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Speaker 1: Your tunes about Drive on your twenty four to seven

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Speaker 1: home of the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio.

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Speaker 2: Good afternoon, Steelers Nation. It's the Drive on the Steelers

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Speaker 2: Audio Network. While Shooler and Matt Williamson with you here

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Speaker 2: on the day after Christmas, where mad I'm still filled

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Speaker 2: with cheese and cookies and oh yeah, yeah, all that

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Speaker 2: good stuff. I don't really know what day of the

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Speaker 2: week it is. I'm being told it's Friday in the

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Speaker 2: afternoon here, but that's just a best educated guest at

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Speaker 2: this point.

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Speaker 3: So it's sad I have to send an alarm for this,

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Speaker 3: but I do like to sleep in. But I'm on

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Speaker 3: the air at nine o'clock for one o'clock games for

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Speaker 3: the pre pregame show with Tom Offerman. Yes, and I

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Speaker 3: can't be one minute late, so I make sure I

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Speaker 3: said an alarm. It's a shower at home.

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Speaker 2: That's not like we're going to record around nine, nine o'clock,

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Speaker 2: the light goes on and you better be ready.

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Speaker 3: To a bunch of while wee get together and be

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Speaker 3: like I'll be there two ish, you know, or whatever.

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Speaker 3: You know. So anyway, last night I set my alarm

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Speaker 3: to get up for the Steeler Free Game Show for today.

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Speaker 3: It just felt like yesterday was like a Saturday, you know,

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Speaker 3: like Saturday games, and like I don't have to get

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Speaker 3: up tomorrow. You know, they don't have to set the

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Speaker 3: alarm from Chris no idea.

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Speaker 2: From Christmas Eve to January second, it's like nobody really

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Speaker 2: knows what day it is or what time it is.

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Speaker 2: We have done our best, We've made it here for

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Speaker 2: this show today.

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Speaker 3: I mean, all my family, they know what I do

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Speaker 3: for a living, but not really They're like, oh, you

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Speaker 3: can take day off to Ar'm like, no, tomorrow is

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Speaker 3: just a Friday of week seventeen. It means nothing. Once

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Speaker 3: I figured out that it wasn't game Steeler game day,

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Speaker 3: but they don't care one bit, like, oh, you can

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Speaker 3: take get some time off. Like, no, you don't get

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Speaker 3: some time off you know any time. I did like

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Speaker 3: six podcasts of it.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so quick quick story for you that will bring

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Speaker 2: this full circle. Really cool thing that the mom's the

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Speaker 2: whys in our neighborhood did yesterday. So I think I've

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Speaker 2: shared this with you before, probably never said this on air,

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Speaker 2: but long story short, three years ago, my wife and

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Speaker 2: I bought a house and we hit the neighborhood lottery.

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Speaker 3: I know you liked it. The people who We've.

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Speaker 2: Got the coolest neighbors there. We've got five or six

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Speaker 2: different couples that are all our age.

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Speaker 3: That's a key.

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Speaker 2: All have two or three kids. You know, my wife

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Speaker 2: and I have two kids. They all have two or

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Speaker 2: three kids as well. We get along very well. In

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Speaker 2: the summertimes.

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Speaker 3: It's like the kids.

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Speaker 2: The kids are riding bikes and playing and we do

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Speaker 2: bonfires and the parents are hanging and you know, sipping

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Speaker 2: something cool out of the thermass and all that. So

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Speaker 2: we were very fortunate we hit the neighborhood lottery. We've

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Speaker 2: got a really cool neighborhood with a lot of couples

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Speaker 2: our age and a lot of kids and stuff like that.

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Speaker 2: The wives all had an idea, all the dads, so

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Speaker 2: like six of us got a gift yesterday on Christmas

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Speaker 2: that said take out into the street and open at

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Speaker 2: ten am. So we're all like, what's going on. We

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Speaker 2: all go outside, we see everybody else. What's going on here? Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and we and we rip them open and they're Nerf guns. Nice,

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Speaker 2: They're like Nerf machine guns.

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Speaker 3: Nerf guns will come a long way, right, they have

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Speaker 3: come there.

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Speaker 2: I mean this thing holds you know, like sixteen rounds

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Speaker 2: and it's like it's pretty sweet. And so we're all

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Speaker 2: like constructing our NERF guns and loading up the bullets

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Speaker 2: the little things, and it was, you know, just like

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Speaker 2: for fifteen twenty minutes, it was just came out. It

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Speaker 2: was It was a lot of fun. It was a

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Speaker 2: really cool idea, really cool idea by the wives. Well

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Speaker 2: today one of the dads, Andrew like texted the group

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Speaker 2: and was like, we're running this thing back this afternoon

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Speaker 2: every time. And I was like, no, sorry, guys have

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Speaker 2: to work. And they were all like, what, like you

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Speaker 2: gotta work today?

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Speaker 3: Like nobody works them, I mean going into the weekend.

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Speaker 3: Christmas was yesterday. I hope everyone had awesome holidays me

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Speaker 3: as well. Certainly what it's all about it they had.

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Speaker 2: We we had an awesome time, best best Christmas yet.

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Speaker 2: And I have a feeling I'll be saying that for

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Speaker 2: the next handful of years, which will be a lot

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Speaker 2: of fun. But the NFL does not sleep, Matt and

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Speaker 2: we had.

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Speaker 3: As I feel like I'm behind and like injury reports

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Speaker 3: and things like that.

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Speaker 2: That's a very good way to put it. And I

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Speaker 2: was in the same boat as you when I got

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Speaker 2: in here a little bit before you, because I had

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Speaker 2: a couple other teas to cross and eyes to dot

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Speaker 2: before we started the show.

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Speaker 3: In playoff scenarios and who's in and who.

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Speaker 2: Who's in, who's out injuries, and that's kind of where

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Speaker 2: I started. I was like, you know, we haven't done

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Speaker 2: a show since Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday or big injury

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Speaker 2: report days.

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Speaker 3: We're practicing and the trains rolling on.

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Speaker 2: So I figured that was kind of a good place

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Speaker 2: to jump in and get our feet wet here on

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Speaker 2: this Friday. What we know about the Steelers and what

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Speaker 2: we know about the Browns. So Thursday, yesterday, Christmas obviously,

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Speaker 2: Thursday always a big practice day in the kind of

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Speaker 2: you know, schedule of a normal week. And here's what

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Speaker 2: Thursday's practice report looked like. Jalen Ramsey did not participate

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Speaker 2: with an illness. Okay, hopefully that's just.

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Speaker 3: A yeah, yeah, I mean Thursday, you got Sunday game days.

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Speaker 2: He's feeling a little little under the weather. Give him

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Speaker 2: extra time to rest. Hopefully it's not a longer lingering

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Speaker 2: thing that we've seen at times this year.

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Speaker 3: Or spread through the team. When I hear illness, I

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Speaker 3: immediately think, like, who else is getting it?

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Speaker 2: Or same here, same here around, something's there, he is there,

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Speaker 2: you go TV laugh and his MAT's running with the

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Speaker 2: joke today. Something's always going around this good news though

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Speaker 2: he's the only one listed with an illness, so hopefully

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Speaker 2: something's not going They.

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Speaker 3: Do isolate those guys and tellt me that the medicine

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Speaker 3: and there they get over the sniffles quicker than I

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Speaker 3: do or you do.

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Speaker 2: Yes, Uh, good news is that full participants Aaron Rodgers

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Speaker 2: with that wrist, he's been full always.

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Speaker 3: I guess you still have to list them. I mean

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Speaker 3: he's gonna wear something.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, still got a list him. And you know,

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Speaker 2: we've been accustomed to this guy practicing. I think he's

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Speaker 2: only missed two practices the entire year, I want to say,

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Speaker 2: but still Aaron Rodgers full participant. Ben Schronick back to

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Speaker 2: being a full participant with that hands issue. That's important,

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Speaker 2: which is important absolutely.

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Speaker 3: See the field on offense too, let alone being special

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Speaker 3: team or pro.

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Speaker 2: Bowler one hundred percent. In the absence of DK Metcalf,

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Speaker 2: everybody in that wide receiver room kind of moves up

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Speaker 2: a weight class if you will. And yeah, we know

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Speaker 2: how key he is to what the Steelers do on

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Speaker 2: special teams. So good news for Ben Skronick. No practice

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Speaker 2: yet this week for Calvin Austin, the third, still dealing

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Speaker 2: with that hamstring injury.

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Speaker 3: He mentioned this scronic thing too, is you could have

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Speaker 3: two receivers.

