October 6, 2025 • 28 mins
Ed Troup and Jacob Recht analyze where the Steelers stand in the AFC North and overall conference standings after the first five weeks of the season.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
The Ravens and the Browns are now one and four.
The Bengals have lost three in a row without Joe Burrow,
and that all adds up to good news for Steeler Nation.
This morning. The Steelers have increased their lead in the
AFC North, and all is bright and well here in Pittsburgh.
This is the Steelers standard on Steelers Nation Radio, part
of the Steelers Audio Network. I am at Trupe and
(00:26):
joining me is Jacob Brect. Jacob, myself, along with most
probably yourself as well, would have never predicted this. After
five weeks in the NFL season, the Steelers would have
a two game lead on the Bengals and a three
game lead on the Ravens and the Browns. Maybe we
would have believed the Browns, but the Ravens to be
three up at this point and they're reeling right now
(00:46):
at one and four.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Completely reeling. It is quite the site. As you said,
I don't think anyone saw this coming. But also too,
you have to count your blessings if you're the Steelers,
because you were the only court, or you were the
only team in the division with a quarterback who hasn't
either been benched or hurt with a significant injury. So
if Aaron Rodgers wasn't here, or if Aaron Rodgers got
(01:10):
dinged up early on. You remember those first two games
when he was getting all those quarterback hits and sacked
what seven times in that two game span. If one
of those hits were a little bit harder on him,
his forty year old body may have taken it a
little little tougher and he could have been out. And
so you really have to be grateful that he has
been healthy enough, he's been upright enough. We know the
(01:33):
offense isn't perfect, but without Aaron Rodgers you could easily
be joining the Ravens and Browns at a one and
four record.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
The Browns play a close game yesterday over in London
against the Vikings. In fact, had the lead for most
of that game until the end when they scored.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
They Browns it away.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
They Brownsed it away, so they could they could be
sitting there at two and three. We'll get to all
the scores in our third segment later today, but we
want to start the top of the show today just
talking about the current state of the AFC North and
it was a good day for Steel fansjestraight the Bengals
lose thirty seven to twenty four against the Lions, but
that score doesn't reflect that game was a blowout. I mean,
the Lions had a huge lead most of the game.
(02:11):
The Bengals scored twenty one points basically a mop up
duty in the last quarter to make that score a
lot closer than what it was. But they have not
looked good in their last three games since Joe Burrow
has been injured. And then you look at the Ravens
and in Baltimore at home. When was the last time
you see the Baltimore Ravens at home lose the way
they did yesterday, going down at home against the Houston Texans,
(02:32):
of all teams that have struggled this year, forty four
to ten. That game wasn't even close. It was twenty
four to three at halftime.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Jacob, Yeah, I mean, if you were following that game
the Texans got out to the early leading, you thought, okay, well,
the Ravens could make it right. And then the league
just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and you said,
the final scores, what forty one to six, forty four
to ten, forty four to ten, I mean, blowout, A blowout,
is the nice way to put it. That was a
(03:01):
I want to I want to say a statement for
the ravensh but that is a that is and I
can't call the nail on the coffin because if Lamar
comes back, you know, they could easily rattle off seven
or eight wins, however many wins in a row to
close out the year if he's fully healthy and capable.
But a one four record is a really rough start.
(03:21):
And you thought that the Ravens, even without Lamar, were
probably the better team compared to Houston, right, And this
is something that you and I talked about last week,
that the Ravens actually had a pretty pretty easy stretch
during this time that Lamar is projected to be out.
They have the Rams next week, which are a good team,
but they have the Bears and the Dolphins, and then
(03:42):
they get the bye week, and you thought maybe they
could east they could probably go three and one in
that span, But right now they're already zero and one.
We see the Rams are a really good team. They'll
probably lose that game against the Rams next week.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Just considering how this.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Week went for the Ravens, that forty four to ten
score against the Texans, So I assume they'll I have
to think it's safe to assume they'll fall to one
and five, and then the Bears game just because of
the way the Texans game went, now to me is
a toss up. So I just don't know where the
Ravens will actually make the turn until Lamar comes back.
(04:23):
And even then, if they say they lose these next
two games against the Rams and the Bears, they fallow
to one and six, They're season's over, right, And this
is again something that you and I have talked about
on this show. Mike Tomlin gets a lot of flak
for just getting to nine and eight or eight and
eight back in the day and scraping his way to
(04:44):
a five hundred record and barely making the playoffs and
not getting a win. But what I think is so
underappreciated about Mike Tomlin is his ability to do more
with less. You remember in the Duck Hodges and Mason
Rudolphs season, he had the team with an eight and
five record on the Virgin making the playoffs. He got
to the playoffs with a Kenny Pickett, Mitch Troubisky, and
(05:04):
Mason Rudolph quarterback trio what this guy does without a
superstar Hall of Fame quarterback is remarkable. And here we
see John Harbaugh. Even with Lamar right, they went one
to three, but without Lamar for the first time this season,
they lost forty four to ten. John Harbaugh really cannot
keep his team straight without his star quarterback. And I
(05:27):
know they have injuries elsewhere. We know Matta Beek ways
out for the year. We knew that Kyle Hamilton wasn't
available and I don't know how long he'll be out for.
But that defense man, and we've talked abut it before,
that defense is a liability they have now. Besides the
win that they had against Cleveland, listen to the points
against for this Ravens defense. Forty one against the Bills,
(05:50):
thirty eight against the Lions, thirty seven against the Chiefs,
and then forty four against the Texans.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
And the other part of that, too, is they're getting
worse as a season going. Yeah, you can make the
Keith the Steeler defense is getting better each week. You know,
they give up a lot of points the first couple
weeks of the season, but the last few games going
into the bye week, the Steward defense was getting better.
They were getting turnovers, they were getting sacks, they were
getting home to the quarterback with quarterback hits and putting
pressure on Baltimore's gone the opposite way, and you just
(06:16):
went over the numbers, giving up you know, big big,
you know, offensive numbers as far as rushing passers. Yesterday, CJ.
Strout throws for only two hundred and forty four yards,
but he throws four touchdowns and no interceptions. Cooper rush
on the offensive side one hundred and seventy nine yards,
no touchdowns, three interceptions. But the more alarming thing for Baltimore,
Derek Henry was held only thirty three yards rushing, did
(06:38):
have a touchdown, but only thirty three yards rushing on
fifteen carries. A team that was built much like the
Steelers for a long time run the football play tough
defense is just not simply there. And I don't want
to harp on the Ravens all show long, but I
think it's an important piece of the puzzle right now
here in the AFC North because the Ravens are now
three games behind the Steelers. The Steelers really truly are
(06:59):
the lead in the AFC North here at their bye week,
and they really truly Jacob control their own fate.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, I'm excited when we do our power rankings. Last
week the Steelers at six. Now they're tied excuse me,
for the league lead with the fewest amount of losses
because we saw yesterday the Bills and Eagles both lost.
