
you know, he's a he's a really I found him
to be a very likable young man. He's got some
some talent and some ability, well management.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
He played great.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
Yeah, he played great, and he might find the perfect system,
a system willing to just give over to his skills, right,
one hundred percent, buy in. This is what we want
to do. This is the system for you. Come on in.
I mean there's one thing you know to being adaptable,
and I think Arthur Smith's very good at that. Don't
forget they were foreign too. With Justin Fields as a
(18:38):
starting quarterback last year. It's another thing to go say, Okay,
we're going to change everything for you. You are part
of this change. The perfect fit for this change, I
think he is. I think he's a perfect fit for
what the Jets are going to try to do, and
they're going to try to do a lot of what
they did yesterday. I think they're going to be one
of the heaviest run teams in the league. I think
they're They're more patterning themselves after the Eagles or the
(19:01):
Jets than they are of any other team around the NFL.
They want to have a hard nosed identity. They want
to run the football. That includes running it with a guy,
but at eleven hundred yards rushing. A couple of years
ago for the Bears out of the quarterback position, So
kudos to him. But you know, even last year in camp,
you know when we were watching Russell Wilson throw the ball,
it's just a different zip to it. It's a different
(19:22):
you know the word I always use. If Russell Wilson
was crisp, everything looked crisp, and he was a great
thrower to the deep ball. Well, now you're bringing in
a guy and this is no knock on Russell Wilson.
I think a lot of people are thinking, Okay, is
he a Hall of Fame quarterback or is he a
Hall of Fame quarterback? I tend to think he is.
Others might have their questions. Aaron Rodgers' first ballot, Oh
(19:42):
there's a difference, right, There's just a difference. And with
Aaron Rodgers, the Aaron Rodgers we saw yesterday, there is
a difference that was impressive. The off platform throws, the
different things he did, the organization at the line of scrimmage.
You know, if you're watching the Sunday night game last night,
they had on a you know, a former player and
(20:03):
a former coach. You know they're they're doing the breakdown
of the game quickly and said, you know, Aaron Rodgers.
When he got to the line of scrimmage, he terrified
you because he knew your defense better than you did.
And the former Cowboys coach jumped in and said, yep,
felt that same way, not only the player, but as
a coach too. That's the kind of thing he brings,
in addition to the to the talent which is still there,
(20:27):
which was on this You guys saw it up in
the Trobe. We didn't see it in the preseason obviously,
but what we saw in the trobe was impressive, and
what we've seen at practice over on the South Side
since they return is impressive. He just makes rows other
people can't.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Kinger, I think two weeks ago, I think it was
I filled in for Max on Your Guys show in
the locker Room and did two hours of Stiller's talk
with you, and we spent some time, like it feels
like everybody did leading up to this season, talking about
the Steelers wide receiver options behind DK Metcalf. Do they
need to acquire somebody else, Do they need a true
(21:02):
number two? Do they just need another piece? Do you
believe in Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson and Scottie Miller
and all those other guys. I think we laid it
out like are you calm, Are you concerned? Are you worried?
Are you panicked about the Steelers number two wide receiver.
I think you and I were both maybe on the concerned,
not panicked, not worried, not calm. I think we said concerned.
(21:26):
I tell you what one game in. But Calvin Austin
I think starting to alleviate some of those concerns with
the performance he had yesterday as well.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
And King, I know John H. Smith's growing on you
as well.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
Oh yeah, look, you know the minute they made that trade,
you know, because the headline, Remember the headline of that
trade was, you know, Micka Fitzpatrick for Jalen Rams, And
you're like, oh wow, that's interesting, man. I kind of
like that trade for the Steelers. You know, it's a
cornerback league. I like micka Fitzpatrick, you'd like to have
them both, but give me the corner, give me the
(21:58):
elite corner. And then you feel, I'm like, whoa man,
We got John Smith too. I mean that, you know, again,
I don't know why he's and again we didn't see
him the preseasons. That's probably part of the reason he
feels it feels like he's lost in the shuffle. Guy
had eighty eight catches and went to the Pro Bowl
last year. You know, Matt, you and I, I know
(22:18):
have talked about this. He to me, he is their
starting slot receiver. He's gonna get the bulk of the
work there. He can also play tight end, you can
line up as an h back. I believe that dk
Metcalf is going to get targets every game. I believe
Johona Smith is gonna get targets every game, and then
west as far as the rest of the receiving corps goes.
And you and I have discussed this, and Matt and
(22:40):
I have discussed this. You know, the number one reason
to me you want a number two receiver on this
team is it because you need a number two receiver
game in a game out a pro you know, a
Brandon Ayuk or the kind of guy that they were, uh,
you know, in the running for last year when you
had Pickens. It's if something happens, and we saw it
last year when Pickens got hurt. That was at the
(23:02):
very beginning of that stretch in which the Steelers went
on own four down there down the stretch and everyone
remembers the running game and the ball being you know,
run down the Steelers roads, and we get that. But
you know, Pickens was a big loss to me. I
think they're a little bit better. I think they're a
little more capable of standing that loss. I still think
it would be a you know, something that would be
(23:25):
hard to overcome if you have an injury to your
number one receiver. I think most teams could say that
your number one guy goes out, you're not going to
be the same. You're gonna have problems. I also think
it's going to be an ensemble effort. So this week,
Matt and I are discussing this briefly. This week you
go to Seattle, they got Witherspoon, They've got a much
better defensive backfield. Maybe this week running backs don't combine
(23:50):
for five catches, Maybe they combined for twelve catches. Maybe
you're tight end Arnel Washington has four catches for sixty yards.
You know, I just think that there's enough there, There
are enough options, and there is a good enough a
very good offensive coordinator, and Arthur Smith and a very
(24:11):
obviously not just talented, but a stute quarterback. Clearly in
Aaron Rodgers who can exploit those things. Somewhere along the line,
they've got enough different players and enough diversity of players.
That's somewhere in there. I think gaming and game out, Yes,
Metcalf's going to get his targets. Yes, John Who's going
to get his targets. The number three hero may change
(24:32):
from week to week, The number four hero may change
from week to week, and in fact, I anticipate that
it will change week to week for this Steelers.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
And I think a lot of it has to do
with the quarterback as much as the roster construction and
offensive coordinator.
Speaker 5 (24:45):
Agreed agree, He's a big component of it.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
I totally agree that kinger bigger concern as we stand
here today, and obviously it is week one. A lot
of teams will get better, a lot of teams won't
look as good as they did. The first week of
the season. Is the biggest overreaction Monday of the NFL year. Now,
prefacing all of that, what's the bigger concern to you
here on Monday after Week one for the Steelers The
(25:10):
run game for the offense or the run game defense
and the lack of success that we saw in both
of those departments Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 5 (25:21):
Yeah, And I'll even add to that protecting the passer,
because I think that, you know, when you're shifting around
offensive tackles, that's that's a concern too. That would be
up there on my list. If you're asking me to
be concerned, I think I would probably say the run defense.
But I'll also say this, like, you know, so two things.
(25:41):
I'm heading my bet here a little bit. But two things.
You remember last year the Ravens in the middle of
the season, we were horrible. They were terrible defensively. They
made a couple of moves. They moved Hamilton back to
safety and left them there. They stopped roaming him around
the field. They put Malie Harrison into the starting lineup
and got a new guy running the defense, right, and
(26:03):
then the talk of how bad the defense was really
went away. So, you know, I don't think, you know,
week one or week two is going to tell the
story of seventeen games in eighteen weeks. I just don't
think it is. I think the most important thing you
can do this time of year is just win. I
don't care if you win three to two. I don't
care if you win one hundred and ninety nine. It
(26:24):
doesn't matter. Just find a way to win and hopefully build.
Now the stopping to run that's fresh in our minds,
right because of what happened at the end of last year,
especially in the playoff loss to Baltimore, and then to
see a team come out and do that again, it
can be discouraging, right, But they're not going to run
into a team like this again. They're not going to
run into a team schematically or what have you that's
(26:46):
going to try to run the ball like this. Now,
if next week we're having the same discussion because Kenneth
Walker and Zach Sharboney just ran for one hundred and
seventy on you, then we might be having a slightly
different conversation. I think think that this is this is
more of a team that in Seattle that the Steelers
will have earlier success on. I think they'll be better
(27:10):
and better, hopefully against the teams like Baltimore as Cam
gets himself ramped up into perfect shape and becomes that
all pro guy, as Derek Harmon, your first round pick. Again,
there's reasons you select guys in the first round. You
expect them to make an impact. When guys like that
get more into the fold. I think they'll get better
against teams like this. But look, they've got weapons on
(27:32):
the outside. They've got Jackson Smith and Jigba and Cooper Cup. Well,
that's why you've got three corners, and that's why you
went out and got guys in the defensive line to
be able to stop a team that's balanced, wants to
run the ball, wants to throw the ball. But if again,
if we're having some of these what are your concern
conversations again next week? Because those guys ran for one
seventy five, that would be a bigger concern to me.