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Speaker 2: Down your top, your top two wide receivers, and Calvin

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Speaker 2: Austin has not practiced yet this week with that hamstring

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Speaker 2: injury that he sustained in Detroit. Jalen Warren was a

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Speaker 2: full participant on Thursday after being limited on Wednesday. Good

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Speaker 2: news for him. That hip sounds like he's trending in

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Speaker 2: the right direction.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, running backs take such a beating this

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Speaker 3: time of year. I'm sure they could use, you know,

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Speaker 3: just ease up on them.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. James Pierre, he's been limited so far

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Speaker 2: this week both days with that calf injury, so I

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Speaker 2: guess that's better than where he was at next week.

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Speaker 2: Still not a full participate, but hopefully moving in the

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Speaker 2: right direction. I got to imagine he'll probably be one

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Speaker 2: of those true game time decisions for Sunday.

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Speaker 3: I would imagine. We even't talked about the Browns a lot,

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Speaker 3: and we don't have a ton of time to talk

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Speaker 3: about them, but we also don't need to spend a

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Speaker 3: ton of time breaking them down. But they're a heavy

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Speaker 3: tight end, extra tight end usage guy. If their tight ends.

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Speaker 2: Are healthy, yeah, we'll get to that. We'll get to

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Speaker 2: that in just a minute.

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Speaker 3: But they don't want to put a lot of receivers

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Speaker 3: on the field.

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Speaker 2: No, they do not. And then finally for the Steelers

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Speaker 2: in the limited capacity I mentioned James Pierre there was limited,

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Speaker 2: as was Nick Herbig with his hamstring and Isaac Saamalu

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Speaker 2: with the tricep injury.

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Speaker 3: We kind of knew those three were all going to

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Speaker 3: be day to day. You weren't going to get the

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Speaker 3: fittive answers on a Thursday.

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Speaker 2: And they were all limited on Wednesday and limited on Thursday.

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Speaker 2: So hopefully trending in the right direction. Just they're out there,

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Speaker 2: a little bit of load management on Wednesday and Thursday,

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Speaker 2: but they're out there and you know, hopefully ready if

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Speaker 2: and when they will be called upon. Man, I think

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Speaker 2: that's about I think that's about it. I mean a

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Speaker 2: couple guys, you know, like Cam Hayward got got rest.

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Speaker 2: I think it's important to note TJ WATJ. Watt has

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Speaker 2: been limited Wednesday and Thursday in practice.

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Speaker 3: This is the first time he's been on the practice

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Speaker 3: field correct since the incident.

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Speaker 2: Correct. Yes, And according to a lot of the you know,

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Speaker 2: boots on the ground reporter journalist types that are down

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Speaker 2: at practice this afternoon, he was limited, but was down

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Speaker 2: there light participant once again on Friday today. So we'll

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Speaker 2: wait and see if we get the final who's in,

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Speaker 2: who's out, who's questionable, who's doubtful, who's you know, probable,

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Speaker 2: all that stuff. But that's what we know.

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Speaker 3: Tons changed really since Tuesday since we talked about this.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, not a lot changed. I think I'd be I'd

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Speaker 2: feel a little more optimistic if Calvin Austin the third

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Speaker 2: was able to be limited in some capacity.

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Speaker 3: One, I bet I'm just leaning towards I don't think

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Speaker 3: you're going to see.

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Speaker 2: Him Other than that, I think, yeah, yeah, a little

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Speaker 2: mostly what we expected. Hopefully everything's okay with Jaylen Ramsey

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Speaker 2: and I think you're right.

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Speaker 3: I think Roman Wilson gets a helmet, got gotta be

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Speaker 3: he's chronic, Mike glam more involved, Miller's gonna be out

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Speaker 3: there fair amount more tight end usage I mean again,

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Speaker 3: you can't make out and.

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Speaker 2: You're I know, this is kind of a right turn here,

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Speaker 2: But if you're Roman Wilson, this is a real opportunity.

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Speaker 3: Not only is if you get a helmet both both games.

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Speaker 2: Not only is DK out and it's like, okay, we

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Speaker 2: need you to be active because we need a fifth guy.

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Speaker 2: But if you're down DK, you're down Calvin Austin. It's

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Speaker 2: not just hey, Roman, you got a helmet and you

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Speaker 2: might get a couple snaps.

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Speaker 3: You're gonna tell you the wide receiver three.

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Speaker 2: At the minimum, you're gonna have to jump on that

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Speaker 2: moving train. And I think it's a real opportunity for like, hey,

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Speaker 2: last couple of weeks you didn't get a helmet. Has

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Speaker 2: been trending in the wrong direction. But all you gotta

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Speaker 2: do is go out there and make a couple of

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Speaker 2: plays and it all of a sudden, it does a

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Speaker 2: one to eighty and it's back going your way. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it got a real opportunity Sunday afternoon.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, he's gonna put I don't know, between

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Speaker 3: twenty and fifty snaps on tape the next two weeks, probably, Yeah,

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Speaker 3: you know, I mean, so uh, okay, it's kind of

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Speaker 3: a bigger conversation, but I'm not to spend a lot

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Speaker 3: of time, like if week seventeen or eighteen doesn't matter

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Speaker 3: against the Ravens. You I think you want to put

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Speaker 3: Will Howard out there to evaluate, you know, I think

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Speaker 3: you want to put Caleb Johnson out there to evaluate totally.

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Speaker 3: Wilson's one of those guys like we have some stuff

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Speaker 3: invested in you. Your story's not written, win or loss.

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Speaker 3: Wilson's gonna be out there. Those other two I mentioned

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Speaker 3: aren't necessarily and by no means did I ever want

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Speaker 3: Warren or game Well to get hurt, but part of

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Speaker 3: me kind of did just so. Johnson at some point

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Speaker 3: this year could have got thrown in. Like you, you're

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Speaker 3: always got you know, or you know, the one game

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Speaker 3: both of them are out, You're getting the ball twenty

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Speaker 3: five times whether you like it or not. And maybe

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Speaker 3: Wilson has some of that these two weeks. You know

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Speaker 3: where you're gonna be out there and running routes if

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Speaker 3: you get an open, winning three of ball.

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Speaker 2: And like you said, for a guy whose story is

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Speaker 2: far from written, sometimes in a weird way, that's the

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Speaker 2: best way to get it turned around. Yeah, Yeah, I've

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Speaker 2: got no I'm in the deep end. I've got to swim.

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Speaker 3: I know that I don't. I'm not even a short

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Speaker 3: of job here next year.

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Speaker 4: Year.

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Speaker 3: Like it's time looking the mirror and be like, I'm

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Speaker 3: this isn't going quite how I want.

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Speaker 2: Exactly right, exactly right, Matt. For the Browns here on

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Speaker 2: their injury department, let's see David and Jok, who's speaking

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Speaker 2: of tight ends now for a couple of weeks. And

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Speaker 2: Jok who has not practiced yet this week.

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Speaker 3: He's also a free agent after the year, and I

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Speaker 3: don't know what the motivation for team or player is

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Speaker 3: to get back on the field.

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Speaker 2: Uh, And Jok who has not practiced yet this week.

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Speaker 2: Brandon Bates has been limited so far this week, Brandon

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Speaker 2: baits part of me one of their other tight ends.

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Speaker 2: And then they just picked up another injury, right you

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Speaker 2: and TV were saying, just came after time here.

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Speaker 3: A couple a little bit ago, said Fanning got hurt

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Speaker 3: in practice, so it is now listed as questionable.

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Speaker 2: So three of their tight ends there.

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Speaker 3: He gets a lot heat sure him like crazy.

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Speaker 2: He's been a kind of a focal point of that

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Speaker 2: offense over the last month. Or so.

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Speaker 3: So I don't think people even need us to tell

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Speaker 3: him at this point because they'd also played the Browns recently.

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Speaker 3: But to their credit, they're playing more rookie snaps than

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Speaker 3: any team in the league. Their rookie class has some

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Speaker 3: promising players. Yeah, but they've clearly made a youth movement,

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Speaker 3: you know, all year long, and Fannin's at the top

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Speaker 3: of that. You know, Judkins was, he's not in the mix.

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Speaker 3: But like even when Fan and the joke you were

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Speaker 3: both out there, they were scheming things up for Fan

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Speaker 3: and even more than anybody else.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, they were. Let's run through the rest of

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Speaker 2: it here for Cleveland, Joel Botonio limited in practice, Tyson

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Speaker 2: Campbell Limited in practice, Mason Graham Limited in practice.

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Speaker 3: They've had a lot of O line injuries, a lot of.

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Speaker 2: O line and D line injuries. Michael Hall Limited. Let's

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Speaker 2: see here. Rashawn Jenkins Limited, Tevin Jenkins Limited, Sam Kamara Limited,

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Speaker 2: and Djoku did not practice. Winston Reed Limited, Dylan Sampson Limited,

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Speaker 2: Shador Sanders was a full participant on Thursday after missing

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Speaker 2: some time earlier in the week with that finger injury.

