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Speaker 1: This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson

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Speaker 1: on your twenty four to seven home of the Black

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Speaker 1: and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Drive by him Dale Lollie. He is

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Speaker 2: the Matt Williamson and it is a chilly Friday here

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Speaker 2: in pittsburghs.

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Speaker 3: Must have suns out though.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we get the Battle of Pennsylvania coming up here

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Speaker 2: in Matt and I thought we'd take a look at

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Speaker 2: the to kick off today's show with the overall efficiency

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Speaker 2: ratings on ESPN where these teams come down in those ratings,

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Speaker 2: and interestingly enough, they're right next to each other on

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Speaker 2: the ratings. Philadelphia comes in overall efficiency of sixty eight

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Speaker 2: point eight that is fourth best in the league. The

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Speaker 2: Steelers at sixty five point eight, that is.

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Speaker 3: Fifth, okay. Who the top three?

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Speaker 2: Top three? Detroit's at seventy seven point one, Minnesota is

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Speaker 2: at seventy point two.

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Speaker 3: Okay.

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Speaker 2: Then you've got the Bills at sixty eight point nine,

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Speaker 2: the Eagles at sixty eight point eight, the Steelers at

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Speaker 2: sixty five point eight. Right after the Steelers, the Chargers

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Speaker 2: at sixty two point nine. Where are the Chiefs? They

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Speaker 2: are at sixty two behind the Chargers.

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Speaker 3: Okay, so they're not far off. Yeah, So I was

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Speaker 3: just wondering how As a side note, Aaron Shotts puts

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Speaker 3: out something today about how they're one of the most

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Speaker 3: overrated teams by DVOA and ever in his Yeah one No,

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Speaker 3: we've been talking about.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, but Baltimore are down at sixty one in overall efficiency.

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Speaker 2: Just looking at some of those other teams in the AFC,

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Speaker 2: the Broncos at fifty nine point six. The Texans is

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Speaker 2: fifty six point seven. So if the playoffs started today,

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Speaker 2: per these efficiency ratings, the Houston Texans would be the

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Speaker 2: worst team.

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Speaker 3: For the worst team in the playoffs, which adds up. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: so side note. I know we're to talk about games later.

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Speaker 3: I'll bring it up late.

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Speaker 2: By the way, the Steelers would be the second best

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Speaker 2: team in the AFC behind Buffalo, behind Buffalo, and they're

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Speaker 2: not far behind Buffalo.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's not crazy to me. I would think the Eagles,

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Speaker 3: I assume they do. I don't know how defense special team, Okay,

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Speaker 3: I'm curious what that is, and I wonder do they

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Speaker 3: do any kind of uh weighted towards recency. I don't

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Speaker 3: know if how, I don't know if they do or

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Speaker 3: not think they do, because I would think the Eagles

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Speaker 3: are pretty strong lately, at least defensively.

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Speaker 2: Defensively, not offense.

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Speaker 3: No, offensively would be middle of the road.

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Speaker 2: They're kind of what's happening here with the Eagles is

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Speaker 2: kind of what happened with the Ravens, where the Ravens

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Speaker 2: offense was on fire. Oh right, right, ear the defense

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Speaker 2: was terrible. Well, now the defense has gotten better, but

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Speaker 2: the offense has gotten slow down.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, but yeah, no, I think you're right. I mean,

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Speaker 3: the defense is the strongest part of the Eagles right now.

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Speaker 2: Yet defensively, we'll start with that side of the ball. Anyway,

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Speaker 2: The Steelers come in second overall efficiency on defense.

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Speaker 3: It's not crazy.

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Speaker 2: It's sixty eight point eight and the Eagles. And by

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Speaker 2: the way, the Minnesota Vikings are number one at sixty

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Speaker 2: nine point oh, so the Steelers aren't far off number one.

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Speaker 2: The Eagles come in at sixty four point five, that's sixth.

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Speaker 3: Okay. I think they're probably skyrocker, you know, screaming up

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Speaker 3: the board. Who's in between them.

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Speaker 2: Maybe Denver, Houston, Detroit and the Chargers.

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Speaker 3: Okay, those add up, Those add up. If I were

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Speaker 3: to do my defensive rankings. I don't know what order

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Speaker 3: i'd have them in, but out of the Eagles, Steelers

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Speaker 3: and Vikings as the top three, and then I'm not sure,

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Speaker 3: maybe Denver, you know, yeah, maybe the Chargers.

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Speaker 2: Here's this is one of the things, the issues that

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Speaker 2: you have and the Steelers have the same issue. I'm

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Speaker 2: not picking on Philadelphia here, Yeah, but the teams that

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Speaker 2: run the ball so much and win the time of

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Speaker 2: possession week after week after week.

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Speaker 3: And the Steelers are first in time.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you limit the expos of your defense to allow Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I mean, how many times over the last five years

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Speaker 3: have we said more defense is bad defense? However we

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Speaker 3: want to phrase it. I mean, just if you're out

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Speaker 3: there a long stretch, the dam's gonna break. I mean,

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Speaker 3: as good as you are, it almost doesn't matter. Quarterbacks

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Speaker 3: figure you out, Coordinators figure you out. There's a fatigue

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Speaker 3: factor stopping to run over and over. It gets old.

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Speaker 3: So one thing I kind of dug up in the

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Speaker 3: last twenty four hours since we got together, and I

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Speaker 3: think we both kind of feel that there's an approach

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Speaker 3: to winning this game with big personnel. Body blows in

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Speaker 3: the early rounds, wear these guys out Jordan Davis in particular, detackles.

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Speaker 3: Don't let them be a nickel a ton, even if

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Speaker 3: you're punting early or three nothing after the first quarter.

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Speaker 3: But the one thing I didn't realize about the Eagles

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Speaker 3: is one of the reasons they run so much and

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Speaker 3: so much in the second half is that's just their game.

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Speaker 3: As everyone knows, they run the ball a ton, but

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Speaker 3: they also wear teams out by going no huddle at

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Speaker 3: a really high rate too, So they play with pace

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Speaker 3: and don't let you get off the field matched with running,

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Speaker 3: and then in the end everyone's gassed. But I don't

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Speaker 3: know this for a fact, but I do know that

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Speaker 3: the Steelers practice harder than most teams and certainly see

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Speaker 3: and clearly are a much better second half team and

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Speaker 3: defense than Joe average team. I think they are a

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Speaker 3: little bit harder to wear down than most teams. I

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Speaker 3: guess that's my point.

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Speaker 2: This would be the one caveat to keep an eye

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Speaker 2: out for on Sunday, And we've seen teams do this

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Speaker 2: when TJ. Water Cam Hayward are not on the field.

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Speaker 2: You see some hurry up in those situations.

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Speaker 3: Exactly. Yeah, I would be very wary of that in

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Speaker 3: this one because they're a heavy no huddle, don't let

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Speaker 3: them sub type of team. We got them gasp and

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Speaker 3: keep handing at the saque. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so keep an eye on that, you know, and

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Speaker 2: if you do see some bigger Saquon Barkley runs, that

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Speaker 2: might be one of the reasons why. Yeah, but if

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Speaker 2: you can keep them in situations like if you if

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Speaker 2: you put them behind the chains on first down or

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Speaker 2: even you know, hold that to a one or two

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Speaker 2: yard game and make it second and eight. Oh you

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Speaker 2: want to hurry up the line, have at it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely. I know we'll get to the practice report

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Speaker 3: at some point. But sounds like Ogin Joby Elliott or questionable, right.

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Speaker 2: I don't think Ogen Joby plays. We'll see about. I'm

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Speaker 2: just thinking about big, big people in particular. I think

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Speaker 2: montrevious Adams gets activated for.

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Speaker 3: This guy, I assume. So that's my next question. I

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Speaker 3: figured that was in the cards. Yeah, so that's kind

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Speaker 3: of a one for one.

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Speaker 2: It is, and you know, this is this is the

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Speaker 2: reason why you know, the Steelers, you know, went out

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Speaker 2: and did some of the things that they did in

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Speaker 2: the off season, and it talked about this a lot. Uh,

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Speaker 2: you go out and you go get a guy like

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Speaker 2: Dean Lowry as a backup. He's got ninety starts in

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Speaker 2: his career.

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Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, he's been around the block.

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Speaker 2: He's not going to step into Lincoln Financial Field and

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Speaker 2: go oh boy, yeah yeah, this is a big deal exactly.

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Speaker 3: And I think like louder Milks getting to that point

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Speaker 3: of his career too, where he's he's an NFL player,

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Speaker 3: you know he's gonna last I thought Watts was that

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Speaker 3: guy last year. I think it's you know, Wormley's been

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Speaker 3: that guy over the years. I think it's valuable to

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Speaker 3: have like a fifth guy that's been around the block,

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Speaker 3: that is solid, you know. I think that goes a

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Speaker 3: long way.