So now the Steelers are tied among the top of
the league with teams with only one loss in the season.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
I'm excited to see how high you have them in
your power rankings.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
So I'm gonna keep them relatively low, but into top
ten whenever we do it. But I mean, you have
you can't ignore the records, right the Steelers have. The
Steelers have done what other teams have failed to do
so far, which is stack wins when you need to, When,
When when it's most advantageous.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
For you, When when when the.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Best possible scenario for you to stack wins is presented.
I mean, we just talked about the Bills losing. They
were a heavy favorite at home against the division rival Patriots,
and they couldn't They couldn't get the job done. The
Steelers were able to go into New England, something I
know in the in the Brady and beligiic era. Then
they were ever able to do. I know it's different
(08:01):
now with Drake May and Mike Rabel, but still something.
They got that bug off their shoulder and they won
that game. The Patriots now looking like a much better
win on the Steelers resume right well.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Absolutely, and the Bills haven't looked spectacular either, getting to
four and one. They played a close win against the
Ravens forty one to forty in the first week. They
do handle the Jets thirty ten, but everybody's handled the Jets,
including the Steelers. They beat the Dolphins by ten thirty
one twenty one. Dolphins were in that game for most
of that. That was the Thursday night game, if I believe,
and then the Saints thirty one to nineteen, and last
night a phield goal d end Mike Rabel found a
(08:36):
way to beat Buffalo in Buffalo too.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
That's the other bad statement exactly, and I think that's
why it makes it more impressive for the Steelers to
go into New England and win that game.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
And Chiefs started out slow. Now they're starting to climb
back into things. But facts are facts, Jacob. I think
the AFC as a whole is pretty wide open right now.
Chargers have not looked good the last couple of years.
I'm glad you brought that up. Broncos do get a
big win yesterday at.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Philly, won statement win for sure for Denver again.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
We'll talk about that in our third segment today when
we go over Week five in the NFL. But real
quick before we move on in this segment, just to
give you a little glimpse of the AFC. Right now,
Indianapolis and Buffalo tied at four and one each. Indy
would technically be number one right now based on tie breakers.
Buffalo two, the Steelers third right now three and one,
Chargers three and two, fourth, fifth, Jacksonville three and one, six,
(09:24):
Denver three and two in New England three and two.
Jacksonville plays tonight against Kansas City. By the way, in Jacksonville,
that's gonna be a good game.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, two good teams, and I'm glad you brought up
the Colts that now is looming like a big.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Game is all of a sudden. Luckily they get that
one in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
They've had some bugaboos playing in Indy the last couple
of years. You remember last year justin Fields, the offense
got off to a really slow start. Justin Fields led
them to a comeback effort, and then he had that
mishandled snap from the center Zach Frazier, and he lost
like thirty yards on one play and they can never
really get it going from there, end up losing that game.
(10:01):
But yeah, that is a huge matchup, not just because
it's two good teams, but playoff implications, right, I think
a lot of people are saying that the Colts and
the Steelers are going to be legitimate playoff threats. Maybe
not teams that will make a deep run necessarily, but
teams that will take up two of those seven positions
(10:21):
in the postseason. And excuse me if the Steelers are
going to do If the Steelers want to be a
legitimate postseason team, I think there's a lot of people
out there saying they cannot afford to lose the AFC
North this year. The Browns are so bad, right. The
Bengals are clearly in a free fall without Joe Burrow
(10:43):
and the Ravens right now looking like one of the
worst defensive teams and they don't even have Lamar Jackson
to help them out on offense. You need if you're
the Steelers, it's looking like you have to win the
AFC North this year. It would be a huge fumble
if you didn't. And so if you're gonna be one
of those top four seeds. Indianapolis also vying to win
their division, that game against the Colts coming up in
(11:05):
a few weeks could have massive playoff implications in terms
of the seating. Right you want to be as high
as you possibly can right and right now you are
tied for that number one seed.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
I know it's we are early.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
We are only five or six weeks into the season,
and that will change, but right now you have to
look at that game as a I don't want to
say it's a must win, because I think you can
survive losing that game, but it's a must win in
terms of getting into the best position for the playoff seeding.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Steelers Colts will be Sunday, November two at one o'clock.
As Jacob mentioned at ak Your Shore Stadium, that now,
all of a sudden does become a big game. Indeed,
the AFC North Steelers number one, three and one, and
again a good bye week for them. Yesterday, Cincinnati loses
their third straight. They are now two and three on
the season, all three losses in a row after they've
lost Joe Burrow Jake Browning yesterday twenty six of forty
(11:58):
for two hundred and fifty one yards, again, most of
that yards coming in late and mop up duty in
that fourth quarter in which they score twenty one points,
had three touchdowns and three interceptions. Baltimore one and four.
I already went over the numbers for Cooper Rush. Not
a great day. They've now lost three in a row.
Lamar again expected to miss two to three games, one
being yesterday. They have a bye week in week seven,
(12:20):
so maybe week eight. They get him back after the
bye week. If they don't rush him back before, I
think a lot of that's gonna have to do with
what they do next week without him, Jacob. If they
lose that game and they're one and five, why would
you rush Lamar back and potentially risk more injury. I
would wait till after the bye week at that point,
and then Cleveland at one and four. They've lost two
straight now after beating Green Bay. Dylan Gabriel, the rookie
(12:41):
draft pick first round draft pick for the Browns, makes
his debut yesterday. Not too bad. Nineteen of thirty three,
one hundred and ninety yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, two
rushes five yards. What'd you think about Gabriel? The Steelers
next opponent, the next quarterback they will face this upcoming Sunday.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, I mean, he showed some grit, right.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
It's not easy to go into London and play those
international games. It's a very different process of getting ready
for a normal Sunday kickoff that's a local kickoff, whether
it's home or on the road. It's it's a much
different animal having to go across the pond and play
one of those international games. But they ended up losing
(13:19):
that game. Gabriel, I just think is an I feel
bad for the kid. He's not what the Browns want
to see, right. The people in Cleveland, I think, are
calling for Shador Sanders to be taken, which is ironic
because Dylan Gabriel was taken before him, had a little
more pedigree coming out of college out of Oregon. But
(13:39):
I just feel bad for him because I think he's
going to get the short end of the stick. I mean,
I think the best example when it comes to the
Browns mishandling quarterbacks is Baker Mayfield. I know they've really
had bad luck at the quarterback position. They've had a
lot of bus when it comes to draft picks, but
I think Baker Mayfield stands out the example of how
(14:01):
just how bad they are at analyzing talent at that
position because you had, you had the guy clearly. Look
at Look at what Baker has accomplished. Look at the
win he had yesterday. That was a great game on
that We'll talk about it at length in our third segment,
but on the road in Seattle, and he pulled out
that win after a tough loss the week before, first
(14:23):
loss they suffered against Philadelphia, which they also almost won.
