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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 Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

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

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

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Speaker 2: for the next two hours on your twenty four to

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Speaker 2: seven home of the Black and the Gold, as we

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Speaker 2: must recap Buffalo twenty six Pittsburgh seven yesterday at Akrashuer

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Speaker 2: Stadium and Matt. Sometimes the only way I forget where

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Speaker 2: this old cliche comes from, but sometimes the only way

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Speaker 2: to get through it is to go through it. Okay,

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Speaker 2: I think that's the phrase, you know, I guess sometimes

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Speaker 2: you got to face the music.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you know, the music's loud.

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Speaker 2: Can't run around it, you can't do a spin move,

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Speaker 2: you can't run and hide. You got to go through it.

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Speaker 2: And we are going to go through it today in

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Speaker 2: what was I think perhaps the Steelers' most disappointing performance

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Speaker 2: of the season.

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Speaker 3: I think it clearly was the season. And I was

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Speaker 3: chatting with Mike Pursuda'm like the playoff game might have

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Speaker 3: been worse. I mean, just in recent memory.

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Speaker 2: He'll won in Baltimore.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but there this was a tough one

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Speaker 3: for me, I mean, because there really wasn't much good

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Speaker 3: at all to come of it. I mean then with

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Speaker 3: the lead at halftime, the lead at halftime, it still.

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Speaker 2: Felt like, right, that damn is going to break soon.

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Speaker 3: I thought the same thing, like James Cook ran on

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Speaker 3: them from the first play to the last play.

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Speaker 2: Eight some yards in the first half alone. Yes, and

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Speaker 2: costly fumble.

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Speaker 3: But you're up. You were plus two of turnovers at

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Speaker 3: the half, you know, so that kept it close. And yeah, okay,

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Speaker 3: maybe they'll figure it out at halftime they're getting the ball.

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Speaker 3: Maybe a nice long job here get three could keep

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Speaker 3: them in it. But the problems were obvious from the start.

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Speaker 2: Yes, you know, I'm with you, and you know, Matt,

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Speaker 2: it's it's it's the beauty and the curse of a

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Speaker 2: football season. As you kind of bob and weave throughout

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Speaker 2: the year with what you think your team is good at.

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Speaker 2: This is the Steelers Audio Network, what we think the

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Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers are good at. Where we think they struggle, right,

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Speaker 2: Like I remember the first couple of weeks, Jets game,

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Speaker 2: Seattle game, what was week three before Dublin that draw

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Speaker 2: Patriots game. We were talking a lot about the lines

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Speaker 2: of scrimmage. Oh yeah, like a lot about the lines

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Speaker 2: of scrimmage, both sides of the football. It's not looking good.

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Speaker 2: They can't stop the run, they can't establish the run.

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Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden in Dublin Week four,

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Speaker 2: that starts to change.

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Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, and then.

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Speaker 2: It's it's like you you, it evolves in it and

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Speaker 2: it's like a life form of its own throughout the

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Speaker 2: year where you are kind of trying to pinpoint what

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Speaker 2: this team does well, where this team struggles, how they

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Speaker 2: win games, how they lose games, and it evolves throughout

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Speaker 2: the course of seventeen games. Right now, I am just

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Speaker 2: befuddled at how many times we've seen this team, and

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Speaker 2: particularly over the last two weeks, but not just the

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Speaker 2: last two weeks, but particularly the last two weeks, have

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Speaker 2: a lead, a halftime and getting the ball back to

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Speaker 2: start the third quarter, and it's like how fast the

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Speaker 2: script flips from.

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Speaker 3: And that's the thing, is the speed in which the

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Speaker 3: script flip.

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Speaker 2: And in Chicago it was within minutes yesterday, within against Buffalo,

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Speaker 2: it was literally a first play of the second half.

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Speaker 3: Green Bay felt that way.

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Speaker 2: Green Bay was the exact same exact same kind of thing.

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Speaker 2: And there's another one this year that really stands out that,

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Speaker 2: of course I'm drawing a blank on now, but if

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Speaker 2: I went back and looked at the schedule, I could

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Speaker 2: figure it out. I man, that to me is in

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Speaker 2: a game of perplexing issues and problems in a season

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Speaker 2: of issues, in problems.

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Speaker 3: Right and bad right.

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Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing that has surprised me overall

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Speaker 2: now through twelve games is how this team was the

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Speaker 2: best team in the National Football League in the third

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Speaker 2: quarter last year, in twenty twenty four, and this year

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Speaker 2: it feels like night and day. It's night and day.

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Speaker 2: It feels like they're like back at training camp once

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Speaker 2: again when the third quarter starts and they're just trying

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Speaker 2: to get lined up and get their bearings. That to me,

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Speaker 2: and I realized it's been against some good teams. Those

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Speaker 2: are all playoff teams, teams.

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Speaker 3: And one of them might end up winning Super Bowl,

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Speaker 3: who knows.

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Speaker 2: You know, right, But to me, that's the most kind

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Speaker 2: of of a lot of head scratching things. That's at

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Speaker 2: the top of the list is how they continue to

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Speaker 2: be in a position of advantage after thirty minutes, and

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Speaker 2: then that disappears very quickly in the third quarter.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and maybe it is somewhat fluky, you know, I mean,

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Speaker 3: like that boast of play is. But then Rudolph comes

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Speaker 3: in and throws a terrible pick, you know, like it's

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Speaker 3: it was a couple things right in a row. Then

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Speaker 3: it was over.

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Speaker 2: Yep, like real quick.

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Speaker 3: I was very worried going into half. I'm like, not

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Speaker 3: stopping the run at all, and they're not start there.

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Speaker 3: I mean, to me, that's the biggest elephant in the

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Speaker 3: room is the run defense was really horrible. But what

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Speaker 3: made it worse to me? And I think this played

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Speaker 3: true throughout the game, and you knew it coming in.

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Speaker 3: Although the Bills passing game was asked to do next

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Speaker 3: to nothing in this game. But still their receivers didn't

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Speaker 3: do a thing all day, and they're bad and they're certain.

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Speaker 3: They're throwing out guys left and right, trying to figure

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Speaker 3: out who you can catch the ball for them, including

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Speaker 3: the tight end position, and their tackles are still horrible today,

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Speaker 3: even though they helped them. They're better run defense, but

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Speaker 3: you never made them throw or never made the thing

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Speaker 3: that they were doing poorly pass. The only good about

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Speaker 3: the passing game was Josh.

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Speaker 2: Allen, make him play left handed, right right right?

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Speaker 3: I mean, and I know they did.

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Speaker 2: Cook led the team in receiving yards with thirty three.

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Speaker 3: That's what I was gonna say. I mean, to me,

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Speaker 3: this is so telling for the Bills to win that

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Speaker 3: game as handily as they did and their leading receiver

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Speaker 3: was a running back that had three catches for thirty

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Speaker 3: three yards. You know it's yeah. And they did do

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Speaker 3: a lot of different things to try to stop the run.

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Speaker 3: It wasn't like they ran the same plays at the Steelers,

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Speaker 3: and they did some different tactical things, but it almost

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Speaker 3: felt like you didn't even do an I mean like,

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Speaker 3: could you put ten in the box? I mean, could

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Speaker 3: you put sixty linemen out there? I mean, whatever it is,

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Speaker 3: make the receivers touch the ball and the tackles pass

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Speaker 3: protect and they never had.

