Week 6 vs Buccaneers

Missi Matthews, Bill Hillgrove, Craig Wolfley and Max Starks break down the Steelers win over the Buccaneers on Sunday

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, Welcome to the Point After on w d v

(00:33):
E Pittsburgh, brought to you by Parks Casino. The entire
Steelers radio broadcast team is here to break down the
last game. Here's your host, Nssy Matthews. Man. I'm just
appreciative of the efforts of the men in that room.
Obviously we were leaking today, We're leaking in a lot
of ways in terms of physically, emotionally and so forth.

(00:53):
And I just appreciate, um, you know, the medal to
the group showed this week in terms of, you know,
remain a singlely focus in the midst of the storm
and and putting together a winning performance. Everybody. Welcome to
the Point After and Happy Victory Monday. I'm miss Matthews
with Bill Hillgrove, Craig Wolfley and Max Starks on our
first segment tonight is brought to you by Brian Patton

(01:16):
and associates. It's all about the benefits. We of course,
are talking about the Steelers big win over the Buccaneers eighteen.
They are now sitting at two and four and Billy.
Last week we heard from coach Tomlin. He said, you
don't dig yourself into a hole in one day, and
you don't dig it out in one day. But yesterday
felt like it was a pretty big step out. Did
anybody see that coming? Nobody? I didn't. I was hoping

(01:40):
it was you and Bob Princess, but you know, I
mean it. But when you watched it unfold, it really happened.
I mean that defense played its tail off. And last
week we sighted I sighted, uh the number of targets
for Chase Claypool and Aunte Johnson and it was not

(02:02):
a good performance in Buffalo. But yesterday they had fourteen
targets between them and cut twelve passes. Now that's efficiency.
So you know, that's just a couple of the keys,
and we had unlikely heroes in an unlikely upset. But
what's the old adage on any given Sunday, Well, you
do that like a pro. Well I've heard John Facenda

(02:23):
say it so many times that well, I think also, guys,
you know, you know what we saw yesterday with two quarterbacks, right,
I think Mr Bisky deserves a lot of credit for
coming in. You know, you you essentially come from a
disavowed position, right, I mean, you know you get benched,

(02:46):
you know, a week and a half prior um an
injury happens, and this was kind of the scheme in
their head, why you keep Mr Bisky up was for
this moment, and you could talk about the mental finess,
you can talk about, you know, being engaged. We were
worried about the engagement level of Mr Robiski after being benched,

(03:08):
and I think he answered a lot of questions out
there that now I'm still in this I'm still a
team player. And he went out there and he performed
tremendously under those pressures, under that situation, and you could
tell he was unflappable in those moments. And so I
do want to make sure we highlight that because that
was a big moment in the game where everybody kind
of held their breath. The boo birds were waiting to

(03:29):
boo up in the stands, and I'm sure everybody was
looking for every excuse of why we couldn't win this
game because Mr Bisky was in there and he didn't
give anybody that satisfaction. I loved it because, for instance,
the six yarder Chase Claypool, the touchdown pass, uh, he
didn't have any reps on that, and they did practice
it this week. Kenny had all the reps. He had

(03:51):
mental reps, but Max just as important, right, absolutely, absolutely
a mental reps. If you wonder why they're important and
why you see guys in the background like going through
the throws and their checks mentally, like we saw her
in training camp, it's for those moments. It's for you're
not gonna get you're not gonna get a look at
this to go through it physically, but you have to

(04:13):
go through it mentally. You have to go through it
up up in the meeting room and you have to
be ready to make those reads and visualize that success.
And it paid off. I want to talk about the
offense and a little bit, but we have to go
back to the defense. When you look at the names
that were on you know, the the play card yesterday,

(04:33):
the oh my gosh, I'm drawing a blink here card,
Oh my goodness, sleep, I'm there all right, the flip card.
You know, Josh Jackson, Quincy Wilson, Elijah Riley, James Pierre.
We know that name, but we have not seen much
from him. Um, those were just guys. That man. They

(04:56):
came in. They did not care that it was Tom
Brady on the other side. They talked so much in
the locker room about the game plan that they came
up with, how they all bought into it. Coach Tomlin
told everybody last week, you better dig deep. We're staying
together in this and that defense sure did. Because when
you saw that injury report, the status report on Friday
without Manca, you know, Levi Wallish, all of the guys,