(27:54):
But if you're gonna ask me, if I have to
answer it, I would say probably. I did not expect
to see the Jets. I expected the jest to have
some success. I did not expect them to be able
to run like that against the Steelers. That surprised me.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
No, I don't think either one of us did either,
And we haven't brought it up yet in the show.
But if there's four aspects of big people play in football,
you know, run, blocking, run defense, pass protection, pass rush.
You kind of alluded to this. I think they lost
three of those four, and I know the Steelers' sack
(28:27):
numbers weren't there. But I thought they rushed the passer
well and just had a hard time putting justin fields
on the ground behind the line of scrimmage. But the
other three were losses to me, and you still managed
to find a way to win.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Yeah, And you know what, if you really wanted to
be harsh, you knows, as Clint Hurdle once said about baseball,
and it's the same thing in any professional sport. This
is a This is not a try hard league. This
is a do good league. And you know, so you
could say, yeah, they got pressure on fields, but ultimately
they only got them down once. So you could even
(29:06):
be harsh enough and say, you know, you didn't do
what you wanted to do in all four of those areas. Yeah,
and I was surprised again. I was surprised that, look,
the Jets. The Jets have number one picks in the
offensive line, high number one picks. You know, they fashion
new and Membu went early eleventh and seventh. I think overall,
(29:27):
this isn't an offensive tackle. You took twenty eighth and
hope you can develop. These are guys you're expecting to
come in and be instant dominators and even without Vera Tucker,
and that's a big loss for them. You know, they've
got a running quarterback, a good stable of running backs,
a physical offensive line, a desire to play a certain way.
We saw them in the preseason third and six. Here
(29:47):
you go, Brydon Allen. Yesterday we saw a third and
eight run. They are establishing an identity. Having said that,
you know, look, you went out in the offseason and
overhauled your defensive You knew this was what they were
going to do, and it was you know, that aspect
of the game didn't turn out the way you want it.
(30:08):
And so the good news, you know, there's room for improvement,
and the good news is there's seventeen weeks to do it.
So that's That's kind of the way I look at
these early games. You know, as long as you win,
you still have the time, and I think the Steelers
also have the talent to be able to get better.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Well. One of those talented pieces, certainly Jalen Ramsey, kinger
the attitude, the edge, drawing a penalty, making the big
play at the end of the game. I tell you
what I think, Jalen Ramsey is quickly quickly going to
rise up the list of Steelers fans favorite players. For
(30:51):
another guy who hey, he got more preseason action than
Aaron Rodgers. That didn't take much. Aaron Rodgers got none.
But for a guy who barely got any preseason action,
for a guy that got a lot of rest days.
I don't even know if you want to call him
rest days, but just ay, let's keep him in bubble wrap.
We don't need to see anymore days. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
I think it got to that point in camp.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
We know he's so good to see that immediately translate
week one with his new team, with his new defense
man king Er. That's exciting, a very exciting starting point
and where Jalen Ramsey can go from there.
Speaker 5 (31:26):
You know. Andy Widel had his press conference before the
preseason game. Seems like that's an annual occurrence now, and
he first of all, I introduced Jalen Ramsey uh the
discussion of Jalen Ramsey by calling him a future Hall
of Famer uh. And then I I don't want to
put words in his mouth. It was here Mike tomlin Us.
I think they use the word violent, like, you know,
(31:47):
this is the guy, this is not a guy coming
up just to try to wrestle you to to the ground.
This is the guy that wants to you know, inflict uh,
you know, pain to you as he tackles you. I mean,
that's the kind of player he is. And I do
believe I think he's a tone setter, you know. I look,
he's had uh you know, he's had moments in the
(32:09):
past or maybe that's gotten away from him a little bit. Uh.
But you know what, as Mike Tomlin always says, I'd
rather say whoa than than sick them. You know, you
don't have to say sick him. With Jalen Ramsey, he's
going to sick him. And he's a he's a great player,
and he's you know, he's thirty years old. He didn't
make the Pro Bowl last year, but it had a
long run of making the Pro Bowl and being an
All Pro. So you know, the Steelers are hoping that
(32:31):
he's got a couple more good seasons in him. And
you know, he came up with the big hit at
the end of the game that helps steal the victory
for him, you know, and that and that's a that's
that's what you want your big guys to do, even
if the game doesn't always. Going back to something Matt
and I have talked about and Mike Tomlin's record in
close games. You know, sometimes the game doesn't go the
(32:52):
way you want it to go. But when you got
a Chris Boswell who can step up in big moments,
and Aaron Rodgers who can step up in big moments,
a Jalen Rams, you can step up in big moments.
T J. Watt, that is going to help you win
a lot of close football games. Rob.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
The last thing I got for you was, I wasn't
shocked that Caleb Williams or Caleb Johnson. I'm sorry Caleb
Williams playing the night it didn't wasn't featured or was
barely out there at the offense. I kind of expected that,
but I didn't expect the running back usage between Gainwell
and Warren to have Gainwell out there nearly as much
(33:26):
as he was.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Did that take you back at all?
Speaker 4 (33:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (33:30):
This was a question posed to me by by locker
room cub reporter usually unattributed Schafer King, my son I
was talking about. He asked me the same thing, and
I said, you know, I really think, first of all,
I think they really like Kenneth Gainwell but yeah, and
(33:51):
I think he's going to be their third down back,
even though Jaalen Warren, I think is an excellent third
down back. I just think that that was I think
it was largely dictated by the game. There might have
been some packages they wanted to get into early with
Kenneth game well, that sort of thing, but I think
a lot of it was the Steelers. Let's let's not forget.
They were chasing the game for most of the game,
(34:13):
and I think games rare.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
To fourteen points wins either right, right, this.
Speaker 5 (34:18):
Wasn't and this wasn't. Hey, you were out in front
ten nothing and they were chasing you. I think if
it had, if that had happened, my guess is that
we would have seen more of Jalen Warre. So was
I surprised by it? I mean probably, you know, if
you told me that before the game, I'd have probably
raised an eyebrow. But I think that given the way
the game went, I'm not totally shocked that that's the
(34:41):
way the carries win.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Rob King, voice of your Pittsburgh Steelers, kind enough to
give us some of his time here on this victory Monday,
King or thanks partner, and we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
Thanks, guys, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
There he is the savant rob king good stuff, good
game to game to get going for him.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
I bet this was a fun one to call it
to him.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
I could.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
I mean, I said this on a different show that
we all have skin in the game, as do the
Jets fans and the Jets you know, media folks, and
of course all the coaches and players obviously, but other
than last night's Ravens Bills game, this might have been
his entertaining of a game. You know, if you're a
Bears fan, if you're a Rams fan, like, just sit
back and watch it. I mean, this had to be
(35:24):
seven lead changes and you know, a sixty yarder you know,
right right, the quarterback thing going back and forth of
their former teams, like this was about as entertaining of
a game as you're gonna get.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
First five possessions combined for these teams resulted in points. Yeah,
just one punt in the first half.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Yeah, it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
I mean, the number one thing you want your team
to do is win, of course, the number to check
that box. The number two thing you want them to
do is entertain.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
You know, as a fan, right when you're right.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Well, as a fan, one doesn't look at it that way.
And like people like us and Rob, you know, like
it's one thing. It's one thing to win boringly, Okay, fine,
but when those over the year, yes, you lose boringly,
that's the worst possible combination. The best is to win
and to do so in very entertaining fashion.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Many, I mean many podcasts I listened to in preview
shows were like, man, this is the game I'm looking
forward to, maybe least like I'm gonna watch it because
it's the NFL.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Took away the quarterback storyline.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
Yeah right, it's like this is the lowest point over under.
You know, it's not.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
These two teams have not been the most entertaining from
an outsider's perspective over the last few years. Yeah, I watch,
it's NFL. It's Week one, but there's a total opposite. Yeah,
maybe both these teams are doing things differently. I was
really impressed with the Jets.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
I was too. Yeah, I mean I think.
Speaker 4 (36:46):
They may find a coach, maybe they found a quarterback.
