It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. If you are looking to refinance or get a loan right now, let me tell you about Intercap Lending. Intercap Lending is one of the largest independent lenders in the country. They are hyper responsive. They embrace change and their borrower experience is absolutely fabulous. At Lockdown, we have our own personal loan officer, Intercap Lending. His name is Steve Carter. And if you call him and tell him you're locked on, you get the corporate discount. But more than that, what's so great about Steve Carter is the reviews at Lockdown that we continually get about Steve. Mike Curtis emailed me to say, "I just wanted to thank you for your network. We just refied with Steve Carter. It was so incredibly easy. I can attest to it. I got my loan done with Steve Carter. Who else?" Richard Gordon emailed me and said, "Thank you so much for promoting Intercap Lending. We used them earlier this year. Steve was amazing. And Steve is amazing. Call him at 385-885-385885-8528, tell him to lock down, send you Intercap Lending, NMLS, number 19-0-465. For more information, visit intercaplending.com. Who's going to win the NFC East, man? Dallas or Philly? It's going to turn out to be the biggest race of the year. We're going to discuss it here on Lockdown NML. The barbershop is open and Tony Wiggins has a chair for you. He's ready with some real NFL talk. The local experts have locked on, bring their expertise, and Wiggy is ready with his clippers and sheers. Sit down and enjoy. The new Lockdown NML starts now. Lockdown, podcast network, your team, every day. Yeah, oh, welcome to the barbershop. She's right. She's got my sheers all ready to cut some of this foolishness that we see going on in the NFL right in half. Welcome to the new edition of Lockdown NFL, the second show of the day. The Madman Tyler Roland went first. I'm here right now in the barbershop and we're about to do it with Chris Carter of Lockdown NFL and Lockdown Steelers, or my, I call my brother, the counselor. We're going to get into it. We're going to thank you every day for being here with us every single day. You can find us on YouTube and make sure wherever you get your podcast, make sure you tap in every single day. Here's what I want y'all to do, man. I want y'all to go to prize picks. That's right. That's who our sponsor is today for all of our crossover shows as well as the Thursday edition of Lockdown NFL. Go over there and use the code Lockdown NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. That's right. On NFL, instantly, Lockdown NFL is the code you use. Chris Carter, we're going to talk about the NFC East starting out. I think it's, I thought it was Green Bay and Detroit, but I do think the NFC East is going to be the race that we really need to watch and I'm making this statement now after the first week. I know you're in the AFC North and y'all do y'all think up there. Tell me how you feel about that before we play this clip. I think the AFC North, tough, but I also think the NFC East is one of the more classic divisions when it comes to rivalries in the NFL. It's a person who, you know, I lived in the Philadelphia area for a few years when I was in college and let me tell you, I've seen hatred. I've seen Steelers Ravens. I've seen, I've seen, you know, some of the craziest people when the Cowboys and the Eagles throw down, it is there is few things like that in the world. I mean Yankees, Red Sox, there's, there's the hatred, I would, I would stop whatever I was doing on Chaney University, the first HBCU by the way. I would stop whatever I was doing, go to the, the one place where I knew where like the most fans were going to be at watching Cowboys Eagles and I just sat back with popcorn and just watched the insults fly and to me, that was even more entertaining to the game because those fan bases hate each other, but that's the thing, man. I think it's going to be, it's all, those two are always going to be fun. I think the problem with the, the NFC East is the next two teams aren't as exciting as the next two teams in the AFC North, but still you look at what they were able to do. I think it's, it certainly makes up, makes, makes for big questions and the way the Cowboys played in week one does, it does, it does make it very encouraging. Yeah, it does make it encouraging. I'd like you grew up for a large part of my life in Prince George's County. So it was the Washington franchise and you're right. All of those games for a long time, people don't even realize this, but the St. Louis Cardinals used to be in the NFC East when I was a kid and it's, it's wild like that. Like Atlanta used to be in the NFC West. However, I, so these, these Cowboys now, they looked very good. Philly, they looked good considering who they were playing when they played when they played Green Bay. I do want Jalen Hertz to get rid of those interceptions, but I, I think they're going to lead with my man, St. Juan Bartley. But listen, here's the thing about Dallas. They got to stay healthy. They're a very, very top heavy