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Speaker 2: I kind of just I kind of expect to see

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Speaker 2: more Lowry in this game, really, I do.

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Speaker 3: I think.

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Speaker 2: That's kind of your one for one with Ogan Jobi.

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Speaker 3: As opposed to bumping Benton or all the above.

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Speaker 2: I think you leave Benton inside in the base. You're

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Speaker 2: gonna play him obviously more than a nickel.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the nickel, I would think.

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Speaker 2: But I think I think you just plug in Lowry

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Speaker 2: for for Larry Ogan Joby and go with it that way.

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Speaker 3: So I mean, if they come out in their base

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Speaker 3: three four. You think he might be a starter? Yeah, perhaps, Yeah,

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Speaker 3: I mean that's kind of why you got him. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: I mean again, a guy with ninety plus career starts.

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Speaker 3: He's actually really good against a run. It has been a

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Speaker 3: that's been his calling card throughout the course of his career.

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Speaker 3: He's never been a big pass rusher per se. But

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Speaker 3: we don't bring him up much, you know, he doesn't

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Speaker 3: get talked about it a lot. But maybe this is

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Speaker 3: why you got him for depth late in the year

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Speaker 3: in particular.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, again, and I think there's something to be said

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Speaker 2: for not bringing in, you know, some guy who's a

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Speaker 2: fourth round pick this year and all of a sudden

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Speaker 2: he whoa, You're thrust into this you step yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: you know, well, this is a big game. There's a

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Speaker 2: lot of fans here, right.

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Speaker 3: Lad Johnson is cracking down on me and trying to

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Speaker 3: chase Saquon. Yeah, ideal these stars every week every year,

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Speaker 3: you know.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Lowry's done all that stuff before.

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Speaker 3: That's a good point.

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Speaker 2: So I think that could that that could be something

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Speaker 2: to keep an eye on in this one and the

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Speaker 2: hurry up stuff. The Eagles do have an advantage offensively.

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Speaker 2: They are fifth overall in offensive efficiency at sixty six

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Speaker 2: point two. The Steelers, well, not quite so high. They're

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Speaker 2: sixteenth at forty eight pointe.

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Speaker 3: Okay, I would bet much of that is derived from

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Speaker 3: yards per carry difference. I mean probably, Yeah. They're both

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Speaker 3: such run heavy teams. The Eagles have like the best

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Speaker 3: yards per carry and the Steelers or near the bottom.

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Speaker 3: You know, it's more volume.

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Speaker 2: One of the interesting things about this game. If you

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Speaker 2: look at Saquon Barkley stats this year, the I'm not

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Speaker 2: going to count the game against the Bengals because the

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Speaker 2: Bengals defense is awful.

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Speaker 3: It's so bad.

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Speaker 2: But if you look at the games against Baltimore and

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Speaker 2: you look at the game against Cleveland this year, two

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Speaker 2: defenses that are similar, yeah yeah, yeah, sly built of

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Speaker 2: this yea.

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Speaker 3: Familiar with.

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Speaker 2: Cleveland held him to a season low that was eighteen

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Speaker 2: carries for forty seven yards.

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Speaker 3: Okay, I didn't know that.

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Speaker 2: He had about forty yards going into the fourth quarter

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Speaker 2: of that game against Baltimore if you remember, and then

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Speaker 2: broke a couple of longer runs in that game. He

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Speaker 2: ended up finishing with twenty three carries for one hundred

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Speaker 2: and seven yards. That's four point seven yards per carry.

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Speaker 2: I'm not saying you can live with that.

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Speaker 3: That's not the worst thing in the world, but it's

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Speaker 3: on six point one. Yeah, I mean, it's not a

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Speaker 3: sixty yard or going the opposite way and breaking your back. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I would. I think I would take at this point

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Speaker 3: and the way he's playing, the blocking, they have the

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Speaker 3: dedication to the run, you know, fourth quarter, I bet

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Speaker 3: he has a lot of long runs. Yeah, I think

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Speaker 3: that adds up. I almost hesitate to bring it up

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Speaker 3: because's been a while and obviously the situations a thousand

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Speaker 3: times better. I did that Thursday Night show with Merrill

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Speaker 3: and Mike and didn't realize Barkley had ever played the Steelers,

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Speaker 3: and he did.

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Speaker 2: They shut him down.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, they shut him down big time. So at least

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Speaker 3: he's not all the same guys.

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Speaker 2: Fifteen carries for six yards. It was like, it's the

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Speaker 2: worst output of his career when he had at least

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Speaker 2: fifteen carries. That was also Daniel Jones quarter.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it's not the same Lane Johnson and Malta

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Speaker 3: and all those guys too. And this defense has you know,

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Speaker 3: changed since then. But they did do a really good

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Speaker 3: job on him. And Tomlin and Hayward and Watt and

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Speaker 3: those guys are part of it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's it. We haven't talked a ton about that

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Speaker 2: this week. If you're the Steelers defensively, we've talked about

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Speaker 2: the Steelers offensively and what we would do in that situation.

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Speaker 2: I think you have to you have to sell out

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Speaker 2: to stop Saquon Barkley.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. The more I thought about it, the more I

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Speaker 3: think I'm playing a lot of pretty vanilla zones cover three,

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Speaker 3: which is their their base. You know, I don't think

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Speaker 3: I'm playing a lot of man. You sent me a

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Speaker 3: bunch of stats about Hurts first man versus zone, and

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Speaker 3: I started thinking and looking more into it since you did.

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Speaker 3: And I don't think it's him. I just think AJ

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Speaker 3: Brown's awesome against man. I mean, he's beats up man coverage.

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Speaker 3: And Smith's such a sharper outrunner too. They're both just

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Speaker 3: better man receivers. I don't know he's a better man

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Speaker 3: quarterback either way. It doesn't matter. I mean, if the

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Speaker 3: Eagles passing game is better versus man, I'm not playing

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Speaker 3: much man. I just don't want to allow.

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Speaker 2: It's a lot markedly worse against worse. Yeah, and the

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Speaker 2: way that Hurts is playing. He's still very dangerous.

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Speaker 3: We know that he's not a bad player, but he's

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Speaker 3: the weakness of the offense right now. And they flat

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Speaker 3: out came out and said it. I want him to

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Speaker 3: have to complete pass after pass after pass. I mean,

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Speaker 3: if they outroute you to death in front of cover three, okay,

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Speaker 3: you know, And I got a lot of people in

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Speaker 3: the box and I'm close to selling out against the run,

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Speaker 3: so be it, you know. I mean, there's not a

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Speaker 3: great answer for these guys.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's to me. Why, you know, I think

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Speaker 2: this is a big at Landon Roberts game. I think

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Speaker 2: he's on the field and the nickel more than Peyton Wilson,

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Speaker 2: Friend of the show, Peyton friend of the show. Now,

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Speaker 2: if it's third and nine, Wilson's on the field. But yeah,

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Speaker 2: you know, it's less than that. And where you know

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Speaker 2: you're a nickel, you gotta have Landon Roberts on the field.

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Speaker 3: It makes a lot of sense. And because they are

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Speaker 3: going to run the ball, they're an aggressive fourth down

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Speaker 3: team too. Yeah, we've talked about this with the Lions,

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Speaker 3: Like third and five for the Lions, it's probably a

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Speaker 3: Rundown to Rundown, You know right. I mean, and I

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Speaker 3: would think the Eagles treated similarly because they run the

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Speaker 3: ball so much. They have a quarterback that can run.

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Speaker 3: They're the best back in the league. And on third

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Speaker 3: and five, I might want Roberts out there for that reason.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know they haven't. I don't think they've gone

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Speaker 2: for a ton of fourth downs this year. Well, it's twenty.

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Speaker 3: They're historically aggressive, Sirianni.

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Speaker 2: No, they're thirteen to twenty this season on third or

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Speaker 2: fourth downs.

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Speaker 3: Wine, He's pretty much, I guess. I mean they touched

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Speaker 3: push a bunch. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Opponents are fifteen to twenty three against them. So their

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Speaker 2: opponents have actually attempted more fourth downs against them than

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Speaker 2: twenty plus.

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Speaker 3: Seems like a lot. Maybe it's not. Maybe that's what

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Speaker 3: every team's out at this stage.

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Speaker 2: It's less than two per game. Yeah, okay, I mean

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Speaker 2: we are pretty defensive at this point in the season.

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Speaker 2: I mean that's probably about the average. Yeah, but they're

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Speaker 2: fourth and one. They're a high percentage, Yeah, sixty five

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Speaker 2: percent the conversion rate. Opponents are at sixty five point two.

