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Speaker 1: At least he's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt

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Speaker 1: Williamson on your twenty four to seven Home of the

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Speaker 1: Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

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Speaker 2: And welcome to the Drive. I am Dale LOLLI he

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Speaker 2: is the Matt Williamson except no substitutions because well they're

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Speaker 2: just fakes. They're fake Matt Williamson's. There's a lot of

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Speaker 2: Matt Williamson's out there, pretty common. Yeah. It's a Wednesday

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Speaker 2: here in Pittsburgh. A little bit of rain today, but

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Speaker 2: the Steelers got their practice in this afternoon, and Matt.

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Speaker 2: We have the early practice reports, not only for the

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Speaker 2: Steelers but for the Chargers because as we mentioned yesterday,

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Speaker 2: they stayed on the East coasting. Is an East Coast

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Speaker 2: team on us? Yeah? Yeah, So for the Steelers not

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Speaker 2: practicing today because the rest was Nagie Harris, he's had

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Speaker 2: a heavy work all. Yeah, first two weeks. Isaac say

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Speaker 2: Amala with that pectoral injury, still not practicing, and Michael

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Speaker 2: Prut with the knee did not practice last I heard.

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Speaker 3: It sounds unlikely see them all. Who's gonna play?

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Speaker 4: Right?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? I think that's maybe one more week? One more? Okay?

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Speaker 3: Who can live with that what about preud you have

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Speaker 3: a strong feeling.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So earlier in the day they put both Tyler

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Speaker 2: Matakaevich and Ben Scronic on ir loaded special teams. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So they then elevated Rodney Williams from the practice squad.

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Speaker 2: I thought they would do that later in a week.

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Speaker 2: The fact that they did it midweek kind of tells

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Speaker 2: me that maybe somebody was trying to snipe Rodney Williams

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Speaker 2: off the practice squad.

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Speaker 3: I can see that he's got a lot of good preseasons.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, So they made that move now and

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Speaker 2: elevated him, So he'll take one of those special team

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Speaker 2: spots because he's pretty good at that.

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Speaker 3: But he might also take Pruitt spot too. Is a

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Speaker 3: tight end, yeah as well.

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Speaker 2: Uh and then they also, of course the other earlier

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Speaker 2: in the week signed James Pierre. I would assume Pierre

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Speaker 2: takes the spot of active roster. He's not. He's on

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Speaker 2: the practice squad.

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Speaker 3: Don't have to You think he gets bumped the scornic

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Speaker 3: gun or replacement.

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Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, so those two spots are

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Speaker 2: replaced limited participants today Russell Wilson, Roman Wilson, t J. Watt.

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Speaker 2: That was a rest day in Larry Ogunjobi. That was

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Speaker 2: a rest day. Okay.

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Speaker 3: I guess we should talk about the Wilsons, but I'm

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Speaker 3: actually more more concerned or interested in Roman. You know,

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Speaker 3: is he out there doing a lot.

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Speaker 2: He's doing stuff, but it's four weeks away or it's

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Speaker 2: going to take some time. I don't know how you

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Speaker 2: activate him. Yeah, he just he just missed the entire preseason.

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Speaker 2: And for a receiver, right, that's tough.

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Speaker 3: I'm not saying he's a bad prospect, but if he

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Speaker 3: was your first round pick and you spent the tenth

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Speaker 3: pick overall on him, it.

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Speaker 2: Would be different.

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Speaker 3: To be different, you know, like I don't even know

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Speaker 3: where he fits in the pecking order or you know,

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Speaker 3: he hasn't proven.

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Speaker 2: It right now, he's not in at all, right right right,

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Speaker 2: so I don't know. We'll see him soon. Looking at

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Speaker 2: the injury, yeah, yeah. The Chargers side of things, linebacker

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Speaker 2: Junior Colson as a hamstring, did not practice. Linebacker Bud

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Speaker 2: Dupree ill and did not practice. Wide receiver Josh Palmer

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Speaker 2: has an elbow slash calf. Those two things not connected,

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Speaker 2: but he did not practice. Cornerback just Sir Taylor with

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Speaker 2: a Fibula did not practice. He's their nickel corner, not

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Speaker 2: a particularly good one. Also not practicing today because of

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Speaker 2: an ankle injury. Quarterback Justin Herbert crazy and there's been

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Speaker 2: a lot more rumblings that he is far from a

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Speaker 2: sure thing to do this. I think that would be massive.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think he's mean, there's no question that

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Speaker 2: if he's even compromised a little bit and can't move

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Speaker 2: because of the ankle against this particular defense.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, if you remember last time he played the Steelers,

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Speaker 3: he ran for like ninety yards.

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Speaker 2: But there's that too, And you know, even a game

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Speaker 2: against the Carolina Panthers last week, they had a design

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Speaker 2: run for him.

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Speaker 3: No, they'll do a little bit of that. Yeah, I

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Speaker 3: mean he is a pretty active guy. I'm a big,

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Speaker 3: big fan. I'm sure you could look at it like, well,

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Speaker 3: they're not using them anyways. They hardly throws the.

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Speaker 2: Ball and you've seen the other guys. Have you seen

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Speaker 2: the other guys? For one thing?

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Speaker 3: And running lanes become a lot more open when you

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Speaker 3: got the threat of that guy that can attack every

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Speaker 3: blady grass, even.

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Speaker 2: With bad wide receivers out there, you still have to

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Speaker 2: respect him on even.

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Speaker 3: On rollouts and mobility and you know, just his ability

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Speaker 3: to attack every blade of grass on the field. That's

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Speaker 3: that's gigantic. There was one other name there, oh, Palmer.

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Speaker 3: Palmer's been playing a lot of snaps, but it's becoming

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Speaker 3: more and more clear that he's three on the pecking order,

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Speaker 3: and I think some of it is because of injuries. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: you know that he's fighting through stuff right now, but

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Speaker 3: the Conky and Johnston are the ones that are getting

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Speaker 3: more active.

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Speaker 2: They've only thrown the ball forty seven times in the

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Speaker 2: first two games. Linebacker Joey Bosa has a hip injury.

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Speaker 2: He was limited today. That limited him last week ftal

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Speaker 2: course of the week and he ended up playing, although

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Speaker 2: I don't know that he was particularly effective in that game.

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Speaker 3: He's been really good against a run, yeah, you know,

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Speaker 3: but he hasn't been a dominant pass rusher this season.

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Speaker 2: Safety Alloyd Gilman uh with a knee was limited, and

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Speaker 2: that's a startarter. It's a good, good player, Uh. Tight

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Speaker 2: End Hayden Hurst with an ankle was limited.

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Speaker 3: Okay, Receivers, he's the receiving tight end. I mean if

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Speaker 3: if he runs a lot more routes than.

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Speaker 2: Weally and outside linebacker Khalil Mack, the other bookend to Bosa.

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Speaker 2: He was given a day off for Rest.

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Speaker 3: Okay, so I was wondering how much that Bosa thing

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Speaker 3: is Rest as well. I know he's battling something, but

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Speaker 3: he has a long history of not practicing Wednesdays and

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Speaker 3: Thursdays too.

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Speaker 2: He's had a lot of injuries his career.

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Speaker 3: I destroy his name, but the the third edge guy,

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Speaker 3: he was a second round pick from USC to a

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Speaker 3: top below, Yeah, is a pretty good player. I mean

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Speaker 3: he's kind of like their Herbig, you know. I mean

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Speaker 3: he's a good third edge if you had to put

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Speaker 3: him in there, it's not as bad as most injuries.

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Speaker 2: But he's not as good as Matt.

