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Picks Aplenty
27 Plays9 days ago
Tristan and Miles talk about Seattle winning time of possession but losing the game, the punt of a lifetime, and remember the legacy of Seahawks legend Kenny Easley.
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Transcript
Torrey Holt's Remarkable NFL Career
00:00:00
Tristan Amundson
Miles, when I think of the Rams, I think of one player in particular, the great Torrey Holt. When i started getting into football and and really watching the Seahawks consistently, it was in the late 90s. It was in the early 2000s when Torrey Holt's powers were at their apex. And I'm telling you, this is a guy One of the best wide receivers I've ever seen. He broke my heart many a time. um Obviously, greatest show on turf comes to mind. um and And just those great Rams teams at the time when I was watching St. Louis Rams, they always had a great defensive line. Funny enough, we can relate to this Rams team.
00:00:50
Tristan Amundson
but they always had Isaac Bruce. They always had Torrey Holt. They always had Steven Jackson, and it was a nightmare to play those guys week in and week out. I wanted to give you some numbers because i just, I loved watching this guy and hated watching him play so much.
00:01:08
Tristan Amundson
Here's some stats, man, that I think are pretty incredible. Torrey Holt, 920 career receptions, thirteen thousand three hundred and eighty two receiving yards in his career The man took 74 trips into the end zone with 74 touchdowns.
00:01:26
Tristan Amundson
Here's here's a crazy stat. Here's something I've never even heard of. I've never even thought of this before. Most receiving yards in a decade. Holt set the NFL record for the most receiving yards in a single decade with 12,594 from 2000 to 2009.
00:01:43
Tristan Amundson
from two thousand to two thousand and nine Here's another record. This is crazy. He's the only NFL a wide receiver with six consecutive seasons of at least 1,300 yards.
00:01:59
Tristan Amundson
Six
Seahawks vs Rams: A Competitive Matchup
00:02:00
Tristan Amundson
seasons where he's just posting 1,300 yards over and over again. and want to take it one step farther for you, man. And I think you're going to appreciate this.
00:02:09
Tristan Amundson
I found myself watching the Raiders game and I found myself watching Tyler Lockett. And I found myself just wondering, and And kind of craving the Locket Watch, Miles. I think about it still from time to time. and And so this is my jumbled version of Locket Watch. I just kind of wanted to give you some perspective, though, with Tori Holt. So Tyler is now sitting at 69th in um all-time career receptions on that list.
00:02:42
Tristan Amundson
Let me give you a kind of where Tyler's at and, you know, the the people around him. 68 with 681 is Marvin Mims Tyler, with career receptions.
00:02:57
Tristan Amundson
garrett wilson number seventy right now at six hundred and seventy five now let me give you kind of the perspective and and who who tory holtz around So at 25, Antonio Brown, a man of very sound of mind and judgment. 26 is Torrey Holt at 920. And then Stefan Diggs, the great Stefan Diggs at number 27. So just wanted to get us started with a little Rams history. The great Torrey Holt potentially going in, should go into the Hall of Fame next year.
00:03:30
Tristan Amundson
Miles, how you doing?
00:03:33
M dub
Tristan, it's great to be with you. Those were some fantastic Torrey Holtz stats I hadn't heard before. love the decade tidbit. As you're talking about Rams of the past, I'm thinking of somebody before my time, Mr. Eric Dickerson.
00:03:46
M dub
I mean, is there anybody else who's worn eyeglasses while playing in the NFL and not only did that, but looked devastatingly good doing it? it's It's one of the great mysteries of football history, I think.
00:03:58
Tristan Amundson
um the The greatest Tori Holt moment that I ever saw was a pass down the middle. I've might have mentioned this and in the past on this very show. um It was from Mark Bolger. I'm going to guess the year is 2004, but don't quote me on that. Maybe 2005, 2006 could be 2007. Who knows? The guy was good year in and year out.
00:04:20
Tristan Amundson
deep pass down the middle. The pass was way behind Torrey. Torrey never broke stride. He was in full stride, full speed, reached his arm out, extended his arm backwards as far as it could go, tipped the ball with his arm backwards to his arm, like his front arm and got like the momentum of that and took it into the end zone. I know he didn't do a very good job describing that, but I guess what I'm saying is he like he he tipped it to himself on the 70 yard touchdown pass. um But tipping it to itself doesn't even do it justice because I'm telling you, it's like both arms were fully extended.
00:05:04
Tristan Amundson
Um, so six feet basically from, from one side of his torso to the other, and he tipped it in the air, caught it dagger to the heart. Tori was just, just peerless. I mean, just really, really, really great. Um, he's a surefire hall of famer. Um, yeah. Greatest show on turf. He, he was, uh, he was killer.
00:05:24
Tristan Amundson
Um, but I, I guess we should move on. How'd you feel about this game, man? I mean, we were, we came down to LA,
00:05:35
Tristan Amundson
How are you feeling today?
00:05:37
M dub
Yeah, Tristan, to recap this game, it was the game of the week in the NFL, and it certainly did deliver a fourth quarter that had me just standing up in the living room in pretty classic fashion. you're you're This was a stander. These happen in the NFL.
00:05:52
M dub
There's laughers and there's standers on the other side of the spectrum. This one was a stander. The Seahawks end up losing 21-19. In the first quarter of this game, the Rams get off to a fourteen to three lead.
