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Speaker 1: Eastco Subs since e three to sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnatis,

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Speaker 1: waltered in part by Pennstation eastco Subs. Handcrafted hot grilled subs,

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Speaker 1: fresh cut fries and lemonade. It's all about good taste.

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Speaker 1: Pennstation East Coast Subs order online today. This is ESPN

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Speaker 1: fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

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Speaker 2: Hi, Hello, welcome in our number three of Cincy three

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Speaker 2: to sixty on this game day, Thursday night football at

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Speaker 2: PAI Corpse Stadium tonight in a division rival coming to town,

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Speaker 2: the Cincinnati Bengals hosting the dreaded Pittsburgh Steelers. And to

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Speaker 2: get the Steelers perspective on tonight's game, let's talk to

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Speaker 2: the person covering the Steelers for ESPN. Friend of the show,

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Speaker 2: been on many times, our friend Brooke Pryor, joining us now, Brooke,

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Speaker 2: welcome back. How you doing? Are you? Do you get

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Speaker 2: amped up on game day? Do reporters get amped up?

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Speaker 3: I get amped up, and then I have to remind

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Speaker 3: myself that, like the players, the long day, especially your

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Speaker 3: primetime game, Like it's bizarre for me to sleep in

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Speaker 3: until like nine am in the middle of the week,

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Speaker 3: but I have to remind myself Okay, no, this is

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Speaker 3: this is a marathon and also kind of a sprint.

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Speaker 3: So I've had one coffee today. I am positive I

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Speaker 3: will have many more.

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Speaker 2: You and me both. I have to be on the

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Speaker 2: air until two thirty this morning, so I certainly know

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Speaker 2: the long, long game here. Okay, let's talk about the game.

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Speaker 2: When you think of this game Bengals Steelers, the first

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Speaker 2: matchup or the most important matchup on the field that

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Speaker 2: comes to mind as what.

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Speaker 3: Ooh, that is a great question. I'm gonna go, oh man,

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Speaker 3: because there are many important matchups. I kind of think

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Speaker 3: it might be Mike Tomlin versus Joe Flacco. And I

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Speaker 3: know that Mike Tomlin is not on the field, but

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Speaker 3: this week, the way that Mike Tomlin kind of called

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Speaker 3: out the Browns for trading Joe Flacco, he puts some

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Speaker 3: extra heat on this matchup. Mike Tomlin knows Joe Flacco

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Speaker 3: very very well. He has faced him twenty two times

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Speaker 3: in the regular season and is eleven and eleven against him.

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Speaker 3: I believe Joe Flacco ten and eleven when he's been

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Speaker 3: a starter. The last time they faced them was in

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Speaker 3: Indy when he came in for an injured Anthony Richardson

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Speaker 3: and Mike Tomlin and defensive coordinator Tarrell Austin both said

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Speaker 3: this week that when they were preparing for that Indianapolis

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Speaker 3: game that they did not want to see Joe Flacco.

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Speaker 3: They were so clear about that, and he came in

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Speaker 3: and we saw why they did not want to see

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Speaker 3: him through two touchdowns, almost two hundred passing yards, just

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Speaker 3: a really calm, veteran presence, still has a big arm

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Speaker 3: despite being forty years old. So I think that's that's

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Speaker 3: what I'm going to be watching. I guess the better

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Speaker 3: you know distillation of that is the Steelers defense against

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Speaker 3: Joe Flacco. But Mike Tomlin is the architect of this defense,

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Speaker 3: So I think it comes down to Mike Tomlin versus

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Speaker 3: Joe Flacco in this.

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Speaker 2: I was glad that Tomlin said what he said number one,

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Speaker 2: because I felt like the game could use a little

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Speaker 2: bit of juice. And number two, I think the division

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Speaker 2: in and of itself needs a little bit of juice.

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Speaker 2: What have you learned? Like? Where did that come from?

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Speaker 2: Was it strictly I don't want to face Joe Flacco.