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Speaker 3: I mean, he's the third and we'd be like putting

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Speaker 3: her Big in if high Smith were out something like that.

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Speaker 2: And one of the things that you worry about if

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Speaker 2: if he did have to play her Big for the

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Speaker 2: Steelers on the Steeler side of things, is how he

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Speaker 2: holds up play after play against the run. Sure, sure,

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Speaker 2: a younger player, probably not as good at setting the edge.

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Speaker 3: He's bigger than her Big, But I'm just talking to like,

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Speaker 3: usage wise, he's a pretty good three.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, but even so, he doesn't he doesn't have the

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Speaker 2: the you know, just the overall the body work.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, right, And I would run right at him and

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Speaker 3: I would be as physical with him as possible and

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Speaker 3: see how he holds up.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's significant. We'll see how that. You know,

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Speaker 2: especially even Gilman is a good player. I mean, you know,

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Speaker 2: at some point Colt. You would think Colson would be

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Speaker 2: one of their inside backers. But yeah, he's dealing with

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Speaker 2: injuries here. I mean, he knows the defense. He was,

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Speaker 2: you know, Hardbaugh's guy at Michigan.

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Speaker 3: But I think they're weak up the middle, and those

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Speaker 3: two being questionable doesn't help.

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Speaker 2: Doesn't help at all. No, and we'll keep an eye

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Speaker 2: on the on the Herbert stuff now, earlier in the week,

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Speaker 2: Harbus at oh, I don't think this will be a.

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Speaker 3: Problem for him, but but if it's tomorrow, yeah, I'd

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Speaker 3: be yeah, concerned.

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Speaker 2: I just and I wonder too, regarding the fact that

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Speaker 2: they did stay on the East coast and they're they're

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Speaker 2: staying in a hotel right now. You don't have the

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Speaker 2: training equipment available to you that you would have if

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Speaker 2: you'd got home.

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Speaker 3: You know, a lot of these teams have a tub

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Speaker 3: that you can run in, or cold tubs and you know,

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Speaker 3: things that are pots.

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Speaker 2: And things of that. Now yeah, now maybe they can

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Speaker 2: find those things in Charlotte where they're staying. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: but they're not readily available. It's just different. Yeah. I

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Speaker 2: mean it's so maybe you have to drive, you know,

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Speaker 2: Herbert twenty minutes to go get this done. And that's

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Speaker 2: twenty minutes he doesn't spend in.

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Speaker 3: The playbook or working with this team or whatever. It's

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Speaker 3: just not a home field advantage. Yeah, that you brought

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Speaker 3: on yourself, right, And I don't know if it's a

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Speaker 3: good move for staying or not.

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Speaker 2: It's just odd. Yeah. So Carolina is not right next

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Speaker 2: to Pittsburgh. No, it's not a short flight, but it's

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Speaker 2: a short flight, but it's not played it WVU and

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Speaker 2: then you get it the next week. Yeah. You know, Matt,

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Speaker 2: looking at these two teams, they are almost mirror images

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Speaker 2: of each other. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: The exceptions to me are the quarterback, yeah, clearly.

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Speaker 2: And the interior. The defense.

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Speaker 3: I would say, I just think the Steelers defense is

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Speaker 3: far and away the top of the four units. You know,

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Speaker 3: I'm not sure which one's second of the four, but

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Speaker 3: I know for sure, which is number one, you know, so,

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Speaker 3: but that's going to go against Turbert. You know, like

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Speaker 3: the thing that they have a Steelers don't is a

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Speaker 3: really good quarterback.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 3: I don't say think the Chargers d is bad. The

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Speaker 3: numbers are phenomenal. Yeah they're off, but that's bird. But I

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Speaker 3: would take the Steelers ten million out of ten million

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Speaker 3: over the Chargers defense.

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Speaker 2: I watched the Chargers game. It's a hard watch against Carolina.

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Speaker 3: It's almost like one team's not professional.

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Speaker 2: That's a good way to put it. Because they can't

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Speaker 2: do anything. And even the few times that they did

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Speaker 2: make a play, immediately a flat came out and was like,

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Speaker 2: okay that in the gates that Yeah, it's just a

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Speaker 2: bad football team.

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Speaker 3: I mean, Bryce Young is small. We know that, Yeah,

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Speaker 3: but he looks tiny. He plays really late.

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Speaker 2: He had to jump. He he just to throw passes

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Speaker 2: a lot, a lot.

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Speaker 3: That's new. I don't remember that at Bama. I don't

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Speaker 3: remember that last year. I mean, I assume people are

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Speaker 3: playing him different, that are really disrupting his throwing lanes

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Speaker 3: and play into his side.

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Speaker 2: I don't know, but I had Yeah, I hadn't seen that,

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Speaker 2: and I'm like, what did I did. I just see that,

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Speaker 2: and then he did it again a couple of plays later.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, yeah, and rarely completes those balls. I

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Speaker 2: mean it's Patrick Mahomes gets away with that, Aaron Rodgers

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Speaker 2: gets away with that with throwing with no feet on

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Speaker 2: the ground.

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Speaker 3: But it's not the way you draw it up. I

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Speaker 3: mean that that's a disaster. I'm sure Dalton will be

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Speaker 3: better for them, it has to be. Yeah, but we

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Speaker 3: were talking about this off the air. Their defense might

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Speaker 3: be the worst in the league.

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Speaker 2: It's really bad. It's really bad. Yeah. Yeah, and their

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Speaker 2: best guy's injured. Yeah, they just Chargers should do that

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Speaker 2: to that. The Chargers did pretty much whatever they wanted

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Speaker 2: to do in that game against him, and even at

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Speaker 2: that they missed an extra point. Herbert threw a bad interception.

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Speaker 2: I don't think Herbert's played great. I don't think he

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Speaker 2: has either, but I don't think he's played for some

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Speaker 2: through some balls at people's feet and I'm like, where's

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Speaker 2: he throwing that to.

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Speaker 3: Like, oh, that's another advantage and you you've pointed this

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Speaker 3: out too. It's only two games, so it's not as

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Speaker 3: as distinct, but is better on special teams. Yeah, you know, yeah,

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Speaker 3: I think that's pretty clear.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the with new punter, they've also given up some

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Speaker 2: punt return yards and I noticed and I don't Austin returner. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: he's been closed. They had a couple of penalties in

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Speaker 2: the gated and stuff. Mike Tomlin talked about that on

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Speaker 2: on Tuesday. They have to clean that up. But watching

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Speaker 2: the kickoffs, Dicker was struggling to put the ball in

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Speaker 2: the end zone. Dicker, Dicker, their kicker, the kicker, Yeah.

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Speaker 3: And he just I mean, it's not a windy it

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Speaker 3: wasn't a particularly windy day, Carolina, Carolina's not bad weather.

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Speaker 2: Surprises me. He puts the ball two yards deep into

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Speaker 2: the end zone to Cordero Patterson. I think he's got

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Speaker 2: Paterson's bringing it out. I bet Warren will too.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, something but something to pay attention to, for sure.

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Speaker 3: I mean, Boswell's definitely better than Dicker. Yeah, clearly, and

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Speaker 3: it covered units are better. Although Steelers had two major

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Speaker 3: injuries on special teams that can shuffle things around a little.

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Speaker 2: Bit, we haven't gotten to see Corderoll Patterson return a

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Speaker 2: kick yet. In fact, the Steelers have only had one

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Speaker 2: and that was a squib kick last week to Jaylen Warren. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I think teams fear Corderyll Patterson.

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Speaker 4: I do too.

