Drive9.28.26Hr1: Victory Monday!

You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold. Steelers Nation Radio.

Good afternoon, Steeler Nation. It's The Drive on the Steelers Audio Network. Wes Shuler and Matt Williamson with you here for the next two hours on this Monday. Not just a Monday, Matt, but a victory Monday here on the program as the Steelers get it done. 30-27 over the Cincinnati Bengals. And what was Matt... I know we can always be hyperbolic with this stuff.

Yeah.

And it's much easier to say this stuff when your team comes out victorious and you're on the winning end. But I thought that was one of the more entertaining football games that I have seen in a long time.

I thought the same thing. Yeah. Like if you do a bears fan or an Eagles fan or whatever, and that was a Thursday night or a Sunday night or something, you're like, man, that was a blast.

Right.

I mean, that was changes and back and forth.

Maybe two hall of fame type quarterbacks. I mean, a lot of big time matchups, you know, a lot of great players on the field. Now, wasn't the poster boy for defensive football. so to speak, but we'll get into all that kind of stuff.

That's kind of just football in 2026.

To some degree, yeah. I'll be honest.

You're going to give up points and yards.

Yes.

You've got to make the big plays in the big moments. You've got to bow up in the red zone. You've got to have success on possession downs.

Yeah. Now, this is sort of a side note, and I don't think it applies to either one of these teams, but there's some horrendous defenses in the league right now. I can't remember where there was a dozen just really bad defenses, and I don't think either one or that– Um, but I thought each team exploited what the defense gave them very, very well. And it was fun.

It was, uh, it, man, it was back and forth and there were lean lead changes and there were ties and big plays and there were big turnovers and a whole bunch that we're going to get into Matt.

It's funny.

I just did a radio hit with Mark Madden and he was saying not to speak for Mark, but he was saying on game day, he often was like on location somewhere or does it's like parties and stuff, watch parties. And he's like those first two weeks. weren't real enjoyable to be on these watch parties. He's like, yesterday, even if I don't care who wins, was a blast. It was a blast. I can only imagine.

It was an entertaining football game. It had some of the high-flying offense, but it also had some big key defensive moments as well, too, as the Steelers get it done against the Bengals at home. Matt, there's a ton that we're going to discuss today and tomorrow. It'll obviously, I think as everybody already knows, be a weird week this week with the Steelers playing. Here in just three days, on the road in Cleveland, and we'll have a different show schedule and all that stuff that comes with it and me traveling and all that jazz that most of you are familiar with. A lot to get into in a short period of time here.

It's amazing how quick you got to get ready for the opponent in these kind of weeks. I just feel for the coaches.

It's like Gene Wilder and Willy Wonka. So much to do and so little time.

Big time.

But I think number one for me on the grease board of things we have to discuss today is Is my goodness, did the offensive line finally start to look like we think they are capable of?

I think it's a headline.

Big step forward for them. That's got to be, other than the win, obviously, which is the most important thing, I think the biggest takeaway from that is if that's the Steelers' offensive line and if they're going to get even better from here, watch out. They might just be starting to become the unit we all thought they were capable of being.

Yeah, and boy... Personally, I took a lot of heat for, oh, you love this offensive line. I'm not following it anymore. You're dumb. I'm like, I didn't say it was going to be great in week one. I just said I wouldn't trade the players for any other line in the league to build with. And boy, did that come to fruition in this game. And as you said, if this is the line you get every week or better, They're a contender. I mean, like, that is difference-making stuff.

That is a high tide that is raising all ships.

Yes, and I thought all five of them, I want to make sure I say this because we only have two shows before I can get to the Browns. Make sure I get everything in here. Just so it's out there, I thought the peripheral blockers, the running backs in the pass game, the tight ends in pass and run game, the wide receivers blocking downfield was the best I've seen that I can remember. I mean, that goes such a long way. And I thought they were so much more buttoned up with passing off stunts and understanding blitz concepts and their protection schemes and run game. We double together.

And then when do I go to the next guy? How long do I hang on Lawrence? But just flat out singular play of the five big men was exceptional. I mean, it really, really was. I thought the left side, including Frazier, was as good as it's been, probably the best it's been all year, for sure. And I've never really worried about those guys. I know a lot of people, and Faltani's a guard. I don't know why you have to back this guy. I'm like, you ever watch him?

He's unbelievable, and he was great in this game. But the right side was better than I expected, and my expectations were here.

And....

As good as you could ever ask. I mean, that was his first start. And Hoffman's the unsung hero here, but I think he's such a glue guy with his center background. I'm sure he's in Frazier's ear once in a while, too. And he's got some nastiness to him, too.

The right side of that offensive line had some nastiness. And that's why, Matt, I think people, if they're not watching on YouTube, but they're just listening, hopefully you can hear us smiling through the microphone here. Because that's what we've been waiting to see.

