00:00Right.
00:00Every time they give the ball right back to Aaron Rodgers,
00:03and nothing happened.
00:04You know, I mean, that is arguably one of the ugliest playoff games
00:07in Steelers history.
00:09That's the last time you saw Aaron Rodgers on the field
00:11with the Texans basically going, you know you take it.
00:14And they still found a way to win, 30-6.
00:17So, I mean, as bad as we've been in eight years,
00:19you're going to say, well, at least the Steelers are in the playoffs.
00:21Point taken.
00:22But I just, it's a great question.
00:24We were just saying off the air, imagine if Tua has a couple of picks
00:27and looks awful in week one.
00:29And, again, Tua will probably likely win this job
00:32because Michael's not still 100% unless he is.
00:35Unless he is.
00:36And, okay, he hopefully wins the battle.
00:38Better for the team if Michael Penix Jr. wins the battle.
00:41You know, but it's going to be interesting because when you do have
00:43two quarterbacks and you don't have what he's established,
00:45you're going to be, you said it, you're going to be picking apart
00:47every performance.
00:49Well, I just feel like, you know, new regime,
00:52there will be optimism with Kevin Stefanski and his staff.
00:57And, again, go play disciplined football.
01:00Give yourself a chance to win.
01:02That's all I can ask for, Mike.
01:04But if we go up there and lay an egg and we don't look the part,
01:07it's going to create all immediately doubts about all offseason
01:11and in this conversation.
01:12But it gets back to how it goes down.
01:14Okay?
01:15And so I said, if we lose by a field goal, defense plays, lights out,
01:19Aaron Rodgers doesn't do anything all day,
01:20and then they get an opportunity to kick a field goal late in the game,
01:23that's just that we see it every Sunday.
01:25But if we lose by two touchdowns, Mike, and you said it,
01:28there are two picks and, you know, we're sloppy and there's –
01:31okay, that's a different deal.
01:33And that gets back to what we've been talking about for the last two regimes,
01:36coaching.
01:37And it can't be about that anymore.
01:39Like for Kevin Stefanski and this staff, it can't be about that anymore.
01:44It has to be about we lost because, you know what,
01:47we gave up a play or they made a miraculous play,
01:50but we didn't beat ourselves.
01:52It can't be a field goal kicker misses a kick or, you know,
01:56they should make a high percentage kick.
01:58We went and got the best – again, I know he's older, guys,
02:01but there's been a history of great older kickers,
02:02and Nick Folk is the best free agent kicker available,
02:05and we got him after the clown show that was the last two years
02:08for the Falcon kicking position.
02:09So hopefully that's not a problem.
02:11Clock management.
02:12Stefanski's a veteran.
02:12Stefanski's been a two-time coach of the year on a bad franchise
02:15because he knows that he will not screw up the things that Raheem
02:18presumably screwed up.
02:19And then the coordinator and maximizing the talent,
02:22all the things which we talked about.
02:24I know we said to Brian McFadden, this is the time for clickbait
02:26as we're like two weeks out from camps around the NFL.
02:29So you know the guy Warren Sharp?
02:31Yes.
02:32Does all the analytics, NFL stuff.
02:34Well, he listed the best front sevens for 2026.
02:38Okay.
02:38No surprise.
02:39Texans, Eagles, Rams, Broncos, Super Bowl champ, Seahawks, top five.
02:44Solid.
02:45All makes sense.
02:45No issues there.
02:47Texans had the best defense last season.
02:51Broncos led the league in sacks.
02:53Right.
02:53So, you know.
02:54Eagles have all those Georgia Bulldogs you know about.
02:56Yeah.
02:56I mean, I have no issues with that.
02:57Guess where the Falcons show up?
02:59Front seven for the Falcons.
03:00We got to be top 15.
03:02And the team with the second most sacks in the league shows up on,
03:06and again, this is why the analytics stuff and the pro football focus,
03:08he's not PFF, but he is an analytics guy.
03:10He's got the Falcons next to the Dolphins for dead last.
03:13Oh!
03:13As front 31 of 32 teams.
03:16Well, Mike, I will say this, though.
03:17We didn't do a good job of stopping the run.
03:19We were not a team up front that stopped the run.
03:22That's where teams gouged us.
03:24And I've said this.
03:24We got to get better.
03:25That's why they made the moves they tried to make this year.
03:27Get a little bit bigger, more pressure up the middle
03:30from the standpoint of being able to be more stout.
03:33But that was an issue.
03:34But, yeah, you would think the sacks meant something, right?
03:37No, apparently not.
03:38Nothing.
03:38And, look, I know James Pierce Jr., based on what we're hearing,
03:41it sure sounds like I think he starts the season.
03:44I think the NFL won't have a decision for us until,
03:46now the worst case would be a decision comes out
03:48and we're in a playoff run.
03:49And, oh, by the way, they've rendered a decision.
03:51I can't imagine they do that.
03:53I can't see them doing that to a team midseason.
03:55That's got to be, it's going to have to happen before Labor Day.
03:57I agree.
03:58You can't do that to us.
03:59So Pierce, but Pierce, ten and a half sacks.
04:01I mean, we talked about it.
04:02We've got guys, you know, Brandon Dorlis with eight and a half sacks.
04:05I know that you said the run game,
04:07you could argue that Deshaun Hand, Mason Smith,
04:09were a little sketchy maybe at the tackle position,
04:12and linebackers, we don't have Caden Ellis here.
