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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. Good evening,

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Speaker 1: Steeler Nation, how you doing well? That's good us too.

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Speaker 1: It is our number two of the Drive here and

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Speaker 1: we go to the phone lines to talk to the

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Speaker 1: Dean of Doom, the lord of living in his fears,

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Speaker 1: Steeler's historian and our friend Bob Labriola Labs. Thank you

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Speaker 1: for taking the time for us on a Thursday. As always,

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Speaker 1: Matt and I kind of kicked around a Aaron Rodgers

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Speaker 1: question to start the show, and I wanted to get

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Speaker 1: your opinion on it to this point, Aaron Rodgers, has

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Speaker 1: he met your expectations? Has he exceeded your expectations? Or

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Speaker 1: do you still need to wait and see how these

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Speaker 1: last three plus games play out?

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Speaker 2: Stole my question for.

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Speaker 3: I gotta say he's exceeded my expectations. I mean, the

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Speaker 3: you know, the physical part of it, the way he

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Speaker 3: plays the game is still at a high level. I mean,

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Speaker 3: and I didn't really have any you know, I wasn't

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Speaker 3: really paying close attention to him, you know, when he

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Speaker 3: was with the Jets, so you know, watching it from Afar,

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Speaker 3: hearing about it from afar, you know, forty two year

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Speaker 3: old man, you know, the whole thing. But he can

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Speaker 3: really still play. He can spin it, he sees it,

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Speaker 3: he can often anticipate it, and he's throwing the ball

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Speaker 3: in an anticipatory and on time way. But what has

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Speaker 3: really impressed me is, you know, the way he has

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Speaker 3: been a quarterback, a leader. He is available for his teammates.

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Speaker 3: He's an example. You know, the narrative that was you know,

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Speaker 3: following Aaron Rodgers around, you know, in terms of what

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Speaker 3: kind of guy he was teammate and all that kind

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Speaker 3: of stuff to me is nothing. There's nothing farther from

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Speaker 3: the what we have learned to be the truth. So

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Speaker 3: uh yeah, I'm really uh, I'm really high on what

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Speaker 3: the Steelers have gotten from Aaron Rodgers this season. And

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Speaker 3: you know, if he's interested and I was in charge,

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Speaker 3: which I am not, I would be interested in, uh

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Speaker 3: maybe making it more than a one year situation.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that's where I was going to kind of piggyback,

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Speaker 4: is I. I know you're not deep into the draft

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Speaker 4: prep and all that stuff, but it doesn't look like

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Speaker 4: a lot of great options to go down that road.

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Speaker 4: And even if they were, who would be a better

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Speaker 4: mentor than Rogers to spend a year in the quarterback

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Speaker 4: room with. And again I have no clue if he

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Speaker 4: has any interest at all, but I don't see a

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Speaker 4: lot of other options, and I'm happy with this one. Hey, Aaron,

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Speaker 4: you to do it and try it again?

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Speaker 3: You know? Yeah again, No, but I mean he's gotta

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Speaker 3: I don't know if he is interested. Yeah, yeah, And

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Speaker 3: I and I think that that is the you know,

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Speaker 3: his level of interest, his buy in, his wont to

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Speaker 3: all of that is what may is in my mind,

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Speaker 3: what is what has made him more than what I expected? Again,

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Speaker 3: I mean I had nothing to concrete in terms of

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Speaker 3: having seen any of that, So you know, I almost

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Speaker 3: kind of feel guilty saying that what he's doing now

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Speaker 3: is beyond my expectations because you know, maybe that's been

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Speaker 3: him all long and I just didn't know it. So

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Speaker 3: but you know, the answer the question, I would say,

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Speaker 3: he has exceeded my expectations. And what has really impressed

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Speaker 3: me is, you know, more than the above the next stuff. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: the presence and yeah he's not wearing a wristband, what

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Speaker 3: plays on it? Seriously, I mean, this isn't somebody who

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Speaker 3: you know, was in this system before he has no

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Speaker 3: he had no history with Arthur Smith, so you know,

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Speaker 3: there's no easy hook for him in terms of learning

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Speaker 3: this offense. And the guy never wore the wristband. I

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Speaker 3: mean he is capable of learning it and hearing it

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Speaker 3: and communicating it to his teammates, you know, within the

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Speaker 3: parameters of the play clock, and has been since this started.