00:06:06
M dub
Pretty early. Things are looking dire for you boys in neon green, but the Seahawks fight back one drive after another, one field goal after another. It alternated
Rams' Capitalization on Seahawks' Turnovers
00:06:17
M dub
Seahawks field goal, Seahawks interception, Seahawks field goal, Seahawks interception, and it comes down to, with that score,
00:06:24
M dub
Still at 21-19, Seahawks have an opportunity to make a two-minute drive, set up just a too long of a field goal for Jason Myers. 61 yards. Would have been nice if he missed It's kind of a win-win for Jason Myers. Would have been nice if he made it. Excuse me. And you can't really fault to him for missing it. Because even in 2025, that is a massive field goal. And the Seahawks lose by pretty much the closest margin possible. Just...
00:06:54
M dub
one One little inch here or there. Part of that field goal we were just talking about, it's set up by the punt of a lifetime from the Rams. a Right... the the I mean, not just in the coffin, but the darkest corner of the coffin, deep in the one-yard line, really set the Seahawks on the back foot on that two-minute drive. And I think everybody comes away thinking, you know, if that ball... cut if If a gust of wind, if if a pigeon farts and and blows the ball just slightly...
00:07:23
M dub
in the wrong direction. it hits that pylon. Seahawks probably can move a little faster on their two-minute drive and just get into a closer range for Jason Myers to win the game. One of many inflection points in this incredibly tight contest. A lot to talk about here.
00:07:40
Tristan Amundson
you're You're totally right, man. I mean, as you watch, as you watch that kick, right? I mean, what's incredible about this game is you you throw four interceptions in a game and it comes down to that. It comes down to a final drive.
00:07:59
Tristan Amundson
You start the ball very generously on the one yard line. I think they could have, that the Rams could have made the argument, hey, back that ball up a couple of feet. We we start the ball generously on the one yard line.
00:08:13
Tristan Amundson
And the odds of getting out of your end zone, we've watched enough NFL. That's a very tough spot for an offense to be placed in. The fact that they got out of that was incredible. um The fact that they they got close enough, even that last pass. I mean, um Rashid catches that ball and his butt hits the ground. And i think, again, a generous one second left on the clock, a much needed one second left on the clock. This was the closest of margins, this game. And yet, and I think, I mean...
00:08:51
Tristan Amundson
I got them in front of me. I just have to say this out loud, Miles. First down comparison. Seattle had 26 of them. L.A. had 12. Totally yards.
00:09:02
Tristan Amundson
Seattle had 414.
00:09:05
M dub
Oh, boy.
00:09:05
Tristan Amundson
L.A. had 249.
00:09:08
Tristan Amundson
um Time of possession. I mean, this is it.
00:09:11
M dub
Yeah, that's what I looked at. Yep.
00:09:12
Tristan Amundson
Is this not the craziest number, man? Time of possession.
00:09:16
M dub
Give it to the people. It's ah it's a big number.
00:09:19
Tristan Amundson
37 and 49 seconds to 22, 11. I mean, that is as lopsided of a time of possession as I've ever seen. um But maybe the only one that really matters, turnovers, Seattle for LA one.
00:09:36
Tristan Amundson
i think, listen, I'm an optimist. Everyone that that listens to this show with any regularity would would understand that. i take I typically look at, the world at at football games at at life with a half full mentality.
00:09:52
Tristan Amundson
And you look at this game and you, you see all of that and it's not possible. and And I
Defensive Strengths and Weaknesses of Both Teams
00:10:02
Tristan Amundson
will say with all of my Pollyanna optimism, I do think that this is, this is something I'm hearing consistently around the country from the talking heads, which is like if you have four turnovers in a game like this, you're supposed to get blown out. You're you're supposed to be like, you are going to be defeated um with authority. And the fact that the Seahawks made this as close of a game as it was, really, I think that's why you look at it, man. You just think, ah this is what we let get away. And it's a bummer that that happened, but you didn't walk away from this game thinking,
00:10:44
Tristan Amundson
man, the Rams are in a different class. He didn't walk away from this game thinking, man, I don't know what we're going to do in a couple of weeks when we need to play them again. i think you walk away thinking, okay, these are these two defenses specifically, man, these are two elite teams in this league.
00:11:02
M dub
Absolutely. the The play from beginning to end of this game was at a really high level with the exception of Well, even the interceptions, a lot of those were high-level plays by the Rams' defense. I think some of the few mistakes in the game, I think the Seahawks took a little time to to warm up into this one. where We had kind of gotten into rhythm of these first-half blowouts, and I think it it did take a little bit of time for the Seahawks' defense to get adjusted to this game. Particularly, there were a lot of missed tackles in the first quarter by the defense, and i I think that really cost the team when the margin ended up being so small.
00:11:37
M dub
At the end. But um yeah, yeah. this This was a very close game. And I don't want to... add the The four interceptions is a shocking number. And it's not good.
00:11:49
M dub
And we can't optimist our way around that. At the same time, ah it it feels like the Rams have more work to do in order to to win the second game. Because you mentioned all the stats. Another one was total offensive snaps.
00:12:03
M dub
Seahawks had 84. Rams had 51. That's he's So many players on the Seahawks played well despite this loss here.
00:12:13
Tristan Amundson
Absolutely. Yeah. And you know, ah it's funny as I'm looking at and and digging into some of the the more advanced numbers, a couple of things that stood out to me and man, things that if you want to talk about things you can live with, right. If you want to talk about, Hey, this is, um, these are, these are good, encouraging numbers.