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Speaker 2: To, No, they didn't. And then you combine that with

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Speaker 2: your inability to run the football ten carries thirty five.

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Speaker 3: By the way, your passing game was harrible and your

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Speaker 3: running game was tar.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you didn't put the.

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Speaker 3: Ball very well either.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely nothing going other than that miss Lincoln.

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Speaker 3: Like I thought, the Steelers pass defense might have been

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Speaker 3: quite good in this game. It showed it, but it

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Speaker 3: didn't matter. It's like I had this ace p my sleeve,

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Speaker 3: but I never get to play it, you know.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and man, Derek Harmon's absence loomed large. Yeah, that's

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Speaker 2: that's not an excuse for that.

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Speaker 3: Patrick's not enough.

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Speaker 2: Patrick Queen gets banged up throughout the game. We know

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Speaker 2: you're thin on the defensive line, but it still has

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Speaker 2: to look better than that. I mean, what was one

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Speaker 2: hundred and forty four yards rushing? Did James Cook?

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Speaker 3: Right? And this is not a one for one, but

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Speaker 3: I'm glad you brought it up that Harmon showed his

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Speaker 3: value though. I mean you just shut down.

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Speaker 2: Packers Jacobs and Taylor.

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Speaker 3: Taylor and the Bears, I mean the best running games

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Speaker 3: in the league, and all the runs were we know

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Speaker 3: where Harmon or were, Uh yeah, we're Harmon lines up.

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Speaker 3: They either to his outside shoulder or right up the

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Speaker 3: middle where he I mean, they would have all directly

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Speaker 3: reflected him. It's not the only reason, but it is

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Speaker 3: a reason. And I said this before, and I apologize,

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Speaker 3: but Atwenu whose name I kill, and New Hyphen Guy,

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Speaker 3: New Hyphen Guy aren't NFL. I mean they shouldn't. They

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Speaker 3: got crushed when they were out there. They weren't out

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Speaker 3: there much, but they should have been out there. So

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Speaker 3: you went from a strength the guys that shouldn't be

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Speaker 3: out there. That's not the only reason, but it's one

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Speaker 3: of one hundred of why the run defense from center

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Speaker 3: to all the way to the right sideline was bad.

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Speaker 2: You know this that I kind of jot some notes

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Speaker 2: down in my notes app throughout the game, and I

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Speaker 2: don't have as many from yesterday as I typically do.

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Speaker 2: I near but one thing that I wrote here in

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Speaker 2: the third quarter, there's nineteen minutes left in the game,

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Speaker 2: the Bills have over two hundred rushing yards already. That's

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Speaker 2: the most the Steelers have allowed by a third quarter

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Speaker 2: since nineteen ninety three against Seattle. I was reminded of

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Speaker 2: a wolf in the back of my mind when he

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Speaker 2: was saying bad things happened when we go to Seattle. Ye, yeah,

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Speaker 2: he wasn't lying. That's the last time the Steelers got

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Speaker 2: run on like this thirty some years ago, thirty two

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Speaker 2: years ago. And yeah, it just for the first thirty

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Speaker 2: minutes it felt like you were hanging on and you know,

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Speaker 2: end of the half there you force the Bills to

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Speaker 2: settle for three. You take the lead to the halftime,

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Speaker 2: but it's like here we go, halftime lead, getting the

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Speaker 2: ball again. Offenses struggled where a you're gonna go from here?

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Speaker 2: And Buffalo went one way, you went the other way, Matt.

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Speaker 3: Very quickly, as you mentioned, very quick.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it wasn't instantly. Yeah, it wasn't maybe like

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Speaker 2: the Packers game where it was the fourth quarter before

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Speaker 2: green Bay.

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Speaker 3: Had the game first play the Steelers.

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Speaker 2: Quite literally, the Steelers have gotten the ball six times

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Speaker 2: so far this year to open the second half, so

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Speaker 2: fifty percent of the time. Basically six times this year

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Speaker 2: to open the second half. The results of those drives

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Speaker 2: four punts, one interception, one fumble returned for a touchdown.

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Speaker 3: Wow.

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Speaker 2: I mean, and again it's even that.

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Speaker 3: I wonder punts were three and out.

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Speaker 2: I would imagine probably most probably three to the four probably.

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Speaker 2: I know the one against the Packers was at least

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Speaker 2: and I'm pretty sure the one against Chicago last week

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Speaker 2: as well. I And again, that is so perplayed. Of

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Speaker 2: all the head scratching, frustrating things, they were the best

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Speaker 2: in the National Football League out of the locker room

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Speaker 2: at halftime last year and they've become the worst.

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Speaker 3: I I just it's one of many issues, but it's

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Speaker 3: a big one.

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Speaker 2: It's a big one that in the in the in

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Speaker 2: the trenches once again, it's it's does kind of feel

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Speaker 2: like we've returned to where we started back in September

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Speaker 2: in that regard, and part of it, Hey, take away

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Speaker 2: Roger Jones, to take away Derek Harmon. I mean, those

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Speaker 2: are sizeable absences on each side of the ball.

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Speaker 3: But you know, exact.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, the Steelers are far from the only

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Speaker 2: team in the National Football League dealing with injuries and absences.

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Speaker 2: It's as much a part of the game as blocking

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Speaker 2: and tackling, getting getting injured and just so just everything

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Speaker 2: that couldn't happen happen. I mean, even had a it

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Speaker 2: had been a long time, you had a bad Zach

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Speaker 2: Fraser snap rear its ugly head at the wrong moment.

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Speaker 2: That's probably too at that point to get back in it.

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Speaker 3: But no, it still it wasn't with the difference in

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Speaker 3: the game, but it absolutely right.

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Speaker 2: But just one more thing, a litany of issues, and

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Speaker 2: then Matt, I think probably the best way to paint

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Speaker 2: the picture with all of this if you just didn't

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Speaker 2: know anything about the game yesterday, didn't watch the game,

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Speaker 2: knew nothing. Someone fresh off the street who doesn't really

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Speaker 2: watch football comes in here and sits down and you

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Speaker 2: tell them the time of possession. That was basically forty

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Speaker 2: two minutes a second away from forty two minutes for

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Speaker 2: Buffalo and eighteen minutes.

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Speaker 3: It's as bad as you ever seen in the league, if.

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Speaker 2: You I mean, that's like Alabama might struggle to beat

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Speaker 2: you know, UAB if they're only possessing the ball for

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Speaker 2: eighteen minutes in a football game against an opponent, let

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Speaker 2: alone one with the weapons like the Buffalo Bills.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so much to unpacked there, and like, I just

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Speaker 3: want to go back to the first half and some

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Speaker 3: of the halftime feelings, you know, because one thing I

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Speaker 3: do while I watch it alone, got my laptop, is

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Speaker 3: I'll write you and I both do that, Yeah, halftime

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Speaker 3: out writes whatever notes come to mind, and I just

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Speaker 3: jot down the most relevant stats to see what I

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Speaker 3: was thinking at the time. And my thoughts were, Boy,

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Speaker 3: this run defense is a huge problem. And the Bills

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Speaker 3: are out playing the Steelers, but the Steelers lead to

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Speaker 3: turnover battle to nothing. Their heads above water, they're getting

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Speaker 3: the ball, they're at home. Maybe they can get back

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Speaker 3: into this thing, even though they don't quite deserve it.