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Speaker 3: I also think a lot of teams are ignoring the

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Speaker 3: new kickoff roles and just blasting in the end zone.

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Speaker 3: But I would love to see Patterson get his hands

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Speaker 3: on the ball in that capacity and see what see

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Speaker 3: what it looks like.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's come and robbed that. It's definitely coming. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: especially you know everybody talked about the back end of

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Speaker 2: the Steelers schedule. The back end of the Steelers schedule

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Speaker 2: has a lot of games in the Northeast. Yes, yeah,

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Speaker 2: you're not gonna be able to pump the ball into

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Speaker 2: the end zone consistently, and at some point Cordero Patterson

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Speaker 2: is going to be a factor. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: And we talked this new kickoff rule to death and

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Speaker 3: it feels like kind of much ado about nothing. But

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Speaker 3: a point, A great point you had, you know from

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Speaker 3: the start on this thing is you can't always just

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Speaker 3: blast it out of the end.

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Speaker 5: No.

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Speaker 2: You know the game in.

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Speaker 3: Buffalo that ended the Steeler season, if that rule existed,

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Speaker 3: you would have put it in play every time.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, no doubt. Yeah, So the Panthers had

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Speaker 2: or the Chargers, I should say, have had four kicks

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Speaker 2: returned against him already this year. So keep an eye

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Speaker 2: on that. Okay, hopefully he is short. I mean that'd

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Speaker 2: be great.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'd love to see Patterson get three opportunities to

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Speaker 3: be nice.

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Speaker 2: Yeah right, I mean at this point it's it's he's

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Speaker 2: been more of a deterrent than a real weapon. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: but at some point he will be a weapon.

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Speaker 3: And the Steeler defense doesn't allow for many kickoffs either. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: and there's not many teams can get off. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 3: there's that only guaranteed one.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, I just I mean both teams want to

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Speaker 2: run the ball. That the Chargers will run the ball

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Speaker 2: forty one times just or seventy seven times in their

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Speaker 2: first two games. The Steelers run at seventy one.

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Speaker 3: I think when you talking about Dobbin's a little bit,

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Speaker 3: it's crazy. It's crazy. I mean, the Herbert stuff's unreal

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Speaker 3: to me too. I mean, he's almost throwing the ball

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Speaker 3: half as much as his career average.

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Speaker 2: He averaged I think two hundred and seventy seven yards

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Speaker 2: passing over the first three or four years of his career.

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Speaker 2: He hasn't thrown for over one hundred and fifty thus

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Speaker 2: far this season.

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Speaker 3: I know, And part of it's because he's not playing great,

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Speaker 3: but some of it's just because he's attempted forty six

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Speaker 3: passes and he used to average thirty nine a game.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and it's like night and day.

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Speaker 3: So I don't know.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's he threw twenty eight times, and he

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Speaker 2: threw he is one hundred and thirty yards receiving or

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Speaker 2: passing in one hundred and fifty five yards passing. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: winning efforts. Right, he'll play it right. And I think

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Speaker 2: sometimes because of the fantasy football aspect of everything, people

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Speaker 2: look at that and go, well, you know, he didn't

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Speaker 2: have this guy didn't have a good game or that guy.

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Speaker 2: And I heard it. I've seen people talk about it

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Speaker 2: with Russell Wilson last year when you know, because I've

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Speaker 2: made mention. You know, they beat Buffalo Kansas City in

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Speaker 2: Green Bay three weeks in a row. Yeah, yeah, well

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Speaker 2: he only he only threw for one hundred and twenty

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Speaker 2: five yards against Kansas City. It was one hundred and

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Speaker 2: twenty five yards in a touchdown and a win over

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Speaker 2: the Chiefs. Yeah, right, what's wrong with that? If that's

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Speaker 2: what you needed to do on that particular day and

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Speaker 2: you didn't turn the ball over. Yeah, yeah, that was

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Speaker 2: a winning quarterback situation.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, absolutely. How many I.

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Speaker 2: Bet you don't want to get into a shootout with

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Speaker 2: the Chiefs?

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Speaker 3: No, I bet most four or more than fifty percent

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Speaker 3: of like four hundred gard passers or loser. Yeah, and

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Speaker 3: I'm sure that's true.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know. I mean we do it every week

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Speaker 2: when we look at the leading passers of the week

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Speaker 2: on Mondays. Most of the probably three quarters of the

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Speaker 2: guys who throw for more than three hundred yards, especially

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Speaker 2: in today's NFL. Yeah, it's rare lost the game.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, because it's rare to happen and it's out of context,

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Speaker 3: or you know, because you have to Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 3: I mean, Saints through the ball sixteen times.

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Speaker 2: Nobody, nobody wants to do it anymore because everybody's playing

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Speaker 2: too high safeties and you can just run the football

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Speaker 2: against that, yep.

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Speaker 3: And I wonder how much of that we'll see in

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Speaker 3: this game though, you know, like Darwin's a really good player,

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Speaker 3: But am I putting him in too high against a

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Speaker 3: heavy run team?

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Speaker 2: Probably not?

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Speaker 3: Probably not. I had a real good conversation with Mark

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Speaker 3: Madden Monday. He was asking me about Minka and he said,

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Speaker 3: you know, his view on it was, well.

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Speaker 2: He always thinks isn't playing well.

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Speaker 3: Well, he he wants to see him do more, you know,

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Speaker 3: like come down and play man coverage against tight ends

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Speaker 3: and blah blah blah blah. And I'm like, that makes

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Speaker 3: sense because he can you know, he's really good at everything.

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Speaker 2: But he's also really good as a turn on the

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Speaker 2: back end.

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Speaker 3: That's what I'm saying is if he can be if

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Speaker 3: he can do the work of too high safeties by

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Speaker 3: being in the middle, he's like an extra player, you know,

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Speaker 3: or if he's a player in a half. I mean,

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Speaker 3: that's the beauty of him. So I don't know, You're

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Speaker 3: don't see a lot of too high from the Steelers.

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Speaker 2: No, And you know, I I think you you know,

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Speaker 2: if you if you look back again at that Carolina game,

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Speaker 2: really Herbert only went deep one time and that was

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Speaker 2: for the thirty one yard touchdown, and he kind of

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Speaker 2: threw that too far inside. Wasn't a great throw. If

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Speaker 2: he throws out on Mika Fitzpatrick back there his hand,

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Speaker 2: it might get a bit worse.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Dobbins is the guy you worry about.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I mean, Herbert scares me to no end, just because

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Speaker 3: you know, Harbaugh knows he's good, or he wouldn't have

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Speaker 3: taken a job, you know. I mean, he just hasn't

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Speaker 3: unleashed that.

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Speaker 2: Dobbins is averaging nine point nine yards of carry, insane.

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Speaker 4: And.

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Speaker 2: So much of him.

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Speaker 3: So many of his runs are from the big long ones,

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Speaker 3: you know, like a high portion of the yard the

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Speaker 3: ten yarders or longer. But he also has an insane

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Speaker 3: yards per yards before first contact. You know, they're opening

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Speaker 3: big holes for him when he is exploding.

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Speaker 2: The crazy thing, though, Matt, is that Gus Edwards is

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Speaker 2: everything two point nine yards of Carriy Hassan Haskins, their

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Speaker 2: third back is everything three point seven yards of carry,

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Speaker 2: Like the other guys aren't getting those yards when that

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Speaker 2: he is with those same holes, I assume they're the

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Speaker 2: same hole.