Remember that was a one score game at the end
of the day. Uh, Baker Mayfield, Really, I mean, you
cannot emphasize enough how badly the Browns screwed that situation up.
And I just have to think history we'll repeat itself again.
I'm not saying that Dylan Gabriel is the next Baker Mayfield,
but I just have a feeling that with them already
(14:45):
benching Joe Flacco only a few weeks into the season,
and Shador Sanders and just the hype around him right, Uh,
it's it's it's a lot within the organization and within
the city of Cleveland, people are gonna be calling for
his name. I just I have a feeling Dylan Gabriel's
leash is going to be very short. But I don't
think it's gonna be so short where they lose this
(15:07):
one game against Minnesota and they're gonna be making the
pivot already to Chadur next week. Now, depending on how
bad the game could start for the Browns, maybe they
do turn to Shador. Maybe that if the halftime score
is something like twenty eight to nothing or twenty one
to nothing and the offense for Cleveland just looks terrible
under Dylan Gabriel, maybe they do make that pivot at halftime.
(15:29):
I don't know, but I don't think Chador will be
the starter this week. I just think it's a bad
matchup for Dylan Gabriel. As you mentioned, the Steelers defense
is looking better to these last two weeks. They're forcing sacks,
they're forcing turnovers, and we've seen how bad that Browns
Brown's offense is. I just have a feeling this is
gonna be a bad day for Dylan Gabriel.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Historically, the Steelers have done great, yeah right against rookie
quarterbacks in their first start against the Black and Gold,
and that goes back twenty twenty five years. That goes
back to the dom Caper defense.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Of course, especially in Pittsburgh. Sometimes when they go on
the road they lose.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
But specifically in Pittsburgh they do very well against rookie quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
They've been very dominant. By the way, just to make
a correction, I said Dylan Gabriel their first round draft pick.
He was their third round second in the third round.
You meant first quarterback taken first quarterback?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Correct?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
There were two? Yeah, yep. Schador was drafted in the
fifth round. Their first pick was Mason Graham, the defensive
tackle out of Michigan. The Steelers had a bye week
this past weekend, so Jacob and I are starting out
the Steelers standard today talking about the state of the
AFC North. Again good news for Steeler fans, as all
three teams in the AFC North lose their Week five games.
And not only do they lose, well you can again
(16:40):
you can make the case the Browns game was pretty close,
but the Ravens and Bengals games got blown out in
both of their Week five matchups. Jacob, again, as you said,
the Steelers in the driver's seat here at the bye
week they get good news and then you get Cleveland
out of the bye week this upcoming weekend, so an
opportunity again not only to stack another win in your season,
but to extend your lead in the AFC North. And
(17:02):
you mentioned it. Baltimore not an easy game against the
Rams next week either, So things starting to come aligne
for the Block and Gold in a very good spot
at this point in their season.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I mean we are no longer in the early
days of the season. We are entering week six now, team,
I mean, the bye weeks have been happening. That's an
indication that you're really into the heart of the season.
I mean we're gonna be in the second week of
October coming up when the Steelers take on the Browns
this coming Sunday. So, like you said, d nothing that
you can't say anything is too small of a sample
(17:34):
size anymore. The Steelers sit a top rightfully so right
now the AFC North because, as we mentioned, they have
taken advantage of opportune matchups, whereas the teams in their
division have not done the same.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
When you look at the upcoming games for teams in
this division, the Bengals. They will play at the Packers.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Yeah, that's gonna be tough.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
And then they get the Steelers on a short week.
But they do get them at home on that Thursday
night game on October sixteenth, and then they finish up
the month of October hosting the Jets. So tough game
at the Packers. They do get the Steelers at home
on a short week, and then they get the Jets.
Speaking of teams that are relling right, no, I don't
think there's another team really more than right now than
the New York Jets. Meanwhile, the Browns we talked about that,
(18:20):
they play at the Steelers this upcoming Sunday. After that
they host the Dolphins, who have been up and down.
I mean, I think they're a little better than their
record reflects. They played another close game yesterday, and then
they finish up at New England at the end of October.
Do the Cleveland Browns and then the Ravens. As I
try to get my computer to unfreeze here for a second, there, Jacob,
(18:43):
the Ravens upcoming games, Ok, they have a bye week
here in a couple of weeks. Let me just get
the Ravens up here for you in two seconds. Here
we go. Now we got the Ravens again. Their record
so far this year one and four. They play the
Rams at home, and then they the Bears at home
on October twenty six, and then on October thirtieth they
(19:04):
go to Miami and then their bye week, so they
still have three more games and then their bye week
comes up after that. So yeah, you know, again everybody
jocking position, trying to get into a situation. I'm sorry, Rams,
bye week, Bears, Dolphins. There we go. Now I got
it right for you. So they do have a bye
week in two weeks. So in all the indications, Lamar
probably comes back against the Bears on October twenty six.
(19:27):
So you know, again, all these teams, you know, anything
can happen on any given Sunday. We saw that yesterday,
We saw that yesterday. In Week five, there are a
lot of games you and I talked about on Friday
that kind of looked like dog matchups, and they were close, competitive,
really good football games, including that game in London with
the Browns. But you know, the one thing that does
concern me about the Browns, and we'll start previewing steelher
Browns as we go throughout the week. Here on the
(19:47):
standard as we get later in the week is their defense.
I mean, their defense has played well this year. That
was their strength coming into the season with Miles Garrett
and company. And they continue to play really good defense.
Yesterday again, their defense almost wins them that game in London.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah, I mean, you have to credit the Browns defense.
We know it's legitimate, we know it's it's really high power.
Do we know they do a good job of slowing
teams down. I mean, look at the Packers game from
a couple of weeks ago, right, they held the Packers
only ten points.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
They were losing pretty much the entire game.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
But that Packers' offense, you thought, after the first two
weeks of the season, was one of the better offenses
and just better teams overall in the NFL. And then
they go into Cleveland and get completely stopped and then
lose that game. And you could tell how good that
Browns defense is because the very next week the Packers
played the Cowboys and scored forty points. So it wasn't
(20:40):
like the Packers were had a wake up calling were
and had issues on offense galore, and in the Browns
were the reason for it. No, the Packers have a
legitimate offense. It's just they got that roads roadblock in Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
It's a legit defense.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
And I was saying earlier, how oh, maybe if this
game gets out to an early lead for Pittsburgh, things
could look bad for Dylan Gabriel and that's why you
can maybe see shador. But we consider how good the
Cleveland defense is. Maybe this game isn't as high scoring
as some people get anything. Maybe it's like a seventeen
(21:15):
to ten final score or something like that.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Very possible.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
The Browns currently have the number three defense in the
league as far as most yards given up. A little
over twelve hundred twelve hundred and thirty nine. Two hundred
thirty nine. Two hundred and forty seven yards per game
is their average giving up passing wise, the Browns are
let's see, uh, in the middle of the pack, so right,
kind of right? Yeah, well, I want one, two, three, four, five, six,
(21:41):
seven eighth, currently ranked eighth. And then let's see their
rushing numbers too. They're third in the league. They haven't
given up three hundred and thirty one yards. The Steelers
have struggled running the football, so yeah, this is a
good defense, Like we just talked about that they're gonna
have to deal with with this upcoming week. But you know,
during the bye week, I think Jacob, it gets you.
