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Speaker 1: Your tune is about drive on your twenty four to

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

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Speaker 2: Good evening, Steelers Nation. How we do it back on

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Speaker 2: the drive here West Yuler, Matt Williamson. I don't know, Matt.

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Speaker 2: We had this discussion a couple of weeks ago. It's

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Speaker 2: five o'clock now, right, so I don't know. I guess

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Speaker 2: it's kind of evening. It's no longer afternoon. I'm just

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Speaker 2: leave it alone. I'll leave it be. I'll leave it be.

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Speaker 2: But it is time here for our umber two on

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Speaker 2: a Wednesday, a kind of pseudo Matt Stats segment, but

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Speaker 2: it can kind of be an intro to Matt Stats.

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Speaker 2: That's a good way to put it. A prequel, a

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Speaker 2: prologue something like that, if you will is we'll go

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Speaker 2: through some different numbers, some things that have been unearthed

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Speaker 2: as again on this Wednesday. You kind of start to

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Speaker 2: turn the page and look ahead, and you have brought

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Speaker 2: up a few times, and I think rightfully so, Jackson

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Speaker 2: Smith and Jigba his usage there just how big of

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Speaker 2: a part he was, his target share for that Seattle offense.

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Speaker 2: He led the team last week against the Niners nine catches,

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Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty four yards. It was his fourth

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Speaker 2: career game with one hundred plus receiving yards. This is

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Speaker 2: also Matt two, Jackson Smith, and Jigbo. The last time

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Speaker 2: these teams played two years ago out in Seattle, he

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Speaker 2: had a touchdown reception from Gino Smith in that game

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Speaker 2: and played pretty well. DK Metcalf was a part of

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Speaker 2: that team as well too, So a guy who is

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Speaker 2: going to be a massive part of Seattle's offense scored

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Speaker 2: a touchdown obviously against a secondary that will look much

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Speaker 2: different than the last time he faced the Steelers. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: but what have you unearthed on his usage so far?

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Speaker 2: What do you expect that to look like Sunday at

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Speaker 2: Akersher Stadium?

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Speaker 3: So kind of interesting. This ties in with Metcalf. So

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Speaker 3: last year with Gino Metcalf Lockett, there a much different team.

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Speaker 3: They're all gone up into. Metcalf got injured. I think

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Speaker 3: it was like week five or six last year in

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Speaker 3: a Seahawks uniform, and at that point Metcalf was People

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Speaker 3: don't realize this. He was having his best year as

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Speaker 3: a pro. Missed two games or three games.

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Speaker 4: I don't have in front of me, but you'll get

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Speaker 4: the idea. With a knee.

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Speaker 3: I think came back and really wasn't quite the same,

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Speaker 3: And while he was gone, the shift of the offense

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Speaker 3: went much more towards JSN. And part of the reason is,

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Speaker 3: unlike last week, Metcalf is a down the field player.

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Speaker 3: You need time to throw. And their offensive line was

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Speaker 3: amongst the worst in the league, and they used the

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Speaker 3: first round pick on offensive lineman. I can't remember if

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Speaker 3: we mentioned this or not, but crazy the Steelers' first

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Speaker 3: four opponents all used the first round pick on offensive

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Speaker 3: lineman this year. I think we did about that. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: so they've all be and they all needed it. I mean,

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Speaker 3: the low lines are works in progress. Jets looked like

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Speaker 3: they did a long way to fix theirs. Seattle based

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Speaker 3: off Week one did not fix THEIRS. But Zabel's a

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Speaker 3: good player. He's gonna be the left guard anyway. So

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Speaker 3: Metcalf returns from injury, and at this point it's much

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Speaker 3: more of a get it out of your hands, shorter

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Speaker 3: controlled passing game. Gino's good at all and Smith and

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Speaker 3: Jigba from that point on, from the injury on, really

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Speaker 3: was the focal point of the offense. And I do

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Speaker 3: think Metcalf may have returned a little early. He didn't

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Speaker 3: look as good post injury as pre Now. He wasn't

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Speaker 3: bad when he came back, but he was at his

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Speaker 3: best before his injury, which I'm sure the Steelers are

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Speaker 3: in the trade said we think we're getting that version,

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Speaker 3: and from what I've seen in camp and in Week one,

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Speaker 3: I think they did.

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Speaker 4: But who knows.

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Speaker 3: That was part of, you know, the complaints was you'd

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Speaker 3: be like Metcalf's coming off his worst year, like, yeah,

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Speaker 3: but before the injury, he was coming off his best year. Anyway,

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Speaker 3: that doesn't matter anymore. He's not there.

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Speaker 4: He's a Steeler.

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Speaker 3: Week one, Smith Dijigba was the only thing that went

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Speaker 3: well for the offense. I think Seattle's defense is great.

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Speaker 3: We'll talk about them the next couple of days, but

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Speaker 3: their offense is problematic. New offensive coordinator, several new linemen,

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Speaker 3: new quarterback Cooper Cups there, who frankly I think is

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Speaker 3: kind of washed.

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Speaker 2: I think he's running on fumes. Yeah, he has a

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Speaker 2: lot of tread left on those tires.

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Speaker 4: And he was a.

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Speaker 3: Strange addition because Smith Njigba is mostly a slot. He's

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Speaker 3: not slot only. He's mostly a slot and played a

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Speaker 3: lot outside in Week one, which he's good at, but

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Speaker 3: he's best in the slot because Cup is slot.

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Speaker 4: Only at this point.

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Speaker 3: I mean he he can't line up outside the numbers

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Speaker 3: and beat man coverage like he once could, not that

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Speaker 3: it was ever a specialty. So Cup has to be

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Speaker 3: in the slot. Horton, the rookie is an outside the

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Speaker 3: numbers type deep threat. He's their third guy. But didn't

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Speaker 3: get a target, you know there He's not gonna be

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Speaker 3: out there a ton, but he's their third guy. But

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Speaker 3: it's rare for Smith the Jigba or any player to

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Speaker 3: get the usage that.

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Speaker 4: He did and we won.