00:12:35
Tristan Amundson
Reekwollen, completions against Reek three for six. So 50% completion rate against Reek Wollin. Reek gave up a total of, man, but maybe we should make this a game. Maybe I should ask, do you want to guess the yardage that, that each defensive bat gave up? Cause it's pretty great. I mean, it is, you look at it and it's encouraging considering they're playing an MVP caliber um quarterback on the other side. Should we, should we play a game here? or Should I just give you the numbers?
00:13:05
M dub
Well, let me tell you what. it It can't be that much because I'm not looking at the advanced numbers, but the standard numbers tell tell quite a story here. Matthew Stafford, as we talked about last week, in the middle of an MVP caliber season, numbers for the game, 15 for 28 for 130 yards.
00:13:16
Tristan Amundson
Thank you.
00:13:22
M dub
So I know Sam Darnold made these mistakes on these interceptions, which it kind of It kind of stands out to you as a big mistake, but the Rams never got close to solving the Seahawks defense.
00:13:33
M dub
So 130 yards total in the game. There's no way any one Seahawks player allows any more than 30 yards total.
00:13:40
Tristan Amundson
Well done. Well, well done. Yes. So Rick Woolen, 27 yards. He he allowed 27 yards, 50% completion. Ernest Jones. Now, Ernest didn't have as great of a day, but you can imagine the kind of passes he was defending. Three for three. So 100% completion. Congratulations. 20, 22 yards.
00:14:03
Tristan Amundson
Devin Witherspoon. I thought about this because I was like, I didn't notice Devin Witherspoon in this game at all. Well, that's because yeah it was two for five. So 40% on Devin. So yeah, it's pretty good, right? I mean, Devin Witherspoon, throw it his way. It's going to work 40% of the time. You'll take that. 16 yards. He gave up 16.
00:14:23
Tristan Amundson
Josh Jobe gave up 26 yards. 40% completion rate. Kobe Bryant. Gave up 10 yards, 50% completion rate. Now, here' here's the one that really kills you, Miles, because it's just, you know, it's ah it's a ah sore thumb in the middle of the defense. Byron Murphy gave up 100% of the of the yara passes to his way. It's a really devastating number. Do you want to guess what how many yards Byron Murphy gave up?
00:14:56
M dub
I fortunately did see this one earlier. It it it did stand out to me in addition to the one for one, but you want to give it to the people.
00:15:04
Tristan Amundson
Negative five yards. Byron Murphy with that beautiful tackle for a loss. um Negative five yards for B. Murph. All that to say, listen, and I, you know, i I think you and I are in great agreement with this.
00:15:18
Tristan Amundson
the the The defense, man, you cannot. have any other thought than this defense came to play and, and was, was stifling. I mean, one thing I noticed, you talk about happy feet with quarterbacks sometimes, and this is nothing against Matthew Stafford. He is having an MVP caliber season. He's a great quarterback.
00:15:41
Tristan Amundson
that last pass that he tried to throw when they got the ball, you know, with what, you know, call it two something minutes left in the game. And they're trying to just possess the ball. The last pass,
00:15:53
Tristan Amundson
people all over him. I mean, the the the pocket was very messy. And in fact, we wouldn't you know it, one of the guys that was really causing a problem, Byron Murphy, with massive pressure, was just driving um his guy into the lap of Matt Stafford. Matthew, excuse me. And Matthew threw the ball to Devontae Adams' feet.
00:16:15
Tristan Amundson
And if you just watch it a couple of times, you see Matthew Stafford. It looks like he's tap dancing legitimately. It it looks like he's in the movie Happy Feet. And it's because, man, like there was just not a lot of breathing room like has been all year.
00:16:34
Tristan Amundson
The pass rush was consistent. They got to where they needed to get to. They took the guy off their spot. No sacks in this game, but you wouldn't know it if you looked at the way Matthew was playing and another incompletion.
00:16:48
Tristan Amundson
Uh, yeah, I mean, I think that's why you walk away from this game and you just kind of have the confidence of, yeah, let's just keep playing. Like you kind of felt like with this game. Yeah. Like, let's just keep playing. We're, we're, we're going to, we're going to win this eventually. um
Strategic Challenges and Opportunities in Offense
00:17:03
Tristan Amundson
a lot of mistakes, but yeah, we have to be very encouraged.
00:17:07
M dub
Right, and it kind of does feel like it's easier to eliminate the mistakes than the Rams really have to go back to the drawing board for this one. So I noticed with the Rams, they scored 21 points, three touchdown drives on the game. That's all they're scoring.
00:17:24
M dub
And really, two of them got gifted to the offense off of two of these Sam Darnold interceptions. Their touchdown drives went in the first quarter. Interception leads to just a three-yard touchdown drive. They just have to punch it in.
00:17:37
M dub
Later in the first quarter, this is where a lot of the missed tackles came up that the Seahawks did solve over the rest of the game. In particular, Kobe Bryant had three missed tackles in the first quarter.
00:17:47
M dub
and It did stick out to me as I was watching it. Really loved to see him redeem himself with forcing the Seahawks one fumble on the day. So late in the first drive late the first quarter, Rams go on their only proper drive of the day for 74 yards and a touchdown.
00:18:03
M dub
And then their third and final touchdown comes to the fourth quarter. The offense only has to drive it 25 yards after yet another interception. So really, there was only one great drive from the Rams offense all day. One drive that went remotely anywhere. And that' so that i think just play through it is ah is a great thing to say because it does feel like as long as you don't have those mistakes, the Rams offense didn't really have anywhere to go. And this has been one of the best offenses in the league. Another one that stood out, Devontae Adams. He does score the touchdown, one of those touchdowns.