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Speaker 3: So you know, I don't I don't think that that's

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Speaker 3: an I don't think that's an insignificant thing in terms

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Speaker 3: of his intelligence and awareness.

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Speaker 4: If the Steelers were we haven't tug into the practice report,

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Speaker 4: but if Watt and her Big you're both out for

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Speaker 4: this game, how much does that concern you? Against this

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Speaker 4: passing attack they're going to visit.

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Speaker 3: How about this running attack?

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Speaker 2: Well, all the above, I guess yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you know, if no Want and no Herbiic

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Speaker 3: that's two of your top three edge people, then that's significant. Uh.

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Speaker 3: But you know this is I don't know the Lions.

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Speaker 3: This is a very difficult opponent. I'm not really comfortable with,

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Speaker 3: you know, the the living in my fierce thing. You

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Speaker 3: look at the Steelers injury report, you know there there's

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Speaker 3: just seems to be a lot of areas where you

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Speaker 3: know the Steelers are going to be kind of dipping

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Speaker 3: down into the well of their depths, right, James Pierre

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Speaker 3: gonna play because those two receivers aren't bad either. Think

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Speaker 3: Brown and Jameson Williams. And you know, Golf he can

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Speaker 3: he can be very efficient if given the time. And

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Speaker 3: you know, I don't think you can necessarily blitz him

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Speaker 3: because you know that will leave you thinner in terms

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Speaker 3: of the people you can commit to the coverage. As

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Speaker 3: already said, the receivers I think are both pretty good.

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Speaker 3: So you know, the Lions of the highest scoring team

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Speaker 3: in the league, you know, and we're in We're in

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Speaker 3: week what is this week sixteen? Yeah? Yeah, okay, So

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Speaker 3: this isn't one of those small sample sizes where you

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Speaker 3: can say, yeah, they they blew out a couple of

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Speaker 3: teams and they ranked number one in the NFL scoring

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Speaker 3: a This is a multi month deal for them, and

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Speaker 3: they're at home, and so I mean, I you know

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Speaker 3: they're gonna they're gonna score a lot of points.

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Speaker 2: I believe the score in twenty four no, uh, because

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Speaker 2: you know, high twenties might get you by if you

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Speaker 2: had all.

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Speaker 3: Your defensive players, but you don't so uh. And and

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Speaker 3: some of the guys you're missing are your potentially dynamic playmakers.

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Speaker 3: And I know that's the way I think you've got

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Speaker 3: to play defense against this team too. You cannot expect

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Speaker 3: to shut them down. They're not going to go three

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Speaker 3: and out a bunch of times. You're gonna give up yards.

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Speaker 3: They're gonna move the ball, they're gonna possess the ball.

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Speaker 3: But hopefully, you know, you do enough in some situations

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Speaker 3: to create negative negativity for them. Maybe they have to

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Speaker 3: settle for some field goals and maybe you get a

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Speaker 3: few takeaways, and that's gonna be the way you play

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Speaker 3: good defense against them. But again, you know, no what,

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Speaker 3: no herbig, no James Pierre so far, and all due

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Speaker 3: respect to James Pierre, Uh, you know he's not in

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Speaker 3: any danger of getting voted to the Pro Bowl either.

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Speaker 3: And you know you don't even have him, so yes,

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Speaker 3: very much so. And then in terms of the your

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Speaker 3: your offense to try and you know, keep up with them.

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Speaker 3: Who's responsible for Aden Hutchinson? Well but yeah, right, I

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Speaker 3: mean because they list him. You know, I've seen various

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Speaker 3: depth charts, you know the line sometimes they list him

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Speaker 3: as an edge. Sometimes they list him as a left

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Speaker 3: defensive end. And I'm enough about the Lions too, you know,

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Speaker 3: do they keep it? Is he kind of anchored in

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Speaker 3: one spot? Okay? So I mean, uh, whose problem is that? Yeah,

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Speaker 3: you know Dylan Cook played well last week, but uh

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Speaker 3: that happened against a uh players who are lesser than

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Speaker 3: Aiden Hutchinson, and uh, you know he got some help,

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Speaker 3: which you know it was only fair and right. So

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Speaker 3: I mean, I don't you know, this is a tough game.

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Speaker 2: In their building and.

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Speaker 3: Right, all of that stuff. So you know, I understand

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Speaker 3: there are you know, best case scenarios in terms of

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Speaker 3: what could happen to where that Week eighteen game against

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Speaker 3: the Ravens is meaningless in a good way for the Steelers.

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Speaker 3: But I don't. I only anticipate the Steelers path to

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Speaker 3: that being a simple one or an easy one. So

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Speaker 3: you know, I would sitting here right now if you

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Speaker 3: ask me what I think is going to be the

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Speaker 3: outcome Sunday, I wouldn't be real confident in a victory.

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Speaker 3: I'll tell you that. Yeah. I'm leaning that way too.

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Speaker 1: I think we all are, especially with some of the

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Speaker 1: injury stuff that has popped up. The one thing I

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Speaker 1: will say, though, LABS is certainly feels, you know, a

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Speaker 1: lot different amongst Steeler Nation in Western Pennsylvania and countrywide

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Speaker 1: and worldwide here on December eighteenth, twenty twenty five than

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Speaker 1: it did three hundred and sixty five days ago, when

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Speaker 1: this team felt like it was going in the opposite direction,

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Speaker 1: the wrong direction at the absolute worst time. Now it

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Speaker 1: feels like the quarterback is getting better, the offense is

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Speaker 1: getting better, the defense, despite some key injuries, is maintaining form.

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Speaker 1: I'm with you, guys, like it does seem like they're

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Speaker 1: kind of stepping into a hornet's nest on Sunday against

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Speaker 1: a desperate team and a tough environment, a physical team

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Speaker 1: too that can kind of match how the Steelers want

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Speaker 1: to play in that regard. But I also got to

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Speaker 1: think there's a lot more optimism, There's a lot more

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Speaker 1: you know, just kind of energy and juice down there

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Speaker 1: on the south side. Then again, you know three hundred

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Speaker 1: and sixty five days ago, where it felt like this

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Speaker 1: was heading in the opposite direction.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and again I trace a lot of that back

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Speaker 3: to the quarterback totally. I just do I mean, I

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Speaker 3: just think that you know, Rogers Aaron Rodgers has it it.

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Speaker 3: You know, they refer to as it. I don't know

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Speaker 3: how I would necessarily define the word it in that context.

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Speaker 3: But you know, he's one of these guys who you know,

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Speaker 3: when you hear Deon Sanders talk about the Hall of Fame,

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Speaker 3: you know, and he says there's different wings and plateaus

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Speaker 3: and all that stuff. You know, Aaron Rodgers is at

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Speaker 3: the upper level of his position. Uh. And he is

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Speaker 3: a certain in my opinion, you know, sure sure thing,

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Speaker 3: first ballot inductee. So you know, a lot of I

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Speaker 3: don't know presence or again I don't I don't have

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Speaker 3: any firsthand experience with any of this stuff. But I

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Speaker 3: just got to believe that this guy, you know, kind

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Speaker 3: of like the pied piper. I mean, he's playing the

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Speaker 3: tune and everybody's listening and following and they're in line.

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Speaker 3: And you know, he's a guy who I think his

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Speaker 3: performance even gives his words more impact and credibility. Uh.

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Speaker 3: You know, last week, would he completed eighty three percent

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Speaker 3: or some ridiculous I mean seriously, you know.

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Speaker 2: His career, Yeah, and.

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Speaker 3: But and hey, you know, Ben roff Burger is a

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Speaker 3: franchise all time player, at the position. He's a Hall

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Speaker 3: of Famer two and all that kind of stuff. But

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Speaker 3: they are different guys. You know, the way Ben won

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Speaker 3: games is not the way Aaron Rodgers does it. And

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Speaker 3: I'm not saying one is better than the other, but

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Speaker 3: they're different. And you know, watching it, maybe it's because

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Speaker 3: you know, we're used to Ben, or we grew up

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Speaker 3: with Ben, or however you want to And that's fine.

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Speaker 3: Like I said, a lot of great statistics, a lot

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Speaker 3: of comeback wins, playoff games, championships, all that good stuff,

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Speaker 3: but Rogers is just different. You know, I don't Ben

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Speaker 3: would make big plays and have big games and go

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Speaker 3: down the field deep and all that kind of stuff.