I mean, the day they picked the Haunted Shore, I thought... smiled like this and i've had kind of had to like not joker it but i've kind of had to like just curl my you know just wait and be patient with the smile and then you see then you saw him at camp is like i remember him and then you see him now it's like oh baby.

This is why when everyone was panicked about mckay lemon on draft day matt and i were telling everyone i think this might actually be a blessing in disguise absolutely and matt i don't think you know we mike mccarthy obviously just spoke um not too long ago you.

Know yeah i have no idea we said i'm interested less than an.

Hour ago He highlighted Zach Frazier's performance.

Did he?

I mean, that's a tough task.

We made Zach a captain this week.

Okay.

I think it was at TV. Was it Zach and TJ? Is that right?

Were they the captains?

Is that right? And maybe Skronic was the special teams guy. Does that sound right?

I forget they do it week to week.

But they do it week to week. And Mike McCarthy talked about how kind of with that, it was a real opportunity from Zach from a leadership standpoint. And he showed that all week. And then he went out there and played. what Mike McCarthy thought was a game ball worthy type performance. Matt, it's funny how this is.

I'm sure he has a lot to do with the picking up the mental side of it too. Cause I don't think Aaron calls the protections from what I understand. I think it's all on Frazier.

And so when you combine that, he was kind of listen, let's maybe even pull back a little bit. There were a lot of people last week that were saying, hey, it's obviously a pretty short list. But was that maybe the worst or one of the worst performances we've seen from Zach in his NFL career? He hasn't had many, but it seemed like he struggled more than he usually does is. does against the Patriots?

Yeah, I think that was a fair question, but a tough one to answer. Sure, sure.

And even if it was a, you know, a B-minus performance from him in New England, like, you know, because we're used to A, A-minus, A-plus, a B-plus performance is sometimes a little bit of a letdown for a guy that we think is rapidly becoming, if not already, one of the best centers in the National Football League.

I joked a lot last week, like, what was Dirk Dawson's worst game? Like, I don't know, but I mean, it probably wasn't that bad.

Right.

I think it was act similar, you know?

And so I think there was a big correlation between and i don't mean this to like poopoo spencer anderson no but when the right side besides zach frazier took a big step forward he played what was i think one of the best games we've seen in his entire nfl it's.

Not a solo position no it really isn't i mean.

If you're spending so much time worrying and trying to make up for the guy next to you right and then all of a sudden that goes in the opposite direction where the guy next to you is is an adder is a multiplier yeah then you then you really take off and you have the success he had yesterday.

And so I've told the story many times, and Dale and I joked about it for years, about pro football focus and Marquise Pouncey. You know, like he has more singular blocks in any center in the league, but we're going to give him a worse grade because not accounting for his degree of difficulty being that high. My point is centers don't have very many one-on-one blocks. It's compared to the other offensive linemen. Protection's not designed that way. Generally, that's not as good a player. He's usually a little shorter and stumpier and smarter. You know what I mean?

You don't have Zach Frazier or Pouncey, blah, blah, blah. So often he's working in unison with Anderson a ton. And again, it's not a knock on Anderson, but he really did not play well in week two. And that was the best right guard game the Steelers have gotten all year.

Clearly.

I mean, clearly. And there is a ripple effect without doubt.

And that just, man, there's a whole lot to get into from that game. There's a whole lot of people that deserve some flowers and but I think it starts with the offensive line.

I think you have to start there, yeah.

Across the board.

If that's sustainable at all, that's a season-changing type of move.

If that's sustainable at all, it's a season-changing type of move, and if it even is as it should, grows and gets better from there, it's a potentially franchise-altering type of move and type of unit.

And Merrill Hodges said this on our Thursday show. Every week we've brought it up. I've talked about it a fair amount, but if Ohana chore is the player he is capable of, I mean, it's like the Mims conversation we had. I mean, like those, those two are going to be the two best right tackles in the league.

He was great. He was everything he's built up to be and more. They're going to be the two best right tackles in the league. They're going to be fighting. It's going to be Ed Reed and Paul Malibu. You know what I mean? Like that's really what those guys are capable of. And those are franchise altering type of pickups.

And Matt.

With that, I think, again, you can draw a direct parallel, a direct correlation to the afternoon that Jalen Warren had himself yesterday.

I love that they put it all on his plate, too.

Me, too.

Not two-thirds of his plate.

You and I both kind of scramble in here for the show on Mondays because you're doing your hit with Mark Madden. I'm doing the press conference stuff with Jerry Dulac. But I said that to Jerry. I was like, I don't mean this... I would obviously rather have Rico Dowdle be available.

Of course.

He's a quality NFL running back. But sometimes it's that whole mother is the necessity of invention.

Yeah, right, right. Don't know what you have until you get forced into it. Like with Gainwell in Dublin last year.

Exactly right.

Right.

I'm like, oh, this is going to be a Caleb game, I remember, in the pregame show.

