10-9-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

Is managing accounts payable taking up too much of your time? With Avid Exchange, your AP is automated so you can easily review and approve invoices anytime, anywhere, giving you more control and visibility into your workflow. Experience the power of change. Avid Exchange.

Learn more at avidexchange.com. Time always flies on these Sunday night shows during football season and in October time is of the essence. We have playoff baseball to get to.

We'll do as much as we can. This hour we also need to look at the AFC North clash between Ravens and Steelers. Could this be a turning point in the season for Pittsburgh? How about the Detroit Lions? First time at 4-1 or best start for them since 2011 and they're not alone. There are other teams that are 4-1 as well. The Jaguars use London as a bit of a reset. What happened to the Buffalo Bills because they were locked in against Miami and then looking at some of the teams that maybe you aren't paying attention to yet but you should. Is it time to give the Falcons a little bit of credit for being a contender in the NFC South? Though that division is completely wide open except for the Panthers who are the only team that has yet to log a win. So still plenty to get to. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page After Hours with Amy Lawrence. We're gonna call Sunday Night Football the George Kittle game. You give it, now it's a play action. Purdie gonna roll left throw for the end zone. Caught by George Kittle.

He has the half trick tonight. A career high. Three touchdown catches for George. Touchdown San Francisco. Kyle Shanahan calls this the most complete win of the season for the Niners to date. The defense was dominant with four sacks and four takeaways. Brock Purdie with four passing touchdowns. The Niners go four for five in the red zone. 170 rushing yards and yet George Kittle the star of the show. So when was his last game with three touchdowns? That was my first one. Yeah, I think so. Oh yeah, I mean I was a hell of a seventh grade running back.

I'll tell you that much. Yeah, running back in defensive end. I had a lot of sacks as well, but yeah, I know it's been a minute, but it's always fun. 5-0 now for the Niners and so we're pleased to welcome Kate Rooney from KRON Channel 4 covering this game on the field at Levi's Stadium and in the locker rooms after the fact. This was a lopsided victory over Dallas despite all of the hype leading into it, Kate. So what will you take away from the Niners' big win on Sunday Night Football? I've seen some wins by the 49ers that maybe were higher stakes games, but I think this felt like the best win that I've seen in the last several years of the Kyle Shanahan era. It was the most complete game and Shanahan himself said as much afterwards. He said that it's the most complete game he's seen from his team this season, but they haven't fired on offense like this before. Defensively, we've kind of come to expect greatness from this team, but the way that they're clicking offensively is just on a different level and that was obviously on full display tonight with a 4D burger. So that's something that we're still kind of getting used to seeing from them and I think it just says a lot that they were able to do it against the Dallas team that many people thought and still think is a fellow contender in the NFC.

Well, and only giving up 10 points per game that Dallas defense, but the Niners obviously hanging 42 on them completely changes the complex of the game. George Kittle hadn't had a receiving touchdown to this point, has three tonight on three catches. Man, I can imagine it's tough at times to keep everyone in the offense involved with as many weapons as they have.

Yeah, they joke about this all the time. There's just too many nods to feed on this offense and you know Brock Purdy and George Kittle had a really great connection last season. That's kind of what helps Brock Purdy take off. It seemed like Kittle was often his go-to guy. Hadn't seen much from him at the start of this season and then tonight those career high three touchdowns for Kittle. In fact, I believe he is the first guy with three touchdowns, three receiving touchdowns, excuse me, for the 49ers in a decade or so. Really impressive to see the way that, you know, every single game it seems like we have a different guy step up with Christian McCaffrey being the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Last week, Deebo Samuels had his big game, Brandon Iuchus had his big game and tonight is Kittle's game, so I guess now we just need to figure out who it's going to be next week.

Well, Jordan Mason actually has the long touchdown run and he ends up having the most rushing yards. There's so many different weapons on this team that might actually be a lot for some locker rooms to handle. You might see sniping, you might see guys who are interested in being more involved in the offense. How do you know that these guys are okay with the ball being spread around to a lot of different people? Yeah, that's a good question and I think ultimately it's a trickle-down effect from Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch because they've said from the beginning that they don't want to bring any guys into this locker room who aren't okay with that. They want to bring in win first, stat second guys and while of course plenty of these guys have admitted that they love to get their hands on the ball and they feel good when they put up a physically gaudy game or when they can contribute to the scoring, they're just as happy to be out there and block which is such a huge part of Kyle Shanahan's system. They're just as happy to be out there and see their teammates win. It has so much to do with the culture of the 49ers and those are just really the guys that they've made a huge, huge effort to bring here during the Shanahan-Lynch era. We're so excited to have Kate Rooney on the show fresh off Sunday Night Football.

