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00:00:01
Squeak By A Beak
28 Plays1 month ago
Tristan and Miles talk about winning a game while making mistakes, the Seahawk-butterfly effect, and an absolute fortress of a four-man defensive line.
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Transcript
Admiration for Arizona and Pizzeria Bianco
00:00:00
Tristan Amundson
Miles, the state of Arizona has been so good to me. It's a place I love to visit. I've been to the Grand Canyon twice, spent many days exploring the Grand Canyon. i have spent many, many days in the Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe area.
00:00:18
Tristan Amundson
My family used to go down there for Mariners spring training. My cousins live down there. I really, really enjoy the entire state. I think it's a gorgeous state.
00:00:30
Tristan Amundson
um a little known fact, really not because it's a very famous place, but some say the best pizza in the entire world is Pizzeria Bianco that is in ah the greater Phoenix area. So i'm I'm assuming after I say it on this incredible media forum that you won't be able to get a reservation there. So don't even try um now that now that we've kind of weighed on it.
Seahawks' Success in Arizona
00:00:57
Tristan Amundson
And I'll tell you what, Arizona has been really good to the Seahawks over the years as well. And it was no different on Thursday night. How are you doing, my friend?
00:01:06
M dub
Tristan, it's a pleasure to be with you discussing another Seahawks victory that does remind me of the time I went from Phoenix, Arizona, all the way to Tacoma. I stopped in Philadelphia, Atlanta, LA, and it was a great trip for me.
00:01:21
Tristan Amundson
That's it sounds like a really, really good trip. It sounds vaguely familiar, um but I can't place it.
00:01:28
M dub
It was a bit of a roundabout route, now that I think about it, to go in that order, but loved it nonetheless.
Disappointment in Cardinals Fans
00:01:36
Tristan Amundson
Totally worth it. Totally worth it. um can i Can I tell you one thing that didn't impress me about this game, Miles?
00:01:44
M dub
ah What could have not impressed you as a Seahawks victory, smooth sailing, three in one, flying up power rankings across the internet. What could have, what what could have been the problem?
00:01:56
Tristan Amundson
Here was my biggest disappointment of the game. And I mean this sincerely. i was watching the game and about halfway through, it was seventeen three Phoenix, Arizona, the Cardinals in there. Actually, I really liked their jerseys, by the way. We should talk about that.
00:02:15
Tristan Amundson
They punted the ball and the entire stadium was booing. And you could just see the the cameras kept going to the fan base. And and I said to the folks I was watching the game with, I was like, this is a miserable fan base. This is a miserable. And I say that I have again, I have family in Arizona.
00:02:33
Tristan Amundson
I love the state. I love the city. i enjoy going there. It's one of my favorite places to visit. I was there this summer at one hundred and nine degrees. I played um TBC Scottsdale and I loved it. I had a great time. So, ah again, I have no problem with.
00:02:51
Tristan Amundson
with the beautiful state, the wonderful state of Arizona. um And yet, man, I was disappointed in the fans. I mean, it was just kind of, it it kind of showed that being a fan in Arizona, being a fan of the Cardinals is a different thing.
00:03:07
Tristan Amundson
It's on it with all due respect. It's on a different level than being a Seahawks fan. um Or even being, mean, you name the, I mean, being a Phillies fan, certainly being ah fan of of some of these organizations that have just done it longer and had more success.
00:03:23
Tristan Amundson
It just looked kind of miserable. i I was kind of embarrassed on behalf of their fan base for how much they were just booing and being kind of petulant. It just kind of was felt gross. don't know if you noticed that.
Viewing Cardinals Fans' Boos as a Crisis
00:03:34
M dub
um I definitely did notice the boos. I will say I had a completely different reaction to that, and I was just absolutely loving it. It was music to my ears.
00:03:42
Tristan Amundson
It's true.
00:03:43
M dub
you know It's funny being this Seahawks team, kind 9-8, team for some time now, but you just wander around this NFL schedule, and there's a few times a year where you head into basically the middle of a divorce between a fan base and its team.
00:04:00
Tristan Amundson
and stroke
00:04:00
M dub
And things are testy and you've you've you're you've just kind of wandered into this house and you're going to wander out and leave the situation behind you. You know, I think I actually understood where where the boos were coming from. And I couldn't quite tell if Amazon Prime just had so many cameras around it. They were getting so many shots of the players on the bench, so many shots of people in the stands. But look, so this game was 17 to 3 at a late hour.
00:04:28
M dub
And it was also 20 to 6 at an even later hour. It felt a little bigger than that, but there have been many, many NFL games with much bigger scoring margins.
00:04:40
Tristan Amundson
Yep. yep
00:04:42
M dub
Situations where you cannot come back with a flurry in the fourth quarter, as the Cardinals did do in this game. I can't remember a
Seahawks' Near Defeat and Comeback
00:04:50
M dub
situation, seeing seeing the faces of the players, where they looked so out of answers.
00:04:56
M dub
ah that People just looked completely out of answers on the Cardinals' sideline. And i that is what shocked me about the Cardinals' eventual comeback to tie the game up in the last minutes before the Seahawks win.
00:05:12
M dub
But that is what really what shocked me is because you didn't really see people rallying. There's a situation where you're down 26 and you see the sidelines and it's kind of like, come on, guys, got this, we got this.
00:05:23
Tristan Amundson
We can do this. Yeah. Yeah.
00:05:25
M dub
And, you know, maybe... Maybe they're full of it. Maybe they're not. But you kind of almost expect to see that in the NFL sideline. You're looking at the Cardinals. when you look When the camera went over to the Cardinals sideline, you're seeing guys who are basically watching the clock, ready ready to punch out of their shift.
00:05:43
M dub
So I still don't know how this comeback happened. Should I So this this seat this is a Thursday night game. We're coming to you a few days late. we've really We've really had a chance to digest this game.
00:05:54
M dub
The Seahawks win on the road in Arizona, 23-20 on a last-second, very long-distance field goal by Jason Myers. And as we mentioned, for the first 50, even beyond the first 50 minutes of this game, the Seahawks completely dominated, had the Cardinals' offense ah completely locked up.
00:06:15
M dub
Somehow in in the last nine minutes of the game, the Cardinals go on two touchdown drives. I still don't know how it happened.
Seahawks' Gameplay Mistakes
00:06:23
M dub
I'm still not sure what they did right and what changed to tie up 20 to 20 before the Seahawks get a field goal with a last minute drive to win the ball game as time expired.
00:06:33
Tristan Amundson
So um'm I'm looking at the scoring um um with you know by quarter and and also by time. And it is funny to see. Fourth quarter, nine minutes and 33 seconds.
00:06:46
Tristan Amundson
Jason Myers field goal. It is twenty two six and it's It's weird to look at that and to think. There's only nine minutes and 30 seconds left, and this is going to get to a tied game with 28 seconds left in the game.