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Speaker 3: I mean he accounted for like sixty percent of their yards.

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Speaker 3: I mean like he was the whole offense.

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Speaker 2: That's like uh, Jamar Chase numbers.

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Speaker 3: It's like Will Chamberlain numbers. I mean it's like everything

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Speaker 3: that was good was him. You know, like he's got Wilt,

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Speaker 3: the guy's got a hundred points. So you can't let

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Speaker 3: that happen. It was the only good thing to happen

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Speaker 3: their offense. They didn't run the ball well. They possessed

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Speaker 3: the football for twenty that's really rude. Didn't run many plays,

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Speaker 3: didn't block particularly well. I thought Darnold played fine. He

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Speaker 3: had a turnover late that everyone's blaming. Oh he's back

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Speaker 3: to Earth, But he played fine. Smith and Jigba is

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Speaker 3: a star in the making, but in that game he

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Speaker 3: was all they got. Now what do the Steelers do

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Speaker 3: about that? I would think this one's more is easier

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Speaker 3: than the Garrett Wilson conversation, especially if Porter's out to say, Ramsey,

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Speaker 3: you got JSN because in the slot, great, that's what

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Speaker 3: he does outside. Okay, you could do it. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 3: Echoles could be your slot Verse Cup. You know, I

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Speaker 3: don't really want Porter or Slay going in the in

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Speaker 3: the slot a lot. But if Porter's out, I think

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Speaker 3: I think you're gonna see a lot of Ramsey JSN

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Speaker 3: and you will no matter what. But that I'm pretty

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Speaker 3: comfortable with.

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Speaker 2: I think it is an advantageous matchup for the Steelers defense. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I want to see that translate though, like if we are,

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Speaker 2: if we're going well, I think there is a lot

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Speaker 2: to like. Obviously I'm not breaking news here on the

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Speaker 2: offensive side of the football. Last week, some of the

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Speaker 2: stuff with the protection, certainly some of the stuff with

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Speaker 2: the run game, but you still managed to score thirty

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Speaker 2: four points and get the best quarterback play that you've

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Speaker 2: gotten in the post Ben Roethlisberger era by far. If

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Speaker 2: the defense can kind of I don't want to say

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Speaker 2: match that because that's the wrong way to put it.

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Speaker 2: But if the defense can start to show some signs

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Speaker 2: of being the unit we think they're capable of.

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Speaker 4: Being, got to be better than what they did, that's.

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Speaker 2: Where the optimism would really start. And Matt A, you

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Speaker 2: know another hodgepodge of randomness from you. The Steelers since

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Speaker 2: Week thirteen of last year, yeah, have allowed twenty seven

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Speaker 2: point six points per game. Now, we also shared that

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Speaker 2: stat of the Steelers split last year of their record

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Speaker 2: when they allowed eighteen points or less. They didn't lose

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Speaker 2: a game nineteen points or more. They were brewed two

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Speaker 2: and six or whatever they are and five whatever they

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Speaker 2: ended up being. Since Week thirteen of last year, twenty

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Speaker 2: seven point six points allowed. If you're gonna start getting

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Speaker 2: that moving in the right direction. This feels like the

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Speaker 2: right opponent. This feels like a team an offense in

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Speaker 2: Seattle that is right for the picking.

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Speaker 3: I also thought the Jets were I mean I picked

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Speaker 3: that game to be seventeen sixteen. It was the lowest

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Speaker 3: over under total of the week, and I think this

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Speaker 3: one does too. But this one screams two good defenses.

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Speaker 3: And I still think the Steelers count. I know Seattle counts.

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Speaker 3: We had this conversation before the season. I thought there's

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Speaker 3: five or six defenses that potentially could be the best

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Speaker 3: in the league.

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Speaker 4: These are two of them.

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Speaker 5: Now.

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Speaker 3: Week one does not make me look intelligent at all

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Speaker 3: with that, with the Steelers and what they allowed to

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Speaker 3: what was not a good offense a year ago in

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Speaker 3: New York. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. But

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Speaker 3: this Seattle offense does look right for the picking of

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Speaker 3: if you cannot let Smith and Jigba be a dominant

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Speaker 3: player and you can get after Darnold, who doesn't handle

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Speaker 3: pressure great. Their run game wasn't good in Week one.

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Speaker 3: The offensive line is not particularly good, the tight ends,

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Speaker 3: the other pass catchers are poor, I mean at this stage,

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Speaker 3: but it's amazing that it's rare that you'll see somebody

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Speaker 3: be account for such a large amount of the receiving

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Speaker 3: production as he did in Week one. He was the

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Speaker 3: total show.

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Speaker 2: Wilt Chamberlain.

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Speaker 4: Chamber I liked.

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Speaker 2: I like that announcement. Let's let's put the clamps down

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Speaker 2: on that on Sunday. Let's let's force them to go elsewhere.

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Speaker 2: Let's force them to try and lean on Kenneth Walker.

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Speaker 2: He was another one who had a touchdown last time

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Speaker 2: these two teams played in Seattle a couple of years ago.

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Speaker 3: People look at Walker like he's clearly the one, but

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Speaker 3: it was almost an even split between him and sharbon A,

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Speaker 3: and neither one really shined. They both were fine, but

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Speaker 3: I mean the blocking was poor. They got issues, and

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Speaker 3: Nick Bosa was a terror. You would hope Watt would

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Speaker 3: be a terror. Wat's gone five straight games without a

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Speaker 3: sack first time his career, and.

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Speaker 4: I think he's due.

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Speaker 3: I don't think he forgot how to sack quarterback, but

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Speaker 3: this is the longest LEUWL of his career that needs

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Speaker 3: to end.

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Speaker 2: That's noteworthy, it certainly is.

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Speaker 4: And the left side lines much better than the right.

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Speaker 2: Okay, interesting, So that's one of those better change.

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Speaker 4: It seems for the defense.