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Speaker 2: A Carsion Sweeshinger Limited Wyatt Teller limited, and Denzel Ward limited.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I mean it's like everybody right almost except for Shador.

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Speaker 2: The entire report there was either did not practice or limited. Now,

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Speaker 2: as you kind of mentioned too, how much of that

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Speaker 2: is just we're focused on the future. We're shutting some

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Speaker 2: guys down vers, you know, real legitimate guys like Wyatt

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Speaker 2: Teller and Denzel Ward and Mason Graham and Joel Botonio.

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Speaker 2: I mean there's some real key contributors on that list

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Speaker 2: for the Browns.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think both the guards Botonio and Teller

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Speaker 3: are also free agents after the year. Remember how critical

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Speaker 3: I was the Browns.

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Speaker 2: Of not draft not drafting in the offensive lineman.

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Speaker 3: Because I think five of their top six guys on

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Speaker 3: the depth chart free agents after the year. So I'm

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Speaker 3: pretty sure those are two of the two of the

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Speaker 3: four or five that are up now. Kind of najoku,

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Speaker 3: I mean if I were them, am I rushing back

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Speaker 3: into this in this situation too? Really? Right? I'm pretty established, you.

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Speaker 2: Know, absolutely, I've the hey is in the barn in

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Speaker 2: that regard. For me, it's not these last two games

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Speaker 2: aren't going to affect my free agency market, but a

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Speaker 2: big injury could right, right, right, So that's what we

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Speaker 2: know about these teams injury reports as we sit here

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Speaker 2: right now. Again, I'm sure we'll have some more news

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Speaker 2: that'll trickle out over the course.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, they'll be guys rolled out in probably the

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Speaker 3: next twenty four hours.

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Speaker 2: Guys rolled out, and you know, more clarity on who's

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Speaker 2: questionable and all those.

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Speaker 3: Different things likely to play.

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Speaker 2: Yes, exactly right, exactly right. But that's kind of where

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Speaker 2: we stand as we get caught up in all the

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Speaker 2: latest from practice.

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Speaker 3: Obviously, the Steeler situation is a little peculiar too, because

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Speaker 3: if you've clinched, I'm not putting Pierre Ciamalu and her

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Speaker 3: big out there. I mean, if they're true fifty to

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Speaker 3: fifty game time decisions. If I haven't clinched, I'm definitely

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Speaker 3: put them out there.

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Speaker 2: You know, absolutely right, absolutely right. And that got thrown

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Speaker 2: into flux a little bit with the Lions loss on

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Speaker 2: Christmas yesterday, Yeah, because the Packers of now, we'll get

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Speaker 2: a little more into this when we do our rally

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Speaker 2: League segment. Yeah yeah, but the Packers have now clinched

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Speaker 2: a playoff spot, yes, so how does that affect what

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Speaker 2: they do Saturday night at home against the Ravens. Who

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Speaker 2: if the Ravens lose, the Steelers clinch a playoff spot.

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Speaker 3: It gets a little convoluted.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it is a little convoluted, But again, we've got

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Speaker 2: the rest of the show to kind of bob and

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Speaker 2: weave and figure those things out and discuss all of

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Speaker 2: the latest and we will continue to do that on

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Speaker 2: the other side with our friend Missy Matthews, the Steelers

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Speaker 2: sideline reporter, will join us on the other side to

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Speaker 2: help paint the picture and help set the scene for

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Speaker 2: Steelers and Browns this weekend in Cleveland. All that and

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Speaker 2: more as we roll along West Shuler Matt Williamson. Just

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Speaker 2: getting started on the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on

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Speaker 2: the Steelers Audio Network.

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Speaker 1: You are tuned about Drive on your twenty four to

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Speaker 1: seven home of the Black.

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Speaker 3: And Goal, Steelers Nation Radio.

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Speaker 2: You hear the bounce, you know what time it is.

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Speaker 2: It's time to talk to Steelers sideline reporter, Queen of

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Speaker 2: the Sideline, Missy Matthews, joins us. Now she's kind enough

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Speaker 2: to do just about every single Friday here on the program. Missy,

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Speaker 2: thank you for taking the time around the holidays and

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Speaker 2: everything hope you had a great Christmas with the family.

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Speaker 2: As we get ready to gear up for this trip

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Speaker 2: to Cleveland here, I want to just take a look

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Speaker 2: back with you first, and what was one of the

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Speaker 2: wildest endings that we've seen in a long time, maybe

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Speaker 2: in history between the Steelers and the Lions at Ford

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Speaker 2: Field last Sunday. But what was it like being down

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Speaker 2: there on the field. What was the scene like, the

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Speaker 2: atmosphere like in that kind of final sequence and the

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Speaker 2: long review by the refs and the confusing call by

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Speaker 2: the refs and it all ends with the Steelers being victorious.

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Speaker 2: I imagine it was a wild one down there on

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Speaker 2: the field.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, just Hayley's I think everyone was confused, players, coaches, fans,

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Speaker 4: the above. And what I have learned over the years

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Speaker 4: is to always just stay with coach Tomlin and watch

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Speaker 4: him because obviously he can talk to reps, he can

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Speaker 4: talk to side judges, he can hear what's going on.

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Speaker 4: And probably a good forty five seconds before they even

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Speaker 4: decided they were going to make the announcement, which again

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Speaker 4: was confusing, coach Tomlin whipped off his headset and started cheering,

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Speaker 4: and I was like, okay, wait, but nothing else is happening,

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Speaker 4: no one else is doing it. But he was clearly

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Speaker 4: talking to somebody and he said that it was you know,

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Speaker 4: he heard them say OPI, So he knew, being on

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Speaker 4: the competition committee and being a head coach that exactly

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Speaker 4: what that meant. That there wasn't going to be another down.

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Speaker 4: There wasn't gonna be time added back that OPI. It

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Speaker 4: didn't matter what happened after that was called, basically, and

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Speaker 4: I think that is kind of the crazy thing that

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Speaker 4: they still ruled it a touchdown even though it wasn't

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Speaker 4: a touchdown, and they said that, and then they're like,

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Speaker 4: oh yeah, but by the way, there was opis, So yeah, no,

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Speaker 4: the game's over. And it took a second, I think,

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Speaker 4: for everybody to kind of look around and realize what happened.

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Speaker 4: And I was looking for Cam Heyward afterwards to interview him,

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Speaker 4: and that's when, you know, the water bottles and some

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Speaker 4: other things started flying onto the field, and I thought,

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Speaker 4: I'm just going to keep my head on a swivel

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Speaker 4: right now. So understandably Lions fans not happy with that call.

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Speaker 3: That's actually what I was going to bring up was

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Speaker 3: how how was the reaction from the Lions fans. Was

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Speaker 3: it pretty good? Yeah?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it went zero to one hundred real quick.

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Speaker 4: It was crazy how fast, you know, because you hear

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Speaker 4: him say, all right, the rolling on the field is

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Speaker 4: a touchdown. Pause. Pause, however, and then you know, you

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Speaker 4: go from cheering to doooing and like I said, throwing

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Speaker 4: something onto the field to let everybody know how unhappy

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Speaker 4: they were. And it's crazy to think that that was

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Speaker 4: just a week ago. And then you watched their game

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Speaker 4: last night and you're just like, man, good thing the

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Speaker 4: Steelers won that game, that that meant something, and just

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Speaker 4: the way that they finished their season too. So this

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Speaker 4: is why the last few weeks of the regular season

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Speaker 4: are always you know, high value entertainment, no matter who's

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Speaker 4: playing and when they're playing and where they're playing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, without a doubt, and you know, Missy three hundred

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Speaker 2: and sixty five days ago, it was a lot of

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Speaker 2: high value games for the Steelers that went the wrong way. Now,

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Speaker 2: three game, three game win streak, it feels like the

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Speaker 2: shoe is on the complete opposite foot. It feels like

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Speaker 2: they are getting hot. They are playing their best football

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Speaker 2: at the right time, as opposed to last year where

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Speaker 2: they were ten and three at one point and then

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Speaker 2: kind of shrank down the stretch. Is that something you

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Speaker 2: feel too, like? Is there is there a real belief?

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Speaker 2: And you know, Matt and I always laugh, like every

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Speaker 2: week when we talk to you, it somehow gets to

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Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers pretty quickly, right. But I got to imagine,

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Speaker 2: like we see the NFL films clip and all the

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Speaker 2: stuff with him and Kenneth Gainwell on the sideline, and

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Speaker 2: how much those guys rally around him. And now you're

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Speaker 2: winning three games in a row in the process against

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Speaker 2: you know, in Baltimore, a really hot Miami team on

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Speaker 2: Monday Night football, and then in a place like Detroit

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Speaker 2: against offense. Can you feel that energy, that momentum, that

437
00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:06,919
Speaker 2: belief coming alive here at the right time and you

438
00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:09,520
Speaker 2: know again which was was clearly not the case twelve

439
00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:10,040
Speaker 2: months ago.