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Speaker 3: They're blocking better for Dobbins, which is probably just luck,

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Speaker 3: of course, but he is hitting them a lot. I mean,

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Speaker 3: his bursts of the holes is way better than those

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Speaker 3: guys too. I mean those Haskins and Gusts are heavy

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Speaker 3: footed pounders, you know, and Edwards was overrated in Baltimore. Oh,

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Speaker 3: he's reliable when he's top. He had a high yards

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Speaker 3: per carry just because of Lamar. Yeah, speaking of yards

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Speaker 3: per carry again, I did a lot of Dobbins homework

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Speaker 3: this morning. He is the highest yards per carry in

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Speaker 3: NFL history.

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Speaker 4: For his career.

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Speaker 2: For his career, I mean, he hasn't played that many games,

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Speaker 2: hasn't played that many games, and whatever the qualifier is.

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Speaker 2: I read that today because in Baltimore it was inflated

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Speaker 2: with Lamar. Yeah, they all have really high ones. I

401
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Speaker 2: think it was Jamal Charles was like six point one. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and he's like right around there now. Yeah, I mean

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Speaker 2: because he's at nine to nine through two games. He

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Speaker 2: hasn't played that many games. I'll be shocked if it's

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Speaker 2: nine to nine after anything above nine nine after this game.

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Speaker 3: But he's a good back. But that he's a good back.

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Speaker 3: Both of us liked him a lot. Kind of wouldn't

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Speaker 3: mind it if you'd end up with a Steeler that

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Speaker 3: year that was the Claypool year. But his big play

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Speaker 3: stuff scares me. You know, he can't allow the big runs.

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Speaker 2: No, absolutely not. Let's get to a break. He is

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Speaker 2: the Matt Williamson I am Dale Lolly, and of course

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Speaker 2: you're listening to the Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network.

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Speaker 2: You can check out all of our stuff here on

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Speaker 2: the Steelers all of our shows here on the Steelers

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Speaker 2: Audio Network, but this one in particular, you can subscribe

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Speaker 2: to it. You can download it on the Steelers Mobile app,

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Speaker 2: watch it every day on YouTube. All that good stuff.

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Speaker 2: We do appreciate you. You're doing that and liking it

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Speaker 2: and subscribing. All that good stuff keeps us, keeps us employed.

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Speaker 2: Yeah that's helpful, Yeah, very helpless. Yeah, absolutely. But he

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Speaker 2: is Matt Williamson. I'm Dale Lolly, and we'll be back

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Speaker 2: with more right after.

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Speaker 1: This your home for the Steelers. This is the Pittsburgh

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Speaker 1: Steelers Audio Network. This is the Drive with Dale Lolly

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Speaker 1: and Matt Williamson on your twenty four to seven home

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Speaker 1: of the gold Steelers Nation.

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Speaker 2: Radio and welcome back. I'm Dale LOLLI he is the

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Speaker 2: Matt Williamson and this is the Drive on the Steelers

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Speaker 2: Audio Network and we're pleased to be joined now as

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Speaker 2: we will be every Wednesday for the rest of the

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Speaker 2: season by the Lord of Living in his fears. Bob Labriola,

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Speaker 2: how you doing Bob.

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Speaker 4: How are my subjects?

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Speaker 2: Couldn't be better? Could Yeah, it could not be better.

436
00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:35,440
Speaker 2: The Steelers off to a two and oh start, Bobby,

437
00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,200
Speaker 2: Are you are you living in your fears again this week?

438
00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:39,800
Speaker 4: No?

439
00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:43,280
Speaker 5: I mean, you know, it seems that what I've been

440
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:47,879
Speaker 5: spending most of my time doing is trying to tamp

441
00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:53,240
Speaker 5: down some of the fears of the of the fan fan.

442
00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:55,840
Speaker 4: You know.

443
00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,960
Speaker 5: Uh, but as you mentioned, two and oh is two

444
00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,640
Speaker 5: and o and you know, as the late great tounch

445
00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,400
Speaker 5: Ilken always used to say, if you can't beat the stiffs,

446
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:10,920
Speaker 5: you are one. So even if we would go as

447
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,640
Speaker 5: far as to consider the Falcons and the Broncos stiffs,

448
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,240
Speaker 5: you know, the Steelers did what was necessary, you know,

449
00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:21,359
Speaker 5: to be too and oh for the first time since

450
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,480
Speaker 5: twenty twenty. And let me say this, just throw this in.

451
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,679
Speaker 5: A reality of the league is they didn't look like

452
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:31,240
Speaker 5: the Falcons didn't look like stiffs when they beat the Eagles.

453
00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:32,320
Speaker 4: So there's that.

454
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,159
Speaker 2: Yeah, Matt, I talked about that Tuesday for sure, that

455
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,800
Speaker 2: maybe that Steelers went over Atlanta looks a little bit

456
00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,440
Speaker 2: better after they went into Philadelphia and shocked the Eagles.

457
00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:47,480
Speaker 4: Well, how about this too, you know, Arthur Smith.

458
00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,639
Speaker 5: Well, by extension, the Steelers offense took a lot of

459
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,359
Speaker 5: heat for not attacking the middle of the field against

460
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:59,320
Speaker 5: the Falcons, and Arthur Smith said he came clean after

461
00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,160
Speaker 5: the game a couple of days after and said he's

462
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,960
Speaker 5: the one who told Justin Fields not to throw the

463
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,480
Speaker 5: ball into the middle of the field because he thought

464
00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,320
Speaker 5: it was important to keep it away from Jesse Bates. Well,

465
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:15,679
Speaker 5: maybe Jalen Hurts didn't get that metal seriously, because who

466
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,160
Speaker 5: sealed the game for the Falcons with an interception?

467
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:20,359
Speaker 4: Jesse Bates.

468
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you looked at it between Bates and Simmons,

469
00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:27,760
Speaker 2: I think they have fifty career interceptions. So yes, you

470
00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:29,639
Speaker 2: don't want to test those guys. You know they can

471
00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:31,879
Speaker 2: catch the football. And oh, by the way, people do

472
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,800
Speaker 2: the Steelers all the time. Everybody avoids make a great degree.

473
00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:41,720
Speaker 5: Yes, So you know again, I thought that, you know,

474
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,640
Speaker 5: I have thought that so far that I think Arthur

475
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,520
Speaker 5: Smith's done a pretty nice job, you know, the game

476
00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:52,040
Speaker 5: plan from the opener. I think he deserves credit for

477
00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:54,320
Speaker 5: you know, you didn't know who the well let me

478
00:21:54,359 --> 00:22:00,600
Speaker 5: say it this this way. This starting quarterback changed on Thursday. Yeah,

479
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:04,040
Speaker 5: and he adapted the game plan. I thought he called

480
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:09,240
Speaker 5: a pretty decent game. Uh, and you know he he

481
00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:11,280
Speaker 5: did some things that I don't think we would have

482
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,960
Speaker 5: seen last year because I think last year, whatever the

483
00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:19,560
Speaker 5: game plan was on Tuesday, by Thursday, the attitude would

484
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,800
Speaker 5: have been, let's just keep working on this and if

485
00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,120
Speaker 5: we executed correctly, we will win.

486
00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,679
Speaker 4: But in the NFL, you know, you need to make.

487
00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:34,360
Speaker 5: Adjustments and pay attention to the strengths and the weaknesses

488
00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:37,479
Speaker 5: of the particular opponent and how they match up with

489
00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:42,600
Speaker 5: maybe what what may what might be your offensive strengths

490
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:44,600
Speaker 5: and weaknesses, and then try and come up with a

491
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:45,320
Speaker 5: plan that way.

492
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:47,360
Speaker 4: And I think that's what happened.