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Speaker 2: The interesting thing about this game is that both of

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Speaker 2: these defenses are really good on third downs. Yeah, yeah, absolutely,

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Speaker 2: I almost made that one of my guarantees. I look,

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Speaker 2: so I took the average of what if you combine

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Speaker 2: the two defenses this year, what they give up on

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Speaker 2: average third down? It's about eight per game. The if

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Speaker 2: you combine them both, Wow, could I go? Because I'm like,

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Speaker 2: could I possibly say they'll be less than they'll be nine?

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Speaker 2: Or you were third down conversions in this game.

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Speaker 3: I'd be safe and go ten. Ben's won't know.

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Speaker 2: But that's really low.

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Speaker 3: That's really low. I mean total conversions in the game. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: under ten seems extremely low.

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Speaker 2: Extremely low.

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Speaker 3: How often do they snap the ball fifteen times?

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Speaker 2: I mean, you're you're probably gonna get in an average

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Speaker 2: NFL game twenty.

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Speaker 3: Five I would say twenty five. I bet third down attachment.

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Speaker 2: And to say that that these two teams will combine

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Speaker 2: on Sunday to convert less than eight of those or eight.

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Speaker 3: If maybe something like that.

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Speaker 2: Really between the two of them, they're allowing like the

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Speaker 2: Eagles are at thirty four point four percent and the

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Speaker 2: Steelers are even better than that at thirty two percent. Okay,

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Speaker 2: like they don't give up. Neither one of these teams

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Speaker 2: gives up much on third downs.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that could be a really important part. And then

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Speaker 3: maybe we see more fourth down decisions than usual. That

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Speaker 3: could be the case, right, Yeah, boy Thoma should have

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Speaker 3: went for word on fourth or I can't believe, Sirian

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Speaker 3: he went fourth on fourth in that situation. Well, maybe

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Speaker 3: there's a lot more to come up that are, you know,

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Speaker 3: debatable for a coach.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's something again, something to keep an eye on

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Speaker 2: in this particular game, because you know these are two

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Speaker 2: of the best defenses in the league.

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Speaker 3: One of your guarantees, do what you want. But I

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Speaker 3: would be whatever the over under Hurts rushing yards is,

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Speaker 3: I'm going under. I mean some of the stuff about

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Speaker 3: Steelers against quarterback rushes and scrambles is incredibly low, incredibly good. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: and I think they're not going to let him out.

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Speaker 3: I mean even like the number of scrambles, you know,

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Speaker 3: cold pass plays to turn into a quarterback run, they're

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Speaker 3: way less than whoever number thirty one is on.

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Speaker 2: That's the team speed in the middle of the field. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: and a pass rush plan and a pass rush plan. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: if you look at it, it's interesting. Hurts averages ten

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Speaker 2: yards per scramble on his scram I think it's ten yards,

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Speaker 2: just over ten yards when he scrambles on a passing play.

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Speaker 2: But his overall rushing number for the he's averaging forty

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Speaker 2: one point eight rushing yards per game, four point one

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Speaker 2: yards per attempt. He's got a lot of one yards

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Speaker 2: because of all the one yards.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, say they do in so many any of those pushes.

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Speaker 3: There's a lot of a lot of them, for sure.

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Speaker 3: Yeah he's ten yards for scramble. Yeah, but he isn't.

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Speaker 3: You're crazy, You're you're not. Yeah, that's that is crazy.

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Speaker 3: Thirteen rushing touchdowns. I bet the average distance of them

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Speaker 3: is like one point yards, right, yeah, one long one

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Speaker 3: or whatever.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, you've got all that and then you're averaging

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Speaker 2: four point one yards per rushing attempt.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Wow. So here's the Steelers numbers. I thought these

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Speaker 3: were incredibly low too. So the third fewest rushing yards

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Speaker 3: per game to quarterbacks and only eleven point six but

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Speaker 3: only one rushing touchdown and face and you face yeah,

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Speaker 3: and the best guys out there, but on scrambles, they've

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Speaker 3: only allowed thirty one rushing yards all year. It's the

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Speaker 3: best in the league.

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Speaker 2: And a lot of that was the Jameis Winston last week.

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Speaker 3: I bet it was. Yeah, you're right, and the Dolphins

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Speaker 3: are next at one hundred and ten, you know, so,

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Speaker 3: I mean there's a huge gap there. They've only allowed

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Speaker 3: nine quarterbacks scrambles all year. I mean that's insane to me.

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Speaker 3: The average NFL defense is at twenty five. Yeah, like wow,

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Speaker 3: I mean really all of those guys in some.

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Speaker 2: Of that as well as if you think about you know, TJ.

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Speaker 2: Wat a couple of weeks ago in Cincinnati, Burrow gets

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Speaker 2: out of the pocket and he starts to run towards

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Speaker 2: the line of scrimmage and all of a sudden, here

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Speaker 2: comes what behind him from behind behind? Yeah, herbic is

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Speaker 2: the same way you get those get those strips in

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Speaker 2: that and and you.

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Speaker 3: Know they're wary of getting the ball strips. Every quarterback's

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Speaker 3: got to be on top of that.

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Speaker 2: It hurts is fumbled eight times this year.

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Speaker 3: To me, that's almost if we get back here on

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Speaker 3: Monday and be like, wow, Steelers one. I picked them

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Speaker 3: to lose, but they won. I bet there's either a

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Speaker 3: strip sack that they scoop and score or something along

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Speaker 3: those lines, or block kick or something like that, yeah,

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Speaker 3: you know, or.

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Speaker 2: Maybe two again winning in the margins.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but the strip sack thing is something

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Speaker 3: I'd be How can we lose this game? We always

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Speaker 3: talk about that from the eagle side of things, and

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Speaker 3: like Jalen, you gotta be careful with this.

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Speaker 2: This week with these guys. Yeah, they'll get you, they'll

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Speaker 2: get you. Yeah, let's get to a break. He is

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Speaker 2: the Matt Williamson Dale Lolly. You're listening to the Drive

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Speaker 2: here on the Steelers Audio Network. When we return, we'll

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Speaker 2: be joined by Missy Matthews right after this.

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Speaker 1: He is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson

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

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Speaker 1: and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

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Speaker 2: And we are back on the drive. I am Dale LOLLI.

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Speaker 2: He is the Matt Williamson and we're joined on the

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Speaker 2: Justin Miller Hotline, which is being manned by CJ. Wolfley

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Speaker 2: today by Missy Matthews, the Steelers sideline reporter.

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Speaker 3: Missy.

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Speaker 2: How are you today?

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Speaker 4: I'm doing great? How are you?

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Speaker 3: Guys?

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Speaker 2: We are just fantastic and a big matchup this weekend

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Speaker 2: with the Philadelphia Eagles. You would think, Missy, and this

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Speaker 2: is always I always wonder at this all the time.

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Speaker 2: I can remember walking into it. We were in Denver

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Speaker 2: one year and the Rockies, the Rockies had just beaten

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Speaker 2: the Phillies, I think in the playoffs or something like that,

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Speaker 2: and we're the place where the establishment we were going

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Speaker 2: into car died everybody. I'm like, oh, right, forty years

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Speaker 2: old at the time or whatever it was. And you

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Speaker 2: looked at our Pennsylvania licenses and he said, oh, we

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Speaker 2: just beat your baseball team. And I looked at him

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Speaker 2: like I didn't. It took me like five seconds of

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Speaker 2: figure out what the heck he was talking about, because

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Speaker 2: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh aren't close to each other.

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Speaker 3: I've got a running, running joke actually with my San

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Speaker 3: Francisco co host on another podcast that he said, to

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Speaker 3: everyone in the East thinks the same thing about California.

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Speaker 3: Like Northern California and southern California aren't even close, let

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Speaker 3: alone Eastern PA and Western PA. You know, like there's

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Speaker 3: a big difference, big.

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Speaker 2: Like they're like there are like six different NFL cities

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Speaker 2: we can get to much quicker than we can get

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Speaker 2: the philadelph Yeah, and you bust.

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Speaker 4: To Cleveland, you fly to Philly.

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Speaker 1: So simple.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the reason I bring this up is I don't

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Speaker 2: expect to see a lot of Steeler fans Philadelphia this weekend,

438
00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:03,560
Speaker 2: even though it's an in state game. Did do you

439
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:04,680
Speaker 2: agree with me on that one?

440
00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,720
Speaker 4: A million percent? I think the Philly fans have a

441
00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:15,680
Speaker 4: reputation that they like to you know, hold and keep

442
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:17,680
Speaker 4: near and dear to their heart of maybe not being

443
00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,800
Speaker 4: very welcoming. I wouldn't say it would be like going

444
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:26,120
Speaker 4: to a Flyers game in Philly, but I still think

445
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,919
Speaker 4: that it's a level of like, nah, maybe sit this

446
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,240
Speaker 4: one out. And I even you know that twenty twenty

447
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,800
Speaker 4: two game, I don't remember seeing very many Steelers.