She was there covering it for Bay Area Sports KRON Channel 4. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Three consecutive drives with interceptions, takeaways in the second half. That defense maybe sometimes gets overlooked by the stars on the offense but how would you describe the way that group is playing so far? Yeah, they've been playing at a very high level. You know, after they led the league in yards allowed last season, I think people kind of expect this defense to be phenomenal so when they just have a good game where they, you know, are holding the opponents to under 12 points and maybe not having as many takeaways and stacks as some of the other teams in the league.

As you said, yeah, they're kind of getting overlooked a little bit. Not tonight. Those interceptions kind of seem to come in bunches. I talked to the safety to Sean Gibson after the game in the locker room and he said that they really kind of feed off each other.

First guy gets the interception and then the rest of them are even more inspired and hungrier for it and that's definitely what happened tonight. And you got to shout out Fred Warner and Dre Greenloss because they're playing at an incredibly high level. I mean, probably the best line backing tandem in the league right now. Maybe it's been that way for a couple years but it's standing out in a way that is just unbelievable tonight. I mean, Fred Warner had a fourth fumble, a sack, and an interception.

That's like the holy trinity for a defensive player. They're putting fear in the hearts of offenses. I really think that they continue to play this way. They also feel like they've left the meat on the bone. They don't even feel like they've had their best defensive performances yet.

They're still adjusting to new defensive coordinator Steve Wilkes so that's kind of something to keep an eye on but this is probably the best game that the defense has had so far this season. Fred Warner amazes me because he brings so much energy. Does that guy ever get tired? He says that he can find any number of reasons to get up for a game.

I really think that it comes from within him. Every single practice he's out there and he is the hype guy who after they finish their, you know, little stretches or whatever on the field, he's the one who's running around the entire field. He's got a handshake with every guy on the practice squad it seems like and he's the one who's a huge vocal leader kind of just bringing them in hyping them up getting them ready for that group and then he puts his money where his mouth is too with performances like this. So it's crazy to think that he's only been in the league for I think this is his sixth season because he feels like kind of a grizzled veteran at this point with how much he rallies this team and unites this team but he it seems like his best football might still be ahead of him with the way he was playing tonight. Something that stands out to me about this group they've only used one quarterback Kate and it's been a while since they've been able to say that about going through a season with one QB and I don't believe in jinxes so please don't blame me but could you imagine if the Niners could get through an entire season healthy on both sides of the ball of course Nick Bosa being a guy who's dealt with a lot of injuries. Fred too obviously it's a it's a physical defense but on the offensive side of the ball to just have one quarterback the entire season that would be a revelation for San Francisco. This has been my sixth season covering the team and this is definitely the first time that I've seen them make it through I want to say make it through even five games with the same quarterback I think I'm exaggerating there but you're right they haven't done it and Kyle Shanahan has had a lot of scrutiny for that I mean I'm sure you remember all the conversations about is their training staff training these guys the right way why do they have so many soft tissue injuries what kind of plays is he calling that lead to Trey Lance getting injured in the second game of the season you know if Brock Purdy continues to play at this level and stays healthy you just have to think that that was all kind of bad luck and maybe it was all leading up to this point you know with all the criticism they've taken for the way things went down with Trey Lance giving up all those jastics for him and then him not panning out in San Francisco at the end of the day it doesn't really matter if you end up with your guy right and so far it looks like Brock Purdy's that guy those of us who have been around the team a while are kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop in a way because you're right it doesn't seem like the standard for these Kyle Shanahan teams at this point you know I think most people in the league are starting to believe in what Brock Purdy can do and the key to it all is just going to be staying healthy. One time since Shanahan and Lynch took over has a quarterback started every game for the Niners of the season and that was 2019 with Jimmy Garoppolo obviously a key to them getting to the Super Bowl that season we're spending a few minutes with Kate Rooney who's fresh off this Sunday night football dominance over the Cowboys it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio what about Brock Purdy then what do people need to know about who he is as not just a quarterback but as a guy? Someone asked me last week how has Brock Purdy kind of evolved or grown since he first took over for Jimmy Garoppolo in that Miami game last season and I thought about it for a minute and I realized I don't think he has I don't mean that as an insult I mean that as praise because this is kind of the guy he's always been he played so much football in college and is so naturally confident that he has always been this player and he was just waiting to be given a chance to see it if you ask any of his teammates and you can see this too you know from seeing him on the podium and and seeing him in interviews he's a very serious guy he takes football really seriously sure he'll joke around I mean we saw him come out when he left the bet with George Kittle wearing the Iowa mascot head last week but for the most part he doesn't do that he's not the one who's cracking a bunch of jokes in his press conferences he's a very straight-laced guy he'll sit in the meeting longer than anyone he's a full-on football nerd I mean he's hitting the books he's studying as hard as he can and it's that level of preparation I think that has made him and his teammates able to be really confident when they're going to these games they know that he's left no stone unturned and and he's he's never going to be the guy who isn't prepared coming into the game that's just a huge part of who he is and that quiet confidence instills in turn a lot of confidence in his teammates. Considering the number of games the amount of experience he had in college and all of these traits that are so evident when he gets on the field has anyone ever asked him or anyone with the Niners why he was still available with the last pick of the NFL draft?