440
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:13,640
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think it's a polar opposite of last

441
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,440
Speaker 4: year where you lost five straight. You went into Baltimore

442
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:18,960
Speaker 4: licking your wounds, like, Okay, we punched our ticket, but

443
00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,840
Speaker 4: this doesn't feel right. Whereas this year you went through

444
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,679
Speaker 4: the ups and downs, the adversity as coach likes to

445
00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:27,040
Speaker 4: call it. You know, in the middle of this season

446
00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:29,040
Speaker 4: and then you start getting onto this hot streak. And

447
00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:31,560
Speaker 4: I think Aaron put it best when he spoke this week.

448
00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,840
Speaker 4: He turns into Benjamin Button, and He's like, I thrive

449
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,280
Speaker 4: in cold weather games. I thrive at the end of

450
00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,000
Speaker 4: the season, and for whatever reason, that part of my

451
00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,399
Speaker 4: game has stuck and it makes everybody slightly slower, and

452
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:45,760
Speaker 4: I stay the same. I'm not faster, But he just

453
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:48,520
Speaker 4: said I stayed the same while other people are slightly slower,

454
00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:50,920
Speaker 4: and I just think that's a great way to put

455
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,080
Speaker 4: it in and I agree. You know, even without seeing

456
00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:55,520
Speaker 4: the NFL clips since he was miked up coach Tomlin

457
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,000
Speaker 4: was miked up for the Lions game. You just see

458
00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,760
Speaker 4: those interactions all the time. And there's no secret that

459
00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,840
Speaker 4: this offense and entire team are rallying around him and

460
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,879
Speaker 4: following his lead. This is a guy who clearly knows

461
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,040
Speaker 4: what he's doing. I forget how many playoff wins he

462
00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:14,600
Speaker 4: has exactly, but there was a graphic that showed all

463
00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:18,320
Speaker 4: the other quarterbacks in the AFC that are potentially, you know,

464
00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:20,960
Speaker 4: could make the playoffs, and all of them combined were

465
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,639
Speaker 4: still less than Aaron rotchis. And you know, some of

466
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:30,119
Speaker 4: them aren't even gonna make yeah, yeah, right, So follow

467
00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,359
Speaker 4: the leader, right, and follow the guy who's been there.

468
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,000
Speaker 4: He has not been bashful about why he came here.

469
00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,479
Speaker 4: I think he has led by example. I think he

470
00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,320
Speaker 4: also hasn't overstepped as stupid as it might sound. I

471
00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:44,840
Speaker 4: think the you know, Cam is very superstitious and he

472
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:47,520
Speaker 4: has to be the wand that calls heads or tails

473
00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,000
Speaker 4: and you know, talk storing that point for the point toss,

474
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,119
Speaker 4: which he was a little wrong in Detroit, which I

475
00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:55,320
Speaker 4: didn't find out so after the game, which was kind

476
00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,240
Speaker 4: of funny, but you know, that's something I'm sure Aaron

477
00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,920
Speaker 4: typically has done his entire your career. But that was

478
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,560
Speaker 4: Cam sing and he kind of just says, Okay, yeah,

479
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:05,679
Speaker 4: go ahead, Cam do it. Who cares?

480
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:11,080
Speaker 3: That's great two parter. So how much do you think

481
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:17,480
Speaker 3: the Ravens Packers results influences playing time on Sunday? And

482
00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:22,560
Speaker 3: Part two is Steelers beat the Browns. Everything's locked up?

483
00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,439
Speaker 3: Do they do? You think they go heavy on rest

484
00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:26,400
Speaker 3: in week eighteen?

485
00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,399
Speaker 4: Yeah? I mean I think it's hard with the Packers

486
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,000
Speaker 4: and the Ravens game because it's not until eight o'clock.

487
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,119
Speaker 4: So if they need to make any practice, squad call up,

488
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,879
Speaker 4: you know, those types of things as done as four pm.

489
00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 4: It's not like you can just predict what's going to

490
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,159
Speaker 4: happen in that game. I don't think anybody's predicted the

491
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,600
Speaker 4: lines were going to play that way last night, So

492
00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:51,720
Speaker 4: you can't really make adjustments in terms of that for Cleveland,

493
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:57,760
Speaker 4: now do you want at all? Yeah? Right, And I

494
00:22:57,800 --> 00:22:59,840
Speaker 4: do think even Aaron said he's never been in that

495
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,600
Speaker 4: situation where he hasn't played when it's like that now,

496
00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,520
Speaker 4: I think week eighteen, if we know, you know, the

497
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:09,080
Speaker 4: Steelers win in Cleveland and or both things happened correctly

498
00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:12,840
Speaker 4: for Saturday night as well, Yeah, you're probably gonna let

499
00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,440
Speaker 4: Mason Rudolph and maybe even Will Howard see the field.

500
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,399
Speaker 4: Why would you let Aaron Rodgers go out there for

501
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,639
Speaker 4: no reason when you know that he is a major

502
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:22,800
Speaker 4: part of why you're making the playoffs and you want

503
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:24,520
Speaker 4: him to be a major part of why you win

504
00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:27,119
Speaker 4: a playoff game and then hopefully win another one and

505
00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:29,800
Speaker 4: see how far you can ride this wave. So I

506
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,000
Speaker 4: do think, and probably just because it is the end

507
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,760
Speaker 4: of the season, you know how there's the bumps and

508
00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,320
Speaker 4: Bruce bruises associated with play that coach always talks about,

509
00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,639
Speaker 4: but that's real. At this time of the year. The

510
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 4: injury list gets longer every week. And it's not that it's,

511
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:45,920
Speaker 4: you know, because guys aren't going to play, it's because

512
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:49,159
Speaker 4: they actually need practice time off just to steal their body.

513
00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,399
Speaker 4: So I do think that if hopefully everything knock on

514
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,520
Speaker 4: wood goes the Steeler's way, we eighteen will definitely see

515
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:57,879
Speaker 4: some of those starters get the day off and get

516
00:23:57,960 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 4: to just watch from the sideline.

517
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,320
Speaker 2: Missy. Last one for you. The Steelers have lost their

518
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:09,400
Speaker 2: last three games there by the Lake, and what seemingly

519
00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,520
Speaker 2: is all different kind of fashion. Right, There's been Jacobe Brissett,

520
00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,520
Speaker 2: and there's been dtr and there's been snow Globe games,

521
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:17,919
Speaker 2: and it's been on Thursdays and it's been on Sundays,

522
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,720
Speaker 2: and but the Steelers have just not had much luck

523
00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:24,639
Speaker 2: in that building as of late twenty twenty one. Actually,

524
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:27,639
Speaker 2: I believe was the last time the Steelers won in Cleveland,

525
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:29,000
Speaker 2: if I'm remembering correctly.

526
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:34,080
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, Ben, would it lose there exactly exactly.

527
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 2: Right, exactly right. Ben's Ben's second home there, and it

528
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 2: you know, it's not it's not Steelers Ravens. It's not

529
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,600
Speaker 2: even some of the you know, the teams that Cincinnati

530
00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,359
Speaker 2: has had, these have all been Cleveland teams that have

531
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,440
Speaker 2: mostly kind of you know, went splat and and and

532
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:51,320
Speaker 2: been a thud at the end of the year. But

533
00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:54,639
Speaker 2: there's always some crazy circumstances around it, whether it's quarterbacks,

534
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 2: whether it's weather, whatever the case.

535
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:58,520
Speaker 3: A lot of short weeks on the road, a lot

536
00:24:58,520 --> 00:24:59,120
Speaker 3: of short.

537
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,639
Speaker 2: Weeks on the road, which does and help. And I

538
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:03,760
Speaker 2: realized for the Steelers there's some weird stuff going on

539
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,600
Speaker 2: now that could be down their top two wide receivers.

540
00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 2: Cleveland is kind of shuffling through quarterbacks. Does you know,

541
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,800
Speaker 2: does this feel like the year that the Steelers kind of,

542
00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,120
Speaker 2: you know, snatch the chain back from the Browns there

543
00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:19,520
Speaker 2: at the dog Pound or is there you know you've

544
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:21,040
Speaker 2: been on the sideline for a lot of these is

545
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 2: there's just something weird that happens in Cleveland. When the

546
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 2: Steelers and the Browns.