448
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,040
Speaker 2: No, I don't either. Yeah, and I've been out there

449
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,040
Speaker 2: several times and I don't recall seeing Steeler fans. Are

450
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:40,639
Speaker 2: not going to take over the stadium. Plus, you've got

451
00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:43,480
Speaker 2: eleven to eleven and two team against a ten and

452
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,439
Speaker 2: three team. This is a marque match up.

453
00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're going, no doubt.

454
00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:50,280
Speaker 4: I mean, they cinched the playoff spot. But I think

455
00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,360
Speaker 4: for them knowing that, you know, if they can keep

456
00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:55,520
Speaker 4: on their win streak, which they've done for nine straight weeks,

457
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,000
Speaker 4: you know, good things can come in terms of seating

458
00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,440
Speaker 4: and I'm sure you know, just as we all will

459
00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:02,480
Speaker 4: be paying attention to what happens in the Bills and

460
00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,600
Speaker 4: the Lions game, that game means something to both PA

461
00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:07,840
Speaker 4: teams that will be going head to head on Sunday.

462
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,720
Speaker 2: Absolutely, the Steelers can still get into the playoffs even

463
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:15,280
Speaker 2: if they win the game. They're in period. If they

464
00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:20,240
Speaker 2: lose the game, but Miami and Indianapolis also lose, the

465
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,840
Speaker 2: Steelers clinch a playoffs spot. And to me, I look

466
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:25,640
Speaker 2: at this game, and I look at this stretch of games,

467
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,760
Speaker 2: these next three games. And I mentioned this earlier in

468
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,959
Speaker 2: the week, like when the schedule came out, everybody pointed

469
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:33,679
Speaker 2: to these three games. Be goes, oh, this is going

470
00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,360
Speaker 2: to make or break the Steelers season. And I don't

471
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:37,680
Speaker 2: feel that way anymore.

472
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:39,080
Speaker 3: And I feel like it's made already.

473
00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:39,440
Speaker 4: Yeah.

474
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,760
Speaker 2: Do you feel similarly about this thing or I mean,

475
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,080
Speaker 2: obviously you want to win these games, but they're not

476
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,040
Speaker 2: the boy. If you don't win all three of these,

477
00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:46,719
Speaker 2: you're in trouble.

478
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,120
Speaker 4: Correct. I mean sure, if you did that and then

479
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,639
Speaker 4: you have to win Week eighteen against Cincinnati, that maybe

480
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,639
Speaker 4: improve your playoff spot. I still just think that I

481
00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,800
Speaker 4: don't think they're going to go on three. I'm not

482
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,600
Speaker 4: saying they're going to go three and O, but I

483
00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 4: think they are at a point where they have set

484
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,399
Speaker 4: themselves up with a buffer, and that is not something

485
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,480
Speaker 4: that we are used to this time of year. I

486
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,359
Speaker 4: feel like it's usually like, all right, we need somebody

487
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,359
Speaker 4: to lose this game, we need uh to win the next,

488
00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:21,480
Speaker 4: you know, for whatever it is, it's never kind of like,

489
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,240
Speaker 4: maybe take a deep breath. You're not officially in, but

490
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:26,240
Speaker 4: you pretty much are once you got to ten.

491
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,399
Speaker 3: Yeah, you control everything here, right, I mean, it'd be

492
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,400
Speaker 3: different if you lost to Cleveland or since a year,

493
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,679
Speaker 3: you know. I mean, with those two wins in the books,

494
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,240
Speaker 3: you're sitting in really good shape.

495
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:39,520
Speaker 4: I imagine if they would have won in Cleveland, where

496
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:41,720
Speaker 4: you'd be sitting right now absolutely.

497
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,280
Speaker 2: Oh, you'd have already clinched and and then you know,

498
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,560
Speaker 2: you'd have a three game lead on Baltimore with four

499
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:47,560
Speaker 2: to play, and right, yeah.

500
00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,560
Speaker 3: I wouldn't mind replaying any of those three losses.

501
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:53,160
Speaker 2: I'll take the eye, ye, Dallas, Indianapolis. There are games

502
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:56,040
Speaker 2: that you probably win absolutely absolutely.

503
00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:56,359
Speaker 3: Yeah.

504
00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,960
Speaker 4: You know, maybe they needed those early ones, you know,

505
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:02,240
Speaker 4: not so much a wake up call, but just like

506
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,439
Speaker 4: get them out of your system. And you knew you

507
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:07,120
Speaker 4: were getting those to the Indian Dallas one, like you said,

508
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:11,080
Speaker 4: out of your system before the AFC North Gauntlet that

509
00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:14,359
Speaker 4: you have to go through is taking place, So it

510
00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 4: could be way worse. And I think that we're typically

511
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,880
Speaker 4: used to this not much of a cushion this time

512
00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,440
Speaker 4: of year, where we're not, you know, like last year,

513
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,120
Speaker 4: waiting to see what happens in a game that we've

514
00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 4: already you know, we're already.

515
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:29,280
Speaker 3: Done, Missy.

516
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,960
Speaker 2: If you have you sense that there's a change in

517
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:37,760
Speaker 2: the perception regarding the Steelers, even nationally and maybe even

518
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:39,040
Speaker 2: a little bit locally.

519
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:48,240
Speaker 4: That's interesting. Maybe locally, I feel like most fans feel

520
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,760
Speaker 4: like they're kind of how I'm wired, where you're always

521
00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:53,800
Speaker 4: like expecting the worst, and maybe there's a little bit

522
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:54,720
Speaker 4: more I.

523
00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:57,360
Speaker 3: Doom here.

524
00:23:57,440 --> 00:23:59,360
Speaker 2: Yeah you're you'r channeling some Labriola here.

525
00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:02,040
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I have a little labs to me.

526
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:04,960
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna lie, maybe he rubbed off of yeah, yeah.

527
00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:10,240
Speaker 4: You know, listen. I I forever will remember the twenty

528
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:13,480
Speaker 4: and sixteenth season going to New England for the AFT Championship.

529
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,440
Speaker 4: My youngest I think was like maybe one at the time,

530
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 4: maybe not even and my husband and brother were like,

531
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,199
Speaker 4: all right, we're gonna book some flights for Houston, like

532
00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,399
Speaker 4: you know, we were like feeling that mojo. And then

533
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,399
Speaker 4: at halftime, I looked at my phone and it was yeah,

534
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:31,520
Speaker 4: so we canceled those flights. Yeah, that's a good idea.

535
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,160
Speaker 4: That's a good idea. And I kind of really got

536
00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,119
Speaker 4: my hopes up on that one. So since then, I've

537
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:43,160
Speaker 4: just tried to not be upset but more pleasantly surprised

538
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:43,960
Speaker 4: when things go well.

539
00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:47,280
Speaker 3: And we all know the Steelers haven't won in Philadelphia

540
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 3: nineteen sixty five, and they've won in every other city

541
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,440
Speaker 3: but that one since the Super Bowl era. And I'm

542
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,679
Speaker 3: sure some of it has something to do with, you know,

543
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,159
Speaker 3: the they're not gonna sell their tickets. It's gonna be

544
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:00,640
Speaker 3: a lot of green in the stand. Is there more

545
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:02,440
Speaker 3: to it than that? When you're down on the sidelines

546
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,600
Speaker 3: for those games? Is it more daunting? Is there some

547
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:07,440
Speaker 3: kind of black magic going on that I don't know about.

548
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:08,040
Speaker 3: I don't get it.

549
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,439
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's not like you know, last week we were

550
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,000
Speaker 4: all riding the Cleveland one where you know, now it's

551
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,760
Speaker 4: twenty one straight home games in Pittsburgh for them that

552
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:23,320
Speaker 4: they've lost. I honestly can't remember twenty sixteen was the

553
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:25,719
Speaker 4: game before twenty twenty two. I don't even remember if

554
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,520
Speaker 4: I was there or not. But I don't know if

555
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,600
Speaker 4: it's you know, like how it is like Cleveland. You know,

556
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,040
Speaker 4: when they lose in Pittsburgh, sometimes they're firing head coach

557
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:36,720
Speaker 4: on the way home, or there's just something crazy happening.

558
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:38,480
Speaker 2: Usually they don't even wait for that. They just do

559
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:39,760
Speaker 2: it and get it over.

560
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:43,119
Speaker 4: With, right, But I mean, think about how many people

561
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,160
Speaker 4: that game because it's usually one of the last weeks

562
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,119
Speaker 4: or the last week, and then it ends up, you know,

563
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:54,439
Speaker 4: someone gets the pink slip. So I don't know. I

564
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,360
Speaker 4: wouldn't say it feels like there's you know, some black magic.