It gives you an opportunity to reflect on your first
four games. If you're the Steelers, I think you walk
(22:03):
away film pretty good. Especially after that Vikings game. You
got some momentum on defense. Your offense. You had the
big play to DK Metcalf, you got him involved rushing wise,
we had ninety nine yards from Kenny game. Well, so
everything's pointing up right now for this team and they're
getting healthy. We still don't know about Calvin Austin. Mike
Tomlins press conference will be tomorrow on Tuesday, so we'll
learn more about him. We'll learn more if we're gonna
(22:23):
get Alex high Smith back this week, which I would
expect he's If he doesn't come back, he's very close
to getting back. They kind of, you know, circled this
on the calendar after the bye week, that Alex Highsmith
could possibly return. Now that brings up another debate that
we'll talk about in our next segment as far as
adjustments after the bye week. Nick Herbig, right, do you
know does he now have a fifty to fifty split
with a returning Alex Highsmith. I think he's earned it.
(22:44):
I think he should. We talked to Ray fit Apalto
of the Pittsburgh postkes out on Friday. He kind of
thought about a fifty to fifty split being a possibility.
So good news, you know, injury wise, healthier team, has
momentum on offense and defense, you're ahead in the AFC North,
you're third in the AFC. Just don't have a hiccup
at home against Cleveland this week. That's the only thing, right,
I mean, we've seen that before. We've seen the Steelers
(23:07):
have games in which you go in and you think
everything's pointing up, they're absolutely gonna win, and then they
have a hiccup. But it is the National Football League.
That happens. But there is one X factor. Mike Tomlin
after bye weeks has not been good.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
He's been great.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
They've really played well coming out of the bye week,
regardless of the situation. So I like that X factor
going into this week.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
I think he's got like what a fourteen and five
or a fifteen and four record after the bye week,
and you get the added bonus of playing this game
in Pittsburgh, and you get the extra extra bonus of
playing the game against the Browns, who are historically really
terrible at winning games in Pittsburgh really ever since the
Big Ben Roethlisberger era began. So I think a lot
(23:49):
of this is adding up for the Steelers to win
this week. However, you can't have this be one of
those games where you just simply overlook it and it's
a trap game, which we have seen Mike Tomlin do
in the past, but kind of rarely against the Browns,
especially in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yeah, again, they've had those hiccups along the way, have
the Pittsburgh Steelers again and National Football League any given Sunday.
But man, you gotta think, you know, coming out of
this bye week. If it wasn't coming out of the
bye week or you were going to Cleveland, I'd be
a little bit more worried about a hiccup at this point.
But I think at home, man, you got to take
care of business this Sunday. You got to continue to
build this lead in the AFC North. You know, one
(24:29):
other note on the Cleveland Browns before we wrap up
this segment. They did have a good day yesterday from
their running back too, with Jenkins twenty three carries for
one hundred and ten yards. I watched that game yesterday
morning in London early, and he looked really good at that.
He's another rookie. I mean, this Cleveland team has a
lot of rookies. They might not be this year that
they're going to put it all together, but if they
put it all together the next season or two, Cleveland
(24:50):
could end up being a factor in the AFC North
at some point. They showed some glimpses yesterday of that,
but as you said, they got back to being the
Browns though at the end and lost the game of
the day.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I don't know if I mean, I think the Browns
are the.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Twenty time national defending champion of we're gonna do it
next year, right, the expectations for the next season, even
though we're five weeks into the season and we're already
talking about the next year for the Browns, I actually
don't really have faith in them, simply because of what
I just pointed out. Every year they just say, oh,
we're gonna look to next year and say next year
(25:26):
we're going to be the team, simply because the way
that team has run, the management, the coaching. I don't
really trust Stefanski. I know he wont he's a two
time Coach of the Year. I don't know if he's
really deserving of that either time. Yeah, I just I
think that this Browns team is built on defense, and
(25:47):
we saw the issue. I don't really know what Miles
Garrett was doing when he was saying I didn't really
coming he wrote that letter. You remember he tweeted out
the letter saying I didn't come into the league just
to go to Cleveland. I came here to win Super Bowls.
And it's seemed like that was his way of getting
out of Cleveland, and then he ended up signing.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
The contract because money talks.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I just think that offense is really down bad, and
I don't know if the solution is on the team
right now, between.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Flacco or Chador or Gabriel.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I know, you know, Judkins out of Ohio State look good,
but they have They've had a history of running backs.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
You remember Nick Chubb was great.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I just don't think that bringing in anything player, right,
I mean, remember they brought an Odell and Jarvis Landry
and that duo never got a going. They just cannot
No matter the talent they bring in, they are never
able to have it all add up for them.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
So I also think there's some questions and around coaching
right now, right right Ken.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I said as I said, like, I don't think he's
a guy who deserved either of those Coach of the
Year nods that he got twice in the last five
years or so. I just think that he had a
good team and he exceeded expectations and that's.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Why he got it.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Then look what he did in the postseason, did nothing
in the postseason, and then uh ended up missing the
postseason the following year both times. So I just can't
I just don't believe, like you said, in the in
the front office.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Or the coaching staff.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
I just I won't believe it until I actually see
them put it all together.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
And again, after five weeks of the NFL season, who
would have thought the AFC North quarterbacks would be Aaron Rodgers,
Cooper Rush, Jake Browning and the rookie in Gabriel. I mean,
that is just Dylan Gabriel. That is just incredible that
after five weeks that's your that's your starting quarterbacks, and
an AFC North that was so strong with Lamar and
(27:42):
Joe Burrow and well Cleveland, well we know what they
did with quarterbacks, bringing in everybody in the world this
past offseason, including drafting two with Shador Sanders and Picko
was there for a minute, yep. When we come back,
Jacob and I will dive into our top moments of
the Pittsburgh Steelers first four games of the season. It
is the State of the Standard, and we'll get into
the Standard report a little bit later as well. You
(28:03):
are listening to the Steelers Standard with Ed Troup and
Jacob Brett here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
Steelers Audio Network.