team and they already had a little bit of attrition and I'll let the boys from lockdown Cowboys explain that going to air on the side of caution with this. Yeah. I'm going to bet that he doesn't play in week two. If he does it, how did the Cowboys replace his production? Hunter Lipkey. No. Listen, first of all, that was the first guy that, that was mentioned when they talked about the Ferguson. It was. And so I, I, I, I'm only half joking here. Um, I, I think that the, but I think, you know, the funny thing about that was when the question was asked, I'm sure that the, the answer that everyone was hoping for or looking for was who would be replacing Ferguson's targets in the passing game. And I think that the answer that McCarthy gave was who will be replacing Ferguson and all the other aspects of what, of what Ferguson does, right? So I think that, you know, like, you're, you're going to throw the ball. You're going to see what you've gotten, John Stevens Jr. this week. Is he going to be able to come back off that hamstring injury? Uh, if he is, then you know, you'll probably get an opportunity to see him dressed. That is Jake Ferguson, the tight end for Dallas that they're talking about a very good player. He's also there like resident tough guy on that team Dallas is going to need him moving forward. I believe as top heavy as that team is, we saw them in the playoffs last year when they played a really, really good team just throw too many of the same slants, not be able to gain plan. I do think Philly's activity on their back end this year, from what we've seen in game one, has gotten a lot better with their rookie additions. Um, can Dallas afford any more injuries and do you think that they can really, uh, overcome Jake Ferguson, who's a real good player tight end? I mean, they can overcome. I think another thing is like, don't, don't sleep on this Cowboys defense. They're, they're tough. They're getting after it. They can beat you at multiple levels. I think that that's where, that that's where this can be negated, but I do agree this is a top heavy team. And that's, but the, listen, top heavy teams, that's natural when you are based in star play and you want to be based on the star play in today's NFL. Um, it's very rare that you get a team that, that, that has star talent, but then depth everywhere. And I think that's where, you know, teams, when you hit on a couple of contracts that you're just hoping you can, you can hit on some draft picks to kind of balance things out naturally. Um, now, you know, the Cowboys, they're going to play the Saints this week that, you know, that they're, I think they're fortunate that they don't play the Eagles for some time. So like they'll be able to recover from some of these. Um, but, you know, there's, it's funny that, you know, this is going to sound very non-analytical, but the NFC North or NFC East cars is real. No team has won this division back to back in like 20 years and the Cowboys of the reigning champion. So at the beginning of season, I was like, well, the Eagles are going to win it this year. It'd be interesting if the Cowboys can break it this year with them signing Prescott, them signing Lamb, them doing the things like, okay, we're going to make sure we keep this core together and we, you know, we give, we give this a real shot. Um, I think they could be, I think they're still the team because they're the champions. They're still the team to beat in the NFC East, but man, watch out for the Eagles. I think Saquon Barkley looked really impressive. Jalen Hertz has been impressive. Um, and, uh, you know, I think that this is going to be a race that goes, that goes down to the wire. Um, I think it's sad that they're not the last game of the season. They play the pen ultimate week and week 17. Um, but I think these two teams are going to be going at it until the very last week to determine who wins this division. Man, it'll make me feel like a kid again, if, if the NFC East ever really, really, truly, because I think back to games, man, I think about, I think back to, uh, Presartic Formula and her, her net was picking it up and running it back. I think back to, uh, Joe Thizeman having his career ruined by Lawrence Taylor. I think I'm back that he punted to DeShawn Watson with the Giants, when he was with the Eagles and Tom Conferl told him not to do it. And they punted to him and he ran it all the way back and Deion Sanders running it back on the Giants and built ourselves beating Joe, Joe Gibbs to like a drum, just about every time that they played. And this is why Washington was winning Super Bowls. It's just so much drama. And then all of the teams, man, with the exception of Dallas are really a commute. You know, it's feelings two hours north of Washington and in New York's two hours north of Philadelphia. So, um, I'm looking forward to the NFC East. I'm going to watch the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles as the year progresses, because I do think it is the most evenly matched race for a division winner. We may double back on that in a