547
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:29,840
Speaker 4: Get together, I feel like they're gonna be okay, partially

548
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,320
Speaker 4: because I had just saw that in practice, the rookie

549
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,200
Speaker 4: tight end, the jok who's already been ruled out, got

550
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,680
Speaker 4: heard and is dealing with a groin injury, and Shadora

551
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,200
Speaker 4: Sanders loved him, and for a rookie quarterback, it makes

552
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:43,840
Speaker 4: sense to love a tight end. But if he's not

553
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 4: there and a jok who's not playing, you know, it

554
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 4: starts limiting some of your first and second reads or

555
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,639
Speaker 4: people that you feel comfortable being on the same page

556
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,439
Speaker 4: with you. I do think the Dog Pound will be

557
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:56,639
Speaker 4: on school course, as they always are. I think, you know,

558
00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,840
Speaker 4: even despite their records, people might not realize just how

559
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,480
Speaker 4: your slat fan bases. And I think knowing that Miles

560
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,880
Speaker 4: Garrett could potentially break the all time sack record against

561
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,400
Speaker 4: the Steelers, that's like, you know, that's an extra Christmas

562
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,080
Speaker 4: bonus to Browns fans if it happens and they're there

563
00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:15,800
Speaker 4: for it, and it's against TJ. Watson tem because we

564
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,520
Speaker 4: know there's you know, that whole thing going on. But

565
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:21,560
Speaker 4: I do think, you know, two of those losses were

566
00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 4: on Thursday nights, and the Steelers are what oh and

567
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,399
Speaker 4: six on Thursday nights on the road against Safety North.

568
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,440
Speaker 4: I think you kind of if you take those out

569
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,640
Speaker 4: of the equation now that they didn't happen, it doesn't

570
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:35,080
Speaker 4: seem as bad. But agree, they just need to write

571
00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:37,879
Speaker 4: the ship in terms of having that kind of streak

572
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 4: in Cleveland, specifically against a team that you know usually

573
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:43,959
Speaker 4: is finishing with a losing record.

574
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,480
Speaker 3: Mister, we were about to let you go by one

575
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,200
Speaker 3: more thing. How conscious do you think the Steelers are

576
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:55,760
Speaker 3: of the Miles Garrett you know regular Yeah, Oh.

577
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:57,920
Speaker 4: I mean, I think they're very aware of it. Coach

578
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,760
Speaker 4: Tomlin told us on his show that air on Katie

579
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,439
Speaker 4: Kate tonight. You never want to be on the wrong

580
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,159
Speaker 4: side of that record, and you don't want to be

581
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,240
Speaker 4: the team that he broke it against. You know, I

582
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:13,000
Speaker 4: still remember when James Harrison broke the Steeler single season record.

583
00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,960
Speaker 4: Guess what it was in Cleveland? It was against the Browns.

584
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,600
Speaker 4: I remember how tight that locker room was afterwards, as

585
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,520
Speaker 4: everybody was, you know, around him to talk to him

586
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,280
Speaker 4: about it. Guess what TJ passed Bebo against the Browns.

587
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,040
Speaker 4: You know, those are things you remember and I think

588
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:33,359
Speaker 4: for the right. Oh literally last week I was watching

589
00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:35,159
Speaker 4: their game against the Bills, like, if you're going to

590
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:37,800
Speaker 4: do it, just do it today. Do it today, then

591
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,439
Speaker 4: we don't even have to talk about it. But it

592
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:42,640
Speaker 4: was almost as if fate had it where he only

593
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 4: got half a sack, which I think was questionable. But

594
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,520
Speaker 4: you know how sometimes that goes with the home stetitians.

595
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:51,320
Speaker 4: We saw statisticians. We saw that when we were in Baltimore,

596
00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:53,480
Speaker 4: and they took that sack away from TJ. And he

597
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:55,440
Speaker 4: put a pass straight hand. Not that I'm bitter about

598
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:59,560
Speaker 4: any of this or you remember that details, but to

599
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:01,400
Speaker 4: say the I'm not too sure that was a half

600
00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:03,720
Speaker 4: sack that he should have got, but it is what

601
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:04,320
Speaker 4: it is. Ye.

602
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,639
Speaker 2: Well, let's make him wait till week eighteen to bust

603
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:10,919
Speaker 2: out the champagne there for for Miles Garrett, great stuff

604
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:12,960
Speaker 2: is always with our friend and the queen of the sideline,

605
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,000
Speaker 2: Missy Matthews. Missy, thank you for taking the time, and

606
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:16,920
Speaker 2: we'll see you tomorrow.

607
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:19,720
Speaker 4: All right, sounds good, guys, Thank you.

608
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,639
Speaker 2: There she goes Missy Matthews, I think from a hockey

609
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,119
Speaker 2: rink somewhere in western Pennsylvania with her with her sons.

610
00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:29,320
Speaker 2: It sounded like here's some screaming occasionally and whistles blowing there.

611
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,000
Speaker 2: Just a few, just a few, but great stuff from Missy.

612
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:35,879
Speaker 2: Thanks to her for taking the You know I should

613
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 2: have known, Like I texted her this morning, I was like, hey, Missy,

614
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:40,320
Speaker 2: you know, Matt and I are still having a show today, Like,

615
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:41,800
Speaker 2: if you could join us, we'd love to have you,

616
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,640
Speaker 2: if you got plans, no sweat, please, don't you know,

617
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:46,800
Speaker 2: do anything for us. And she was like, oh, no problem,

618
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 2: I got time, I got I got time for you guys,

619
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:51,200
Speaker 2: so big thanks to Missy.

620
00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:53,800
Speaker 3: You'll see her tomorrow, you guys will bust. I just

621
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,080
Speaker 3: want to make sure that that's the only one that

622
00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:57,400
Speaker 3: the Steelers drive to.

623
00:28:57,560 --> 00:28:59,200
Speaker 2: That is the only one that the Steelers drive to.

624
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 3: Do you leave it different times than usual?

625
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:03,720
Speaker 2: I guess maybe unless you count Friday night lights, But

626
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,120
Speaker 2: that's an inner squad scrimage, that's not a game. So

627
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,720
Speaker 2: there's buses that lee. The busses leave from the South

628
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 2: Side and then they stop in Cranberry and then they

629
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 2: just people that live in the North Hills that don't

630
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 2: want to It's almost like a two like a two

631
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 2: stop destination things, if that makes sense.

632
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:21,920
Speaker 3: And what time do you guys like take off?

633
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,640
Speaker 2: And it's about the same time in the afternoon.

634
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:26,360
Speaker 3: Okay, is it? Police escorted the whole way?

635
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 2: I don't think the whole way. Tyler's shaking his head.

636
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:30,840
Speaker 2: You'll laugh. This is actually the first time. This is

637
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,400
Speaker 2: my fourth year traveling. It's the first time I've ever

638
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 2: taken the team buses to Cleveland because two of the

639
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,160
Speaker 2: games have been Thursday night games. So myself and our

640
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,080
Speaker 2: producer Dan Quinlan would just drive up day of drive

641
00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 2: up after the game because it's a Thursday night game.

642
00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 2: Why go out? Why go out Wednesday and be there

643
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,240
Speaker 2: for so long? It's a two hour drive easy. And

644
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,440
Speaker 2: then the one game that's been a Sunday one o'clock

645
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,440
Speaker 2: game since I started, I actually had a buddy that

646
00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,880
Speaker 2: got married in Cleveland that Saturday, funny enough, ironically enough,

647
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,200
Speaker 2: and so my wife and I drove up Saturday and

648
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:05,000
Speaker 2: went to the wedding and I stayed in the hotel

649
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:07,520
Speaker 2: with her, and then Sunday I went to work the

650
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 2: game and she drove home and then I and then

651
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:12,240
Speaker 2: I team busted at home. But I've never I've never

652
00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,080
Speaker 2: gone out on the team buses. And I know on

653
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:16,920
Speaker 2: the way home you get a police escort to a

654
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:18,560
Speaker 2: certain extent, and then they.

655
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 3: I wouldn't think you need them all the way down

656
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:20,960
Speaker 3: the highways.

657
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:22,560
Speaker 2: But I think it'll be one of those things. And

658
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:24,560
Speaker 2: TV could give me a yes, or no here. But

659
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:26,800
Speaker 2: like I think, once we get to a certain point

660
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:28,960
Speaker 2: in Cleveland, in the city limits, there'll be a police

661
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:32,760
Speaker 2: escort waiting to take us to the hotel and unloaded

662
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:36,400
Speaker 2: and all that stuff. But this is the for four years.

663
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:38,120
Speaker 2: There's there's not much on the road that I haven't

664
00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 2: done at this point, but taking the taking the buses

665
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 2: to Cleveland. This will be a first time for me,

666
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 2: so I'm excited for that. I'm looking forward to it.