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Speaker 3: But that happens all the time in the league. You know, Hey,

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Speaker 3: we're kind of got lucky. Yeah, yeah, game, and we'll

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Speaker 3: make some halftime adjustments and maybe we can have another

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Speaker 3: turnover or whatever in our favor. And then, I mean

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Speaker 3: it was It didn't shock me that the Bills ran

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Speaker 3: away with it, because I thought they were clearly the

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Speaker 3: better team in the first half. But to the degree

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Speaker 3: and the speed at which it happened is overwhelming.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 3: Some other things there. I forget what you were saying.

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Speaker 3: I don't know.

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Speaker 2: It'll come up in runes. Yeah, yeah, I mean I

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Speaker 2: have in my second quarter notes here the Steelers have

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Speaker 2: thirty one yards off at this point. It feels like

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Speaker 2: Buffalo just needs one to break this open. But then

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Speaker 2: as soon as I write that down, here comes the

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Speaker 2: defense with a second turnover. You know, like Bills settle

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Speaker 2: for three, you keep it at seven to three, you

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Speaker 2: got a halftime lead, you're getting the ball again. You

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Speaker 2: can't let Buffalo jump right on you quickly. Well that

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Speaker 2: was quick. Bosa stripsack touchdown, it's now ten to seven.

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Speaker 2: I mean it that those are the margins that this

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Speaker 2: team has been operating under this year. Yeah, and at

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Speaker 2: times it's really worked out for them. You know, you

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Speaker 2: think about the Colts game, you think about the Patriots game. Absolutely,

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Speaker 2: But at other times it unravels rather quickly, like it

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Speaker 2: felt like it did last week in Chicago, like it

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Speaker 2: felt like it did yesterday at Akrasar Stadium.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. And the thing I wanted to get back to,

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Speaker 3: and boy, we've said we've spent a lot of time

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Speaker 3: talking about this subject since the start of the season,

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Speaker 3: is a time of possession. So oh no, man, it's

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Speaker 3: eighteen minutes glaring as bad as you'll see. After they

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Speaker 3: were starting to at least kind of turn the corner

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Speaker 3: in that area a little bit, at least improve and

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Speaker 3: some of that might have been a little bit. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: it was earned. I mean sometimes time possession isn't earned

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Speaker 3: if you give away a quick.

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Speaker 2: Score, what turnovers and stuff like that. Yeah, but team's score.

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Speaker 3: I don't have it in front of me, But I

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Speaker 3: think the defense has run, has been on the field

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Speaker 3: for one hundred and fifty nine more plays than the office.

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Speaker 2: It has to be substantial.

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Speaker 3: It's either a one fifty four or one fifty nine.

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Speaker 3: Either way, it's way insane. I mean, that's like three games.

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Speaker 3: It's like three more games you're gonna have to play

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Speaker 3: like it's not going to get better, Matt.

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Speaker 2: They defended seventy four snaps. I think this.

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Speaker 3: Tested almost all runs.

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Speaker 2: That that's like Big twelve Pac twelve. That's like you're

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Speaker 2: playing Chip Kelly's Oregon. You're playing Rich Rodriguez's successful first edition.

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Speaker 2: WU that want to snap the ball on you seventy

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Speaker 2: five eighty times a game. This way out like that

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Speaker 2: doesn't happen in the NFL.

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Speaker 3: No, No, And it's run after run after run with

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Speaker 3: running and it's more physical, you know, like it wasn't

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Speaker 3: even their gold to run a ton of plays.

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Speaker 2: They ran twenty nine more plays than the Steelers did. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I mean basically this year. Sorry wait no, not twenty nine.

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Speaker 3: It was over thirty one.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, sorry, bad math by me, not twenty nine thirty one.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and again it's been one hundred and fifty nine

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Speaker 3: more plays on defense and offense.

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Speaker 2: That's an extra half of football basically that the Bills

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Speaker 2: offense played more than yours. Too hard to do, and

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Speaker 2: I don't care if you're the eighty five Bears. That's

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Speaker 2: a tough way to make a liv.

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Speaker 3: It just is. And it's a it's a team problem

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Speaker 3: because if the offense gets the first downs, it'd be better.

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Speaker 3: If there's a field, there's.

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Speaker 2: No one symptom, DIAGNOSEM fix it.

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Speaker 3: It'd be different if they like couldn't stop the run

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Speaker 3: ten injuries, they couldn't stop the run all year and

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Speaker 3: there's no hope and everything else on the team's great. Well,

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Speaker 3: it's not that it's everybody's to blame. And I will say,

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Speaker 3: and I've mentioned this before, and I just every show

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Speaker 3: I've been on today, I'm going to bring it up

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Speaker 3: because it bothers me and it's not just a Steeler

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Speaker 3: centric thing. But it's very clear to me the teams

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Speaker 3: that have rest advantages have huge advantages, and I think

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Speaker 3: especially this time of year, especially this time of year,

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Speaker 3: probably the Steelers are even a little more vulnerable to that,

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Speaker 3: considering their defensive age and the number of snaps they've

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Speaker 3: played already and the fact that the NFL has them

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Speaker 3: two weeks in a row playing with a game.

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Speaker 2: Another major rest disadvantage in Baltimore is.

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Speaker 3: Should never ever happen. It can happen here and there

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Speaker 3: one game, but they should never ever schedule games back

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Speaker 3: to back where you have a ten day day rest

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Speaker 3: versus seven day rest against the same team. I mean,

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Speaker 3: that's terrible, and that's not an excuse, but it contributes

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Speaker 3: to it.

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Speaker 2: It's not an excuse. Feels more like salt and a

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Speaker 2: wound at this point, right like, here comes the.

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Speaker 3: Next team coming off a Thursday game that's well rested,

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Speaker 3: sitting there watching you on Sunday, getting there, and you.

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Speaker 2: Have to travel this time to come to your house.

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Speaker 2: Now you've got to go. Now you got to go

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Speaker 2: to crabcakes and football out there in Maryland. Let's talk

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Speaker 2: about this game with Rob King, the voice of your

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Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers. Get his thoughts on everything that we've discussed

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Speaker 2: here in our open. We'll do that when we turn

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Speaker 2: on the other side. Was Shooler Matt Williamson. It's the

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Speaker 2: Drive on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

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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 Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

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Speaker 4: Filie.

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Speaker 3: Oh, King in the Castle, King in the Castle, have

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Speaker 3: a chair, I have a chair.

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Speaker 1: Oh go Do, Go Do.

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Speaker 3: King in the castle, The.

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Speaker 2: King is in the castle. Here on the drive, it's

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Speaker 2: Rob King, the voice of your Pittsburgh Steelers, joining us

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Speaker 2: now to discuss yesterday's loss twenty six to seven to

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Speaker 2: the Buffalo Bills. Kinger, we kind of, you know, I

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Speaker 2: guess word vomited a bunch of the downfalls of the

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Speaker 2: Steelers yesterday in that loss. We talked about run defense,

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Speaker 2: we talked about run offense, really trenches on both sides

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Speaker 2: of the ball, and we talked about another just kind

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Speaker 2: of confounding, head scratching, just shocking, I think in a

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Speaker 2: lot of ways, downturn at the beginning of a third quarter,

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Speaker 2: when you have a halftime lead and are getting the

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Speaker 2: football back. So a lot to digest. Where does it

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Speaker 2: all start for you? What's kind of at the forefront

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Speaker 2: of your mind? There were again a handful of things

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Speaker 2: that cost the Steelers yesterday, but which one was kind

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Speaker 2: of at the forefront of your mind, the most egregious,

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Speaker 2: the most costly.