(05:18):
especially in the secondary Billy, it was you know where
I think everyone went, oh boy, this, you know, especially
coming off that thirty five point loss in Buffalo. I
think it did not give very much hope. It was
only a week ago we were lamenting so many big
plays against the Steelers defense. There were two passes over
twenty yards yesterday, both in the first half, and I

(05:39):
think four nets. Longest run was what thirteen yards somewhere? Yeah,
I mean that. Yeah, it was good. Contained Listen to
think about this, all right, You're going up against the
goat the greatest of all time. There's a reason he's
the goat. Right the week before he goes three fifty
two against the Atlanta folks, Right, it's his already a

(06:00):
three hundred yard games since he turned forty. It's unbelievable,
it's unimaginable. Now you go out there and you got
a secondary full of guys wearing these these tags on
their shirt, on their jersey that says, HI, my name
is right. I mean literally, they got a couple of
guys they just brought up from the practice squad, guys
that didn't have much plane reps in the last couple
of years, and they had the audacity to believe they

(06:23):
could take down the goat, and by golly, they did.
And I think that is magnificent coaching. That's a great
job of preparing men to go out and do the
job and get it done. And I think it's a
great testament to the fortitude of those players. That is
Mike calls it leaning in. I call it by in.
However you want to call it. However you want to
lean it. It got done in a way in a

(06:44):
fashion that I think it just staggered a lot of people.
It certainly did me well. And I think even more
so just knowing that where this team has been. I mean,
you're talking about team on a four game losing street
going into this contest on Sunday, right, you know where
is where is the confidence? Right? Confidence at all time low?

(07:05):
And then you knocked down having some of the known
suspects not being there, I meaning the contributors that you
always look to write. You're thinking of Minka, You're thinking
of what a Kello cam and and drama blank LEVI
there we got. This is awesome. I've never had a

(07:27):
moment like this. There we go. It's exactly. It's your
swan song. It's all good from the team down. We're
we're getting to our average right now. But no, but
but I mean, you don't see that, and then you
don't have to Marvin Leo, right, which was one of
the young guys that was starting to come on and improve.

(07:49):
And then you also lose Pat Friarmouth, who was a
target and a comfort blanket for Kinney Pickett. So just
knowing all of those things, and this team said it
doesn't matter. We're going we have enough. We are all
we need. And I thought that was just tremendous how
they kind of siloed themselves and did not pay attention

(08:09):
to the outside world and went out there and and
executed a game plan to the best of their ability.
And like you said, Billy, not that many explosive plays.
They cut that down tremendously from a week ago and offensively,
we saw points scored, we saw points scored, a touchdown,
Max exactly. I mean, it's it's it was craziness, right,

(08:34):
it was bizarro world, Um, but it was good to
see because this is what you want to see when
is this team wanna start coming together? And it came
together in all three phases. I was telling Wolf this
this morning. There is a signature moment as you can
point to in all three phases of the game that
helped make this a complete team victory and even special

(08:55):
teams because right, the Stephen simms um return was amazing.
That set up two points. It wasn't the points we wanted,
that's the points we got. We did come away with
points in that situation, but it's that it's the it's
the Devon bush Um two point conversion backed down pass
and like you said, having a Chase Claypool touchdown, Like,
there were signature moments that we hadn't seen since week

(09:19):
one UM from this team, and I thought that was
what was tremendous, and it showed that the confidence was unshook,
but it was building amongst these guys and it culminated
in a win yesterday. Max. After the game it's trabisky
talked about speech or you know, just a team meeting
that happened the night before. We're coached. Tomlin always speaks,

(09:39):
not that it was something special, but he just reminded
everybody that you never know when you're gonna get the opportunity.
You need to make a play when you get it.
And obviously for Mitch that came full circle the next day. Um,
what kind of motivator And how much do you give
credit to coach Tomlin for getting the guys to buy in,
like you said, when morale was very, very low last week.

(10:00):
This is what this This is what leaders are made of.
They're made of these moments. And you wonder why coach
Tomlin has been in the same place for sixteen years.
You wonder why there's been a standard of success. Um, here,
it's because of that leadership. It's because of knowing the
pulse of the room, you know, just like he knew

(10:23):
the pulse in the moment to to make that decision
at halftime. Like there's certain instinctual things that younger coaches
aren't gonna have. They're just because they just haven't. You
haven't lived enough life, right, Bill, You know you you
haven't lived enough life to know what that situation looks like.
And he's seen it all and been through it all.

