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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Drive. I'm Dale Lulli. He is the

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Speaker 1: Matt Williamson and Matt. It is Friday. The Steelers play

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Speaker 1: tomorrow in what could be their final game of the

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty three season. Could be, could might not be.

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Speaker 1: We'll find out, well, we really won't even know tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: This is gonna be Yes, that's point, good point. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's gonna be like watching, you know, I don't know

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Speaker 1: an election and not knowing who the winner is until

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Speaker 1: a couple of days later.

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Speaker 2: They already cast your vote and you know who you

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Speaker 2: want to win, and you have some little little tidy

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Speaker 2: bit of information. Maybe you did your part, hopefully you

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Speaker 2: did your part, and then step back and wait, which

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Speaker 2: could be fun or could be associating.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's you know, in some ways, I don't know

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Speaker 1: how you feel about this, but to me, the fact

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Speaker 1: that the NFL made this a standalone game.

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Speaker 3: I think helps the Steelers.

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Speaker 1: A little bit because too, Yeah, they just can go

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Speaker 1: out and play take care of what they don't. There's

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Speaker 1: no score board watching because there's no other games going on.

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Speaker 1: So even if you were tempted to look up at

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Speaker 1: the scoreboard and say, as you know is Tennessee beating

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Speaker 1: Jacksonville or you know, if Jacksonville's up big or whatever.

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Speaker 3: You know, that's out of the equation.

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Speaker 1: And the other thing is it puts the pressure on

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Speaker 1: those teams in the balls out in their court.

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Speaker 2: So, as I've referenced throughout the year, I do a

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Speaker 2: Thursday night show with Mike Pursuda and Mary Hodge, and

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Speaker 2: we were asking Meryroll about that because he went through

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Speaker 2: the same thing. I forget what year it was, but

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Speaker 2: he was during his foot aden yes, and he said, oh,

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Speaker 2: I mean, yes, we did everything possible during that game

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Speaker 2: to not watch the scoreboard, but of course you do,

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Speaker 2: you know, like now the Steelers not like he you know,

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Speaker 2: he made it clear. He's like, it's not like we

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Speaker 2: weren't concentrating on the game. I mean, we're still blocking

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Speaker 2: the guy in front of us, tackling the guy in

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Speaker 2: front of us, et cetera. But you can't help but notice,

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Speaker 2: you know, like I'm pretty sure the Eagles and the

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Speaker 2: Cowboys play the same time, and I think the Eagles,

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Speaker 2: if they start seeing Dallas pulling away from Washington A J. Brown,

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Speaker 2: all of a sudden, it's gonna not go in for

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Speaker 2: a series and things like that.

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Speaker 1: You know that that happened actually happened to the Steelers

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Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 3: Uh, they went down to Baltimore.

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Speaker 1: Devilon Hodges was starting the game for the Steelers, and

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Speaker 1: the Steelers needed to win that game and then have

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Speaker 1: I can't remember who it might have been Tennessee or

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Speaker 1: so whoever it was.

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Speaker 3: Needed to needed to to lose. And throughout the game.

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Speaker 1: On the M and T Banks scoreboard, they kept showing

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Speaker 1: highlights from the other game, and of course the Ravens

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Speaker 1: fans would react. And when when the fans in the

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Speaker 1: building react, you look up to see what they're reacting to,

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Speaker 1: you're naturally gonna see that. And the Steelers fell apart

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Speaker 1: down you know, A it was Devilon Hodges starting for.

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Speaker 2: Them, but b didn't help them.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, they're all their motivation was taken away

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Speaker 1: because you're seeing that, you know, the other game's not

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Speaker 1: even close.

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Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, I mean, I'm sure there is a helpless

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Speaker 2: feeling that you get home from Baltimore. You park your

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Speaker 2: butt on your couch and hope for the best. But

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Speaker 2: during the game and during the process, you can just

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Speaker 2: stay focused on the task at hand, you know.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, which is what you have to do and what

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Speaker 1: the Steelers have to do in this situation. And I

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Speaker 1: know you know this is this is Steelers Ravens, And

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Speaker 1: we talked a lot about this yesterday that you know,

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Speaker 1: the guys that they're going to be playing are guys

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Speaker 1: who are going to want to put their best foot forward.

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Speaker 1: Maybe they haven't played a lot this season, maybe they're

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Speaker 1: you know, one fresh and uh, you know, feeling great

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Speaker 1: and and you know haven't taken haven't played as many

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Speaker 1: snaps as maybe they'd like this season, So this is

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Speaker 1: their chance to do so. So you're going to get

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Speaker 1: their best effort.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I don't think the effort it's going to

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Speaker 2: be a problem. I mean, I thought you laid it

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Speaker 2: out well yesterday that you know, in Ravenland, you're not

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Speaker 2: it's almost like pledging a fraternity, you know, like you're

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Speaker 2: not officially a Raven until you beat the Steelers. Well,

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Speaker 2: there's a bunch of young guys that haven't done that

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Speaker 2: that are going to go crazy to be the next

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Speaker 2: Willie Parker. And you know, take this opportunity and run

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Speaker 2: with it. You know, you're stuck behind it a really

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Speaker 2: good roster. So I don't think effort's going to be

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Speaker 2: an issue at all, But I do think playing style,

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Speaker 2: game planning, things like that are going to favor just

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Speaker 2: running the clock out, you know, not going.

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Speaker 3: To be you know what I mean.

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Speaker 2: I mean, just a style of play that Harball wants

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Speaker 2: to employ. Is going to be trying to get out

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Speaker 2: of there, I would imagine.

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Speaker 3: I would think so.

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Speaker 1: But you know, then there's also the fact that the

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Speaker 1: Steelers have won the last three meetings down there.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's true.

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Speaker 1: If you're Harball, you're like, this will not do you know,

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Speaker 1: we have to change this around. I'm sure he's preaching

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Speaker 1: that to these young guys, like, hey, guys, you've got

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to do something. All these starters out here,

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Speaker 1: the guys that you're playing behind, they've lost their last

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Speaker 1: three games down here to the Steelers.

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Speaker 2: Good point, right, right, That's certainly a trend that you

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Speaker 2: would love in the butt while keeping the Steelers out

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Speaker 2: of the playoffs.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's gonna be interesting.

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Speaker 1: I know the Steelers talked about it a lot this

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Speaker 1: week about how, hey, look, we're just playing the Ravens.