I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
It's always week one. Things things can change, you know. Yeah,
if they win seven or eight games at divisions not
other than Buffalo. That division's not very good either.
Speaker 4 (36:59):
Miami was terrible.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
You're right, and I ju and I get that one
wrong on our on our one Friday. Yeah, I think
we did pretty good other than that one, but.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
I was horrible.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
I don't think anybody saw that. You ready for the statistic,
you might have seen it. The Colts scored on every
single one of their possessions in that game.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
I know, Daniel Jones is like remarkable. Everything never happened.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Single possession the Colts had, they scored, first time that's
happened in a NFL game since nineteen seventy eight.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Wow, every single possession they scored a touchdown or a field.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
And I know exactly think the Coults are gonna go
seventeen And oh, I think that was probably a Miami thing.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Crazy crazy. We have got plenty to get to into
more thoughts from the Steelers victory over the Jets when
we return, we will do some around the league stuff.
An hour number two obviously plenty going on today here
on a victory Monday West Uler, Matt Williamson, it's the
Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
You were two weeks about drive on your twenty four
to seven home of the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
It's back on the drive here reacting to the Steelers
victory at MetLife Stadium. My first time there at that one, Matt.
Still a few of the old barns, the old stadiums
that I got to cross off the list. I've been
traveling for, you know, for a few years now with
the team and all that, my game day responsibilities. But
first time there at MetLife huge. I mean the place
(38:50):
is massive. It is in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 4 (38:53):
I knew that.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
I mean it's in the middle of nowhere. I thought
it was fine. I think it gets a bad rap
because it's not so far or it's not it's not
a Legion in Vegas, Mercedes Benz in Atlanta. Those are
kind of like the three.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
Like some people, some some stadiums have raised.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
The bar Krim day La Krem, Yes, a little bit.
Speaker 4 (39:12):
Buffalo be awesome.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
Buffaloes sounds pretty cool. There's there is a small part
of me that's hoping it. I think my ideal scenario
if the Steelers don't end up winning the division is
we go to like Houston for the wild card round
of the playoffs, or heck, I know I'm getting way
to talk about week one over reactions. Maybe the Chargers
win the West, right, and we got and we go
(39:35):
out to l A and and in January there on
the road, win a road game like one of those
those type of games. Or I guess it could even
be a home game. Steelers win the division, win a
home game.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
Hey they're sitting one, and oh, aren't you know half
the divisions one to one's half one?
Speaker 2 (39:51):
And we'll talk about that in just a few There
is a small part of me when I was watching
that Bills game last night, in the atmosphere during the
game and particularly when they came back and everything, there's
a small part of me that hopes the Steelers end
up in like a divisional round game in Buffalo this year.
That the environment there is unbelievable. We were there two
(40:12):
years ago for that playoff game, that Mason Rudolph playoff game.
It was it's like a It's like it's the closest
thing the NFL has to a college stadium. It's old,
it's dumpy. People are not huge city people are. It's
it's almost like a college town. It's like in the
middle of people just park in the grass and in
the in the best by parking lot and tailgate. You know,
(40:32):
like every space of grass and asphalt turns into tailgating
lots on those eight or nine home day games a year.
Nobody goes to the Buffalo Bills games for like a
nice night out, to sit in the suite and post
pictures on their Instagram. They're there to scream and yell
exactly right and watch football. And so yeah, I mean,
I know we'll we'll talk more about this when we
(40:53):
when we get into around the league. But I think
that the backdrop of the Steelers getting a win and
moving to one and zero when pretty close to I mean,
other than Buffalo, like all the other division favorites, if
you will, around the afrec lost their opening game.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Yeah, I mean, if you're looking big picture and in
a seventeen game schedule, you have to it's not like
the Pirates or one to oh oh or set you know.
I mean, obviously it's a big difference. But things went
pretty well for the Steelers outside of the game that
happened that they were evolved in.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
Yes, and outside of I think potentially this is another
thing that you and I talked about when we kind
of did some concerns conversations heading into the regular season.
I'm I'm hoping we get better news than I expect
on Deshaun Elliott.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
Yeah, that one ruled out quickly. Knee didn't like the
sound of that. Tomorrow's show will be I'm sure on
top of that, I would think would have that news
by then. I don't know what the Harrison situation is,
but with her big Harrison played some outside and some
inside linebacker. I like that he's Steeler, but you.
Speaker 4 (42:00):
Can move on without him. I mean, that's not the
end of the world.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
Porter was what hamstring tightness, So that sounded kind of
like it's the week one similar to cramp.
Speaker 5 (42:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
Shape, and again they're so loaded at receipt a corner.
I mean I was on a different show and said,
if brand Echols, who played well against his own old team, is.
Speaker 4 (42:19):
Your fourth corner.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
They even had a fourth corner like that since the seventies,
you know what I mean, Like, they're always light at corner,
let alone depth. I mean, if that's your fourth guy
at that position, you're in great.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Shape, great shape, whereas safety might be a little bit different.
Feeling a little bit thinner amongst that group, and Deshaun
Ellie at that that.
Speaker 4 (42:38):
Clark was a good contributor.
Speaker 3 (42:40):
But I also bet and we'll never know this answer,
and I'd have to really study it, when when he
got injured that early, did that change the Ramsey deployment.
I'm sure it did add to it had to it. Absolutely,
he was.
Speaker 4 (42:54):
Going to follow Wilson all day. You never got to
see it, you know.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
And along those lines, I think we saw probably a
lot more of Jack Sawyer than they planned on ahead.
Speaker 4 (43:03):
Yeah, yeah, he was.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
I haven't looked at the exact snap count numbers. We'll
get into some of that stuff is the week as
the week rolls along. But man, I thought he was
out there a lot more than I expected, and Roman
Wilson was out there a lot less. The tended ten snaps.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
So there's some some of the offensive stuff I have
dug into the snap count that it was Metcalf and
it was Austin and no other receiver played more than ten.
So Wilson was one of several that were like ten
and nine. But it was those two or more basically
ninety percenters.
Speaker 5 (43:34):
You know.
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Ronic scored that opening drive touchdown yeah, and then I
don't think how to target the rest of the game.
Speaker 4 (43:39):
No, I don't think so either.
Speaker 3 (43:41):
And a couple notes there. First off, they scored it
open touchdown, yay. Five guys caught passes on that drive
right off the bat. You know, when we're talking about
scripted stuff and spreading it around, was really.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
Defense is going to deploy different situations.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
And I also Mike pursued on a different show, I
just finished you and mentioned we're talking about Roman Wilson.
He said, yeah, he was only out there ten snaps.
But when it was the last drive and they were
in three wide and they needed to throw, and the
run game was an afterthought and Scroni's the blocker, Wilson's not,
it was Wilson out there. So I don't know that
(44:18):
it was an indictment. We don't like Wilson. He's only
playing ten snaps like Miller and Scornic and those guys.
But because when we needed to throw, that's the guys
that we wanted to use, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (44:26):
That's a great that's a great point by you. He was.
That was one of the things, like I I try
and help Rob and Max. I sit right behind them
during the game, and as you know, like they have
very specific detailed things that they're watching four on each snaps.
I'm sure they can call the game. It's not the
same as just sitting there and watching it and taking
it all in, right, So I try and kind of
(44:47):
you know, get some some different nuggets and things that
you can notice and stuff like that that might not
be forefront ball carrier tackler every single play.
Speaker 4 (44:55):
Yeah, stuff they have to construe to the audience.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
And then like early into the third quarter, like we
went to break and like I tapped Max on the
shoulder and I was like, is it just me or
have we barely seen Roman Wilson And he was like
he's like I had that hadn't even really clicked with me.
But then at the end of the game he kind
of turned around and was like, you see ten, Ten's
out there now, like when it matters so in time, right.
I think that's a good sign for him. He's in
(45:17):
the macro and the bass three.
Speaker 3 (45:19):
I mean, I think it's a really good sign for Austin.
I mean they've been telling us he's the two. I mean,
the wide receiver coach said he's well, he's our number two. Well,
he is the number two. I mean, that's very obvious.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
He said that back in June.
Speaker 4 (45:33):
But I think Wilson is the three. When it's time to.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Throw agreed, agreed hour in the books, another hour to go,
we'll have more on the victory over the Jets. We
will start our number two though, taking a look around
the league. If you thought that that Colts sat listen,
Matt's the stats guy. Matt's the analytics guy, all right,
But that doesn't mean that I can't, you know, bring
some bring some numbers and some things to the fourfold
(45:56):
from time to time too. You thought that that Colt's
stat about first team to score on all their possessions
since the late seventies was wild, I've got a Bengals
number that might even be crazier. When we get into
that pretty cookie game, the very kooky game, Yeah, seventeen sixteen.