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Speaker 4: There's a lot, you know, Unfortunately, after game like this,

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Speaker 4: there is a lot. There were a number of things

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Speaker 4: that I that were hard to watch and hardest to take,

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Speaker 4: and you know, I think for me, even when the

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Speaker 4: Sooners were up seventy three to begin the second half,

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Speaker 4: they had not been playing. They had not stopped the run,

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Speaker 4: right James Cook and company. They had one hundred and

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Speaker 4: twenty five yards rushing in the first half, and that

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Speaker 4: was probably a little bit masked by the fact you

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Speaker 4: had the seven to three lead. So that was I

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Speaker 4: think that's number one for me. And and you know, TJ.

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Speaker 4: Wats said after the game, He's never played in a

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Speaker 4: game in which, you know, the team was just basically

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Speaker 4: running the same player couple of plays over and over

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Speaker 4: and over again, and you just simply couldn't stop it.

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Speaker 4: So I think that if I'm looking for, if I

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Speaker 4: have to rank them, that's number one for me.

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Speaker 3: Totally get it. One thing we were talking about in

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Speaker 3: the first segment, Rob is boy, there's been a disturbing

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Speaker 3: trend of coming out of the locker room at half time.

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Speaker 3: I'm I hate the word flat, but ineffective. Let's just

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Speaker 3: put it that way, where the games quickly get away

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Speaker 3: from you early in the second half. And yesterday was

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Speaker 3: the biggest example yet. And it's weird because last year

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Speaker 3: that was a strength, you know, coming out of this

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Speaker 3: it's not like this staff has never made halftime adjustments

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Speaker 3: or anything like that. I just don't know if you've

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Speaker 3: any thoughts on it or reason behind it, or maybe

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Speaker 3: it's just a small sample size. I don't know, but

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Speaker 3: it's a trend.

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Speaker 4: So on the list that's somewhere in my top five. Okay, sure,

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Speaker 4: And it's been Matt, it's been an issue. You know.

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Speaker 4: I was talking about a quite a minuit last week

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Speaker 4: on the show with you and Missy on this show,

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Speaker 4: I think, probably certainly with Max, you know, the fact

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Speaker 4: that you know, I want to believe that there's more

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Speaker 4: to this team than six and six. And if I

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Speaker 4: was going to point to that, well, of course, leading

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Speaker 4: up to this game, it was I believe there's board

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Speaker 4: of this team than six and five. And my logic was, look,

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Speaker 4: you've beaten two of the top teams in football, the

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Speaker 4: Patriots and the Colts, and you played three other top

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Speaker 4: teams in my opinion, and that is the Packers. This

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Speaker 4: again before the Bears game, you know, or before this

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Speaker 4: week's game. I mean Packers, the Bears, and Seattle, right,

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Speaker 4: So those three opponents are all quality opponents and against

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Speaker 4: all of those teams, not only did you lead at half,

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Speaker 4: but you got the ball first. You've had a chance to,

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Speaker 4: you had a chance to, you know, if not put

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Speaker 4: a team away, then certainly dictate how a lot of

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Speaker 4: the rest of the game was going to go. Instead,

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Speaker 4: what happened was, you know, the against the Bears, you

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Speaker 4: fought them to the end. Seattle, you made some mistakes,

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Speaker 4: but you know it's particularly against the Packers and in

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Speaker 4: this game against the Bills, not only did you not dictate,

437
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,080
Speaker 4: but you were dictated to by a team that was

438
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,880
Speaker 4: trailing you at the half and you got the ball first.

439
00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,720
Speaker 4: That's a problem. I mean, that's you know, I think

440
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:06,480
Speaker 4: you're statistic that you mentioned, you know, which is going

441
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:10,399
Speaker 4: into this last week, there were four teams, four teams

442
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,240
Speaker 4: in the NFL who had led at some point in

443
00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,919
Speaker 4: every single game, and the other three teams were twenty

444
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:18,920
Speaker 4: five and eight and this Yeelers were six and five.

445
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:21,680
Speaker 4: And so when I look at those things, I think, Man,

446
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:26,960
Speaker 4: if you could correct that somehow, fix that somehow, then

447
00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,200
Speaker 4: let's see it only won one of those games. Let's

448
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,280
Speaker 4: say you hadn't let the Packers game slip away. Okay,

449
00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:33,840
Speaker 4: he lost the Bears game. That was a good one,

450
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,680
Speaker 4: you made two mistakes against Seattlekay, well, then you could say, look, man,

451
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,480
Speaker 4: we played five top echelon teams and we're three and

452
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:44,560
Speaker 4: two against them going into this Bills game. That's pretty good.

453
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,520
Speaker 4: That tells you that you've made that next step forward,

454
00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:51,160
Speaker 4: that you're capable of beating any team in the league.

455
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,840
Speaker 4: Last year ten and seven, but you know, you faltered

456
00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,600
Speaker 4: down the stretch against some of the top teams. This year,

457
00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,120
Speaker 4: you've beaten a couple of top teams, and you were

458
00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:04,159
Speaker 4: in great position to beat four other ones. But ultimately

459
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:06,359
Speaker 4: you are still also your record. So I don't know,

460
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,720
Speaker 4: I've just been, you know, scratching my head about this.

461
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,919
Speaker 4: I don't know what the explanation is. I don't know

462
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:14,919
Speaker 4: why it's happening. I don't know what you can do

463
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,359
Speaker 4: to fix it. I think obviously it's not like this

464
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,720
Speaker 4: is breaking news to the team. They know these things.

465
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,919
Speaker 4: They're trying to fix them as well. But you know,

466
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,680
Speaker 4: it's still maybe despite the six and six record, gives

467
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,600
Speaker 4: me hope that that there's more there because I've seen

468
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,400
Speaker 4: it at various times against top teams, and I've seen

469
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,480
Speaker 4: him finish off and beat top teams. But I mean

470
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:40,040
Speaker 4: that's looking awfully hard for silver lining after last night's performance.

471
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,280
Speaker 2: Rob King with us here on the drive and King

472
00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:46,840
Speaker 2: or another thing that just stands out glaring is eighteen

473
00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,919
Speaker 2: minutes of possession for the Steelers. Okay, eighteen minutes and

474
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,920
Speaker 2: one second. I don't want to sell him short there.

475
00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:57,200
Speaker 2: I mean Buffalo snapping the ball thirty one more times

476
00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,600
Speaker 2: offensively than the Steelers did. Matt said, It's something like

477
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,960
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty more plays this season, is you know,

478
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:06,760
Speaker 2: give or take give or take a few on either

479
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,480
Speaker 2: side that the Steelers defense has played than the offense.

480
00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:13,439
Speaker 2: And kingart not to sound like a broken record, but

481
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:15,400
Speaker 2: this is something that it feels like we've all been

482
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:20,280
Speaker 2: talking about since October, you know, like a you know,

483
00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:25,200
Speaker 2: continued struggle to outpossess teams, to win that time of possession,

484
00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:29,080
Speaker 2: to outsnap teams, and I think like that is starting

485
00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 2: to feel like you can kind of draw a direct

486
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 2: correlation to the Steelers defense in the first half versu

487
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:36,560
Speaker 2: at the end of games. It's it's such a veteran

488
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,120
Speaker 2: Leyden defense with guys like Cam and TJ and Ramsey

489
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:42,760
Speaker 2: that when you're asking them to be on the field

490
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:44,640
Speaker 2: for that much longer. When you're asking them to play

491
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:49,520
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five thirty extra snaps a game. That's gonna

492
00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,720
Speaker 2: wear on them. They're gonna wear out, They're not gonna

493
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,639
Speaker 2: be the same unit down the stretch that they are

494
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:55,399
Speaker 2: in the first half.