00:06:58
M dub
you
00:06:59
Tristan Amundson
like that There's going to be a lot that happens in the next nine minutes that as you're watching it live, you have no idea. And you know it's funny, I think I remarked to you, this is the way this game started. i will say up until nine minutes and 33 seconds,
00:07:17
Tristan Amundson
This game is exactly how I expected it to be. And I guess I could be more exact because I have the numbers in front of me. Up until five minutes and 50 seconds left in the game. That's when Marvin Harrison Jr. has his touchdown from Kyler Murray, 16-yard pass.
00:07:32
Tristan Amundson
At that point, that's when obviously the the the momentum really changed. But this was one of those funny games where for, let's call it for seven, you know,
00:07:44
Tristan Amundson
save seven minutes left in the game, it really felt like you were just in complete control. Like there's nothing they could really do. Kyler Murray looked, ah you know, Kyler's funny because he has, he has the ability to get you a couple of big plays and certainly he can scramble.
00:08:02
Tristan Amundson
um But man, you see some of those but throws that just seem to be going nowhere. And, you know, some of those batted balls at the line of scrimmage, which is, such a unique Kyler Murray thing to see because of his stature. A lot like Russell back in the day, sometimes balls just got batted.
00:08:17
Tristan Amundson
um It was such... It was in a ah very strange game emotionally to be watching it, to see... the Arizona bench and fans demoralized and booing to see the score 20 to six and to feel all of the momentum of the entire game being, we have this, we're in control.
00:08:39
Tristan Amundson
And then, I mean, Hey, I guess what can you do, but give them credit. They, they did come storming back. um And, you know, I will say, did it feel like the most Cardinals thing in the world that, that, that final kickoff to us,
00:08:55
Tristan Amundson
didn't land in the landing zone. And now suddenly we have even better field position. That just kind of felt to me like a Cardinals thing. Like it just, it felt like par for the course.
00:09:05
M dub
It felt like a perfect Cardinals play. And to be honest, those, I think it was, it's essentially a five yard boost, right? Because the the touchback has you on the 35. This is technically a penalty that gets you on the 40. I mean, it's more than that because the Seahawks would have had to return the ball otherwise, but ah let's call it a five yard boost. That really mattered because it was a really young long a really long field goal that Myers had to hit in order to to win the game. 52 yards, you know, 57, let's say, without the penalty.
00:09:36
M dub
Yeah, that that really mattered. And yeah, I totally agree with you all on, you know, this the Seahawks defense throughout this game, just it was just a complete lockdown of the Arizona offense. And i really don't know what changed. We saw Marvin Harrison Jr. have...
00:09:54
M dub
one of the He had kind of four years of career development in about three hours because in the first half of this game, he's having a pretty ah pretty negatively impactful game for a wide receiver.
00:10:05
Tristan Amundson
Yep.
00:10:05
M dub
Cardinals have two interceptions on the day. Both of them are on targets to Harrison, and both of them are on situations where it's not all on Murray on the play. And somehow, I don't know what changed, but his touchdown with about five minutes left, it's it's him going up over Devin Witherspoon.
00:10:26
M dub
Witherspoon...
00:10:27
Tristan Amundson
In position.
00:10:28
M dub
the The ball has about half an inch to an inch traveling over Witherspoon's outstretched fingers. if If it's about an inch lower, I think that's a pass defense by Witherspoon.
00:10:40
M dub
the ball is perfectly there for a touchdown. It's one of, it's one of the greatest so touchdown catches you'll ever see, to be honest. So it's, it's really wild that those plays came from the same player in the same game.
00:10:53
M dub
I, I guess personally, my thought is that it's a Thursday night game and it's hard to come in with that full tank of gas, I guess the Seahawks were at maybe 80% and it kind of ran out at
00:10:59
Tristan Amundson
Thank you.
00:11:05
M dub
at that point in the fourth quarter. I don't know. It's it's it's hard to say what they could... it it It was hard to see what the Seahawks were doing wrong all of a sudden because because both sides of the ball were were really sputtering, and it was really hard to identify what wait way what changed here because there what there wasn't some huge momentum play.
00:11:24
M dub
There wasn't a turnover. There weren't obvious there were were a couple of obvious mistakes along the way, but there wasn't an igniting one on on the Arizona... yeah that That flipped the game in Arizona's favor. It it was a it was very bizarre.
00:11:36
M dub
It was very bizarre.
00:11:37
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, it's it's funny how it just suddenly escalated quickly and then suddenly the game was getting what felt like, so you know, getting away from us. and it obviously did. It was tied up with 28 seconds left in the game. So there was kind of that that sudden escalation out really what felt like out of nowhere.
00:11:54
Tristan Amundson
um And, you know, it it does go to show that if you play with your food too long, sometimes bad things can happen. Right. And if if we if we talk through some of the.
00:12:05
Tristan Amundson
um mistakes, let's just call them mistakes that were made. i'm not I won't go into them any more than that, right? If you think about a JSN hold that negates the Charbonnet touchdown that wasn't necessary at all. I mean, JSN
Evaluating Seahawks' Performance
00:12:20
Tristan Amundson
easily could have just you know walked away once Charbonnet got the ball and it would have been a touchdown. That guy couldn't have gotten to him.
00:12:27
Tristan Amundson
um the The Kobe Bryant, really, I mean, mistake, but also a fairly freak thing. you You really never see one guy get thrown into another guy and that causes a fumble.
00:12:39
Tristan Amundson
it the I mean, i i hate to be too nitpicky on that. You have something to say. So say say what you have to say on that one.
00:12:45
M dub
That was a weird one. What I would say is, and I noticed this but before things, before the situation really changed, about 12 short months ago, Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia were doing a very informative show on YouTube that nobody was watching.
00:12:59
M dub
ah It's been a long 12 months since then, let's just say. But they pointed out something to me, which is that defenders are looking for the elbow to be away from the body. the that that the When you're holding the ball, if that elbow's away from the body, it's a huge green light for a defender. And if you're spending your whole life playing defense, now the players on the field were the Arizona offensive players.
00:13:22
M dub
But it really did.
00:13:23
Tristan Amundson
Fair enough.
00:13:24
M dub
it really did change how I look at fumbles and very few of them look accidental to me. Even there was a George Helani fumble late in the blowout against the Saints. I noticed he had the elbow problem, the chicken wing.
00:13:36
M dub
And on this one, Kobe Bryant had the elbow away as well. I think JSN's for fumble in the game against the Niners, same issue. So it's something I'm noticing, and it's a pretty fundamental part of the game that the the Seahawks need to practice on both sides here. Ball security has been an issue.
00:13:53
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, and it's it's funny that it it really negates an incredible, like that would have been an incredible momentum changer. um Those are the two that are coming to mind. I'm looking at my notes.
