WEBVTT - HR 1 - The Trifecta, Charlie Batch 0:00:45.700 --> 0:00:48.589 Okay, so we're moving the trifecta of this segment. It's 0:00:48.620 --> 0:00:51.090 a brave new world with Tom out of the picture. 0:00:52.470 --> 0:00:57.390 So here are three things that happened last night with 0:00:57.410 --> 0:01:02.350 the Penguin game that really bugged me. Number three, how 0:01:02.370 --> 0:01:06.530 the Penguins defend against the rush, which is to say 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.160 they don't and certainly didn't last night. Odd man breaks 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:15.209 and breakaways galore, even a 2-on-0, almost a 3-on-0. And 0:01:15.250 --> 0:01:19.270 that was the one that Boston didn't score on. Number two, 0:01:20.550 --> 0:01:24.750 they look old and uninvested. The Penguins didn't. 0:01:24.569 --> 0:01:26.750 Show a pulse for minutes at a time. 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:31.940 And number one, more shop on the bench, live a 0:01:31.940 --> 0:01:37.640 novage in the press box. The Penguins are organizationally marginalizing 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:41.319 their young players. And it's a pattern dating back to 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:45.740 their indecision last year with Harrison Brunick. that had him 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:50.240 idle mostly for, what, four or five weeks, and he 0:01:50.300 --> 0:01:53.620 didn't play good at the World Juniors for Canada as 0:01:54.270 --> 0:02:00.770 a result. The trifecta brought to us by Danny's Pizza 0:02:00.810 --> 0:02:05.270 and Hoagie's, family-owned and operated since 1960. That's Danny's on 0:02:05.310 --> 0:02:09.690 Route 88 in Bethel Park. Now, when I say the 0:02:09.730 --> 0:02:14.430 Penguins don't have the intensity... When I say they're not 0:02:14.490 --> 0:02:16.790 as invested as I'd like, it's. 0:02:16.710 --> 0:02:19.489 Not about toughness. It's about intensity. 0:02:21.010 --> 0:02:24.230 McDavid got one into the crossbar last night when Edmonton 0:02:24.270 --> 0:02:28.169 played Anaheim. And the rest of the Oilers ran in 0:02:28.190 --> 0:02:32.639 and mauled the guy. That's toughness, yeah, I guess, but 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:39.519 it's intensity. It's letting adrenaline dictate. The Penguins don't have 0:02:39.540 --> 0:02:44.339 enough adrenaline, and... it's very easily pointed out that the 0:02:44.980 --> 0:02:50.060 Penguins have very rarely defended Sid like Edmonton did McDavid 0:02:50.100 --> 0:02:52.580 last night. Heck, if you want to go back even 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:59.370 further than that, the Penguins very rarely defended Mario. 0:03:01.450 --> 0:03:04.170 Like the Oilers defended McDavid last night. 0:03:05.290 --> 0:03:10.420 An exception being the Stevens, Tockett, Ulf, The years when 0:03:10.460 --> 0:03:16.030 the Penguins had guys like that. But yeah, the Penguins 0:03:16.630 --> 0:03:22.010 aren't good. There's no point pretending they could still somehow 0:03:22.110 --> 0:03:24.690 squeak into a playoff berth. 0:03:24.750 --> 0:03:28.540 They can't. They have five wins and 11 losses. 0:03:28.780 --> 0:03:33.899 And just as disturbing as that record, they look like 0:03:33.980 --> 0:03:37.690 a team that that should have five wins and 11 losses. 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:41.760 Their record is not in the least bit, even a 0:03:41.780 --> 0:03:46.340 little bit, not at all deceiving. So if you want 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:51.490 to talk Penguins, get your calls in 833-412-WXDX. I'll be 0:03:51.530 --> 0:03:54.910 glad when this bye week is over. I'll be glad 0:03:54.930 --> 0:03:59.250 when we're talking Steelers and Bengals. 0:03:59.390 --> 0:04:03.460 Don't fade the music. Play it all the way through. 0:04:06.700 --> 0:04:08.160 It'll be great when the bye week's over and we 0:04:08.180 --> 0:04:11.860 get down to talking Steelers and Bengals when it's not 0:04:11.900 --> 0:04:12.580 that far off. 