495
00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:01,480
Speaker 4: So that's been a larger issue to me all season long.

496
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,080
Speaker 4: Then the defense has been. Now my number one concern

497
00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 4: after this game was the defense, because the defense. Really

498
00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:11,080
Speaker 4: the Bills were running the ball on them in the

499
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:15,359
Speaker 4: first half, as I mentioned, But by and large, I

500
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:19,880
Speaker 4: think that's exactly right. I mean, again, this is something

501
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:21,920
Speaker 4: that you know, Matt says quite a bit. The defense,

502
00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:25,399
Speaker 4: a defense least usually defends best keep yourself fresh and

503
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:30,120
Speaker 4: think about just think about a game like the Packers game. Right,

504
00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,560
Speaker 4: you're up sixteen to seven at the half. If you

505
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,840
Speaker 4: can possess the ball and go on a good you know,

506
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,080
Speaker 4: seven minute drive and now you're up you know, you

507
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 4: punch it in the end zone and now you're up

508
00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 4: twenty three to seven, well that's going to completely change

509
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,440
Speaker 4: how Green Bay has to play the game. Emmanuel Wilson.

510
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:50,600
Speaker 4: You know, for all to talk about how well they

511
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:52,879
Speaker 4: did against Josh Shacobs, they did for half. But then

512
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,080
Speaker 4: they started winning the time for possession and they started

513
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:57,280
Speaker 4: and Manuel Wilson started running all over him in the

514
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,439
Speaker 4: second half of that game. Well, they can't do that

515
00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,440
Speaker 4: now down to twenty three to seven. You know the Bills,

516
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,280
Speaker 4: if you go up, you know you think about and

517
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,080
Speaker 4: again you are what your record is. But think about

518
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:10,200
Speaker 4: at the end of the half, you use your timeout

519
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:12,280
Speaker 4: to the end of the first half, and you're trying

520
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,280
Speaker 4: to position yourself to maybe go down to kick a

521
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:16,720
Speaker 4: field goal. You got a great field goal kicker who's

522
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:19,719
Speaker 4: been sitting on the sideline except for kicking extra points

523
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,080
Speaker 4: the last couple of weeks, hasn't even attempted a field goal. Hey,

524
00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 4: let's get in into a field goal range. Let's kick

525
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,560
Speaker 4: a field goal, and let's go up seven at the half,

526
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,160
Speaker 4: and then maybe you in the third quarter, maybe going

527
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,120
Speaker 4: a long driving use kick a field goal. Well, now

528
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:34,920
Speaker 4: it's a score a game. Are the Bills going to

529
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,600
Speaker 4: be able to think about just giving it to Cook

530
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,280
Speaker 4: again and again and again and they're going to start

531
00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:44,840
Speaker 4: throwing the ball with those young, inexperienced tackles. Now your

532
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:46,920
Speaker 4: pass rush can come to bear. I mean, all these

533
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:50,000
Speaker 4: things are connected. But you commit a penalty on the kickoff,

534
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 4: and then you don't do any and not only do

535
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,000
Speaker 4: you not do anything in your opening possession of the

536
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:58,760
Speaker 4: second half, but they score a defensive touchdown. And now

537
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,440
Speaker 4: you're not dictating the game. And when you don't control

538
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 4: the clock and you don't control the pace of the game,

539
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,119
Speaker 4: you're not dictating. You're being dictated too, And that I

540
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,600
Speaker 4: think has been a problem that. I mean, it's not

541
00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:13,160
Speaker 4: every single game. Look, you play to win the game,

542
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:15,679
Speaker 4: and if you don't win time of possession, but you

543
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 4: win the game because you manage a victory by not

544
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,200
Speaker 4: turning it over and by taking advantage of turnovers, fine,

545
00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,960
Speaker 4: I get it. But after a while those stats become real.

546
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:27,680
Speaker 4: And I think twelve games did of the season, the

547
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:28,360
Speaker 4: stats are real.

548
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, And while you're talking, I took the second just

549
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:34,919
Speaker 3: to look it up real quick and just wanted to

550
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:39,600
Speaker 3: see where the Steelers were at in fourth quarter points allowed.

551
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 3: They're thirty first. I mean, the only team worse is

552
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 3: the Giants, and maybe the Giants tonight allow zero and

553
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,840
Speaker 3: the Steelers end up being last. I mean, like they're

554
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 3: allowing ten point four points per fourth quarter, and to me,

555
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,640
Speaker 3: that is not we can blame coaching about all kinds

556
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,439
Speaker 3: of things, you know, whatever, it's a shortcut sometimes to

557
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,280
Speaker 3: our analysis. To me, that's just fatigue and being out

558
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,439
Speaker 3: there too much over the course of the game and

559
00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:07,719
Speaker 3: over the course of the season.

560
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,720
Speaker 4: Yep, I totally agree. And then you know, and then

561
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,040
Speaker 4: how much of that is because you have the worst

562
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:18,560
Speaker 4: third quarter offense in the NFL right right right, right

563
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,880
Speaker 4: right fro at one point per game. And I saw

564
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,439
Speaker 4: the statistic, and I believe it's true, and I remember

565
00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:29,160
Speaker 4: seeing it flashed up and I but sixteen yards of

566
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:35,719
Speaker 4: offense in the last two third quarters combined. Six yards

567
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 4: of offense, you know. And when you're coming out of

568
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,479
Speaker 4: the tunnel and you've got a lead and you've got

569
00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 4: the opportunity to be against you know, for lack of

570
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,680
Speaker 4: another phrase, dictating your opponent taking a lead, you know,

571
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,760
Speaker 4: when that doesn't happen in the third quarter, that leads

572
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,000
Speaker 4: to problems in the fourth quarter. My Tomin always talks

573
00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:58,480
Speaker 4: about complimentary football, and this years, frankly have not been

574
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:02,800
Speaker 4: playing compliment football. They've been playing uncomplimentary football. You know.

575
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,360
Speaker 4: I mean, if you have a bad third quarter offensively,

576
00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:08,480
Speaker 4: you know, and you're not you don't have the ball,

577
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:10,560
Speaker 4: you're not possessing it, you're not scoring points, you're not

578
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,480
Speaker 4: taking advantage of a lead. Then guess what that's gonna do.

579
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 4: It's gonna lead probably to a bad fourth quarter because

580
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,360
Speaker 4: your defense is out there too much. And I just

581
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 4: think that's what we've seen happen.

582
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 3: And I'll be honest, like if you told me in

583
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 3: training camp that the Steelers would be last in the

584
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 3: league in time in possession basically last in the league,

585
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,959
Speaker 3: and fourth quarter points allowed, basically last in the league

586
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:39,040
Speaker 3: in third quarter offense, I would say, when December hits,

587
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:44,560
Speaker 3: you're probably a three win team and probably in worse

588
00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:46,240
Speaker 3: shape than you are. I'm not trying to put a

589
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:50,160
Speaker 3: silver lining on it at all, because history shows if

590
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,640
Speaker 3: the opponents are running one hundred and fifty plus more

591
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:58,480
Speaker 3: plays over the course of three months, you're probably gonna

592
00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,240
Speaker 3: be a lot more injured on defense then you currently are.