little bit. First, I want to show you the power rankings to show you where our locked on NFL community has ranked everybody here. You can't see them if you listen, but I'll tell you the chiefs of number one, 49ers or two, Lions are three, Ravens are four, the Texans are fifth. There we go with the Eagles and the Cowboys sitting there at six and seven and the Bills who we'll talk about a little bit later are sitting there at number eight and the Dolphins are right behind them at number nine, Tampa Bay rounds out the top 10. But I really want to focus on the fact that we have some divisional opponents that are sitting there in these divisions staring at each other and trying to get supremacy for their particular team, we'll get to more of that in just a few minutes here on locked on NFL as we transition to a rookie, a rookie weapon. And that weapon doesn't necessarily play the position that is usually what they categorize as a weapon. I'll tell you exactly who I'm talking about just a second here on locked on NFL. Alright, man, it's DoorDash time and I'm going to tell you why I think it's DoorDash time because if you can't make it to games, especially if those games are on the road, DoorDash, they are where you need to have your food delivered through. DoorDash is the absolute truth, man. Always the best customer service, food is always on time and it's not just for chain store. It is for your local favorites in your city. My personal line up, I got to have me some wings, I got to have me some sort of salad to try to balance things off and every now and then my wife wants some sushi. DoorDash takes care of all of that. I'm telling you, man, every single time like clockwork, they are who I depend on to make sure that my food arrives on time. Listen, man, here's the promo code I'm going to give you. It's called "Lock Fall 24" and what does that do? It gets you 50% off up to a $10 value when you spend $15 or more on your first order. It's a limited time offer now, terms apply and promo is not valid for orders containing alcohol. Remember, it is "Lock Fall 24" download the app and use "Lock Fall 24" to make sure you get 50% off up to a $10 value when you spend $15 or more on your first order. It's DoorDash, man. All right, I got to let you know about him, man. Look, I've been barbed for 34 years. I recently retired. I recently retired from cutting hair, right? Now, the barbershop is still in me and is with me on this show, so I know a lot of people are very, very sensitive about hair loss. I've dealt with it for years and years and years and I'm going to tell you something, man, it is very, very real. Well, him's can help you. It helps you. It helps hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers. So you can feel like you're losing a part of yourself with your hair loss. Get him's and get your confidence back. Start your free online visit today at hymns.com/lockdownnfl. That's hymns.com/lockdownnfl for your personalized hair loss treatment options. hymns.com/lockdownnfl results vary based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information. All right, running it down here on segment two, we're going to talk about a little rookie update on a couple of players from around the National Football League. I recall on draft night Tyler, the madman rolling, who is my other half of the locked on NFL show, the new NFL show he taps in in the morning, Tyler is a madman and y'all need to check him out. Well, he was so livid because Joe Alt did not fall to the Tennessee Titans. In fact, Joe Alt was probably the one draft pick that everybody had going to the Tennessee Titans at number five and all of a sudden, the Chargers and Jim Harbaugh says, hold my beer. People said they needed weapons. And here's what Jim Harbaugh said back then, offensive lineman or weapons. Well, how did that offensive lineman do in this matchup against an all-pro in week one? Check this out. No one knew how Joe Alt would be able to handle one of the toughest tests in the league in his first game with the Chargers, but after his performance, it is very clear that the Chargers fit the overall pick is the real deal, but I do have to start David just with what the fifth overall pick Joe Alt was able to do because I remember us preparing people saying, hey, if Joe Alt ends up giving up three or four pressures and a sack to Max Crosby, you shouldn't overreact to it because it's so early and that is such an incredibly hard test to get in your first week. And all he did, David was go out there and allow zero pressures to one of the evenly top Ed Dreshers in the league, he was 0-8 on one of them ones was Max Crosby going up against Joe Alt and the biggest thing that I took away, man, like even when he loses, he doesn't lose. He's so big. He's so long. He's so athletic that there was times where he absolutely got beat, but he was so long he was able to still get enough on the defender to keep them away from Justin Herbert. At the end of the day, it's 30 pass blocking snaps, one pressure allowed was not too Max Crosby and to me to see him go up against