I think that's the game that a lot of people
expected the Steelers and the Jets to play that ended
up playing out there in Ohio. We'll get to everything
(46:19):
around the AFC North, everything that happened in the NFL.
We've got an exciting Monday night game to preview tonight
as well, plenty to get to as we roll along
an hour. Number two West Hueler and Matt Williamson, It's
the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio
Network
Your tunes about drive on your twenty four to seven
home of the Black and Goal.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Steelers Nation Radio. What's going on Steelers NATIONE Radio. Welcome
(00:37):
to the Drive on a victory Monday here in early September,
Matt the Steelers, just like we both predicted a close win.
I mean, I think it went exactly where. I think
we all thought it was going to play out like that. No, exactly,
nobody thought that it was going to play out like that.
The lowest over under of the Week one NFL slate
(00:58):
ends up being the second highest score game insane until
until Buffalo Baltimore last night.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I didn't confirm this, but I think those are the
only two games that hit the over the whole weekend.
I know unders are big, and that was the lowest time.
I mean, it couldn't have been more. I mean, it
was one of the highest scoring games I predicted to
be one of the lowest scoring games. A lot to unpack.
I almost said, I don't want to overreact because it's week.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
One, Week one, and that's the easiest thing to do.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Yeah, week ones are weird, new coaching staff.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Even Week two's can be a little weird, no.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Doubt, No doubt, and it'd be a hard game to
prepare for. But I want to give the Jets a
lot of credit. I think they're a better football team
and a better coach football team than I expected. And
that's one thing I always do on Mondays is I
think you have to recognize the opponent. I mean, these
guys are getting paid too, and that was the best
I've ever seen fields play, and some of their first
(01:54):
round picks on both lines of scrimmage are going to
turn into really good players. And I like this coaching staff.
But that being said, so my point is a lot
of people look at Jets like that's one of the
worst two or three teams in the league.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
I don't think they're gonna be.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I don't think they're gonna be, but I also think
there's a lot of work to be done too. I mean,
the negative call one for the Steelers in that game
is pretty extensive and worrisome.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
It sure is, and we will obviously get to that today.
We're gonna catch up with our buddy Rob King about
fifteen twenty minutes from now as well, too, the voice
of the Steelers get his perspective from what he saw
there in the booth. But I think you're right. That's
the that's the beauty of a week one win. I
guess still, I don't even want to say ugly, but.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
We can do it with a smile on our face,
you know what I mean? Right, missus? That kick all
of a sudden burn the place down.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
You know, it's almost exactly what you want in a way.
There's positives to build off of. There's still plenty that
you can harp on these guys about this week so
that they're not feeling too good about themselves either. Yeah,
but you're one to zero and I think give a quarterback,
and I think you have a quarterback, And that's where
I wanted to start, that is, I think you have to.
There are some concern and some negatives and some things
(03:01):
that we'll get into certainly, But my goodness, I think
even the most optimistic Aaron Rodgers supporters heading into this
twenty twenty five season, and I think you were certainly
one of them, And I.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Think pretty impressive to be around a camp I think,
you know, and those type of things.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yes, I think I was maybe only half a step
behind you in terms of expectations for this guy and
what it would mean for the Steelers offense and what
he still had left in the tank. But I didn't
think that was going to translate to four touchdown passes
in the first game of the season or that many points.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah, I mean we have not or an opening drive touchdown.
Maybe we should have opened the show with the opening
drive last year.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
You want to know the last time the Steelers opened
a season with an opening drive touchdown? Oh Man two
thousand and eight against the Houston Texas.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Okay, wow, long time.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I was still in high school, Matt. Wow, I'm a
thirty four year old father a.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Tune right right.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So No, there's a lot of good I mean this game,
as much as I can remember, the good call them
we could really talk about, and we might as well
start there.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Of course, I think Rogers it with.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Boswell and the bad callum is as pretty obvien. I mean,
there's things that actually go in this call them or
this call them. Oh, I know, I call them to
put all these things in. So let's start with Rogers.
First of all, I'm not gonna start with Rogers. I'm
just going to talk about old guys in leadership and
being around the block.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I think that was huge in this game.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
That one team is trying to learn how to win
and first time head coach. The other one has been
always has a winning record and wins one score games
like it's their job, and has Cam Hayward and Watt
and Rogers and Ramsey and Sleigh and metcalf. A lot
of these guys are new, not all of them that
(04:51):
understand that the fight is not lost just because we're
not good at some things. You know that in the end,
this is going to come down to a couple of plays,
probably in the fourth quarter. And I think there's an
art to making those plays. And obviously the guy that
touches the ball every snap, the quarterback, has a ton
to do with that.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
You know, we've joked.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I mean it just ended, but Pat Mahomes won seventeen
to one score games in a row.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
I mean that's not an accident, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Let alone the Rogers and Cams and guys that have
been around the block over and over and over and
understand what it takes to win in this league. And
Tomlin's really good at that too, And I think that
they overcame some major deficiencies to play to make plays
at the most opportune times, both sides of the ball
and especially on special teams. And that's why you won.
(05:39):
You know, I'm down and down out. I didn't think
they were the better team.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I think that's fair to say. Yeah, Yeah, I'm gonna
do my reat day. I'm gonna do my rewatch tonight.
And I was thinking maybe tomorrow we could unveil like
a new segment, maybe like a Tuesday rewind or something
like that, where we bring up something that we didn't
discuss on Monday that we noticed from our rewatch. What's
that's so crazy to me? Is? I mean, hey, I
was thinking driving in here, like it's been a long
(06:05):
time since we saw the Steelers offense win a game.
But that's not technically true, because they did last year
in Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
True.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I mean, they scored forty two points in the defense
game up thirty eight I believe was the final score
of that game. If I'm remembering correctly. The offense won
the Steelers a game that day.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
That's happened often in the last five years or so.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
But yeah, right, And I think if I would have
called you up at halftime or maybe even told you
before the game, the Steelers are gonna have twenty two
rush yards on ten attempts at the half. Ugh, they're
gonna have twenty two yards on the ground, averaging two
point two yards per carry in the first thirty minutes
of that game. I think we would have both said,
even if Aaron Rodgers plays great, it's not gonna be
enough to overcome that.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Yeah, he's not the superman that's gonna throw four touchs.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
That's the most impressive part of the offense winning the
game to me, yes, is that they still had nothing
on the ground.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
And frankly, I thought their protection was terrible too, not
very good. I mean, if you've coupled that, I'd be like, oh,
they lost thirty to nothing, you know, like they can't
protect you know, Quinn Williams the other those two first
round picks coming off the edge. Where the Jets are
winning consistently in the pass rush department, where are the
points coming from? Well, I think a lot of it.
(07:11):
I give credit to Rogers and Arthur Smith matching their
philosophies and working together for the first time and figuring out,
we don't know exactly what we're getting from his defense.
We know they have some good players. Sauce the Williams brothers,
those two edge guys. We note this a defensive minded
head coach who's aggressive, and they obviously had a game
(07:33):
plan like any game going in, but you didn't have
any tape to go off of, and you're gonna have
to improv on the fly. And there were some themes
that really worked. First off, one theme was terrible, as
they couldn't run the ball at all. And then let's
say they gave up trying, but they didn't just keep
pounding their head against the rock either. I know Metcalf
(07:54):
had a really good day, but they rarely threw its sauce.
I mean, Metcalf had most of his production when it
wasn't sauce. Austin was a just don't throw at sauce
situation because the rest are secondary is pretty bad, to
be honest with you, So why would you Why test
their best, dude when there's a noticeable drop off? To me,
one of the most important things or telling things from
(08:15):
the passing game though, and people are going to take
this as a negative, but I think it was forced
and they still made it work really well. Rogers didn't
throw a pass twenty yards down field or further his
average depth of target was remarkably low. Ball came out
of his fast of his hands really really fast because
they couldn't protect and so he's a very quick processor.