00:18:36
M dub
But that was his only catch on eight targets on the day.
00:18:41
Tristan Amundson
That's crazy. That is, i'm it's funny you should say that. I'm just noticing that right this second. That is wild that he was one for eight. that's That's pretty incredible.
00:18:53
M dub
It is incredible. I do think the Rams deserve a lot of credit. As I was watching this game, I did feel like... And this was this was a game where... any A multitude of snaps could have completely changed the result of this game. I think that's why I don't want to take too many final conclusions away from it because a lot of different plays changed the result of this game.
00:19:14
M dub
But I did feel that the Rams got the edge here thanks to their just their institutional continuity. um I was really shocked to find out that this is Sean McVay's ninth year being the head coach of the Rams.
00:19:26
M dub
It still feels kind of new to me in a way, probably because he's so young.
00:19:26
Tristan Amundson
Incredible.
00:19:30
M dub
but This is his ninth year as the coach of the Rams. And that just doesn't happen very often in football bought history, where you legitimately get a coach for a full decade. I mean, obviously, he's going into year 10, you know, a full decade.
00:19:43
M dub
So you got Sean McVay at year nine, Chris Shula, their defensive coordinator, doing just an unbelievable job coordinating this defense team. He's also year nine with the franchise and has worked his way up from a defensive assistant.
00:19:55
M dub
They also have less need than general manager in year 14. So John Schneider's been around the Seahawks about that long, but they have less need there that long and these coaches there for about a decade. they just so And I really think those years have given them time to create some really interesting new strategies for the Rams.
00:20:15
M dub
The Rams have had only one first-round pick since they selected Jared Goff, like a decade ago. That first-round pick is Jared Verse, so they nailed that.
00:20:26
M dub
But I do think these guys have gotten together. Because, because ah look, the Saints play the Rams twice a year. And every time, I still feel like I don't know who these Rams are. It feels like they're just auto-generating players you've never heard of from the fourth, fifth, and sixth round. i mean, obviously, we know Puka Nakua now. you know Everybody knows that name.
00:20:45
M dub
but But the depth of this team still feels... I still feel like, who who are these guys? And I do feel like the Rams... have come up on a strategy since they're drafting so much lower in the draft of we take a small guy.
00:20:57
Tristan Amundson
Thank you.
00:20:59
M dub
Small guy is undervalued. it It feels like there's so many tiny players on this Rams team and it just doesn't matter because they're all they're all put in the correct position to do their exact job and it really feels like they've made a juggernaut over there.
00:21:14
M dub
And I'm curious what you think about the Rams because there was one moment that stood out to me of the Seahawks still getting to know each other compared to this incredible amount of time the Rams have been together.
00:21:25
Tristan Amundson
i think it's ah I think it's a really good point. Continuity is is obviously massive in the game. And um and and i believe even even Coach um talked about this in the press conference afterwards of, um you know, this is year two of defensive continuity for the Seahawks in year one of offensive continuity, which is kind of weird when you when you take a step back and think of it that way. um So, yeah, that piece of it, Sean has obviously done a great job of
00:21:58
Tristan Amundson
creating culture and philosophy and putting all those things together and, and marrying them and, and finding the right way to replace all these coaches. If you think about the, ah the level of, you know, what they call brain drain, right? The level of,
00:22:16
Tristan Amundson
ah or the number, I should say, I guess, of coaches that have left the Rams to get head coaching jobs over and over again, assistants that end up getting coordinator jobs other places.
00:22:28
Tristan Amundson
um it's it it is really It's a testament to him. He's obviously one of the great coaches in the league. um and And being able to watch um good on good, right, his offensive philosophy versus Mike's defensive philosophy and and and really you know that working out quite well for us in the game. I like what you're saying, though, about, um you know, kind of giving them their props and and and really acknowledging how good of a team this Rams team is. I really do think that we saw, you know, two of the best teams, maybe the two best teams in the NFC play each other on Sunday. It's going to be fun to watch them again. um
00:23:06
Tristan Amundson
and as we talk about those four interceptions, as we talk about those turnovers, um yeah I think it is. It's important to acknowledge it's not just Sam making a mistake. It's the Rams causing him to make a mistake and causing him trouble. And clearly this defensive coordinator has has some good thoughts on how to attack Sam Darnold. Right. And and they've been able to do that. um And that was one of my big takeaways from the game, man. This defense, this Rams defense is the real deal. If we're going to say that the Seahawks defense is the real deal, we got to give it right back to the Rams. This Rams defense is trouble. um They create a lot of chaos on the field and they play it ah at a super high level.
00:23:49
Tristan Amundson
And for goodness sake, you know, we're we're what at week 11, week 12 of the season, At this point, you are who you are. where There's no more you know guessing about development. that this is you know Most every team in the league is is the version of themselves they're going to be with little tweaks moving forward.
00:24:09
Tristan Amundson
This Rams defense is really, really good. i One thing that stood out to me was it seemed to me that they were able to eliminate whether it was because of their corner play, their safety play, or just the stifling um pressure up front. It seemed to me like they were really, they they came into this game saying, we're going to take away the deep stuff, kind of a classic philosophy we've seen. you're You're not going to throw deep on us, which for the most part, they were able to keep us away from the deep game and really force Sam into a lot of those dink and dunk
00:24:46
Tristan Amundson
I don't know if you agree with me, if that's how it felt to you. To me, this felt a lot like ah a lot of dinking and dunking, which if I think back to what Pete always taught us, hey, we want to force teams to dink and dunk because if you have to throw and I'm looking at the attempts, if you have to throw 44 times,
00:25:03
Tristan Amundson
Well, that's going to open up the opportunity for mistakes. That's kind of what my eyes saw. Just this idea that um that that Sam was having to throw a lot of intermediate and short passes and elongate drives, and the Rams were able to take advantage of that. Is that is that kind of just just anecdotally kind of how you felt the game playing out from a long game versus a dink and dunk kind of philosophy?