that, dude, you can't fluke your way into that performance. I'm throwing chargers. I agree with a man and the more I really, really watch the tape from the game that the Chargers played the other day. I am a firm believer that they're kind of like going to be the Pittsburgh Steelers of the league right now, and what that is and sort of like Detroit, they're going to old school their way in the NFL where a whole bunch of people ain't doing what they're doing and they're running all these spreads. Nah, he's going to take us back to the old NFC East. I think they're going to go to and know because they play Carolina, give me an assessment of Joe Alt and how Harbaugh's team looked this past weekend. Well, listen, Jim Harbaugh, he knew what it was. As soon as he came back to the NFL, he didn't care if he had Justin Herbert, he was like, "Look, chargers don't got them weapons at wide receiver. Guess what? It's time to go to your strength." And when you're able to go get a Joe Alt in the NFL draft and you're pairing him with Rashad Slater, those two could someday be the best offensive tackle pair in the NFL because I like Rashad Slater, too. When I look at that, I see like, yeah, lean into your physicality, lean into your beluded to run the ball. You went and got Gus Edwards and JK Davids to be a one-two punch at running back, lean on that. You're also making things easier on Justin Herbert in your system because then you're asking him to make plays in more limited capacity. He's not asking to chuck the ball everywhere, but be efficient with maybe 30 passes or something along that line instead of closer to 40 or 50 passes in a game. So I think it's interesting to see that. I also think, let's see a larger sample size if you'll let's keep going because I know Max Crowsby is a bad dude, I'm not putting him in the top tier of Edge Ruchers because that's reserved for one TJ Watt, and those two are going to clash next week and that's going to be, I think that's going to be interesting to see how he handles that. But again, I love Joe Alt in college. I thought he was the best lineman in this draft class. It made sense when the Chargers took on like, yeah, protect your quarterback and get that dominant tackle pair. So I'm not surprised to see him do well. Man, me, the man, and it's just powerful to course. It is what it is. They ain't trying to fool you. We're just going to pop in the mouth and try to play old school football. I mentioned Tyler, Tyler Roland, who hosts Lockdown NFL Tyler the Mad Man, and I mentioned Joe Alt, and I have to say something. We share a lot of content on it because that's what we do, and we just give it to you from different angles. Tyler had a take on the morning version of Lockdown NFL about Michael Pinnox, and it made me think about draft night when everyone said, what are they doing? Well, you know what? People might not be saying that right now. Let's hear Tyler, and then we'll discuss whether minds and narratives have been changed about one Michael Pinnox. The Atlanta Falcons don't have time to mess around. They need to play Michael Pinnox. Luke, I'm coming out of the gate hot here. All right, one of my big bold one, aren't you? For the season. I know, right? Shocker. I'm coming in hot. But one of my big bold predictions for the NFL season this year is that Michael Pinnox would be the best quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. And look, it may be only week one. It may only be week one, but I think we are seeing the effects of a limited Kirk Cousins already. Kirk Cousins coming home, the Achilles tear. I think that they didn't play action as much as you would normally want for a Kirk Cousins team. None. Not one. Aaron Freeman from the Falcons talk about that's how he has to play. If you're asking Kirk Cousins to operate with limited mobility from the limited mobility he had already when healthy before the injury, and then without the aid of play action, which has been a big part of his game throughout his career, I just think it's going to be incredibly difficult and so two things can be right at one time. It could look smarter by drafting Michael Pinnox because once they got Kirk Cousins into the building and did a physical, they said, okay, he may or may not make a name. Dilly Dally around with the quarterback position, they just said, look, the dude's on the rookie scale. He ain't going to cost us a whole bunch of money or they probably shouldn't have signed Kirk Cousins in the first place to all of that money. The thing is two things can be right. I do disagree with this part. Raheem Morris is in his first year. He ain't got no rush to play to play that kid. He ain't got to worry about losing games this year because he didn't sign that on the dude. The GM did. How do you feel about it, Chris? I feel like it's more of the latter there when you're talking about decisions that shouldn't have been made. Kirk Cousins being signed for the cap number. As his contract currently looks, it's fine this year at $25 million. It goes up to $40 million of a cap hit in 2025, $57.5 million