And so I don't mean that necessity is the mother of invention as a way to cast aside Rico Dowdle. But it was your only option was to make Joylin Warren the feature guy. And when you combine the opportunity he had with the performance of the offensive line, it just all came together perfectly. 17 carries for 127 yards.

That's a seven and a half.

And what, an 89 yarder brought back or something?

A yarder carry, sure did.

Absolutely.

And the turf monster prevented him from having a touchdown run there, too.

Thanks, Pitt.

Hey.

Hey. I'm sure I'm touching the nerve with you.

Hey, the Pitt guy said it, not me. Don't come to me for that one.

Don't come to me for that one. I thought you'd like that.

Right.

And then in the past game, too, three receptions for 49 yards, Matt. So, I mean, 170-some yards for Jalen Warren in total.

Could he do that every day for 17 weeks? I don't know. But I've always thought that he needs to be featured more and more and more. I thought he was better than Najee. I thought he's been better than anyone he's shared a backfield with since he's been a Steeler. Agreed. And that doesn't.

Mean that I want Rico Dowdle to have zero role whenever he's healthy again.

No, no.

I'm excited to get him back.

I want Jalen to be the feature guy. Matt, we've wanted a lot of things.

It's kind of a two-to-one ratio. It'd be great.

We've wanted Max to start at right tackle. We've wanted Jalen to be the clear feature back. I think we've started to get.

Some of that here.

We wanted tight ends more involved. Tight ends more involved.

Right, right, right.

Middle of the field usage, brother. My goodness, was that all over the place yesterday.

All the planets aligned yesterday, yeah.

TV sitting over there just basking in the glory right now. The planets really did align. And but and again, a lot of people deserve credit that will continue to kind of roll out here.

We got to talk more so than us with our calls. We didn't do anything.

Exactly.

Some of the guys made me feel like we might know a thing or two.

It is funny because we both did pick the Cincinnati Bengals to win on Friday's show.

I thought you were going to get beat bad.

But all the things that led to the Steelers' success have been all the things that you and I have been drilling home since July.

Oh, since the draft and since camp. Absolutely.

And I was thinking about this Friday night because you know Friday night, speaking of rushing around, man, it's been a busy stretch here. As soon as we were done, I had to go do the Steelers Hall of Honor dinner.

Oh, yeah, yeah. We haven't even talked about that stuff. You saw MestaMaker live.

I saw MestaMaker live.

Lots going on, right. What are we going to do this week?

Friday night, it was Pursuit and I. It's an easy 90-minute show from Hall of Honor.

It's guest after guest after guest.

And we had Kevin Colbert and we had Bill Cowher and we had JT Thomas and we had John Colb and we had, you know, all these people, Casey Hampton, like all these people. And one of the people that we talked with was, was Faith Wolfley, Craig's Craig's wife. obviously, because she was there to, you know, to accept the honor for Craig.

With the jacket on with Kevin and JT.

She got a hell of a pop, man, when she was introduced at halftime. I mean, she came out with the jacket on and waving the terrible towel and everyone was going nuts. It was awesome. But so Pursuita and I finished the segment with Faith. We go to break and I think actually we were having Mr. Rooney on in just a couple minutes after that. So like we go to break to kind of reset and, you know, get all the headsets and everything ready and have Mr.

Rooney on.

And I said to Pursuit in our commercial break, I was like, you know, I just picked Cincinnati to win like an hour ago. I was like, the power of the Wolfley family. I don't know if that's going to be.

Possible on Sunday. All those emotions.

All of Wolf's kids were there. And, you know, his oldest son, Kyle, who's been stationed in Germany forever. Our old buddy, CJ.

That's awesome.

You know, and I said to Pursuit, I was like, You know, I picked the Bengals to win just like an hour ago. I was like, but I might take that back.

I was like, I should have known the power and.

The emotions of the Wolfleys were going to just find a way to get that over the line for the Steelers on Sunday.

That's very cool.

So little heavenly influence there.

Stadium seemed pretty wound up too.

Stadium was wound up. It was not necessarily the case at kickoff. I think some of that stuff that you mentioned, some of the, oh man, how's this going to go? And the watch parties haven't been so much fun.

Yeah.

But I tell you what.

We were at Stage AE two hours before, and I was like, seems a little quiet for a game day with this nice weather.

But, Matt, by the end of the first quarter and that Ben Skronic touchdown, whoo, buddy.

You knew it was going to be a game.

That place was rocking. Yeah. That place was rocking. We have got plenty more ground to cover, and we'll continue to do that throughout the day. We've got to talk about Derek Harmon and that play of the game that he made at the end. A lot more to get to, but we are going to take our first break here, and we're going to have our buddy Rob King, the voice of your Pittsburgh Steelers, Join us when we return on the other side. Just getting started here on a Monday.

Euler and Williamson. It's The Drive. Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

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Steelers Nation Radio.