The Ravens and the Browns are now one and four.
The Bengals have lost three in a row without Joe Burrow,
and that all adds up to good news for Steeler Nation.
This morning. The Steelers have increased their lead in the
AFC North, and all is bright and well here in Pittsburgh.
This is the Steelers standard on Steelers Nation Radio, part
of the Steelers Audio Network. I am at Trupe and
(00:26):
joining me is Jacob Brect. Jacob, myself, along with most
probably yourself as well, would have never predicted this. After
five weeks in the NFL season, the Steelers would have
a two game lead on the Bengals and a three
game lead on the Ravens and the Browns. Maybe we
would have believed the Browns, but the Ravens to be
three up at this point and they're reeling right now
(00:46):
at one and four.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Completely reeling. It is quite the site. As you said,
I don't think anyone saw this coming. But also too,
you have to count your blessings if you're the Steelers,
because you were the only court, or you were the
only team in the division with a quarterback who hasn't
either been benched or hurt with a significant injury. So
if Aaron Rodgers wasn't here, or if Aaron Rodgers got
(01:10):
dinged up early on. You remember those first two games
when he was getting all those quarterback hits and sacked
what seven times in that two game span. If one
of those hits were a little bit harder on him,
his forty year old body may have taken it a
little little tougher and he could have been out. And
so you really have to be grateful that he has
been healthy enough, he's been upright enough. We know the
(01:33):
offense isn't perfect, but without Aaron Rodgers you could easily
be joining the Ravens and Browns at a one and
four record.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
The Browns play a close game yesterday over in London
against the Vikings. In fact, had the lead for most
of that game until the end when they scored.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
They Browns it away.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
They Brownsed it away, so they could they could be
sitting there at two and three. We'll get to all
the scores in our third segment later today, but we
want to start the top of the show today just
talking about the current state of the AFC North and
it was a good day for Steel fansjestraight the Bengals
lose thirty seven to twenty four against the Lions, but
that score doesn't reflect that game was a blowout. I mean,
the Lions had a huge lead most of the game.
(02:11):
The Bengals scored twenty one points basically a mop up
duty in the last quarter to make that score a
lot closer than what it was. But they have not
looked good in their last three games since Joe Burrow
has been injured. And then you look at the Ravens
and in Baltimore at home. When was the last time
you see the Baltimore Ravens at home lose the way
they did yesterday, going down at home against the Houston Texans,
(02:32):
of all teams that have struggled this year, forty four
to ten. That game wasn't even close. It was twenty
four to three at halftime.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Jacob, Yeah, I mean, if you were following that game
the Texans got out to the early leading, you thought, okay, well,
the Ravens could make it right. And then the league
just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and you said,
the final scores, what forty one to six, forty four
to ten, forty four to ten, I mean, blowout, A blowout,
is the nice way to put it. That was a
(03:01):
I want to I want to say a statement for
the ravensh but that is a that is and I
can't call the nail on the coffin because if Lamar
comes back, you know, they could easily rattle off seven
or eight wins, however many wins in a row to
close out the year if he's fully healthy and capable.
But a one four record is a really rough start.
(03:21):
And you thought that the Ravens, even without Lamar, were
probably the better team compared to Houston, right, And this
is something that you and I talked about last week,
that the Ravens actually had a pretty pretty easy stretch
during this time that Lamar is projected to be out.
They have the Rams next week, which are a good team,
but they have the Bears and the Dolphins, and then
(03:42):
they get the bye week, and you thought maybe they
could east they could probably go three and one in
that span, But right now they're already zero and one.
We see the Rams are a really good team. They'll
probably lose that game against the Rams next week.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Just considering how this.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Week went for the Ravens, that forty four to ten
score against the Texans, So I assume they'll I have
to think it's safe to assume they'll fall to one
and five, and then the Bears game just because of
the way the Texans game went, now to me is
a toss up. So I just don't know where the
Ravens will actually make the turn until Lamar comes back.
(04:23):
And even then, if they say they lose these next
two games against the Rams and the Bears, they fallow
to one and six, They're season's over, right, And this
is again something that you and I have talked about
on this show. Mike Tomlin gets a lot of flak
for just getting to nine and eight or eight and
eight back in the day and scraping his way to
(04:44):
a five hundred record and barely making the playoffs and
not getting a win. But what I think is so
underappreciated about Mike Tomlin is his ability to do more
with less. You remember in the Duck Hodges and Mason
Rudolphs season, he had the team with an eight and
five record on the Virgin making the playoffs. He got
to the playoffs with a Kenny Pickett, Mitch Troubisky, and
(05:04):
Mason Rudolph quarterback trio what this guy does without a
superstar Hall of Fame quarterback is remarkable. And here we
see John Harbaugh. Even with Lamar right, they went one
to three, but without Lamar for the first time this season,
they lost forty four to ten. John Harbaugh really cannot
keep his team straight without his star quarterback. And I
(05:27):
know they have injuries elsewhere. We know Matta Beek ways
out for the year. We knew that Kyle Hamilton wasn't
available and I don't know how long he'll be out for.
But that defense man, and we've talked abut it before,
that defense is a liability they have now. Besides the
win that they had against Cleveland, listen to the points
against for this Ravens defense. Forty one against the Bills,
(05:50):
thirty eight against the Lions, thirty seven against the Chiefs,
and then forty four against the Texans.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
And the other part of that, too, is they're getting
worse as a season going. Yeah, you can make the
Keith the Steeler defense is getting better each week. You know,
they give up a lot of points the first couple
weeks of the season, but the last few games going
into the bye week, the Steward defense was getting better.
They were getting turnovers, they were getting sacks, they were
getting home to the quarterback with quarterback hits and putting
pressure on Baltimore's gone the opposite way, and you just
(06:16):
went over the numbers, giving up you know, big big,
you know, offensive numbers as far as rushing passers. Yesterday, CJ.
Strout throws for only two hundred and forty four yards,
but he throws four touchdowns and no interceptions. Cooper rush
on the offensive side one hundred and seventy nine yards,
no touchdowns, three interceptions. But the more alarming thing for Baltimore,
Derek Henry was held only thirty three yards rushing, did
(06:38):
have a touchdown, but only thirty three yards rushing on
fifteen carries. A team that was built much like the
Steelers for a long time run the football play tough
defense is just not simply there. And I don't want
to harp on the Ravens all show long, but I
think it's an important piece of the puzzle right now
here in the AFC North because the Ravens are now
three games behind the Steelers. The Steelers really truly are
(06:59):
the lead in the AFC North here at their bye week,
and they really truly Jacob control their own fate.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, I'm excited when we do our power rankings. Last
week the Steelers at six. Now they're tied excuse me,
for the league lead with the fewest amount of losses
because we saw yesterday the Bills and Eagles both lost.