in 26 and 27 when he will be 38 and 39 years old. That's a tough contract and let's say you start to figure things out. That's going to make it harder to re-sign some of the guys that you have on this team that you got out there. You're young. You look at Bijon Robinson. You look at Drake London. You look at Kyle Pitts. You look at guys that you're going to be drafting soon. They're going to have to hit on something. If you can get rid of Kirk Cousins, there is a windfall of cap savings you can get by that third season so when it gets to $57.5 million, if Michael Pennix comes along, I don't know if I do it just yet. I'll give Kirk Cousins the grace of, you know what, this was week one, new team, new scheme, new everything. By the way, you played one of the best defenses in the NFL who just played a shutdown performance. I look at that and I say, "Okay, let's give Kirk Cousins some grace here because you signed him to be this guy to work through it." Kirk Cousins is the guy who's shown that he can battle through and improve throughout a season. But I do think that at some point you do want to get a look at Michael Pennix, but you said, "I don't think they're in a rush to do it this year." I think that if they feel they are contenders, if they feel like, "Hey, the Falcons can make a run this year." Look, there are a lot of people saying that like the NFC South, they could be that team to beat. But when we look at this, you want to see how they perform week one, let's see how they keep it out. If you get to a point where it's like week 12 and they're out of it, the Saints have run away with the division and they're just on it, then, "Okay, you know what, it's Michael Pennix time. Let's see what you got." But right now, let Kirk Cousins do his thing, let him work through it, see if you can develop some synergy on offense. There certainly could be a mess, but it could be worse. You could have no options at quarterback. And I've seen the team you covered last year didn't really have too many options. So we're going to take a look at another key race for division, the AFC East. There's a featured game tonight on Thursday night football with the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills. We'll take a look at that matchup, and then let Chris talk about the matchup between Broncos and his Pittsburgh Steelers. We'll do that in the third and final segment here on lockdown NFL. Now, before we tell you about Fandu, man, Fandu is our sponsor here today on Thursday and they should just be a part of your life each and every day, man, because I'm telling you, man, I have done so well on Fandu and so many people who listen to this show have done the same thing because they're America's number one sports book and they got a little something different for you going on right now. Nobody else does stuff like this. Now through September 22nd, all Fandu customers been back $5 just $5 and get a three week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Now, I ain't saying you had to win. I just said you have to just play $5, man, $5 only. 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Whether you're looking to sell your car right now or just whenever feels right, go to Carvana.com and sell your car the convenient way. Terms and conditions apply. All right, third and final segment here on Lockdown NFL, where it's your team everyday. You can also make sure that you join us for two doses of Lockdown NFL. First Tyler, the madman rolling early in the morning, giving you a double shot of NFL express... Expresso. And then you come here with me in the barbershop and you hang out, we get all up to people's business and just talk about everything from around the NFL in a very, very laid back way. Hot opinions, detailed breakdowns and the local experts who are the real stars of my opinion. It's the new Lockdown NFL and it's twice a day. Big Tyler rolling and Tony Wiggins, your second lesson on the new Lockdown NFL show. Sixty man, we've got a game tonight and Josh Allen is banged up, but it's his non-throwing hand and a lot of people have kind of poo poo that your eyes is non-throwing hand. It's not significant. Well, for a dude that likes to be physical and sometimes uses his non-throwing hand to stiff arm, I think it may change the way he plays the game a little bit and make him a little bit more cautious when he's running the football. Listen to what Joe Marino and Kyle Krabs had to say. Yeah, the Bills and Dolphins get to play the second game of the season for themselves pretty quickly here. Quick turnaround after week one and I think both teams are probably quite happy to be entering this game 1-0, both coming from behind to win those football games and obviously a lot at stake here early in the season. It's probably Josh Allen's left hand, obviously, Sean McDermott came out and said that he's been cleared to practice, he's been cleared to play in the game. That doesn't mean there's not something wrong with his hand. Clearly, there is. He's practicing with a glove. He's got buddy tape on a couple of fingers and you just