(10:44):
So for him to have that pulse and that finger
on the pulse of the team is tremendous. And when
you talk about whether someone's lost their touch or they
don't or they don't have the ear of the team anymore,
you can firmly see that coach Tomlin has handled grasp
on that. You know, remember when Mike McCarthy was gonna
get fired, talked about how he didn't have the trust

(11:05):
of Aaron Rodgers and all these other veteran players, And
when other coaches kind of get canned, it's because of
similar things. But for coach Tomlin, he knows, he knows
what it is he and and he has that relationship
with his guys, so being able to inspire just instinctually
not knowing where it's gonna happen, because he already looked
at the injury report before he walked in and gave
that speech. He already saw the list of guys that

(11:27):
would be wearing street clothes and he's like, this could
go further down that rabbit hole. So everybody we brought
up and brought in. You need to understand when your
numbers called, go make a play, Go do what you're
supposed to do and help us put your hand in
the pile and help us towards victory. And they did it.
So it was tremendous by coach Tomlin. I think Max,

(11:48):
I think you your spot on. And what I really
kind of summarized this too in my mind is I
think about the fact you're talking about the sixteenth year,
it still has not had a losing season, right, But
what is that really about. What it's really about as
a consistency of message, it's a consistency of action, and
it's as consistency of relaying proper expectation on his players
and they respond to that. You know exactly where you

(12:11):
stand with Mike. There's never I've never I've never been
in a room where he you know, you leave wondering, gee,
I wonder what he was thinking. You know, you know,
you absolutely know in every room I've ever been in
with the guy from the day he was announced as
the new head coach too. Now he's always shined in
that room. He just he's got leadership, He understands leadership,

(12:32):
he wears leadership. Like water wears wet. I mean, it's
just inherent in him. That's what it is, all right.
But you can do that and you can lead, and
that's how you have that consistency of message. It's what
Chuck Nole had for twenty three years, It's what Bill
Cower had for fifteen years. You've got to have that
same message they that generates the same response to the guys.
They know who you are, they know who they are,

(12:54):
and they know what's expected of them. Billy after the
lost of Buffalo coach Tomlin was very He did obviously
post game and said, you know, we will leave no
stone unturned, no one's jobs safe. He was talking about coaches, players.
Tuesday came. I think everybody was expecting something big to happen.
Nothing that we could tell from the outside looking in happened.

(13:14):
He had no grandiose announcements. No one was fired, no
one lost their job. He stayed the course. I think,
you know, at the time, that was probably not what
everybody wanted. Somebody, everybody wanted something to change to try
to get them out of the rut. I guess we
should probably listen to him when he says, you know,
we're good right now. Yeah, And I think it's a

(13:35):
reflection of what's above him in terms of the ownership.
The Rooney family has always been that way. Uh, it's uh,
you know, we we hired you to do a job,
and we're gonna let you do your job, and there's
no overreaction if there is a loss. And I'm sure
after last week, Art Rooney the second was probably the
least person, the least please person in that stadium. But uh,

(13:59):
you don't do any jerk, you know, you just let
people do their jobs because that's why you hired him.
And Uh, his job was to get this team back
on the winning track, and he sure did. Interestingly, I
was at a local grocery store and a customer said, well,
we should probably just lose them all get the first pick.
And then a cashier said to me, you think the

(14:19):
coach is gonna lose his job, you know, And I'm no, no,
you don't want to go to either place. Uh, And
that goodness, nobody did. And believe me, that's in my
top five games that I've been had the pleasure to
call at at that stadium. That's in my top five

(14:41):
impressive and well, and that's believe me, Uh, and probably
because it was surprise. You know, everybody was surprised, including
Tom Brady Wolf. It was against a big, bad wolf
who was bitten so many times, but he didn't bite

(15:02):
us yesterday because of a bunch of guys in that
locker room who wouldn't let it happen. That's right? Is
so Max? Is a win a win? Or do you
cherish this one a little bit more because it gets
you out of the hole and who it was against.
I only cherish it most if if it springs boards
you to more than one win. You know what I'm saying,

(15:22):
Like I think, if this is going to be the
wake up call, then absolutely, But it's something that you know,
just like anything else, delay gratification. What do you do
when you go down to Miami? And then I can
point back and say, you know what, that was the moment?
You know that was the moment. But I think a
win at this point is just that it's a win.
It shows us that we can do it right. It

