The Steelers take on the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, a rematch of Super Bowl XL, when the Steelers defeated the Seahawks 20 years ago at Ford Field.
The names have all changed, and this one isn't for all the marbles, but there is still plenty of hype for this week's game.
"Going to Pittsburgh, it's our first 10 a.m. game of the year," said Seahawks Coach Mike Macdonald. "Looking forward to playing in a great environment against a good football team that we respect a lot.
"Quite a few changes on their end from last year in terms of roster.
"Just one game of exposure is a little interesting in terms of how we're scouting and game planning. As usual, we'll keep it in our wheelhouse, go have a heck of a week, and go play a great game."
As they prepare, the Seahawks weighed in on the Steelers, including quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receiver DK Metcalf, who played six seasons for Seattle.
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Coach Mike Macdonald on what's challenging about building a scheme against Aaron Rodgers:
"His arm talent, the quarterback ability is there, but Aaron Rodgers, the operator, is second to none. He's on his game and he knows everything, so you have to assume that going in and not a lot of tricking going on. We're going to have to win our one on ones to have a good game on defense. We're going to have to play great run defense and in the pass game, we're going to have to win our one-on-one battles."
Macdonald on how they have to adjust the pass rush to account for how Rodgers plays:
"His operation is just really great, that includes throughout the play as well. I mean, it's Aaron Rodgers for a reason, all those details add up, over such a long period of time."
Defensive end Leonard Williams on trying to throw Rodgers off his game:
"I think it's just doing exactly what we do. I think it's harder to go against scrambling quarterbacks. In those moments, you try to change the way you pass rush, you try to change the way you have gap integrity in the pass rush and stuff like that. Aaron still has an arm. He can still make all the throws in the world. But when it comes to making plays on his feet, I just think he's not the same as he was when he was younger. So, for us to just getting to the spot, get in his face, get hits on him as much as possible, and just wearing him down."
Williams on if he will be dropping into coverage this week when facing Rodgers:
"I'm not sure. He definitely made a funny comment after that interception last year when he said, 'Merry Christmas'. I'm going to see if he remembers that."
Williams on if Rodgers' statement was during the game:
"Yeah, that was during the game. I can't remember if that was before the half. That interception was, I'm pretty sure it was. Yeah, it was like going into the locker room at halftime. He said that."
Macdonald on how the Steelers are using DK Metcalf differently:
"It's one game. You have one game of 50 something plays, the things that he does well are the things that they're doing with him, which is great. It's runaways, it's outside lane throws, all the routes that he runs well. He's running those routes. Frankly, it's similar to the stuff we did with him last year. We have to be ready for everything, right? They're allowed to put him anywhere they want. He's allowed to run any route that they call for him."
Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on what he misses most about Metcalf:
"Just having DK around. A great guy, a friend, you can always talk to him and get advice, that's my guy."
Smith-Njigba on what DK taught him:
"I respected his approach to the game. What he did off the field to prepare and to make sure he was ready for game days is something that I took from him."
Macdonald on the added challenge when it's a new quarterback and offensive coordinator:
"You can attribute some things that you've seen in the first game to all three buckets, some things from last year. Like I said, it's tricky. If I want to start playing doctor and diagnosing everything, that's not a smart thing to do. As a game unfolds, you'll start to get some of those answers about how they're trying to attack you. My situation and how they're using their people, again, it's a similar roster, obviously, DK's (Metcalf) there now and they lost (George) Pickens, but a lot of the same core guys were playing last year, like the tight ends and the backs."
Williams on balancing getting off the snap while avoiding jumping offsides against Rodgers:
"It's definitely something we're going to have to be locked in as a front. He's a very smart quarterback. He can read defenses very well, so we're going to have to be good in our disguise in the back end as well. The offense just goes through him. There's going to be times where he's going to be changing the plays, audibling a lot, and hard counting a lot. He's the head of the snake, so if we affect him, we affect their offense."
Williams on how Metcalf was as a teammate:
"I thought he was a great teammate. I was only here with him for about a year and a half. But in my time with him, I loved being around him. I love offensive guys who get along with defensive guys. I think that's just rare. A lot of times you see offensive guys hang out with each other, and defensive guys hang out with each other. And we always said that he was welcome to the dark side."
Macdonald on what he knows about how the Steelers defense plays:
"They're an opportunistic group that play with a great spirit; they play with physicality. They're different than us and how they're built and how they play some of their coverages, so that's going to be a big point of emphasis for our offense and our team to give a great look this week, so our guys have a good feeling going into the game."
Williams on the effectiveness of Rodgers' hard count:
"I think it's just the multiples of them. You get three or four different hard counts throughout a game, and he's not just hitting you with it once or twice a game. It's the whole drive. You're going to get a few different hard counts. I think that's what makes it so hard."
Williams on if Rodgers has ever got him with the hard count:
"I can't remember."
Williams on if they can simulate Rodgers' hard count in practice:
"I mean, you could try to, but he just has a feeling for it. I think he's been doing it for so long. I don't know how to describe it. He's pretty good at it."
Williams on Rodgers and the Steelers' play action game:
"Our front didn't do a good enough job of getting to the quarterback. So, play-action is one of those things that we're going to have to get better at. We see that they like to play-action a lot. They have a lot of big personnel up on the line. Sometimes it looks like a run, and then it turns to pass. I think we're going to have to do a good job converting on those situations."