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Speaker 1: You know, it doesn't matter who's a quarterback, doesn't matter

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Speaker 1: any of that kind of stuff. It's this is just

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Speaker 1: a game where we're playing their scheme. And when you

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Speaker 1: look at it, they've played the since twenty twenty, and

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Speaker 1: really going back even farther than that, they've they've played

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Speaker 1: the Ravens six or this will be the eighth time

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Speaker 1: since the twenty twenty season. The Steelers are six and

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Speaker 1: one in those games. They've beaten Lamar three times. Lamars

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Speaker 1: oh and three against them since twenty twenty. In the

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Speaker 1: other quarterbacks because he's missed four games, this will be

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Speaker 1: the fifth, are one and three, and the numbers are

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Speaker 1: are amazingly similar no matter who's start a quarterback in

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Speaker 1: those games, because the Steelers treat them all the same,

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Speaker 1: because yeah, good point. The one thing that Baltimore has

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Speaker 1: done is it's a credit to them. The backups are

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Speaker 1: all Lamar like, yeah, you're running those days gone, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you're running the same exact offense. And so the Steelers

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Speaker 1: treat those quarterbacks like Lamar and they beat them up

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Speaker 1: in those In those three games against the Steelers, Lamar's

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Speaker 1: been sacked fifteen times.

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Speaker 3: It's amazing fifteen times.

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Speaker 1: He's yeah, and he's the he's the he's got the

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Speaker 1: most mobility of any quarterback in the league, and they've

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Speaker 1: gotten him fifteen times.

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Speaker 2: And I don't I'd have to look back, but I

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Speaker 2: don't think they blitz him with six man pressures time

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Speaker 2: and time again. And I know they're very conscious of

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Speaker 2: keeping him in the pocket with you know, a rush plan,

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Speaker 2: and they still get to them a lot, you know,

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Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, it's a crazy yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And they've done that with the backups as well, whether

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Speaker 1: it's been Tyler Huntley who will start this game, or

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Speaker 1: the one game with Robert Griffin. I can remember watching

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Speaker 1: that game that Robert Griffin started, and every time the

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Speaker 1: Steelers they were doing the read option stuff, and every

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Speaker 1: single time they did a read option, either TJ. Wantt

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Speaker 1: or Bud Dupree were crashing in and just smacking him

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Speaker 1: in the face, you know, whether he had the ball

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Speaker 1: or not, and he would turn around and yell at

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Speaker 1: the official, like scream at the officials, Oh, I'm going

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Speaker 1: to do that, and they just kept doing it and

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Speaker 1: finally he ended up getting pulled out of the game.

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Speaker 1: And actually Trace McSorley played some of that game as well.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I remember exactly, and that is their strategy and

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Speaker 2: That's something we've been talking about all week, is hitting

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Speaker 2: the quarterback and whether it's Huntley who's going to be

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Speaker 2: out there most of the time. But I do think

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Speaker 2: Cunningham and maybe even Josh Johnson get some snaps. You know,

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Speaker 2: why wouldn't you if you're Baltimore and I think they're

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Speaker 2: going to hit the quarterback with relentlessly. To be honest

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Speaker 2: with you, and looking back at Huntley's numbers, he really

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Speaker 2: takes a lot of sacks too. I mean I'm not

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Speaker 2: even talking about a runner. I mean talking about not

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Speaker 2: having a lot of pocket presence holding the football.

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Speaker 1: He's going to get hit, yeah, and that's kind of

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Speaker 1: who he is, despite the fact that he averages five

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Speaker 1: point eight yards per past attempt, which is ridiculously low.

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Speaker 3: Really low.

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Speaker 2: I remember last time we talked about him as probably

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Speaker 2: last year, you know that just a lot of sideways stuff.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure they'll take a shot here and there,

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Speaker 2: but I would think the ball is going to come out,

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Speaker 2: get it out of his hands, short completions, and you know,

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Speaker 2: he's probably not throwing to a Flowers and he's certainly

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Speaker 2: not throwing the Mark Andrews.

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Speaker 1: You know, Yeah, but you know, guys like Aglar and

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Speaker 1: Bateman can get down the field and do some things.

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Speaker 3: You do have to be cognizant of that.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean I think you go into this

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Speaker 1: game thinking, Okay, they're going to get the ball out quickly.

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Speaker 1: Most teams have against the Steelers this year anyways, and

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Speaker 1: you know, go tackle the catch and you know this

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Speaker 1: is one of you know, this was my key on

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Speaker 1: the Matchup show that we do Steelers dot Com. But

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Speaker 1: don't don't allow the ball to get behind you. You

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Speaker 1: have to keep everything in front of you because this

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Speaker 1: is going to be you know, if they score a touchdown,

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Speaker 1: it's going to be like a four team play drive.

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Speaker 3: You can't give up a quick one.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you. I mean it looks like their

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Speaker 2: most six so playmakers won't be in this game. And

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Speaker 2: that being said, if you slip up, you miss a tackle,

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Speaker 2: you're overly aggressive attacking the ball in the air, and

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Speaker 2: you give them a freebee seventy yard or fifty yard

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Speaker 2: or then you're behind the eight ball, you know what

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Speaker 2: I mean. I would much rather see Huntley try to

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Speaker 2: matriculate the ball down the field then give them a

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Speaker 2: cheap ee, even if it means maybe paying off with

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Speaker 2: a you know, a big defensive play.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: On the on the other side of things, they're also

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Speaker 1: going to run their defensive scheme because this is a

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Speaker 1: great opportunity for them to take a look at some

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Speaker 1: young guys who again maybe haven't gotten the playing time

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Speaker 1: that that, you know, because of the guys ahead of them,

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Speaker 1: and their scheme you know, is very disguise oriented. Yes,

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Speaker 1: they'll have nine guys at the line of scrimmage with

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Speaker 1: you know, in the box at the line of scrimmage,

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Speaker 1: and some of those guys are dropping out and some

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Speaker 1: of them aren't, and you have.

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Speaker 3: To figure out who's who.

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Speaker 1: I thought it was interesting Mason Rudolph said this week

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Speaker 1: that he said, you know, a lot of times you

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Speaker 1: just watch the safeties because safeties can't lie.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I wish I knew more about reading defenses, but

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Speaker 2: much of it starts with reading the safeties. And they

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Speaker 2: love to put three of them out there though too.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think Hamilton will be one of them.