493
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,480
Speaker 5: And you know they won by eight, which you know,

494
00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 5: in Coke's day because Myron Cope when people would complain

495
00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,760
Speaker 5: about it, you know, cop would look it up and say,

496
00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:05,360
Speaker 5: well they covered, would you beefing about? And so everybody's happy, right,

497
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,639
Speaker 5: everybody should, well they should be happy.

498
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 2: Let's put it that way, unless they took the over. Well,

499
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,399
Speaker 2: you know, although why you would take the over in

500
00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,119
Speaker 2: a Steelers road game is beyond me because there's a

501
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:20,720
Speaker 2: pretty good track record of I don't.

502
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:22,560
Speaker 3: Know these numbers this week either, but I think I'm

503
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:24,120
Speaker 3: meaning under on that too.

504
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:25,520
Speaker 2: Yeah.

505
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,359
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, and there there are a lot of

506
00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:33,320
Speaker 5: different ways of you know, betting on things now that

507
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,720
Speaker 5: it's legal and all that stuff. But uh, you know,

508
00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:38,760
Speaker 5: I was just pointing to.

509
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,440
Speaker 2: Well, I understand what you're saying, but there's always somebody

510
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:43,199
Speaker 2: that's going to be unhappy about something.

511
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,440
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, I guess I guess that's Bill Cower would

512
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:49,800
Speaker 5: say that's an accurate statement.

513
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,000
Speaker 3: Sticking on the offense side of the ball, Bob, what

514
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,840
Speaker 3: do you think of this the young offensive lineman so far,

515
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,359
Speaker 3: you know, most notably Fortanu in his first start.

516
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:07,200
Speaker 5: And you know, I'm gonna kind of take a knee

517
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,359
Speaker 5: on part of this because I don't know enough about

518
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:14,800
Speaker 5: offensive line play to give you any detailed analysis.

519
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 4: I mean, I just don't, Ah, But I.

520
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,280
Speaker 5: Think that things that I have heard and things that

521
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:27,280
Speaker 5: people have told me, you know, Zach Frasier is.

522
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:30,639
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't want to I don't want to

523
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,320
Speaker 4: condemn him with an early comparison to Marquise Poonci, but

524
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:36,000
Speaker 4: I mean.

525
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:42,800
Speaker 5: They have some of the same types of characteristics in

526
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 5: that what they have shown to this part of their

527
00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:49,240
Speaker 5: rookie season has been good.

528
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:51,679
Speaker 4: Enough for them to be the starter.

529
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,200
Speaker 3: It seems like he's arrived already.

530
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,520
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I don't. I don't think that he has.

531
00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:02,200
Speaker 5: I certainly hope he hasn't, because I have no complaints

532
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,360
Speaker 5: about the way he's playing. But you know, it can

533
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 5: be better. I think it needs to be better. And

534
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,400
Speaker 5: you know, give him, give him some time. There's too

535
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 5: much there's too much interest in making a proclamation right

536
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,280
Speaker 5: away one way or the other.

537
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:22,840
Speaker 4: This guy, and this is what happened to Dan Moore.

538
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,919
Speaker 4: He stinks this was twenty twenty one. He stinks, you know,

539
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,400
Speaker 4: get rid of him, find another player.

540
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,280
Speaker 5: You've got to do something to replace him at left tackle. Well,

541
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,280
Speaker 5: as we sit here now, he's the best left tackle

542
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:37,879
Speaker 5: on the roster.

543
00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:43,280
Speaker 4: So maybe he wasn't ever horrible, So.

544
00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:50,760
Speaker 5: Troy Filetano, I again, I mean, I don't. I can't

545
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:52,760
Speaker 5: watch him and tell you how good he is or

546
00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,679
Speaker 5: how good he's not. I mean, when I am faced

547
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,160
Speaker 5: with something like that, I usually I got Craig wolf

548
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:00,280
Speaker 5: Ley and Max Stark's on my speed dial and that's

549
00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:06,440
Speaker 5: where I go. So, uh, I don't know, But again

550
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:08,560
Speaker 5: I think it's it's still a work in progress.

551
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:10,679
Speaker 4: You know, they haven't.

552
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 5: They haven't taken a lot of snaps as a quintet.

553
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,879
Speaker 5: You know, the five guys as a that are going

554
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,080
Speaker 5: to start the game against the Chargers haven't taken a

555
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:26,440
Speaker 5: lot of certainly not game reps, even preseason game reps.

556
00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,920
Speaker 5: So you know, there's there's still some that that's still

557
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:35,919
Speaker 5: a unit that's in development. But I you know, I

558
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,159
Speaker 5: like some of the things that I see, and I

559
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,960
Speaker 5: like the way that it seems to me that the

560
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:46,879
Speaker 5: running plays are geared to the kind of offensive linemen

561
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:48,240
Speaker 5: that the Steelers have.

562
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:51,639
Speaker 4: Now that Jalen Warren is maybe.

563
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,399
Speaker 5: A little bit more confident in the hamstring and the

564
00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 5: coaches are confident in his hamstring, that we'll see more

565
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,000
Speaker 5: of a fifty to fifty closer to fifty to fifty

566
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,760
Speaker 5: split and carries with Najie Harris, I think that will

567
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:06,640
Speaker 5: help the running game.

568
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,320
Speaker 4: And you know, those tight ends are they're interesting.

569
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:18,080
Speaker 5: I mean, I'm a big Darnell Washington fan, and I

570
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,040
Speaker 5: will defer to Arthur Smith's expertise on how to deploy

571
00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:25,600
Speaker 5: those guys. So, yes, they've only scored one touchdown.

572
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,040
Speaker 4: I mean, we can we can go. We can list

573
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:28,520
Speaker 4: all of.

574
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,760
Speaker 5: The things that haven't happened that need to be better,

575
00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:37,400
Speaker 5: you know, et cetera, et cetera. But as I might

576
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 5: pursue and I talk about all the time, you know,

577
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,520
Speaker 5: it's not against the rules for people to get better

578
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:43,720
Speaker 5: and units to get better of the course of the season.

579
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,440
Speaker 4: And I know it's a coaching.

580
00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,600
Speaker 5: Cliche and people probably don't they're tired of hearing Mike

581
00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 5: Tom and say it.

582
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,440
Speaker 4: But it's nice to be working on things when you're

583
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:53,040
Speaker 4: two and zero.

584
00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:59,760
Speaker 5: So you know, I'm gonna be interested to see how

585
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:04,200
Speaker 5: it works on Sunday, to see if the running game

586
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:10,919
Speaker 5: and the pass protection without penalties, maybe you know, you

587
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 5: can then maybe have justin fields, try some different things

588
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,480
Speaker 5: a little bit more and get a little bit into

589
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:19,000
Speaker 5: a little bit more of a rhythm on offense, make

590
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:20,879
Speaker 5: some first dons possess the ball a.

591
00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:23,320
Speaker 4: Little bit, and then maybe you can get into your playbook.

592
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,359
Speaker 5: A little bit more and see what some kind some

593
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,680
Speaker 5: kinds of things that different guys are capable of doing.

594
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 2: Our guest here on the drive is Bob Labriola of

595
00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:37,520
Speaker 2: Steelers dot Com and editor of Steelers Digest Labs. Switching

596
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:39,960
Speaker 2: over to the other side of the ball, there were

597
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:44,959
Speaker 2: questions coming into the season about where Cam Cam Hayward

598
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,600
Speaker 2: would be at at this point in his career, coming

599
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 2: off an injury troubled season last year at thirty five

600
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 2: years old two games into this are those Is that

601
00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,320
Speaker 2: not an issue for you anybody anymore? Should or should

602
00:28:59,360 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 2: it not be?