kind of wonder how that's going to impact things. Now, I guess the good news for the Bills is that it probably doesn't affect his ability to just throw the football, but that's not all that there is to Josh Allen, right? I think we all understand the dual threat nature of how he plays the game and it's not just running the ball and him using that offhand as part of his skill set, but there's a lot of ball handling and playfakes and things that Josh does with his sleight of hand. That's an important part of how he runs the offense and so how do the Bills have to work around that injured left hand, whatever the extent of the deal is? I'm sure Josh is going to play. It's just going to matter how limiting is it. Yeah, so I'm sitting here thinking like it's not just about throwing, right? It's not just about throwing and throwing only, bro. It's about a lot more than that. Every time you handle the ball, every time you play fake and you know what else it is? Let me tell you how petty people are, man. I know petty, right? Barbershop is full of petty stuff. Petty is every time I walk past him, I just give him a little nudge. I just pop that hand a little bit. I bump into him and be like, "I'm sorry, man, I ain't mean to do that." That's the thing that he has to watch out for is the cumulative contact that's going to be and it's going to be in his head a little bit and maybe that little bit hesitation or that little bit of, "Oh, I don't know if I want to do this," is the difference, and Miami can pull off a win. I think any injury to Josh Allen should alarm the Bills, even if it's a non-throwing hand injury, simply because we talked about the Cowboys and how they're top heavy. The Bills are Josh Allen heavy. Without Josh Allen, here's the thing. We think about that the phrase "most valuable player." Now, some people will tell you it should be the best player in the league. It should be this. But if there is a player who is more valuable to their team right now than Josh Allen, I'm not sure that they exist simply because I think that with you, look at the way this lineup is constructed, the way that Dev Charter's put together, they don't have the superstar wide receiver any more in a day. They don't even have the number two in Gabe Davis. They have a rookie key on Coleman leading the way, Mack Holland's Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel. In fact, that's not scaring a whole bunch of people right now, right? Their offensive line isn't the most dominant in the NFL. They have talent on it, but it's not the most dominant. They got Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox, that's interesting. James Cook is solid, but this offense, when you think of the Bills, you think of Supreme Offense with the way that they've been the last few years. Now, you put Josh Allen in a position where he has to carry the load. He's the quarterback you're supposed to push it, but there's some, Patrick Mahomes, they could go to Isaiah Pacheco. They got Travis Kelsi. They've been getting them Rishi Rice. They got him Xavier. There's a lot of weapons that Patrick Mahomes has, and he also has one of the best senators in the league in Creed Humphrey. I look at this situation and I think, man, if I'm the Bills, I'm worried because I just don't want anything else to happen to Josh Allen because if he is out of this game, this team crumbles so fast and you're right, if I'm the Dolphins, I'm your division rival, baby. We get to be a little nasty. We're going to be up in your face and in your case, and that's what I'm thinking yet. They're going to be petty, like you said. They're going to go out there and listen, the Bills, they got a pass rush. They got to do so. They got to crunch over. They got Ed Oliver. They're going to be bringing it. And so this is certainly something going into that rivalry. The Dolphins right now on Fando are two and a half point favorites, and I think that's a safe distance right now because this is still a division game. These teams are still going to go at it, but, you know, if I'm the Bills, I'm doing everything I can to protect Josh Allen moving forward, especially until they figure out what's going on with that hand. Make sure you tune in that game and somebody's going to go to 2-0 and get off to a really good start. Another team I believe is going to go to is your Pittsburgh Steelers, and the reason why is because I'm glad they went to the Fields, and I know it kind of got that way by default a little bit because Russell Wilson was hurt, but I'm a little bit shocked that a lot more people believe I heard some network folks saying, "Hey, man, I think they ought to stay with Fields." Cody Roart, and I know you have done your crossover recording, but he said something about matchups, and it caught my attention, and I'm going to let you respond to it here for lockdown NFL. He's got talented weapons at the wide receiver position. You get George Pickens, who more than likely will see Patrick's retained against him. Van Jefferson anticipated to be the number two receiver there, Riley Moss against him, but