Yeah people have definitely asked him and you know typical humble uh Purdy he he chucks it up to not knowing really just saying I all I had to do was come out and do the best that I could do and have faith that it would uh have a chance to show that off eventually but I think it's kind of a bigger question Amy you might have to start looking at if you're a scouting uh college players you're an NFL scout you might have to start looking at evaluating quarterbacks in a different way you know Brock's the guy who got knocked for his arm strength he's the guy who got knocked for being listed at 6-1 realistically he's probably more you know 60 511 and a half and maybe doesn't fit that typical mold of quarterback but we're starting to see more and more guys who don't fit that typical mold of quarterback I mean Brock Purdy hasn't thrown an interception in 10 games he has been undefeated in the regular season he has the league high passer rating this season so far in fact he had a passer rating tonight of 144.4 that's just incredible I think it's going to force people to really re-examine the way they evaluate that position um he he will never say that he he's just going to be humble and and say that he doesn't really know why he was overlooked but I think it's going to have to force people to change the way that they think about it that's the only explanation because otherwise it's just too mystifying to wrap our minds around right right it makes zero sense but it worked out perfectly for the Niners it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio with Kate Rooney for KRON Channel 4 and her first time on the show every team has a weakness even if it's more muted so what is the Niners weak point you didn't see that so much tonight uh but I would have to say that the biggest question mark is the secondary not the safety so much Talena Hufanga, Tashaun Gibson they're pretty battle tested at this point and Sharvarious Ward has an excellent corner but and that other cornerback spot they have two younger guys their third year guys D'amador Lenore and Ambry Thomas and they've alternated between making some great plays and getting exposed at times and they just don't really have depth in the secondary so that's a position that the right kind of offensive coordinator is going to be able to exploit a little bit I think but if that's your only Achilles heel then I think you're looking pretty good right that's pretty much the only thing I can think of it at this moment the other thing that that might be worth keeping an eye on is defensive line depth as well they've got you know their guys they've got Javan Hargrave, Eric Arnstead and Nick Bosa but beyond that they don't really have any majorly proven guys or major contributors that's why they brought in Randy Gregory this week we haven't seen him stood up yet he was inactive today he's the type of guy a veteran who might be able to um add that extra level that they're looking for on the defensive line I think that they are they expect more from their pass rush and they'd like to see more from that unit as the season progresses. How excited are fans in the Bay Area now? You know it felt like a playoff atmosphere today it's only week five of the season but the fans were out early they were loud oh the 49er greats were here today so many guys Steve Young was here, Jesse Cipollu, Bryant Young the list goes on um and that got the fans riled up I think that you know they're they're kind of starved for like you said good consistent quarterback play and that's something that this franchise has come to expect over the years they got lucky in having Joe Montana and Steve Young and so they've decided that that's what they deserve and that's what they need to have here every year and they haven't had it in a long time and the fact that it seems like Brock Purdy could be the guy and they have the best combination of offensive weapons that they've that they've had in years the fan base is feeling incredibly optimistic and riled up and I think they're going to be extremely disappointed if this team isn't able to go the distance.