00:25:31
M dub
You know, it did seem like the Rams eliminated... did seem like the Rams were were doing the Seahawks philosophy of trying to eliminate the the big explosive passes. The 44 pass attempts, though, I kind of think... I'm a little bit of two minds because on one level, the Rams' defense...
00:25:47
M dub
it it It was doing the bend but don't break thing. you know they They limit the Seahawks to four field goals on their first four offensive drives. On the other hand, the reason the Seahawks got to those 44 passes it is because of that huge time of possession control they had.
00:26:00
Tristan Amundson
Thank
00:26:03
M dub
you know With 84 offensive snaps on the day, one, I'm really surprised the Rams defense just was able to hold up under that. The Seahawks had a ton of really, really long drives, and it was feeling to me like the Seahawks were putting a lot of snaps in the bank, and it was going to all cash in in the fourth quarter, and it didn't exactly do that. So I'm impressed they were able to withstand those 84 snaps.
00:26:29
M dub
But yeah, with 84 snaps, you're going to end up passing the ball 44 times, you know, most likely. So I was a little bit of two minds about it because they really they really create those interceptions, and I think we could say two of them were just total – two of them were Seahawks mistakes. Two of them were total creations by the Rams. That's how I'd like to divide it.
00:26:52
M dub
um But, yeah, they all they did they did give up some long – I don't know. They gave up long drives, but they did limit it to field goals. it You don't want your opponent to have the ball for 37 minutes of the game like like the Seahawks did in this one. And so, yeah, it both worked and didn't from from the Rams' defense, I think.
00:27:10
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, no, it's ah it's a great point. And um and yeah, I mean, if if um if we're even able to dodge one of those interceptions, then we're potentially talking about a very different game. And so it's it's an interesting thing. Let me ask you this. This was um my untrained eyes just watching the game, watching the running game. I want to ask you about the running game right now.
00:27:34
Tristan Amundson
When Charbonnet and K-9 is specifically their runs, their outside runs, I my eye every time, not every time, many times when they were running to the outside, you're just kind of looking at where
Offensive Line Performance and Challenges
00:27:48
Tristan Amundson
they're going to be running to and what the defense is, you know, is presenting.
00:27:53
Tristan Amundson
And there was a lot of times when I looked at and i was like, oh, nice, that's an eight yard run. Like this is going to be this is going to be solid seven, eight, maybe ten yard run. And then obviously with the off shot, you know, the off chance that you're going to break it off and, you know, get a really big explosive.
00:28:08
Tristan Amundson
It looked to me just my eyeballs. I saw a lot of what looked like eight yard runs that turned into four and five yard runs. They were still good runs like I didn't I wasn't upset.
00:28:22
Tristan Amundson
But my eye just kept seeing that where i was like, ooh, this is this a nice big hole. And then, man, the Rams would rally to the ball and they would eliminate those runs and and make them shorter. And they kind of just kept doing that over and over again. I found myself really impressed.
00:28:39
Tristan Amundson
with how the Rams defense rallied to our runners and limited them to, say, three, four, five yards instead of the eight, nine, ten yards that my eye told me we were going to get.
00:28:53
Tristan Amundson
And then, man, those holes would just close up really fast. Did you kind of feel that the same way when you were just watching it? um And maybe you have greater thoughts on it, but just anecdotally, that's what I was feeling.
00:29:05
M dub
Yeah, I think that's very accurate to say. i do think there have been games this year, though, where it's more like 1-0 or negative 1 yards for the Seahawks on those off offensivese on those outside runs.
00:29:17
M dub
And in this game, it actually was 3-4-5. So I guess that more ammunition for this kind of in-the-middle type of Rams performance. Because, yes, they they did eliminate the long runs.
00:29:30
M dub
However... you're completely happy with this Seahawks rushing attack. 35 total attempts between Walker, Charbonnet, even getting Helani in the mix there. 35 attempts for 135 yards.
00:29:42
M dub
I mean, the the Seahawks are happier with that at the end of the day than the Rams are.
00:29:47
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, no, no, ah one ah hundred percent. Yeah, it's the only caveat I have on it. And I just I don't know enough to to speak to it with any great authority. um My understanding from the defensive fronts that the Rams were presenting, they were they were playing a lot of nickel coverage, I believe. And and I think I think even Brock might have mentioned this, that in some ways for them, it's kind of a win if they were able to stay in that defensive formation to mitigate the, you know, the deep balls and mitigate our passing game. and then at the same time,
00:30:23
Tristan Amundson
hey, you know what, if if we're only giving up three or four yards, like that's a win. Like if that if we can stay in this defense, we'll give up three or four yards over and over again. um So again, I say that with some level of hesitation because I don't i don't intimately know the top of my head, you know, just, you know, man, they were in, you know, this base defense versus nickel and dime, you know, x amount of time. i I guess we could look at that. um I just, I don't necessarily have the chops to,
00:30:54
Tristan Amundson
to speak to it with great authority. um so So perhaps that was part of it. And and in that way, maybe it was a solid win for them. um But yeah, just just an interesting little piece of this game. um You know, I mean, the other piece that's interesting, and in fact, I just heard Leonard be asked about this. Big Cat was asked in his press conference if he felt any different. I thought this was kind of a fun snap count question.