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Speaker 2: Was it a shot at the Browns? Is there something there?

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Speaker 2: Because it kind of seemed out of left field.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I do think it's a little bit of both.

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Speaker 3: I think that there is some frustration with how the

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Speaker 3: Browns are doing business that they helped out an interdivision

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Speaker 3: team at the most crucial position. I think that it

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Speaker 3: also is just a reflection of how he views football

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Speaker 3: and how he views you know, gms and things like that.

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Speaker 3: Like he's not a map guy. So where Interburry sees

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Speaker 3: that he got an advantage in the pickswap and was

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Speaker 3: able to get something in return for Joe Flacco, Mike

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Speaker 3: Tomlin looks at that and thinks, Okay, but you're hurting

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Speaker 3: yourself this year and you were helping another team in

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Speaker 3: this division this year. Mike Tomlin is not a plan

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Speaker 3: for the future type of head coach. He is worried

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Speaker 3: about the here and now. I mean he said it

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Speaker 3: himself a couple of weeks ago. He's not a big

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Speaker 3: picture guy. So I think that's just a difference in philosophies.

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Speaker 3: And I think there's something to be said for if

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Speaker 3: you look at how Jake Browning was playing, he would

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Speaker 3: probably rather face Jake Browning than Joe Flacco for the

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Speaker 3: trillionth time. So I think that now he sees a

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Speaker 3: veteran quarterback who is pretty good at getting Jamar Chase

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Speaker 3: and t Higgins the ball last week in his first start.

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Speaker 3: So I think it's a little bit of both.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not hard to see why the Bengals didn't

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Speaker 2: want Jake Browning playing anymore and why anybody else would have.

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Speaker 2: Let's go to that matchup. Though. The Steelers defense they've

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Speaker 2: been fine. I don't know that anyone would say they've

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Speaker 2: been great. What's your assessment of the defense for Pittsburgh

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Speaker 2: to this point and how do you expect them to

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Speaker 2: attack Joe Flacco tonight?

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Speaker 3: You know, I do think that they've been a lot

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Speaker 3: better in the last two weeks, last three weeks, kind

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Speaker 3: of starting with that Patriots game where they forcibly five turnovers.

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Speaker 3: They didn't necessarily really completely limit Drake may but that

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Speaker 3: was kind of the starting point for this defense at

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Speaker 3: the turning point, and then last week against the Browns

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Speaker 3: is actually the first time all season that all of

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Speaker 3: their starters have been healthy and playing, or at least

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Speaker 3: healthy enough to play. And I think that that's where

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Speaker 3: you saw you know, Jay and Ramsey coming in on

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Speaker 3: the blitz and having those two stacks, the pass rush

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Speaker 3: looks better. The secondary as a whole was really well,

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Speaker 3: was playing really well. I think that that was just

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Speaker 3: the defense playing in concert with each other, and that's

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Speaker 3: what they've been looking for all season and that is

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Speaker 3: what they did not have in the first two weeks

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Speaker 3: of the season, where it really looked like the defense

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Speaker 3: could be a train wreck. But I think that is

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Speaker 3: a combination of health and also comfortability and health at

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Speaker 3: the most important position, specifically looking at Deshaun Elliott coming

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Speaker 3: back and playing, because he's a huge communicator in the

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Speaker 3: secondary and plays with a fearlessness and a recklessness that

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Speaker 3: is so good for the Steelers. Maybe not great long

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Speaker 3: term for his body or the opposing but he's he's

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Speaker 3: great in coverage, he's great as a run stopper, great tackler.

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Speaker 3: But he is a little bit of a question mark

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Speaker 3: for this game because he's lost as questionable for personal reasons.

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Speaker 3: I understand there's a family situation going on and he

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Speaker 3: did not travel with the team yesterday, So that is

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Speaker 3: a really important position to keep an eye on. But

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Speaker 3: I think the Steelers plan is going to be to

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Speaker 3: try to make Joe Flacco as uncomfortable as possible. I

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Speaker 3: think that, you know, look for TJ. Watt and Nick

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Speaker 3: Herbig and Alex Heismith looks for that free linebacker package.