For all of the success they've had in recent years and it includes a little over a decade a pair of Super Bowl appearances they've been to now back-to-back NFC championships they have not won a Super Bowl since the mid 90s do people still talk about that? Oh yeah I mean when you won five Super Bowls as the 49ers have fans just tend to start feeling like that's their destiny right that's what is always going to be expected of this franchise they have gotten close a couple times you know these three NSC championships that appearance in the Super Bowl in the 2019 season and then of course in the Super Bowl losing to Baltimore I think what was that 2012-2013 so they've been there but yeah they haven't gotten to close the deal and one of the mottos out here is quest for six and everyone here still really wants that six ring and they're not going to be satisfied until they get it I think that the sentiment around the team is that this is the best shot they've had in a while they've really worked on building that roster and they they have the pieces in place and even in these good teams that we've seen in San Francisco over the past three four seasons you know there have been maybe a few more Achilles Heels there have been some injuries that happened early on in the season that were a big concern and of course that could still happen there were times where they'd play the big regular season game and not be able to get it done they'd be the underdog in the postseason and they'd you know end up kind of winning a shocker but now they're the favorite and they're kind of the team to beat in the NSC so I think it's going to be really interesting especially because they play Philly in the regular season this year that worked out well you know it's a chance for this team to win this team to win some good games beat some other good teams and and prove that yeah they really do belong in this conversation and they're ready to add another trophy to the collection after gosh yeah almost 30 years here. Kate Rooney was covering Sunday Night Football there for K-R-O-N and the Niners moved to five and oh so a lot of excitement around them the quest for six I'll have to keep that in mind you can follow her on twitter at the katerooney r-o-o-n-e-y so glad to catch up with you for a couple of minutes we appreciate your time. Amy thanks so much for having me it's fun to come on and talk about this team that's got a lot of people excited in the NFL. Definitely does and the key may just be using a single quarterback the entire way through. Niners seem like the team to beat though we're just through five weeks for them actually did you notice that bye week started on this Sunday but there was also a London game so it felt like more football stuffed into your first full weekend of October because October is the fulcrum. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio please find us on twitter after hours CBS all of our polls originate there as well as our podcast posted every weekday morning within minutes of our sign off the boom if you will and then our Facebook page too producer Jay also puts the link up there first thing on weekday morning so if you are new to the show hearing the show for the first time or the first time in a long time that's how you can follow us even when you're not on a holiday weekend all right let's see straight ahead we want to dive into that AFC North battle between the Ravens and the Steelers that was good to the last drop but let's talk Lions next because they're off to their best start since 2011 lots of Lions fans I don't care whether they were playing a team that had no previous wins when you get 42 points it's still worth paying attention to I feel win underneath my freaking wings it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio you are listening to the after hours podcast Lions for the panther 42 with the first down drop up under center turns gives to Montgomery hesitates then over the left side bounce stop tackling 35 there he goes left sideline 30 he could go 20 15 10 5 end zone touchdown Detroit Lions David Montgomery 42 yards you want to talk about an opening drive three plays they take it the distance and put six on the board it's time to pull on the pads and hit somebody on after hours with Amy Lawrence CBS Sports Radio Dan Miller on Lions Radio and oh yeah Detroit starts out hot Sunday week five could they move to four and one well good opportunity at home with the panthers visiting and David Montgomery is all gas no breaks he's got back to back 100 yard rushing games and he starts out with a 42 yard touchdown scamper to open up the scoring it's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio Aiden Hutchinson if you haven't seen his one-handed interception oh man really impressive the second year pass rusher who not only wanted to play for the Lions but his family wanted him to be there too and the fact that he was selected number two overall not number one overall by Detroit it feels as though it was drawn up perfectly I check all the boxes so after his interception it's instant red zone for the Lions and boom they are off to the races Jared Goff finds Sam Laporta and it really does help when you get your fans whipped into a frenzy and they're super loud and they can then build and it becomes even more electric off that quick start the hype train the panthers don't help because they give up the ball they cough up the rock multiple times in the first half and if you are a good team you generally capitalize on those opportunities is Detroit turning into a good