Back on the drive here on this Victory Monday as we continue to react to a much-needed victory for the Steelers yesterday, 30-27 over the Cincinnati Bengals. And joining us now to discuss, of course, the man you heard on the call and you hear him every Sunday, every Thursday, every Monday. And even on Black Friday, it is, of course, the king in the castle, Rob King. Kinger, thank you for taking the time here. Busy week, short week for the Steelers, but a lot to digest from yesterday. Matt and I kind of opened the show talking about a lot of people deserve credit. A lot of people deserve some flowers from that performance yesterday. But it all started up front with that offensive line and just a huge

step forward for that young group.

Yeah, for sure.

I thought you were going to say, you know, I was following along with you. I thought you were going to say it started with Mike McCarthy. because I do think, you know, look, when you got a new coach, you wonder what is.

He going to do?

Is he going to be able to bounce back after a week like this, even though he's got that great resume? I think he got them ready. And yes, I think the offensive line did a really nice job. I mean, you know, I remember going back to the, to the combine and Matt and I talking a lot about Max Ahanachor. And I know that I think we were both excited when they got them. You know, it's funny. I left the combine. There were a few people that I, I didn't, you know, I was like, nah, you know, actually just from hearing people when we were talking, it was like Malachi Lemon was one of the guys where it was like, people were like, oh, he's kind of slow. And then I heard the Steelers wanted to draft him. They wound

up with Max Ahanachor. I was excited about him. By the way, two other guys I was excited about, Casey Concepcion and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, both played for the Browns.

Yeah, their rookie class was great.

Yeah, it does, but.

You know, it was a matter of if for Max Ahanachor, or a matter of when, not if. You know, he's a super talented guy. That's what Mike McCarthy said. He's a big guy. He looks the part. He's got great feet. You know, he may have started if he hadn't got hurt in camp. He may have started from game one. So it was just, it was time, and there's probably going to be growing pains, but you do hope that, you know, those guys moving from right to left, you know, talking about Fautano and McCormick, and now with Ahanachor in there and Hoffman. I'm hoping, you know, sometime around November or December that we see it first, but other people start saying, hey, you know what, that Steelers offensive line is really good. That's where I think it's going to

get to, and hopefully it'll get there sooner rather than later.

So you mentioned Coach McCarthy, and just as an offensive play caller, I thought he did a really good job of attacking weaknesses and Staying away from strengths, namely when Lawrence was in there, you run outside, not up the middle. When he's out, you run up the middle, things like that. Getting the entire 11 to buy in. It wasn't just the offensive line that was blocking great. It was the receivers.

It was all the skill guys. And I thought he kept the Bengals off balance really well with his play designs as well.

I agree.

One of my favorite things that I've heard a coach say in my many years of listening to coach press conferences is he said, look, I don't want to dink and dunk the ball down the field.

He said that after the loss to New England, I'm like, great. That sounds tremendous. And that's exactly what we saw this week. Yeah. Sure. They hit some short play. Sure. They threw, you know, they threw short to go long.

I mean, when you, when you get the ball in Darnell Washington's hands, no matter how short it is, or Jalen Warren, no matter how short it is, we've seen those guys can make plays of different kinds of playmakers, but You know, you give Darnell a five-yard pass, you expect him to get 10 yards. You can't say that with everybody, you know. You give it to Jalen, he might take it 60. So I think they did that, but they had so many big plays. It was an offense that had not had a lot of big plays, obviously.

I think they had 14, I think, was the final number of plays of 10 or more yards, six plays of 20 or more yards. It was spread out a lot, so it made it hard to defend. They attacked over the middle. They attacked up the sidelines. They attacked short. They attacked deep. Yeah, great game plan, I thought.

87-yarder that came back, by the way.

Exactly. You know, it's so funny.

It must be– I think there's two federal laws. One is Alabama must be ranked in the top ten. I don't know if that's still true in college football.

I think so.

The other is that the Steelers– whatever the Steelers accomplish, it feels like the other guy did something wrong. So I saw the headline, I think, in The Athletic was, you know, same old Bengals and not in a good way.

I'm like, come on, man.

Everyone's saying we've got a super team here. And look, I still think they're really good. I'm not dismissing the Bengals, but they come in, they're favored. And now it was like, well, what about, you know, all the mistakes they made? What about the mistakes that the others made? What about the ball?

What about the long run that gets called back? What about the ball that goes off Roman Wilson's hands? You're going in to go up two scores at the end.

Of the first half. It was a big point differential. Just that play.

Yeah.

Think about it. Think about it. You go up two scores. You kick it off to them. They score. So what? We're getting the ball back.

We still have the lead, you know. As it was, I thought, again, talk about Mike McCarthy, the staff, resilience. They had to go in and kind of suck it up into the half because they were playing a little bit better football to the Bengals. Now, all of a sudden, you're thinking you're going to go up two scores. You're tied, and they're getting the ball first. Now you find yourself behind.

I thought they hung in there well, and, you know– Again, I think, you know, people want to say same old Bengals.