565
00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,720
Speaker 4: But I think regardless, it's yes, ten games since nineteen

566
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 4: sixty five. Maybe this is the year they can turn

567
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:06,920
Speaker 4: it around and then we don't have to keep going

568
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,560
Speaker 4: back to that stat Yeah.

569
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:11,359
Speaker 2: And really when you look at it, I mean, both

570
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,880
Speaker 2: of these teams have struggled in the other team state.

571
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:18,000
Speaker 2: I mean, the Eagles haven't won in Pittsburgh since two thousand.

572
00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:20,399
Speaker 2: You know, it's like they don't play each other all

573
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 2: the time, so it's not to your point like Cleveland,

574
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:25,520
Speaker 2: where they're here every year and you just get that

575
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:27,800
Speaker 2: throwne in your face year after year after year, like, oh,

576
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:28,560
Speaker 2: you guys can't win.

577
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 3: But it's not like one organization is always at the

578
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:32,399
Speaker 3: top of the league and the other one's always at

579
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,960
Speaker 3: the bottom either. They're both pretty successful organizations.

580
00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:38,160
Speaker 4: Yeah, true, Yeah, And I think because like you said,

581
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,120
Speaker 4: it's not AFC North, And even like I remember the

582
00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,600
Speaker 4: twenty twenty two game, you know, that was kind of

583
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:45,479
Speaker 4: the first time that it really hit me that they

584
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,120
Speaker 4: had not one in there, one there in so long.

585
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:50,840
Speaker 4: And obviously that wasn't that long ago, so I remember

586
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:53,800
Speaker 4: it pretty well this time. Plus that game, let's say

587
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,600
Speaker 4: it was not forgettable, to say the least.

588
00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:59,960
Speaker 3: Hard Knock showed us a little glimpse of George picture

589
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 3: Pickens being anxious to get on the field while he

590
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:06,480
Speaker 3: was not in paths. Did you get that impression where

591
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,400
Speaker 3: you near him at all during the game. Was he

592
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:10,040
Speaker 3: jumping out of his skin to get in there?

593
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,119
Speaker 4: Oh, that is the perfect way to probably describe what

594
00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:16,639
Speaker 4: he was like. I think at first he kind of

595
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:18,479
Speaker 4: had the hood up, he had his you know, George

596
00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,880
Speaker 4: mask on and he was I think trying to play cool.

597
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,600
Speaker 4: I don't know if he knew that CBS's cameras had

598
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,440
Speaker 4: already spotted him. But then I think once things got going,

599
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:31,880
Speaker 4: especially once the offense got going, I mean, at some point,

600
00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 4: I'm pretty sure that somebody probably wanted him just to

601
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,280
Speaker 4: sit down because the running he was doing down the sideline.

602
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,639
Speaker 4: When Van Jefferson got that touchdown, he went crazy and

603
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,680
Speaker 4: just so excited, pumped up for the guys, talking to everybody,

604
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,160
Speaker 4: very engaged. You know, It's not like he was sitting

605
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:48,000
Speaker 4: there pouting. You could tell he was upset, and you

606
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 4: said you heard it from the Hard Knocks cameras, but

607
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,119
Speaker 4: definitely somebody who was trying to do whatever he could

608
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:55,400
Speaker 4: even though he couldn't be out there.

609
00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's one of the things about George. I think

610
00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,920
Speaker 2: it's kind of lost in the perception of him that, well,

611
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 2: he's not a good teammate. I don't know about I

612
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:07,760
Speaker 2: don't know that that's the case. I just think he's

613
00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:12,040
Speaker 2: he's wired to the point where he feels like when

614
00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:13,800
Speaker 2: he's on the field, he gives him a better chance

615
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:17,000
Speaker 2: to win. Competitiveness, He's a very competitive guy.

616
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,040
Speaker 4: No doubt, but it's true. You know, it's not like

617
00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 4: it's you know, he's he's full of himself and it's

618
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,639
Speaker 4: not true. I think you know that it probably wouldn't

619
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,600
Speaker 4: have taken so long for the offense to get going

620
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,880
Speaker 4: in that game last Sunday. And I think, as you said,

621
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:37,480
Speaker 4: you know those like Apex predators, that it's how they're wired.

622
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:39,280
Speaker 4: I think if you go to Georgia, you have that

623
00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:43,520
Speaker 4: in you. You're winning national championships. So not being able

624
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 4: to be out there probably was not the best feeling.

625
00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 4: Especially you know it was a late week injury. You

626
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 4: probably were thinking clearly coach Seaman thought he'd be able

627
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 4: to go, and then it kind of just all started

628
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:54,760
Speaker 4: to crumble.

629
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 3: So, I mean, Nasky this last couple of weeks and

630
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,960
Speaker 3: this Hard Knocks triggered it for me, is the Hard

631
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,800
Speaker 3: Knocks crew on the sidelines. Do they have an obvious presence?

632
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 3: Are they at distraction? Is there a ton of them? There?

633
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:09,600
Speaker 3: Is there hardly anyone? I mean, Like, what's that like?

634
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:11,640
Speaker 3: Is it different on game days when they're there?

635
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:17,600
Speaker 4: Honestly, NFL Films always has you know, usually usually I

636
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 4: should say has a camera and a boom operator similar

637
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:21,760
Speaker 4: to what the team has.

638
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:25,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, anti boom operators.

639
00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:28,800
Speaker 4: You know, sometimes they're nice, sometimes they're not. You know,

640
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:33,120
Speaker 4: let's just say that those are those are so normal,

641
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,120
Speaker 4: I think obviously because they have a field producer who's

642
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,280
Speaker 4: listening in to all the different people, the coaches and players,

643
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,560
Speaker 4: they have miked up. He's kind of noticeable. But it's

644
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:44,800
Speaker 4: not like they're standing next to them. You know, they

645
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:48,760
Speaker 4: still have to respect what the rules are. Uh, they

646
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,000
Speaker 4: do get a little bit more lead way of you know,

647
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:53,760
Speaker 4: being able to be there right outside of the locker

648
00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,080
Speaker 4: room when coach is welcoming guys in. I know they

649
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:58,760
Speaker 4: got to like briefly step foot, which is not something

650
00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,240
Speaker 4: that typically happens to get like a celebration. But other

651
00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 4: than that, it's pretty pretty normal.

652
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, well, missy, we will let you get back

653
00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:09,480
Speaker 2: to your your shopping.

654
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:09,680
Speaker 4: Here.

655
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,480
Speaker 2: It's a Friday, and I did all I did a

656
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 2: bunch of shopping on Monday this week because I was

657
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,880
Speaker 2: sitting there after the game, you know, that morning, and

658
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 2: I'm like, we got three games in eleven days coming

659
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:23,160
Speaker 2: up here. That leads right into Christmas. I'm not going

660
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:24,960
Speaker 2: to have any time the Christmas shop, so I better

661
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:26,840
Speaker 2: get I got to get it done now. So I

662
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:28,320
Speaker 2: went out and hit that heavily.

663
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,400
Speaker 4: I am with you. I am like everyone's getting a

664
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,760
Speaker 4: gift card in some sort of Sarah's chocolate, like a

665
00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 4: candy bar is saying of something, taping it on a card,

666
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 4: and we're calling it a day for all of the

667
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,040
Speaker 4: teachers out there. That's what you're getting.

668
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:44,760
Speaker 3: Don't forget some sideline snacks for Max though.

669
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 4: Oh we always have sidelines. I was debating should I buy, like,

670
00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,240
Speaker 4: you know what, Sarah's chocolate, Should I buy for this

671
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,000
Speaker 4: for this or should I wait? I kind of want

672
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,520
Speaker 4: to go to Oakmont Bakery tonight. Things I don't need

673
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 4: to be doing because I'm packed. You know, I have

674
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 4: to run the sports tomorrow. But these are the things

675
00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:05,880
Speaker 4: that I'm thinking about pulling off on a Friday.

676
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,800
Speaker 3: Well, if it's Max, you better not go light on

677
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:09,800
Speaker 3: the that's right.

678
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,000
Speaker 4: Never. Never.

679
00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:17,240
Speaker 2: Our guest has been Missy Matthew Steelers sideline reporter. We

680
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,880
Speaker 2: appreciate you dropping by, Missy. We'll see you on Sunday

681
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:22,640
Speaker 2: at the game. Uh. He is Matt Williamson. I am

682
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,959
Speaker 2: Dale Lolly, and this is the drive on the Steelers

683
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 2: Audio Network.

684
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:25,840
Speaker 3: Matt.

685
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:27,600
Speaker 2: Now, I'll be back with more right after this.