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Speaker 3: They really like deploying that last week when Alex Highsmith

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Speaker 3: was finally healthy. But I think the key here is

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Speaker 3: going to be to really try to overwhelm Joe Flacco

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Speaker 3: early and get his drill and make some of those

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Speaker 3: passes a little bit more impossible because they're not giving

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Speaker 3: him much time to throw and let those plays develop.

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Speaker 2: Talking to Brooke Pryor covering the Pittsburgh Steelers for ESPN

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Speaker 2: ahead of tonight's game, let's go from one forty year

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Speaker 2: old quarterback to another, how would you assessed the play

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Speaker 2: of Aaron Rodgers to this point for the Steelers offense?

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Speaker 3: You know, it's kind of similar to the defense, although

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Speaker 3: I don't think that he started off at quite a

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Speaker 3: bad spot is the defense early on. But I do

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Speaker 3: think that the Aaron Rodgers is coming around and playing better.

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Speaker 3: I think that last week against the Browns was the

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Speaker 3: best game that he's played this season and in a while,

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Speaker 3: and he said himself that he felt better, he felt

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Speaker 3: more mobile. A lot of that he gave credit to

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Speaker 3: working with his bodywork guru over the bye week and

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Speaker 3: you know, staying loose and limber things like that. And

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Speaker 3: you could see that in the Brown game he was

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Speaker 3: on the move a little bit more. He was making

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Speaker 3: some of those signature Aaron Rodgers throws back across his body.

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Speaker 3: I mean the touchdown to Connor Hayward is a big

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Speaker 3: one that I think about on the scramble drill that

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Speaker 3: he just wasn't doing things like that early in the season.

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Speaker 3: But I think that you're seeing a comparability with him

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Speaker 3: in this offense, and I think that, you know, his

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Speaker 3: body so far is holding up pretty well. I also

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Speaker 3: think the emergence of Darnell Washington and how they are

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Speaker 3: using him both as an extra blocker and then also

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Speaker 3: as this just mismatch receiving threat has been really big

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Speaker 3: for Aaron Rodgers and for this offense. I think that

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Speaker 3: the Darnell Washington emergence is one of the most fun

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Speaker 3: things to see in this offense because he just doesn't

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Speaker 3: make sense. He is a unicorn of a player. I mean,

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Speaker 3: I think it was Arthur Smith said this week that

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Speaker 3: when he's watching film, he thinks that Darnell Washington is

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Speaker 3: bigger than Troy Fatano and Roder Jones. They're two tackles,

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Speaker 3: and yet he can get out in space and catch

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Speaker 3: the ball and make things happen on the run, and

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Speaker 3: it just it doesn't. He just can't comprehend how physics

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Speaker 3: make that work. And yet he I think has been

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Speaker 3: a really really good thing for this offense and Aaron Rodgers.

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Speaker 3: So I think that that the offense is the sending

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Speaker 3: at this point.

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Speaker 2: When it comes to running the ball. Pittsburgh twenty ninth

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Speaker 2: in the NFL and rush yards per game? Why hasn't

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Speaker 2: that worked? You know?

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Speaker 3: I think a lot of it is the offensive line.

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Speaker 3: The guard play has been a little subpar. Isaac Samalo,

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Speaker 3: the veteran, just has not really done a great job

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Speaker 3: this season. He's been pretty mediocre. I do think that

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Speaker 3: the last two weeks again, there's been an uptick in

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Speaker 3: their production. Can it gage well against the Vikings in

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Speaker 3: Ireland and then Jalen Warren coming back last week. I

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Speaker 3: think that they're starting to move out in space, and

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Speaker 3: a big key to that is not only adding Darnell

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Speaker 3: Washington as an extra blocker, but also guard Spencer Anderson

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Speaker 3: adding him as an extra alignment. So they're going into

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Speaker 3: these like jumbo and super jumbo packages and really opening

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Speaker 3: things up. But I think early on they just weren't

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Speaker 3: getting enough space, weren't getting enough push. But I think

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Speaker 3: that they're also starting to get there.