603
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,400
Speaker 5: It's not for me, you know, I don't. I think

604
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,360
Speaker 5: that what we're gonna see is there's gonna be some

605
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,760
Speaker 5: concessions made, you know, to Cam's age, the number of

606
00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:12,760
Speaker 5: snaps on his body, those kinds of things in terms

607
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:18,920
Speaker 5: of practicing every day of the week. You know, how

608
00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,880
Speaker 5: many snaps he's on the field for it during games,

609
00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:25,360
Speaker 5: and so you know, I think that there's a little

610
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,640
Speaker 5: bit of a learning curve there. But in no way

611
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,640
Speaker 5: is Cam Hayward a liability when he's on the field.

612
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:37,960
Speaker 5: And you know, I still think that he has you know,

613
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:43,000
Speaker 5: from a physical aspect, he still seems to be strong,

614
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:47,920
Speaker 5: a bully, but in a good way, you know. I

615
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:49,920
Speaker 5: mean you're looking for that kind of thing a lot

616
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,080
Speaker 5: of in the kind of in the center of your

617
00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:56,959
Speaker 5: defensive line. He still has that. I still believe that

618
00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:02,600
Speaker 5: Cam has you know, uh some of the savvy uh

619
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,720
Speaker 5: and and those kind of things that allow him to

620
00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,440
Speaker 5: pressure the quarterback, get in the passing lanes, you know,

621
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 5: be disruptive in that kind of way. So, uh, you know,

622
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,320
Speaker 5: and I do think that, you know, Cam Hayward is

623
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,120
Speaker 5: a good guy to have on the field for you

624
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:22,920
Speaker 5: and a good guy to have in the locker room

625
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:28,520
Speaker 5: with you. And so I'm happy that the Steelers, uh

626
00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,360
Speaker 5: re signed him. It looks like this is going to

627
00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,600
Speaker 5: be the contract that takes him, takes him to the

628
00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,320
Speaker 5: end of his career. Uh And I'm happy about that.

629
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:43,080
Speaker 5: I just, you know, fans again too much worrying about things.

630
00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,760
Speaker 5: You know, who cares about the salary cap hit, for example,

631
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,160
Speaker 5: because you could always figure that out. You know, Omar

632
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:55,440
Speaker 5: is a wizard at that stuff. It's not an onerous

633
00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:59,320
Speaker 5: contract that is gonna, you know, cripple the team moving

634
00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:03,280
Speaker 5: forward or in thing. So don't I don't care what

635
00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:07,120
Speaker 5: he's making. I think he's worth it, you know, because.

636
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,360
Speaker 6: Then again, you know, I'm not signing the checks, so

637
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:13,239
Speaker 6: it's easy to say he's worth But I believe that,

638
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,600
Speaker 6: I think that he is an asset, and it's better

639
00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:20,400
Speaker 6: having him than having the cap space that you would

640
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,880
Speaker 6: have if you didn't sign him.

641
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 3: One hundred percent agree And I think he's played really,

642
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 3: really well and I'm.

643
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 2: Curious if you agree with me.

644
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,640
Speaker 3: But I think the depth around him in that room,

645
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:34,840
Speaker 3: the defensive line room, is really going to be advantageous,

646
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:36,760
Speaker 3: you know, if he starts to wear down a little

647
00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,920
Speaker 3: bit or Ogunjobi, I mean, I'm impressed with the defensive

648
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:40,440
Speaker 3: line depth.

649
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:47,200
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean they have some they have some promise there.

650
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:49,200
Speaker 5: I guess is a word I would use, you know,

651
00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:53,920
Speaker 5: keanubent and I think he's a he's a button star

652
00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:56,960
Speaker 5: maybe is a good way of putting it. He's a

653
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:02,000
Speaker 5: guy you know people is so fondly with Javon Hargrave.

654
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:04,560
Speaker 5: About Javon Hargrave, I think Keano Ben is gonna be

655
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:09,440
Speaker 5: better at that exact same thing. The combination of being

656
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:11,360
Speaker 5: a tough presence in the middle of the line of

657
00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,840
Speaker 5: scrimmage against the run, has some quicks and athletic ability

658
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:16,080
Speaker 5: to be a pain.

659
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:18,400
Speaker 4: For offensive interior offensive.

660
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 5: Lines trying to keep him off the quarterback or out

661
00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:22,959
Speaker 5: of the back and or out of the backfield.

662
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,360
Speaker 4: And Ogunjobi, I think is a guy who.

663
00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:30,000
Speaker 5: You know, he was able to get go through an

664
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:35,120
Speaker 5: off season preparing his body for this coming season as

665
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:39,000
Speaker 5: opposed to having to rehab an injury. So that's a plus,

666
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:43,480
Speaker 5: especially for a guy at that age and his contracts up.

667
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:45,640
Speaker 4: And so there's some incentive there. I think that that's a.

668
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:50,440
Speaker 5: Good situation overall. Dean Lowry, I think is a guy who,

669
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 5: as you mentioned, Matt, I think that you know, he

670
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 5: gives the Steelers some he can give them some quality

671
00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:03,200
Speaker 5: snaps and you know you're looking for. I think you

672
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:07,640
Speaker 5: need those guys to be good against the run and

673
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,600
Speaker 5: hold the interior of the pocket on pass rushes, so

674
00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:16,400
Speaker 5: that high Smith, TJ. Watt and however Nick Krbig has

675
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:19,680
Speaker 5: worked in can work their magic. And then to me,

676
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,720
Speaker 5: that's an effective defensive line. It can be part of

677
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:27,840
Speaker 5: what I believe can be a.

678
00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:28,720
Speaker 4: Top defense in the NFL.

679
00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:33,080
Speaker 5: And again, I think that right now the defense is

680
00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:35,640
Speaker 5: the reason they're winning, and the defensive line has been

681
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,720
Speaker 5: part of that defense. So yeah, I'm with you, Matt.

682
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,560
Speaker 5: I like the I like the way the front has been.

683
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:44,800
Speaker 2: Performing absolutely well. I'll have their hands full this week

684
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,920
Speaker 2: with a really good Chargers offensive line. We'll see how

685
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:50,400
Speaker 2: that works out. Steelers, of course, so have their home

686
00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:55,360
Speaker 2: opener on Sunday at Akrashuer Stadium against the Los Angeles Chargers,

687
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:57,160
Speaker 2: and that Labs will be there. I'll be there with you,

688
00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,400
Speaker 2: Labs and looking forward to finally seeing you for regular

689
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:03,480
Speaker 2: season game this year. It's been a long, strange trip

690
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:05,840
Speaker 2: here with two straight road games.

691
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:10,239
Speaker 5: Yeah, and well it's been almost a month, you know,

692
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:14,040
Speaker 5: the way the preseason ended August twenty fourth, and then

693
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,080
Speaker 5: you have the Mini by you know that is now

694
00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:20,000
Speaker 5: part of the NFL calendar to open the season, and

695
00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:22,600
Speaker 5: two road games, so yeah, it'll be just about because

696
00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:26,880
Speaker 5: the Sunday's September twenty second, and the last time was

697
00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:29,759
Speaker 5: August twenty fourth, So yeah, it's like calendar months that

698
00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:32,800
Speaker 5: weird quirks in the schedule.