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:16.020 8-3-3-4-1-2-W-X-D-X. 0:04:17.310 --> 0:04:24.710 The Penguins thing, with the young guys being marginalized, Livinovich, Morshoff, Hayes, McGrody, 0:04:25.490 --> 0:04:28.630 for a bunch of mercenaries, a bunch of guys just 0:04:28.690 --> 0:04:32.229 punching a clock, a bunch of other teams' rejects, that's. 0:04:32.230 --> 0:04:34.800 A big problem for me. Here's the big finish. 0:05:38.250 --> 0:05:40.490 Difficult to cure brought to us by the Greater Pittsburgh 0:05:40.510 --> 0:05:45.090 Community Food Bank. Get your calls in because I'm low 0:05:45.150 --> 0:05:47.250 on material. It is a bye week after all. 0:05:47.270 --> 0:05:53.060 833-412-WXDX. 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:55.119 We got Charlie Batch on at the bottom of the hour. 0:05:56.700 --> 0:05:59.440 You obviously know how much I enjoyed that Aerosmith show. Well, 0:05:59.460 --> 0:06:04.750 the shows, both of them in Hollywood. A week ago 0:06:04.790 --> 0:06:07.640 yesterday and a week ago this coming Sunday, Thursday and 0:06:07.660 --> 0:06:11.460 Sunday in Hollywood. And music, I enjoyed this so much. Music, 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.300 I've been listening, there's a lot of triggers when I 0:06:14.339 --> 0:06:16.320 hear a certain song. And today I'm driving around and 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:20.900 on SiriusXM I heard Good Enough from the first Van 0:06:20.930 --> 0:06:23.210 Halen album that Sammy Hagar was on. That was the 0:06:23.310 --> 0:06:27.909 opening track on that LP, which I think was called 5150. 0:06:27.910 --> 0:06:31.470 And I remember hearing that and saying, wow, what a relief. 0:06:31.510 --> 0:06:34.410 They're still really good with Sammy singing, which I figured 0:06:34.430 --> 0:06:36.450 they would be. But you have to hear it to 0:06:36.500 --> 0:06:41.740 believe it. And that's a great song, Good Enough. As 0:06:41.779 --> 0:06:44.760 I recall, the opening number for Sammy's kind of Van 0:06:44.779 --> 0:06:47.140 Halen tribute thing he's been doing with Joe Satriani. 0:06:47.180 --> 0:06:50.800 I've seen that show. Well, in Cleveland. Didn't come here, 0:06:50.820 --> 0:06:52.640 I don't think, or did it? Was it at Starlake? 0:06:52.700 --> 0:06:56.650 I forget. And a residency in Las Vegas as well. 0:06:58.230 --> 0:06:59.690 Let's go to Phil. Phil, you're on with Mark. 0:07:01.290 --> 0:07:02.029 Mark, good day, sir. 0:07:02.230 --> 0:07:02.969 I said good day. 0:07:03.990 --> 0:07:07.479 So talking about these Penguins, if they were 5-11 playing 0:07:07.510 --> 0:07:09.390 all the young guys, I wouldn't have a problem. 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:10.060 Me neither. 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.000 But playing all these retreads, you can't tell me these 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:14.620 young guys are going to do any worse than what 0:07:14.660 --> 0:07:17.520 we're seeing out there, like hickoring. I mean, I understand 0:07:17.540 --> 0:07:19.240 Brunette because you want him to get top four and 0:07:19.260 --> 0:07:22.460 the AHL might be the only– exception to that. 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:25.800 And he'll be here when Carlson gets traded, yeah. I mean, 0:07:26.220 --> 0:07:28.380 at least with the young guys playing, if you're losing, 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:30.720 the dressing room would be better and you would feel 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:34.179 like you're starting at long last to try and build something, 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.180 to try to move on to the next version of 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:39.940 a good hockey team here in Pittsburgh. But you've got 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:44.070 all these guys that are punching a clock. They just 0:07:44.110 --> 0:07:45.950 need a job and they got one in Pittsburgh and 0:07:45.970 --> 0:07:48.630 that's all that logo means to them is a job 0:07:48.690 --> 0:07:49.290 and a paycheck. 