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Speaker 2: And I thought TJ well played well. Thought I thought

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Speaker 2: TJ well played well. I thought t J. Watt played

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Speaker 2: well on Sunday. But you're right that that is now

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Speaker 2: a fifth straight game without a sack I'm sure that's

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Speaker 2: something he's aware of, something in the right direction. If

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Speaker 2: this can be a game where the defense holds an

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Speaker 2: opponent to under twenty gets right, feels good about themselves,

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Speaker 2: you see some growth from the offense. I think we

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Speaker 2: would all be very optimistic, h you know after week two.

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Speaker 2: But that is kind of your hodgepodge of random to

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Speaker 2: set the to set the stage there, we will have

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Speaker 2: a full deep dive into all of Matt's stats, numbers, analytics,

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Speaker 2: the game behind the game.

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Speaker 3: He get turned in as a final document Wednesday night.

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Speaker 3: So that's that's what I do after my night shore

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Speaker 3: tonight is put the I.

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Speaker 2: Saw the rough draft of it. I appreciate that.

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Speaker 3: Uh, but in there the bullet point on Smith the

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Speaker 3: JIGBA is pretty crazy. I mean, just the the usage

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Speaker 3: and air yards he's accounted for and all the stuff.

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Speaker 4: We'll get into.

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Speaker 2: Well, well we'll dig into those weeds uh tomorrow, Uh

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Speaker 2: deep dive on the program. But we've got to get

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Speaker 2: to a break now because when we come back on

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Speaker 2: the other side, our buddy Chris Hallick, he covers the

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Speaker 2: Steelers for dk Pittsburgh Sports. He's one of Matt and

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Speaker 2: I's favorite guys on the beat. Uh, we've talked about

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Speaker 2: how we want.

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Speaker 4: To host the weekly podcast with Chris. Yes, you do.

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Speaker 4: He is.

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Speaker 2: He is, you know, one of the guys that we

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Speaker 2: hang out with when we're on the road and those

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Speaker 2: type of things. And he is, you know, similar to

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Speaker 2: what we said about Chris A. Dansky yesterday. He's a

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Speaker 2: boots on the ground reporter at the facility, at the

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Speaker 2: practices all the time. So we'll ask him about some

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Speaker 2: of these injury concerns, some of these roster moves, and

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Speaker 2: what he thinks about Porter Junior and Nick her big

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Speaker 2: status ahead of Sunday. All that and more with Chris

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Speaker 2: when we return on the other side, West Huler, Matt Williamson,

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Speaker 2: you are listening to the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio

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Speaker 2: on the Steelers Audio Network.

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

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

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Speaker 2: Driving along here on a Wednesday, into the phone lines

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Speaker 2: we go, and he's gonna be one of our Well,

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Speaker 2: he's not a new friend in real life, Matt, but

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Speaker 2: he's a new friend of the show here. It's our

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Speaker 2: buddy Chris Hallick. He covers the Steelers for DK Pittsburgh's orts. Chris,

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Speaker 2: what's up, man, Welcome to the chaos, and thank you

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Speaker 2: so much for taking the time.

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Speaker 5: Thanks guys for having me man. I appreciate it.

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Speaker 2: Hey, so let's get right into some of this roster

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Speaker 2: moving and shaking and injury stuff. Since you are, you know,

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Speaker 2: are our boots on the ground, real real journal real

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Speaker 2: reporter down there at practice. Let's start with Joey Porter Junior.

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Speaker 2: That's an interesting one because you know, Mike Tomlin said

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Speaker 2: that I think optimistic was the word that he used.

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Speaker 2: But you see the move today of James Pierre being

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Speaker 2: activated as well too. Is there anything there in the

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Speaker 2: tea leaves? Is that just you know, standard operating procedure

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Speaker 2: for the Steelers as they you know, work out the

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Speaker 2: roster every single week. Or do you think that there

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Speaker 2: is a real possibility that we won't see Joey Porter

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Speaker 2: Junior in the home opener Sunday afternoon.

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Speaker 5: I think there's a real possibility you don't see him.

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Speaker 5: But you know, there are a number of variables to

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Speaker 5: go into this. The first thought that I had actually

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Speaker 5: when James Pierre was activated wasn't necessarily because of Joey

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Speaker 5: Porter Junior. Is because well, they only have so many

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Speaker 5: times they they can call a guy up from the

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Speaker 5: practice squad and activate him before they have to put

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Speaker 5: him on the roster anyway too, you know, right, And

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Speaker 5: and then the other part of that is, like, I

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Speaker 5: know that they really really like James Pere on special teams,

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Speaker 5: and I know they don't want to lose that type

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Speaker 5: of guy. So that's kind of what I chalked that

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Speaker 5: up more to. But yeah, with Joey Porter Jr. Listen,

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Speaker 5: I think there's a possibility he doesn't play. But I

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Speaker 5: also think that given the nature of the injury, and

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Speaker 5: anytime it's a soft tissue a hamstring or calf or

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Speaker 5: anything like that, you never want a chance that you

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Speaker 5: never want to rush a guy back. And when you

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Speaker 5: have a guy such as Jalen Ramsey that can you

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Speaker 5: can just slot right in to play on the outside,

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Speaker 5: and you then bring in Jabrill Peppers to be able

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Speaker 5: to play some safety for you understand that helps make

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Speaker 5: up for the loss of Deshaun Elliott. But you know,

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Speaker 5: you've got a number of guys want the one Hill

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Speaker 5: can play a little bit more of the of the

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Speaker 5: free safety that he that Ramsey normally plays in the

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Speaker 5: base defense, So I don't think you're necessarily lacking too much.

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Speaker 5: Whenever you decide, hey let's not rush it with Porter,

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Speaker 5: let's get him healthy, Let's make sure we have him in.

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Speaker 4: The long run.

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Speaker 5: Meanwhile, we can have a really good tandem on the

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Speaker 5: outside at cornerback in Jalen Ramsey and Darius play. So

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Speaker 5: I think that's more the mentality there. So it wouldn't

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Speaker 5: surprise me at all if Porter doesn't play. But we

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Speaker 5: we have yet to see what what the what the

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Speaker 5: participation level is in practice.