then you have some other guys that can impact and get in the mix at the tight end position. Obviously, Pat Fryermuth is very, very talented. We've seen that the Broncos, at least last year, they have struggled against some of those bigger body tight ends. Fryermuth is a very, very talented player. There's Calvin Austin, the third who's got some speed and explosiveness that is also going to add a dynamic into what the Broncos are hoping to avoid inside of this matchup here. It's retained against him. Van Jefferson anticipated to be the number two receiver. Yeah. There you go. So, the thing that caught my attention was, Cody almost signed the scared a little bit, man. You know what I mean? He's scared of Pittsburgh. He named all those weapons. And for our move, I know just got his contract extension and you and I talked about George Pickens and his prospects. Sounds like y'all got him a little scared there, man. I think y'all going to get the victory and be two and no. I think the big thing in this game is more so the defense for the Steelers. I think they're going to be getting after Bo Nix, the pills, or the excuse me, the Broncos have multiple injuries on their offensive line this week, including their center. I think that that's going to be the big thing is, can they get the run game going and can they keep the Steelers from being able to pin their ears back and send their pass rush after a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix who went through zero touchdowns and two interceptions in week one. Granted, did run for a touchdown and showed his ability to move, but the Steelers are very familiar with mobile quarterbacks because they play Lamar Jackson every year. I think that's going to be the thing that the Broncos need to watch out for, but I will say this, like Justin Fields last week was clearly on a limited capacity as far as what they were asking to do. He said, hey, look, the strength of the Falcons defense is their safeties, Bates Simmons, stay away from that. Don't throw it. They didn't throw once to the middle part of the field. They kept it to the sideline. They kept him on simple reads so that he didn't have to feel like he was pressured into it and they let the defense in the run game win the game. And that's what happened. But against the Broncos, I do think there's a little bit more of leeway. I think that the guys are looking to avoid his Patrick Sir Tan and he'll be on George Pickens probably all throughout this game. But if I'm a fantasy owner out there right now, I'm looking at Pat Brown really hard. I think that that's a match that could be tough on the Broncos. He didn't get used that much last week by the Steelers. I think this week they do use him quite a bit to get things going. But the Steelers right now, they're still figuring out what's going on behind George Pickens and why receiver van Jefferson is definitely their number two, but he hasn't been able to separate himself really much there. Roman Wilson, the rookie that they drafted out of Michigan, why receiver. He is practicing this week. We'll see if he plays this week, Calvin Austin, the speed demon. But they haven't really been able to show yet that this crew can do a lot of wide receiver behind George Pickens. I think at George Pickens, everyone knows he's probably going to be a star in the NFL when he gets to his highest of highs. And this is just his third year. But I think that if anything, I think the Broncos, their bigger concern is to not let this run game get going for the Steelers, they want to make it like the Steelers want to make it hard on Bonix. The Broncos need to make it hard on Justin Fields force him into some passing situations where it allows your secondary to get after it, make some plays. That would be the key that I'd get into there not to let the other threats on the Steelers offense get going before you start worrying about Pickens and Jefferson. I think it's going to be a good game, a physical game, Denver lost last week, but they played really, really tough. That's a credit to Sean Payton because they had a bunch of people I ain't even know. To be honest with you, they had a lot of nondescript players, draft picks, and they were starting a rookie quarterback. I think Pittsburgh is going to two or no, and we'll talk about that next week. If my prediction is correct, there'll be two or no, and then I think you have to leave Justin Fields. And even if the other guy gets healthy. All right, man, locked on NFL is your daily locked on league, locked on NFL show where you get a double dose, Tyler Roland in the morning, getting your NFL express so on. And then me sitting up in the barbershop, laid back and just getting all up in everybody's business. Chris Carter of locked on NFL and locked on Steelers will be here with me every single Thursday for your pleasure, and we'll see you next Thursday. I'll see you tomorrow. He'll see you next Thursday here on locked on NFL. Hey, Prime members, you can listen to this locked on podcast ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. (upbeat music)