667
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,880
Speaker 2: It sounds fun whether weather doesn't look terrible. And I've

668
00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:50,520
Speaker 2: got I've got an old buddy from high school that

669
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:52,680
Speaker 2: married a girl from Cleveland, like I was just saying,

670
00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:54,760
Speaker 2: and so I'm actually gonna get to have dinner with

671
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:56,600
Speaker 2: them tomorrow night. Haven't seen them in a couple of years,

672
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 2: so that'll be nice. And hopefully the weather will hold

673
00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:01,360
Speaker 2: off and I'll be get and home Sunday evening with

674
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,560
Speaker 2: a win over the Browns.

675
00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:05,800
Speaker 3: Division Championship hat and T shirt.

676
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, and no record for Miles Garrett. That would

677
00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:11,400
Speaker 2: be the perfect scenario. Let's start getting into a little

678
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:13,320
Speaker 2: Browns and Steelers when we return on the other side

679
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,360
Speaker 2: a little bit more, I should say, we'll take a

680
00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:17,720
Speaker 2: look at some of Matt's stats as we start to

681
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:21,360
Speaker 2: tee up this matchup between two old AFC North foes.

682
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:23,960
Speaker 2: When we return on the other side, it's the Drive

683
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:27,719
Speaker 2: Wesheeler Matt Williamson, Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network,

684
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 2: your tunes.

685
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:39,080
Speaker 1: About Drive on your twenty four to seven home of

686
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:41,600
Speaker 1: the Black and Goal, Steelers Nation Radio.

687
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 2: Let's talk some numbers, some analytics, some stats behind Steelers

688
00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:59,320
Speaker 2: and Browns. Of course, with Matt's weekly stats packet probably

689
00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:00,760
Speaker 2: up on Steelers by now.

690
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:03,000
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah. I actually turned in a little early

691
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:05,640
Speaker 3: this week. Wednesday morning. I turned in and usually I

692
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,480
Speaker 3: do Wednesday night, and they headed up immediately. You were

693
00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:09,680
Speaker 3: working on Christmas Eve.

694
00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:11,120
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, you're getting on the nice list.

695
00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:12,960
Speaker 2: Hum making sure you're not on the naughty list there

696
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:17,720
Speaker 2: turning in your stats packet late, Matt. Last week, you

697
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:21,240
Speaker 2: and I the head of that Lions game, talked about

698
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,120
Speaker 2: how you're gonna need to score some points to win this.

699
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,840
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, and they did, and they did right this week.

700
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,239
Speaker 2: I think it might be the opposite, I feel very much.

701
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:31,920
Speaker 2: I'm thinking it's one of those old school like first

702
00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:34,040
Speaker 2: to seventeen, first of twenty is gonna have a really

703
00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:35,160
Speaker 2: good chance to win this game.

704
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 3: Yeah, which is really a Browns thing across the board.

705
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:39,160
Speaker 3: One side of the ball is good, the other side

706
00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:39,640
Speaker 3: is It's.

707
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 2: Very much a Browns thing, and I think compiled by

708
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:44,640
Speaker 2: the fact that both of these teams are dealing with

709
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 2: some significant absences.

710
00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,880
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I don't know if this fan of news

711
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,840
Speaker 3: is huge Judkins, I mean Judkins and fan of the

712
00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,920
Speaker 3: two get the ball. Judkins is out the year, hurt

713
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,040
Speaker 3: last week, Fanning got hurt today. Who knows what happens

714
00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,600
Speaker 3: there should or we gonna have to do a whole

715
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:03,200
Speaker 3: segment on your door if you want. But I mean,

716
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,280
Speaker 3: I'm not super impressed, and he needs all the help

717
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:07,520
Speaker 3: he can get. There's a lot of line injuries, but

718
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:09,960
Speaker 3: the defense all on all is pretty much still intact.

719
00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:12,480
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm sure there's some guys in a meaningless

720
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,840
Speaker 3: game that might not play, but it's pretty fierce. It

721
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:17,320
Speaker 3: had a lot of man coverage, you play a lot

722
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:18,400
Speaker 3: of single high you know.

723
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,760
Speaker 2: They they've got a talented defense, one that's frustrated a

724
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:26,080
Speaker 2: lot of talented offenses this year. And yeah, despite the

725
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:28,720
Speaker 2: uptick and form from the Steelers offense over these past

726
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:31,520
Speaker 2: three weeks. I think on the road against that defense

727
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:36,080
Speaker 2: down DK, we know for sure, and what's looking like

728
00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,760
Speaker 2: Calvin Austin as well. Run the ball, keep it close

729
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:41,960
Speaker 2: to the vest, don't turn the ball over. Let them

730
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,320
Speaker 2: be the ones that make the mistakes. You'd hope me

731
00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:48,320
Speaker 2: win a closer, low scoring game, albeit one where you're

732
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,960
Speaker 2: in control for sixty minutes, but you never run away.

733
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 2: You know, you don't l the youn't beat him twenty

734
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:56,040
Speaker 2: eight to seven or thirty one to ten type result.

735
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:59,440
Speaker 3: Now, Sanders does turn the ball over a lot lately,

736
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:01,760
Speaker 3: and and he will hold the ball a lot. So

737
00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:06,760
Speaker 3: if the Steelers do win heavy on the scoreboard, I

738
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:08,680
Speaker 3: bet the defense had something to do with it, you know,

739
00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:10,880
Speaker 3: I'm talking about it, like a pick six or just

740
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,759
Speaker 3: so many turnovers in their own end or something like that. Yeah,

741
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:14,920
Speaker 3: that could be in the cards too.

742
00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:18,000
Speaker 2: Yeah. A couple of things here that are kind of

743
00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:22,279
Speaker 2: leading to that thought process from your stat packet. The

744
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:26,400
Speaker 2: first Steelers six yard average death of target lowest in

745
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:30,880
Speaker 2: the NFL. Cleveland's second lowest six point seven yards.

746
00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:34,319
Speaker 3: Yes, they've had several different quarterbacks, but it's still the

747
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:35,680
Speaker 3: same way they play.

748
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:38,240
Speaker 2: Neither one of these teams really trying to stretch the field,

749
00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:40,400
Speaker 2: a lot of stuff at the line of scrimmage, a

750
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,040
Speaker 2: lot of stuff short of the sticks. Yeah, a lot

751
00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:45,160
Speaker 2: of methodical pass game.

752
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:47,880
Speaker 3: Now, I love high percentages after the catch.

753
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,960
Speaker 2: Yes, I do think we've seen the Steelers expand that

754
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:53,280
Speaker 2: a little bit, particularly last week in Detroit.

755
00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:56,080
Speaker 3: I say that I'm open to the idea that things

756
00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:58,360
Speaker 3: are changing with the Steelers a little bit lately. But

757
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,560
Speaker 3: I wonder if this is part of that too.

758
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,800
Speaker 2: Yes, and knowing you need to score points as opposed

759
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:07,439
Speaker 2: to against the Browns team, and your.

760
00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:09,759
Speaker 3: Average depth of target against the Lions as opposed to

761
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,759
Speaker 3: the Browns to very different, even though both play a

762
00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:15,759
Speaker 3: ton of man coverage. The Lions give up a ton

763
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:18,799
Speaker 3: of explodesves Brown's defense is scary. Pass rush is better.

764
00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:21,359
Speaker 3: You don't have to keep up with Goff and Saint

765
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:23,440
Speaker 3: Brown and all those guys too, So I would think

766
00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:26,080
Speaker 3: you game plan it differently.

767
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:29,360
Speaker 2: Yes, Yes, that's exactly right. You as you and I

768
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:31,640
Speaker 2: the analogy we use a lot. You know, if you

769
00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,160
Speaker 2: had red paint last week against the Lions, maybe it's

770
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,520
Speaker 2: green paint this week against the Browns. Steelers have generated

771
00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:41,480
Speaker 2: over sixty seven percent of their passing yards after the

772
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:45,960
Speaker 2: catch highest in the area. Cleveland's second out about fifty

773
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,839
Speaker 2: seven percent. So both of these teams a lot of

774
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:56,120
Speaker 2: not necessarily stretching the field shorter stuff, having guys, you know,

775
00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:58,400
Speaker 2: make Jalen Warn making somebody miss at the line of scrimmage,

776
00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:00,919
Speaker 2: DK Metcalf making somebody miss at the line of scrimmage,

777
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:03,479
Speaker 2: fan and making somebody miss, you know, a few yards

778
00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:06,319
Speaker 2: past the line of scrimmage. And what's that look like

779
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:07,000
Speaker 2: this week?

780
00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:09,680
Speaker 3: Now, I will say some of these stats, because they've

781
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:14,799
Speaker 3: had three basic quarterbacks, get a little skewed because, I mean,

782
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:17,800
Speaker 3: we remember Flacco, especially as a Bengal. I mean, the

783
00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:20,040
Speaker 3: ball came out really really quick at his age, like

784
00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,040
Speaker 3: a Rivers, like a Rogers, you know. I mean, that's

785
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:26,520
Speaker 3: kind of an old quarterback thing. Gabriel is one of

786
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,280
Speaker 3: the guys that is lower time to throw than Rogers

787
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:33,840
Speaker 3: all year. So of the three, Sanders definitely holds the

788
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:37,480
Speaker 3: ball longer trying to develop plays. But some of it's

789
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:39,399
Speaker 3: just because he doesn't feel to rush well and it's

790
00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:41,319
Speaker 3: not necessarily a good thing with him folding the ball.

791
00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:45,800
Speaker 3: So that's stat's a smidge misleading because it's a season

792
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,080
Speaker 3: long stat in terms of the sure they get it

793
00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:51,120
Speaker 3: out and the after the catch stuff. But they definitely

794
00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:56,120
Speaker 3: are doing a good job and are big on scheming

795
00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:58,839
Speaker 3: up Fannin in space. He's a good after the catch

796
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,279
Speaker 3: guy for sure. I don't look at their receivers as

797
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,960
Speaker 3: being particularly great after the catch. The wide outs, you know,

798
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:06,839
Speaker 3: the tight ends are, but I don't know who's gonna

799
00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:07,600
Speaker 3: play out the tight end.

800
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:07,920
Speaker 2: You know.

801
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:10,200
Speaker 3: Three game to analyze, to be honest.

802
00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:12,919
Speaker 2: With it's a very hard game to analyze, I think

803
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,600
Speaker 2: in general, just because the time of the year and

804
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,279
Speaker 2: what it means for both teams. Yeah, but then when

805
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:19,160
Speaker 2: you combine again.

806
00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,480
Speaker 3: Seventy and eighteen are always tough. I mean analyzing yesterday's

807
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:23,719
Speaker 3: games were hard. But now there's some balls in the

808
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:25,279
Speaker 3: air too the Steelers needed or.

809
00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,080
Speaker 2: Not right, and a ton of just a ton of

810
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:30,400
Speaker 2: injuries or both teams, especially on the offensive side of

811
00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:35,080
Speaker 2: things for Cleveland. And so that's yeah, again, thinking that

812
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:38,359
Speaker 2: this is gonna be a lower scoring, closer to the vest,

813
00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:39,880
Speaker 2: don't blink type game.

814
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,640
Speaker 3: That's definitely the way I'm leaning. And I know it's

815
00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:45,000
Speaker 3: not supposed to be bad weather, but there's gonna be something.

816
00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:48,480
Speaker 2: I'm glad you mentioned that, because it's still forty eight

817
00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,200
Speaker 2: hours away from now, like something's gonna it says forty

818
00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:51,960
Speaker 2: six degrees and.

819
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,680
Speaker 3: Cloudy, okay, but it's not gonna be like playing in Pasadena.

820
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,920
Speaker 2: No. But I also if it's actually forty six degrees

821
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:02,240
Speaker 2: and calm and just a little overcast, I'll be surprised.

822
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,000
Speaker 2: I bet it was, because that's just a lot can

823
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:08,000
Speaker 2: change in forty eight hours in the weather and Cleveland,

824
00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:09,000
Speaker 2: you know, like the kick.

825
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:11,719
Speaker 3: Off like that, and by halftime there's something crazy going

826
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:13,040
Speaker 3: on exactly right.

827
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:14,919
Speaker 2: And it's supposed to it's supposed to rain all day

828
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,319
Speaker 2: Saturday in Cleveland. It looks like now from looking out

829
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:19,799
Speaker 2: of here, so maybe it's a slower track. Maybe some

830
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:22,200
Speaker 2: of that stuff carries over, who knows. But yeah, the

831
00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:25,239
Speaker 2: weather there at Huntington Bank Field this time of year,

832
00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:30,200
Speaker 2: always it's unpredictable. Yeah, yeah, And it's a factor. It's

833
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:32,840
Speaker 2: always a factor, even if it's just wind, you know,

834
00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:34,920
Speaker 2: something like that. It's it's it's always a factor.

835
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,680
Speaker 3: Effects of kicking game at a minimum or depassing or.

836
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:41,000
Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely And speaking of passing, here's some good news

837
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:43,520
Speaker 2: for the Steelers and here's something that I think you

838
00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:45,440
Speaker 2: and I have highlighted over the last couple of weeks,

839
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:48,799
Speaker 2: how quietly effective we think Joey Porter Junior has been. Oh,

840
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,719
Speaker 2: I know, and how he hasn't gotten much of the

841
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:55,000
Speaker 2: credit uh or maybe as much credit as he's deserved

842
00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:58,719
Speaker 2: of really settling in and really since around the Halloween

843
00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:02,160
Speaker 2: time frame being one of the better cornerbacks in the

844
00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:06,400
Speaker 2: National Football League, Joey Porter Junior has played one thousand,

845
00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:11,280
Speaker 2: four hundred and seventeen consecutive snaps in coverage without allowing

846
00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:15,600
Speaker 2: a touchdown, the longest active streak amongst cornerbacks, more than

847
00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:19,720
Speaker 2: twice as long as the next closest streak. His last

848
00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:24,239
Speaker 2: allowed touchdown in coverage was Week eight of twenty twenty three.

849
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,239
Speaker 2: He's made a play on the ball twenty two point

850
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:29,080
Speaker 2: two percent of his targets and coverage this season. That's

851
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:32,239
Speaker 2: the third highest rate among quarterbacks you know that have

852
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:36,160
Speaker 2: played so many snaps, had so many targets, And he

853
00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:39,920
Speaker 2: has allowed just a fifty two point four completion percentage

854
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:45,160
Speaker 2: rate when targeted, ninth lowest in the National Football League. Yeah,

855
00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:46,480
Speaker 2: Matt really ever since?

856
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:47,239
Speaker 1: Wow?

857
00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:50,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely right? Those are elite numbers. Those are. You know,

858
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:57,040
Speaker 2: those are all pro type statistics and numbers, and himself

859
00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:00,600
Speaker 2: in that entire defense. Let's just let's just be honest.

860
00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:02,040
Speaker 2: They had a bad day. They had a rough day

861
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:05,440
Speaker 2: at the office that Thursday night in Cincinnati against Flacco,

862
00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:09,480
Speaker 2: Chase in Higgins brutal. But since then, he.

863
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:11,759
Speaker 3: Has really has been Since then, he has been. I mean,

864
00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:14,120
Speaker 3: they of its ramsay moving to safety, and you can

865
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:14,919
Speaker 3: point to that too.

866
00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 2: They they've much improved, But I think he's been at

867
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:21,040
Speaker 2: the forefront of that conversation. He is. And we've mentioned

868
00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:22,600
Speaker 2: this a couple of times. But when you when you

869
00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:27,200
Speaker 2: have two stats like that, the consecutive snapstreaking coverage without

870
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:31,360
Speaker 2: allowing a touchdown and then the ninth lowest completion percentage

871
00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:34,000
Speaker 2: win targeted in the NFL this year, I.

872
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,359
Speaker 3: Like the second one even better. The first one stands out,

873
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:38,120
Speaker 3: but I mean the second one, to me is more important.

874
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:41,799
Speaker 2: And they've done that here playing some really good wide

875
00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:45,040
Speaker 2: receivers and really good quarterbacks. Yeah, you know, in these

876
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:50,240
Speaker 2: in these last easy assignments exactly right like this week,

877
00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:52,239
Speaker 2: he might have an easy assignment, you know what I mean.

878
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:55,239
Speaker 2: But for the most part, they've played a lot of

879
00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:58,839
Speaker 2: talented wide receivers, a lot of talented quarterbacks, and man

880
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:02,400
Speaker 2: he has he has been quietly, but I think people

881
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:04,759
Speaker 2: now are starting to pick up on it just how

882
00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:05,640
Speaker 2: effective he's been.

883
00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:08,680
Speaker 3: So you may have noticed. But when I do like

884
00:41:08,719 --> 00:41:12,480
Speaker 3: the stat pack stuff, I never put coverage stats in there.

885
00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:15,600
Speaker 2: That's just one stood out a little bit because and.

886
00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:17,520
Speaker 3: I didn't even put it in the packets, but I

887
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:21,319
Speaker 3: did tweet it. The reason I don't is I don't

888
00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:24,200
Speaker 3: trust the people figuring it out because you don't know

889
00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:28,319
Speaker 3: the coverage assignments every time. Sure like maybe his guy

890
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:30,680
Speaker 3: did catch a touchdown and he just blew an assignment,

891
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:31,160
Speaker 3: was covering the.