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Speaker 3: So this is down the line and frankly not ultra important,

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Speaker 3: but it's pretty rare for them to only have two

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Speaker 3: quarterbacks on the roster. Do you think Howard's back sooner

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Speaker 3: than later? I mean, what what do you think they

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Speaker 3: do with that third spot?

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Speaker 5: That's definitely interesting that they do only have two right now,

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Speaker 5: and they've brought Logan woodsided, you know, for the for

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Speaker 5: the practice squad. But you know they're going to have

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Speaker 5: to have an emergency third quarterback. You know, you know,

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Speaker 5: you can't go into a game without me. You could,

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Speaker 5: in theory go into a game without but with the

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Speaker 5: way with the beating that brought or that that Aaron

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Speaker 5: Rodgers had and the game that Broder Jones had. I

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Speaker 5: don't know if you necessarily want to be going into

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Speaker 5: a game with only two quarterbacks. So it's no, no,

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Speaker 5: it's not. So you'd like to think that maybe, Okay,

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Speaker 5: if Skyler Thompson is going to be an ir which

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Speaker 5: means he's going to be out for at least the

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Speaker 5: next four weeks, then okay, you know, then maybe Will

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Speaker 5: Howard's you know, on the mend and he can be

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Speaker 5: back by the time the Steelers get back from Ireland,

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Speaker 5: and when they host the Browns in week six, maybe

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Speaker 5: he's that third guy, because again, you have three times

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Speaker 5: you can elevate a guy from the practice squad. So

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Speaker 5: maybe Logan Woodside is that emergency third quarterback for weeks two, three,

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Speaker 5: and four, and by the time you know, the week

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Speaker 5: five bye is in, is in the is in the

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Speaker 5: rearview mirror in week six rules around, maybe Will Howard

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Speaker 5: is good to go.

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Speaker 2: Chris uh Maybe kind of final housekeeping one from from

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Speaker 2: me as it relates to Nick Herbig. Seemed like Mike

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Speaker 2: Tommin was a little more optimistic with him. You think

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Speaker 2: I think we see her Big make his season debut

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Speaker 2: on Sunday.

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Speaker 5: Well, the fact that he was limited in practice every

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Speaker 5: single day last week is already a pretty good sign.

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Speaker 5: And no, he wasn't active on Sunday, but you know,

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Speaker 5: they obviously had a plan in place because they didn't

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Speaker 5: even elevate an edge rusher from the practice squad. They

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Speaker 5: only elevated Pierre. That was the only guy who called

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Speaker 5: it from the package from the practice squad last week.

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Speaker 3: So and plus Harrison played a little edge too, and

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Speaker 3: that's not in the mix right now.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, it's not. So you you either have to go

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Speaker 5: with her big this week if you feel like he's

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Speaker 5: healthy enough where you probably have to to bring a

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Speaker 5: guy up from the practice squad like de Marvin Leale.

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Speaker 5: I think there's a much better chance he plays. But again,

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Speaker 5: it's gonna it's his participation level in practice. He's not

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Speaker 5: quite on that level where Mike Tom's gonna be like,

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Speaker 5: you know what, if he doesn't practice throughout the week,

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Speaker 5: it's okay, you know, I'm gonna go ahead. No, he's

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Speaker 5: gonna be a guy that's gotta He's probably got to

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Speaker 5: have at least a full day of participation, at least

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Speaker 5: one day full participation this week if we have any

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Speaker 5: real chance of seeing him on.

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Speaker 3: Sunday, Chris, I haven't seen or heard your opinion yet

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Speaker 3: on Peppers. Are you a fan? What do you think

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Speaker 3: he brings the table? What do you think his role

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Speaker 3: is this week is maybe even more importantly the rest

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Speaker 3: of the year going forward.

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Speaker 5: Well, I would think at least right away that I

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Speaker 5: would be shocked if he plays a bunch of snaps

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Speaker 5: on Sunday, because he's got to get acclimated to the defense.

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Speaker 5: So if for fans who are excited about the about

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Speaker 5: the addition, I wouldn't expect to see him too often.

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Speaker 5: I would still expect to see more Wan Thorn Hill,

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Speaker 5: Chuck Clark like that, that that, like that safety tandem.

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Speaker 5: But not saying you won't see him at all. But listen,

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Speaker 5: this is a versatile guy. It's a guy that Mike

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Speaker 5: Common obviously has has seen play. He was in Cleveland

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Speaker 5: for a couple of years. His versatile. This team loves

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Speaker 5: having guys who can play multiple positions, and that's exactly

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Speaker 5: what Peppers does. He's a guy. Uh to think that

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Speaker 5: at some point they could have in theory wants to

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Speaker 5: Shawn Elliott's back to any any like when you have

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Speaker 5: Jalen Ramsey to Shawn Elliott and Jabrill Peppers, like you

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Speaker 5: have a lot of guys who can just lay the wood,

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Speaker 5: like you have a lot of guys you can really hit,

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Speaker 5: and that's the kind of defense. I think that that

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Speaker 5: fans would would really really like to see. But no,

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Speaker 5: I think it's I think he's going to be a

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Speaker 5: player that that fans that are really going to like

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Speaker 5: because of again, that this ability to play all over

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Speaker 5: the place and the ability to to lace a big hit.

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Speaker 5: I'm shoot, we saw how excited fans were after the

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Speaker 5: way Jalen Ramsey put you know, slammed the door on

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Speaker 5: the Jets. You know, it's it's a different level of

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Speaker 5: excitement when a guy can hit a guy really really

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Speaker 5: hard and make play doing it.

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Speaker 2: Certainly, can you saw the pop from that the the

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Speaker 2: NFL Films video and and Steelers social video too of

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Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers celebrating and getting all fired up on the sideline.

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Speaker 2: Hopefully plenty more of that Sunday in the home opener

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Speaker 2: against Seattle before we do kind of turn the PA

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Speaker 2: in that direction. Chris Hallick with us here on the drive.