0:07:51.270 --> 0:07:54.360 Yeah, I mean, I know you interviewed somebody yesterday, and 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:56.620 he said this roster looks like a roster that was 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:59.100 supposed to make trades and never got around to making trades, 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.740 and there's nothing more evident than that. We're just blocking 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:04.500 all of our young prospects. I say that with air 0:08:04.540 --> 0:08:06.260 quotes because we don't know what we have because we 0:08:06.300 --> 0:08:06.820 can't see them. 0:08:07.940 --> 0:08:09.460 Good call. Let's go to Greg. Greg, you're on with 0:08:09.500 --> 0:08:13.340 Double M. Good day, Mark. I said good day. 0:08:15.340 --> 0:08:19.060 Mark, looking at the defense, is that an organizational decision 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.790 when you look at Pinkerton and and some of the guys, 0:08:22.850 --> 0:08:25.920 and even trading Kulak last year for Girard. you know, 0:08:26.140 --> 0:08:27.620 we're undersized on the defense. 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.440 Well, the Kulak-Juar trade is inconsequential. 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:32.579 It just doesn't matter. But yeah, they do have a 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.800 small team. It's an old team. It's a physically weak team. 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:38.700 At least that's what I'm observing. But that was always 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:41.140 bound to happen when you held on to old guys 0:08:41.179 --> 0:08:44.670 for too long, when you straddled that fence between contending 0:08:45.050 --> 0:08:47.630 and rebuilding. They should have gone to a straight rebuild 0:08:47.650 --> 0:08:50.190 years ago, but it's an organization scared to death of 0:08:50.250 --> 0:08:51.209 its own dressing room. 0:08:51.570 --> 0:08:52.949 But now even the dressing room. 0:08:53.350 --> 0:08:56.130 Got to know where this team's headed, and it ain't good. 0:08:56.530 --> 0:09:00.030 So Kyle Dubas has to finally start a total and 0:09:00.110 --> 0:09:04.050 full rebuild. And if Sid has a problem with that, 0:09:04.220 --> 0:09:06.740 maybe other accommodations need to be made for him too. 0:09:06.780 --> 0:09:09.740 And I'm not saying that flippantly. I want whatever Sid wants. 0:09:09.860 --> 0:09:12.380 I want what's best for Sid. But I said before, 0:09:12.420 --> 0:09:15.660 and I emphasize now, this team will not win again 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:19.060 or even come close within the timeline of his remaining career. 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:20.160 Even come close. 0:09:22.929 --> 0:09:23.610 I'm afraid you're right. 0:09:23.650 --> 0:09:24.130 Thanks, Mark. 0:09:24.330 --> 0:09:26.070 Let's go to Jeremy. Jeremy, you're on with Mark. 0:09:29.010 --> 0:09:29.600 Hello, partner. 0:09:30.580 --> 0:09:31.060 You're on the air. 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:31.860 Hello. 0:09:32.580 --> 0:09:36.300 Goodbye. Yeah, pay attention. Pay attention. Pay attention. You're not 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:40.459 ready to talk when I say hello twice. Just pay attention. 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:43.020 Let's go to Miles. Miles, you're on with Double M. 0:09:44.660 --> 0:09:45.479 Hey, Double M. 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:46.020 What up, man? 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:46.540 What up, man? 0:09:48.420 --> 0:09:52.220 Hey, I've been hearing about you talk about Aerosmith. I 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:55.120 was wondering, how was his voice? Did he sound good? 0:09:55.380 --> 0:09:57.730 Yeah, he sounded great. It was like time stood still. 0:09:58.190 --> 0:10:00.940 It's been you know three years since he blew out 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:03.780 his larynx here in Pittsburgh on the first show of 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:07.270 that tour which was postponed after three shows and then 0:10:07.330 --> 0:10:11.670 cancelled for good in 2024 no he sounded utterly fantastic. 