00:14:04
Tristan Amundson
I i felt like I remember.
00:14:05
M dub
I got two more. I got two more.
00:14:06
Tristan Amundson
you got two more. Okay.
00:14:07
M dub
Two more playing with your food moments. Another one in the first half is Kenneth Walker getting the penalty for just tossing the ball at the guy.
00:14:13
Tristan Amundson
Oh, yes, yes.
00:14:16
M dub
i mean, nobody would agree that that there there should be a five-yard taunting penalty.
00:14:18
Tristan Amundson
Just silly. Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:21
M dub
You know, this was about those fifth and this. If there was a five-yard taunting penalty, this would be a borderline moment, I think.
00:14:29
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:14:29
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:14:29
M dub
But there is no such thing.
00:14:31
M dub
It's 15 yards. That pushes the team way out of field goal range. And I think the the the first playing with your food moment came on the Seahawks' first drive of the game. Justin, we talked last week ah going up against the Saints how Saints have a fourth and short at about midfield in the first quarter.
00:14:49
M dub
They line up and shotgun. Our eyes get big. Here we go. This is not going to work.
00:14:53
Tristan Amundson
yeah
00:14:55
M dub
So I was astonished to see the Seahawks do the exact same thing on a fourth and short in the middle of the field. And yeah, sure enough, it doesn't go anywhere.
00:15:06
M dub
i kind of wonder... ah this is This is kind of... It's like a dumb theory that I'm starting to believe in more and more. But I kind of wonder with like short down or late game situations, if we, the normal fan, has just a lot... We just have so many mental reps doing this on like Sunday ticket and stuff. And somebody who's a coach in the NFL...
00:15:30
M dub
A coach of the NFL never has a chance to to watch Sunday Ticket on it. One time a year, maybe, you know, at the most. like
00:15:36
Tristan Amundson
That's funny. Yeah.
00:15:37
M dub
So so so're I feel like just as fans, we're getting like rep after rep after rep of this. Just like how to handle these these kind of intricate game situations.
00:15:47
Tristan Amundson
That's funny. This is what seems to work. This is what seems to not work every time. That's really funny.
00:15:53
M dub
And what's so crazy about the Seahawks doing this is they have an unstoppable play in this situation that they developed.
00:15:53
Tristan Amundson
Might be true.
00:16:00
M dub
It's the A.J. Barner push forward. Now, Jalen Hurts has been doing this in Philadelphia for a few years. The Seahawks have the honestly brilliant idea, like, well, we can have our or quarterback do this, or or we can have a guy who's...
00:16:13
Tristan Amundson
this monster that we have on the team do it.
00:16:14
M dub
Bigger and stronger and taller and longer and you know everything.
00:16:15
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:16:19
M dub
What if he did that? It's worked in each of the last three games. Nobody's really been able to stop it. And you still, you just keep that in your back pocket and go with the shotgun. So I do think if these four plays, which are all just silly moments, if they went a little bit differently...
00:16:37
M dub
That 20-6 lead is like a 27-6 or 30-6 lead, and and this just goes down as a blowout, and and and the spark never comes back for the Cardinals.
00:16:47
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, and you could argue just you just need one of them not to happen, right? I think it's i think it's too much to say if all four of them don't happen because if we were the hosts of the only Arizona Cardinals podcast, maybe we have our list of bonehead things that we did that's like, well, if we only didn't do these.
00:16:51
M dub
Sure, yeah.
00:17:04
Tristan Amundson
So a certain point, it is just football. But i yeah, i think it's an I do think it's an ask from a coaching staff. Let's just eliminate one of them. Now, obviously, i will say the the Ken Walker taunting, just just don't. okay Okay, there you go. Like, don't throw the football at somebody. that's That low-hanging fruit if I've ever seen it. That should never happen again.
00:17:26
Tristan Amundson
um And frankly, you should kind of... I know DK kind of left on his own volition somewhat, but I think there's something to be said for, hey, man, like we got rid of the guy who did dumb stuff all the time.
00:17:38
Tristan Amundson
Like it like ah with all your DK is ah a great athlete and has been nothing but great to Seattle sports. But he had a lot of those moments. It looked like a DK thing, right? DK would have probably thrown it harder at the guy than than K-9 did.
00:17:52
Tristan Amundson
But that so that that one is a bit unforgivable just because it's like, why? It it didn't it doesn't help. It didn't even make you feel better. Probably you just like, what do you doing? Throwing the football.
00:18:03
Tristan Amundson
um One thing that I do love about this coaching staff, and I like you bring up the point, you know, they don't have as many reps. I was listening to Mike's press conference um after the game. And actually, i was listening to his Monday press conference specifically.
00:18:19
Tristan Amundson
And they asked him about that exact play, that that fourth and one. um and it's the best thing about Mike McDonald. I think it's a really great compliment to pay him. He is such a he's so good at just being like, oh, yeah, that was that was like really dumb.
00:18:34
Tristan Amundson
Like that was he's like, I need to do a better job in those moments to like have an opinion on ah on a play call. And he basically took like specifically that one on himself. And it was like, yeah, that's like we can do a better job. and and it's funny because um don't know. I can't remember if was Bob Condotta. One of the the beat reporters asked specifically, did you in that moment, did you think about using the A.J. Barner play? Because it works really good.
00:19:00
Tristan Amundson
and And Mike basically was like, yeah, we we probably should have. Like we that's basically Mike McDonald agrees with you. Like, yeah, that's that's probably the play. Like, we're we're trying to outthink ourselves a little bit. Just get there and and push forward and get a first down. So I do love that about Mike. He's very transparent about these things. And it doesn't seem to be a big point of pride with him. It's like, oh, yeah, let's let's fix it and and move forward. So, um so yeah, nice. nice to nice it's a It is ah dream scenario as a fan.
00:19:34
Tristan Amundson
And I think as a team. and And maybe this is the ultimate optimist's way to look at a game like this. We were able to learn a bunch of stuff And at the same time, we didn't have to pay the price of losing a game.
00:19:50
Tristan Amundson
Does that make sense? Like we didn't have to pay that this price of, hey, we made all these mistakes and it cost us a game. We made all these mistakes and it almost cost us a game, which I think can be really valuable for a young team to grow on because now they can just like you've given your coaches so much money.
00:20:09
Tristan Amundson
opportunity to like lay into you and basically say like, what the hell are you guys thinking? So I, I think that, that we can, you know, if we look at this game, obviously it's a win, but if we look at it even more so as like a lot of teachable moments ah for the team in general.
00:20:26
M dub
I think that is a great way to look at it because, yeah, getting getting that field goal right at the end totally changes. I mean, our perspective on each of these plays really changes, you know, if if things work out a little bit differently in the end moments, which kind of was out of the Seahawks' control a little bit. You know, i mean, look at that kickoff penalty, a gift completely out of the team's control.