00:31:21
Tristan Amundson
Because our ah our defense was on the field so little, they asked him, hey, like after a game like this, do you feel the difference of 47 snaps versus like a typical 57 60 snaps?
00:31:34
Tristan Amundson
Um, and I thought it was kind of interesting. It's a kind of anticlimactic answer, but he basically said, no, you don't really feel the difference. He's like, you felt the difference in, in the course of the game, I guess. Like, uh, he said that what he felt more than anything was that they were double teaming him and be Murph basically the entire game. And so he's like, you feel that, like you feel kind of the impact of a game,
00:32:00
Tristan Amundson
But ah he said, like, the next day, you don't really feel any different if it's 48 snaps or, you know, 68, which I don't know. We we talk snap count a fair amount. I thought that was ah an interesting tidbit from the big cat himself.
00:32:13
M dub
That is interesting. i wouldn't really think it would go like that, but you've got to trust with what the guy is saying. And speaking of the Rams' ability to just you know generate players seemingly out of nowhere...
00:32:25
M dub
it It did feel like the Seahawks' defensive line was getting pressure, but yeah, no no sacks. And you're still not that familiar with all these Rams offensive linemen. They definitely don't have you know star, big-name players. And for them to limit this defensive line to zero sacks on the game is really impressive, despite the amount of pressure they did get. I mean, the Seahawks get sacks this year.
00:32:47
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it yeah again, I mean, you know, that them being able to do the little things the right way. I don't know their offensive linemen very well. I mean, I'm, I'm looking at, at their names on, on, on a list. um You know, no one that really stands out is, you know, an all pro and stuff like that. And yet,
00:33:10
Tristan Amundson
man, to your point, they were able to put together a really solid offensive line. And um although we got solid pressures, right, we did not get those sacks, which is very odd for this defense, to your point.
00:33:24
Tristan Amundson
um And then, you know, flip it on the other side, right? Our guys were able to um keep Sam somewhat clean, but obviously Sam was under duress a lot. So kind of an odd game in that way. I think both I think if we had some Rams fans on this podcast right now, they would say the same thing. Like, oh man, you know, that we were able to keep matt Matthew clean, and yet he was under pressure all day.
00:33:50
Tristan Amundson
And the same thing was true of Sam. And yet that results in zero sacks for either team. that's It's like very, very bizarre that you'd have zero sacks, but such a high pressure rate. And that that happened on both sides of the football.
00:34:06
M dub
it It really was bizarre because, yes, it did seem like that happened for both teams. I did want to – sorry, I started to say this like 15 minutes ago. An indication of the Seahawks not having the continuity with each other just yet.
00:34:19
M dub
Early in the third quarter, despite the Rams doing their best to limit the big play, there was – Rasheed Shaheed had a root down the right-hand side. The snap was about 25 yards out from the end zone, and he had a root, and he wins. wins.
00:34:34
M dub
He wins. And Sam Darnold underthrows it oh just a little bit. And it goes down as a pass defended because the the secondary player on the Rams is able to get to it.
00:34:45
M dub
And it it occurred to me as a very meaningful play. Number one, the Seahawks would have taken the lead with a touchdown at that moment in the game just after halftime. But it it really seemed to me that Sam wasn't used to Rasheed's unbelievable speed just yet.
00:35:00
M dub
He didn't think he could get as far down the field as he did in that amount of time, which results in the underthrow. So compared to the Rams having all these guys in the building for so many years, Sam Darnold and Rasheed Jaheed met each other like 10 or 11 days ago or something, you know? So you wouldn't expect it to be dialed in just yet.
00:35:19
M dub
Hopefully they're able to
Standout Performances and Player Contributions
00:35:20
M dub
over the the course of the season. They had just a few weeks to do it, but that stood out to me as just Just the smallest little sign that as well as the Seahawks season is going, it's still a group that is is just getting to know each other in in a lot of ways.
00:35:36
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, no, i can picture the exact pass. And, you know, that was one of those out of the quarterback's hand. You're like, oh, this is a touchdown like this. It just felt right on time.
00:35:47
Tristan Amundson
One, two, three throw. And, you know, again, you know, give the other player credit. But to your point, that that was one he actually led him, but he just needed to lead him a little bit more, which, you know, that was such a.
00:36:01
Tristan Amundson
such a shoestring or not shoestring, but just such a close play. Um, you know, the other one just talking about these receivers, another ho-hum 105 yard makes it look easy game for Jackson Smith and Jigba. Just um another unbelievable performance by JSN. Um, What did you think of that one catch he had up the sidelines? The one handed, you know, he's just kind of running and throws his arm, throws his hand out in front of him and and pulls that one in um JSN is making it look so effortless out there. um and He's such a problem. Another just joy of a game to watch Jackson Smith do his thing.
00:36:42
M dub
Yes, finally a highlight catch from him. I mentioned how he gets so wide open, he doesn't really have highlights because it's just an open 15-yard pass every time. Finally, a highlight catch for maybe people around the country to take notice. His yards per game goes down.
00:36:58
M dub
It goes down ever so slightly with this 105-yard game. He's still on pace for 1,948 yards on the year.
00:37:08
Tristan Amundson
Hopefully, yeah, maybe maybe the Titans will will you know help that out a little bit this next week. I have a feeling that might be the case. We we might see another big JSN game. um it was kind of fun. I did notice, um and hard to tell, right?