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Speaker 2: Calvin Austin not going to be able to play tonight,

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Speaker 2: How is that going to change the Steelers' offensive plan

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Speaker 2: without him on the field.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think that he takes away a

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Speaker 3: deep threat option. He's just he's been really good, you know,

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Speaker 3: as a guy that has a lot of speed on

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Speaker 3: the outside. He's built like a slot receiver, but he

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Speaker 3: plays all over the field and I think that he does.

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Speaker 3: When you don't have him, you do lose one of

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Speaker 3: those deep threats. But I would kind of look to

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Speaker 3: Scotty Miller to replace some of that, at least a

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Speaker 3: snap count, not necessarily the production. You also lose a

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Speaker 3: guy that it sounds again like a mismatch, and it is.

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Speaker 3: It doesn't make any sense on paper, but he's been

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Speaker 3: really good at downfield blocking. He was one of the

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Speaker 3: reasons that DK Metcalf was able to score that eighty

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Speaker 3: one yard catch and run touchdown in Ireland. Calvinoson was

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Speaker 3: down there out in front of him, blocking his past

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Speaker 3: to the end zone and kind of threw that last

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Speaker 3: crucial block to get him across the goal line, which

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Speaker 3: again is crazy because Kelvinatson is so much smaller than

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Speaker 3: DK Metcalf, but it just works.

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Speaker 2: So that's what you lose, and you don't have him

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Speaker 2: on the wrapping things up here with Brooke Pryor covering

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Speaker 2: the Steelers for ESPN. Do fans in Pittsburgh get the

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Speaker 2: vibe that this is supposed to be an easy win

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Speaker 2: for the Steelers tonight? Is there a lot of confidence

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Speaker 2: going into this game?

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Speaker 4: Uh?

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Speaker 3: You know, I think there would be if Mike Tomlin

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Speaker 3: wasn't zero to six in Thursday night divisional games on

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Speaker 3: the road. I think that that kind of gives Steelers

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Speaker 3: fans some PUDs, and they have watched a lot of

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Speaker 3: inexplicable Thursday night losses, whether at home or on the road.

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Speaker 3: Mike Tomlin is not great on a short week, especially

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Speaker 3: on the road, So I think that, you know, again,

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Speaker 3: on paper, the Steelers should be an overwhelming favorite, but

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Speaker 3: weirder things that happened. I don't think this is going

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Speaker 3: to be a blowout. Although I am generally pretty pessimistic

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Speaker 3: about the Steelers until I see it. I'm very much

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Speaker 3: a see to believe kind of person, even when you

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Speaker 3: know all signs kind of point to this should be

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Speaker 3: a big It should be a pretty significant win because

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Speaker 3: they have so many advantages. But there's just some intangibles

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Speaker 3: that I don't know. Again, the Thursday night, I think

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Speaker 3: Deshaun elliott status being somewhat in question. And also even

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Speaker 3: though Jalen Rams did play incredibly well on Sunday coming

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Speaker 3: off that hamstring injury, he really pushed to return, He's

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Speaker 3: now having to turn that around on a short week.

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Speaker 3: He's an older player. I think that he's going to play,

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Speaker 3: but I'm interested to see how his hamstring has responded

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Speaker 3: on just a couple of days rest.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good point and certainly something to keep

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Speaker 2: an eye out for. Brook. Thank you so much for

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Speaker 2: your time today. No, it's a busy day for you.

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Speaker 2: Where can people follow along with your coverage going into

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Speaker 2: Thursday night football tonight?