team using the mistakes the miscues the turnovers by opponents to put points on the board honestly that is a sign of a good team and I love what I'm seeing from the Lions 21 points off Carolina turnovers in the first half already off to the races and okay don't yell at me I'm just gonna throw it out there actually you can yell at me if you want a law radio on Twitter is Jared Goff an early MVP candidate oh my gosh Goff takes fakes to give the Montgomery rolls throws end zone caught touchdown Detroit Lions Sam Laporta Goff to the rookie and the Lions are an extra point away from doubling up their lead Goff takes the snap fakes the give looks looks throws end zone caught Dizzy get both feet down he did touchdown Detroit Lions Josh Reynolds with the grab and the Lions with a chance to get that lead back up to 14 off the takeaway gadget play they're gonna go with a flea flicker Goff throws man touchdown Detroit Lions Sam Laporta razzle dazzle and six on the board off takes keeps it himself trying to get across did he get in there no signal yet and yes sir touchdown Detroit Lions they had to peel the bodies away and find Jared and see where that football was his second of the season maybe you didn't hear what I said because I was yelling and I was running and I was worried about you throwing tomatoes at me is Jared Goff an early MVP there I'm saying it very slowly very clearly I swear to God I'm not a lunatic I might be a lunatic you may call me a lunatic but is he an early MVP candidate oh almost choked on the words it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio here are his stats by the way a second game in a row in which he has four touchdowns and a rushing wait I gotta have to go back and look he definitely had a rushing touchdown last week don't quote me on the other 20 of 28 236 yards four total touchdowns and there is no way this team can hide anymore we're becoming a more mature team and understanding you know when we play a team that you know I'll do respect to them their own four and and we feel like we can do respect do some good things against we go out and do good things against I believe we can compete with anybody and beat anybody in this league it's the ones you don't see coming and they know exactly who's coming and they know who's around and and they prove that today I love it when he tosses those little nuggets out there they know exactly who's coming and they know exactly who we are they know exactly who's coming yeah no I like this I like this because it's a fresh storyline it's something that a lot of fans a lot of football fans but also a lot of listeners to our show maybe never thought would happen and that's the beauty of it right the beauty is that the Lions have suffered they've slogged through a lot of really tough years and so have the fans I mean that's the deal we've talked to so many Detroit sports fans who would tell you that they always expect the other shoe to drop right they never expect the success to be sustainable okay well that absolutely could be the case but maybe this is a different Detroit Lions team maybe this is a team that can because of culture because of personnel because of leadership maybe they can't sustain this so now they're four and one and they are first place in the NFC North remember last week it was the game against the Packers and so if you can get those victories in your own division it's even more paramount right it's even more impactful so last week Jared Goff has a rushing touchdown no it wasn't last week shoot what am I thinking about it wasn't last week uh so forgive me for that just like blah anyway uh the Lions are able to take advantage of the Panthers mistakes keep them really in the starting blocks they never really got out of the starting blocks they were able to run roughshod uh Aiden Hutchinson has not just the interception but a sack and a couple tackles for loss they go four for four in the red zone all of that to say that this is a different Lions team and if they can run the ball that's huge so a four and one start at the expense of the Panthers Frank Reich's not saying they're close anymore he sounds a little less enthusiastic I'm sure these weeks are wearing on him obviously a tough environment to play in uh you know there were still too many too many plays in which the communication was not at the level it needed to be so we'll have to go back and continue to work on those things so in the NFC south even as you ride the wave with a rookie quarterback because rookie quarterbacks giveth and they taketh away this is the challenge of throwing one out there right away well they've fallen behind in that division I'm not sure anyone's hugely surprised but with the Buccaneers and the Falcons and the Saints all having winning records uh the Panthers now remain the only team that has yet to pick up a victory but really the story here is the Lions and the way they've started uh Goff's rushing touchdown by the way it was two weeks ago finally got that right so they're at four and one and no other team in the division is above 500 Packers are two and two Bears are one and four and we talked about them going back to Thursday night football but how about the Vikings uh we didn't have a chance to talk a whole lot about the Vikings because we're at the top of the hour when we were going over that Chiefs Minnesota game but the Vikings have now fallen to one and four and Justin Jefferson has to be a main concern right because he leaves the game in the fourth quarter with the hamstring injury and and I said this I don't know if