00:20:47
Tristan Amundson
yep no 100 100 all right what else did you see what what else did you like what else did you did you you cringe at
00:20:56
M dub
Well, I i thought, um I'm going to go nitpicky here. we we've We have praised this team a lot this year so far, with which I think is is is how they should be appraised. Just ah but looking back, big picture, right now the Seahawks are seventh in the league in offensive points per game and second in the league in defensive points per game.
00:21:17
M dub
that's That's a pretty nutty situation to be in. I know we got the Saints blowout in there, but still, that's just, that's taking care of business. It felt shocking even just to see 20 on the scoreboard. You kind of go, what?
00:21:30
M dub
It feels like the defense is having a bad day when you see that too, you know, with the other team, ah because that that's the first time this year it's happened. And that's how great this defense is. As you see 20 on the scoreboard and it feels like a lot of points.
00:21:44
M dub
This is the NFL. That's not a lot of points. Anyway, I thought we We had a tough time. we're We're having a tough time getting the running game going, which is interesting because it looked like that was really going to be the strength of the team in the
Impact of Returning Players on Defense
00:21:58
M dub
preseason. But about a quarter way through now, it still doesn't feel great. And I thought that's just, you know, leaving aside the penalty.
00:22:06
M dub
It's kind of an odd game for K-9. So he has 19 rushes for 81 yards, which looks good at first. But out of those 19 touches, only two of them go for first downs.
00:22:13
Tristan Amundson
Yep.
00:22:17
M dub
Now, he does get another big first down on a catch, and that's an important part of his game. But two first downs out of 19 rushes, it's just a pretty low number. It felt like there were a number of plays where, you know, look,
00:22:33
M dub
Both K-9 and Zach Charbonnet, they're getting contacted at or even before the line of scrimmage quite often. And I'm sure it doesn't feel good as a running back, but you do need to fall forward on those plays and just get as many yards as you can.
00:22:48
M dub
It felt like there were a number of times where he tried to cut back the other way and you you just end up losing yards in those situations. And that that's why falling forward is not fun, but there's there's a reason you do it.
00:23:00
M dub
And just generally speaking, there were there were some opportunities on some drives, maybe the third quarter, early in the fourth quarter, where it was kind of set up, you know, ah having a 17 to three or 20 to six lead.
00:23:13
M dub
That's a perfect time to just have the type of drive where, you're running the ball, you know, like maybe nine out 10 out of 11 or 12 plays. You know, you you really have a drive where you lean on the run and and you let that play cock, you know, get all the way down to one before every snap and just deflate the ball, deflate the game clock. And just doesn't quite seem like the team can do that right now.
00:23:36
M dub
K-9 on the year has a much better rushing average than Zach Charbonnet. Charbonnets are at around two yards per carry, which is a little alarming.
00:23:47
M dub
i would say that has a bit more to do with the offensive line play than how they're playing. But ironically, both players are very close to one another when it comes to pro football focus, pro football references, excuse me, success rate, which takes into but down and distance to go.
00:24:05
M dub
They're both, K9's at 44% success, Charbonnet's at 43% success, and those both rank below average in the NFL. We have 47 qualified runners so far.
00:24:16
M dub
K9 is 30th overall.
00:24:16
Tristan Amundson
Yep.
00:24:18
M dub
Charbonnet is 34th overall. So I think when you look at Charbonnet's running average, you do have to take into account they're using him much more in short yardage situations.
00:24:27
Tristan Amundson
yep
00:24:28
M dub
ah So it's it's not quite as bad as that that two yards per carry looks, but But the the conversion rate is relatively low for the entire unit so far.
00:24:37
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, i'm I'm looking right now at expected point summary, um again, also on on pro football reference. And the Seahawks per rush um ah points, expected points, is negative 0.46, which obviously...
00:24:54
Tristan Amundson
You know, I'm no mathematician, but you don't want to see the negative numbers there. um I think I nailed the stats with that ah great synopsis. and And so it is something that it certainly stands out.
00:25:08
Tristan Amundson
um And it almost... I feel like negative 0.46 kind of matches the eye test of what you just mentioned because, you know, Ken Walker with, you know, 80 plus yards um running Charbonnet with the touchdown. Like you you kind of look at and you think, yeah, you know what? Like not a terrible day at the office. Not great, but not terrible.
00:25:30
Tristan Amundson
And I think it does equate to, to right around that. um Something I do love to see is that Cardinals ah rush expected points is a negative 2.32. So, you know, it's kind of one of those, you look at how are off our off or our defense is dominating the line of scrimmage, um, and being able to really,
00:25:52
Tristan Amundson
um Hold the Cardinals in this game exactly where we wanted. i think we saw another really great game. One of my other takeaways, um just as we talk about rushing, right?
00:26:02
M dub
you
00:26:05
Tristan Amundson
We're talking about Seahawks rushing and and now, you know, kind of our defense
Offensive Development and JSN's Growth
00:26:08
Tristan Amundson
and how they handled the rush game on the other side. Yeah. man, ah football is so much easier when four can beat five, when, when your front four can um dictate and dominate and take care of the other front five. And and when they bring in tight ends, what have you.
00:26:26
Tristan Amundson
And, and to me, This is just so obvious. like It's so great to see, and it it would it stood out so much. Obviously, the numbers back it up. um Big Cat, what a game, man.
00:26:40
Tristan Amundson
I mean, what a dominant game um by Leonard. And and man, like Jay Reed out there playing his role perfectly. um and And another...
00:26:50
Tristan Amundson
yeah funny enough, not one of the games where the stats jumped off the page when we look at Brian Murphy, but he was affecting the game. Like he has been all year. Um, a couple of plays come to mind. One actually resulted in a sack where he put some great pressure on Kyler.
00:27:08
Tristan Amundson
Kyler scrambles away, which makes sense. Kyler Murray is faster than Byron Murphy. Um, But he ends up running out of bounds right before he gets to the line of scrimmage. And it it counts as a sack, I think, for the the linebacker and the safety that's chasing him.
00:27:24
Tristan Amundson
But that started with B. Murph. And then, um dude, exactly on cue... Byron Murphy gets held um and he should have gotten a tackle for loss, but he was held.
00:27:35
Tristan Amundson
And, you know, it ends up going from one or two yard gain, but holding and and we get pushed back 10 yards and you can see the excitement he had from that, like the the impact that he had by drawing the holding penalty.
00:27:39
M dub
you
00:27:48
Tristan Amundson
um So I think if we were to talk to these defensive linemen, Miles, and we gave them our our thought from last week, um which, by the way, we we could rehash that if we want to, because we we did have that glitch on last week's episode. And so and I think this conversation happened post glitch.
00:28:06
Tristan Amundson
um So we we could certainly just. you know talk about the exact same thing if we want to, this idea that um that a holding penalty really should be one of the metrics, one of the things we judge um and reward defensive tackles and defensive ends for, because certainly it affects the game as much as um a sack and a tackle for a loss. like It's an interesting thing.
00:28:30
Tristan Amundson
And Byron Murphy making a big impact in that way as well. Really fun to see that whole group. And i'll I'll just, I'll say one more and then I want to hear your thoughts on them. But man, Chenna.
00:28:41
Tristan Amundson
I mean, Chenna Nuoso just doing a great job again. It's really, really fun to see him getting back into form because I think he can fill such ah an interesting role in this rotation.
00:28:54
Tristan Amundson
Another week, we're hopefully we're a broken record all year. Hopefully this is the most boring take week after week. Our front four winning again.
00:29:05
M dub
I couldn't agree with you more. This defense is so fun to watch. I'm looking at the full game stats for the Cardinals here. And it's it's hard to figure out how they did get to 20 points because there wasn't some crazy turnover, you know, where they had a really short field or something. So for the game, Arizona had 17 rushes for 89 yards.
00:29:27
M dub
That even skews the picture because about 30 of that came from a big Kyler Murray scramble towards the end of the game. So really, they only got about 60 yards total from their conventional rushing game.
00:29:39
M dub
Then you look at their passing game. Kyler Murray, 41 passing attempts. It gets up to just 200 yards in passing. All right, you want to add in his scramble onto that because it's part of the passing game? Okay.
00:29:50
M dub
That gets up to 230 yards with the two interceptions. Seahawks get six sacks in this game. And ah i was thinking we we were giving a lot of praise to the fact that ah the 10-yard holding penalty tends to get you more yards on average than a conventional sack.
00:30:08
M dub
Um, I'm just going to float this out there. I'm thinking of hold a Rooney right now. I, it needs a name. and needs It needs a name like sack hold a Rooney. That's going to be a first draft. I think that that's going to go by the wayside, but just for us talking about it now, as we invent a brand new stat, a hidden stat in the NFL landscape, I
Sam Darnold's Performance Analysis
00:30:27
M dub
noticed it. Chenin was absolutely back.
00:30:30
M dub
This is probably honestly his first game coached by Mike McDonald feeling healthy. And he made an absolutely gigantic impact.
00:30:36
Tristan Amundson
Thank
00:30:38
M dub
He had 38 defensive snaps total. And in that time, he got two conventional sacks and one additional hold the Rooney as well. Again, not sure how the Cardinals got to 20 points in the middle of all that because that the Seahawks dominated absolutely everything.
00:30:55
M dub
It was fantastic.
00:30:56
Tristan Amundson
It really was, man. Yeah. and I mean, look, we can look at the numbers. They back it up that it is baffling. And again, you you have to give them credit. They they came out and took a care of business and and made this a really close game.
00:31:08
Tristan Amundson
um But yeah, that that front four. I really like that point you bring up that this is probably the first time that Chena has been healthy with Mike.
00:31:18
Tristan Amundson
um I really hope that D-Law is okay coming off of injury. I don't know if you've heard anything more. i haven't. I don't think they're going to do any injury updates until Wednesday anyhow because they don't have to.
00:31:30
Tristan Amundson
So that typically Mike likes to kind of hold his cards close to the vest as he um is going through a prep week. So hopefully the extra couple of days was helpful for D-Law to have a bit of a recovery um because, man, this...
00:31:39
M dub
Thank you.
00:31:46
Tristan Amundson
this pass rush and, and listen, maybe the guy we've spoken about the least is boy, a mafia. And he was very active out there and it was fun to watch him. I mean, he had one of those great, um, uh, knockdowns right at the line of scrimmage.
00:32:00
Tristan Amundson
And I mean, it almost looked like it was going to be one of those where he was going to be able to, you know, throw it up in the air and catch it and run it, you know, run it for a pick six. Um, but you know, just another one of those moments where he was able to,
00:32:12
Tristan Amundson
um ah dictate, you know, his side of the field and and a bit of that game. um There really is no one on that line right now that you look at and you think, oh no, you know, he's in right now.
00:32:20
M dub
Thank
00:32:26
Tristan Amundson
Right. I mean, if if we just go through it really quickly, Demarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu, Derek Hall, Byron Murphy, Boye Mafé, Leonard Williams.
00:32:37
Tristan Amundson
um i'm I'm looking at my list. I'm looking at my list. ah um who Who am I missing? Who am I missing?
00:32:43
Tristan Amundson
I'm i'm ah missing huge names. Oh, Jaron Reed.
00:32:44
M dub
You know, they rotate in Brandon Peeley and some positive snaps from him, too.
00:32:50
Tristan Amundson
Oh, it's unbelievable. So it's like in Mike Morris actually got involved again a bit in this game. 17% of the snaps to your point, Pilly, who we're we're talking about before. um I mean, man, like all of these guys have a role and they're they're doing their role and you're really happy with the production.
00:33:08
Tristan Amundson
um It's such a superpower that a defense has. and And think about this, man. We're seeing this without, um and I think I referred to him last week again, and and I think it's a good name for his role.
00:33:21
Tristan Amundson
Kind of the Joker card of all of this. Maybe the most dangerous thing that you can give someone like Mike McDonald is Eamon Rory. And, you know, we haven't even... we've only seen him for a little bit and he affected that first game against the 49ers to get him back in the mix and and causing chaos, similar to what we see with Devin Witherspoon.
00:33:42
Tristan Amundson
It's going to be so exciting to add that, that, um, ingredient into the mixture and to see what, what Mike McDonald can do with it. Um, it's, it's going to be really cool. So yeah, to see all of them, uh, um,
00:33:56
Tristan Amundson
ah contributing the way they are has has been really cool. And I really do believe, though, this version of the Seahawks defense, I think it starts with the front four.
00:34:07
Tristan Amundson
um I think they're really the stars of the show. And and that's a that that per pretends to great things because great defenses have a really strong front four. That's that's all there is to it.
00:34:19
M dub
Absolutely. I did notice in this game, I mean, I think every player has to earn their snaps in each game because we did see Drake Thomas at linebacker have pretty much a career game.
00:34:30
M dub
Tyrese Knight was healthy, but Drake Thomas got 44 snaps compared to just 21 for Tyrese Knight, ah kind of a timeshare between them.
00:34:38
Tristan Amundson
Yep. yep
00:34:38
M dub
Drake Thomas gets a sack and also really crucial. I don't think it goes technically down as a tackle, but he tackles Marvin Harrison Jr. ah on the on the play where he's kind of bobbling the ball and puts that interception right in Ernest Jones' breadbasket.
00:34:54
M dub
So yeah, I mean, this this thing is, there's there's a role for everybody and it's evolving as we go. It's not just everybody gets their snaps.