00:37:24
Tristan Amundson
LA is a destination venue. ah In fact, I was tempted to go to this game. Tickets were $250, the cheapest seat you could get, so that that was enough to keep me away. um and And I say all that to say, I'm sure there was a lot of Seahawks fans there.
00:37:42
Tristan Amundson
That said, it was kind of fun. I don't know if you could hear it um or if if you had your volume up or not. But every time, and it wasn't many, obviously, but every time Cooper Cup got a reception, you heard Coop and Coop.
00:37:59
Tristan Amundson
I thought, you know, and I'm assuming there's plenty of Rams fans that were joining in on that. Pretty classy. It must have been kind of fun for him to, you know, hear his name chanted in a divisional foes stadium. that's That's very unique. It speaks to the relationship. It speaks to the love. People love Cooper Cup. He's one of the best. And it was just kind of fun. I heard that and it just put a smile on my face. um Classy by the Rams fans there that are kind of joining in on that and and just celebrating a good guy and a good player.
00:38:34
M dub
A good guy, good player. I did get the sense he was pretty annoyed. you know He's been having this great season here in Seattle, great on the field, looking like a coach when he's injured, and then suddenly in the middle of the year, just gets brought up so much how he got cut from this team last year. I got the sense he was a little annoyed about it and ready to move on and get back up to Seattle.
00:38:55
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, you can't you can't blame him. That's probably a tired um storyline for him. And I was thinking, man, that first... ball that was thrown his way right there in the first quarter that ends up just skimming the ground um and you know they it was called a touchdown and then then ruled not a touchdown rightfully so it it did bounce off the ground just what a what a cool like classic cooper cup touchdown that would have been i mean if you want to drop a cooper cup touchdown that's what one looks like he makes a great diving catch
00:39:28
Tristan Amundson
Somehow the two defenders don't touch him. He gets up and he runs it into the end zone. um You know, that, that to me would be, was going to be such a cool moment. I
Seahawks' Upcoming Match Against the Titans
00:39:38
Tristan Amundson
was, I was really bummed for him that that wasn't a touchdown because it just, it just, it screamed classic Cooper cup. I'm back. You know, that would have been a ah fun little moment for him that, um,
00:39:50
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, was I was I was rooting that that wasn't wasn't hit skim in the ground, but well played, well um officiated, clearly incomplete.
00:40:01
M dub
that That one was a shame. ah Yeah. But yes, no no way around It it hit the ground. Tristan, should we move on to this next week? A bit of a different feel with this matchup. The Seahawks are on the road, back-to-back weeks.
00:40:16
M dub
Doesn't feel like that much of a burden. They're playing a 10 a.m. game on the road in Nashville, Tennessee against the Tennessee Titans. Tristan, this was going to be a reunion with some old friends as of just a few weeks ago, but no longer. Just the last few weeks, the Titans cut Tyler Lockett, and now he's a Las Vegas Raider.
00:40:36
M dub
They cut Quandre Diggs, and he is a free agent, and they traded Draymond Jones to Baltimore. So, it's just ah They're just plain on going into one of the worst teams in the NFL and and one of the worst teams in many years.
00:40:51
M dub
We talked about JSN's incredibly productive day, productive season. Tristan, the Titans do not have a pass catcher over 350 yards on the year so far.
00:41:02
M dub
that's That's what we're looking at. I do anticipate... I do anticipate a blowout, which which is greedy to say. even in the end Even the worst team in the NFL is an NFL team. There's a lot of big talents over there.
00:41:15
M dub
Jeffrey Simmons is playing at a Defensive Player of the Year level. ah do anticipate a blowout. i also the Seahawks are coming up on a bit of a soft spot in the schedule. I think the team would be better served, honestly, to to be playing some tougher opponents. I kind of think we've learned all we can learn against...
00:41:34
M dub
against the lesser teams in the NFL, ands it's time for the Seahawks to figure out how to win against a quality opponent. Whatever happens this week, we will not get those answers.
00:41:44
Tristan Amundson
Oh, I mean, perfectly said, too true. um yeah can i Can I make a a very interesting point as you talk about the the talent disparate ah discrepancy here and how different it is from the Rams to now the Titans? um I want you to venture a guess right now, Miles. So I just told you that the cheapest ticket I could find for the Rams game was $254. Can you guess what is the cheapest ticket i could find for the Tennessee Titans game coming up.
00:42:17
M dub
let Let me ask one question. um Do you end up receiving money in this transaction or or do you have to? is yeah Are you actually paying money to enter the game?
00:42:26
Tristan Amundson
you You do have to pay money, but i'm and I'm ashamed to admit, I have i have purchased um a very nice cheeseburger for more than than the price of this ticket, I'm about to tell you.
00:42:39
M dub
I'm going to go $15. fifteen dollars
00:42:42
Tristan Amundson
You're close. $17 is the cheapest.
00:42:44
M dub
i'll
00:42:45
Tristan Amundson
So I think that's that that might you know be a leading indicator as much as anything, right, of the the health of this current team and and where they're at. you know they've They've had some injuries, obviously.
00:42:56
Tristan Amundson
they've They've traded away a lot of players. They have a first-round quarterback, right, Cam cam Ward. He's ah trying his best but has not been the easiest player. um, the easiest year for him. So, um, yeah, if anyone's interested, you you can get into the game for about 17 bucks. It looks
Kenny Easley and the Importance of Franchise Relationships
00:43:12
Tristan Amundson
like, um, and heck maybe a little cheaper as we get closer to the game, you might be able to get in there for, you know, the price of, uh, I'm down here in California. Maybe you get in and get in there for the price of a double, double, some fries, um, and a milkshake, you know, that's going to run you about 13, 14 bucks. And, if it's today,
00:43:32
Tristan Amundson
It's possible, ah you know, a minute or two before the game starts, you you might be looking at 13, 12, 11 bucks, something like that.