593
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,160
Speaker 3: You know what I mean, Like, Yeah, Elliott's out and

594
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,240
Speaker 3: Harmon's out for the short term, but I would have guessed, Oh,

595
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,440
Speaker 3: Cam went out in week three, then they lost Watt

596
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:14,000
Speaker 3: in week seven, and then Ramsey in week ten. Because

597
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:16,240
Speaker 3: injuries are gonna happen you know, like the worst could

598
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,720
Speaker 3: be yet to come. But in a way they're fortunate,

599
00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 3: you know.

600
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:22,200
Speaker 4: You can still The other thing too, is it had

601
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:24,560
Speaker 4: right to your point, it hasn't been fatal yet, right,

602
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,280
Speaker 4: you're still six and six Exactly if you take care

603
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,960
Speaker 4: of business, you're still a playoff team. You have to

604
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,400
Speaker 4: you know. So I understand exactly what you're saying, and

605
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,160
Speaker 4: I would have said that now. Conversely, if you told me, hey,

606
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,440
Speaker 4: you're one of four teams through twelve weeks that's had

607
00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 4: a lead in every single game, Oh yeah, baby, yeah,

608
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 4: you know, I'm going to give you six wins, right,

609
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:47,360
Speaker 4: I'm going to make you a six and two team.

610
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,160
Speaker 4: And then I'm going to tell you in four other games,

611
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,479
Speaker 4: you've got a lead at the half, one of them

612
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,240
Speaker 4: a nine point lead, and you get the ball to

613
00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,680
Speaker 4: begin the second half. What's my record? Now, Well, I

614
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 4: certainly gonna win at least two of those games, right,

615
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:08,000
Speaker 4: phenomenate wins. But so that's why it is such an

616
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:12,320
Speaker 4: unusual season for me, because you know, first of all,

617
00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 4: I went in with a preconceived notion that they were

618
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:15,920
Speaker 4: going to be better. I thought they had a better roster,

619
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 4: I thought they had a better quarterback than they did

620
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,560
Speaker 4: a year ago. So I was under the notion that

621
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:22,800
Speaker 4: they were going to be an improved team. I know

622
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:25,240
Speaker 4: I was in the minority in thinking that, but that's

623
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 4: what I thought, that they're going to be a better team.

624
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,240
Speaker 4: And then I see things that make me think it's there,

625
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,400
Speaker 4: and then I see other things that make me think, well,

626
00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:35,760
Speaker 4: you know, in some ways, they're probably fortunate to be

627
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,600
Speaker 4: six when you just look at the statistics, so you know,

628
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,080
Speaker 4: it's I mean, I think the best thing you can

629
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:44,440
Speaker 4: say out of coming out of this game is, yeah,

630
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,600
Speaker 4: it put you in the same position you were in

631
00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:49,400
Speaker 4: heading into the weekend, which is your margin of error

632
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:51,400
Speaker 4: is gone. You've got to be able to take care

633
00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:53,640
Speaker 4: of business. You got to be able to beat the Ravens.

634
00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:56,560
Speaker 4: And that's what the AFC North usually comes down to.

635
00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,160
Speaker 4: And you can still win the AFC North and maybe

636
00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:03,720
Speaker 4: you can find some way to take these issues and

637
00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:05,960
Speaker 4: and you know, keep the good parts, the parts in

638
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,920
Speaker 4: which you've led every game, keep those alive and pick

639
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,720
Speaker 4: some of these other issues. Clearly you're running out of

640
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:13,520
Speaker 4: time to do that, but they're you know, at this

641
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:15,880
Speaker 4: stage of the game, you're still six and six and

642
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,040
Speaker 4: I guess I'm looking for a positive. That's it coming

643
00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:21,240
Speaker 4: out of this, this loss to the Bills.

644
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:23,479
Speaker 2: I just don't want the irony to be missed. How

645
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 2: much the Steelers and the Ravens mirror each other. That like,

646
00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 2: they're probably saying very similar things in Baltimore right now

647
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 2: that that we It's like in the years that the

648
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:37,560
Speaker 2: Steelers are a bona fide AFC and Super Bowl contender,

649
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:38,560
Speaker 2: so are the Ravens.

650
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,600
Speaker 3: And the ins were higher and the pick the.

651
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,120
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, absolutely, And you know in the years that

652
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 2: the Steelers are six and six and kind of trying

653
00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 2: to fight and scratch and claw for every win in

654
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,719
Speaker 2: a playoff spot, so are the Baltimore Ravens. It's wild

655
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:58,080
Speaker 2: how these two teams seem to mirror each other so often.

656
00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:00,720
Speaker 2: And of course we will have that first Deelers Ravens

657
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:04,240
Speaker 2: clash Sunday one o'clock and Rob King will be on

658
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 2: the call on the flagship WDVE and of course on

659
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,440
Speaker 2: the Steelers Audio network. King Er, thanks so much for

660
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,240
Speaker 2: the time on Monday, Man. We'll talk to you soon.

661
00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:14,440
Speaker 4: Thanks, guys, I appreciate it.

662
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:18,520
Speaker 2: The King is exiting the castle, Rob King, good stuff

663
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 2: from him as always kind enough to join us on

664
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:22,680
Speaker 2: a busy day here, We're going to take our break,

665
00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:25,040
Speaker 2: come back for the final segment of the first hour.

666
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:28,200
Speaker 2: Continue to comb over some of these numbers, some of

667
00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:31,640
Speaker 2: these specifics for the Steelers loss to the Buffalo Bills

668
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:36,440
Speaker 2: yesterday at akershur Stadium. Williamson Euler, The Drive Steelers Audio Network,

669
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:42,960
Speaker 2: your tunes.

670
00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,120
Speaker 1: About Drive on your twenty four to seven home of

671
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:47,640
Speaker 1: the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio.

672
00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:02,560
Speaker 2: Back on the drive here as we rolled down the

673
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:07,680
Speaker 2: home stretch of the first hour of this week. Of course,

674
00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:10,520
Speaker 2: the calendar has turned to December. Matt, you know what

675
00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:15,000
Speaker 2: that means. Road is really getting narrowed here. I'm sorry.

676
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,960
Speaker 2: I couldn't I couldn't help myself. I couldn't resist. As

677
00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:21,400
Speaker 2: the Steelers fall to the Buffalo Bills. Of course, you

678
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 2: don't want that arrow road, but they are.

679
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:28,240
Speaker 3: They're pretty fortunate that they're not in the NFC West.

680
00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:32,160
Speaker 2: Yes, you know, yes, if as you mentioned, I mean

681
00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:35,600
Speaker 2: the the Ravens coming into this season, we're one of

682
00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:38,600
Speaker 2: the hotter, one of the sexier picks for not just

683
00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:41,760
Speaker 2: the AFC but the Super Bowl. Yeah, felt like plenty

684
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:47,759
Speaker 2: of Chiefs, duh, plenty of Bills could repeat Ravens. Those

685
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,240
Speaker 2: were probably the four that that everybody really mentioned. Everyone

686
00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 2: was kind of like, oat, the Lions will take a

687
00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:54,680
Speaker 2: bit of a step back. They lost both their coordinators

688
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,320
Speaker 2: and some key pieces. And how about Frank ragnow failing

689
00:34:57,400 --> 00:34:59,440
Speaker 2: that physical by the way, we never followed up with

690
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,400
Speaker 2: that after crazy. Yeah, that to me just speaks to

691
00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:07,120
Speaker 2: the grind of of NFL day to day life and

692
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,239
Speaker 2: what it takes to their on their bodies. And the

693
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:12,400
Speaker 2: mindset of this guy was like, I'm feeling healthy, I'm

694
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,359
Speaker 2: feeling good. They were like, you actually have a Grade

695
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,640
Speaker 2: three tear on your ham string. Like if that happened

696
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:20,960
Speaker 2: to you and I we'd be debilitated in bed for.