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Speaker 3: But I don't remember a whole lot of eighty percent

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Speaker 3: completion games either. So, as I said, it's different, I

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Speaker 3: think that Rogers has a I don't know an aura

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Speaker 3: about him. That's again Ben had that too, But they're different,

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Speaker 3: And especially when you're comparing Rogers now with with Russell

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Speaker 3: Wilson last year. And again I'm not running him down either,

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Speaker 3: but I mean there's to be there. There's those guys

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Speaker 3: are on two different levels, and you know it's I'm

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Speaker 3: just like I see it. I'm not trying to run

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Speaker 3: down Russell Wilson or any of that stuff. I mean,

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Speaker 3: it's just if you can't watch Aaron Rodgers and Russell

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Speaker 3: Wilson play and see that there's a significant difference in

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Speaker 3: the way they play, the way they handle themselves, the

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Speaker 3: way they comport themselves, the way they interact with teammates,

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Speaker 3: and how their teammates interact with them as as a

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Speaker 3: result of that, well, then you know, I don't know

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Speaker 3: what you're watching live.

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Speaker 4: Last thing I got for you is Wes mentioned, you know,

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Speaker 4: the end of last year, and I understand that Pierre

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Speaker 4: might not play this week again, and Elliott is on

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Speaker 4: injured reserve. So it's killerbrew. That's an another thing people

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Speaker 4: want to talk about. But boy, the Steelers have churned

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Speaker 4: through defensive backs since the end of last year at

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Speaker 4: a remarkable rate. And you could say, hey, maybe they

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Speaker 4: don't evaluate defensive backs well, or you know, we're about

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Speaker 4: to make a Ramsey trade blah blah blah blah. But

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Speaker 4: I think they may have gotten it right. I mean,

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Speaker 4: I'm pretty I'm very happy with where this secondary is.

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Speaker 4: I mean, there was a lot of puzzle pieces that

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Speaker 4: didn't quite go together, and now I think they're starting

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Speaker 4: to snap together where they're supposed to be.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and I do think that, you know, And there

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Speaker 3: were some misses, yeah, in terms of accumulation of right right,

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Speaker 3: thorn hill sligh. But let's love forget Beanie Bishop was

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Speaker 3: a big part of this secondary last year. Right, Yeah,

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Speaker 3: Beanie Bishop. Again, nothing against Beanie Bishop. He's got good

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Speaker 3: enough to play with this group this year, right. Uh. So,

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Speaker 3: you know, And and Ramsey, Jalen Ramsey is he's kind

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Speaker 3: of the Aaron Rodgers of the defense. I think he

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Speaker 3: is a guy who he is just a presence. He

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Speaker 3: is a force as a personality, and I think a

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Speaker 3: lot of times you need that kind of stuff coming down, Uh,

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Speaker 3: this the stretch of a season like this, big game

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Speaker 3: after big game after big game. You know, Mike Toman

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Speaker 3: always says, don't blink. Ramsey won't let you. You know,

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Speaker 3: he's the first, he's he'll stick his face in anything.

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Speaker 3: He will talk to anybody. Uh, there's no intimidation of him.

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Speaker 3: He doesn't back down from anybody or anything. Uh. And

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Speaker 3: you know that's a good addition, right, A good addition

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Speaker 3: in terms of both his skill set and the demeanor

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Speaker 3: that he brings to that unit, and to that the

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Speaker 3: unit of the defense and the defense as a whole

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Speaker 3: part of the team. I you know, the thing with

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Speaker 3: chemistry with me has always been, you know, the question

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Speaker 3: is does good chemistry on the team lead to winning

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Speaker 3: or does winning lead to good chemistry on the team,

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Speaker 3: because you know, I don't know that chemistry is going

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Speaker 3: to get you through many losing streaks.

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Speaker 2: If you're talented.

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Speaker 3: Right. Yeah, So again, like you said, yeah, I think

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Speaker 3: I agree with you, Matt. I think they did a

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Speaker 3: lot of good things. They hit on a lot of

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Speaker 3: these moves that they made guys that they brought in.

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Speaker 3: They didn't hit on.

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Speaker 4: Them all, but they didn't sit on their hands either.

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Speaker 3: Well right, Yeah, And a lot of this kind of

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Speaker 3: roster turnover might have might seem drastic when you look

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Speaker 3: at it in the rear view mirror, but as you mentioned,

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Speaker 3: comparing the team December twenty twenty four to December twenty

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Speaker 3: twenty five, I think pretty much all of it was necessary.

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Speaker 1: Great stuff is always with the Great Bob Labriola, the

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Speaker 1: Dina Doom, the Lord of living in his fears labs.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, and we'll be listening on Sunday for you

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Speaker 1: part of the pregame show with Mike Persuda and Jerry Dulac.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for the time as always

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Speaker 3: Hey, no problem having nice weekend those