(08:38):
They threw a lot of screens, some of them worked,
some didn't. They had one hundred and seventy one yards
after the catch. And we haven't talked about this a lot,
but we've talked about how sacks are as much a
quarterback stat as.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
O line stat After the catch.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Is as much a quarterback stat as having tyreek and
good guys after the catch.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
You gotta hit him in.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
The ball's got to be there on time, throw them over,
throw them open, go to the right people at the
right time.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
So that stuff was wonderful.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
So it wasn't we're just gonna drop back and sling
it fifty times.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
We're gonna get it out.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
We're gonna nickel and dimia, we're gonna let our guys
make plays after the catch, and we're gonna avoid sauce
and we're gonna avoid their pass rushers because we're not
handling those things very well and we're not running the
ball at all. And you still generated a lot of points.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
That to me is promising it's promising.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
I think some of it. I wish they could.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
It's promising if they improve in the in the deficient areas.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
To still get a W out of that is promise.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And score over thirty points right right.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
And it wasn't a thirteen and nine game, it was it.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Was on bral week. You just had to do that
one too. I Uh, I think I think that's spot
on that that passing chart is weird to look at,
isn't It is weird because you could see good one.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
We haven't seen it go in the thousand years.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
I was gonna say, I think I think it's exciting
because there's a lot of middle of the field stuff,
which haven't we been screaming about in this town for
the length of a presidential election. I mean, it's like
the Olympic cycle right right right, And there was a
ton of that. The twenty yards downfield you see that
you see I think what his average average depth of
(10:20):
target was like four point six four under five under
five yards. But I still think all things considered that
you couldn't run the ball like you wanted to. Sauce
was was doing sauce things. Yeah, Aaron Rodgers got sacked
four times.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
And he's not gonna lude to rush like I mean,
he's gonna recognize unblocked defenders. He's gonna know where the
blitzes are coming from, and that's it's a pretty blitz
heavy team too. He's gonna know Quinn Williams is giving
our guys problems. I mean, he's gonna know everything. But
that doesn't mean it's not It's not gonna be like
the game last night, you know where Lamar does this
crazy stuff. I mean, like those days I think are
(10:57):
gone with Rogers. But he is willing to sit there
and take the hits, which worried me. I mean, I
don't think he.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Was a couple of those.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Right it was, you know, And I just don't think
he's going to extend plays. But if the blocking would
be a little better for him, the average up target's
going to go up and there was and he throws wall.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Well, let's it's like burying the lead, you know.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Still, I mean it looks different coming off his hand.
It's it's absolutely crazy.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
He's still really impressive.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
It's a very good way to put it. And I
figured that we would see that from Aaron Rodgers this season.
I didn't think it was going to be weak one. Yeah,
I mean I didn't think it was going to be
that kind of performance, throwing the ball that much, doing
it that successfully.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
I kind of just assumed, and we said this to
some degree more or less, whoever runs the ball or
deals with the run game better is probably going to
win this.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
And it's clear which team.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Did on both sides of the ball much better, way.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Better, and they still lost. The team that did that,
they sure did.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
And it's not like there was some crazy turnover differential
outlier nor or something like that. It was just finding
a way to win. I mean in the past the Steelers,
Steelers go down nine points there right late in the
second quarter, Like in the past, it'd be like we're
down two possessions, we're in trouble. This game might be
I know it's only for an outlook. No, it's a
little before halftime here, but this game might be over.
(12:20):
It is a certainly a different outlook. And Aaron Rodgers
I think was definitely the guy that was the straw
that was stirring that drink.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
No, absolutely the catalyst for it all.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
And again I think a lot of it is a
lot of veteran leadership led by a quarterback that the
game's never quite over and we'll figure out a way
to win because we've got a lot of time left,
you know. Now, there were a couple plays, but there's
an art to this too. That Boz hitting a sixty
yard or is incredible. Oh, by the way, he hit
a fifty six as well. People don't even talk about that.
(12:50):
That's like walking up.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Just assume at this point.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Yeah, nothing to it.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Obviously the game, well, causing a fumble on the kickoff
return was gave him a short field turn into seven
to meet was a massive, massive play. But that's not
a fluke. I'm not saying these things are flukes. And
the other thing was the Jets chasing these two point conversions,
you know, I mean they got zero points out of
what could have been two extra points or two point conversions.
(13:15):
And frankly, I don't even blame the rookie head coach
for going for two after the penalty, because you're half
the distance you probably should do it. But then he
chased it again you lose by two. That could have
been two extra points, you know, like in these fine lines,
those games, those couple plays all went the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Way and man, they've just had a knack for doing that. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
Yeah, again, that's that's what I'm not saying.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
That's flukey, you know, it's not. It's part of their DNA.
And right, right, right, you do that and you get
a performance like you got from Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, you
can overcome a lot of that negative that we discussed.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Usually it's like, oh, they won in the margins with
turnovers and that that extra point and right right, yeah,
but the quarterback was the twenty fifth best quarterback of
the week.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Well, this exactly right.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
He certainly was. He certainly was. Let's talk about all
these things and more with our buddy Rob King, the
voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers, called it all from MetLife
Stadium there in East Rutherford. We'll talk to the Kinger
when we return. On the other side, get his thoughts
on that Week one victory against the Jets. Westeler Matt
Williams said, it's the drive on a victory Monday, Steelers
Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Your tunes about Drive on your twenty four to seven
home of the Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Back on the drive here on a victory Monday, as
we have plenty to get to and who better to
join us to discuss then the voice of your Pittsburgh Steelers.
He's here, He's there, He's everywhere, Matt doing a million
different shows and a million different things. It's our buddy,
Rob king what's up, Kinger?
Speaker 5 (15:13):
What's going on?
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Guys? How are you? Man? Couldn't be better?
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Little victory?
Speaker 5 (15:19):
Yeah, that was a good segment.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Week all right, sounds good. Thanks for your time, Rob.
We'll see you against Seattle. Kinger. Let's let's dive right
into it, cause I'm sure plenty that we want to
discuss with you, and we don't want to keep you
here for an entire hour. But I think as there
is so much to get into from that Week one game,
there always is Week one, but this one felt even
a little more ramped up. But it feels like every
(15:44):
conversation kind of starts and ends with Aaron Rodgers doing
four time MVP things, and despite an offense that couldn't
run the ball very well or protect him, he still
finds a way to score seventeen points in the fourth quarter,
a big shout out to the serial killer Chris Boswell,
and to throw for four touchdowns after no preseason action.
(16:06):
I mean, if that's this, I don't expect him to
do that every week obviously, but if that's the starting
point for him, wow.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Yeah, it's a wow. I mean I think he and
you know the game plan the stealers put together, and
you know, he mentioned that in his postgame comments. You know,
that was that was the number one great thing you're
going to take out of that game. Because you know,
Aaron Rodgers is a guy that has had an unbelievable career.
(16:34):
We all know that disappointment in New York the last
two years. We all know that. You know, the one
year you know Trunk Cad what was it eight plays
or whatever. I don't even know if he played that
many before he had the Achilles injury. So, you know,
not not what he wanted and I don't I don't
think that's the way he wants to go out, And
so there's there are a lot of eyebrows raised about what.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Can he do?
Speaker 5 (16:54):
And people look at the overall numbers and the passer
rating and maybe they don't do the deeper into what
he did in the last half of the season, which
has put up great numbers. Still, you have to see it,
and we hadn't seen it because he didn't playing the preseason,
So to be able to see all that with that
sort of backdrop of expectations, and you know a lot
of the expectations are you know, through whichever lens you
(17:17):
want to see it. It's a personal thing, but what
he showed yesterday was not personal, not a personal thing.
You had to look at that and say that was impressive.
I think it was. The number one takeaway of the
game was how good Aaron Rodgers looked.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
You mentioned often just now you know you could see it.
You could see it.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I bet when you're calling the game and doing the
play by play and describing each play individually, you can.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Feel it too.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
It has to be a lot different than the other guys,
with all respect to those dudes behind center, since you've
been doing this.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
Yeah, I mean he's a different guy, you know. I
think Russell Wilson was a little bit different guy too.
I mean, you know, Russell is a guy that you
know justin field, you're you're kind of hoping along with him, right,
you know, he's a he's a really I found him
to be a very likable young man. He's got some
some talent and some ability, well management.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
He played great.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
Yeah, he played great, and he might find the perfect system,
a system willing to just give over to his skills, right,
one hundred percent, buy in. This is what we want
to do. This is the system for you. Come on in.
I mean there's one thing you know to being adaptable,
and I think Arthur Smith's very good at that. Don't
forget they were foreign too. With Justin Fields as a
(18:38):
starting quarterback last year. It's another thing to go say, Okay,
we're going to change everything for you. You are part
of this change. The perfect fit for this change, I
think he is. I think he's a perfect fit for
what the Jets are going to try to do, and
they're going to try to do a lot of what
they did yesterday. I think they're going to be one
of the heaviest run teams in the league. I think
they're They're more patterning themselves after the Eagles or the
(19:01):
Jets than they are of any other team around the NFL.