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Speaker 2: I just wanted to get your thoughts on Aaron Rodgers

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Speaker 2: and just the encouragement, the excitement now going forward. I mean,

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Speaker 2: the run game was not there, the pass protection was

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Speaker 2: not there, and he was still able to have a

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Speaker 2: four touchdown performance, no turnovers, just what they needed from

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Speaker 2: the future Hall of Fame quarterback. I think, Chris that's

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Speaker 2: a pretty encouraging starting point for a guy who didn't

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Speaker 2: play in the preseason. Same with DK Metcalf, not a

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Speaker 2: ton of in stadium work up to that point. If

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Speaker 2: they can really work out some of those issues with

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Speaker 2: the offensive line, get the run game just on some

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Speaker 2: kind of stable footing, I think people are going to

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Speaker 2: be very thrilled, very excited from what we see from

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Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers all year.

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Speaker 5: As they're talking about because Pro Football Focus knows exactly

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Speaker 5: what they're talking about their grading system, and they gave

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Speaker 5: him a pretty poor grade of fifty four and a half. No,

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Speaker 5: I'm joe like he was awesome and and what grades

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Speaker 5: like that don't take into account is are the type

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Speaker 5: of things that he does before the snap, the little

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Speaker 5: details he makes when he when he's trying to you know,

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Speaker 5: the one the first touchdown pass of the game, he

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Speaker 5: made this point at the safety who was creeping down

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Speaker 5: and then brought Calvin Austin over in motion, and that's

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Speaker 5: part of the design play. But when you make that

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Speaker 5: point and you almost make it look like you're bringing

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Speaker 5: a guy in to look like you're trying to block

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Speaker 5: for a run or something along those lines, you're you're

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Speaker 5: doing everything you can to sell out or to make

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Speaker 5: the defense sell out for the run, when you're really

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Speaker 5: obviously running play action and lo and behold. You know,

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Speaker 5: Ben Scronik runs streaking across the middle of the field

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Speaker 5: and the closest thing to him or the ends of

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Speaker 5: his golden locks flying out of the back of his

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Speaker 5: helmet because there's no jet around him in sight. Because

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Speaker 5: you know, you have like when when you have a

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Speaker 5: quarterback that can do that kind of stuff before the snap,

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Speaker 5: who can diagnose the defense, that already gives you an advantage.

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Speaker 5: And then when you look at what he did from

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Speaker 5: a clean pocket, which was like twenty of twenty five, like,

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Speaker 5: that's wildly efficient. And if this offensive line can figure

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Speaker 5: out a way to protect him on any kind of

436
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,119
Speaker 5: regular basis you're looking at I'm not saying that this

437
00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:16,760
Speaker 5: is going to be the twenty twenty one version of

438
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,080
Speaker 5: Rogers or anything like that. But you're he's already shown

439
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:20,760
Speaker 5: you what he can do when he's given time to

440
00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,560
Speaker 5: throw and get through his reads and his progressions, and

441
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,160
Speaker 5: an arm talent still there. Man, I would be very,

442
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,399
Speaker 5: very encouraged based off of what we saw on Sunday.

443
00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,440
Speaker 5: I thought it was a great performance and a level

444
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,159
Speaker 5: of quarterback we haven't seen in quite a while.

445
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:40,879
Speaker 3: So not everything was Roses on Sunday, to say the least.

446
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:43,600
Speaker 3: And this is something Wess and I have not discussed,

447
00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:46,480
Speaker 3: but I've been kicking around in my cranium lately. That

448
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,560
Speaker 3: first off, there's this misconception when the run defense isn't

449
00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,840
Speaker 3: good enough, go get Casey Hampton, go get Joel Steed.

450
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:55,159
Speaker 3: And that's not really how the league works anymore. And

451
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:57,600
Speaker 3: there's so much nickel, there's so much you know, you

452
00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,359
Speaker 3: don't just stick a huge fire plug in the middle

453
00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 3: of the defense to solve everything. That being said, the

454
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,200
Speaker 3: more I watched Benton and I don't know your opinion

455
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,679
Speaker 3: on this, Chris, I don't think he's a nose. I

456
00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,600
Speaker 3: think he's miscast there that U K Lee I thought

457
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:17,600
Speaker 3: played pretty well. I'm super high on ya. Black, would

458
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,639
Speaker 3: you consider kind of a position change and having those

459
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,680
Speaker 3: two be your nose and let Benton do more Cam

460
00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:25,840
Speaker 3: Hayward harmon stuff.

461
00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:31,160
Speaker 5: Personally, I agree with you. I don't think Benton's a nose.

462
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:35,240
Speaker 5: And actually, whenever they were going into the offseason initially

463
00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,480
Speaker 5: and I knew they were going to be focusing heavily

464
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:42,280
Speaker 5: on defensive tackle from the very beginning of the draft process,

465
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:45,239
Speaker 5: remember learning that back covering the Senior Bowl like that

466
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:46,840
Speaker 5: was going to be their key emphasis right away. And

467
00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,080
Speaker 5: I'm thinking, okay, well, Benton's you know, they can get

468
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,080
Speaker 5: another really like interior guy, maybe more.

469
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,040
Speaker 4: Of an or somebody like that.

470
00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:56,800
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and then and then they could

471
00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:58,800
Speaker 5: slide Benton out to play more of the four eye,

472
00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,520
Speaker 5: which is what the defensive end is in the three

473
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:04,040
Speaker 5: four in the Steelers three four. And that's not that

474
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:06,879
Speaker 5: hasn't been the case. Now. Just because I think that

475
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:08,679
Speaker 5: and you think that, that doesn't mean that's what Mike

476
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 5: Tomlin's thinking, because that's not what he's thinking right now.

477
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,000
Speaker 5: He's not thinking about, you know, potential changes. And I

478
00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:15,320
Speaker 5: understand why, you know, you don't want to flap flap

479
00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:17,640
Speaker 5: in the wind and make a change oh hey, week one,

480
00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:19,200
Speaker 5: we got we got to make a change. It's because

481
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 5: you know, when you do that, you show instability, you

482
00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,639
Speaker 5: show lack of faith, and then players lose lack of

483
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:29,399
Speaker 5: faith in themselves and themselves and it's a it's a

484
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,400
Speaker 5: difficult line to ride, for sure.