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Speaker 2: His versatility makes it even more difficult because he could

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Speaker 2: do so many things. But yeah, you're right, I mean,

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Speaker 2: they're gonna throw a lot out at you. The coordinators

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Speaker 2: are not going to take the week off. They even

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Speaker 2: fiddle with some stuff in the playbook that they wanted

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Speaker 2: to see if it works or not. You know, I mean,

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Speaker 2: who knows. I thought you had some good points earlier

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Speaker 2: in the week two about I wouldn't think that they

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Speaker 2: want to put too much on tape that they're saving

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Speaker 2: for the playoffs. But maybe they were going to try

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Speaker 2: some things, you know that I don't know if this

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Speaker 2: works or not. It's a good experimental phase. Will throw

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Speaker 2: it out there defensively or offensively, you know, just to

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Speaker 2: see if it sticks. Yeah, you treat it like it's

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Speaker 2: a preseason game.

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Speaker 1: And that being said, the Ravens are a team that, well,

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Speaker 1: until this year, they rarely lose in the preseason. They

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Speaker 1: like to you know, yeah, they like to win those games.

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Speaker 1: I think they were either one in two or zero

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Speaker 1: to three in the preseason this year. That broke that

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Speaker 1: long streak of wins. It was like twenty games or whatever.

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Speaker 1: The heck, it was several years without losing in the preseason.

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Speaker 1: You've got to be prepared to get their best shot

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Speaker 1: because these guys are going to give you again. It

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Speaker 1: may not be Lamar, it may not be Odell.

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Speaker 3: Beckham out there.

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Speaker 1: It may not be Kyle Hamilton and some of these

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Speaker 1: other guys, but the guys that are out there are

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Speaker 1: going to want to beat the Steelers.

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Speaker 2: Oh without question. And I keep saying, who's going to

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Speaker 2: be there Willie Parker this week? I mean somebody that

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Speaker 2: we haven't heard of or me, and we've heard of him. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I'm pretty pretty confident that we know what he is.

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Speaker 2: And it's not so great anymore.

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Speaker 3: He's not Willie Parker.

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Speaker 2: I know that they signal Cook yesterday. Probably he's not either. No,

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Speaker 2: he's not gonna play, I'm sure either, but no, you're right.

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Speaker 3: So, yeah, it's gonna be a fascinating game.

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Speaker 1: And and uh, you know, like I don't let Mallie Cunningham,

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Speaker 1: for example, be that guy.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know they're gonna run him out there.

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Speaker 1: Potentially is a wide receiver at point at points as well,

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Speaker 1: you know you haven't seen that, nobody's seen that. Uh,

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Speaker 1: don't let that guy get behind you for an easy one.

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Speaker 1: But I'm gonna be interested to see this game and

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Speaker 1: then we'll see what happens on Sunday with those other games.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna get to a break. He is the Matt Williamson.

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Speaker 1: I am Dale Lolly. You're listening to the Drive here

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Speaker 1: on Steelers Nation Radio. We'll be back with more right

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Speaker 1: after this. Welcome back to the Drive. I'm Dale LOLLI

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Speaker 1: he is the Matt Williamson and Matt looking here at

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Speaker 1: this a piece on ESPN it's eighteen NFL replacements who

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Speaker 1: help shape the playoff race this season.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I thought we'd go.

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Speaker 1: Through that because of course there's a lot of different

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Speaker 1: guys on here. And for this Ravens team, who the

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Speaker 1: Steelers play this week, there's two guys on here. The

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Speaker 1: first is Isaiah Likely, the tight end. The second is

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Speaker 1: Geno Stone. Geno Stone, the safety who's from Newcastle.

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Speaker 2: Good one. I mean Stone, I don't know that i'd

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Speaker 2: even call him a replacement. I haven't seen he played

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Speaker 2: a lot regardless, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean they play

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Speaker 2: a lot of big nickel. He's their third safety. I mean,

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Speaker 2: he's a borderline starter, but he's made a ton of

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Speaker 2: big plays. He's a big contributor to them being the

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Speaker 2: most takeaway defense in the league, the best turnover differential

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Speaker 2: in the league. But Isaiah likely not that it's a

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Speaker 2: dilemma obviously it's a great problem to have. But they

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Speaker 2: got to look at him and be like, boy, when

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Speaker 2: Andrews gets back, do we play more twelve? You know,

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Speaker 2: we got to can't just throw him in the back

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Speaker 2: in the background anymore.

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Speaker 1: He's a good player, no, And you know when they

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Speaker 1: took him, I mean he was he was basically a

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Speaker 1: big receiver in College Carolina. Yeah, Coastal Carolina. They said, okay,

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Speaker 1: we're just going to make a tight end.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. He's averaging fifteen point three yards per catch

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Speaker 3: this year.

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Speaker 2: So quick question for you, do you think they feature

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Speaker 2: him in this game or do they shut him down

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Speaker 2: and get Charlie Kohler out there, you know, like he

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Speaker 2: does the point you know what I.

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Speaker 1: Mean, honestly, because Andrews is out and there's a chance

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Speaker 1: they've been talking for a while now that there's a

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Speaker 1: chance Andrews comes back at some point in the playoffs.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it seems like a stretch. It seems like

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Speaker 3: a stretch.

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Speaker 1: I mean maybe if they get to the super Bowl,

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Speaker 1: I mean that's another month away, maybe he would get

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Speaker 1: him back at that point.

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Speaker 3: But I wouldn't want to risk it.

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Speaker 2: I just say I would not. I mean likely. It's

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Speaker 2: to the point where he's just not some run of

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Speaker 2: the mill backup that he's an integral part of the

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Speaker 2: their postseason future.

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Speaker 3: To me, Ye, like, whether you have Andrews or not,

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Speaker 3: you still want.

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Speaker 2: To play likely too, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean

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Speaker 2: I would be careful with him if I were the

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Speaker 2: Ravens in this game.

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Speaker 3: I mean, he's that important.

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Speaker 2: He's been that good for them.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, you know in Stone, to me, he's

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Speaker 1: kind of like, I don't want to say, he's like

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Speaker 1: Deron blan mm hmmm. You know, yeah, he's got the

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Speaker 1: interceptions are great, because interceptions are great.

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Speaker 3: I'm not gonna I'm not discounting interceptions. But I don't

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Speaker 3: know that he's a great player.

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Speaker 2: Oh I don't either. I think he's a nice piece.

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Speaker 2: He you know, he doesn't start. He doesn't start the drink.

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Speaker 2: He's their third best safety. It's start for most teams.

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Speaker 2: Quality guy. You know, like if he was a Steelers'

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Speaker 2: third safety, I'd be thrilled. That'd be great. But I

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Speaker 2: wouldn't say, boy, you know, pair him with Minka and

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Speaker 2: you've got a great pairing, you know what.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean earlier this year when he was he

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Speaker 1: was leading the fan voting at safety in the AFC

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Speaker 1: for the Pro Bowl, Like, come.