0:10:12.770 --> 0:10:15.610 That's great. Yeah, that was my first concert in my 0:10:15.650 --> 0:10:18.690 dad's favorite band growing up. It was the Nine Lives 28. 0:10:18.690 --> 0:10:20.730 It was awesome, and I saw him twice after that. 0:10:21.870 --> 0:10:24.250 I'd probably seen them ten times by then already, but 0:10:24.290 --> 0:10:25.410 I was at that show as well. 0:10:26.860 --> 0:10:30.199 Yeah, it was awesome. I know you're going to scold 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:33.840 me for this. I've often heard you talk about UFO. 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.100 I've never listened to them, and I want to start. 0:10:37.270 --> 0:10:38.170 Where should I start? 0:10:38.210 --> 0:10:39.070 Just with everything? 0:10:39.290 --> 0:10:42.069 No, the live album. The live album, Strangers in the Night. 0:10:42.130 --> 0:10:45.410 It's the best live album ever done, and obviously it's 0:10:45.450 --> 0:10:48.170 their greatest hits to that point. It's the best live 0:10:48.330 --> 0:10:52.469 album ever done by any group, UFO, Strangers in the Night. 0:10:52.550 --> 0:10:54.030 It's not just me saying that either. 0:10:54.270 --> 0:10:55.650 A lot of people. Thank you for the call. 0:10:57.179 --> 0:10:59.880 Up next, there's a movie I got to see. It 0:10:59.960 --> 0:11:02.740 opens tonight, but I won't get there until next week. 0:11:03.820 --> 0:11:07.890 It's called I Play Rocky. It's about the making of Rocky, 0:11:07.910 --> 0:11:09.530 but there's a twist to it. I'll tell you about 0:11:09.570 --> 0:11:11.730 that in just a moment. And we've got Charlie Batch 0:11:11.750 --> 0:11:17.690 at the bottom of the hour, 105.9. We've got Charlie 0:11:17.730 --> 0:11:19.109 Batch at the bottom of the hour. I want to 0:11:19.130 --> 0:11:23.110 give a shout-out to our buddy Logan Cooley from West Mifflin, 0:11:23.150 --> 0:11:28.199 plays for the Utah Mammoth. Comes from that great West 0:11:28.220 --> 0:11:34.020 Mifflin hockey family, the Cooleys and the Moonies, etc., I've 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.059 been a big fan since Logan was a kid. And 0:11:36.580 --> 0:11:39.380 he got a hat trick last night for Utah against Montreal. 0:11:39.900 --> 0:11:42.260 You may recall he got a hat trick in that 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:49.990 Utah comeback win against the Penguins a week or so ago. Actually, 0:11:50.010 --> 0:11:51.809 a couple weeks back now that I think about it. 0:11:51.850 --> 0:11:56.410 But that's his fifth career hat trick in just 228 0:11:56.410 --> 0:11:56.770 NHL games. 0:11:56.790 --> 0:11:57.729 And he is now the active player. 0:12:02.910 --> 0:12:07.470 Who got to five hat-tricks fastest, doing it in 228 games. 0:12:08.170 --> 0:12:11.000 Ovi got there in 230 games, so that is a 0:12:11.050 --> 0:12:16.940 ton of production from Logan Cooley. As a hockey lifer 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:21.439 and somebody who followed hockey in Western Pennsylvania, as played 0:12:21.460 --> 0:12:26.090 here by Western PA kids back to the 70s, I mean, 0:12:26.110 --> 0:12:28.969 I covered it for the Post-Gazette. It's important to give 0:12:28.990 --> 0:12:32.940 the guys who got out of here... And made the 0:12:32.980 --> 0:12:36.000 big time a lot of credit. Guys like Cooley, Vincent Trocek, 0:12:36.059 --> 0:12:40.090 also on Utah now. JT Miller with the Rangers. He 0:12:40.150 --> 0:12:43.469 and Trocek Olympic gold medals last year. John Gibson, the 0:12:43.530 --> 0:12:49.550 great goalie from Baldwin-Whitehall, currently with Detroit. And guys no 0:12:49.590 --> 0:12:52.030 longer in the NHL, but had great careers that wrapped 0:12:52.170 --> 0:12:58.350 up recently, like Brandon Sod, RJ Umberger, Matt Barkoski, who 0:12:58.390 --> 0:13:00.589 comes on this show a lot, Mike Weber, and of 0:13:00.650 --> 0:13:03.989 course Bugsy, Ryan Malone. I mean, what a list of 0:13:04.150 --> 0:13:06.910 great hockey players from Pittsburgh those are. 0:13:07.610 --> 0:13:08.130 My heavens. 