00:43:40
M dub
That would be a dream. That was the thing about living in Seattle. You never could really like cruise into an NFL game. That's the the the good thing and the bad thing about living in Seattle because you knew the people were supporting no matter what the record was and you were you were looking at you know a monthly car payment instead of a cheeseburger to get to to just get in into the building.
00:44:03
Tristan Amundson
and Absolutely. Yeah. Nope. Let's get right here. And I'm i'm with you. let's It's time for another blowout. We've we've enjoyed those. Let's let's get another.
00:44:14
M dub
Tristan, the day before ah the day before this game, one of the legendary Seahawks passed away, safety Kenny Easley. He was 66 years old. We've been doing 50 seconds in Seahawks history to celebrate the 50th year of the team. I'm not going to quite put a time limit on it, but Tristan, I'd like to go through the Absolutely incredible life and career of Kenny Easley, one of the true great players in Seahawks and NFL history.
00:44:43
M dub
A tragic moment that he passed away. Kenny Easley started his collegiate career at UCLA, or he he played at UCLA all four years. He totals 18 interceptions in 44 games.
00:44:57
M dub
His number is retired by UCLA. The next year, he's drafted by the Seahawks with a number four overall pick. He is also drafted, believe it or not, by the Chicago Bulls in the and NBA. He does not go there.
00:45:10
M dub
He goes to the Seahawks. As a Seahawk, he has 32 interceptions in 89 career games. That includes winning the Defensive Player of the Year in 1984. His number is retired by the Seahawks as well.
00:45:26
M dub
Kenny Easley was actually traded by the Seahawks to the Cardinals before the 1978 season. And that trade kind of triggered a series of events where he failed his physical and realized that he was dealing with some significant health problems due to how his injuries were kind of treated within the Seahawks building.
00:45:48
M dub
And this led to a long period of animosity between Kenny Easley and the Seahawks. And it sounded like between Kenny Easley and just the game of football in general, despite this elite play that he had for many years, it sounded like looking looking into interviews and and articles of this last week, it looked like he didn't watch a single football game for for well over a decade and needed this time to kind of mourn what had happened to his health. His career was only seven years long in the NFL, really short, as elite as it was.
00:46:21
M dub
But this is a story of redemption, genuinely. Things started to turn around in the year 2002 when Paul Allen, as a new owner of the team, really reached out the olive branch to Kenny Easley, said, hey, you're part of this family.
00:46:35
M dub
His number was retired after that. Several years later, A campaign was started by a high school teacher in Minnesota with no no ah official links. Just so it was a big fan of Kenny Easley.
00:46:49
M dub
That leads to him getting nominated into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2017. He gives a really great speech that I watched this weekend. And in the last several years, Kenny Easley was living in his hometown back in Virginia. And it seemed like he was very involved in coordinating a flag football league for for really young children around his hometown in Virginia, and kind of a redemption story coming to a sense of peace with the game. And yeah, sounded like just moving moving it on to the next generation in a really peaceful way.
00:47:20
M dub
that's just a little bit of the life of Kenny Easley.
00:47:24
Tristan Amundson
Thanks for that, man. That that's it's fun to hear about a legend and, you know, certainly tragic to to lose him at at the age that he's at. I believe I believe 60. Is that right? i don't know if you have that off the top of your head, but I'm pretty, pretty young um and ah really sad to see that. One thing that stands out in that story is Um, and, and we all feel this, uh, acutely as sports fans is the the difference it makes having great ownership, right. And having an owner like Paul Allen that, that does reach out and probably does take some accountability and some responsibility and and starts that healing process. And it wouldn't be the same if we didn't have Kenny as a, as a Seahawks legend in good standing and and someone that, um,
00:48:12
Tristan Amundson
you know, uh, was, was brought back into the fold the right way. So I'm, I'm personally grateful that, that, uh, um, Paul did that because it would have been a ah real moron, um, uh, on, on, on the Seahawks reputation and, um And just the the legacy of of the franchise, if if they didn't do that and, you know, treat their former players the right way. So that's ah good to hear. And um yeah, certainly ah tragic passing here.
00:48:45
M dub
Yeah, absolutely. well Well said about, you know, it is interesting getting older. These relationships are really long-term relationships between a player and a team. they're They're really meaningful. They're really central parts of everybody's lives. And it really matters long after the playing career has ended, decades after the playing career has ended.
00:49:04
M dub
It still really matters.
00:49:06
Tristan Amundson
Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, listen, I know we usually have kind of our GoHawks sign off. It doesn't actually feel very appropriate. I'm assuming you'll agree after that really kind of moving and important, ah you know, thought and and note on the legacy of Kenny Easley. So I don't know if I don't know if we end it.
00:49:25
Tristan Amundson
in the same way we typically do miles with kind of, you know, that lighthearted go Hawks, we can, we can have maybe more of a ah serious go Hawks if you want. Um, but yeah, I don't think we can end it with the comedy like we usually do.
00:49:39
M dub
I think you're exactly right. um Yes. ah
00:49:44
Tristan Amundson
Well, I guess we just say go Hawks and, uh, we'll talk to you next week.
00:49:50
M dub
Absolutely. Great to be with you, Tristan, and go Hawks.