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Speaker 2: On right, exactly exactly. I don't think he's maker or

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Speaker 2: into a windfield or you know some of these well

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Speaker 2: known safety guys. Yeah, Hamilton's a better player, you know.

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Speaker 3: For Buffalo, it's cornerback Rasul Douglas.

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Speaker 2: I thought that was really interesting too, because they traded

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Speaker 2: for him at the deadline, you know, I mean with

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Speaker 2: Green Bay, and he has really stepped up and been

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Speaker 2: a really important player for those guys. I hate to

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Speaker 2: say it, but that's just what this league is. I mean,

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure that Tradevis White will ever beat the

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Speaker 2: player he used to be. So the corner fround England

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Speaker 2: last year and he's kind of a work in progress

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Speaker 2: from what I've seen. So Douglas has been really good

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Speaker 2: for them.

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Speaker 1: What's crazy to me green Bay would give that guy

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Speaker 1: up when their defense has been such a problem.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you're right. I mean I don't I'm trying

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Speaker 2: to think what the state of the Packers was at

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Speaker 2: the deadline. Did they think that they're not a playoff content?

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Speaker 3: I think that's I think that was the case.

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Speaker 1: Was that that was right before they played the Steelers

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Speaker 1: and lost to the Steelers, and that that really put them,

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Speaker 1: you know, behind the eight ball, and then they won

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Speaker 1: a bunch of games after that.

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Speaker 2: Their offense is much better now than then.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but in eight games with the Bills, he has

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Speaker 1: four interceptions, eight pass defenses, and two fumble recoveries.

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Speaker 2: Wow. I didn't realize the production was that good, but

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Speaker 2: it just so happened to click on this morning on

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Speaker 2: Pro Football focuses cornerback rankings for the year, and he

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Speaker 2: was like in their top five, which doesn't mean he's

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Speaker 2: a top five corner but doing something good.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's I mean that cornerback position. We've talked about

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Speaker 3: that before.

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Speaker 1: It goes up and down like the stock market a

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Speaker 1: little bit. You know, this year you're up, next year

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Speaker 1: you're down.

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Speaker 3: It's not real sticky.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's real hard to It's very difficult to be

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Speaker 1: steady at that position.

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Speaker 3: Uh.

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Speaker 1: For Cleveland, it's the two running backs, Jerome Ford and

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Speaker 1: Cream Hunt.

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Speaker 2: Well what about the quarterback?

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Speaker 3: What about them? As the quarterbacks?

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Speaker 1: I'll listened on it because honestly, Ford and Hunt haven't

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Speaker 1: done much down the stretch since since Flacco started playing.

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Speaker 1: They except they've been more pass catchers, and they have

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Speaker 1: running backs exactly exactly.

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Speaker 2: I mean, they're run game. I mean they have some

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Speaker 2: o line injuries as well, but they're run. They just

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Speaker 2: play football much differently than we would have expected, you know.

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Speaker 2: I mean you figured job a good old line, great

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Speaker 2: set of guards. You know they're going to run the

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Speaker 2: ball and then go from there. Well, that's not what

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Speaker 2: they're doing at all right now.

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Speaker 1: I wonder if some of that's a a their their

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Speaker 1: home road splits are real, so they know going on

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Speaker 1: the road in the playoffs, which they know they're going

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Speaker 1: to have to do they weren't going to catch Baltimore,

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Speaker 1: that they're gonna have to throw the ball a little

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Speaker 1: bit more to win some of those games. I mean

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Speaker 1: you look at some of the scores in their road games. Yeah, shootouts,

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Speaker 1: they've been shootouts.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And there's also you know, their offensive lines all banged up,

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Speaker 1: so maybe they feel like they can't run the ball

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Speaker 1: the way they want to.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I do think the backs are just okay.

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Speaker 2: You know, Awards a backup. Hunt was on the free

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Speaker 2: agent market for a long time before coming back. And

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Speaker 2: I hate to say it because child I think is

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Speaker 2: one of the best backs of this generation, but they

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Speaker 2: might have to address running back somewhat early in the draft.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: For Dallas, well, it's the aforementioned Deron Bland.

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Speaker 2: That makes sense for this.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I mean he's got eight interceptions this year and returned

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Speaker 1: five of them for touchdowns.

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Speaker 3: But he's not a great corner, no.

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Speaker 2: I mean the talk of him being defensive MVP was ludicrous,

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Speaker 2: to be honest with you. But the fact that you're

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Speaker 2: getting that out of Diggs's backup.

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Speaker 3: Right, you know.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean he's basically been the same player,

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Speaker 1: maybe better than Diggs.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, in terms of the paduction anyways. So mhm.

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Speaker 1: For Detroit it's Effetti Malifawanu and that's a good one

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Speaker 1: for I mean, he's a guy that really people haven't

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Speaker 1: heard of.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, but he's played really well for them this year.

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Speaker 2: Extremely well. Like people might remember his brother who tested

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Speaker 2: really well. He was a Yukon guy of a corner

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Speaker 2: and never really worked out of the pros. Well, he's

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Speaker 2: much better. Mel Ifwan who the Lions version came out

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Speaker 2: of Syracuse. He's really starting to hit his stride. He

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Speaker 2: was a third round pick, I think you know, the

438
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,920
Speaker 2: Day two pick that's really really playing well and should

439
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:26,440
Speaker 2: get more recognition than he does.

440
00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:28,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's that's something there.

441
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,440
Speaker 1: A guy like that, as you mentioned, a third round

442
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,200
Speaker 1: pick at safety, that would be really nice for the

443
00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,280
Speaker 1: Steelers to add in this draft to upcoming draft this year.

444
00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,960
Speaker 1: Just a good young safety who maybe spends a year

445
00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:44,360
Speaker 1: as the backup and then you know, you can kind

446
00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:47,240
Speaker 1: of mix him in there, kind of like Stone as well,

447
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,160
Speaker 1: you know, just that guy that again, improving that safety

448
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:52,320
Speaker 1: depth with a young guy.

449
00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:55,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he can make his bones on special teams.

450
00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:59,399
Speaker 2: Assuming Peterson's back and playing safety. What a pair to

451
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:02,480
Speaker 2: learn from and Minka and Peterson, you know. I mean,

452
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,080
Speaker 2: I think that's the ideal situation. And the little bit

453
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,560
Speaker 2: of safety draft homework I've done, it looks like it's

454
00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,199
Speaker 2: unlikely there will be a Round one guy, but there

455
00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:13,280
Speaker 2: does look like a lot of Day two options.

456
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:17,240
Speaker 3: Yeah. For Green Bay, it's tight end Tucker Craft.