(15:44):
gives it gives a a momentary reward for sacrifice given right,
for discipline adhered to, because it shows that if you
follow the rules, you study your playbook, you work out,
you get yourself ready ysically and mentally, good things can happen.
And I think for a lot of young guys on

(16:04):
this team, you have to see that manifestation. So if
that's what leads guys to play better, that leads guys
to believing they can go do it, then absolutely I'm
all for it. But if it's just gonna be we
had this emotional victory and we're drained going into next week,
then it was all for not And like you said,
I mean to to to to go and then have

(16:27):
this let down in the following week, Um would be
would be tough because I think there's an opportunity that
if if they can continue to play and continue to
solidify as a group, buy into the plan, and you're
going to get pieces back. Like the fact that we
did this with the amount of pieces missing, just imagine
how much better we're gonna be come later October, come November,

(16:48):
come December. Now you've got more opportunities and more options
to go through that you don't have to rely on
a single individual being the catalyst. But the team can
come together, right five fingers become a fist. Instead of
just pointing out someone you can go knock somebody out,
and I thought, if that's the case, then I'm definitely
all all for it. But it's a win just for

(17:09):
right now. Well, let me just say this though, if
I'd Alex Highsmith, I take secret join but taking the
goat spelt and putting it on the wall, absolutely you
would say that as a guard never had to do it,
I would do it. If I I took down Tom Brady,
that would have been great, you know, exactly exactly, But no, yeah,

(17:31):
I get it. Yeah, if if I'm gonna place myself
in somebody else's position, absolutely, I mean I could also
be Cam Heyward. Right, I had a sack there too, Hey,
I hit I hit Tom again. Yeah, I was gonna say,
I don't think it's a big big to Cam a
is it as it is to maybe some like Alex
or Malak Reid? You know, No, definitely that well, it's
definitely bigger than MILLI gree because he didn't get credit
for it. Yeah we tried to. Yeah, Cam didn't know

(17:55):
untill after the game that he actually got it. So
they still the Allied Sports Bureau might change j you
never know. Well, and oftentimes on a sack it's the
person who creates the situation where the soccer gets it
and and so there should be an assist. Oh no,
we get a cisco all right, Well, don't take it away,

(18:18):
all right, We do have to take a quick break
here on the point after when we return will unfortunately
go through the list of injuries that we will be
listening for an update from coach Tomlin tomorrow and also
talk about Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay, I should say Tom
Brady having a little discussion with his offensive lineman. I
went max and whooped away in on that one. We'll

(18:39):
be right back. You're listening to DV back to the
point after, brought to you by Parks Casino on d
V E. I was ready to go, UM, and in
those situations, you just gotta be ready when your numbers called. UM,
I just want to come in and help the team
win anyway I could. So I just try to come in,
do my role and lead the guys. Everybody stuck together,

(19:01):
and they had my back when I came in as well.
So it's fun to see we all kind of rallied
around UM, and we just gotta continue to pick each
other up and stick together. So is hard fault win?
Definitely a big time team win and uh, we just
got to continue improve. And props to Mitch Trabiskie for
coming in after Kenny Pickett exited the game in the
second half. He was evaluated for a concussion. They said

(19:21):
he had one and he was ruled out. And Billy,
I just feel like when Mitch came in, it was
he was very aggressive. It was as if it was
a different person than when we saw when he was
starting in the first few games. He was in cut
at loose mode, which he hadn't been before. And we
understand why because I said before the season started it
was his job to lose, and I think that was

(19:43):
the prevailing thinking amongst not only the players, but the fans. Uh.
And this was a different situation. I mean, it was
either Mitch or nobody. And uh, look at the response.
Third quarter, third and fifteen. It's Chase for sixteen yards,
fourth quarter, third and thirteen, he hits George Pickens fourteen yards.

(20:04):
Fourth quarter, third and six he hits Connor Hayward with
a forty five yarder and then in that drive and
just think about it, the Steelers were able to keep
the ball away from Brady for the last four minutes
and thirty eight seconds, third and fifteen seventeen to chase
no problem, third and eleven six to chase no problem.