They want to have a hard nosed identity. They want
to run the football. That includes running it with a guy,
but at eleven hundred yards rushing. A couple of years
ago for the Bears out of the quarterback position, So
kudos to him. But you know, even last year in camp,
you know when we were watching Russell Wilson throw the ball,
it's just a different zip to it. It's a different
(19:22):
you know the word I always use. If Russell Wilson
was crisp, everything looked crisp, and he was a great
thrower to the deep ball. Well, now you're bringing in
a guy and this is no knock on Russell Wilson.
I think a lot of people are thinking, Okay, is
he a Hall of Fame quarterback or is he a
Hall of Fame quarterback? I tend to think he is.
Others might have their questions. Aaron Rodgers' first ballot, Oh
(19:42):
there's a difference, right, There's just a difference. And with
Aaron Rodgers, the Aaron Rodgers we saw yesterday, there is
a difference that was impressive. The off platform throws, the
different things he did, the organization at the line of scrimmage.
You know, if you're watching the Sunday night game last night,
they had on a you know, a former player and
(20:03):
a former coach. You know they're they're doing the breakdown
of the game quickly and said, you know, Aaron Rodgers.
When he got to the line of scrimmage, he terrified
you because he knew your defense better than you did.
And the former Cowboys coach jumped in and said, yep,
felt that same way, not only the player, but as
a coach too. That's the kind of thing he brings,
in addition to the to the talent which is still there,
(20:27):
which was on this You guys saw it up in
the Trobe. We didn't see it in the preseason obviously,
but what we saw in the trobe was impressive, and
what we've seen at practice over on the South Side
since they return is impressive. He just makes rows other
people can't.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Kinger, I think two weeks ago, I think it was
I filled in for Max on Your Guys show in
the locker Room and did two hours of Stiller's talk
with you, and we spent some time, like it feels
like everybody did leading up to this season, talking about
the Steelers wide receiver options behind DK Metcalf. Do they
need to acquire somebody else, Do they need a true
(21:02):
number two? Do they just need another piece? Do you
believe in Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson and Scottie Miller
and all those other guys. I think we laid it
out like are you calm, Are you concerned? Are you worried?
Are you panicked about the Steelers number two wide receiver.
I think you and I were both maybe on the concerned,
not panicked, not worried, not calm. I think we said concerned.
(21:26):
I tell you what one game in. But Calvin Austin
I think starting to alleviate some of those concerns with
the performance he had yesterday as well.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
And King, I know John H. Smith's growing on you
as well.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
Oh yeah, look, you know the minute they made that trade,
you know, because the headline, Remember the headline of that
trade was, you know, Micka Fitzpatrick for Jalen Rams, And
you're like, oh wow, that's interesting, man. I kind of
like that trade for the Steelers. You know, it's a
cornerback league. I like micka Fitzpatrick, you'd like to have
them both, but give me the corner, give me the
(21:58):
elite corner. And then you feel, I'm like, whoa man,
We got John Smith too. I mean that, you know, again,
I don't know why he's and again we didn't see
him the preseasons. That's probably part of the reason he
feels it feels like he's lost in the shuffle. Guy
had eighty eight catches and went to the Pro Bowl
last year. You know, Matt, you and I, I know
(22:18):
have talked about this. He to me, he is their
starting slot receiver. He's gonna get the bulk of the
work there. He can also play tight end, you can
line up as an h back. I believe that dk
Metcalf is going to get targets every game. I believe
Johona Smith is gonna get targets every game, and then
west as far as the rest of the receiving corps goes.
And you and I have discussed this, and Matt and
(22:40):
I have discussed this. You know, the number one reason
to me you want a number two receiver on this
team is it because you need a number two receiver
game in a game out a pro you know, a
Brandon Ayuk or the kind of guy that they were, uh,
you know, in the running for last year when you
had Pickens. It's if something happens, and we saw it
last year when Pickens got hurt. That was at the
(23:02):
very beginning of that stretch in which the Steelers went
on own four down there down the stretch and everyone
remembers the running game and the ball being you know,
run down the Steelers roads, and we get that. But
you know, Pickens was a big loss to me. I
think they're a little bit better. I think they're a
little more capable of standing that loss. I still think
it would be a you know, something that would be
(23:25):
hard to overcome if you have an injury to your
number one receiver. I think most teams could say that
your number one guy goes out, you're not going to
be the same. You're gonna have problems. I also think
it's going to be an ensemble effort. So this week,
Matt and I are discussing this briefly. This week you
go to Seattle, they got Witherspoon, They've got a much
better defensive backfield. Maybe this week running backs don't combine
(23:50):
for five catches, Maybe they combined for twelve catches. Maybe
you're tight end Arnel Washington has four catches for sixty yards.
You know, I just think that there's enough there, There
are enough options, and there is a good enough a
very good offensive coordinator, and Arthur Smith and a very
(24:11):
obviously not just talented, but a stute quarterback. Clearly in
Aaron Rodgers who can exploit those things. Somewhere along the line,
they've got enough different players and enough diversity of players.
That's somewhere in there. I think gaming and game out, Yes,
Metcalf's going to get his targets. Yes, John Who's going
to get his targets. The number three hero may change
(24:32):
from week to week, The number four hero may change
from week to week, and in fact, I anticipate that
it will change week to week for this Steelers.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
And I think a lot of it has to do
with the quarterback as much as the roster construction and
offensive coordinator.
Speaker 5 (24:45):
Agreed agree, He's a big component of it.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
I totally agree that kinger bigger concern as we stand
here today, and obviously it is week one. A lot
of teams will get better, a lot of teams won't
look as good as they did. The first week of
the season. Is the biggest overreaction Monday of the NFL year. Now,
prefacing all of that, what's the bigger concern to you
here on Monday after Week one for the Steelers The
(25:10):
run game for the offense or the run game defense
and the lack of success that we saw in both
of those departments Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 5 (25:21):
Yeah, And I'll even add to that protecting the passer,
because I think that, you know, when you're shifting around
offensive tackles, that's that's a concern too. That would be
up there on my list. If you're asking me to
be concerned, I think I would probably say the run defense.
But I'll also say this, like, you know, so two things.
(25:41):
I'm heading my bet here a little bit. But two things.
You remember last year the Ravens in the middle of
the season, we were horrible. They were terrible defensively. They
made a couple of moves. They moved Hamilton back to
safety and left them there. They stopped roaming him around
the field. They put Malie Harrison into the starting lineup
and got a new guy running the defense, right, and
(26:03):
then the talk of how bad the defense was really
went away. So, you know, I don't think, you know,
week one or week two is going to tell the
story of seventeen games in eighteen weeks. I just don't
think it is. I think the most important thing you
can do this time of year is just win. I
don't care if you win three to two. I don't
care if you win one hundred and ninety nine. It
(26:24):
doesn't matter. Just find a way to win and hopefully build.
Now the stopping to run that's fresh in our minds,
right because of what happened at the end of last year,
especially in the playoff loss to Baltimore, and then to
see a team come out and do that again, it
can be discouraging, right, But they're not going to run
into a team like this again. They're not going to
run into a team schematically or what have you that's
(26:46):
going to try to run the ball like this. Now,
if next week we're having the same discussion because Kenneth
Walker and Zach Sharboney just ran for one hundred and
seventy on you, then we might be having a slightly
different conversation. I think think that this is this is
more of a team that in Seattle that the Steelers
will have earlier success on. I think they'll be better
(27:10):
and better, hopefully against the teams like Baltimore as Cam
gets himself ramped up into perfect shape and becomes that
all pro guy, as Derek Harmon, your first round pick. Again,
there's reasons you select guys in the first round. You
expect them to make an impact. When guys like that
get more into the fold. I think they'll get better
against teams like this. But look, they've got weapons on
(27:32):
the outside. They've got Jackson Smith and Jigba and Cooper Cup. Well,
that's why you've got three corners, and that's why you
went out and got guys in the defensive line to
be able to stop a team that's balanced, wants to
run the ball, wants to throw the ball. But if again,
if we're having some of these what are your concern
conversations again next week? Because those guys ran for one
seventy five, that would be a bigger concern to me.
(27:54):
But if you're gonna ask me, if I have to
answer it, I would say probably. I did not expect
to see the Jets. I expected the jest to have
some success. I did not expect them to be able
to run like that against the Steelers. That surprised me.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
No, I don't think either one of us did either,
And we haven't brought it up yet in the show.