686
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 1: He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on

687
00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,479
Speaker 1: your twenty four to seven Home of the Black and

688
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:40,600
Speaker 1: Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

689
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,920
Speaker 2: And welcome back. I am Dale LOLLI he is the

690
00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,560
Speaker 2: Matt Williamson. And I don't know if you saw this

691
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:53,320
Speaker 2: last night, but the Steelers on their YouTube channel and

692
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:57,040
Speaker 2: on Steelers dot Com released a video in the Birth

693
00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:57,760
Speaker 2: of Blitzburg.

694
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,280
Speaker 3: I haven't seen it yet, yeah, but I'm definitely gonna

695
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:00,720
Speaker 3: watch it tonight.

696
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:03,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, Nate Hogan put that thing together and there's a

697
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 2: lot of interviews on there with with guys that players, coaches,

698
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,440
Speaker 2: all that stuff over the years. I'm ticked off a

699
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:15,480
Speaker 2: NATO didn't interview me about that. I was there for

700
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:19,240
Speaker 2: all that stuff on it. I would chop Oliver here.

701
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:21,920
Speaker 2: So they did have some media folks on there. That

702
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,720
Speaker 2: was the only one that's a legend. But yeah, so

703
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:28,640
Speaker 2: check that out on there. And I bring that up

704
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,960
Speaker 2: because the Steelers aren't blitzberg anymore.

705
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,400
Speaker 3: No, not at all. I mean not at all.

706
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:38,920
Speaker 2: I mean they blitz at a very low percentage of

707
00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 2: the time this season, and they want to get there

708
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:44,040
Speaker 2: with four guys because they can they can't.

709
00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:47,080
Speaker 3: Really, the envy of all defensive coordinators is if you can't,

710
00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 3: you can't get home with four with some consistency. That's

711
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 3: a problem, especially this time of year, in playoff times.

712
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:55,640
Speaker 3: I mean, it's one of the trends if you look

713
00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:59,760
Speaker 3: at the best, really Super Bowl winners are almost always

714
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:01,960
Speaker 3: to get home with four, you know what I mean.

715
00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,760
Speaker 3: And you you could argue, well, if they're going to

716
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:08,880
Speaker 3: protect with six or seven, maybe you should send five

717
00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:11,239
Speaker 3: more often and maybe that would free up wat and

718
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,800
Speaker 3: I get that, but what they have up front is

719
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,160
Speaker 3: really the envy of the league. And you know, and

720
00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:19,800
Speaker 3: there's other teams that are loaded too, but that's a

721
00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 3: really good group.

722
00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:23,480
Speaker 2: So when we were talking about the best defenses in

723
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 2: the league and you managed mentioned Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, Yeah,

724
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,920
Speaker 2: they're my top three. Minnesota is the outlier in that

725
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,080
Speaker 2: group very much. So they're the team that Blitzer is

726
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,800
Speaker 2: like crazy. Yeah, the Eagles blitz even less than the

727
00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:36,400
Speaker 2: Steelers do.

728
00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:41,840
Speaker 3: Yeah. Like ye, yep, Minnesota give Flora as old credit

729
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:44,720
Speaker 3: in the world. I mean that's mostly scheme driven. Yeah,

730
00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,400
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't know how many pro Bowlers will

731
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:49,080
Speaker 3: even be off that defense, you know what I mean, Like,

732
00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:50,560
Speaker 3: there's a lot of good players, there's a lot of

733
00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:54,440
Speaker 3: good fits. There's a lot of smart, versatile Belichick pieces,

734
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:56,360
Speaker 3: you know what I mean. I know what I can

735
00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,800
Speaker 3: get out of this guy, Martellis their safety does a

736
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,280
Speaker 3: million different things for him, things like that. But you're right.

737
00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:06,000
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't think the Eagles pass rush is

738
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,239
Speaker 3: what he used to be though. I mean, I think

739
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,480
Speaker 3: a big thing their defense is so much better at

740
00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:15,439
Speaker 3: is they're so much better at linebacker and much better

741
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,360
Speaker 3: in their back seven overall than they've been, which is

742
00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:23,120
Speaker 3: a philosophical thing. I wonder you know Howie Roseman is

743
00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:27,319
Speaker 3: the biggest component proponent in the league of well, we

744
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:30,440
Speaker 3: have seven good d linemen, probably an eighth, you know,

745
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:32,520
Speaker 3: take one in the second round or Yeah.

746
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:35,040
Speaker 2: Here's the thing, though, they only have five defensive linemen

747
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:35,800
Speaker 2: on their roster.

748
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:37,719
Speaker 3: Yeah. I know that's odd to me too, you know,

749
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 3: but I think this offseason he realized, I mean, that

750
00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:44,520
Speaker 3: team crumbled a year ago second half of the season,

751
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,160
Speaker 3: football team, and then they got embarrassed in the first round,

752
00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:50,360
Speaker 3: and there was a lot of play there, and.

753
00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:52,239
Speaker 2: Then they got off to the slow start this year,

754
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:54,480
Speaker 2: and that's when they stopped throwing the ball so much.

755
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the head coach, the seats start getting hot

756
00:34:57,200 --> 00:34:59,760
Speaker 3: after the year before, and you got these coordinator changes

757
00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:03,640
Speaker 3: and what's different. But I do think Roseman realized I

758
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:06,560
Speaker 3: don't think I can just ignore safety and linebacker anymore,

759
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:08,279
Speaker 3: you know. I mean, they hit a home run in

760
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:10,640
Speaker 3: Zack Bond. There's no way they thought he was gonna

761
00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:12,040
Speaker 3: be one of the best linebackers in the league when

762
00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,000
Speaker 3: they signed him to close the league minimum deal, you know.

763
00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:20,560
Speaker 3: I mean, but they did drafting. They drafted Trotter's kid,

764
00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:23,640
Speaker 3: so they actually paid put some races resources into it.

765
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,160
Speaker 3: Same with safety, and there's so much better at corner.

766
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,400
Speaker 3: So I think a lot of theirs is personnel driven,

767
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:30,480
Speaker 3: and I think Fangio is a really good coordinator. But

768
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:32,960
Speaker 3: their front foward is not as scary as it's been

769
00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:36,760
Speaker 3: over the years with Fletcher Cox and Hargrave and Brandon

770
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:37,880
Speaker 3: Graham and those dudes.

771
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:41,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're blissing at just an eighteen point six percent rate.

772
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,680
Speaker 2: The Steelers are at twenty four point one percent, both

773
00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:45,680
Speaker 2: in the bottom of the league.

774
00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:45,919
Speaker 3: Yeah.

775
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:50,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, only three teams blitzed less than the Eagles, San

776
00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:54,640
Speaker 2: Francisco and Jacksonville. The fact that Jacksonville doesn't blitz more

777
00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:57,400
Speaker 2: because they don't get any sacks and they.

778
00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:58,600
Speaker 3: Don't think they trust their.

779
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:00,560
Speaker 2: They hemorrha yards in the secondary.

780
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:01,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just don't know.

781
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:06,120
Speaker 2: I like, well, but that's what Floris has done in Minnesota.

782
00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:10,240
Speaker 2: Minnesota's doesn't have any dudes in their secondary, No, not really,

783
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:12,880
Speaker 2: and they give up some of the most passing yards

784
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:14,759
Speaker 2: in the league, but they blitz and try to get

785
00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:15,280
Speaker 2: the sacks.

786
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:17,560
Speaker 3: Who are the top guys if you go to the

787
00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:20,200
Speaker 3: other end of the Minnesota I assume they're really high.

788
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:22,800
Speaker 2: Kansas City, Detroit, Denver.

789
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:26,440
Speaker 3: Detroit just plays a ton of man, and actually Denver

790
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:30,000
Speaker 3: and Detroit play a lot of man. Trust your corners.

791
00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:32,520
Speaker 3: We're just going to be aggressive to no end. But

792
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,520
Speaker 3: the difference to the two teams is Detroit gets burned.

793
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,200
Speaker 3: They're gonna get it back whenever they get the ball,

794
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:38,320
Speaker 3: you know, I mean, that's part of it.

795
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:40,439
Speaker 2: But you would think you would think Philly could play

796
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:40,799
Speaker 2: that way.

797
00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:42,560
Speaker 4: Yeah.

798
00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:45,319
Speaker 2: Yeah, playing a little more close to the vest issue.

799
00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,719
Speaker 2: They're not blitzing a lot, they're not throwing the ball

800
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:49,560
Speaker 2: a lot. They want to run that they've run the

801
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,279
Speaker 2: ball more than any other team in the league.