it looks different if Justin Jefferson's out there on that last drive or if he's full strength the fact is the Vikings have four losses by one score okay so all of their losses have been by eight points or fewer that includes the Chiefs in their own building so yeah it is tough to come back without Justin Jefferson and TJ Hawkinson acknowledged that after the game but he only had three catches for 28 yards so maybe the Chiefs deserve some credit as well it always affects you when you don't have 18 his presence on the field takes doubles double teams takes all that stuff and then makes plays when his numbers called so always tough to not have him but I thought those guys stepped up my job is to go go attack this thing from this very moment very moment forward I'm going to remain positive through and through because I believe in this group I believe in our coaches I believe in this organization I do feel like this team is able to compete and we're going to do that every single week we're going to find out exactly what we are through writing our story for this whole season and I look forward to the challenge of continuing to seek becoming that team in the NFC north you have two different coaches who are on the hot seat now there's more heat around Kevin O'Connell though he says the vikes are not dead yet and I do believe that I just don't know how you make up ground in the NFC north if you don't start now you have to start right now these have to be must-win games like joe burrow talked about uh for the bangles this week and they did answer the bell but because the lions have started out so hot yes there's a lot of real estate to go the vikings are now looking at a three-game deficit already this is a team that ran away with the division last last year and you got to credit the chief's defense I know that what happens with the the super bowl champions with any team it's got Patrick Holmes and Travis Kelsey on the field is they get so much of the attention but with Chris Jones back there's been a nice pass rush there's been a a toughness about the defense that I really like early on and it worked against the vikings I played exceptional today hats off go to those guys if we had a game ball today I'll give it to the holdback and they held their own especially against a great wide receiver and a heck of a quarterback so hats off to them yeah so we can talk more about this from the chief's perspective when we get to the rest of the AFC west like the broncos and actually uh bye week starting this week right so we don't see the chargers this week what we get on monday night football is packers and raiders two teams that are desperate in need of a win so there's a lot of more that we can say about the AFC west so we'll leave that for now but yeah in the NFC you've got a pair of teams that are five and oh you've got a lion's team that's four and one the Seahawks on a buy this week so they'll remain at three and one the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also want to buy so they won't have the chance to join at four and one so I understand we've got buys but just for a second listen to what I'm saying the eagles and niners are five and oh next best team in the NFC because you are what your record says you are that's the Detroit Lions uh-huh I didn't learn anything I got verification on what I already knew Dan Campbell he may have changed the culture in Detroit but Jared Goff may also be an early you are listening to the after hours podcast from the 14 on fourth down and 16 it is gunner back at the Pittsburgh 39 the punter is mr stout the young man from Penn State and it's it's Killebrew blocking the punt and it's going to be back across the end line the Steelers are saying no we recovered in the end zone safety off the field on the money and after hours it's time to talk football with Amy Lawrence it's time to talk football with Amy Lawrence is it possible that a blocked punt was the turning point in another knockdown drag out in the AFC North Ravens and Steelers and you know something that I didn't realize until I was watching the game this was Lamar Jackson's first start versus the Steelers in two years because of injuries he had not started and I think he also had a couple of games he missed because of illness going back the last two years maybe COVID too though that wouldn't seem like it would be late 21. His first start versus the Steelers in two years and man to get a a refresher course in understanding that yards and points are really hard to come by it was one of those classic games between these two clubs it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS sports radio uh yeah there were there were moments that felt like a tug of war to me and that's what a lot of these games seem like where you've got one team that will come up with a big play thinking that they might be able to to build momentum on that or create some type of a good rhythm only to have you know the other team pull back and tug back and they always just go toe to toe and so that block punt with Bill Hillgrove on Steelers radio actually followed a scoreless third quarter in which the two teams were going nowhere so again using the tug of war analogy they're just pulling with all of their might probably getting a little bit tired maybe feeling those sore muscles the middle of the rope where you've got the bandana or the knot or whatever it is it's moving nowhere an inch to the left an inch to the right but it's a stalemate in the third quarter five straight punts by these two teams in the third quarter and maybe