But if there's four aspects of big people play in football,
you know, run, blocking, run defense, pass protection, pass rush.
You kind of alluded to this. I think they lost
three of those four, and I know the Steelers' sack
(28:27):
numbers weren't there. But I thought they rushed the passer
well and just had a hard time putting justin fields
on the ground behind the line of scrimmage. But the
other three were losses to me, and you still managed
to find a way to win.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Yeah, And you know what, if you really wanted to
be harsh, you knows, as Clint Hurdle once said about baseball,
and it's the same thing in any professional sport. This
is a This is not a try hard league. This
is a do good league. And you know, so you
could say, yeah, they got pressure on fields, but ultimately
they only got them down once. So you could even
(29:06):
be harsh enough and say, you know, you didn't do
what you wanted to do in all four of those areas. Yeah,
and I was surprised again. I was surprised that, look,
the Jets. The Jets have number one picks in the
offensive line, high number one picks. You know, they fashion
new and Membu went early eleventh and seventh. I think overall,
(29:27):
this isn't an offensive tackle. You took twenty eighth and
hope you can develop. These are guys you're expecting to
come in and be instant dominators and even without Vera Tucker,
and that's a big loss for them. You know, they've
got a running quarterback, a good stable of running backs,
a physical offensive line, a desire to play a certain way.
We saw them in the preseason third and six. Here
(29:47):
you go, Brydon Allen. Yesterday we saw a third and
eight run. They are establishing an identity. Having said that,
you know, look, you went out in the offseason and
overhauled your defensive You knew this was what they were
going to do, and it was you know, that aspect
of the game didn't turn out the way you want it.
(30:08):
And so the good news, you know, there's room for improvement,
and the good news is there's seventeen weeks to do it.
So that's That's kind of the way I look at
these early games. You know, as long as you win,
you still have the time, and I think the Steelers
also have the talent to be able to get better.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Well. One of those talented pieces, certainly Jalen Ramsey, kinger
the attitude, the edge, drawing a penalty, making the big
play at the end of the game. I tell you
what I think, Jalen Ramsey is quickly quickly going to
rise up the list of Steelers fans favorite players. For
(30:51):
another guy who hey, he got more preseason action than
Aaron Rodgers. That didn't take much. Aaron Rodgers got none.
But for a guy who barely got any preseason action,
for a guy that got a lot of rest days.
I don't even know if you want to call him
rest days, but just ay, let's keep him in bubble wrap.
We don't need to see anymore days. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
I think it got to that point in camp.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
We know he's so good to see that immediately translate
week one with his new team, with his new defense
man king Er. That's exciting, a very exciting starting point
and where Jalen Ramsey can go from there.
Speaker 5 (31:26):
You know. Andy Widel had his press conference before the
preseason game. Seems like that's an annual occurrence now, and
he first of all, I introduced Jalen Ramsey uh the
discussion of Jalen Ramsey by calling him a future Hall
of Famer uh. And then I I don't want to
put words in his mouth. It was here Mike tomlin Us.
I think they use the word violent, like, you know,
(31:47):
this is the guy, this is not a guy coming
up just to try to wrestle you to to the ground.
This is the guy that wants to you know, inflict uh,
you know, pain to you as he tackles you. I mean,
that's the kind of player he is. And I do
believe I think he's a tone setter, you know. I look,
he's had uh you know, he's had moments in the
(32:09):
past or maybe that's gotten away from him a little bit. Uh.
But you know what, as Mike Tomlin always says, I'd
rather say whoa than than sick them. You know, you
don't have to say sick him. With Jalen Ramsey, he's
going to sick him. And he's a he's a great player,
and he's you know, he's thirty years old. He didn't
make the Pro Bowl last year, but it had a
long run of making the Pro Bowl and being an
All Pro. So you know, the Steelers are hoping that
(32:31):
he's got a couple more good seasons in him. And
you know, he came up with the big hit at
the end of the game that helps steal the victory
for him, you know, and that and that's a that's
that's what you want your big guys to do, even
if the game doesn't always. Going back to something Matt
and I have talked about and Mike Tomlin's record in
close games. You know, sometimes the game doesn't go the
(32:52):
way you want it to go. But when you got
a Chris Boswell who can step up in big moments,
and Aaron Rodgers who can step up in big moments,
a Jalen Rams, you can step up in big moments.
T J. Watt, that is going to help you win
a lot of close football games. Rob.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
The last thing I got for you was, I wasn't
shocked that Caleb Williams or Caleb Johnson. I'm sorry Caleb
Williams playing the night it didn't wasn't featured or was
barely out there at the offense. I kind of expected that,
but I didn't expect the running back usage between Gainwell
and Warren to have Gainwell out there nearly as much
(33:26):
as he was.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Did that take you back at all?
Speaker 4 (33:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (33:30):
This was a question posed to me by by locker
room cub reporter usually unattributed Schafer King, my son I
was talking about. He asked me the same thing, and
I said, you know, I really think, first of all,
I think they really like Kenneth Gainwell but yeah, and
(33:51):
I think he's going to be their third down back,
even though Jaalen Warren, I think is an excellent third
down back. I just think that that was I think
it was largely dictated by the game. There might have
been some packages they wanted to get into early with
Kenneth game well, that sort of thing, but I think
a lot of it was the Steelers. Let's let's not forget.
They were chasing the game for most of the game,
(34:13):
and I think games rare.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
To fourteen points wins either right, right, this.
Speaker 5 (34:18):
Wasn't and this wasn't. Hey, you were out in front
ten nothing and they were chasing you. I think if
it had, if that had happened, my guess is that
we would have seen more of Jalen Warre. So was
I surprised by it? I mean probably, you know, if
you told me that before the game, I'd have probably
raised an eyebrow. But I think that given the way
the game went, I'm not totally shocked that that's the
(34:41):
way the carries win.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Rob King, voice of your Pittsburgh Steelers, kind enough to
give us some of his time here on this victory Monday,
King or thanks partner, and we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
Thanks, guys, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
There he is the savant rob king good stuff, good
game to game to get going for him.
Speaker 4 (35:01):
I bet this was a fun one to call it
to him.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
I could.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
I mean, I said this on a different show that
we all have skin in the game, as do the
Jets fans and the Jets you know, media folks, and
of course all the coaches and players obviously, but other
than last night's Ravens Bills game, this might have been
his entertaining of a game. You know, if you're a
Bears fan, if you're a Rams fan, like, just sit
back and watch it. I mean, this had to be
(35:24):
seven lead changes and you know, a sixty yarder you know,
right right, the quarterback thing going back and forth of
their former teams, like this was about as entertaining of
a game as you're gonna get.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
First five possessions combined for these teams resulted in points. Yeah,
just one punt in the first half.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Yeah, it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
I mean, the number one thing you want your team
to do is win, of course, the number to check
that box. The number two thing you want them to
do is entertain.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
You know, as a fan, right when you're right.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Well, as a fan, one doesn't look at it that way.
And like people like us and Rob, you know, like
it's one thing. It's one thing to win boringly, Okay, fine,
but when those over the year, yes, you lose boringly,
that's the worst possible combination. The best is to win
and to do so in very entertaining fashion.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Many, I mean many podcasts I listened to in preview
shows were like, man, this is the game I'm looking
forward to, maybe least like I'm gonna watch it because
it's the NFL.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Took away the quarterback storyline.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
Yeah right, it's like this is the lowest point over under.
You know, it's not.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
These two teams have not been the most entertaining from
an outsider's perspective over the last few years. Yeah, I watch,
it's NFL. It's Week one, but there's a total opposite. Yeah,
maybe both these teams are doing things differently. I was
really impressed with the Jets.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
I was too. Yeah, I mean I think.
Speaker 4 (36:46):
They may find a coach, maybe they found a quarterback.
I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
It's always week one. Things things can change, you know. Yeah,
if they win seven or eight games at divisions not
other than Buffalo. That division's not very good either.
Speaker 4 (36:59):
Miami was terrible.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
You're right, and I ju and I get that one
wrong on our on our one Friday. Yeah, I think
we did pretty good other than that one, but.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
I was horrible.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
I don't think anybody saw that. You ready for the statistic,
you might have seen it. The Colts scored on every
single one of their possessions in that game.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
I know, Daniel Jones is like remarkable. Everything never happened.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Single possession the Colts had, they scored, first time that's
happened in a NFL game since nineteen seventy eight.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Wow, every single possession they scored a touchdown or a field.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
And I know exactly think the Coults are gonna go
seventeen And oh, I think that was probably a Miami thing.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Crazy crazy. We have got plenty to get to into
more thoughts from the Steelers victory over the Jets when
we return, we will do some around the league stuff.