457
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:19,960
Speaker 1: He had to step in when Luke Musgrave was out

458
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:21,960
Speaker 1: and he gave them some good production there.

459
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:23,160
Speaker 3: Yeah.

460
00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:25,439
Speaker 2: I mean, oddly, what's kind of a Ravens thing to

461
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,000
Speaker 2: do is draft two tight ends in the same draft.

462
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:29,720
Speaker 3: Both guys do that a lot.

463
00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:32,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, they do, I guess and more I think about it. Yeah,

464
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:36,360
Speaker 2: good point and craft of someone I liked a lot.

465
00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:38,119
Speaker 2: I mean I think both of us had him, you know,

466
00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:40,920
Speaker 2: our top five or right outside, right outside of it.

467
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:42,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

468
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,000
Speaker 2: I mean top six or seven for sure, and maybe

469
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:47,920
Speaker 2: him and Musgrave are great pairing for a long long time.

470
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:50,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a good one.

471
00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:55,840
Speaker 1: In the six games since Musgrave's injury, twenty three catches

472
00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:58,200
Speaker 1: for two hundred and eighty one yards and two touchdowns,

473
00:21:58,440 --> 00:21:59,600
Speaker 1: So good production.

474
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:00,520
Speaker 3: Yeah.

475
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:05,000
Speaker 1: For the Houston Texans, it's offensive lineman George Fant, And

476
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,280
Speaker 1: we talked about him when the Steelers played the Texans

477
00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:11,960
Speaker 1: and it was like, okay, that's maybe the weak link there.

478
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:15,520
Speaker 3: He's played well for them at right tackle. Yeah.

479
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:17,520
Speaker 2: I don't have a lot to add to that, except

480
00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,639
Speaker 2: for you know, they were excited about Titus Howard, former

481
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,600
Speaker 2: first round pick. I think I know Tunsall got hurt

482
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,720
Speaker 2: last week, the left tackle. Yeah, I don't know how

483
00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,000
Speaker 2: long he's out. I wanted to double check that before

484
00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,600
Speaker 2: Texans game, because they've, as we remember when the Steelers

485
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,359
Speaker 2: played them, Kendrick Green. I mean, they've they've shuffled a

486
00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:38,560
Speaker 2: lot at lineman in and out this year and gotten

487
00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:38,919
Speaker 2: away with.

488
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:44,760
Speaker 1: For the Indianapolis Colts, it's running back Zach Moss and

489
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:45,680
Speaker 1: linebacker e J.

490
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:46,240
Speaker 3: Speed.

491
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,719
Speaker 2: Oh good ones. I mean yeah, Moss ends up being

492
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:51,680
Speaker 2: a part time player and he.

493
00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:53,920
Speaker 3: Carried them for a large portion of this season though.

494
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, I mean maybe he is a part time guy.

495
00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:59,879
Speaker 2: I don't know if he could have lasted for seventeen

496
00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 2: doing what he did, but that was all they needed.

497
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:04,240
Speaker 2: He was a middle reliever for him, came in and

498
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:08,080
Speaker 2: held the four down. Speed's kind of basically is the

499
00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,680
Speaker 2: reason that Leonard's not there, right, Yeah.

500
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 1: I mean and if you think back to the game

501
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:17,400
Speaker 1: against the Steelers, e J. Speed was all over the field. Yeah,

502
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,320
Speaker 1: I mean he had like twelve tackles in that game.

503
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,159
Speaker 1: Was really a handful for the Steelers in the running game.

504
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:24,960
Speaker 1: He's one of the big reasons why they didn't run

505
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:26,160
Speaker 1: the ball well in that game.

506
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:29,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's he's a good football player.

507
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, great name too.

508
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's perfect name for an inside linebackers. He was

509
00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:40,240
Speaker 1: small and fast for Jacksonville. Jamal Agnew and Parker Washington

510
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:41,359
Speaker 1: a pair of wide receivers.

511
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,720
Speaker 3: That's kind of stretching there a little bit for me.

512
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:46,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just saying the same thing like, yeah,

513
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,560
Speaker 2: you got to list somebody for every team, but they're

514
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,040
Speaker 2: not exactly Christiane Kirk and j Jones.

515
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,720
Speaker 1: No, no, not not by any stretch. This next one

516
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,159
Speaker 1: for the ramso is a good one. And this is

517
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,320
Speaker 1: the guy that I actually started them in a in

518
00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,480
Speaker 1: a DFS lineup a couple of times here in recent weeks,

519
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,200
Speaker 1: and he's done well for the Rams, DeMarcus Robinson.

520
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, that does make sense. I mean, he's bounced around

521
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:13,840
Speaker 2: the league a little bit, but there is talent there.

522
00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:17,640
Speaker 2: He's had some high moments throughout his career. Rams are

523
00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:19,920
Speaker 2: great at getting the most out of the receiver position.

524
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,720
Speaker 2: I mean is as much as everyone likes Puka and Cup,

525
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:30,400
Speaker 2: they're not the most dynamic or you know, talented receivers

526
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:32,879
Speaker 2: in the world. So they that scheme helps those guys

527
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,320
Speaker 2: quite a bit. And Robinson's fitting well.

528
00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 1: And they live in three wide receiver sets and too

529
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:40,879
Speaker 1: to at well missed some games. In those games that

530
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,359
Speaker 1: too too outwell missed, Robinson was very productive.

531
00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:45,480
Speaker 3: Yeah.

532
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, so they actually go four deep now, it's just yeah,

533
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 2: nice situation with them.

534
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,160
Speaker 3: For the Dolphins, it's linebacker Andrew van Ginkel.

535
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,520
Speaker 2: Quality player. Yeah, I mean they ask a lot of them.

536
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,240
Speaker 2: He can line up on the line of scrimmage, you

537
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:00,879
Speaker 2: can drop the cover, You're gonna do a little bit

538
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,960
Speaker 2: of everything, you know, just a solid all around guy.

539
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:09,560
Speaker 1: For the forty nine Ers, it's John Feliciano, the offensive lineman.

540
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,480
Speaker 2: Former Bills player. I mean, he's not great, but they

541
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,919
Speaker 2: don't invest heavily in their offensive line outside the left tackle,

542
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:21,720
Speaker 2: so adequate is really all they're looking for.

543
00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 1: You know, he started seven games for them this year,

544
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,080
Speaker 1: and I'm sure he'll start again tomorrow.

545
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 3: Their Sunday, I should say. For Tampa Bay it's.

546
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:34,200
Speaker 1: Linebacker yah yadd Abby and cornerback Zion McCullum.