00:35:05
Tristan Amundson
So the other side of this, and it's funny because as we were discussing before we started, this guy didn't get a reception in the first half, which is very weird because he does get what looks like a reception, but it's a backwards pass.
00:35:21
Tristan Amundson
So it doesn't count is JSN, who, although he didn't have a huge impact on this game in the first half,
00:35:25
M dub
Thank
00:35:30
Tristan Amundson
again, kind of put his somehow always finds a way to put his fingerprints um four games into the season. So far, his fingerprints have been all over every single game that we've played.
00:35:43
Tristan Amundson
um am I right? Do you agree if I tell you he's the crown jewel of this offense? There's there's no arguing that, right? I mean, he's just he has been so fun to watch.
00:35:56
M dub
Yeah, there is no arguing it. that By far the leading, i mean, this game breaks down kind of like the other games where he he has about twice as many yards as like the next highest receiver on the list and doing this for the sixth best scoring ah offense in the league so far.
00:36:13
Tristan Amundson
it's It's fun to watch. He can do it in the short stuff. He can do it intermediate. He can do it with the long stretch the field. um and And what we have to keep coming back to, you man, is like this this offense is still coming together, right?
00:36:29
Tristan Amundson
I mean, Cooper Cup and JSN have not played a ton together yet.
00:36:33
M dub
Thank
00:36:33
Tristan Amundson
um You know, in general, if we look at Arroyo, he hasn't played a lot of football. Torrey Horton has not played a lot. These guys haven't played a ton together. The idea of these ingredients mixing and marinating better to to make an even stronger unit, it's going to be really fun to see.
00:36:52
Tristan Amundson
That's what I keep coming back to. Every time I watch Torrey Horton get a catch, every time I watch Arroyo, every time I watch um the the different roles that all these guys have in the offense, I think to myself,
00:37:05
Tristan Amundson
man, this is going to look way different and theoretically way better come like week 12, week 13, as they just get to know each other, as as they start to to learn each other's games. and And frankly, as Sam gets to know them as well. So it's kind of weird to to think about. and And maybe Elijah Arroyo is the best example of it because,
00:37:27
Tristan Amundson
His snap count and his impact is just, to me, it feels like it's just like 10% more every single week. I don't have the numbers in front of me of you know week on week, snap count and targets and all that stuff.
00:37:41
Tristan Amundson
But it just, anecdotally speaking, it feels as though ah Elijah Arroyo is just making a little bit more of an impact, right? Every single week. It's like, yeah, 10, 15% better, 10, 15% better. And he's just stacking week on top of week.
00:37:58
Tristan Amundson
um I think that it's going be really fun to see this as it melds and blends and grows um in the coming weeks. And and specifically, you know, let's get to mid season and see where all these guys are at.
00:38:11
M dub
Absolutely feel you on Arroyo and the incremental improvement. Has his first explosive play of the season, I would say, with a 32-yard catch in this one, 44 yards total on the game.
00:38:23
M dub
Yeah, i that's that's that's a great season from a rookie to to yeah be noticeably incrementally improving in your very first month of the NFL.
00:38:34
Tristan Amundson
all we could ask for, right? I mean, really all we could ask for is just getting a little better every day. So yeah, that's, that's been fun. though Those are kind of my two big takeaways from an offensive perspective, just seeing, JSN really, I mean, it, it feels as though he's solidifying himself as one of the premier wide receivers in the league, which is a great thing to say. And it it feels kind of crazy to say, but it, it, it seems very obvious.
00:38:59
Tristan Amundson
Um, and then to see Arroyo's maturation, And to see the way these ingredients are are continuing to come together. And I think there's there's a lot more meat on that bone for us.
00:39:11
Tristan Amundson
So, yeah, that that that was kind of my but my final big takeaway from this game.
00:39:14
M dub
you
00:39:16
Tristan Amundson
um Front four on defense, dominating, and then this offense just learning itself and and doing it fairly rapidly, it feels like.
00:39:26
M dub
Absolutely. A big part of that that I want to talk about is Sam Darnold, because this spring, OK, the Seahawks signed Sam Darnold and watch the NFL the last few years. And Sam Darnold is definitely a name that you're familiar with.
00:39:41
M dub
But it occurred to me in the as as this game was going on that despite so much Sam Darnold discussion from year to year and as he went from team to team, It's kind of just all about his draft slot and and the discussion doesn't really go much further than is he a bust or not.
00:39:59
M dub
And it I realized that I've never really known how he actually plays until we've actually... seen him here with the Seahawks. And now that we've got a month under our belt, which isn't that long of a time, but it does feel like there are a few traits that are really standing out in and Sam Darnold's game. And we can actually discuss what he, you know, but when the players are on the field, it's not like they're walking around with their draft pick attached to them or on their back or something.
00:40:28
M dub
It's 22 guys on the field. They got drafted where they drafted. It doesn't matter anymore. Here's who they actually are on the field. What really stands out to me, i would say his number one strength so far, and i'm curious if you would agree ah with this, is being a calm improviser.
00:40:47
M dub
we We've seen a number of plays, especially in third down situations over this first month where things break down. And I think Sam Darnold has a really great ability to stay calm in that situation that's That's probably 80%, 90% of the battle.
00:41:05
M dub
He doesn't panic. And and he he holds onto the ball for a little bit. He doesn't look to scramble. He doesn't look to throw it away right away. He definitely doesn't put the ball in harm's way.
00:41:16
M dub
And there's been a number of situations where... a wide receiver comes open in an improvised way. And he's just able to kind of do a little pitch and catch and has converted some really big third downs in the first down so far in the season. Have, have you noticed this, this ability of Sam Darnold?
00:41:33
Tristan Amundson
yeah The calmness does stand out, certainly. And ah what I'm not going to say that surprised me. I was very pleasant like pleasantly surprised. i don't know. I was happy to see how calm he was and his presence in general.
00:41:48
Tristan Amundson
What did surprise me? was some of the improvisation that he's able to do. He was, he's able to um fix some of these broken plays or at least plays that seem like, oh the man, you know, we needed to block this guy for another half second before, you know, the screen was fully ready before the guy's out on the flat.
00:42:08
Tristan Amundson
I think about a few of these passes to AJ Barner. Yeah. And yet he's he's been able to do a little bit of scrambling, get himself in a good position, and and deliver um you know some of these key plays.
00:42:23
Tristan Amundson
So yeah, the the the improvising, I think, has been what I've been most surprised about.
00:42:28
Tristan Amundson
um and And I've just been really, really happy with the calmness. But I think you're right. If you were to define Sam Darnold in four games, right? Four games so far as a Seahawk.
00:42:29
M dub
Thank you.
00:42:40
Tristan Amundson
Calm, I think, would be the perfect word to describe Sam Darnold.