(20:26):
And believe me, that's big time performance all chunk plays,
especially on third down and behind the chains. I cited
what five plays he was behind the chains on four
of them. It was incredible. You know, it was just
a great job. Look, I think we saw Pro Bowl Mitch.
That was Mitch in his Pro Bowl year. I mean,
you didn't go back to I watched a lot of

(20:47):
film before he came to when he came to Pittsburgh
this this past offseason. So I'm just checking it out
and uh, you know, you watch him and I saw
a lot of same elements, you know, the the quick
decisive thinking, the throw, uh, the ability to move. And
I think it was just a matter of him not
having any pressure on him, just coming in cutting it loose,
like you said, Billy, He just he just played the

(21:09):
way he can play ball at a high level. You know,
it was it was great to see. I just think
it was, Yeah, you've already done the worst to me.
I've already been crucified in front of you. You know
what I'm saying, Like like like I've been Yeah, I've
been roasted on this field. I've been I've been heckled.
I mean everything short of throwing uh you know, icy

(21:31):
light cans and and left over like tomatoes on a burger.
I think you know, he pretty much got I'm just
trying to think, because you know, they don't really throw tomatoes.
You know, definitely that was a buffet. I was like,
the overseating is in full effect. But but I think

(21:51):
that was kind of that reclamation, that redemption moment that
a lot of guys don't normally get in that situation, right,
You don't get the opportunity to to go through publicly
the angst of being benched as a competitive athlete, like
to actually be publicly shamed to a degree, but then

(22:14):
come out resolute, standing up front, chess proud, and go
out there and deliver something that you've always known, you
known you had inside, but to be able to redeem yourself.
And I think that was a tremendous moment to see that.
You know, you always question what a guy's resolve looks like,
right because you can't physically test it all the time

(22:37):
to see it, and if it does get tested, is
usually in a practice situation and guys come in behind
closed doors and you come out boom. Oh look at
this is the new me while I'm washed. No, he
had to do it under duress right last minute. Hey Ken,
he goes down. You need to take a couple of reps,
get some snaps with the center. Okay, go do it.
And he did it, And I thought that was what

(22:58):
was tremendous because you really got to see the mental
fortitude of what it takes to be a professional athlete,
and especially at that position. Of all positions, you can
kind of blend in at other positions, but not at QB,
not at QB one, not at the signal caller position.
And he answered the call perfectly, So it was it
was a great moment to see and he can tell

(23:19):
his grandchildren for one shining moment, I outplayed the goat.
There you go, absolutely and you can't take that away
from him. And check his rating, check his quarterback right,
Oh that's right? Eight boom mic drop Max, Yes, exactly

(23:40):
all right. The our second segment tonight is brought to
you by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and Don's Appliance.
For every field goal we kick this season, Don's Appliance
will donate one thousand dollars to the Greater Pittsburgh Community
Food Bank. That is five thousand meals each time. Thank
you to Don's Appliance and you can donate to by
texting goals to five zero one five five. And speaking

(24:04):
of field goals, but we should give a little shout
out to the special teams units. Complimentary football at its
best between all three phases between the fifty five yard
or Billie, Steve Sims they contributed it as well. It
was a good doink. I love that doink. But yes,
and and Steven Sims. Uh, not only the kickoff return

(24:24):
and you know he made really good decisions to stay
in the middle of the field, but his punt returns,
even the one he lost yard of John was as
gutsy as they come. And so maybe that's a portend
of what this guy can give you. Well, the fact
that he went to what eighty nine yards, I mean
even Myron couldn't have called all the zigs and his
eggs and that one there, Yeah, that's exactly. And Dean

(24:46):
is one of the faster cats in the leagues. And
you know you appreciate that. And like you said, there's
no doink like the dunk that goes for you rather
than against you. And you think about it, that was
the margin of victory, you know, I mean, how how
would that have been? Don't even want to think about
if that thing had been back six inches or rotated
one more time that caused it to bounce backwards rather

(25:07):
than you know, through the goal post. I don't know.
It just that was outstanding. It was a nice It
was a nice doink. I mean, listen, it hit and
it flopped over the line. That's all I care about.
Remember how high ricocheted up. I mean, yeah, it ricocheted up,
but it was like to give everybody a clear view

(25:28):
that it was going over. Yes, you know what I'm saying.
It was one of those It was a ball that
wanted to be seen, all right. It was a little
bit of a diva ball. But I mean, but how
many times have we seen that doink and it just
get like rejected like that Kim Baba Tumbo just swatted in,
It just comes right back falls into the end zone
and it just looks it looks pathetic. Now, this one
was like it bounced up and said we as it

(25:51):
went over right, it hit the nets and they don't
ask how, they asked how far it was fifty five
yards it was and you know what else, at the
end of the day, that was enough that we needed
exactly that many inches to get it done and it
was well worth it. All right. Let's go through my

(26:11):
laundry list here of injuries the people that did not play.
Of course, we know Cam Sutton with a hamstring, a
Killer Witherspoon, same, Levi Wallace was in the concussion protocol
with Pat fryar muth to Marvin leel is now on
I R with a knee injury. And then someone's from
in game. We've talked about Kenny Pickett in the concussion
protocol as well. James Pierre has a stinger, Miles Jack

(26:33):
has an ankle, and let me tell you, guys, he
played through that until the point where they're like, uh,
you are not going back in Max. I know you
saw him on the sideline too. Yeah. Oh man. I
was like come on, man, I was like, this was
this is as bad as it could get. And that
was just like man, And and what Miles Jack was
able to do, um just absolutely you know defied. I mean,

(26:56):
when you talk about hard hat lunch pail, go going
to just work like a like a just a heavy
physically taxing like construction job. Like that's what that's what.
That's what it looked like is he was walking on sidelines.
I was like, dude, I can't even begin to tell
you how much respect to have, because yeah, if I
was like, I was like, I was like, it was
like he just like like he just slapped his leg together, like, hey,

(27:19):
fall back in place, you know, let's go exactly. I
don't know what you're talking about. Hey, listen, just listen.
Spit on it real fast. I don't I don't even
need you to wrap it. Just spit something on it.
I'm good to go. That's that's why I was. You know,
Mason Cold did one heck of a j Yeah, I
mean being in a walking boot, you know, during the week,

(27:40):
and then you've got to face a three fifty pound
packaderm named Vida Va. You know, I don't worry. I
lost count after my toes and my fingers were counted for.
All I can say is that is three hundred and
fifty pounds of explosive dynamo at the nose tackle. If

(28:04):
you gotta bump foot a hoofer and you gotta be
under the bulrush of that guy or trying to dig
him out. That's just not a fun time. Larry Ogunjobi
was also another person he was dealing with that back injury.
He also missed two days of practice leading into the game.
But they're calling it lower body and max. He was
similar to mouth Jack, where you just he did not

(28:26):
want to come out of that game. No, the entire
offensive line was on his his lower body injury area. Right,
he's sitting upright, his legs are folded like crisscross apple
sauce style except for not as not as elegant. And
he's up there, he and he's slamming his thing, like guys,
get off of me. And then he gets up and
you see him have that ginger walked to the sideline

(28:48):
and then like three pidays later, no blue ted He's like,
all right, I'm back in. I was like, what is
wrong with you? It was like, y'all are like crash
test dumb. He's like, y'all just don't feel this made
like long term but but it was tremendous. But I
think that's also when you're talking about understanding and feeling
the moment feeling that tempo and that heartbeat. You don't
want to miss a minute of it because you know

(29:09):
you're onto something, You're on the precipice of something special.
And seeing Myles Jack, seeing Learogan, Jobi Right, and even
Mason Cole having to step out for a minute and
come back in. You know, I thought all of those
guys were tremendous warriors in this game because they knew
how much it mattered, right, And there's a certain accountability
that you have to your teammates that that that almost

(29:33):
it transcends your your reproach for your physical safety at times, right,
you know, it's like it's like, ah, you know, I'm
not to say we're going full running a lot here,
like cut it off or anything, but you're like, Okay,
am I hurt or am I injured? Am I hurt?
Or am I injured? I'm only hurts. That means I
can go back and play whatever I need to do.
I need to get back in there because I'm not
gonna let my teammates down there. You saw that physically

(29:55):
show up in more than one situation and more than
one different player. The last person on my injury list
make up Fitzpatrick who did not play. The good news though,
is he was out there during pregame warm ups moving
around a little bit, so fingers crossed they get him
back sooner than rather than later. He's definitely with the
leader in the back there. And by the way, that
would also mean that we need to throw out Terrell

(30:17):
Edmund's name. You think about Terrell Edmunds ten tackles, but
keeping it's like herding cats back there when you're trying
to communicate with guys who really don't know a lot
about each other or a lot about the defenses, and
the fact that they scaled down the playbook focused on
the fundamentals, focused on making sure keeping things in front
of him. I gotta tell you that was just a
great job I thought by Terrell Austin, by uh, by

(30:39):
Brian Flores, you know, uh, both doing and getting those
those guys ready to play. And well during the game
you made the point when Jack came out they had
to change helmets because of the green dot. Probably exactly.
You know, you got somebody else up there. And by
the way, there was a very intriguing little little wrinkle
to that defense. Max said, do you see Bobby Spillane

(31:00):
when they were using three linebackers on the inside. It
was very interesting. And they used him and drops much
like a Tampa to cover. It was really interesting. A
little wrinkle there, um and and it was Robert Splaine,
what a great job he did over the middle well.
And more so it was they were showing the four
three look to them because they were so used to

(31:23):
three down that was the four That was their four
down look and kind of a nod to hey, we're
not just gonna man this guy up. We're gonna drop
him deep, let him handle, and let the dogs hunt.
That's what allowed I think also allowed for Miles Jack
to be everywhere that he was. Because he wasn't having
to be right in the center of it all and
dropped deep and be the coverage guy. He could go
actually be more aggressive at times, which we always talk about,

(31:45):
how can you do that? I think it's it's a
manifestation off of that three safety look with Minka, right,
they try and use Miles Jack like a milk that's
what they used. Bobby Splain like Minka like. It was interesting.
You watch him, watch the film, watch him move around
in the box and watch what happens when they snap
and he drops. It's interesting Brady likes to go to
Godwin over the middle. Godwin twelve targets, six receptions. Yeah,

(32:10):
they they just did a phenomenal job yesterday in in
you know, denying some safe passage to those receivers over
the middle. And I just I really, you know, I appreciate,
and I know everybody does you appreciate when a group
goes four games. I mean, a whole month of losing.
I can't tell you how miserable that is. Max. I'm

(32:31):
sure you've had a four gamer somewhere, but I mean
I have had a share of four gamers in my history.
And there is nothing worse than spending a month, week
after week losing like that. It and then to be
able to come together and pull that thing out. Oh
that was magnificent. All right, we do have to take
a quick break. You're listening to the point after here
on DV at First National Bank with a quarterback of

(32:56):
your money with that gives you more mobility in the
pocket and card guard debit card controls, which is like
having a back to the point after brought t blight
Parks Casino on DV. Long count gets the snap he's
back priors for the episode who welcome back to the

(33:21):
point after everybody a Missy Matthews, Bill hill Grove, Craig
Wolfley and Max Starks and uh, Wolf, you're a little
excited on that one that touchdown finally to a wide receiver.
Well it was a long time coming, can we say?
You know, um, look, I feel for these guys. I again,
I know what it's like to go a month long

(33:42):
and just it's a it's a hard road to home,
it really is, and it's really difficult to drag yourself
out of the funk if you don't have, you know,
a great supporting cast of guys. And um, I was
so excited for them. I wanted you know, you want
that so bad. Max understands, you know, we as as
former players, you still live in a little bit. There's

(34:04):
just a little part of you that those guys down
the field are representative of what you used to do,
and you still feel that same sort of little adrenaline
burst every now and then, you know, those little things.
When I was on the sidelines, every now and then
a certain instance would happen and I'd find myself reaching
for my chin straps stepping on the field and then realizing, oh, no,
I'm done, and that a microphone. Yeah I got yeah,

(34:26):
I got a microphone. I don't have a helmet. Well,
at least you knew you could go and hit somebody
with it. Wha, yeah exactly cause you just walking out,
just just thunking a guy on the helmet with your microphone. Yeah,
that's right, don't do it again. No, um. But I
think even more so, it's it's that feeling because like

(34:49):
you said, we've we've lived it right, well, we have
been in that we know exactly what that emotional state is,
whether it's look in the eyes, whether it's is a
bowing of the neck in the shoulders, whether it's just
a tightening and clinching of a fist, like you know
what that means in those moments. So you want to

(35:10):
respond in kind because for so long that's what we've done, right,
You've looked for those nonverbal cues from your teammates, and
so to feel that euphoria and have that that adrenaline
rush in the moment, it's something that you it's palpable
and like you said, you just you feel you feel
the intensity of the moment. Our third and final segment
is brought to you by clear View Federal Credit Union.