547
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, two young guys. That's a good one. So, I

548
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,080
Speaker 2: mean I heard somebody bring up the Abby as a

549
00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,960
Speaker 2: potential defensive Rookie of the Year candidate. That that's a

550
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:46,720
Speaker 2: bit extreme thing. I can't go there.

551
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 3: Yeah.

552
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I mean if you're even brought up for

553
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,679
Speaker 2: what a third fourth round pick, you're getting something out

554
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:55,520
Speaker 2: of those guys, you know, young draft pick types.

555
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, they didn't even mention the.

556
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 2: Steelers on here, No, I guess they didn't.

557
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,680
Speaker 1: So if we were going to put this eighteen NFL.

558
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,120
Speaker 1: And if for replacements, who helped shape the playoff race?

559
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:11,800
Speaker 1: If the Steelers get in, who's the guy that you

560
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:15,760
Speaker 1: look at a replacement type player and say that's a

561
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,960
Speaker 1: big reason why they did it. Do we consider Yeah,

562
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 1: I mean screams it. Yeah, he would have been a

563
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,679
Speaker 1: great one. You can't consider Joey Porter of that because

564
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 1: he's not really a replacement. He's kind of moved in

565
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:31,760
Speaker 1: and been a starter. But about like Jack or row

566
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:34,320
Speaker 1: or There's a lot of those kind of guys. I

567
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,360
Speaker 1: also look at, let's not forget that like Cam Hayward

568
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:40,640
Speaker 1: missed a ton of time, so kean U Benton uh

569
00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,560
Speaker 1: stepped in in a lot of those instances are Mom Watts.

570
00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:45,800
Speaker 1: I mean, they had some guys that have stepped in

571
00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,040
Speaker 1: and filled in that have done a really you know,

572
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:50,600
Speaker 1: helped them along the way.

573
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 3: This year.

574
00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,920
Speaker 2: I would even throw into Landon Roberts just because yeah, yeah,

575
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,600
Speaker 2: he was of a trio not supposed to be one

576
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:00,800
Speaker 2: hundred that guy.

577
00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:03,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was not supposed to be solo Getty Lee.

578
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:04,520
Speaker 1: He was supposed to.

579
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,680
Speaker 3: Be part of a power trio exactly exactly.

580
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:11,200
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean, and some things they listened to

581
00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:13,680
Speaker 2: sort of that dope as well. You know, like didn't

582
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:16,159
Speaker 2: expect him to do this much, but put more on

583
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,399
Speaker 2: his plate than we planned and he handled it all. Well.

584
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, we're gonna get to another break. He is

585
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,240
Speaker 1: the Matt Williamson. I'm Dale, Lollie. You're listening to the

586
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,000
Speaker 1: drive here on Steelers Nation Radio. We'll be back with

587
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:31,600
Speaker 1: more right after this. Welcome back. I am Dale, Lollie.

588
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,119
Speaker 1: He is the Matt Williamson and uh Steeler fans, you

589
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:37,640
Speaker 1: can gear up with the latest sideline apparel, hatser jerseys

590
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,800
Speaker 1: of your favorite players, authentic memorabilia, custom items, and exclusives

591
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,399
Speaker 1: you can only find directly from the team at one

592
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:47,480
Speaker 1: of the official Steelers pro shops. They're located at Ackrashuer Stadium,

593
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,600
Speaker 1: Grove City Premium Outlets, or Tanger Outlets, or you can

594
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,600
Speaker 1: visit online at shop dot Steelers dot com.

595
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:56,920
Speaker 3: And Matt if you look at.

596
00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:02,920
Speaker 1: This Baltimore team and what they've done this year, they're

597
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:08,960
Speaker 1: d v o A on FTN Fantasy. Yeah, they're total

598
00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:14,600
Speaker 1: DVOA is forty eight point five. They're adjusted dv oa

599
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,959
Speaker 1: is forty point seven. There's they're number two on offense

600
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:20,960
Speaker 1: at twenty point nine they're number one on defense at

601
00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:24,600
Speaker 1: minus tweve four point one, and they're second on special

602
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:26,320
Speaker 1: teams at plus three point five.

603
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 3: So they're either one or two across the board.

604
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 2: Across the board. Yeah, so that's remarkable, and that also

605
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,680
Speaker 2: is true for you know, people that aren't believers in EPA,

606
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:42,040
Speaker 2: d v O A blah blah blah. I mean on

607
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:46,000
Speaker 2: offensive defense, just in terms of scoring, they're one and two,

608
00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,400
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, like any anything you look at

609
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,480
Speaker 2: there at the top of the league. I didn't see

610
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,560
Speaker 2: it coming. I mean, it's really a remarkable season for them.

611
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,040
Speaker 2: It's not like they've played an easy schedule. I mean

612
00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:00,520
Speaker 2: all the big dogs they faced they've blown out. I mean,

613
00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:04,200
Speaker 2: with the exception of their success in the division, they've

614
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 2: knocked out, you know, time and time again the opponents.

615
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 2: And frankly, when they have lost, there's been some self

616
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,520
Speaker 2: induced errors. You know, a punt blocked, a lot of fumbles,

617
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:16,960
Speaker 2: I mean, impressive.

618
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:19,440
Speaker 3: That's largely any team in the league.

619
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:21,440
Speaker 1: I mean, if you get a pump blocked, you fumble

620
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 1: those kind of the drop passes, that's how you lose games.

621
00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've seen that. People throw that out there.

622
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:28,840
Speaker 1: That's why the Steelers beat them the first of all,

623
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,760
Speaker 1: they dropped I've seen the six passes. They dropped eight passes,

624
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,640
Speaker 1: they dropped three passes, whatever it was. If you watch

625
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 1: the Ravens play, they will drop some passes. For Shan

626
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:40,520
Speaker 1: Bateman is not a finished product at wide receiver, he

627
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:41,520
Speaker 1: will drop passes.

628
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:43,560
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, and.

629
00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:45,360
Speaker 1: It happens every team in the league. You know, Deontay

630
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:47,920
Speaker 1: Johnson dropped the past. See that he dropped the pass.

631
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:50,040
Speaker 1: He's dropped two passes all season long.

632
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 2: He's dropped two all year right, yeah, I mean just

633
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,880
Speaker 2: the but but to reiterate how strong the Ravens season

634
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,640
Speaker 2: has been, I mean the games where they have a

635
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:05,480
Speaker 2: lot of drops, a lot of fumbles are correlate with losses.

636
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:06,480
Speaker 2: But that's just football.

637
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:07,760
Speaker 3: I mean that's the way it goes.

638
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's how the league is. Yes, so unique.