697
00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:22,960
Speaker 3: A while, you know, Like I feel like get back

698
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:23,440
Speaker 3: on the field.

699
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:25,920
Speaker 2: I'd be hopping around the house on crutches, Not like

700
00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:27,520
Speaker 2: I'm ready to go play some football.

701
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:32,920
Speaker 3: He played with in the past, seriously, obviously.

702
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,279
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and particularly man, those guys in the trenches are

703
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:40,440
Speaker 2: just just a a different breed. But you know, it

704
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:42,880
Speaker 2: has it has certainly not gone the way for Baltimore

705
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,640
Speaker 2: they expected this season. Heck, the Chiefs and and the

706
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,719
Speaker 2: Bills a little bit as well too. Uh But Yeah,

707
00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:52,120
Speaker 2: it all sets up for in a different way, still

708
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:54,239
Speaker 2: a huge one between the Steelers and Ravens. It's not

709
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,400
Speaker 2: it's not the Flacco and the Bend. And you know,

710
00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:59,560
Speaker 2: whoever wins this game has a great chance of going

711
00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:01,320
Speaker 2: to the a F Championship type.

712
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,040
Speaker 3: Day thirteen win type team right right, right right.

713
00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:06,719
Speaker 2: You know. But but this certainly is still going to

714
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:09,080
Speaker 2: be a massive one, and we will, I think, probably

715
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,920
Speaker 2: turn the page a little bit quicker this week than

716
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:12,719
Speaker 2: we typically do.

717
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:14,759
Speaker 3: This past game is just a hard one to break down.

718
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,680
Speaker 3: It's I mean, it's it's so I do a podcast

719
00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:20,279
Speaker 3: right after I'm like, I'm sorry. I preferenced it kind

720
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,000
Speaker 3: of by making a joke saying, I'm sorry, folks, but

721
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:25,120
Speaker 3: you're probably not going to learn anything from me in

722
00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 3: the next ten minutes that you don't already know. I mean, like,

723
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:30,600
Speaker 3: this game is very self explanatory.

724
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,400
Speaker 2: Sometimes there's a lot of minutia, yeah in a game,

725
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:37,839
Speaker 2: and other times it's just cut and dry.

726
00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:40,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, and okay, maybe I saw something you guys didn't,

727
00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,000
Speaker 3: but there's I think we all saw the same thing.

728
00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:50,640
Speaker 2: I Matt clipped this. This was the opening, so you know,

729
00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:55,320
Speaker 2: there's like an associated press reporter at every NFL game. Okay,

730
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:57,759
Speaker 2: it kind of writes the AP story. And that's what

731
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:01,040
Speaker 2: ESPN and all these different ways sites use. If you

732
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:03,240
Speaker 2: go back and look at their you know, their recap

733
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:08,800
Speaker 2: that the report. Yes, so I think the Pool report's

734
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,520
Speaker 2: a little different because that's like questions you can ask

735
00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:15,120
Speaker 2: the referees and things like. This is just a reporter

736
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:18,359
Speaker 2: who writes a recap for the game that's used by

737
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,560
Speaker 2: all the different ap So it's in New York Times

738
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:25,440
Speaker 2: and it's in ESPN, and it's a kind of supposed

739
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:30,239
Speaker 2: to be exactly like, not someone who works for the

740
00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:32,239
Speaker 2: Bills or covers the Bills or covers the Steelers. Just

741
00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:35,839
Speaker 2: kind of a neutral figurehead that can write the five

742
00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:38,520
Speaker 2: hundred word recap story that goes out to all the

743
00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:43,880
Speaker 2: different news exactly right, which the Bosa sack was mentioned

744
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,800
Speaker 2: in the third paragraph, as you can imagine. But here's

745
00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,160
Speaker 2: what the AP story and it's one of those I

746
00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:52,759
Speaker 2: like to kind of read the first couple of paragraphs

747
00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:56,080
Speaker 2: of it, just again from a neutral national perspective. What

748
00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:58,440
Speaker 2: do you think the lead of that game was?

749
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:01,760
Speaker 3: This man or woman is probably from Chicago or exactly

750
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:04,640
Speaker 3: exactly right, main or Timbright.

751
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,640
Speaker 2: So here's the first the first two sentences of the

752
00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:11,080
Speaker 2: AP story, and I think this about sums it up.

753
00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:13,879
Speaker 2: Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills came to Pittsburgh looking

754
00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:17,279
Speaker 2: for something, anything, to snap themselves out of a mid

755
00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:20,520
Speaker 2: season law that had robbed them of their swagger, not

756
00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:22,640
Speaker 2: to mention their usual grip on first place in the

757
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 2: AFC East. Second sentence, here, the Bills found it during

758
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:31,880
Speaker 2: three hours of remarkably simple and remarkably effective football in

759
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:35,040
Speaker 2: a twenty seven to six victory that made up for

760
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:37,879
Speaker 2: in sheer force, that made up for in sheer force

761
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:38,960
Speaker 2: what it lacked in style.

762
00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:40,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was.

763
00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:43,960
Speaker 2: When you say, like, it's hard to really break this

764
00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:46,279
Speaker 2: down and teach you something, and here's the angle, and

765
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,160
Speaker 2: here's the moment, and here's the The Bills found.

766
00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:51,680
Speaker 3: It that coming. It ran in the same play one

767
00:38:51,719 --> 00:38:53,239
Speaker 3: hundred times. You saw it coming.

768
00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:57,080
Speaker 2: It's easy for the Minnesota Vikings to say in Dublin Man,

769
00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:01,319
Speaker 2: Darnel Washington, we never saw that coming, right right like that,

770
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:04,760
Speaker 2: this sentence of the Bills found it during three hours

771
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:08,799
Speaker 2: of remarkably simple and remarkably effective football. I think that

772
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:12,960
Speaker 2: about forget your fifteen hundred word story forget your thirty

773
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 2: minute podcast The Bills three hours of remarkably simple and

774
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:19,839
Speaker 2: remarkably effective football in a twenty six seven victory. Yeah,

775
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:22,200
Speaker 2: and it was that cut and dry, I think, and

776
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:23,320
Speaker 2: is that black and white?

777
00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,960
Speaker 3: I think what hurts our listeners and myself, and I

778
00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:31,000
Speaker 3: don't speak for you, is many times in my life

779
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:36,160
Speaker 3: that's been the Steelers. I mean, that's Jerome or Yeah,

780
00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:38,680
Speaker 3: there's not a lot of secrets here. You can't block

781
00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:40,640
Speaker 3: Greg Lloyd and Kevin Green, and we have a lead,

782
00:39:40,719 --> 00:39:41,840
Speaker 3: and there's terrible Tiles.

783
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:46,640
Speaker 2: Fla, Aaron Smith, Ksey Hampton, Peristil dominated, some guys.

784
00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:48,640
Speaker 3: Shut down the run from the start and made.