802
00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:56,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, And what's interesting to these two PA teams Bond

803
00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,160
Speaker 3: was an edge guy. Yeah, I mean at Wisconsin. I

804
00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:01,439
Speaker 3: mean he is a very very good off the ball

805
00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:06,120
Speaker 3: linebacker pass rusher. Roberts, Wilson and Queen also have a

806
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:08,520
Speaker 3: lot of sacks in their lifetime too and are very

807
00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:12,080
Speaker 3: good pass rushers too. Where I don't know what Jacksonville's

808
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:14,080
Speaker 3: are like, or you know some of these other teams

809
00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:16,680
Speaker 3: in terms of who are your blitzers, you know, are

810
00:37:16,719 --> 00:37:20,600
Speaker 3: they good blitzers? Well, the Eagles and Steelers have good blitzers. Yeah.

811
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:23,799
Speaker 2: It's just interesting you know that they're playing it so

812
00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:25,759
Speaker 2: close to the vest, and you know they're kind of

813
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:29,560
Speaker 2: winning in the margins on their own in some in

814
00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 2: some instances there, but they I guess, you know, you

815
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:34,680
Speaker 2: trust your defense and again, you're running the ball a

816
00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:35,279
Speaker 2: lot in.

817
00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:38,160
Speaker 3: The games shortened games and don't make their defense play

818
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:40,399
Speaker 3: a lot of minutes, which I think goes a long

819
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:42,960
Speaker 3: way too. If you then look at pressure, the Steelers

820
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:43,520
Speaker 3: are deeper.

821
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:47,520
Speaker 2: Yeah. If you look at pressure rate, despite not blitzing

822
00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:49,600
Speaker 2: all that much, the Steelers are top ten and pressure

823
00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:53,120
Speaker 2: rate Philadelphia meanwhile, is at the bottom. They're in the

824
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,279
Speaker 2: bottom six in the league in pressure rate nineteen point

825
00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 2: one percent. I know it's really really they don't get

826
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:00,680
Speaker 2: a ton of pressure. I think they turn a lot

827
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:04,280
Speaker 2: of pressures into sacks. But I think their sack numbers

828
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:07,520
Speaker 2: have really spiked the second half of the season.

829
00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:09,520
Speaker 3: They were low and sacric I.

830
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:11,239
Speaker 2: Would hope, so when you're playing I mean, if you

831
00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:13,440
Speaker 2: look at some of the slops in the second.

832
00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:15,319
Speaker 3: Half too, and some of the lines they've played too,

833
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:17,160
Speaker 3: that might have a lot to do with it. And

834
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:19,680
Speaker 3: Jalen Carters snaps are going up. He's their best guy.

835
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:22,719
Speaker 3: So I don't know that they're a great pass rushing team.

836
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:25,560
Speaker 3: I don't have numbers to back this up, but just

837
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:29,200
Speaker 3: trust me on this one, Guys, that the Steelers pressures,

838
00:38:29,239 --> 00:38:32,359
Speaker 3: I forget who like figured it out. Though not all

839
00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:36,360
Speaker 3: pressures are created equal, not all interceptions are created equal, sacks,

840
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:42,799
Speaker 3: et cetera. But the Steelers pressures influence quarterbacks much more

841
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,040
Speaker 3: than most teams, you know what I mean, Like they

842
00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,359
Speaker 3: fuel their their presence their pressure. And I'm not even

843
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:50,840
Speaker 3: talking about the ones where Watt doesn't get a pressure

844
00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:53,200
Speaker 3: and he's triple teams. Obviously that does too, but I

845
00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:56,880
Speaker 3: mean just in terms of when they create pressures. A

846
00:38:56,960 --> 00:38:59,239
Speaker 3: lot of bad things happen to offenses. That's when the

847
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:01,080
Speaker 3: turnovers come, the tip balls, you know.

848
00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:04,719
Speaker 2: Like so on our on the you know, in our

849
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:09,919
Speaker 2: replies on the on the YouTube this week, somebody brought

850
00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:12,439
Speaker 2: that up. Well, you know, t J. Watt would other

851
00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:15,960
Speaker 2: than that tackle for Alocity had last week, he was

852
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,280
Speaker 2: not existing against the Browns. I'm like, did you watch.

853
00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:19,279
Speaker 3: The game right? Right?

854
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:22,319
Speaker 2: Because he affected a lot a lot how the ball

855
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,760
Speaker 2: was thrown. When it was thrown, great, where it was thrown.

856
00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:27,360
Speaker 2: There were a couple of times where he got a

857
00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,080
Speaker 2: hand up into the passing lane in the court and

858
00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:31,040
Speaker 2: Winston had to tuck it down and throw the ball

859
00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:33,960
Speaker 2: sideways or do those kind of things. That's what you're

860
00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:35,720
Speaker 2: talking about when you're affecting with pressure.

861
00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:37,800
Speaker 3: Absolutely, absolutely, it's not a made.

862
00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:39,799
Speaker 2: Up stat There's no there's something there that you were

863
00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:40,920
Speaker 2: affecting the quarterback.

864
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:43,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, So, like just to flip it, like when the

865
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:47,560
Speaker 3: Steelers are on offense on Sunday, let's say Mason McCormick,

866
00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:49,840
Speaker 3: like most right guards, has a really hard time with

867
00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:52,760
Speaker 3: Jalen Carter and he keeps lining up on that outside

868
00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,520
Speaker 3: shoulder in the B gap, you're not going to really

869
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:58,640
Speaker 3: put a back to help there. Yeah. Plus, as good

870
00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,839
Speaker 3: as Harrison Warren are, if Carter's coming free, he's three

871
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:04,400
Speaker 3: hundred pounds. I mean, he's gonna run over most backs

872
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:06,680
Speaker 3: in the league. So one of the only real ways

873
00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:08,680
Speaker 3: to help with him is Jones.

874
00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:11,360
Speaker 2: So what a lot of teams do now as well,

875
00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:14,760
Speaker 2: especially if you're if you're showing a lot of pressure

876
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:17,759
Speaker 2: up through the A and B gaps, is they'll bring

877
00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:19,719
Speaker 2: a tight end in and set him right.

878
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:22,360
Speaker 3: Now, kind of shimmy him across. I was thinking they

879
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:25,000
Speaker 3: might do some of that, but I was thinking too

880
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:29,880
Speaker 3: like Carter's presence might allow the Eagles to get a

881
00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:33,480
Speaker 3: lot of one on ones edge versus Washington. Now he's

882
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:35,799
Speaker 3: more equipped to do that than most tight ends, but

883
00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:37,800
Speaker 3: that's what every defense coordinator wants, you know, if I

884
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:39,880
Speaker 3: can get my edge guys against tight ends or backs.

885
00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:41,720
Speaker 2: Well, most tight ends are two hundred and fifty pounds.

886
00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:45,080
Speaker 2: Now he's the exception, not three h five right right.

887
00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:48,000
Speaker 3: But in terms of pass rush plays, I have Carter,

888
00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:51,279
Speaker 3: I have Sap, I have Randall Boy, he's Donald I

889
00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:54,359
Speaker 3: have hard guys to double, so my edge guys are

890
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:56,359
Speaker 3: gonna get some favorable matchups there.

891
00:40:56,520 --> 00:40:59,600
Speaker 2: You know, Washington's kind of a unicorn, very much so,

892
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:02,680
Speaker 2: very much so. I mean he really is. Like when

893
00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:05,200
Speaker 2: I talked to I talked to some of his teammates

894
00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:07,520
Speaker 2: last week about how much he really weighs.

895
00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:08,759
Speaker 3: It's a lot.

896
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:10,960
Speaker 2: It's it's over like I was told, he's not in

897
00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:12,040
Speaker 2: two hundreds anymore.

898
00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:13,439
Speaker 3: Yeah, but he's not.

899
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:15,440
Speaker 2: The three fifteen that Russell Wilson said he was a

900
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:16,279
Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago.

901
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:19,759
Speaker 3: There's not much room in between. Still pretty big for

902
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:20,279
Speaker 3: a tight end.

903
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:22,560
Speaker 2: But he's six's eight and he still runs well.

904
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,080
Speaker 3: And he's not fat or he's just a huge human being.

905
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:26,960
Speaker 3: But he's a massive unicorn.

906
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,200
Speaker 2: I mean, when you're attacking the Steelers offense or defensively

907
00:41:30,239 --> 00:41:33,560
Speaker 2: with your their offense, you have to kind of account

908
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:36,120
Speaker 2: for that guy. It's almost like you're playing with a

909
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:37,479
Speaker 2: sixth offensive lineman all.

910
00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:40,080
Speaker 3: The time, right, And we don't talk about this enough,

911
00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:42,400
Speaker 3: and I don't think our listeners realize it enough. I

912
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:45,080
Speaker 3: think he's one of the most most important offensive players

913
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:48,399
Speaker 3: they have because he creates mismatches just like in any

914
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:51,640
Speaker 3: sport man. This guy's an amazing jump shooter, or this

915
00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:54,640
Speaker 3: guy's an amazing slasher. Well, how do I handle that?