04:15So that's all part of why I guess Warren Sharp would have us
04:18as the 31st worst, even though we were second best at sacks.
04:21I don't know if we're 31st.
04:23I would have us middle of the pack.
04:24I wouldn't have an issue with that.
04:26I think we're better than that.
04:27But those teams that you mentioned, it's the cream of the cream.
04:30That's the cream of the crop right there.
04:31If, when we start creeping into that territory of those teams
04:35and their front sevens, that's when we start talking about Super Bowls.
04:39Worst, he's got Saints, Cards, Bears, Us, Dolphins.
04:42Yeah, that's, that's what, and look, it fits.
04:44Yeah, and Grady's on that Bears defense,
04:46but that Bears defense did give up some points.
04:47They were a lot of shootouts, you know, with Caleb Williams last year.
04:50Yeah.
04:50It's interesting, man.
04:51404-726-0929.
04:53See what you did, B-Mac?
04:54You can find us and text us as well.
04:57But, yeah, it's just, it's got us thinking.
04:58And, look, we've got plenty of time to chop all of this up,
05:00and we'll know a lot more about our team after camp.
05:03We'll know a lot more about the Steelers heading into week one by that time.
05:07But here's what we know about them.
05:08They don't have a quarterback issue.
05:10They have arguably one of the greatest to play
05:13who's coming back to play his final season.
05:15And, by the way, I think he's ahead of the game.
05:17Last year, he waited until camp literally started.
05:20Mike, he's been a part of OTAs and mini camp and all that stuff up there,
05:22which surprised a lot of people because they were like,
05:25well, he didn't do this last year.
05:26Okay, well, he did it this year.
05:27Maybe he's a little bit more vested.
05:29I don't know.
05:30You heard our boy, Brian McFadden, talking about Michael Pittman,
05:33along with DK Metcalf.
05:35Yep.
05:35You know, they got to some nice pieces in the running game.
05:38You know, they got Friermuth, Darnell Washington,
05:40the former dog who's a mountain of a man.
05:42He got a new deal.
05:43Right.
05:43So, on paper, yeah.
05:44But, again, they still look like absolute dog
05:47against the Texas 30-6 in their building last year.
05:50And Aaron Rodgers, I mean, it's like we all know that you get older,
05:54you're not going to be as mobile.
05:55But Aaron Rodgers' mobility is nonexistent at this stage,
05:57which was a big part of his game in those MVP seasons.
06:00Well, you know what's funny is, like, I'm curious what Jeff Olbrick,
06:04our defensive coordinator, is going to dial up against him.
06:07Because if you allow Aaron to sit back there, now he is a vet.
06:11He can still sling it.
06:12He will pick you apart.
06:13If you don't get pressure on him.
06:14So, I'm like, that is a game, Mike, where I would assume
06:17that we would literally come after him.
06:19I would rather give up some plays underneath and some small stuff
06:23than Aaron sit back there and have – and, by the way, Metcalf's a beast.
06:27You guys ever seen this dude up close?
06:28Yeah.
06:28He is a monster, okay?
06:30So, I'm not saying we can't cover him,
06:32but he's one of those guys that his size does play a role.
06:35And he's one of these guys like the NBA, Mike, where, okay,
06:38AJ's on his hip, you can still throw the ball because he can separate
06:41and he's so long, he can get to those balls.
06:44And, again, Mike Hughes versus Metcalf, that's not –
06:46I mean, that's a little nervous in the surface.
06:48That's why you've got to get the heat.
06:50And, look, we've already had the conversation about what James Pierce Jr. did.
06:54Now it's about the punishment from the league.
06:56Got to have him out there.
06:57And we're just talking strictly X and O's.
06:58He's got to be out there for that game.
06:59Big O, he's behind the glass today.
07:01Day Day's off.
07:02O's handling all the things.
07:03Didn't you say yesterday or maybe there was a picture or something out there
07:07about James Pierce Jr.?
07:08Was it at Flowery Branch?
07:10Is that right?
07:10Where was it at?
07:11Do we know?
07:12I think Day Day said it was – I'm not sure where Day Day said it was,
07:16but it wasn't at Flowery Branch.
07:16Okay, but he was working out or at least doing drills, guys,
07:20and that got out.
07:21I think it's out there on social media.
07:22And so we didn't even really talk about it yesterday,
07:24but I would expect that.
07:26Mike, that shouldn't surprise you.
07:29He's getting ready for the season.
07:31And whether he knows he's going to be suspended or doesn't know
07:34or whatever the circumstances are going to be,
07:36he's still got to get ready for the season.
07:38At some point, you're either playing to start
07:39or you're going to be playing after four games or whatever it's going to be,
07:42and you better come in ready to go.
07:44All right, man.
07:44We've got plenty more to dive into.
07:46Atlanta's authority on baseball is 92-9 the game.
07:48Grant McCauley, guys, on Sundays, all season long,
07:51join Grant from the Diamond.
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08:03That's from the Diamond with Grant McCauley.
08:05He's going to join us in the 5 o'clock hours.
08:07We get ready for the Braves to start the second half of the season
08:09against the Rangers tonight over at Truist Park.
08:11We start with a 2.5 game lead over the Mets,
08:14who beat the Phillies last night.
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