I think, hey, let's credit the Steelers, man.

That's a heck of a bounce back, a really good performance, especially offensively.

Sure. You know, we've seen the defense be good.

And by the way, just from a football fans standpoint, that was just an enjoyable game to watch.

You know, that's a funny time.

We kind of open the show.

Yeah.

They were like, if you're just a Bears fan sitting there watching that, you're like, man, this is awesome.

This is a lot of fun.

Two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks. And, yeah, I know some people still like to see really good defense as opposed to the high-flying offense. But I thought there was a lot of good defensive moments from both sides in that one. But continuing kind of off of what you said there, Kinger, the offensive line, the play sequencing, the step forward for the offense, a huge part of that was obviously the performance of Jalen Warren. He did it on the ground. He did it through the air. And we both said, you know, Matt and I both said, like, we want Rico Dowdle back. That's a guy that you want on the field on Sundays. But I think hopefully this was also the week that convinced the new coaching staff, Jalen Warren's our clear-cut one.

I mean, he's so good. He's just so good, you know.

I mean, he really, really, guys, he just dislikes being tackled.

He doesn't enjoy it at all, you know. I mean, he's just so hard to get on the ground. He plays so hard.

I mean, I understand why you look at a guy, he doesn't have huge stature. You know, I've said this a couple times today. The other number 30 is not.

A big guy. He also plays hard.

I mean, he doesn't take as many hits or deliver as many blows, I don't think, as Jalen Warren. But he's a tough ball player, too. And, you know, he gets a lot of volume. But I think Jalen, just because of the way he plays, there is a fear of wearing him out within the course of a game. You know, hey, if you wear them out in the first quarter, what's he going to do in the fourth quarter?

And within the course of a season, you know, you want Jalen Warren, you want everybody playing their best football in December. And just look at the way they distributed snaps. Look who was on the field on that final play. I think Dale and Everett was out there. You know, Sebastian Joseph Day, Jack Sawyer, TJ Watt wasn't out there.

Smith wasn't out there. I don't think Cam Hayward was out there. You know, so they have a long game in mind. You know, they have a plan for this. I just, one of these days, I would love to see Jalen Warren get more than 18 carries, which I think is his career high. I just, just from a, from a fan standpoint of a, what could he do with 25 carries?

I'd love to see it happen.

I just don't know if it's in the cards guys, because I understand the fears. I mean, this isn't a guy who's gliding and then, you know, stepping out of bounds. This isn't a guy who's nudging people in pass pro and giving them a little shoulder. This is a guy who sticks his body in front of everything and plays just with wild abandoned. And I think maybe they feel like they have to limit him, but man, I mean, he is– is he the Steelers' best playmaker?

I mean, he might be.

I've been calling for that since he's been a Steeler. Frankly, I think he's been the best Steeler running back every minute he's been in the black and gold, with all respect to Najee and Rico and all those dudes. And I think that this may have unearthed something with the new coaching staff to say that's a two-thirds of the touches out of the backfield guy from here on out no matter what. So along those lines, and this is going to sound ambitious and reactionary to what we saw yesterday, but it's been stewing around in my crazy cranium that Darnell Washington might be in the same boat. I mean, two targets in week one, two targets in week two.

How about six, seven, eight going forward? He had 10 more snaps in Friar Muth. Is there anyone on the planet you'd rather not play against than that guy? And I know that you can't run every route with them. But you can get the ball in his hands, and nothing ever bad happens when he gets the ball, and he just smothers people.

He also doesn't like to be tackled.

No.

I think he's a nuclear weapon. I really do.

Forget the Mount Washington nickname. We've got to get an Oppenheimer nickname in here now, Kinger. Yeah.

You know, here's the thing. Okay, so I'll try to keep this quick.

Super quick.

I agree with you.

I think the more you trust your tackles— the easier it is to get him out in routes now too.

For sure. For sure.

Yeah.

I love Darnell. I mean, I think, you know, Dar, Jalen's a guy you can give it to him. Like I said earlier, you can throw him a five yard pass. He can take it 60 yards. Darnell's always going to get you more than when he catches the ball.

Always.

I don't know if he's been stopped in his, in his tracks once. I mean, it was almost, I feel badly. I almost felt badly for Jordan battle. You know, there was a five yard pass and Darnell was kind of turning as he caught it. But Jordan Battle, who's a good tackler, came up and hit him with everything he had.

And all I could.

Think of is those people that are on the, you know, the greased poles at the fair and they just slide down.

Yeah.

He just slid down and just, that was it. And he was done. He was gone.

It's backyard football against your little brother. I mean, all the time. Right.

It had zero effect. You know, I wonder if post-game interview, Darnell, did you even know you were hit there? I mean, and Battle's a good player, you know?

So Godzilla swatting planes out of the air. Yeah.

I think that there, and look, we, we saw Fryer move, take a little screen and do nice things with it and show his athleticism. I go back to something that, that Aaron Rogers said, I throw the ball to the open guy. And it's just so true. You go up to the line of scrimmage. Look, He's going to take some shots if he sees DK one-on-one, for sure.

He's already said that, right? He's going to do that.

But look, you go up and you've got a certain play called and it's cover three and you don't have option routes.

Let's say that's what's happening.

Well, then Aaron Rodgers knows right at the line of scrimmage, well, DK's not going to be open. And Roman Wilson's not going to be open. So this ball needs to go to Michael Pittman. And then he goes back. He's already got that red. And now maybe Pittman's covered or something. And now he knows who the next guy's going to be.

That's what he's doing.

He's throwing to the open guy. The defense is trying to do something. So, yes, I would love to see Darnell Washington involved more. I would love to see Michael Pittman involved more. I'd love to see DK Metcalf. I'd love to see them all. I think what we're going to see is week to week, based on what the defense does, based on what's called, different guys are going to do different things. And if everybody buys in, you know, Pat Frymouth had five receptions in week one. That was the most he had. He didn't have more than five in a game all last year. Now this week it's Darnell and Jalen Warren. You know, this coming week, maybe it's DK Metcalf catches six for 120. I just think and I think that's going to make them difficult to defend.

They don't have that, you know, and I'm not trying to cast aspersions on anybody.

I think DK metcalf's a fine player and i think he's got some fine days ahead there's not that sort of cd lamb um we're going to force him the ball or whatever kind of guy and you've got a quarterback that's going to find the open man and so everybody's going to eat they're just going to have to understand that they might not eat first this week but they're going to probably eat first next week or the week after. So as long as everybody maintains that sort of approach, I just think there's a lot of places that the Steelers can find guys who can make plays.

Not the, hey, run downfield, throw it 80 yards, and there you go kind of play. And look at what DK did. Look at his biggest play last year.

A short pass over the middle in Ireland, and he takes it 80 yards because nobody's going to catch him when he gets out in the field.

So I agree with you, Matt. I love.

those guys. I love Darnell Washington. I love Jalen Warren, but I think that it's just going to be a week to week thing.

I really do.

To your point, like Seattle just won the Superbowl and Smith. The jig was a wonderful player that gets his every week, just like a chase. But if there's week 12 and Smith, the jig, but can't play, they're going to have a real hard time putting points up. You know what I mean? Like, I don't want to be that reliant on Jordan has to get me 50 every week and nobody else or every night. And nobody else can put the ball in the hoop, you know?

Well, wasn't that the complaint for a couple of years, right?

First it was, well, you have George Pickens and nobody else. And Pickens misses a couple of games and the offense falls apart. And then last year, it's, well, we got DK and we don't have that next guy. And then DK misses a couple of games of suspension and the offense falls apart. So I do think that being, you know, having an offense that can attack you in multiple different ways and stresses that. This is, you know, I thought it was another great, you know, comment from Aaron Rodgers. Like, hey, somebody said, and I'm taking him at his, you know, at his word here, like as if, you know, and he didn't say it was different from somebody else. He just said, somebody asked about Mike McCarthy. Well, you know,

did Mike McCarthy urge you to cut it loose this week? And he said, well, Mike McCarthy always urges us to cut it loose. Now, maybe he means every coach, but I'd like to think he means Mike McCarthy because Mike McCarthy wants to be aggressive. He's an aggressive offensive coach. And so I think that that means, that there are these multiple weapons that have maybe been a little bit latent are going to come to the surface, and there's going to be more ways to attack a team. I think Michael Pittman at least gives you that second receiver that if he needs to step up and play a bigger role because DK has to miss a game for whatever reason, I think you can move that. And now, you know, you have Roman Wilson who just caught a

touchdown pass. You have Jeremy Bernard coming along. And suddenly there's just more weapons. It's a deeper group of weapons. And I'll also harken back to something else that Aaron Rodgers said yesterday. It all looks great after a win. It all looked terrible a week ago, right? The Bengals were going to come in here and boat race the Steelers.

And now nobody can beat them.

And if Harmon doesn't make that play, maybe we're having a different tone about things.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

Scoronic fumble recovery. They run into the kicker. Whatever happens.

So I do think that the way I always look at a season is that if you want to break it into quarters, just win games for the first quarter. The second quarter, you begin to get that identity. Third quarter of the season, hopefully you're really putting it together. You want to be peaking in the fourth quarter of the season.

That's what you want to do.

But I do think what we saw yesterday is a little bit of what the Steelers' identity wants to be on offense. I think that's the kind of team they want to be. And even after the game, Mike McCarthy said, well, I want to run the ball more than we ran it. And maybe if they have Rico Dowdle in there in a game like that, they will run it more.

Than what we saw.

It's still not a completed product, but hopefully it looks a lot more like it did yesterday than it did a week ago in Foxborough.

And a new challenge this week, Kinger, as in just about 48 hours, you'll be arriving in Cleveland and getting ready on a short week here. My goodness. Yeah. For about 48 hours from now, rolling into Cleveland. and getting ready for another important AFC North clash as the Browns are two and one in their own right. Kinger, great stuff, man.

We could keep you for another half an hour, but we'll let you run here and we'll look forward to us.

I got more to say. I got more to say.

Bring it on.

No, I'm just kidding.

Real quick before we let you go though, real quick. I mean, did you, in honor of our brother Craig Wolfley, who by the way, fantastic hall of honor ceremony yesterday, loved the reception. that Faith Wolfley got from Steeler Nation there at halftime. Did you eat your Victory Monday donut today in honor of Craig Wolfley, Rob King?

It was on display. They were there at DVE.

Somebody nicely picked them up, saved me the trip from having to go get some more.

I saw the empty box when I walked in.

Oh, yeah. It was empty.

Well, it wasn't empty when I left, but a lot of people went to work on that. So, I mean, what a wonderful guy, wonderful tribute. I mean, you can say the same thing about all those guys. I mean, JT Thomas, a pioneer at the University of Florida, first African-American player there. Kevin Colbert, I think he's going to be in Canton before it's all said and done. And, you know, Craig Wolfley, I mean, what do you say about Wolf? Excellent player, one-of-a-kind broadcaster, and superlative human being.

You know, great, great Hall of Honor weekend again for the Steelers.

And very fitting that the Steelers get it done. Wolf was everywhere. The Steelers take a step forward on the offensive line.

No lie.

Yeah, yeah. They get a big mojo, big moment at the end to win the game with Derek Harmon and an AFC North victory to boot. Everybody, enjoy your Victory Monday donut today. as Craig Wolfley would have wanted. Kinger, he used to be in here on Mondays passing donuts out like it was a T-shirt can at a baseball game here. Kinger, great stuff, man. Thank you for the time, and we'll see you soon. Thanks, guys.

Appreciate it.

There he goes. The king has exited the castle. I was thinking about that driving in. It is for you right there. Someone got the donuts. They were all gone from the— Oh, when we walked in there, long gone. And then the Caliente pizza and everything.

Long gone.

That's one of the downsides of kind of being the caboose of the operation.

Yeah, the morning show gets some nice perks with that kind of stuff.

The morning show and all the lunchtime food and everything, a lot of times it is picked over by the time we get in here.

Especially when they have breakfast stuff, which I love walking in when it's here, but it's been sitting there for a while, too. Like in my mind, I'm like, that egg burrito, it looks good, but it's been sitting there probably five hours.

That bacon, egg, and cheese wrap. Oh, man, it is staring at me, but it's probably been sitting there since 6 a.m. We have got to get back into this game. Plenty more to discuss from the Steelers' victory.

The show's getting away from us already. I feel like we have so much more to talk about.

Of all the weeks to have a short week.

I know.

I mean, a win like that.

A game like that to talk about.

Some Hall of Honor stuff.

I can't wait to hear more about Mestimaker, too.

As you mentioned, I unfortunately saw Drew Mestimaker do his thing, particularly in the second half, and help his Oklahoma State Cowboys pull away against my Mountaineers. That's why yesterday was desperately needed, Matt Williamson. So, yeah, we are, as Wolf would have said this week, we are trying to fit 10 pounds of potatoes in an 8-pound sack here with a little bit of a truncated schedule. But we'll do our best. We'll close down the first hour. Continuing to react to this victory on this Victory Monday. Euler and Williamson, it's the drive. Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

And now a word from our sponsor, Bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean, crisp.

There's nothing better than the clean, crisp....

Uh, what if we just got out of here and grabbed some Bud Lights? But man, we're on air for four more hours.

I'll figure it out.

Sounds good to me. Anything for the clean, crisp taste of Bud Light.

Stock up now.

Bud Light.

Louis, Missouri.

I told you they were building their own line. I win the bet.

Get 100% fiber internet with Verizon Fios, because when it comes to your team, it's 100% or nothing. Call 1-833-VERIZON to switch today.

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Bruh.

You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold.

Steelers Nation Radio.

All right, Matt, 10 pounds of potatoes and an 8-pound sack here as we continue to try and just download all of our thoughts on this Monday where we're going to have to turn the page to Cleveland very quickly. A couple things that we haven't mentioned yet because we'll continue. I mean, we're going to continue to discuss the offense and the offensive line and a lot of that stuff.

We haven't avoided the defense either, folks. We know it wasn't up to snuff.

It was not up to snuff, but that's also winning football in 2026 as we've talked about. You win the turnover battle. Speaking of which, you won the special teams battle decisively just because of those. two key, the roughing the punter penalty on Cincinnati, the elongated your drive. And then obviously the muff punt at the end that was, Maybe one of the plays of the game after the Derek Harmon strip sack in terms of the ripple effect there.

Spears Jennings had yet another tackle.

Yes, he did.

That's your boy. I'm going to be tallying that on Matt's stats. He's just like running away with the lead.

He's all over the place, man.

I do have a little complaint on special teams.

Okay.

I need more from Weegent.

Yes.

And I know it's such a small.

We've gotten a couple tweets about that.

And I think their coverage teams were so-so.

Since he did have a return to like the 40.

The 40 or so.

Yeah.

I mean, just return game, I don't think they won that part of special teams.

They won the special teams battle. I say that because the two biggest special teams plays.

They won the special team war. They didn't win every battle. That's exactly.

Good way to say it. Because the two biggest plays in special teams were the roughing the punter and the turnover.

And their game changers.

Game changers that both went the Steelers way.

The fact that you started to 25 and not to 30 is not a game changer. You know what I mean?

Correct.

Correct. And I do want to get into some more stuff here, Matt, as we're kind of up against it in this hour. But for the defense, like we talked about for the offense, 7 of 12 on third downs, that's winning football. That's a huge step forward.

Dude, they had 9.9 on first downs. Huge step forward. Remember how we kind of laid out how first down usually goes like this, and then they run it on second long, and then they take deep shots. First down defense was so much better.

So much better.

Yeah. And then they're not going to average 10 yards of play on first down, but that was awesome.

It sure was. Started right from the jump with Jalen Warren, that big explosive play on the first play of the game and continued. They were much better. You'll take seven of 12 on third downs. You kidding me? After being five of 25 combined the first two weeks?

Yes.

Outstanding.

And only snapping the ball 12 times on third down. I can live with that. That's a lot of first downs on first and second down.

They were doing a good job of staying ahead of the sticks.

Much better.

Picking up first downs on second down and not waiting until third down. A lot of that stuff that kind of– deserves, I think, highlighted here on this Victor Monday.

And not to harp on it, but, I mean, there were more completions on the field that they did not complete.

Oh, there absolutely were.

No doubt.

Aaron Rodgers made the plays that he had to, but there's also a lot out there that he's going to want back.

I 100% agree. And I thought, once again, he had no turnover-worthy plays. You know, like the turnover was not his fault, clearly. So the fact that he's keeping you out of bad plays, which he's done his whole career and he's great at that, And if he could complete a couple more of those that were open, I mean, there was a lot of schemed up stuff that could have been even better.

That's, I think, the encouraging part.

Yeah, yeah.

You get the win and you did play well. It was varsity football in a lot of aspects. But there's also still plenty there to clean up and plenty to improve upon.

And as you started the show, if you're moving bodies and protecting people with that line, you can get away with misthrows here and there. That just raises the floor so dramatically.

A high tide that raises all ships, certainly. That's an hour in the books, another hour to go. I've got a couple more specifics I'm sure Matt does that we need to discuss from the win yesterday. We will also obviously go around the league and recap a wild week three.

We picked six games to talk about. There was like 10, and none of them should have made the cut. You know what I mean?

Matt, some NFL Sundays are a little boring, a little slow. It's like there really wasn't a lot going on.

You're kind of fishing for storyline. The bad games were good. You're right, yeah.

This week, that was not the case, man. There was a ton going on. Again, on the kind of running theme of all the weeks here for us to have a short week. This is not the one. We've got so much to get to.

Jets-Lions was a phenomenal game. If it had been a standalone Thursday game, you'd be like Geno and Goff just slinging it.

How about my boy Geno Smith?

Yeah.

They wrote him off.

They're fun.

He ain't right back, though. Hour in the books. Another hour to go.

Raiders are undefeated. I mean, what's going on?

Tyler Loop. Redemption is spelled L-O-O-P.

Right.

That was crazy, too.

In Brazil. The Texans and the Chargers are a combined 0-6.

That's nuts. And the Chargers aren't going to get any better, I don't think.

Let's get into all of it.

Yeah, we've got a lot to talk about.

To kick off hour number two. In hour number two, let's go around the league here. And I also, I have a specific sequence from the game yesterday that really encouraged me with the Steelers that I want to run by Matt in hour two as well, as we'll do a little, maybe a little film breakdown.

There, Matt Williamson.

No, it's not that serious. I'm not Merrill Hodge or anybody like that, please. Hour in the books. Another hour to go. Halfway home on this Victory Monday. Euler and Williamson. It's The Drive, Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

And now a word from our sponsor, Bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean, crisp....

There's nothing better than the clean, crisp....

Uh, what if we just got out of here and grabbed some Bud Lights? But man, we're on air for four more hours.

I'll figure it out.

Sounds good to me. Anything for the clean, crisp taste of Bud Light.

Stock up now.

Bud Light.

Louis, Missouri.

I told you they were building their own line. I win the bet.

Get 100% fiber internet with Verizon Fios, because when it comes to your team, it's 100% or nothing. Call 1-833-VERIZON to switch today.

Get that hot dog costume ready.

Bruh.

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