485
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:37,120
Speaker 4: But entirely to blame for the issues. But no, but no, but.

486
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 5: There were some I mean, the very first run of

487
00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,160
Speaker 5: the game, he got absolutely walloped by the right guard

488
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:44,520
Speaker 5: and the right guard comes over and he's you know,

489
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:46,640
Speaker 5: immediately takes on the center, and then the right guard

490
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:48,760
Speaker 5: comes over from like knocks him over to the point

491
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,840
Speaker 5: where he then falls over a guy who's trying to

492
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:54,560
Speaker 5: block Cam Hayward. And that was the one thing that

493
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:56,879
Speaker 5: blew that entire play, because everybody else had a gap

494
00:24:57,119 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 5: filled or was on a block and was able to

495
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,639
Speaker 5: get off of the block, and all it took was

496
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:03,960
Speaker 5: that one little crease for Brisall to go for eighteen yards.

497
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 5: And sometimes that's all it takes is one.

498
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,480
Speaker 4: Guy and real quickly.

499
00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:10,720
Speaker 3: There's a lot of instances in that game, as well

500
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,680
Speaker 3: as the Raven game, where Benton's in the lap of

501
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 3: Wilson and Queen and they can't do their jobs.

502
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly, and that makes it really difficult. And the

503
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,080
Speaker 5: one guy and already have seen And I don't understand

504
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:30,239
Speaker 5: why the level of or the lack of faith that

505
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,480
Speaker 5: fans have and Patrick Queen, I'm sorry, I don't see

506
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 5: how you can watch that game and think that Patrick

507
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,600
Speaker 5: Queen was part of the problem. He wasn't.

508
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:39,840
Speaker 4: Like.

509
00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:42,960
Speaker 5: Some of it was schematics, which the coaches like Mike

510
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:44,920
Speaker 5: Tomlin even said, like, we have to do better job

511
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,600
Speaker 5: of supporting these guys schematically. But that defensive line also

512
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:50,760
Speaker 5: had a hard hard time. They were getting pushed around

513
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:55,080
Speaker 5: by a Jude offensive line that's, in my professional opinion,

514
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:56,440
Speaker 5: really struggled last year.

515
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,280
Speaker 2: They certainly did, and I I think they are an

516
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,520
Speaker 2: improved unit. I think they will be a much better

517
00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:05,879
Speaker 2: offensive line in New York. But don't think any of

518
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,080
Speaker 2: us expected it to look that good right out of

519
00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,560
Speaker 2: the gate, especially without Elijah Vera Tucker. And speaking of

520
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,199
Speaker 2: offensive lines, Chris, last one I've got for you. I

521
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 2: know you were in the locker room today after practice.

522
00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:21,399
Speaker 2: What's the mood? What was the conversation like around Roderick

523
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:25,520
Speaker 2: Jones After some struggles in week one, Oh.

524
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:29,400
Speaker 5: Brod, He spoke to the media today, and you know,

525
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:30,879
Speaker 5: that's part of the job. You got to face the

526
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:35,360
Speaker 5: music when you play, when you play bad, and he

527
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,880
Speaker 5: he didn't run away. He was very forthright and saying, hey,

528
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 5: I didn't play well. I wasn't happy with it. And

529
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,920
Speaker 5: then when asked about like what he's working on the sixth,

530
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:50,199
Speaker 5: he said everything like you could tell he wasn't he

531
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,240
Speaker 5: wasn't satisfied with that performance. He's he's unhappy with it.

532
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 5: And that's well you should hear probably after a performance

533
00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,119
Speaker 5: like that. And so but the one good thing is

534
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,400
Speaker 5: that you know, guys, especially a guy such as Aaron Rodgers,

535
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,160
Speaker 5: is not throwing him under the bus. You know, he's saying,

536
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:07,760
Speaker 5: I still have a lot of faith. I mean, Aaron

537
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 5: Rodgers spoke today too, he said, I still have a

538
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:11,359
Speaker 5: lot of faith in Broader. You know, I like Broad.

539
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,080
Speaker 5: I like he's a positive mind guy, and and said

540
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,359
Speaker 5: a lot of you know, good things about him. And

541
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:18,760
Speaker 5: sometimes that's you know, all all it takes, you know,

542
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:20,520
Speaker 5: to at least have a guy in a good headspace,

543
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:22,560
Speaker 5: make sure that he's not, you know, beating himself up,

544
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:24,679
Speaker 5: and then maybe he can clean some things up in

545
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 5: practice and maybe he you know, turns in a better

546
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:28,880
Speaker 5: game against the Seahawks, you know, and and just take

547
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,440
Speaker 5: it one game at the time. But yeah, the mood

548
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,040
Speaker 5: is always fine, and that's what it should be, you know,

549
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 5: after after, especially after a win, because even even though

550
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,080
Speaker 5: some some things can be really really bad in a game,

551
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:43,040
Speaker 5: a win.

552
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:43,280
Speaker 4: Is a win.

553
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:45,040
Speaker 5: And that's why you still see guys smiling in the

554
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:47,040
Speaker 5: locker room after the game, because you can be like, yeah,

555
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:51,000
Speaker 5: I played like absolute trash, but hey, we won and

556
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:53,920
Speaker 5: we will take the we'll take the lessons with a

557
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:55,639
Speaker 5: with a one to zero record instead of an O

558
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,400
Speaker 5: and one record. So but you know, these guys are

559
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 5: you know, continue to their turn the page to the Seahawks.

560
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 5: And Broderick is doing that too, and he's working on

561
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:05,480
Speaker 5: a lot of things.

562
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 4: You don't think he's playing times in any Jeopardy right now.

563
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,760
Speaker 5: Yeah, I wouldn't think so, just I wouldn't think that's

564
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,119
Speaker 5: that's kind of early. And now I understand. So here's

565
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,320
Speaker 5: here's the line. The Steelers have to ride here and

566
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 5: Omar Kahn and Mike Tomlin, these guys have to ride.