892
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:33,920
Speaker 2: Wrong dude, you know, and it thought that that was

893
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:34,959
Speaker 2: on the safety.

894
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:38,520
Speaker 3: Right or the defense coordinator right, like Y's got here.

895
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:41,160
Speaker 3: But even if they're slightly off, they still blow you

896
00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:44,200
Speaker 3: away in terms of their potency. I mean, they're they're crazy.

897
00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:47,120
Speaker 3: And where I got it from was if you go

898
00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:49,359
Speaker 3: to NFL dot Com. I mean this is straight from

899
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:52,160
Speaker 3: the league, and you go to their premium and you

900
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:54,239
Speaker 3: can click on every game and they'll they have a

901
00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:57,319
Speaker 3: little section called Insights, you know, before the game where

902
00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,640
Speaker 3: it's like, here's some cool next gen Stats previewing this game,

903
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:04,000
Speaker 3: and I just cut and pasted it from there, you know, so,

904
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:05,960
Speaker 3: I mean this is straight from the league. This is

905
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:10,080
Speaker 3: the official scorers. This isn't some service that's trying to

906
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:12,840
Speaker 3: make an aim for themselves or anything like that. Of course,

907
00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:15,640
Speaker 3: now I cut and paste it, and as you can imagine,

908
00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:18,640
Speaker 3: it got a lot of traction on Twitter, but it

909
00:42:18,719 --> 00:42:23,480
Speaker 3: also got a million people asking, well, I'll do the penalties. Yeah,

910
00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:27,040
Speaker 3: and somebody did it for me where they're really not

911
00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:29,680
Speaker 3: that bad lately, no, I mean, in fact, not have

912
00:42:29,719 --> 00:42:33,040
Speaker 3: a misconception yeah or now, and they're like, give me

913
00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:35,879
Speaker 3: the mistackles. I'm like, that's gotten a lot better too.

914
00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:38,880
Speaker 3: I mean, I think he'd even tell you his rookie

915
00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:40,839
Speaker 3: year he wasn't a very good tackler, and he does

916
00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:43,400
Speaker 3: have some games here and there where they're not great.

917
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:47,400
Speaker 3: But he's way better in terms of penalties and tackling

918
00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:48,680
Speaker 3: than he's ever been.

919
00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:53,160
Speaker 2: Two penalties in his last seven games. Yeah, I mean

920
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:58,600
Speaker 2: he's been targeted twenty times, seven completions, no touchdowns, fifty

921
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:04,640
Speaker 2: point six QB rating, two penalties. Pretty good, Matt so many,

922
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:07,040
Speaker 2: You're absolutely right. You talk about Joey Porter junior. You

923
00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:09,920
Speaker 2: tweet about Joey Porter junior, whatever the case is, and

924
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:13,520
Speaker 2: you immediately get some people, Yeah, talk about the penalties. Yeah,

925
00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:17,320
Speaker 2: what about all the penalties? Yeah, and it up until

926
00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:20,040
Speaker 2: October ve.

927
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:22,080
Speaker 3: Player in the league last year that was a number one.

928
00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:25,360
Speaker 2: I'm not going to act like those people are speaking gibberish.

929
00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:27,520
Speaker 3: No, no, right, but that has changed.

930
00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:29,440
Speaker 2: That narrative is no longer.

931
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:31,279
Speaker 3: Make sure I would say, you're allowed to get better.

932
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:33,600
Speaker 3: You're allowed to get better, right, doesn't mean you're the

933
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:35,760
Speaker 3: most penalized guy your whole career, Matt.

934
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:40,400
Speaker 2: It's like, you know, the the batter that the baseball

935
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:42,719
Speaker 2: player that steps into the end of the league as

936
00:43:42,719 --> 00:43:45,800
Speaker 2: a power hitter and can only smack fastballs over the fence,

937
00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:48,239
Speaker 2: that can't hit a curveball. Well, by year three he

938
00:43:48,239 --> 00:43:50,920
Speaker 2: can slap that curveball into left field for a single,

939
00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:53,080
Speaker 2: or he's not so in the league, or he's not

940
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:56,960
Speaker 2: exactly right, or he's certainly not hitting you know, third

941
00:43:57,000 --> 00:43:58,000
Speaker 2: in the lineup or whatever.

942
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:00,439
Speaker 3: And one thing we've talked about for years with Porter

943
00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:03,720
Speaker 3: two is if you look at the most penalized corners

944
00:44:03,719 --> 00:44:06,520
Speaker 3: in the league, it's the it's the best dudes too.

945
00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:09,359
Speaker 3: I mean it's also like this is a side note,

946
00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:11,920
Speaker 3: but it always made me crazy, like boy, but he

947
00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:14,719
Speaker 3: led the league in drops. You know who usually leads

948
00:44:14,719 --> 00:44:16,960
Speaker 3: the league in drops was like Wes Welker, who had

949
00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:21,080
Speaker 3: like fo million targets from me to you with ray

950
00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:23,759
Speaker 3: Lewis trying to blow him into next week, you know, like, yeah,

951
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:25,719
Speaker 3: he has a couple more drops than the dudes that

952
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:28,399
Speaker 3: don't get the ball, you know, like the corners that

953
00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:30,600
Speaker 3: are on the field all the time, off and against

954
00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:33,440
Speaker 3: the top receivers without a ton of help are going

955
00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:35,480
Speaker 3: to get more penalties than the other dudes. It's just

956
00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:39,239
Speaker 3: the way it goes, that goes with the territory.

957
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:41,880
Speaker 2: That narrative is gone. Man. Yeah, I'm telling you, like

958
00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:45,279
Speaker 2: the whole Like Joey Porter Junior was only drafted so

959
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:47,320
Speaker 2: high because his dad and because he's from here, and

960
00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:49,239
Speaker 2: because he went to Penn State, and all he does

961
00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:51,839
Speaker 2: is take penalties, and if he was anybody else, he'd

962
00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:55,399
Speaker 2: be gone or he'd be benched at times in the past.

963
00:44:56,200 --> 00:44:58,200
Speaker 2: I'm not even saying you were completely right some of that.

964
00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:00,560
Speaker 2: Some of that, some of that were it's valid.

965
00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:02,600
Speaker 3: It's not anymore, No, it's not.

966
00:45:02,640 --> 00:45:04,839
Speaker 2: At all any team in the league right now would

967
00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:06,680
Speaker 2: love to have. I mean, I don't know. The Houston

968
00:45:06,719 --> 00:45:09,520
Speaker 2: Texans have three really good corners. Maybe there's a couple exceptions,

969
00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:13,280
Speaker 2: but like every second league right now. Take Joey Porter Jr.

970
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:15,319
Speaker 3: There's a conversation. We need to spend much time marks

971
00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:17,120
Speaker 3: we have so many twin such a condensed week. But

972
00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:19,680
Speaker 3: he's kind of a Pro Bowl snub.

973
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:20,799
Speaker 2: I think he is.

974
00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:22,920
Speaker 3: Cam Hayward's the one I've been thinking about since I

975
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:25,319
Speaker 3: can't believe he met he was snubbed, But anyway, Pro

976
00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:28,600
Speaker 3: Bowl's kind of dumb. Sure, Anyways, he has a case

977
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:31,000
Speaker 3: to be, like, I'm one of the best in the AFC. Yes,

978
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:33,680
Speaker 3: and trust me, folks, when his contract rolls around, which

979
00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:37,120
Speaker 3: is soon, you're that's gonna reflect it. Yes, it is

980
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:38,680
Speaker 3: money to hugs.

981
00:45:38,520 --> 00:45:40,160
Speaker 2: And he's not gonna get paid just because of who

982
00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:42,040
Speaker 2: his dad is, because of where he went to college,

983
00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 2: or because he grew up in Wexford. Uh. He has

984
00:45:45,280 --> 00:45:48,960
Speaker 2: been unbelievable this back half of the season, and some

985
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:51,160
Speaker 2: people are starting to catch up. But some people still

986
00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:53,680
Speaker 2: think he just takes a bunch of penalties and gets

987
00:45:53,719 --> 00:45:56,400
Speaker 2: burnt all the time. Is just not the case, not

988
00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:58,680
Speaker 2: the case at all. Hour in the Books, Another hour

989
00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:01,320
Speaker 2: to go, five Star Fry. We'll get into some matchups,

990
00:46:01,320 --> 00:46:03,279
Speaker 2: some more Matt's stats. An hour number two, we'll go

991
00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:06,200
Speaker 2: round the league in preview Week seventeen. All of that

992
00:46:06,239 --> 00:46:09,080
Speaker 2: and more as we roll along, Euler Williamson. It's the

993
00:46:09,160 --> 00:46:10,720
Speaker 2: Drive on the Steelers Audio Network.