FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 11th, 2019
PETER KING DISCUSSES STEELERS’ TURNAROUND & SHARES WEEK 10 THOUGHTS IN THIS WEEK’S “FMIA” COLUMN; PLUS MORE FROM TIRICO, DUNGY, HARRISON, FLORIO & SIMMS EXCLUSIVELY ACROSS NBC SPORTS
“The 2019 Pittsburgh Steelers are why, in the NFL, it’s never over till it’s over.” – King on the Steelers
“Lamar Jackson played close to a perfect game Sunday, and he is on the verge of knocking Russell Wilson from his MVP perch. At age 22.” – King
“Reminiscent of a young Russell Wilson, but faster. He’s so dangerous coming out of the pocket.” – Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce Arians to King on Kyler Murray
“I think it is time to panic…They need to find the gas pedal again and they need to hope that some of the teams in front of them falter down the stretch.” – Mike Florio on the Rams on The Mike Tirico Podcast
STAMFORD, Conn. – Nov. 11, 2019 – Peter King discusses Pittsburgh’s push for the playoffs and speaks with Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph following yesterday’s victory over the Rams in this week’s edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com. King also shares his thoughts on the rest of the NFL weekend and hands out his Week 10 awards.
Additionally, across NBC Sports, on The Mike Tirico Podcast, Mike Tirico, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison and Mike Florio recap Week 10, while Florio and Chris Simms break down all of the action across the NFL on PFT Live and Chris Simms Unbuttoned.
The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:
MASON RUDOLPH & THE STEELERS
King: “The 2019 Pittsburgh Steelers are why, in the NFL, it’s never over till it’s over…They were 1-4, floundering without the injured Ben Roethlisberger and the departed Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown…If the playoffs started today, Pittsburgh would be the AFC’s sixth seed, a charming wild-card team.”
King on Pittsburgh’s defense: “Pittsburgh has such a deep defense, with two legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidates in (Minkah) Fitzpatrick (five interceptions, two touchdowns) and pass-rusher T.J. Watt (9.5 sacks)…This Steelers team is like lots of the old ones: carried by the defense while the offense tries to catch up.”
Mason Rudolph: “Our defense is playing like the ’85 Bears…We’re without our Hall of Fame quarterback, and I’m trying to be the best I can be…Obviously, it’s great to be playing with a defense that produces points every week.”
Rudolph on playing for the Steelers: “The standard is the standard. The standard of excellence and greatness I understand and I don’t take lightly. I am motivated to uphold that standard. People live and die for the Steelers here. I want to make the legends proud.”
WEEK 10
King on the Chiefs: “The Chiefs, even with (Patrick) Mahomes, could be in big trouble…If (the run defense) doesn’t get better, and if the special teams don’t get fixed, I doubt the Chiefs will win the division, even with a healthy Mahomes.”
King on the Browns: “Cleveland lives. It could be too late. At 3-6 with 11 teams ahead of them in the AFC playoff race, it probably is too late…Could this be the game to get the Browns out of their lethargy?”
Jarvis Landry on the Browns’ Week 10 win: “A lot of the things that we’ve been through has prepared us for this moment. Nobody in the huddle was nervous. Nobody in the huddle was feeling pressure.”
King on Cam Newton: “I think if Carolina moves on from (Cam) Newton, it’ll be because they’re not sure exactly what he is as a quarterback going forward after major shoulder and foot injuries, and because they are fairly sure that (Kyle) Allen can be at the very least a quality bridge to the future – and maybe more.”
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians on if Jameis Winston is the Bucs’ QB of the future: “If he plays like he has the last two weeks for the rest of the season, I’d say there’s a really good chance.”
Arians on Kyler Murray: “Reminiscent of a young Russell Wilson, but faster. He’s so dangerous coming out of the pocket. Very, very impressed with him.”
KING’S WEEK 10 AWARDS
Offensive Players of the Week: Lamar Jackson, Baltimore, & Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago.
King on Jackson: “Lamar Jackson played close to a perfect game Sunday, and he is on the verge of knocking Russell Wilson from his MVP perch. At age 22.”
King on Trubisky: “Hand it to (Mitchell) Trubisky for performing under the greatest pressure a quarterback could have. You can’t tell me he wasn’t wondering deep down if the guys on his own team trusted him to walk their dogs.”
Defensive Player of the Week: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh, Jamal Adams, New York Jets, Grady Jarrett, Atlanta, Marcus Peters, Baltimore, & Erik Harris, Oakland.
King on Fitzpatrick: “What an acquisition; we’ll have plenty of time to see if the Steelers uncharacteristically giving up a first-round pick for a player in-season turns out to be Dan Rooney-wise, but (Minkah) Fitzpatrick couldn’t be off to a better seven-game start in black and gold.”
King on Adams’ strip-sack for a touchdown: “Precisely the reason why you don’t trade this kind of player and this kind of leader and this kind of centerpiece for your long-term future.”
Coach of the Week: Brian Flores, Miami.
King on Flores: “Now, even with smart people wondering if the Dolphins are truly happy to be winning these mid-season games because it hurts their draft position, (Brian) Flores doesn’t care. He’s on a two-game winning streak, piloting a tough-playing defensive team with an offense that usually doesn’t beat itself.”
Read the rest of the FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.
The following are highlights from this week’s edition of The Mike Tirico Podcast:
Tony Dungy on the Steelers: “You have to give Mike Tomlin credit. He’s steadied those guys and the defense is playing so much better.”
Mike Florio on the Rams: “I think it is time to panic…They definitely are in a tough spot. They need to find the gas pedal again and they need to hope that some of the teams in front of them falter down the stretch.”
Rodney Harrison on the Falcons win: “When you play against the Saints, throw away the record, throw away everything. It’s like the Falcons’ Super Bowl and that’s the way they played.”
The following are clips from last night’s edition of Football Night in America:
- Simms Breaks Down Titans’ Game-Winning TD: Chris Simms does a deep dive of the Titans’ game-winning touchdown that gave them the upset over the Chiefs at home.
- Thanks Mom: Eric Kendricks: Vikings LB Eric Kendricks shares a special message for his mom and thanks her for always bringing energy to each of his games.
- Drew Pearson Details NFL’s First Hail Mary: Cowboys legend Drew Pearson relives his famous catch from Roger Staubach against the Vikings which became known as the league’s first Hail Mary pass.
- Week 11 SNF Preview: The Bears head to Los Angeles to take on the Rams next week on SNF. Mike Tirico, Rodney Harrison and Tony Dungy preview the SNF on NBC matchup.
- Week 11 Sunday Night 7 Picks: Mike Tirico, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison make their Sunday Night 7 picks for Week 11’s Bears-Rams matchup.
The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage heading into Week 10:
- Mike Florio and Chris Simms, with guest Peter King, discuss all things NFL on PFT Live, including handing out their Week 10 superlatives, sharing updated power rankings, and making their Week 11 game picks.
- On Chris Simms Unbuttoned, Simms deep dives into film of two games from Week 10 decided by the fans.
A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on NBCSN’s and NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.
—NBC SPORTS—