So now the Steelers are tied among the top of
the league with teams with only one loss in the season.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
I'm excited to see how high you have them in
your power rankings.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
So I'm gonna keep them relatively low, but into top
ten whenever we do it. But I mean, you have
you can't ignore the records, right the Steelers have. The
Steelers have done what other teams have failed to do
so far, which is stack wins when you need to, When,
When when it's most advantageous.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
For you, When when when the.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Best possible scenario for you to stack wins is presented.
I mean, we just talked about the Bills losing. They
were a heavy favorite at home against the division rival Patriots,
and they couldn't They couldn't get the job done. The
Steelers were able to go into New England, something I
know in the in the Brady and beligiic era. Then
they were ever able to do. I know it's different
(08:01):
now with Drake May and Mike Rabel, but still something.
They got that bug off their shoulder and they won
that game. The Patriots now looking like a much better
win on the Steelers resume right well.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Absolutely, and the Bills haven't looked spectacular either, getting to
four and one. They played a close win against the
Ravens forty one to forty in the first week. They
do handle the Jets thirty ten, but everybody's handled the Jets,
including the Steelers. They beat the Dolphins by ten thirty
one twenty one. Dolphins were in that game for most
of that. That was the Thursday night game, if I believe,
and then the Saints thirty one to nineteen, and last
night a phield goal d end Mike Rabel found a
(08:36):
way to beat Buffalo in Buffalo too.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
That's the other bad statement exactly, and I think that's
why it makes it more impressive for the Steelers to
go into New England and win that game.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
And Chiefs started out slow. Now they're starting to climb
back into things. But facts are facts, Jacob. I think
the AFC as a whole is pretty wide open right now.
Chargers have not looked good the last couple of years.
I'm glad you brought that up. Broncos do get a
big win yesterday at.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Philly, won statement win for sure for Denver again.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
We'll talk about that in our third segment today when
we go over Week five in the NFL. But real
quick before we move on in this segment, just to
give you a little glimpse of the AFC. Right now,
Indianapolis and Buffalo tied at four and one each. Indy
would technically be number one right now based on tie breakers.
Buffalo two, the Steelers third right now three and one,
Chargers three and two, fourth, fifth, Jacksonville three and one, six,
(09:24):
Denver three and two in New England three and two.
Jacksonville plays tonight against Kansas City. By the way, in Jacksonville,
that's gonna be a good game.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, two good teams, and I'm glad you brought up
the Colts that now is looming like a big.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Game is all of a sudden. Luckily they get that
one in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
They've had some bugaboos playing in Indy the last couple
of years. You remember last year justin Fields, the offense
got off to a really slow start. Justin Fields led
them to a comeback effort, and then he had that
mishandled snap from the center Zach Frazier, and he lost
like thirty yards on one play and they can never
really get it going from there, end up losing that game.
(10:01):
But yeah, that is a huge matchup, not just because
it's two good teams, but playoff implications, right, I think
a lot of people are saying that the Colts and
the Steelers are going to be legitimate playoff threats. Maybe
not teams that will make a deep run necessarily, but
teams that will take up two of those seven positions
(10:21):
in the postseason. And excuse me if the Steelers are
going to do If the Steelers want to be a
legitimate postseason team, I think there's a lot of people
out there saying they cannot afford to lose the AFC
North this year. The Browns are so bad, right. The
Bengals are clearly in a free fall without Joe Burrow
(10:43):
and the Ravens right now looking like one of the
worst defensive teams and they don't even have Lamar Jackson
to help them out on offense. You need if you're
the Steelers, it's looking like you have to win the
AFC North this year. It would be a huge fumble
if you didn't. And so if you're gonna be one
of those top four seeds. Indianapolis also vying to win
their division, that game against the Colts coming up in
(11:05):
a few weeks could have massive playoff implications in terms
of the seating. Right you want to be as high
as you possibly can right and right now you are
tied for that number one seed.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
I know it's we are early.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
We are only five or six weeks into the season,
and that will change, but right now you have to
look at that game as a I don't want to
say it's a must win, because I think you can
survive losing that game, but it's a must win in
terms of getting into the best position for the playoff seeding.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Steelers Colts will be Sunday, November two at one o'clock.
As Jacob mentioned at ak Your Shore Stadium, that now,
all of a sudden does become a big game. Indeed,
the AFC North Steelers number one, three and one, and
again a good bye week for them. Yesterday, Cincinnati loses
their third straight. They are now two and three on
the season, all three losses in a row after they've
lost Joe Burrow Jake Browning yesterday twenty six of forty
(11:58):
for two hundred and fifty one yards, again, most of
that yards coming in late and mop up duty in
that fourth quarter in which they score twenty one points,
had three touchdowns and three interceptions. Baltimore one and four.
I already went over the numbers for Cooper Rush. Not
a great day. They've now lost three in a row.
Lamar again expected to miss two to three games, one
being yesterday. They have a bye week in week seven,
(12:20):
so maybe week eight. They get him back after the
bye week. If they don't rush him back before, I
think a lot of that's gonna have to do with
what they do next week without him, Jacob. If they
lose that game and they're one and five, why would
you rush Lamar back and potentially risk more injury. I
would wait till after the bye week at that point,
and then Cleveland at one and four. They've lost two
straight now after beating Green Bay. Dylan Gabriel, the rookie
(12:41):
draft pick first round draft pick for the Browns, makes
his debut yesterday. Not too bad. Nineteen of thirty three,
one hundred and ninety yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, two
rushes five yards. What'd you think about Gabriel? The Steelers
next opponent, the next quarterback they will face this upcoming Sunday.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, I mean, he showed some grit, right.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
It's not easy to go into London and play those
international games. It's a very different process of getting ready
for a normal Sunday kickoff that's a local kickoff, whether
it's home or on the road. It's it's a much
different animal having to go across the pond and play
one of those international games. But they ended up losing
(13:19):
that game. Gabriel, I just think is an I feel
bad for the kid. He's not what the Browns want
to see, right. The people in Cleveland, I think, are
calling for Shador Sanders to be taken, which is ironic
because Dylan Gabriel was taken before him, had a little
more pedigree coming out of college out of Oregon. But
(13:39):
I just feel bad for him because I think he's
going to get the short end of the stick. I mean,
I think the best example when it comes to the
Browns mishandling quarterbacks is Baker Mayfield. I know they've really
had bad luck at the quarterback position. They've had a
lot of bus when it comes to draft picks, but
I think Baker Mayfield stands out the example of how
(14:01):
just how bad they are at analyzing talent at that
position because you had, you had the guy clearly. Look
at Look at what Baker has accomplished. Look at the
win he had yesterday. That was a great game on
that We'll talk about it at length in our third segment,
but on the road in Seattle, and he pulled out
that win after a tough loss the week before, first
(14:23):
loss they suffered against Philadelphia, which they also almost won.