0:13:08.170 --> 0:13:12.079 So way to go, Logan Cooley. As I mentioned a 0:13:12.380 --> 0:13:14.819 few moments ago, there's a movie coming out. I think 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.560 it premieres. I think it might have premiered last night. 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:19.120 I'm going to go see it early next week called 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:22.880 I Play Rocky. And it's about the making of Rocky. 0:13:22.900 --> 0:13:24.400 And I thought it was like a documentary. 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:25.200 It's not. 0:13:26.059 --> 0:13:30.650 Some relatively unknown actor plays Sylvester Stallone. And the key 0:13:30.690 --> 0:13:36.240 plot point, is that Stallone was offered huge sums of 0:13:36.340 --> 0:13:41.840 money for the script, but the studios wanted somebody else 0:13:41.860 --> 0:13:44.470 to play Rocky because Stallone at that time was an unknown. 0:13:45.230 --> 0:13:47.450 And Stallone, who was broke as a joke at the time, 0:13:47.929 --> 0:13:52.510 turned down these huge offers, insisting that he played the role. 0:13:53.170 --> 0:13:57.820 And of course, his... His persistence turned out to be 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.860 the right move because Rocky launched a career for Stallone. 0:14:02.059 --> 0:14:04.920 My God, how many great movies, how much money, just 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:08.730 a Hollywood legend. But the fortitude to resist all that 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:12.010 money that would change your life, to hold on to 0:14:12.090 --> 0:14:13.989 a role that you knew would change your life, at 0:14:14.010 --> 0:14:17.530 least you very strongly suspected, that's a great story and 0:14:17.550 --> 0:14:20.010 I can't wait to see the movie. That's an all-time 0:14:20.050 --> 0:14:24.290 great movie. I mean, my God, Rocky... It's probably one 0:14:24.310 --> 0:14:28.530 of the top 10 movies of all time. Although Stallone 0:14:28.570 --> 0:14:30.290 kind of, I don't want to say he's screwed, but 0:14:30.330 --> 0:14:34.560 that was based on Chuck Wepner, an old-timey boxer, the 0:14:34.580 --> 0:14:38.840 Bayonne Bleeder, and his unsuccessful challenge for the heavyweight title 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.960 against Muhammad Ali. And Wepner said in real life, as 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:44.740 Rocky did in the movie, I just want to go 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.960 the distance, and he did. And in fact, knocked Ali 0:14:47.980 --> 0:14:51.880 down at one point, just like Rocky knocked down Apollo 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:55.040 Creed in their first fight before Apollo ultimately won a 0:14:55.060 --> 0:14:57.840 split decision, but can't wait to see that movie. 0:14:57.860 --> 0:14:59.890 Let's go to Kirk. Kirk, you're on with Double M. 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:02.860 Hey, man. 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:07.280 Does the great Sidney ever come on your show? 0:15:07.900 --> 0:15:09.780 Yeah, like twice a year. 0:15:09.850 --> 0:15:10.130 Why? 0:15:11.310 --> 0:15:11.890 Twice a year? 0:15:12.230 --> 0:15:12.330 Yeah. 0:15:12.390 --> 0:15:12.590 Oh, really? 0:15:12.610 --> 0:15:12.810 Really? 0:15:13.450 --> 0:15:14.850 Yeah, just like McCarthy, just. 0:15:14.750 --> 0:15:17.310 Like Polamalu, just like Lemieux, just like all the big 0:15:17.370 --> 0:15:20.070 names because that's what this show is all about. It's 0:15:20.090 --> 0:15:21.490 the best there's ever been in Pittsburgh. 0:15:21.510 --> 0:15:24.590 What's your point? I got a feeling you got some kind. 0:15:24.510 --> 0:15:27.310 Of smart-ass point to make that will schnew you wouldn't 0:15:27.330 --> 0:15:32.420 disappoint me. I just knew you wouldn't disappoint me. Up next, 0:15:32.460 --> 0:15:36.910 Charlie Batch, 105.9. You love him on the Steelers post-game show. 0:15:37.470 --> 0:15:40.110 You love him on the Snap Count podcast. 0:15:39.610 --> 0:15:41.989 With Trey Essex. And you love him every Friday on 0:15:42.010 --> 0:15:42.650 this program. 