(35:32):
For every turn over the Black and Gold create in
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Mission clear View helping people to enjoy a better life.
Visit clear View f CU dot org. Slash touchdown and
you heard the call from Billy there on the touchdown
to Chase Claypool, who, as uh we had said heading

(35:55):
into the show, Wolf has returned to maple Tron seven targets,
seven catches, ninety six yards the touchdown that you just
heard there. But I did want to take a listen
for you guys. Coach Tumlin was asked specifically about number
eleven after the game. Here's what he had to say.
He made some critical place today. Would not try to
paint with a broad brush to show some trajectory. He

(36:15):
made some place today, and I'm appreciative of it. And
I'm appreciative of it too. You know what I mean
this is the young man just has such great talent.
You know, everybody's seen it, and it's not like, you know,
it's a surprise to anybody's physical You can he's strong,
you can run, he can jump, catch, well, all those things,
and sometimes it just doesn't seem to manifest itself and

(36:38):
catches out on the field. And I'm hoping this is
one of those springboards that a guy suddenly is It's
like a light comes out and boom, it starts to
roll for him, and just maybe, just maybe this can
be one of those times. Well if at the beginning
of the game you said the key is teamwork, and
we talked about it, and there's a play that happened
in that last four or thirty eight that a lot

(37:00):
of people are talking about. And we talked about the
third and thirteens and third and sixteens and so forth.
How about the snap that got behind Mitch. Oh, he
made sure he got it and nobody else. That is
a huge play because if you if you don't keep
the ball, you're gonna give it to the goat with
more than enough time to make up two points. There's

(37:22):
no question about it. And actually, one of the things
I thought you were gonna point out to was the
Devin bush on on the two point conversion. I mean
the fact that he was aware that there's high probability
of crossing routes the fact that he was on the
first catch point and then he comes down to the
second catch point and actually makes a play on it
after taking away the first option. To Brady, I thought

(37:44):
it was magnificent. And that's another situation where you know
what I'm talking about, Max, You hope that is the
trigger to spur great success in the future. And I'm sorry,
if they make that play, they have all the moment them. Oh, absolutely,
and you're in trouble. Yeah, No, it's it's not allowing

(38:07):
the tide to consume you, right. I think that's really
what it comes down to, Like, you know that this
opportunity where we're at, you're at a pressure point, and
to come up and make said play just absolutely it
can tilt either way like a seesaw. And once you
do it, it's almost like you catapulted Tampa Bay out
of the stadium at that moment, Like like the full

(38:29):
depression on their face on that sideline was just an
amazing moment. And to know that we no matter what
we do, we can't win. And that's that moment that
I've always talked about over the years, and Wolf and
I we've talked about it. That look when you look
in the guy's eyes and you know he's quit and

(38:51):
that that fight is gone for the rest of this game.
That's what it felt like when Devin Bush batted that
ball down. It's like all their hopes and dreams hung
on that one pass, in that one moment that that
they were looking for something else when everything else had
gone wrong, and boom they get denied another time, and
those dudes were done after that. I mean, there was nothing,

(39:12):
nothing they could do in that moment. It's almost like,
you know, it's like when you get hit in the chin,
not that anybody's been hitting the chin, and your teeth clicking,
your eyes closed, and like what happened. That's essentially what
it was. It was. It was the knockout punch. That's
what happened to my tooth with a chicken wing knockout punch.
A knockout punch there. But I think when the guy

(39:35):
goes down to a buffalo was shameful. I think when
they went for that two point conversion, you're thinking, oh man,
they tie it up. My first thought was not over time,
even though that was up there too. I knew Max
was trying to catch a flight as well. Also you know,
you don't want Tom Brady having extra time. But going
back to the end of the first half, the field goal,

(39:56):
the Steelers defense probably would have been kicking their butts
for how well they played giving that up to the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You know, that's three points. It could
it could have made a big deal. Luckily it did not.
That's the beauty of football, you know, I mean, what
was there? Was there? What you know, what it could
have been? Who knows? I mean, you just don't know.

(40:17):
And the beauty is like what we saw the manifestation
of guys coming together, forty five strong that went out
there and did something, um so amazing. It just set
the town on fire last night. I thought it was
just so terrific. Everybody said they couldn't they did. And
you know, whether it was the three points at the
end of the second quarter or or what have you. Um,

(40:37):
they were still able to overcome it. Whatever it was. Alright, Well,
it has been fun here on a victory Monday for
the point after for Bill hill Grove, Craig Biffly and
Max Starks. I'm Missy Matthews and thinks is always to
our producer Tom the Steelers Pro Shop is where you
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(40:59):
exclusives you can only find directly from the team at
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great night, everybody. We'll see you next week after the
Steelers visit the Miami Dolphins.