Remember that was a one score game at the end
of the day. Uh, Baker Mayfield, Really, I mean, you
cannot emphasize enough how badly the Browns screwed that situation up.
And I just have to think history we'll repeat itself again.
I'm not saying that Dylan Gabriel is the next Baker Mayfield,
but I just have a feeling that with them already
(14:45):
benching Joe Flacco only a few weeks into the season,
and Shador Sanders and just the hype around him right, Uh,
it's it's it's a lot within the organization and within
the city of Cleveland, people are gonna be calling for
his name. I just I have a feeling Dylan Gabriel's
leash is going to be very short. But I don't
think it's gonna be so short where they lose this
(15:07):
one game against Minnesota and they're gonna be making the
pivot already to Chadur next week. Now, depending on how
bad the game could start for the Browns, maybe they
do turn to Shador. Maybe that if the halftime score
is something like twenty eight to nothing or twenty one
to nothing and the offense for Cleveland just looks terrible
under Dylan Gabriel, maybe they do make that pivot at halftime.
(15:29):
I don't know, but I don't think Chador will be
the starter this week. I just think it's a bad
matchup for Dylan Gabriel. As you mentioned, the Steelers defense
is looking better to these last two weeks. They're forcing sacks,
they're forcing turnovers, and we've seen how bad that Browns
Brown's offense is. I just have a feeling this is
gonna be a bad day for Dylan Gabriel.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Historically, the Steelers have done great, yeah right against rookie
quarterbacks in their first start against the Black and Gold,
and that goes back twenty twenty five years. That goes
back to the dom Caper defense.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Of course, especially in Pittsburgh. Sometimes when they go on
the road they lose.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
But specifically in Pittsburgh they do very well against rookie quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
They've been very dominant. By the way, just to make
a correction, I said Dylan Gabriel their first round draft pick.
He was their third round second in the third round.
You meant first quarterback taken first quarterback?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Correct?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
There were two? Yeah, yep. Schador was drafted in the
fifth round. Their first pick was Mason Graham, the defensive
tackle out of Michigan. The Steelers had a bye week
this past weekend, so Jacob and I are starting out
the Steelers standard today talking about the state of the
AFC North. Again good news for Steeler fans, as all
three teams in the AFC North lose their Week five games.
And not only do they lose, well you can again
(16:40):
you can make the case the Browns game was pretty close,
but the Ravens and Bengals games got blown out in
both of their Week five matchups. Jacob, again, as you said,
the Steelers in the driver's seat here at the bye
week they get good news and then you get Cleveland
out of the bye week this upcoming weekend, so an
opportunity again not only to stack another win in your season,
but to extend your lead in the AFC North. And
(17:02):
you mentioned it. Baltimore not an easy game against the
Rams next week either, So things starting to come aligne
for the Block and Gold in a very good spot
at this point in their season.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I mean we are no longer in the early
days of the season. We are entering week six now, team,
I mean, the bye weeks have been happening. That's an
indication that you're really into the heart of the season.
I mean we're gonna be in the second week of
October coming up when the Steelers take on the Browns
this coming Sunday. So, like you said, d nothing that
you can't say anything is too small of a sample
(17:34):
size anymore. The Steelers sit a top rightfully so right
now the AFC North because, as we mentioned, they have
taken advantage of opportune matchups, whereas the teams in their
division have not done the same.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
When you look at the upcoming games for teams in
this division, the Bengals. They will play at the Packers.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Yeah, that's gonna be tough.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
And then they get the Steelers on a short week.
But they do get them at home on that Thursday
night game on October sixteenth, and then they finish up
the month of October hosting the Jets. So tough game
at the Packers. They do get the Steelers at home
on a short week, and then they get the Jets.
Speaking of teams that are relling right, no, I don't
think there's another team really more than right now than
the New York Jets. Meanwhile, the Browns we talked about that,
(18:20):
they play at the Steelers this upcoming Sunday. After that
they host the Dolphins, who have been up and down.
I mean, I think they're a little better than their
record reflects. They played another close game yesterday, and then
they finish up at New England at the end of October.
Do the Cleveland Browns and then the Ravens. As I
try to get my computer to unfreeze here for a second, there, Jacob,
(18:43):
the Ravens upcoming games, Ok, they have a bye week
here in a couple of weeks. Let me just get
the Ravens up here for you in two seconds. Here
we go. Now we got the Ravens again. Their record
so far this year one and four. They play the
Rams at home, and then they the Bears at home
on October twenty six, and then on October thirtieth they
(19:04):
go to Miami and then their bye week, so they
still have three more games and then their bye week
comes up after that. So yeah, you know, again everybody
jocking position, trying to get into a situation. I'm sorry, Rams,
bye week, Bears, Dolphins. There we go. Now I got
it right for you. So they do have a bye
week in two weeks. So in all the indications, Lamar
probably comes back against the Bears on October twenty six.
(19:27):
So you know, again, all these teams, you know, anything
can happen on any given Sunday. We saw that yesterday,
We saw that yesterday. In Week five, there are a
lot of games you and I talked about on Friday
that kind of looked like dog matchups, and they were close, competitive,
really good football games, including that game in London with
the Browns. But you know, the one thing that does
concern me about the Browns, and we'll start previewing steelher
Browns as we go throughout the week. Here on the
(19:47):
standard as we get later in the week is their defense.
I mean, their defense has played well this year. That
was their strength coming into the season with Miles Garrett
and company. And they continue to play really good defense.
Yesterday again, their defense almost wins them that game in London.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah, I mean, you have to credit the Browns defense.
We know it's legitimate, we know it's it's really high power.
Do we know they do a good job of slowing
teams down. I mean, look at the Packers game from
a couple of weeks ago, right, they held the Packers
only ten points.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
They were losing pretty much the entire game.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
But that Packers' offense, you thought, after the first two
weeks of the season, was one of the better offenses
and just better teams overall in the NFL. And then
they go into Cleveland and get completely stopped and then
lose that game. And you could tell how good that
Browns defense is because the very next week the Packers
played the Cowboys and scored forty points. So it wasn't
(20:40):
like the Packers were had a wake up calling were
and had issues on offense galore, and in the Browns
were the reason for it. No, the Packers have a
legitimate offense. It's just they got that roads roadblock in Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
It's a legit defense.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
And I was saying earlier, how oh, maybe if this
game gets out to an early lead for Pittsburgh, things
could look bad for Dylan Gabriel and that's why you
can maybe see shador. But we consider how good the
Cleveland defense is. Maybe this game isn't as high scoring
as some people get anything. Maybe it's like a seventeen
(21:15):
to ten final score or something like that.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Very possible.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
The Browns currently have the number three defense in the
league as far as most yards given up. A little
over twelve hundred twelve hundred and thirty nine. Two hundred
thirty nine. Two hundred and forty seven yards per game
is their average giving up passing wise, the Browns are
let's see, uh, in the middle of the pack, so right,
kind of right? Yeah, well, I want one, two, three, four, five, six,
(21:41):
seven eighth, currently ranked eighth. And then let's see their
rushing numbers too. They're third in the league. They haven't
given up three hundred and thirty one yards. The Steelers
have struggled running the football, so yeah, this is a
good defense, Like we just talked about that they're gonna
have to deal with with this upcoming week. But you know,
during the bye week, I think Jacob, it gets you.