An hour number two obviously plenty going on today here
on a victory Monday West Uler, Matt Williamson, it's the
Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
You were two weeks about drive on your twenty four
to seven home of the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
It's back on the drive here reacting to the Steelers
victory at MetLife Stadium. My first time there at that one, Matt.
Still a few of the old barns, the old stadiums
that I got to cross off the list. I've been
traveling for, you know, for a few years now with
the team and all that, my game day responsibilities. But
first time there at MetLife huge. I mean the place
(38:50):
is massive. It is in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 4 (38:53):
I knew that.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
I mean it's in the middle of nowhere. I thought
it was fine. I think it gets a bad rap
because it's not so far or it's not it's not
a Legion in Vegas, Mercedes Benz in Atlanta. Those are
kind of like the three.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
Like some people, some some stadiums have raised.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
The bar Krim day La Krem, Yes, a little bit.
Speaker 4 (39:12):
Buffalo be awesome.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
Buffaloes sounds pretty cool. There's there is a small part
of me that's hoping it. I think my ideal scenario
if the Steelers don't end up winning the division is
we go to like Houston for the wild card round
of the playoffs, or heck, I know I'm getting way
to talk about week one over reactions. Maybe the Chargers
win the West, right, and we got and we go
(39:35):
out to l A and and in January there on
the road, win a road game like one of those
those type of games. Or I guess it could even
be a home game. Steelers win the division, win a
home game.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
Hey they're sitting one, and oh, aren't you know half
the divisions one to one's half one?
Speaker 2 (39:51):
And we'll talk about that in just a few There
is a small part of me when I was watching
that Bills game last night, in the atmosphere during the
game and particularly when they came back and everything, there's
a small part of me that hopes the Steelers end
up in like a divisional round game in Buffalo this year.
That the environment there is unbelievable. We were there two
(40:12):
years ago for that playoff game, that Mason Rudolph playoff game.
It was it's like a It's like it's the closest
thing the NFL has to a college stadium. It's old,
it's dumpy. People are not huge city people are. It's
it's almost like a college town. It's like in the
middle of people just park in the grass and in
the in the best by parking lot and tailgate. You know,
(40:32):
like every space of grass and asphalt turns into tailgating
lots on those eight or nine home day games a year.
Nobody goes to the Buffalo Bills games for like a
nice night out, to sit in the suite and post
pictures on their Instagram. They're there to scream and yell
exactly right and watch football. And so yeah, I mean,
I know we'll we'll talk more about this when we
(40:53):
when we get into around the league. But I think
that the backdrop of the Steelers getting a win and
moving to one and zero when pretty close to I mean,
other than Buffalo, like all the other division favorites, if
you will, around the afrec lost their opening game.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Yeah, I mean, if you're looking big picture and in
a seventeen game schedule, you have to it's not like
the Pirates or one to oh oh or set you know.
I mean, obviously it's a big difference. But things went
pretty well for the Steelers outside of the game that
happened that they were evolved in.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
Yes, and outside of I think potentially this is another
thing that you and I talked about when we kind
of did some concerns conversations heading into the regular season.
I'm I'm hoping we get better news than I expect
on Deshaun Elliott.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
Yeah, that one ruled out quickly. Knee didn't like the
sound of that. Tomorrow's show will be I'm sure on
top of that, I would think would have that news
by then. I don't know what the Harrison situation is,
but with her big Harrison played some outside and some
inside linebacker. I like that he's Steeler, but you.
Speaker 4 (42:00):
Can move on without him. I mean, that's not the
end of the world.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
Porter was what hamstring tightness, So that sounded kind of
like it's the week one similar to cramp.
Speaker 5 (42:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
Shape, and again they're so loaded at receipt a corner.
I mean I was on a different show and said,
if brand Echols, who played well against his own old team, is.
Speaker 4 (42:19):
Your fourth corner.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
They even had a fourth corner like that since the seventies,
you know what I mean, Like, they're always light at corner,
let alone depth. I mean, if that's your fourth guy
at that position, you're in great.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Shape, great shape, whereas safety might be a little bit different.
Feeling a little bit thinner amongst that group, and Deshaun
Ellie at that that.
Speaker 4 (42:38):
Clark was a good contributor.
Speaker 3 (42:40):
But I also bet and we'll never know this answer,
and I'd have to really study it, when when he
got injured that early, did that change the Ramsey deployment.
I'm sure it did add to it had to it. Absolutely,
he was.
Speaker 4 (42:54):
Going to follow Wilson all day. You never got to
see it, you know.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
And along those lines, I think we saw probably a
lot more of Jack Sawyer than they planned on ahead.
Speaker 4 (43:03):
Yeah, yeah, he was.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
I haven't looked at the exact snap count numbers. We'll
get into some of that stuff is the week as
the week rolls along. But man, I thought he was
out there a lot more than I expected, and Roman
Wilson was out there a lot less. The tended ten snaps.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
So there's some some of the offensive stuff I have
dug into the snap count that it was Metcalf and
it was Austin and no other receiver played more than ten.
So Wilson was one of several that were like ten
and nine. But it was those two or more basically
ninety percenters.
Speaker 5 (43:34):
You know.
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Ronic scored that opening drive touchdown yeah, and then I
don't think how to target the rest of the game.
Speaker 4 (43:39):
No, I don't think so either.
Speaker 3 (43:41):
And a couple notes there. First off, they scored it
open touchdown, yay. Five guys caught passes on that drive
right off the bat. You know, when we're talking about
scripted stuff and spreading it around, was really.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
Defense is going to deploy different situations.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
And I also Mike pursued on a different show, I
just finished you and mentioned we're talking about Roman Wilson.
He said, yeah, he was only out there ten snaps.
But when it was the last drive and they were
in three wide and they needed to throw, and the
run game was an afterthought and Scroni's the blocker, Wilson's not,
it was Wilson out there. So I don't know that
(44:18):
it was an indictment. We don't like Wilson. He's only
playing ten snaps like Miller and Scornic and those guys.
But because when we needed to throw, that's the guys
that we wanted to use, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (44:26):
That's a great that's a great point by you. He was.
That was one of the things, like I I try
and help Rob and Max. I sit right behind them
during the game, and as you know, like they have
very specific detailed things that they're watching four on each snaps.
I'm sure they can call the game. It's not the
same as just sitting there and watching it and taking
it all in, right, So I try and kind of
(44:47):
you know, get some some different nuggets and things that
you can notice and stuff like that that might not
be forefront ball carrier tackler every single play.
Speaker 4 (44:55):
Yeah, stuff they have to construe to the audience.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
And then like early into the third quarter, like we
went to break and like I tapped Max on the
shoulder and I was like, is it just me or
have we barely seen Roman Wilson And he was like
he's like I had that hadn't even really clicked with me.
But then at the end of the game he kind
of turned around and was like, you see ten, Ten's
out there now, like when it matters so in time, right.
I think that's a good sign for him. He's in
(45:17):
the macro and the bass three.
Speaker 3 (45:19):
I mean, I think it's a really good sign for Austin.
I mean they've been telling us he's the two. I mean,
the wide receiver coach said he's well, he's our number two. Well,
he is the number two. I mean, that's very obvious.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
He said that back in June.
Speaker 4 (45:33):
But I think Wilson is the three. When it's time to.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Throw agreed, agreed hour in the books, another hour to go,
we'll have more on the victory over the Jets. We
will start our number two though, taking a look around
the league. If you thought that that Colts sat listen,
Matt's the stats guy. Matt's the analytics guy, all right,
But that doesn't mean that I can't, you know, bring
some bring some numbers and some things to the fourfold
(45:56):
from time to time too. You thought that that Colt's
stat about first team to score on all their possessions
since the late seventies was wild, I've got a Bengals
number that might even be crazier. When we get into
that pretty cookie game, the very kooky game, Yeah, seventeen sixteen.
I think that's the game that a lot of people
expected the Steelers and the Jets to play that ended
up playing out there in Ohio. We'll get to everything
(46:19):
around the AFC North, everything that happened in the NFL.
We've got an exciting Monday night game to preview tonight
as well, plenty to get to as we roll along
an hour. Number two West Hueler and Matt Williamson, It's
the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio
Network
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.