00:42:45
M dub
um Absolutely calm. And it really feels like he's playing the game that your coach wants him to play. So I'm, I'm noticing that he's very accurate. I think there's very few misplaced balls and I think he's just constantly making great decisions. And that includes on plays where the right decision is to put the ball on the ground. He'll do that.
00:43:06
M dub
You can just kind of feel he's playing a bit of an ego list game. He's not going to put together a stat line that'll blow you away. uh, He does not explode in a way that maybe a Hall of Fame quarterback does, but he he just plays a ah great game. And eliminating mistakes is way more than a ton, a ton of quarterbacks in the NFL that you can say. And I, really I really, felt that when the Seahawks acquired him this spring, that the decision was met with a lot of criticism kind of in, in the NFL, uh, you know, landscape at large. So, so with Sam Darnold's play, i would I would say it's really hard to find a true weakness of his game is what I've noticed so far. I'm i'm really not seeing anything where, where you're saying this this is a weakness of his game.
00:43:57
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. And I, I think I agree with that. I mean, the the long ball has been great specifically to JSN, but a couple to Tori Horton, the pass it really, I will say, if you ask me what's the one play that stood out, it's that first touchdown pass to AJ Barner.
00:44:13
Tristan Amundson
Um, It was such a beautiful touch pass that he put on there. um It was a really, really gorgeous play. um Gorgeous pass that that he delivers.
00:44:24
Tristan Amundson
You know, one thing that that stands out to Sam, I'm sure you youre you can see this as well, um but it's just kind of as a guy who's not great at math, his completion to attempts,
00:44:36
Tristan Amundson
is it's just a it's a dream come true for me because i don't know if you're familiar with this, Miles. um Do you know how many completions he has and how many attempts he has? and And what I'm getting to is it makes it really easy to see that he's a 70 percent completion ah percentage this year.
00:44:56
M dub
ah could he Could he really have 70 completions on 100 attempts? Is that possible?
00:45:00
Tristan Amundson
Exactly. It's exactly, that's exactly what he has as of today. i just looked it. like, well, that's the easiest math of my life. That's incredible. Thank you. Thank you, Sam.
00:45:11
M dub
That is great. I did want to point out, though, so so the Seahawks were were not really met with with a lot of of praise but when they made this acquisition in March. I think that national attitude on that has already changed in one month. But just to point out, ah back when even when it happened, I was really excited about the transaction.
00:45:31
M dub
Because the the musical chairs among NFL quarterbacks was was a pretty small game in the last offseason. So i I looked and there were seven veteran quarterbacks, projected starters that changed teams ah across the entire offseason.
00:45:48
M dub
just seven. I mean, there's, there's a lot of established guys around the league. So there were just seven moves. Um, we're keeping cam Ward and the Titans and kind of a separate category here as a rookie. And here were the seven quarterbacks. And when they changed teams in chronological order, uh,
00:46:03
M dub
led off a Geno Smith in that trade. So that was the first one. So that was, you know, the Seahawks were not going to get Geno Smith because they were trading him away. So we go Geno Smith, then Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, Daniel Jones, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers.
00:46:19
M dub
Now, we Nobody really predicted that Daniel Jones was going to play like he played. But I really thought John Snyder had a great vision for we really had one move.
00:46:32
M dub
to we had There was one move. It was really getting Sam Darnold, looking at everybody else who was moving around. And Darnold is early on that chronological list. Snyder saw one move, and he made it early. And I think people in the media in the springtime really underrated the The few options that the Seahawks would be left with if they didn't sign Sam Darnold got him on a reasonable deal.
00:46:58
M dub
This is just an all-round, it's a great player and a great move, and that's why the team is three and one right now.
00:47:06
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, and I mean, we can be grateful. You know, I won't say this often, but we can be grateful to the Rams, right? Because that Rams defense really caused Sam some trouble um in that playoff game. And that's one of the big reasons that in in Detroit is yeah one of the big reasons why.
00:47:25
Tristan Amundson
at least from a media perspective, we can't speak to how teams actually felt. and They're obviously know a lot more than the media does, but at least from, from an outside perspective, that's obviously when the narrative changed. Oh, you know what? It is just Sam Darnold. Oh, he's not very good.
00:47:40
Tristan Amundson
And I was talking to my brother-in-law about that the other night, because it occurred to me, i was like, you know, I believe Sam got sacked eight times in that playoff game against the Rams.
00:47:52
Tristan Amundson
When you get sacked eight times, there's ah There's a moment when you can look at us a sack line and you can say, you know, I think scheme might might have been an issue here. I think maybe preparation. I think maybe maybe we we could have, ah you know, ah put put some protections in place to help the guy out.
00:48:09
Tristan Amundson
um Jared Verse obviously having an unbelievable season with l L.A. last year. um Amongst other really, you know, Brandon Fisk, they they have a great defensive line and it caused trouble.
00:48:21
Tristan Amundson
um But I do think it's ah it's a bit... myopic to look at that game and to look at a game that he struggled against Detroit, another beyond elite defense, and say, based off of these two bad performances, this guy's previous 16 games ah we we should throw out. We shouldn't look at this data anymore.
00:48:43
Tristan Amundson
um It did seem kind of foolish at the time. um And i'm I'm glad to see that Sam is, ah you know, really landed on his feet.
00:48:46
M dub
you
00:48:51
Tristan Amundson
And, um you know, what, through four games, he has only six sacks, which means that um the team is doing some of the right things. He's doing some of the right things. and And those six sacks, man, you know, we can be grateful.
00:49:03
Tristan Amundson
um You know, that they're really he's been able to hold on to the ball and, you know, just take a sack sometimes, which isn't fun. But, um you know, again, to your point, having the wherewithal um to not freak out and just, okay, we'll we'll take the sack. It's fine.
00:49:22
M dub
Yeah, he's i he's really been through it in his career. i think that i think I kind of feel like just the up and down situation with the Jets, ah the kind of off the field situation with the Jets really just this led him to be a ah very calm player at this point in his career.
00:49:38
Tristan Amundson
and Absolutely.
Upcoming Game Against Buccaneers
00:49:39
Tristan Amundson
um any Any other thoughts on this game, Miles, before we we talk really quickly about the next one?
00:49:45
M dub
Let's move on to next week. A mini-bye. I'm not sure how much it feels like a bye. I kind of wondered that this week. How much does it actually feel like a bye for the team? Maybe it does. But 10 days of rest before a team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has to make a pretty doggone long flight to come up to Seattle.
00:50:06
M dub
It feels like a long flight to me as I look at it. um And, yeah, the Buccaneers will be playing the Seahawks this Sunday afternoon at 1.
00:50:13
Tristan Amundson
Another um quarterback, right, that um had to bounce around a few places before he found his home and the place that he was able to really tap into his full potential.