0:15:42.690 --> 0:15:47.700 It's a pleasure to welcome back former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch. Charlie, 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:50.720 the Steelers are on the bye week. Cincinnati is playing 0:15:50.820 --> 0:15:53.920 in Spain Sunday. That strikes me as an edge for 0:15:53.940 --> 0:15:54.880 the Steelers next week. 0:15:55.940 --> 0:15:56.600 It really does. 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:58.180 And this is why you want to go out there 0:15:58.310 --> 0:16:00.430 and really win before the bye. Because you get a 0:16:00.430 --> 0:16:03.400 chance to smile, kick your feet up. Drink a cold 0:16:03.460 --> 0:16:05.460 one if you choose to, and then now watch everybody 0:16:05.540 --> 0:16:07.729 else battle while you get a chance to relax and 0:16:07.770 --> 0:16:08.770 see how everything unfolds. 0:16:09.470 --> 0:16:11.790 Staying with that, it really is important to win before 0:16:11.850 --> 0:16:14.440 the bye because when you're off for a week, you're 0:16:14.460 --> 0:16:17.540 going to carry around with you whatever that result is, correct? 0:16:18.470 --> 0:16:20.730 Yeah, you don't want to go two weeks without playing 0:16:20.750 --> 0:16:22.810 a game and coming off a loss. You just cannot 0:16:22.870 --> 0:16:25.270 have that happen. So I think when you ultimately win 0:16:25.310 --> 0:16:28.050 a game in the manner that they did, I think 0:16:28.070 --> 0:16:29.790 that was the one thing. Now you walk around the 0:16:29.820 --> 0:16:32.020 building with a smile on your face. And again, that's 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:34.560 that low-hanging fruit that Coach McCarthy can throw out there 0:16:34.580 --> 0:16:36.300 to say, hey, if you win these games, I'll give 0:16:36.340 --> 0:16:37.020 you an extra day. 0:16:37.300 --> 0:16:38.720 And guess what happened? He gave them a couple of 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:39.940 extra days off this week. 0:16:40.540 --> 0:16:43.230 Was that win over Cleveland the Steelers' best win of 0:16:43.250 --> 0:16:44.450 the year so far, Charlie? 0:16:44.730 --> 0:16:45.550 And if so, why? 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:48.600 It really was, and I think really just setting the 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:51.800 tone early by that defense, and they felt disrespected when 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.040 the Browns won the coin toss and they actually took 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:56.620 the ball. And their mind said, hey, we can go 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:58.860 down and score on this defense, but when it didn't happen, 0:16:59.100 --> 0:17:01.700 you could see everybody else feeding off of that. I 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:03.740 think the beauty of it, yeah, it was a dominant win, 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:07.380 but they still haven't completed three phases of football right 0:17:07.420 --> 0:17:09.040 now because they just haven't been able to get that 0:17:09.060 --> 0:17:11.359 special teams game going. So there's still a lot of 0:17:11.380 --> 0:17:13.420 meat on the bone for them to now figure out 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.290 how to continue to stay on this winning path. 0:17:16.820 --> 0:17:19.720 What about those two early flags when McCormick body slammed 0:17:19.780 --> 0:17:22.740 verse and when Brisker maybe gave a little extra to 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:27.100 Watson on the one hit? I felt like that's a 0:17:27.140 --> 0:17:30.060 good time to take 15 yards early and it established 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:30.540 a tone. 0:17:30.859 --> 0:17:31.460 What do you think? 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:34.480 Yeah, that one about Brisker, I think that was a 0:17:34.500 --> 0:17:37.100 little ticky tack. But again, the way that the NFL 0:17:37.140 --> 0:17:39.260 is at this particular point, they're going to protect quarterbacks. 