699
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:38,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly nice have two road winds under the belt too, Yes, absolutely, yeah,

700
00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,000
Speaker 2: I can't discount that. Our guest has been Bob Labriola,

701
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:44,160
Speaker 2: editor of Steelers Digest in Steelers dot Com. Labs, you

702
00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:47,080
Speaker 2: appreciate it. Well, I'll see you on Sunday, and Matt

703
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,160
Speaker 2: and I are going to get to a break. We'll

704
00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:50,840
Speaker 2: be back with the Drive right after.

705
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:55,440
Speaker 1: This Steelers football happens here the Pittsburgh Steelers Audio Network.

706
00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:03,719
Speaker 1: He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on

707
00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:05,880
Speaker 1: your twenty four to seven Home of the Black and

708
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:10,360
Speaker 1: Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

709
00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:19,120
Speaker 2: Welcome back and Matt looking here at a list of well,

710
00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:20,839
Speaker 2: let's put it this way. First of all, one hundred

711
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:24,680
Speaker 2: and sixty seven modern era players were nominated the Pro

712
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,240
Speaker 2: Football Hall of Fame, at least the list today. Seven

713
00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:33,960
Speaker 2: Steelers on that list Hines, Ward good Casey Hampton, James Ferrier,

714
00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,880
Speaker 2: James Harrison, Mike Frable who begins, Yeah, yeah he was drafted,

715
00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:43,880
Speaker 2: Gary Anderson, and fullback John Coon really yes, okay, I

716
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:47,319
Speaker 2: don't like the Jesus. Yeah, I know, dominate anybody to

717
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:51,680
Speaker 2: make the list. Here the first year eligible players who

718
00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:56,440
Speaker 2: were nominated this year. Travis Frederick, Ryan Khalil, Joe Staley,

719
00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:01,719
Speaker 2: Marshall Yonda, Eli Manning, Marshawn Lynn and Staring Sprolls, de

720
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:07,240
Speaker 2: Marius Thomas, Vernon, Davis Delannie Walker, Luke, Keikley, through All Suggs,

721
00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:12,760
Speaker 2: Antoine Bethea, keep to leave, Earl Thomas and Adam Vinnettier. Yeah,

722
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:17,239
Speaker 2: he's just clog things though. Yeah, they'll trim this down

723
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:22,120
Speaker 2: to fifty. That's the next step. Yeah, yeah, in November.

724
00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:26,439
Speaker 2: But I'm looking at some of the guys on this list,

725
00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:29,799
Speaker 2: and I understand again, anybody can John anybody? Yeah, John

726
00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:34,120
Speaker 2: Coon's on here, this list of tight ends, Ben Coates,

727
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:39,400
Speaker 2: Vernon Davis, Antonio Gates, Jeremy Shockey, Delannie Walker, and Wesley Walls.

728
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,359
Speaker 2: Heith Miller's better than all those guys, not Gates. Yeah,

729
00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,839
Speaker 2: I know, we had this conversation the rest of those

730
00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:51,359
Speaker 2: Ben coachs, Vernon Davis, Shockey, like.

731
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:53,520
Speaker 3: He's on par or better than all those guys.

732
00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:56,120
Speaker 2: I agree, Like he's top He's in the top ten

733
00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:59,200
Speaker 2: all time and tight end catches is he? I kne

734
00:36:59,239 --> 00:37:01,240
Speaker 2: he's pretty high. In addition to being.

735
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,640
Speaker 7: A really good blockers what he's a part of good

736
00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:10,120
Speaker 7: teams and right, first off, I was kind of embarrassed

737
00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:12,480
Speaker 7: for the whole process that Gates didn't get in year one.

738
00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:14,600
Speaker 3: I mean, that's a slam dunk. The rest of that group,

739
00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:17,440
Speaker 3: to me, has really no chance. Not the Miller would,

740
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:19,239
Speaker 3: but he should be in the same group.

741
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:21,840
Speaker 2: He shouldn't be mentioned, Yeah, I mean he should be

742
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:23,319
Speaker 2: nominated a player those guys.

743
00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:27,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, right, I think he gets overshadowed a little playing

744
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,719
Speaker 3: with Ben, playing with some other star players. Everyone thinks

745
00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:33,319
Speaker 3: about the defense of that era. He's a really good

746
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:34,080
Speaker 3: football player.

747
00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:37,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean even some of the defensive linemen on

748
00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:42,520
Speaker 2: this list. It's John Abram, Jared Allen, LaRoy Glover Hampton,

749
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:47,560
Speaker 2: Robert Mathis, Chester mclaughin, Hlodi Nottis, Simeon Rice Clyde Simmons,

750
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:51,880
Speaker 2: Justin Smith, Neil Smith, Henry Thomas, Justin Tuck, Ted Washington,

751
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:57,240
Speaker 2: Vince Wolfwork, Jamal Williams, Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, Aaron Smith

752
00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,600
Speaker 2: is never no right given any I know where you're consideration.

753
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:06,400
Speaker 3: I mean, will Fork will probably get in before Hampton, Yeah,

754
00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:09,200
Speaker 3: Seymour got in. Smith can't even get on the list,

755
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:10,759
Speaker 3: can't even get on the list. And I'm just thinking

756
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:14,239
Speaker 3: about comps of the same style of defense and what

757
00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:17,080
Speaker 3: they're asked to do basically the same era. And I

758
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:19,879
Speaker 3: understand Smith's numbers aren't great, and I'm not suggesting he's

759
00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:22,440
Speaker 3: a Hall of Famer, but he's also a really good

760
00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:25,960
Speaker 3: player those part of fantastic defenses yea, and instrumental.

761
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:29,799
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just that's that's kind of what struck me

762
00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:31,919
Speaker 2: as odd about this when I'm looking at this list

763
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,440
Speaker 2: and I'm like, really, somebody nominated that dude.

764
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:38,520
Speaker 3: I know that guy, and that's a little odd. Of

765
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:41,239
Speaker 3: the Steelers that are up, we've talked to a lot

766
00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:44,160
Speaker 3: of this. I mean, frankly, you've convinced me that Ward

767
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,640
Speaker 3: and Harrison have a better chance than I riginally.

768
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:50,400
Speaker 2: They at least deserve to make it into the final fifteen,

769
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:51,760
Speaker 2: to be talked, to be talked about.

770
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:55,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, let someone you or whomever, stand up on the

771
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,960
Speaker 3: table and say, let me at least give you their case.

772
00:38:59,120 --> 00:38:59,359
Speaker 2: Yeah.

773
00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:03,280
Speaker 3: I don't think either we'll get in, but they should

774
00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:03,879
Speaker 3: be in that room.

775
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, when you look at some of the other guys

776
00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,000
Speaker 2: as particularly some of the guys who've gotten in in

777
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:08,760
Speaker 2: recent years.

778
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's some question of Wan's lately. Yeah, and this

779
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,320
Speaker 3: seems like a decent class. I mean, I know Eli

780
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:16,720
Speaker 3: is going to get in. I don't think he should.

781
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,080
Speaker 2: I don't think he gets in first year, though, that'd

782
00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:21,239
Speaker 2: be fine by me. Like Keickley's an easy one to me.

783
00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:23,120
Speaker 2: I think Keithley's a layup.

784
00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:26,120
Speaker 3: I assume Gates will get in a year two. Yeah,

785
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:30,759
Speaker 3: I like Earl Thomas's chance yonda will probably take four

786
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:33,799
Speaker 3: or five years. But because he's a guard, you know,

787
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:36,680
Speaker 3: and he wasn't a first overall pick, Quentin Nelson type

788
00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:38,879
Speaker 3: guy or whatever. I forget some of the other names

789
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:40,840
Speaker 3: you mentioned, but there were sugs. I think has a

790
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:45,680
Speaker 3: good shot. Yeah, yeah, there's most year there's a slam dunk.