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Speaker 3: It will be on Twitter or x at vee pryor

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Speaker 3: also on ESPN dot com. And I've got a story

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Speaker 3: up right now about Johnny Smith when the Steelers tight

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Speaker 3: ends and his brother who will be getting to watch

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Speaker 3: him on Thursday Night football on the local broadcast in

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Speaker 3: Pittsburgh from the and WHEK he's incarcerated forty five miles

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Speaker 3: outside of Pittsburgh, and about how John hu has worked

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Speaker 3: to get his brothers said introduced. He's now being released

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Speaker 3: next year, and just last week John who took a

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Speaker 3: group of Steelers to the prison to do some prison outreach.

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Speaker 3: So it's a pretty cool story. So definitely check that out.

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Speaker 2: That's interesting. Thanks so much, Brooke, really appreciate it absolutely.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for having me. That is Brooke Pryor from ESPN

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Speaker 2: covering the Pittsburgh steel So I have to check out

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Speaker 2: that story about the John new Smith. I didn't know

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Speaker 2: about that, but yeah, I thought that point that she

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Speaker 2: made at the very end is interesting. I had heard

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Speaker 2: a little bit of conversation about this at the beginning

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Speaker 2: of the week, but didn't really hear much about it otherwise,

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Speaker 2: and that was that the hamstring injury that Jalen Ramsey

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Speaker 2: was dealing with didn't get us tested as much against

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Speaker 2: Cleveland because of the way that they won was on

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Speaker 2: a bit of a pitch count. And then you turn

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Speaker 2: it right back around for a short week game in Cincinnati,

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Speaker 2: and there's a history between the Bengals wide receivers and

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Speaker 2: Jalen Ramsey. You may remember Super Bowl fifty six. Mo

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Speaker 2: and I talked about it, Yeah, yesterday, T Higgins and

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Speaker 2: Jalen Ramsey going at it, Jamar Chase and Jalen Ramsey

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Speaker 2: going at it. And part of the reason why the

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Speaker 2: Steelers are built the way that they are built is

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Speaker 2: to defend T Higgins and Jamar Chase, whether that's with

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Speaker 2: Joe Burrow or without Joe Burrow. So to me, yes,

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Speaker 2: the matchup of Tomlin versus Flacco, like Brook outline, Yes,

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Speaker 2: really important, really interesting, especially considering Tomlin's history on Thursday nights.

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Speaker 2: But also the only life that the Bengals had Sunday

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Speaker 2: was when Joe Flacco said, fitt Jamar down there somewhere,

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Speaker 2: or I'm throwing this ball to T Higgins and see

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Speaker 2: what happens. That is, in a way the life blood

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Speaker 2: of the offense. Without Joe Burrow there and with no

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Speaker 2: run game whatsoever, that matchup is really interesting, especially if

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Speaker 2: for whatever reason Ramsey would have to leave the game,

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Speaker 2: or if Ramsey is on a pitch count, can the

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Speaker 2: Bengals identify that and take advantage of whatever weakness and

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Speaker 2: the other part there, Deshaun Elliott, is he gonna play?

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Speaker 2: Not traveling with the team yesterday. I haven't heard anything later,

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Speaker 2: any news lately about what might happen with him. That

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Speaker 2: would be a huge loss for them, And all of

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Speaker 2: a sudden, you feel better about, if nothing else, the

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Speaker 2: Bengals at least being able to keep up with the

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Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers on offense, and especially if Trey Hendrickson's not

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Speaker 2: going to be able to go. Can you keep putting

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Speaker 2: points on the board. Can you score a little bit?

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Speaker 2: Can you put the pressure back on that Steelers offense

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Speaker 2: and allow your crowd to get into the game, allow

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Speaker 2: that to have an effect on third downs and in communication,

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Speaker 2: all of that. These are the things that the Bengals

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Speaker 2: got to be eye into. Use everything you possibly can

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Speaker 2: to your advantage for tonight's game. All Right, we'll take

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Speaker 2: a break. We'll come back. Our three of Sincy three

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Speaker 2: to sixty rolling right along on this game day, Our

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Speaker 2: three brought to you by Penn Station on the Home

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Speaker 4: A

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Speaker 2: Horrific car accident left Paulo with major injuries