567
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:23,960
Speaker 5: Is that this like they have to make a decision

568
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:28,960
Speaker 5: on his fifty year options massive and that's a mass Like, yeah,

569
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,000
Speaker 5: that's a massive decision they have to make. Now that

570
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,480
Speaker 5: was then tell you long term, okay, no matter what,

571
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,040
Speaker 5: he's playing all seventeen games, because we need to know.

572
00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 5: But at the same time, you've built this roster with

573
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:43,760
Speaker 5: Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, and you went out and got

574
00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,360
Speaker 5: Jaylen Ramsey and you got DK Metcalf And this is

575
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,800
Speaker 5: a roster that is from the way that they built.

576
00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,880
Speaker 5: It is built to try to compete. And if you

577
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,480
Speaker 5: feel like you have a real chance to compete, but

578
00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,240
Speaker 5: Brodrick Jones is allowing your forty one year old quarterback

579
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,520
Speaker 5: to get obliterated every week, you might have to make

580
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 5: a change to give yourself a legitimate chance because I

581
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,120
Speaker 5: don't think you have a chance of competing if Aaron

582
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:06,720
Speaker 5: Rodgers isn't the quarterback.

583
00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,360
Speaker 4: On the bench either, right.

584
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,640
Speaker 5: That would yeah, yeah, Calvin Anderson is your backup. So

585
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,800
Speaker 5: like but but then and see that's the thing, Calvin

586
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:23,560
Speaker 5: Anderson is a pro true you feel like you right,

587
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,560
Speaker 5: if you feel like, okay, listen, like rod is not

588
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:28,880
Speaker 5: getting the job done. If he does like three sacks

589
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,000
Speaker 5: and four pressures every week, that's a problem, Like you

590
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,120
Speaker 5: can at least put Calvin Anderson and be like, Okay, well,

591
00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:35,840
Speaker 5: at least I know this guy's a pro. He might

592
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,040
Speaker 5: not be very good, but at least he's going he's

593
00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:39,920
Speaker 5: gonna keep Aaron Rodgers up right a little bit more

594
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,520
Speaker 5: often than Broaderick is and shoot, man, we need Aaron

595
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:43,920
Speaker 5: if we're going to compete for a Super Bowl.

596
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,680
Speaker 2: That they certainly do. Chris Halleck kind enough to take

597
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:51,479
Speaker 2: some time for us here on a busy Wednesday. Make

598
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 2: sure you're checking out his work DK Pittsburgh Sports. Chris,

599
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:56,440
Speaker 2: thanks so much for the time, dude, and uh and

600
00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:58,880
Speaker 2: we'll be looking forward to talking to you throughout the season.

601
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:01,080
Speaker 5: You guys, I appreciate it.

602
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:03,720
Speaker 2: There he is there, he goes Chris Hallick down to

603
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:08,320
Speaker 2: the facility, boots on the ground and yeah, Matt, that

604
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,240
Speaker 2: I mean a lot of good information there. And there's

605
00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:13,480
Speaker 2: a lot that needs to even on the back of

606
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:15,400
Speaker 2: a win, and a lot to be encouraged by. There's

607
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,760
Speaker 2: certainly a lot that needs to be improved upon. Sunday

608
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,000
Speaker 2: starts in the trenches, though on both sides of the ball.

609
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:24,520
Speaker 4: We didn't talk about stel a run game. It's way

610
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:25,440
Speaker 4: below the bar right now.

611
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:28,520
Speaker 2: You know certainly, certainly one more segment to go. We'll

612
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,240
Speaker 2: wrap up this show when we return on the other side.

613
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,120
Speaker 2: Matt Williamson west Shuler, It's the Drive on Steelers Nation

614
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 2: Radio on the Steelers Audio Network, your tunes.

615
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,600
Speaker 1: About Drive on your twenty four to seven home of

616
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,120
Speaker 1: the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio.

617
00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:04,800
Speaker 2: Final segment of the day here on the Drive as

618
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,840
Speaker 2: we close down this Wednesday and our kind of final

619
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 2: in between ish day here you look ahead on Wednesday,

620
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:16,000
Speaker 2: you do your final crossing t's and dott and eyes

621
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,320
Speaker 2: from the previous week. And Matt, I wanted to follow

622
00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:20,080
Speaker 2: up with you on something that you asked our buddy

623
00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,120
Speaker 2: Chris Hallick there, which I thought was very good, various

624
00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:26,120
Speaker 2: stute and deserves just a few more minutes of conversation.

625
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:32,000
Speaker 2: Keanu Benton usage, Yeah, because I do think that it's

626
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:34,520
Speaker 2: one week, but there's also a simple size from last

627
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:39,520
Speaker 2: year where people are starting to wonder if maybe he's

628
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,880
Speaker 2: being asked to do some square peg roundhole type things.

629
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think he kind of has been from

630
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:50,959
Speaker 3: the start. We know the nose tackle position is no

631
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,920
Speaker 3: longer Casey Hampton, you know, I just eat up two blocks,

632
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:56,320
Speaker 3: take that center and eat up both a gaps. That's

633
00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 3: not really what they're looking for. But Casey Hampton useful

634
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:01,280
Speaker 3: right about now.

635
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,520
Speaker 2: Well he would be useful at any in history.

636
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:09,280
Speaker 3: But I yes, but yes, And what's weird about the situation.

637
00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:13,680
Speaker 3: I threw out Black or uk Lee being a combination

638
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,880
Speaker 3: or the full time nose and moving Benton. I think

639
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,000
Speaker 3: it'd be much better for Benton long term, but he

640
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:22,240
Speaker 3: hasn't really done it. I mean playing the four I

641
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:26,000
Speaker 3: position is the inside shoulder of the tackle is that's

642
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,880
Speaker 3: you know, It's where Cam Hayward lines up. It's not

643
00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:31,960
Speaker 3: something people doing as much in college. It's kind of

644
00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:34,040
Speaker 3: a Steeler thing. It's an Aaron Smith thing, you know,

645
00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:37,239
Speaker 3: Like it's not you would think you just line up

646
00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:38,000
Speaker 3: over big people.

647
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:38,640
Speaker 4: It's all the same.