791
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:48,200
Speaker 3: No brainer to me. Keickley is that.

792
00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:49,880
Speaker 2: I don't know if everyone agrees with him. I just

793
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:54,080
Speaker 2: hope Adam Vinnettieri doesn't keep doesn't keep a real football

794
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:57,279
Speaker 2: player like Yonda out of the Hall of Fame, yeah,

795
00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:59,800
Speaker 2: or even out of the top fifteen to be talked about,

796
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:05,520
Speaker 2: right right right, People say he's the greatest kicker of

797
00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:07,759
Speaker 2: all time. No he's not. No, he's not. He just

798
00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:10,560
Speaker 2: played a long time and accumulated a lot of points.

799
00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:12,560
Speaker 3: And he ended up getting on the national radar early

800
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 3: because he was on the best team in the league

801
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:17,880
Speaker 3: and he retired with rings and he played forever forever,

802
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:20,040
Speaker 3: you know, so he's going to have some accumulation stats.

803
00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:22,160
Speaker 2: Is he really that much better than Gary Anderson?

804
00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:22,719
Speaker 4: No?

805
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:24,360
Speaker 3: I was actually gonna say that because he's on the

806
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:28,320
Speaker 3: list too. It's like I remember as a kid, Morton

807
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,479
Speaker 3: Anderson and Gary Anderson were the best kickers in the league,

808
00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:34,360
Speaker 3: and it was a conversation of who's number two. Morton

809
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:37,480
Speaker 3: is in And I'm not even suggesting Gary should go. No,

810
00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:38,240
Speaker 3: I'm not either.

811
00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:40,279
Speaker 2: But I've never thought Vinetari is the best kicker in

812
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,800
Speaker 2: the league. No, but people stand on the table and

813
00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:46,799
Speaker 2: you know he should. Why he's not the best kicker

814
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:50,160
Speaker 2: of all time that kicking since he In fact, even

815
00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:54,280
Speaker 2: while he was still playing, he got surpassed by guys.

816
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:57,840
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, many, many, many guys like his.

817
00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:01,520
Speaker 2: His career average, it's like eighty three percent.

818
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:07,560
Speaker 3: Really, I mean that's pretty bad. And I'm sure I

819
00:41:07,560 --> 00:41:10,280
Speaker 3: bet he gets into the finals. And I mean, whoever

820
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:13,759
Speaker 3: is stating his case will say he had a Hall

821
00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:15,960
Speaker 3: of Fame career just with the Patriots. He had a

822
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:17,680
Speaker 3: Hall of Fame career just with the Colts.

823
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:18,560
Speaker 2: No, he didn't.

824
00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:21,719
Speaker 3: The second part is one thousand percent false. He didn't

825
00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:23,680
Speaker 3: even kick off for the Colts right in a dome.

826
00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,200
Speaker 3: In a dome, I mean he was accurate from a

827
00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:30,040
Speaker 3: short distance. His style today, which isn't that long ago,

828
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:33,200
Speaker 3: wouldn't be useful. He can't bang the fifty yarder now.

829
00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:36,160
Speaker 3: He definitely has clutch kicks, and of course he's good.

830
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:38,360
Speaker 3: He's in the Hall of Fame ballot but he's not

831
00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:41,480
Speaker 3: close to Tucker to me or Morten Anderson for his

832
00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:42,759
Speaker 3: day or something like that.

833
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:43,200
Speaker 4: He is.

834
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:46,520
Speaker 2: Actually, I'm looking here, where the heck is he at?

835
00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:49,160
Speaker 2: He's gonna be scrolling quite a bit. I'm scrolling. He's

836
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:50,960
Speaker 2: not in the top he's not in the top twenty.

837
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:54,400
Speaker 2: He's number thirty four all time in terms of career

838
00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:55,400
Speaker 2: field goal percentage.

839
00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:57,160
Speaker 3: And they didn't even try the long ones with them

840
00:41:57,239 --> 00:41:59,720
Speaker 3: late in for a very long stretch of his career.

841
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:03,880
Speaker 2: Who kicked in the same era has a better field

842
00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:06,600
Speaker 2: goal percentage in him? Wow? And Sweezehm spent his entire

843
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:07,560
Speaker 2: career kicking out doors.

844
00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:09,680
Speaker 3: I say he's in the dome for a lot of it.

845
00:42:09,719 --> 00:42:12,000
Speaker 3: I mean, yes, there's a lot of everyone members the

846
00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:15,080
Speaker 3: kick in the snow, and there's a lot.

847
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:16,279
Speaker 2: He won a Super Bowl with a kick. Well, I

848
00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 2: can pick twenty guys off this list more than that

849
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:21,680
Speaker 2: on this top list of best kick or top most

850
00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:23,520
Speaker 2: accurate kickers of all time, who would have made the

851
00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:26,239
Speaker 2: same kick? Yeah, yeah, I mean it wasn't like it

852
00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:28,120
Speaker 2: was a sixty yard kick to win the Super Bowl?

853
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:30,120
Speaker 2: Is a forty yard kick to win the Super Bowl?

854
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:30,919
Speaker 2: That's your job?

855
00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:33,359
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a bigger story if he doesn't make it. Right,

856
00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:36,600
Speaker 3: I met Norwood in your Norwood and right a wide

857
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:39,399
Speaker 3: writer or whatever. Right now we've gone to his path

858
00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:42,279
Speaker 3: with him a lot. I really hope he doesn't get in.

859
00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:45,560
Speaker 3: I could live with Hester getting in. I wouldn't have

860
00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:48,360
Speaker 3: voted for him. The Steve Tasker talk.

861
00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:51,239
Speaker 2: Is insanity to me. It's ridiculous. Tucker is the only

862
00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:53,920
Speaker 2: kicker that I think I would vote for. We'll put

863
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:58,279
Speaker 2: it this way. Steve and Goskowski kicked in the same stadium.

864
00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:02,200
Speaker 2: He replaced him. He replaced Vinetts. He's thirteenth in the

865
00:43:02,239 --> 00:43:03,920
Speaker 2: all time list in terms of accuracy.

866
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:06,720
Speaker 3: It's funny brought him up because I was sitting there thinking,

867
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,640
Speaker 3: why did Belichick let Vinitarry go because he couldn't kick

868
00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:13,799
Speaker 3: anymore the leg They stress special teams more than any

869
00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:15,839
Speaker 3: team in the league, them in the Ravens during that era.

870
00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:20,080
Speaker 3: And if they let him walk, it's not like the

871
00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:23,560
Speaker 3: Panthers nowadays letting somebody walk that they don't screw things up.

872
00:43:24,120 --> 00:43:26,040
Speaker 3: There was a reason, Yeah, and then they went out

873
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:26,799
Speaker 3: and drafted.

874
00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:29,319
Speaker 2: Let him go to Indianapolis. Yeah, Yeah, who was their

875
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:32,319
Speaker 2: big rival in Peyton Manning? Right, didn't bother them one bit? Nope, No,

876
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:35,799
Speaker 2: I think that speaks volumes. Absolutely. We're overdue for a break.

877
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:38,360
Speaker 2: Let's get to that. He is the Matt Williamson. I

878
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:40,279
Speaker 2: am Dale, Lolly. You're listening to the drive here on

879
00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:43,200
Speaker 2: the Steelers Audio Network. We'll be back with our number

880
00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:44,160
Speaker 2: two right after this.

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00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:48,560
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00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:53,120
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