It gives you an opportunity to reflect on your first
four games. If you're the Steelers, I think you walk
(22:03):
away film pretty good. Especially after that Vikings game. You
got some momentum on defense. Your offense. You had the
big play to DK Metcalf, you got him involved rushing wise,
we had ninety nine yards from Kenny game. Well, so
everything's pointing up right now for this team and they're
getting healthy. We still don't know about Calvin Austin. Mike
Tomlins press conference will be tomorrow on Tuesday, so we'll
learn more about him. We'll learn more if we're gonna
(22:23):
get Alex high Smith back this week, which I would
expect he's If he doesn't come back, he's very close
to getting back. They kind of, you know, circled this
on the calendar after the bye week, that Alex Highsmith
could possibly return. Now that brings up another debate that
we'll talk about in our next segment as far as
adjustments after the bye week. Nick Herbig, right, do you
know does he now have a fifty to fifty split
with a returning Alex Highsmith. I think he's earned it.
(22:44):
I think he should. We talked to Ray fit Apalto
of the Pittsburgh postkes out on Friday. He kind of
thought about a fifty to fifty split being a possibility.
So good news, you know, injury wise, healthier team, has
momentum on offense and defense, you're ahead in the AFC North,
you're third in the AFC. Just don't have a hiccup
at home against Cleveland this week. That's the only thing, right,
I mean, we've seen that before. We've seen the Steelers
(23:07):
have games in which you go in and you think
everything's pointing up, they're absolutely gonna win, and then they
have a hiccup. But it is the National Football League.
That happens. But there is one X factor. Mike Tomlin
after bye weeks has not been good.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
He's been great.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
They've really played well coming out of the bye week,
regardless of the situation. So I like that X factor
going into this week.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
I think he's got like what a fourteen and five
or a fifteen and four record after the bye week,
and you get the added bonus of playing this game
in Pittsburgh, and you get the extra extra bonus of
playing the game against the Browns, who are historically really
terrible at winning games in Pittsburgh really ever since the
Big Ben Roethlisberger era began. So I think a lot
(23:49):
of this is adding up for the Steelers to win
this week. However, you can't have this be one of
those games where you just simply overlook it and it's
a trap game, which we have seen Mike Tomlin do
in the past, but kind of rarely against the Browns,
especially in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yeah, again, they've had those hiccups along the way, have
the Pittsburgh Steelers again and National Football League any given Sunday.
But man, you gotta think, you know, coming out of
this bye week. If it wasn't coming out of the
bye week or you were going to Cleveland, I'd be
a little bit more worried about a hiccup at this point.
But I think at home, man, you got to take
care of business this Sunday. You got to continue to
build this lead in the AFC North. You know, one
(24:29):
other note on the Cleveland Browns before we wrap up
this segment. They did have a good day yesterday from
their running back too, with Jenkins twenty three carries for
one hundred and ten yards. I watched that game yesterday
morning in London early, and he looked really good at that.
He's another rookie. I mean, this Cleveland team has a
lot of rookies. They might not be this year that
they're going to put it all together, but if they
put it all together the next season or two, Cleveland
(24:50):
could end up being a factor in the AFC North
at some point. They showed some glimpses yesterday of that,
but as you said, they got back to being the
Browns though at the end and lost the game of
the day.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I don't know if I mean, I think the Browns
are the.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Twenty time national defending champion of we're gonna do it
next year, right, the expectations for the next season, even
though we're five weeks into the season and we're already
talking about the next year for the Browns, I actually
don't really have faith in them, simply because of what
I just pointed out. Every year they just say, oh,
we're gonna look to next year and say next year
(25:26):
we're going to be the team, simply because the way
that team has run, the management, the coaching. I don't
really trust Stefanski. I know he wont he's a two
time Coach of the Year. I don't know if he's
really deserving of that either time. Yeah, I just I
think that this Browns team is built on defense, and
(25:47):
we saw the issue. I don't really know what Miles
Garrett was doing when he was saying I didn't really
coming he wrote that letter. You remember he tweeted out
the letter saying I didn't come into the league just
to go to Cleveland. I came here to win Super Bowls.
And it's seemed like that was his way of getting
out of Cleveland, and then he ended up signing.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
The contract because money talks.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I just think that offense is really down bad, and
I don't know if the solution is on the team
right now, between.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Flacco or Chador or Gabriel.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I know, you know, Judkins out of Ohio State look good,
but they have They've had a history of running backs.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
You remember Nick Chubb was great.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I just don't think that bringing in anything player, right,
I mean, remember they brought an Odell and Jarvis Landry
and that duo never got a going. They just cannot
No matter the talent they bring in, they are never
able to have it all add up for them.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
So I also think there's some questions and around coaching
right now, right right Ken.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I said as I said, like, I don't think he's
a guy who deserved either of those Coach of the
Year nods that he got twice in the last five
years or so. I just think that he had a
good team and he exceeded expectations and that's.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Why he got it.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Then look what he did in the postseason, did nothing
in the postseason, and then uh ended up missing the
postseason the following year both times. So I just can't
I just don't believe, like you said, in the in
the front office.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Or the coaching staff.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
I just I won't believe it until I actually see
them put it all together.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
And again, after five weeks of the NFL season, who
would have thought the AFC North quarterbacks would be Aaron Rodgers,
Cooper Rush, Jake Browning and the rookie in Gabriel. I mean,
that is just Dylan Gabriel. That is just incredible that
after five weeks that's your that's your starting quarterbacks, and
an AFC North that was so strong with Lamar and
(27:42):
Joe Burrow and well Cleveland, well we know what they
did with quarterbacks, bringing in everybody in the world this
past offseason, including drafting two with Shador Sanders and Picko
was there for a minute, yep. When we come back,
Jacob and I will dive into our top moments of
the Pittsburgh Steelers first four games of the season. It
is the State of the Standard, and we'll get into
the Standard report a little bit later as well. You
(28:03):
are listening to the Steelers Standard with Ed Troup and
Jacob Brett here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the
Steelers Audio Network.
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