648
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,120
Speaker 3: It isn't blocks come at you different, you attack the

649
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,040
Speaker 3: quarterback different, et cetera. So he wouldn't be able to

650
00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:46,520
Speaker 3: do it overnight. And he still is going to be

651
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:49,080
Speaker 3: a defensive tackle in They're Nickel and Dime, which is

652
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,240
Speaker 3: a four man front and which is a high percentage anyway.

653
00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:54,120
Speaker 3: But I think it's a failed experiment at him. It

654
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:58,400
Speaker 3: knows more and more, he just does not play the

655
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,080
Speaker 3: run well enough or stout enough where be that guy

656
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:02,480
Speaker 3: right now?

657
00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:03,920
Speaker 4: And I think there's a lot of ability there.

658
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,320
Speaker 2: There is certainly a lot of ability there. We all

659
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:09,600
Speaker 2: saw it on display his rookie season. That hasn't gone anywhere,

660
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,400
Speaker 2: but I think I think especially against opponents like the

661
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,040
Speaker 2: Jets that are going to be very run heavy, right,

662
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,160
Speaker 2: Baltimore gonna be very run heavy.

663
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,760
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, up the middle of power stuff, you know, right.

664
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:25,080
Speaker 2: It seems like again and again it you do want

665
00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:27,080
Speaker 2: to use the sample size from last year because that

666
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 2: obviously carries over three him. But at the same time too,

667
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:32,080
Speaker 2: you do have to kind of draw a line in

668
00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:34,720
Speaker 2: the sand of this is a new year and that's

669
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:38,920
Speaker 2: just one game. But I I just I think you're

670
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:42,640
Speaker 2: flirting with the whole definition of insanity thing doing the

671
00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,840
Speaker 2: same thing but expecting different results. You're flirting with it.

672
00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:47,880
Speaker 2: I'm not ready. I'm not ready to go all in

673
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,719
Speaker 2: and you know, cannon ball into into that deep end,

674
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:52,760
Speaker 2: but you're getting close to the diving board.

675
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 3: And with Chris's point though, and he's just exactly how

676
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,400
Speaker 3: he said it, but I will maybe you should have

677
00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:00,000
Speaker 3: done this day won a camp, not.

678
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,400
Speaker 4: After I get as you get ready for week two.

679
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 2: I mean, to our point, there's only so much time

680
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:05,760
Speaker 2: to get ready.

681
00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:09,160
Speaker 3: That's a little unfair for everybody involved too. Now, I

682
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:11,000
Speaker 3: thought you Kaylee was one of the defensive players that

683
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,879
Speaker 3: have played pretty well. I can seeing more of him,

684
00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:16,160
Speaker 3: and I know we've talked to Max Starks about him.

685
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:18,040
Speaker 3: When we were talking about like roster cutdown, he thought, oh,

686
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,120
Speaker 3: he's making this team for sure, and they're.

687
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 4: High on him.

688
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,799
Speaker 3: So and I get that. The other aspect of it, though,

689
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:28,560
Speaker 3: is despite him being huge and powerful, Iowa didn't play

690
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:30,960
Speaker 3: really with a nose and why why he Black was

691
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,279
Speaker 3: not a nose at Iowa. He was more of a

692
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,319
Speaker 3: three technique. He was on the outside shoulder of the

693
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:38,880
Speaker 3: guard a lot, and he still did nosy things. He

694
00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 3: ate up a lot of blockers and people didn't run

695
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:44,239
Speaker 3: at him with effectively. But it is a new technique

696
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,600
Speaker 3: for him too, if he were to become more nosy

697
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,560
Speaker 3: than end. But he has a skill set to do it,

698
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:52,960
Speaker 3: he has a power to do it, he has a

699
00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:56,879
Speaker 3: size to do it. And because I think because he's

700
00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:00,200
Speaker 3: played so well, we have seen him a line all

701
00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:03,319
Speaker 3: over the defensive line, at least in the preseason. You

702
00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:07,520
Speaker 3: hate making changes after week one or whatever. But I

703
00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:09,719
Speaker 3: think these are logical things to consider.

704
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 2: Yes, not you know, not mashing the panic button yet,

705
00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:20,120
Speaker 2: but you have the backdrop of last year one week now,

706
00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:22,200
Speaker 2: certainly something to keep an eye on and something that

707
00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:25,799
Speaker 2: I think we'll be discussing going forward as well.

708
00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:27,160
Speaker 4: I think Black can handle more.

709
00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:33,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's very impressive. I completely agree with you, completely agree,

710
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:35,799
Speaker 2: and I think we're going to see that usage ramp up.

711
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,640
Speaker 2: It was also that conversation kind of works the other

712
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:40,560
Speaker 2: way too, like you needed to get Ya Black out

713
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:42,319
Speaker 2: there to get a data point, to get some real

714
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,040
Speaker 2: snaps to start to figure out what you have in him.

715
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:47,960
Speaker 2: Hopefully now they can find the right balance between those two.

716
00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:49,800
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, So we'll see.

717
00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:52,160
Speaker 2: Matt another show in the Books, another Wednesday in the

718
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:56,719
Speaker 2: Books tomorrow. We fully turned the page to those Seattle Seahawks.

719
00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:00,319
Speaker 2: We'll have a deep dive into some Matt stats up

720
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:02,160
Speaker 2: with Bob Labriola for the first.

721
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:04,200
Speaker 4: Time this Yeah, lab Wednesday Thursdays year.

722
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,200
Speaker 2: Take a look at that Big Thursday Night game as well. Too.

723
00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:09,759
Speaker 2: Plenty to get into on tomorrow's show, but that'll do

724
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:12,600
Speaker 2: it for us today. Big thanks to Matt, Big thanks

725
00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:16,120
Speaker 2: to mister TV, our video producer. Everybody out there, take

726
00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:17,920
Speaker 2: care and we'll talk to you soon. As always, you

727
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:19,680
Speaker 2: know where to find us. It's on your twenty four

728
00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:22,400
Speaker 2: to seven home of the Black and Gold. It's Steelers

729
00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:24,360
Speaker 2: Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network