785
00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:50,760
Speaker 2: You wonder all over the place.

786
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:54,120
Speaker 3: And then the snow's flying and Jerome's coming bat to you.

787
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:57,279
Speaker 3: And it's a lot of fun, a lot more fun

788
00:39:57,320 --> 00:39:59,000
Speaker 3: to be the hammer than the nail in that situation.

789
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:04,000
Speaker 2: It's certainly, and there's part of me, Matt, that's the

790
00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:07,680
Speaker 2: part of the game that I could sometimes I tell

791
00:40:07,719 --> 00:40:10,759
Speaker 2: you this on Fridays. It almost feels like you can

792
00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:13,279
Speaker 2: write the narrative of the result either way. Going into

793
00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:13,640
Speaker 2: the game.

794
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:16,520
Speaker 3: I had the hardest time picking this game.

795
00:40:17,239 --> 00:40:19,440
Speaker 2: And we both did. We both went back and forth.

796
00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 3: I haven't changed my score like three times.

797
00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:25,240
Speaker 2: I drove in here getting ready to pick the Bills,

798
00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:27,319
Speaker 2: and then the report came out of them both their

799
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,160
Speaker 2: tackles being ruled out, and I was like, well, instead,

800
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:30,600
Speaker 2: I'm gonna take the Steelers in a close one as

801
00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:32,200
Speaker 2: opposed to Buffalo in a close one.

802
00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:33,919
Speaker 3: And be honest, when I came in here with Tom

803
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,240
Speaker 3: and did the pre pregame show, whether it was getting

804
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,440
Speaker 3: really nasty, and I'm like, oh, I have way too

805
00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:42,399
Speaker 3: many points in my prediction. I'm going under under under.

806
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:43,919
Speaker 3: So that was one thing I actually felt good about.

807
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:44,840
Speaker 3: You know, right.

808
00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:50,840
Speaker 2: That you know remarkably simple, remarkably effective football. From Buffalo's standpoint,

809
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:54,600
Speaker 2: I think you could very easily take that and run

810
00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:58,720
Speaker 2: to the side of silver Lining and say it wasn't

811
00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:01,920
Speaker 2: anything that can't be correct did. It was simple, It

812
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:04,320
Speaker 2: was right in front of your face. You just couldn't

813
00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:04,799
Speaker 2: stop it.

814
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:07,240
Speaker 3: Because you were good at stopping it the week before.

815
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:09,640
Speaker 2: Or you can run to the other side and you

816
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:13,920
Speaker 2: can say the secret's kind of finally out. Maybe how

817
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:16,400
Speaker 2: to play against this team, how to play against this defense,

818
00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:20,600
Speaker 2: And even despite like you mentioned at halftime, even despite

819
00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:24,680
Speaker 2: Buffalo committing the crucial mistake you can't What can't you

820
00:41:24,719 --> 00:41:27,160
Speaker 2: do against the Pittsburgh Steelers in twenty twenty five when

821
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:29,600
Speaker 2: you're the coach and Wednesday preparing for the Steelers game

822
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:33,000
Speaker 2: on Sunday, when your hardball, they're already talking about it

823
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,920
Speaker 2: because they're coming off the long week. The first thing

824
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:37,759
Speaker 2: on the board is we can't give these guys the ball.

825
00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:40,359
Speaker 2: Can't turn the ball over. Give their offense a short field.

826
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:43,560
Speaker 2: That's what they're taking. That's when their defense really excels.

827
00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:45,440
Speaker 2: That's when their offense can put up points. Is when

828
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:47,000
Speaker 2: you give them the ball in the short field. That

829
00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:49,719
Speaker 2: can't happen. What happened in the first thirty minutes against the Bills.

830
00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:50,360
Speaker 2: They did it twice.

831
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,120
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, I mean, like okay.

832
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:56,120
Speaker 2: And opportune field positions for you both times.

833
00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:59,000
Speaker 3: In a way, it was very Steelers esque because play

834
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:02,760
Speaker 3: after play six that's rate. You know, big stuff defense

835
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:06,520
Speaker 3: hasn't been good all year. But if you do the splash,

836
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:08,520
Speaker 3: you get away with it. You know, I'm like okay,

837
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:10,640
Speaker 3: So they kind of in a way, the first half

838
00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:14,200
Speaker 3: was a Steeler esque showing. And I'm still thinking, man,

839
00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:16,000
Speaker 3: Buffalo at some point is going to have to air

840
00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:19,200
Speaker 3: it out. Yes, and these receivers are terrible and they're

841
00:42:19,239 --> 00:42:21,760
Speaker 3: not protecting at all, but they do have this Allen Fellow.

842
00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:22,839
Speaker 3: That's right.

843
00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:24,600
Speaker 2: That's the one way or the other. I think, as

844
00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,719
Speaker 2: easy as it is to say, it was simple, it

845
00:42:27,719 --> 00:42:31,239
Speaker 2: was effective. If they run that back against Buffalo, just

846
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:33,520
Speaker 2: stop the just don't let James Cook beat you with

847
00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:35,759
Speaker 2: the same three play calls. Yeah. Yeah, But the other

848
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:39,400
Speaker 2: side of it is, despite in the first thirty minutes

849
00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:43,600
Speaker 2: most of it going your way, it was only seven

850
00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:47,680
Speaker 2: to three, it's still felt like, man, you you really

851
00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:49,839
Speaker 2: aren't in the driver's seat here, even though you had

852
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:51,359
Speaker 2: a four point lead and we're getting the ball back

853
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:51,840
Speaker 2: at halftime.

854
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:55,160
Speaker 3: So as you're saying that, I hesitate to go down

855
00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:58,480
Speaker 3: this road. But it almost makes me worry about the

856
00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:03,600
Speaker 3: offense more in the defense because hmm, a week ago,

857
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:07,040
Speaker 3: the Steelers were exceptional. It's stopping a great running game.

858
00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:08,720
Speaker 2: They have been a few times this season.

859
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:12,040
Speaker 3: Coltson Packers again, these are the best in the league

860
00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:16,000
Speaker 3: at it, and the Bills are one of them. Next week,

861
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:18,440
Speaker 3: they who knows, they might get Henry might run for

862
00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:21,319
Speaker 3: more than Cook even did. Or they might hold them

863
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:24,040
Speaker 3: for sixty five yards. Yeah, and you might bundle them

864
00:43:24,120 --> 00:43:26,600
Speaker 3: up and make them our throw. I mean, I truly

865
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:32,239
Speaker 3: don't know. But the offense, because they're almost as much

866
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:34,240
Speaker 3: to blame for this loss as the run defense.

867
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Speaker 2: Oh, I completely agree.

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Speaker 3: I've seen less glimpses that that's fixable. I wonder where

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Speaker 3: they sit now.

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Speaker 2: So let's you know what, because we only have like

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Speaker 2: a minute or sit here, two we need to look.

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Speaker 3: I'm just kind of workshopping that idea right now.

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Speaker 2: I like that by you, and I think I've got

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Speaker 2: some AMMO to back that up. Okay, so let's let's

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Speaker 2: let's do that. We'll start there, we'll go around the

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Speaker 2: league as well. An hour number two, maybe get to

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Speaker 2: some of you tweets, a whole bunch going on as

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Speaker 2: we're halfway home here. On the Drive on a Monday

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Speaker 2: was Shouler Matt Williamson. It's the Steelers' Nation Radio on

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Speaker 2: the Steelers Audio Network