639
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:14,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, looking at this the Steelers and they've been pretty

640
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,920
Speaker 1: steadily sticking at this spot now for the last several weeks.

641
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:20,680
Speaker 3: They're eleventh in DVOA.

642
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:23,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, I saw that, and that's largely where they've been,

643
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:30,080
Speaker 1: right behind Philadelphia. They're at plus five point eight. The offense, however,

644
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:35,560
Speaker 1: is now fifteenth. The defense is seventh in the special

645
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:40,920
Speaker 1: teams are eighteenth. If when we talked in the preseason started,

646
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,400
Speaker 1: if you just said, hey, the Steelers, if I'd have

647
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,640
Speaker 1: told you met, the Steelers offense is going to be

648
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,960
Speaker 1: fifteenth in the league in DVOA, the defense is going

649
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,520
Speaker 1: to be top ten. They're going to go they have

650
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:56,080
Speaker 1: a chance to go five and one in division if

651
00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,320
Speaker 1: they won twelve or thirteen games this year.

652
00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:02,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe they're fighting for a bye right now or

653
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:06,280
Speaker 2: division leader in a great division, and you certainly would

654
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,239
Speaker 2: have thought, you know, double digit wins for sure, you know,

655
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:11,200
Speaker 2: and not too far.

656
00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:14,040
Speaker 3: Off, No, not too far off. I mean, so if

657
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:15,040
Speaker 3: they win this game on.

658
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:18,200
Speaker 1: Sunday or Saturday, I should say there'll be ten and seven.

659
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,640
Speaker 1: There weren't many ten and seven predictions out there going

660
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:28,080
Speaker 1: into the season. Yeah, a lot of eight's and nine

661
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:30,240
Speaker 1: is out there. So there's a lot of revisionist history

662
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,320
Speaker 1: going on out there in terms of the Steelers. You know,

663
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,320
Speaker 1: they just the season Tomlin finally has a losing season.

664
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:38,560
Speaker 1: There was a lot of that going into this year.

665
00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,480
Speaker 2: Sure certainly was after the Colts game. Oh that's a

666
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:42,480
Speaker 2: foregone conclusion.

667
00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 3: But yeah, they're gonna lose out they're gonna do this

668
00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:45,000
Speaker 3: or like.

669
00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:47,240
Speaker 2: Let's play the games.

670
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:50,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, every team this season if you look at them,

671
00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:55,720
Speaker 1: even the Ravens had had a period where they were down.

672
00:31:56,040 --> 00:32:01,280
Speaker 1: Now fortunately for Baltimore. For Baltimore, they were fortunate. We

673
00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,600
Speaker 1: talked about it coming out at a training camp that

674
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,480
Speaker 1: they may struggle offensively a little bit earlier in the year,

675
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,960
Speaker 1: and they kind of did.

676
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:13,440
Speaker 3: They they were fine and two. They were three and two.

677
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 1: But if you look at their early schedule the way

678
00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,160
Speaker 1: it's set up for them, they played some bad teams

679
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,760
Speaker 1: early on that allowed them to get to three and two,

680
00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,040
Speaker 1: and you need some of that schedule luck.

681
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:28,720
Speaker 3: Coming into a season.

682
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,440
Speaker 1: So, I mean, they came out of the gates playing

683
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,640
Speaker 1: the Texans, who we didn't think the Texans were going.

684
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,400
Speaker 3: To be what they are right now. But that was

685
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:38,600
Speaker 3: a great time.

686
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:42,920
Speaker 2: Yes, first game for the head coach and quarterback.

687
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's in your building. Then they played the Bengals

688
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,280
Speaker 1: with Burrow still trying to figure things out, but they

689
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,560
Speaker 1: win that game. Yeah, they win that game twenty seven

690
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:58,360
Speaker 1: to four. Again, not looking back on how Burrow was

691
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 1: playing at that point, you know, you snuck past you

692
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 1: snuck past them in that game.

693
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:04,760
Speaker 3: It wasn't a great game.

694
00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,120
Speaker 1: Then you lose to the Colts twenty two nineteen at home.

695
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:10,320
Speaker 3: M hm.

696
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:13,360
Speaker 2: Then they just in the world, you know. But yeah, right,

697
00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:15,880
Speaker 2: Colts are potential playoff team like that.

698
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:17,840
Speaker 1: I mean, as it turns out, we didn't think that

699
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:24,200
Speaker 1: at the time. Then they played the Browns in Cleveland

700
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:29,000
Speaker 1: against dtr in a surprise start because Watson was Watson

701
00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:32,000
Speaker 1: was supposed to start. The Browns have done if you

702
00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,280
Speaker 1: look at that game, you know, the Ravens didn't do

703
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:39,920
Speaker 1: much offensively, but the Browns did nothing offensively, right, so

704
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 1: you win that game.

705
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:42,600
Speaker 2: The defense was phenomenal in that game.

706
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, Browns win that game. You get to three and one.

707
00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:48,280
Speaker 1: Then they lose to the Steelers, so they're three and two.

708
00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:51,880
Speaker 1: You know, if they played the Texans later in the season,

709
00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:53,840
Speaker 1: if they played the Colts later in the season and then

710
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:56,000
Speaker 1: they ended up losing that game anyways, if they played

711
00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:58,400
Speaker 1: the Bengals three weeks.

712
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:01,600
Speaker 2: Later a long time, yeah.

713
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,720
Speaker 3: You know, maybe you lose that game in Cincinnati. But

714
00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,640
Speaker 3: this is yeah, it's just kind of worked out for

715
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:09,160
Speaker 3: them here. Yeah.

716
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:12,359
Speaker 2: And frankly, when they you know, around the first time

717
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,319
Speaker 2: they played the Steelers, what were they three and two,

718
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:15,879
Speaker 2: two and three after year, they were.

719
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:18,560
Speaker 3: Three and two after the after the game, yeah.

720
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:20,680
Speaker 2: Okay, I mean no one's With all respect to Lamar,

721
00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,040
Speaker 2: who I think is the easy m VP, he wasn't

722
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,720
Speaker 2: in that conversation at that point. You know, the offense

723
00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:28,960
Speaker 2: was working through things. It was a new offense and

724
00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:32,280
Speaker 2: worked that well for them. And you know, of course

725
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:37,080
Speaker 2: everyone remembers Cardinals, Patriots, Colts run for the Steelers, and

726
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 2: that was dark times. I get it. But look at

727
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,040
Speaker 2: the Niners schedule. I mean right before thereby they were

728
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:45,800
Speaker 2: having a really hard time. You know, the the.