00:50:24
Tristan Amundson
You could argue the most fun quarterback to watch in the NFL. We get a chance to watch um Baker Mayfield come to Seattle. And I'll tell you this, man, it's going to be an entertaining game because Baker, but you know, it's it's funny to say this as a fan of of the Seahawks, right? You just kind of want to you you know, just be focused on your team.
00:50:45
Tristan Amundson
Baker Mayfield's a really fun quarterback and it's going to be super fun to have him in Seattle and to see, we're going to see some Baker Mayfield magic most likely. um And we're going to have to endure that. um And hopefully he doesn't kill us too much.
00:50:59
Tristan Amundson
um Hopefully our defenses is up to the task, but it will be fun to see this. And, and in some ways it's a really fun storyline, right? Two quarterbacks that, um you know, the, the teams that drafted them said up this guy, this guy's not going to work, ship them out.
00:51:14
Tristan Amundson
um and And both of them having multiple stops around the country um before they found their home. And Baker certainly has found a home in Tampa Bay.
00:51:25
M dub
Weren't they teammates together on the Panthers a couple years ago? Aren't there pictures of like both of them in Panthers uniforms and it feels like something that never happens?
00:51:30
Tristan Amundson
Oh, that would... That would make sense because, yeah, that they would they would have both been there about the same time, which is hilarious to think about. I mean, if you look at how good Baker Mayfield is specifically now, the fact that he was with the Panthers for multiple years and they you know just shipped him off is is crazy.
00:51:50
Tristan Amundson
um But yeah, we'll we'll take that. Thank you very much, um Carolina. Thank you, New York Jets. Thank you, you know ah San Francisco. Thank you,
00:52:00
Tristan Amundson
Thank you, Minnesota. we will We are very happy to have have Sam on the team.
00:52:06
M dub
Yeah, you know with Baker Mayfield that there will be no fear if it's a really tight one in the fourth quarter. I'm really looking forward to this game. this this I know we had the 49ers and a divisional opponent, long-time rivalry, but looking outside of the division, this is definitely the first to really big test, I think, to Seahawks are getting this year. And I'm really curious to see how they stack up and and And if this defense that is is so tremendous that it just so great with the front four, if if they can maybe create a turnover when it's time when Baker's trying to get that two-minute drill going.
00:52:41
Tristan Amundson
and Absolutely. And we get a welcome Vita Veya back to Seattle. One of, I mean, again, another really exciting dominant player. I mean, Vita Veya is one of the best defensive tackles in the league.
00:52:53
Tristan Amundson
um and ah And we get a welcome Vita back to ah back to the the the dub state. So that'll be kind of fun ah to see him as well. um It'll be a good matchup. I'm i'm really looking forward to it.
00:53:06
Tristan Amundson
ah do you Do you got a special ah couple of seconds for us, Miles? I can't think of the exact number of seconds, um but I feel like there's there's an odd number of seconds that you have potentially prepared.
00:53:19
M dub
I absolutely do. Tristan, I don't know if you know, but this is the 50th
Historical NFL 'What-if' Scenario
00:53:24
M dub
season of Seahawks football. And since this is the world's only Seahawks podcast, we are spending 50 seconds in Seahawks history each week.
00:53:33
M dub
I was going to say this last week, because this is a ah week three moment in Seahawks history. And last time, which got lost in our little glitch there, I i talked about Seattle's 58 to zero blowout of the Cardinals instead. But let's let Let's pretend we're back in week three for just a second here, can we?
00:53:50
Tristan Amundson
ah Happy to.
00:53:51
M dub
All right, and my time starts now. So the biggest sliding door moment in NFL history is when Tom Brady replaces Drew Bledsoe early in the 2001 season.
00:54:03
M dub
But the Seahawks actually did have something to do with this game from a decade earlier. I'm going back to week three of the 1992 season. The Seahawks are in New England.
00:54:14
M dub
Seattle wins this game 10-6. They win it with a game-sealing interception on the goal line by nine-year Seahawks quarterback Patrick Hunter. Great win for the Seahawks.
00:54:26
M dub
They will end that year with two wins and 14 losses. and they score only 8.8 points per game on offense. Coincidentally, the Patriots also go two and fourteen But the tiebreak from this game, this week three game, gives them the number one pick. The Patriots use it to take Washington man, Walla Walla's own Drew Bledsoe, leaving the Hawks to take Rick Meyer at number two.
00:54:52
M dub
Then, in the 2000 draft, Tom Brady is taken by the Patriots at number 199. Obviously, any team could have had him, but the Seahawks were sitting at picks number 185 and 190.
00:55:05
M dub
Was right there two times. So it all could have been in Seattle.
00:55:11
Tristan Amundson
whoa Well, what I mean, what do you say to that? And it all starts, well, you said that's 1992, three,
00:55:19
M dub
Week three, 1992, it makes you think that this this thing we call the NFL, you know, if if you changed one game, you know, with the whole, the whole thing you know, is this a Jenga tower with with tens of thousands of pieces in it? And that and that one, that week three, 92 Seahawks Patriots, it it really, that butterfly flapped its wings.
00:55:40
Tristan Amundson
That's incredible. And yeah, it ends up being and Drew goes on to have an unbelievable career. um and And obviously we we all know what happens with ah with with good old Tommy, owner of the of the Raiders ah at some point, which um imagine if you went to Tom Brady.
00:55:57
Tristan Amundson
one 99 and said, dude, you're going to be a minority owner of the Raiders at some point in your life.
00:56:00
M dub
Thank you.
00:56:03
Tristan Amundson
It it just, you know, it, you're to your point, the, the butterfly effect around the league, all these little things. Um, and you know, it would be interesting to know truly,
00:56:16
Tristan Amundson
How many very small moments like that, the outcome of one or two games changes, you know, maybe some of the teams that we look at as perennial greats versus the ones that we think of as as always laughers in the league.
00:56:30
Tristan Amundson
um You know, how easily could those narratives be changed, right? Just by one or two decisions or or ah fumble here or a point there. That's that's pretty crazy.
00:56:42
M dub
What could have been? what could especially I'm sure there was absolute mania around Drew Bledsoe getting things done with Washington State back in the day.
00:56:51
Tristan Amundson
Unbelievable. And now we have Passing Time Wine by Drew Bledsoe, which we never would have had. um So, you know, incredible and appreciate that Drew, um you know, keeps that that Washington loyalty. So that's that's nice to hear.
00:57:04
M dub
I do appreciate it that that he has stayed loyal.
00:57:08
Tristan Amundson
It's pretty great, man. Hey, another great episode. um How do we usually end these miles?
00:57:15
M dub
ah We end with a song.
00:57:19
Tristan Amundson
can't think now that's not right. um There's like a phrase that Seahawks fans say all the time. um
00:57:27
M dub
Whoop, whoop.
00:57:29
Tristan Amundson
um Oh, that's right. Go Hawks.
00:57:33
M dub
Go Hawks.