0:17:39.750 --> 0:17:41.630 at all costs, and he just got a little bump 0:17:41.650 --> 0:17:43.850 with that helmet, and that's why that call was made. 0:17:44.109 --> 0:17:46.150 But I think ultimately when you look at what happened 0:17:46.170 --> 0:17:49.189 with Mason McCormick, that was brewing. They heard everything that 0:17:49.230 --> 0:17:51.670 Verst said throughout the course of the week. He's saying 0:17:51.710 --> 0:17:54.230 to the position coach, hey, if something happened, we're going 0:17:54.250 --> 0:17:56.330 to get a penalty here, coach, and if that's the case, 0:17:56.670 --> 0:17:59.379 defend us when Mike McCarthy is complaining about why we 0:17:59.390 --> 0:18:02.820 got a 15-yard personal foul penalty. It was justified, and 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:04.520 they went out there and handled it, and I'm sure 0:18:04.540 --> 0:18:06.879 a lot of those offensive linemen will all kind of 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:09.220 pitch in on what the fine will be because that's 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:10.770 going to be a fine coming up on Wednesday. 0:18:11.790 --> 0:18:12.929 We're at the bye, Charlie. 0:18:12.970 --> 0:18:15.870 What grade would you give Aaron Rodgers on the season 0:18:15.990 --> 0:18:16.470 and why? 0:18:17.430 --> 0:18:19.110 Yeah, I would give him an A-, and I would 0:18:19.150 --> 0:18:21.650 do so because, yeah, the numbers aren't where they were 0:18:21.690 --> 0:18:24.320 the first eight games from last season, but again, when 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:26.620 he does not have three of his top six receivers— 0:18:26.990 --> 0:18:30.330 Three of the interceptions came off tip passes of receivers. 0:18:30.369 --> 0:18:32.570 He had a Hail Mary at the end of a half. So, again, 0:18:32.609 --> 0:18:34.709 he's playing winning football. And the one thing that he 0:18:34.770 --> 0:18:37.790 is doing, he's 100% at the line of scrimmage when 0:18:37.830 --> 0:18:39.909 it comes to run checks. That's why you see the 0:18:39.970 --> 0:18:42.230 running game going because he knows he has the numbers. 0:18:42.540 --> 0:18:44.800 And that's why I give him that particular grade up 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:48.120 until this point. We'll see when he gets the other 0:18:48.140 --> 0:18:50.570 receivers back and how he continues to move because right 0:18:50.609 --> 0:18:52.670 now I like the balance of where they are with 0:18:53.070 --> 0:18:53.590 run pass. 0:18:53.750 --> 0:18:56.770 Well, it's important to get those receivers back, but I 0:18:56.810 --> 0:19:00.619 think it's maybe more important that DK Metcalf turns it around. 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:01.439 What's he got to do? 0:19:04.090 --> 0:19:05.320 He got to get out of his own head. 0:19:05.340 --> 0:19:08.179 And right now, Aaron Rodgers, he's showing the faith that 0:19:08.220 --> 0:19:11.700 he has in him by showing the ability for the attempts. 0:19:11.940 --> 0:19:13.980 They're just not connecting off of it. And I know 0:19:14.020 --> 0:19:15.879 as a player, you know, especially when you have a 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.480 heavy number attached to your salary, you want to go 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:19.359 out there and make plays. 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:21.140 And sometimes you could be pressing yourself. 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:23.660 And right now, I know he's down in the dumps, 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:25.780 but he has to get himself going. But as long 0:19:25.820 --> 0:19:28.060 as Aaron Rodgers believes in him, is going to continue 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:29.700 to throw the passes in the matter of the game. 0:19:30.210 --> 0:19:32.830 which he did, that means he still has the belief 0:19:32.890 --> 0:19:34.410 in him. So they just have to continue to work 0:19:34.450 --> 0:19:36.470 those things out. Not sure if it's that I'm not 0:19:36.490 --> 0:19:38.520 saying it's too late, but again, we need to get 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:40.619 