916
00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:58,279
Speaker 2: He's like a shot blocker in basketball? Yeah right, you

917
00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:00,520
Speaker 2: know that doesn't affect the game. Well, only gets like

918
00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:01,399
Speaker 2: three blocks a game.

919
00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:02,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I never go in the paint.

920
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:06,320
Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, just avoid the paint. You don't attack

921
00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:06,799
Speaker 2: that guy and.

922
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:09,360
Speaker 3: The other four defenders. His teammates know it, so they

923
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:11,960
Speaker 3: defend you differently too. There's all this ripple effect for

924
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,520
Speaker 3: those type of guys, you know, like Patrick Ricard has

925
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:14,920
Speaker 3: some of that.

926
00:42:15,239 --> 00:42:17,279
Speaker 2: It's like playing with an extra offensive lineman on the

927
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:18,680
Speaker 2: field all the time, all the time.

928
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:20,640
Speaker 3: But he's got a better chance of catching the ball

929
00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:22,920
Speaker 3: or getting a first down or a touchdown than record.

930
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:25,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's almost like you check, having used check on

931
00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:28,200
Speaker 2: the field for San Francisco. How do you what do

932
00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:29,920
Speaker 2: you consider that guy when they line up?

933
00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:30,200
Speaker 3: Yeah?

934
00:42:30,239 --> 00:42:34,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. He he's a tight end. He's

935
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:37,279
Speaker 2: as big as an offensive lineman, but he also is

936
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:39,799
Speaker 2: eighteen catches this year, Like you can't just ignore him

937
00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 2: as a pass catcher, which is what teams are doing

938
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:43,799
Speaker 2: early in the year, and that's why he was getting

939
00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:44,680
Speaker 2: a bunch of catches then.

940
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:46,960
Speaker 3: And I think this year even more than last. He's

941
00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:50,120
Speaker 3: a rookie. Last year, they'll leave him alone as an

942
00:42:50,239 --> 00:42:52,440
Speaker 3: edge protector, like he's a left tackle, you know what

943
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:54,759
Speaker 3: I mean, because he's gliding and you know, looking like

944
00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:58,640
Speaker 3: a tackle. And frankly, if he would choose to make

945
00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:00,759
Speaker 3: that switch, I think he could. Yeah. I mean, if

946
00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:02,640
Speaker 3: he just purely dedicated himself to being.

947
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:04,759
Speaker 2: I asked, I did ask Spencer Anderson that had that

948
00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:08,319
Speaker 2: in last week's five for Friday. Yeah, and uh, I said,

949
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:10,600
Speaker 2: could he do that? He's probably take him a year

950
00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:13,080
Speaker 2: to work on technique and stuff like that, but he could. Definitely.

951
00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:16,279
Speaker 3: He's got the size. Yeah, he's got the athleticism. You know,

952
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:20,160
Speaker 3: he probably train differently. He probably he definitely practice.

953
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:22,360
Speaker 2: Got the long arms that you're looking for. The body type.

954
00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:25,400
Speaker 3: Like if he was coming out of college today and

955
00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:28,080
Speaker 3: instead of running with the tight ends of the combine,

956
00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:31,200
Speaker 3: he was a project tackle, he'd be like, Okay, well,

957
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:35,120
Speaker 3: we're gonna red shirt him basically his rookie year. Coach

958
00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:38,080
Speaker 3: him up and maybe he turns into Jordan Mallatta.

959
00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:39,840
Speaker 2: You know, it's not even like yet, Oh, we had

960
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:40,960
Speaker 2: to feed him a bunch of steaks.

961
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:43,600
Speaker 3: No, he's already gottakes right, right, but maybe he would

962
00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:46,360
Speaker 3: work on his lower body strength more than his agility

963
00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:48,360
Speaker 3: and speed, you know, whatever it is, you know, thickness

964
00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:50,760
Speaker 3: and things like that. But I really feel really rare player.

965
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,680
Speaker 2: And that's why when we say, you know, the Steelers

966
00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:54,719
Speaker 2: should play a lot of twelve and thirteen personnel in

967
00:43:54,719 --> 00:43:57,520
Speaker 2: this game. He's kind of the one the reason why

968
00:43:57,760 --> 00:43:59,399
Speaker 2: most teams when you when you do that, okay, you're

969
00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:01,799
Speaker 2: gonna you're gonna three two hundred and fifty pounds tight

970
00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:04,680
Speaker 2: ends out there at us, all right, you know, we

971
00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:06,960
Speaker 2: we'll deal with it. But when one of them is

972
00:44:06,960 --> 00:44:10,520
Speaker 2: basically a sixth offensive lineman who can also catch the football, yeah, yeah,

973
00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:12,799
Speaker 2: it's a little different. It's it's a different task. It's

974
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:14,680
Speaker 2: a different way that you have to defend that.

975
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:16,759
Speaker 3: And we'll never know this answer, but I mean, I'm

976
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:19,359
Speaker 3: sure Arthur Smith would have taken the offensive coordinator job

977
00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:21,719
Speaker 3: no matter what. But I bet he looked at him

978
00:44:21,719 --> 00:44:24,319
Speaker 3: and said, I assist him with all my tight ends

979
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:27,279
Speaker 3: and that guy and after that rookie season, I don't

980
00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:29,359
Speaker 3: usually get that kind of unicorn to play with.

981
00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:31,920
Speaker 2: You know what, I mean that's why it's interesting. You know,

982
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:36,120
Speaker 2: for for say a matchup against Buffalo, it seems to

983
00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:38,720
Speaker 2: Love that loves to play nickel. They play nickel ninety

984
00:44:38,719 --> 00:44:40,879
Speaker 2: plus percent of the time. Well, if he's on the field,

985
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:43,400
Speaker 2: you're playing nickel, you're at a disadvantage.

986
00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:47,120
Speaker 3: You're a disadvantage physically, no matter what. Yeah, no matter what.

987
00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:49,160
Speaker 2: Right, So that's why I'm gonna be interested to see.

988
00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:51,000
Speaker 2: That's why I want to see early in this game,

989
00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:55,279
Speaker 2: how Philadelphia when the Steelers come out in twelve and

990
00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:57,759
Speaker 2: thirteen personnel, what do they do? What's their counter to that?

991
00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:00,440
Speaker 3: If their counter's nickel, I'm just running over and over

992
00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:00,759
Speaker 3: and over.

993
00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:03,120
Speaker 2: Darnown. Washington might play one hundred percent of the snaps.

994
00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:06,279
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, and he plays a lot of snaps. Yeah,

995
00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 3: I mean it really does. I mean, especially when preu

996
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:10,759
Speaker 3: It was out and you know, i mean he's there's

997
00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:13,279
Speaker 3: it's not uncommon over the course of the year. It's

998
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:16,799
Speaker 3: changing lately for him to be the most snapped count

999
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:19,000
Speaker 3: or the highest snap count amongst tight ends on the team.

1000
00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:21,239
Speaker 3: You know. Now Friar Moos, you know, really starting to

1001
00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:24,400
Speaker 3: his roles growing too. But yeah, but those two are

1002
00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:25,319
Speaker 3: gonna be key for this game.

1003
00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:26,120
Speaker 2: Absolutely.

1004
00:45:26,239 --> 00:45:26,439
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1005
00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:28,000
Speaker 2: I think that's a huge part of this game. And

1006
00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:29,919
Speaker 2: again I think it's it's part of that chess match

1007
00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:31,880
Speaker 2: when you start, when you got a guy like Fangio

1008
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:35,359
Speaker 2: who's really sharp. Yeah, yeah, and you got a guy

1009
00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:38,520
Speaker 2: like Arthur Smith who's really sharp. You get those two

1010
00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:41,480
Speaker 2: kind of guys matching wits against each other. It's the

1011
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:42,319
Speaker 2: game within the game.

1012
00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:45,000
Speaker 3: It also frees friar Mouth to be a receiver. Yeah,

1013
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:46,520
Speaker 3: you know, and that's gonna be key in this game

1014
00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:49,719
Speaker 3: without pickings, absolutely, like you handle blocking stuff. Maybe friar

1015
00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:51,560
Speaker 3: Mouth chiped somebody in the way out or whatever, but

1016
00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:53,879
Speaker 3: we're designing more for him. Yeah.

1017
00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:57,120
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Uh, that's gonna do it. For hour number one

1018
00:45:57,160 --> 00:45:59,799
Speaker 2: of the Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network, Matt

1019
00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:02,480
Speaker 2: and I'll be back with our number two right after

1020
00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:02,600
Speaker 2: this