729
00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:48,319
Speaker 1: Raibs went through, but they've all gone through at some

730
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:49,160
Speaker 1: point in the season.

731
00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:51,439
Speaker 3: Really for the Ravens, Eagles.

732
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,360
Speaker 2: Are the best example. Oh yeah, Eagles get out of it.

733
00:34:54,640 --> 00:34:56,080
Speaker 3: Yeah.

734
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:58,799
Speaker 1: If you look at the following week after the after

735
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:02,600
Speaker 1: the the Ravens play the Steelers. In Week five, they go,

736
00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,520
Speaker 1: they played at Tennessee. They won that game twenty four

737
00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:09,120
Speaker 1: to sixteen, and you know, so that was a struggle.

738
00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:12,440
Speaker 3: It wasn't until they actually that game was in London.

739
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,480
Speaker 1: It wasn't until they got back to the game when

740
00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:19,200
Speaker 1: they played Detroit. They scored thirty eight against Detroit, thirty

741
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,920
Speaker 1: one against Arizona, thirty seven against Seattle, thirty one against

742
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:26,840
Speaker 1: the Browns, and a loss thirty four against the Bengals

743
00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,560
Speaker 1: twenty they beat their Chargers twenty to ten. Then they

744
00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:32,080
Speaker 1: finally had their bye week that was thirty seven points

745
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:33,360
Speaker 1: against the Rams.

746
00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:37,080
Speaker 2: Twenty three point if you remember real quick, just to rewind,

747
00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:41,319
Speaker 2: they went to they went overseas and didn't have a buye. Yeah,

748
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,040
Speaker 2: they requested not to. I mean that's a gutsy move.

749
00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,160
Speaker 1: You know, thirty So that's what it kind of turned

750
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:50,239
Speaker 1: on for them, you know, around mid season when they

751
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:54,719
Speaker 1: got back from London. But early in the season they

752
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,839
Speaker 1: were scuffling a little bit offensively.

753
00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:00,719
Speaker 2: They absolutely were, and they they had their share of

754
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:02,840
Speaker 2: injuries as well that first month or so. You know,

755
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,719
Speaker 2: like people forget about JK. Dobbins and I remember like

756
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:08,840
Speaker 2: Marcus Williams was in and out of the lineup. I mean,

757
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,920
Speaker 2: they weren't catastrophic injuries, but they were fighting their share

758
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:13,360
Speaker 2: early on and got through it.

759
00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, they they found a way to get through without

760
00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,600
Speaker 1: the losses that some of the other teams have suffered.

761
00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:21,560
Speaker 3: Every team, I mean, you can go up and down.

762
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:25,080
Speaker 1: If we look at the top ten, top eleven power

763
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:29,120
Speaker 1: rankings here, Baltimore, San Francisco, Buffalo, Buffalo went through it.

764
00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:33,160
Speaker 1: Kansas City, Kansas City went through it. Dallas, Dallas kind

765
00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:34,920
Speaker 1: of went through that. You know, it can't win on.

766
00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:37,000
Speaker 3: The road, especially on the road. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

767
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:39,799
Speaker 1: Detroit went through a little lull there a few a

768
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:43,640
Speaker 1: few weeks ago where people wonder about them Cleveland.

769
00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:46,560
Speaker 2: Detroit got blown out. In Baltimore, I mean blown out.

770
00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:47,719
Speaker 2: People were worrying about him.

771
00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:50,560
Speaker 1: Then Jacksonville went has gone through that. They they lost

772
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,200
Speaker 1: four in a row before winning last week. Now we

773
00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:54,719
Speaker 1: will see if they've gotten out of that or if

774
00:36:54,719 --> 00:36:56,360
Speaker 1: they're still in the in that malaise.

775
00:36:56,960 --> 00:36:58,080
Speaker 3: He talked about the Eagles.

776
00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,319
Speaker 1: The Eagles are currently in that spot right now. And

777
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:02,919
Speaker 1: then you get the Steelers at eleven. So when people

778
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,200
Speaker 1: talk about, you know, well, if the Steelers would have

779
00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:06,960
Speaker 1: would have beaten one of those teams that you know,

780
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:10,000
Speaker 1: the two and ten teams at home or ten lost

781
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:12,600
Speaker 1: teams at home, they'd have this thing clinch right now.

782
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:14,239
Speaker 3: You're right, there's the tech.

783
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:17,920
Speaker 1: I mean, there's no right, there's no arguing that. But

784
00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:21,680
Speaker 1: every team in the league has gone through some sport,

785
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:23,880
Speaker 1: even the good ones have gone through some sort of

786
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,560
Speaker 1: malaise where you might win, you might lose, and it's

787
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,600
Speaker 1: just it doesn't matter, seem to matter who you're playing.

788
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:32,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I don't think you mentioned Miami, but I

789
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:34,840
Speaker 2: would throw them in there as well. They might be

790
00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:37,120
Speaker 2: in the midst of it unfortunately because they're getting hit

791
00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:39,880
Speaker 2: hard with injuries. And can they win on the road?

792
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,640
Speaker 2: Can they be good teams? So what bothers me is

793
00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:47,120
Speaker 2: not people saying, hey, if you'd won one of those

794
00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:49,239
Speaker 2: three or one of those two at home, you'd be

795
00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:51,520
Speaker 2: in much better shape. Yes, you're right, You're right than

796
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:54,160
Speaker 2: they should. And I wish they could replay those games

797
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:58,080
Speaker 2: today right now. Yeah, yeah, I like their chances, no question,

798
00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:03,560
Speaker 2: You're not wrong. Just what bothers me is when people say, oh,

799
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:06,759
Speaker 2: this Steeler team has no business even thinking about the playoffs.

800
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:09,520
Speaker 2: They don't deserve it, you know, Yeah I do.

801
00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:12,719
Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, they do. Yeah.

802
00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:16,000
Speaker 1: Want you know, you won ten games, I don't care

803
00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:19,120
Speaker 1: you know how you did it. Doesn't you still find

804
00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:21,200
Speaker 1: the way to win ten games. But we'll see if

805
00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:24,480
Speaker 1: they're able to do that, and uh, you know that'll

806
00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:27,520
Speaker 1: all happen Saturday. We're gonna get to another break he

807
00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:28,560
Speaker 1: is Matt Williamson.

808
00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:29,200
Speaker 3: I am Dale.

809
00:38:29,239 --> 00:38:32,320
Speaker 1: Lallie, you're listening to the Drive here on Steelers Nation Radio.

810
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:34,640
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for our number one. We'll

811
00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:37,200
Speaker 1: be back with our number two of the Drive right

812
00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:37,640
Speaker 1: after this