away from those 50-50 balls because they're not on the 0:19:40.660 --> 0:19:41.680 side of the Steelers right now. 0:19:42.180 --> 0:19:44.560 I gotta give DK credit to Charlie I mean he's 0:19:44.670 --> 0:19:46.639 had a lot of drops he's not doing nearly as 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:50.220 well as his salary would would merit but he's he's 0:19:50.260 --> 0:19:52.740 still working hard he's still blocking he's still doing the 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:56.120 little things but you don't get 33 mil to do 0:19:56.140 --> 0:19:57.000 the little things. 0:19:57.680 --> 0:19:59.369 I was just about to say that they don't pay 0:19:59.510 --> 0:20:01.310 you that the amount of money to block you have 0:20:01.350 --> 0:20:03.450 to go out there and produce in the receiving game 0:20:03.510 --> 0:20:06.530 and yes I He is doing all the other intangibles 0:20:06.550 --> 0:20:08.510 that come with the position. But again, at the end 0:20:08.550 --> 0:20:09.950 of the day, people are going to immediately look at 0:20:09.990 --> 0:20:12.370 the stats and say, what are you paying this guy for? 0:20:12.410 --> 0:20:14.350 So he knows he wants to get better. He wants 0:20:14.369 --> 0:20:17.710 to contribute more as well. So hopefully that changes his 0:20:17.770 --> 0:20:20.560 course as they now prepare on Sunday night because everybody 0:20:20.619 --> 0:20:23.859 outside of Steelers Nation will now watch what he is 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:26.540 doing on the field at this particular point, and hopefully 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:28.200 he can have a big game and shut the naysayers 0:20:28.260 --> 0:20:29.040 up for at least a week. 0:20:29.900 --> 0:20:32.640 Is Jalen Warren for real? I tend to think so, 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:33.740 but he's got to sustain it. 0:20:34.810 --> 0:20:36.629 He has to sustain it. And this guy is playing 0:20:36.790 --> 0:20:39.800 at an all-pro level. This guy is in the talks 0:20:39.859 --> 0:20:42.720 of offensive MVP. That's how special he's playing this year. 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:45.820 And that came at the risk of an injury with 0:20:45.900 --> 0:20:48.720 Rico Dowdle. But those things happen. That's the same way 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:52.139 on how last year Kenneth Gainwell flourished to become the 0:20:52.180 --> 0:20:53.840 team MVP because of. 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:54.980 An injury to Jalen Warren. 0:20:55.270 --> 0:20:57.450 And any time that you are now entering into that 0:20:57.490 --> 0:20:59.910 contract year, you're trying to put on your best year. 0:20:59.930 --> 0:21:01.990 And he is off to a hot start. And hopefully 0:21:02.010 --> 0:21:02.650 that continues. 0:21:03.150 --> 0:21:05.869 Warren's been breaking some big runs, 51 yards in the 0:21:05.910 --> 0:21:09.600 game this past week. We had Darnell Washington with that 0:21:09.619 --> 0:21:12.179 58-yard catch and run with the stiff arms, which are 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:15.780 becoming his trademark. What is enabling the Steelers to get 0:21:15.820 --> 0:21:19.189 these chunk plays, which they hadn't necessarily been getting the 0:21:19.230 --> 0:21:19.970 past few years? 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:22.320 Yeah, that comes with timing. 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:24.840 You have to hit right in those seams whenever you're 0:21:24.859 --> 0:21:26.919 looking at coverages, and they're able to do that. And 0:21:26.940 --> 0:21:28.660 I think the beauty of it, and this is where 0:21:28.700 --> 0:21:31.340 coordinators sometimes get in their own way, is when one 0:21:31.380 --> 0:21:33.620 play works early on that slip screen to the right, 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:35.050 you tend to get away from it. 0:21:35.090 --> 0:21:37.370 But not Mike McCarthy came right back out in the third. 0:21:37.190 --> 0:21:39.590 Quarter and ran the exact same play to the left, 0:21:39.630 --> 0:21:42.270