your eyes were rolling back in your head but early in the fourth quarter this is the spark when Pittsburgh blocks a punt out of the end zone for a safety now funny enough the score was 10 to 5. I swear to you that was the score between the Rangers and the Orioles at some point on Sunday in the game two of their American league division series so yeah 10 to 5 a little bit odd but I promise you it picked up after that so Pittsburgh follows up with a field goal but then fumbles a punt return and this is what I'm talking about the knot just stays right in the middle Pittsburgh grabs momentum but then and actually it wasn't even the Ravens who forced the fumble on the punt return did you guys see that moment it was Kim Hayward who who ran into his punt returner and jarred the ball loose so yeah in that moment you're thinking you got to be kidding me I was thinking that it's tough to win when your own teammate knocks the ball out of your arms on a punt return but that's exactly what it was on the replay you could see that it was stealer on stealer crime and so Steelers cough up the football and it's instant red zone for Baltimore so welcome back to the rivalry Lamar Jackson Gus Edwards back in the backfield Jackson and the gun Flowers and Aguilar stacked wide out to the left of the numbers Jackson throws and zone it's intercepted Joey Porter Jr picking off a pass that was intended for OBJ and the day swings back in the direction of the Steelers it definitely did that it definitely was one of those where the pendulum is swinging back and forth or I'll just stick with my tug of war where it was one good tug and you feel like you're about to win and then the other team tugs back so Joey Porter Jr steps in front of that ball that's intended for Odell Beckham Jr here with Jerry Sandusky on Ravens radio and will this be a spark for the offense so we had seen the defense we had seen the special teams we still hadn't seen the big plays hadn't seen the offense for Pittsburgh carry its weight the clock at 130 and winding Steelers down to trying to get in the least field goal range here's a shotgun snap blitz he's back he throws it down the near sideline Pickens has it Pittsburgh Steelers take down Pickett to Pickens 41 yards and you have to be here that's just sensational I can't even believe that I just saw what I saw I saw it and I don't believe it oh man can you imagine the relief again on Steelers radio when Kenny Pickett and the offense are finally able to rise to the level of the standard set by the defense it's an 80-yard drive but the but half of it is on that Pickens touchdown grab for the lead and then on the very next opportunity for the Ravens it's back to the defense T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith they're able to combine the two of them are in cahoots a lot of the time so they're able to combine and it's I think it was uh it was Highsmith was maybe it's T.J. with the sack and Highsmith with the recovery something like that but the two of them are always together and T.J. Watt honestly regardless of what the offense is doing T.J. Watt makes this defense and this team worth the price of admission or worth your time watching it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio so ultimately the defense toes the line keeps the Steelers in it the offense joins the party late but yeah four sacks and three takeaways for the Steelers against the Ravens really proud of the way that we we settled into the game and were able to bowl up in a lot of big-time situations I mean the inside backers um I thought played really well today obviously able to create some pressure up front and then um heck of a play by Joy Porter in a big-time moment in a big-time game I think coach Tomlin does a good job of getting us prepared and getting us ready each week I think he did a great job this week of letting the guys that haven't been here know the importance of this rivalry obviously man it was it was Steelers Ravens the way that it usually is in that it is a hotly contested game uh in recent years it's been controlled by the defenses it was today I'll probably say it gives the defense uh a lot of confidence too uh when you play in tangibles you know a defense can feed off of offense and the offense can feed off of defense uh it's just you know remarkable and I feel like right then the defense was feeding off us and we was feeding off them so a lot of praise for the defense for Pittsburgh just want to clarify it was actually Alex Highsmith with the snap or the sack excuse me I looked it up uh and then T.J. Watt recovered but I remember walking to the sideline then T.J. gives the ball to Alex like here man this one's yours as for the Baltimore Ravens and now they both have the same record of three and two this is a tough one for Lamar because there's mistakes there that Steelers defense is intense I mean we wrapped up you know we had them beat um offense we had to find our groove then find the defense played a great game you know kept stopping kept giving us opportunity we just got to do what we do finish rise yeah man as tough as it is to win when your own teammate knocks a ball away from the punt returner and forces a fumble it's just as difficult to win when your quarterback is throwing a an interception in the end zone and yeah Joey Porter had great position Lamar should have seen that though he didn't throw the ball outside where only OBJ could get it so welcome back to this rivalry Steelers take round one we're halfway through it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio