Transcript
Tristan Amundson: Miles. There's a lot of... symbolism in what we just saw on Sunday. 12 is a very special number for all of us. and This Sunday represented a very special. 12 miles. It represented.
Tristan Amundson: Believe it or not. We are this rich. 12. wins in a row. That's right. The last time. the Seahawks lost a game. was November.
Tristan Amundson: 16th. Miles, what do you think about that?
M dub: Tristan, great to be with you you. You know what's funny is that that preseason game, number one against the Cowboys, that was a loss. It was a real loss. We processed it as a nest together as if the team had lost a proper regular season game. We just so didn't see great football out of the Seahawks. And because of that.
M dub: That felt like a loss. And let's remember now that those don't count for a reason. But that that's how dialed in both the team and the fan base is.
M dub: Drop in a C -minus preseason game. Everybody refocuses. Hey, we need to be better for next week. and' It's not actually a loss. It doesn't count. Yeah, this team is... Absolutely rolling. And not only are they not losing, but...
M dub: opponents are are not very close to figuring this thing out whatsoever.
Tristan Amundson: Man, it's, I mean. Yeah. when When I see something like that, and I know I'm a broken record when I say this, but... We got to enjoy it. We just got to enjoy it. with we've the we've all experienced.
Tristan Amundson: yeah Name the team. Name the professional team. Name the continent of ah that this team plays on, really. It doesn't matter. This is a universal sports thing. Like. you You have to enjoy the good times because.
Tristan Amundson: that yeah we are in the good old days currently of seattle seahawks football this is one of the absolute highs in franchise history um Imagine buying this team. They'd be pretty incredible. um One of the highs in franchise history is right now as a Seahawks fan.
Tristan Amundson: and so I just think we got to enjoy it, man. 12 in a row. The last game we lost. um Funny enough. against the hated Rams, right? That was that that game down in...
Tristan Amundson: um Los Angeles that. Frankly, we almost came back and won. Um, And it's just, it's an incredible feeling, man. it's It's wild to think about. It's wild to think. I mean, we're.
Tristan Amundson: We're not so far away from November 16th in this calendar year. i mean it's not as though november 16th is a long ways away i was just talking to my mom making plans for for the holidays and for November and hey what are we doing what what you know where will we be November 16th I can actually tell you exactly where I will be this upcoming November 16th so you know plans are made we're We're almost there. It's almost been a year. I'm not saying we're going to make it a whole year. I'm not saying we need to.
Tristan Amundson: I'm just saying, holy smokes, man. We got a holy catfish. We just got to enjoy. um this season of seahawks football is pretty pretty incredible and i mean yesterday or I guess it's Tuesday today. So Sunday was an unbelievable example.
Tristan Amundson: of welcome back. Seahawks in in their full glory it was pretty incredible to watch
M dub: It was incredible to watch and I don't know if you felt this, Tristan, but seeing those guys out there. Both the offense and the defense. It doesn't always happen to the offense on such a defensively good team, but it is happening on this team.
M dub: I think you could feel that. It. It is a point of pride to be wearing a Seahawk uniform right now. Sometimes, even though you're an NFL player. When you walk out there you know this year and in your Cleveland Browns or your Miami Dolphins uniform, it's it's almost a scarlet letter. It's almost a weight. It's almost like... Yeah, sorry. I'm out here in this thing, but.
M dub: For the great teams, the dynasties, that that... uniform is a point of pride. You're really part of something. You're already walking out there with it with a mental edge over your opponent. That's what I felt.
M dub: That's what I felt watching this game. You felt that in 2013 and 2014 that... look out this this is a gang here this is a Seahawks gang we're proud to be wearing this uniform Obviously, some years in the middle there where that wasn't quite the case, you know, but that that's what I felt watching this game. that Everybody's proud to be a Seahawk. and man, this this team is really working together as a team.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, no, man. Listen, I totally agree. um there is There is a level of pride. There's no doubt that's been instilled in this team over the last. you know, call it. Well, I guess the last couple of years, I was going to try to put a month on it, but I don't know what that would be. But over the last couple of years with Mike, with the culture.
Tristan Amundson: um And. and And with the level of player. um the the The press was asking Mike about that. like kind of trying to figure out like, how are you guys doing so well right now? Like what's going on? I mean, some of the stats, Miles, are are wild um that I heard during the press conference that I wasn't aware of.
Tristan Amundson: um And I think it speaks to, in fact, here here's a stat that I think speaks to exactly what you just said. i think the embodiment of playing with pride and purpose. is this stat.
Tristan Amundson: This I did not know. I think this came from. I don't know if it was Brady Henderson, doesn't matter, is one of the guys in the press corps. asked the question. about. Hey. um You guys have not allowed a punt return yard in two games so far this year.
Tristan Amundson: think like Think about how... ridiculous that is they have not allowed a punt return yard in two games
M dub: You know, I missed that one. I had a few stats on hand here that I thought you were going to go to, but that wasn't one of them. that is That's pretty outstanding.
Tristan Amundson: and But what's that mean, right? That means that the I'm not going to. it's It's crazy how even... the the old ways of speaking are easy to get into i almost said the bottom of the roster which coach would have punched me right in the face for saying he those little beady eyes would have looked at me and like what are you talking about like these guys are starters for us um at 70 strong and so
Tristan Amundson: yeah If you look at special teams, though, while while the offensive and defensive starters, there we go. are resting right special teams is on the field that phase of the game And those guys are the ones creating that. And obviously, Michael Dixon has a huge part of it as well. um But it's their coverage. It's their relentlessness.
Tristan Amundson: i think that totally speaks to what you're talking about man just that pride um that pride of of play that pride of jersey um Really, it's pretty cool to see.
M dub: um Should I recap this game for the historical record as we like to do?
Tristan Amundson: Oh please do.
M dub: All right. So we have been talking about a football game week two of the 2026 season where the Seattle Seahawks went down to Arizona to play the Cardinals. Their starting quarterback, Sam Darnold, was injured, and we had Drew Locke.
M dub: as the scheduled starter for the first time since the year 2024, his first tenure with the Seahawks. Seahawks second play from scrimmage. We have an absolute deep bomb, a career long 82 yard.
M dub: Super easy touchdown for JS, making it look easy, I should say, to JSN. And I thought the blowout was on. Turns out in the first half, the blowout was not on. We had a very tight field position battle.
M dub: As the teams went into halftime, it really came down to... two different fourth and goal attempts. The Cardinals convert theirs to tie the game. Seahawks do not convert theirs.
M dub: And it's kind of like, okay, we're going to have to grind this thing out all four quarters. This is the backup quarterback. It was a dream to have this thing be a blowout. Little did we know, teams come out of the locker room and it is Seahawks' complete domination from there on out.
M dub: Starts with a blender. Rashid Shahid fumbling the opening kickoff. It happens to fall into Chaz Surratt's hands for an extra 30 or so yards. In the end, Seahawks score on all four.
M dub: of their second half possessions to blow it out 31 -7. And absolutely take the air out of the ball controlling. possession for 23 of the 30 second half minutes those cardinals offensive players did not know going into the locker room for halftime that their day their day was pretty much done Their day was pretty much done at that point.
M dub: And. This ends up being a completely comprehensive 31 -7 victory.
Tristan Amundson: I love. I love that second half stat, man, of of the minutes played. And, yeah, you just imagine offensive players just on the sidelines twiddling their thumbs. Just, OK, well, when when do we get to play, guys? When do we get to be out there? um Obviously not very much.
Tristan Amundson: uh man ah where where do we start with this game i as you were talking through Um, that recap. Complimentary football is the only thing that keeps coming back to my mind. I know it's something the coach talks about a lot.
Tristan Amundson: Everyone doing their job. I don't know about you, Miles. Maybe maybe I'll start here. my My first like visceral reaction of this game. I was trying. I try ah ah really hard to watch the secondary. I try really hard to watch the linebackers. In this game, I specifically was very curious. I was like trying to find Nick.
Tristan Amundson: even worry every every play that he was on the field because i just wanted to see how he looked he's the guy i was most interested in coming into the game I could not take my eyes off of the defensive line Like, i've I don't know if I've ever seen.
Tristan Amundson: a more dominant defensive line play in a game where they only recorded two sacks. Like I would have sworn that they had five, six, seven sacks in this game because of how dominant that line played.
Tristan Amundson: It was only two sacks, man.
M dub: It was only two sacks. One of them was an ass. I mean, every sack is a great sack. Leo had a great one in the first quarter, but the Jaron Reed sack.
Tristan Amundson: Mmm.
M dub: Were you flashing back to Riley Mills in the Super Bowl? Because Jaron Reed. This is the great thing about the Seahawks is is we're not surprised to see Jaron Reed do this, even though he's not listed as a starter.
M dub: you know we We know those are not. backup caliber snaps when he comes in. And sure enough, he is he goes. he is technical is he blocked He's blocked in one ah dimension. he He has not got past the offensive lineman. He is still.
M dub: engaged with the offensive lineman, but he has pushed him all the way back. to be able to sack the quarterback with his off. arm. It it was a great play. But.
M dub: i think I think this is what I took away from the game. is if you're I think this is why the Seahawks are underrated nationally. Unbelievable defensive performance. There's really not a ton of highlights that like...
M dub: land on an hour -long NFL recap show. That Jaren Reid play would be one of them, and you know every team gets a sack. what What stood out to me was. This team just wins every snap. and it does not convert to highlights, but they they win every snap, and they just close in on you.
M dub: gradually over the course of the entire game. I think what you said about the defensive line was great because... you're right there were only two sacks it did feel like they did dominate the The special stat I thought you were going to mention at the start of the game.
M dub: Arizona Cardinals, 151 total offensive yards. All their starters were healthy. They only had one turnover, same as the Seahawks. 151 offensive yards over the course of an entire game is...
M dub: Absolutely. madness and It just shows the Seahawks defense. They're so focused in for every snap. Until the very end of the fourth quarter, no play longer than nine yards for the Cardinals across the entire game. That's madness as well.
M dub: 29 total yards for number three pick Jeremiah Love. I mean. it's It's dominance, but over a full game.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, no, 100%. And yeah, going back to that, that complimentary side. so I mean, and there's no better maybe version of complimentary football than the the ballet that the defensive tackles and and defensive ends are playing with the defensive backfield and that beautiful. um cohesive.
Tristan Amundson: amalgamation that they have to put together as they're playing um on the field. And to me, and I love you, you're talking about. um those different stats.
Tristan Amundson: And this one just puts an emphasis on what you just said. The Seahawks did not allow. and explosive play in this game. Period. they they didn't the the the i mean it it speaks to 150 yards of total offense by the cardinals They never had. The Cardinals never registered an explosive play. so For those of us keeping track at home or remembering, exploive explosive plays are defined by plays of 20 yards or more.
Tristan Amundson: And the closest they got. was Bam Knight with an 18 -yard run. So they almost got one. Bye. but fell short. And. um Miles, I don't know if you remember this.
Tristan Amundson: ah You probably don't. You've probably forgotten this part of the game. There's this guy on the Seahawks. His name is Jackson Smith in Jigba. i've heard it mispronounced but but i'm you know i've i've done my research The young man's name is Jackson Smith Njigba. I've actually heard a lot of folks calling him quote JSN. And I don't know what those.
Tristan Amundson: letters represent. I don't get it, but either way, um I heard he's pretty good at football. And you might remember. and And now think about the the definition I just gave you.
Tristan Amundson: um he had something that i think would be akin to an explosive play pretty early in this game.
M dub: Yes, he did and JSN by any measure had a career day and you would This is what was interesting to me about this game is, yes, walking away from a JSN.
M dub: Absolutely the most important offensive player, or just the stat line here. nine catches for 155 yards and three touchdowns. I don't know. For me, it still felt like... um I guess a symphony or something where he was like one instrument and had his moment, but... Really, the you know, the focus, the fourth quarter, of the Seahawks just ran the ball, you know. So Drew Locke has an absolutely incredible game, very accurate game.
M dub: challenges deep down the field with a lot of confidence, never has ah a play that's close to being a turnover. Keep... Keeps care of the ball. jsn has this absolutely monster day and yet i felt you know, there was so long in the game where the focus wasn't on either of them. It it was really interesting to me that Jason has statistically the best day of his career. And it kind of felt like. Oh yeah, he was one of many Seahawks who just had a great day. It wasn't just all about his...
M dub: explosive day even though the stat line on paper Yeah. Absolutely feels like it.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah. And I mean, it's funny because. To me. It would actually be fun to sit down with like ah a professional coach and work through each one of those touchdowns because I feel like it was a great it was a great JSN touchdowns.
Tristan Amundson: each one its own animal right like each touchdown kind of takes its own special skill and its own version of it. Obviously, the first one, blow off the top, just you know make a defense look silly.
Tristan Amundson: um And, I mean... Buda Baker was in coverage there. It's not as though Buda Baker's, you know, some no name like that's a guy who has a lot of football under his belt.
Tristan Amundson: And. Like, JSN fooled him. JSN got by him. Buddha did not do his job. That's. high praise because obviously we we respect Buddha. he's He has given the Seahawks trouble for a long time. um You know, he maybe isn't as fast as he used to be, although I think he's still pretty fast.
Tristan Amundson: um But he certainly doesn't get fooled very often, and Jason did that. You have that touchdown. You have the second touchdown where can you picture it? Miles is it like that second touchdown. It's like he I don't even know how you how would you describe what he does with his body? It's like he's running.
Tristan Amundson: And then he kind of like. shifts his shoulders backwards to be able to make that catch. can you picture do you know what i'm talking about that second touchdown where it's like he kind of just contorts his body in a way that like you don't see a lot of other wide receivers doing I love the idea that like.
Tristan Amundson: It's not as though JSN scored three touchdowns and they all look the same. And it's like, yep, he's our 6 '5 wide receiver and he has one skill set. He blows the top off of defense and he's huge.
Tristan Amundson: JSN has like... what kind of What kind of touchdown do you need today? Okay. I can give you that one. Like it's a, it's a little different. Can you picture in your mind right now with that? um that second touchdown looked like with his shoulders and his hips. Like he just kind of moved his body in a really interesting way.
M dub: Yeah, just unbelievable to be able to... you know He's a smaller receiver to... it was It was a pretty close red zone play to be able to get. that open. In the red zone as that. That small of a receiver. Pretty special.
Tristan Amundson: It also, I mean, not to make this about anybody else. It also, like. The more I watch this guy, um the more I realize how good he is. And we've seen him the last two games.
Tristan Amundson: Christian Gonzalez is an unbelievable cornerback and like I the more I'm watching football this year and appreciating what he did against us in the Super Bowl. Because really, I mean, the Super Bowl was a blowout. It could have been much worse, except that Christian Gonzalez made some incredible plays in that game.
Tristan Amundson: um And it thinking about even last week, like what he was able to do. And then you watch Jackson against like mortals. And it's like, yeah, I mean, this is what happens when you don't have an like.
Tristan Amundson: This is what happens when you don't have a top. three or five cornerback in the league covering Jackson Smith and Jigba. Like, you have you have real problems. um And yeah, I love what you're saying. I mean, I thought Rashid. um Looked really good out there too. I mean, there was one that he dropped that um Drew absolutely sent on a dime, right like writing in his breadbasket that would have been about a 20 -yard gain also.
Tristan Amundson: But I love so far, I really kind of like how they're using both players. You can tell. After an offseason, Rashid is going to have a much. larger role in this offense than he did last year.
M dub: Going back to JSN for just a second, the historic season he had last year up the NFL record books for receiving yards, that was... a per game average of 105 .5 yards.
M dub: So far this year, we're at 138 .5 yards per game.
Tristan Amundson: 138 .5. What was it last year?
M dub: 105.
Tristan Amundson: Oh my gosh. Okay. I mean, small sample size, but still where, I mean.
M dub: Yeah, yeah, you got to start somewhere.
Tristan Amundson: Train. We've got to start somewhere trending in the right direction. That's wild. That's like I'm i'm like still trying to get my head around that. That's. ah That's an incredible. That's an incredible thing. Yeah, I mean.
Tristan Amundson: he's a young man. We got to remember that too, right? It's not like this is a guy that is in the twilight of his career. He is still. theoretically in the ascension you know same way with Byron Murphy right these are guys that are still on their way up in their career not not they have not peaked yet which is I mean, pretty scary also.
M dub: I don't think we should skip over. I mean, it it is interesting that if you were like me, you felt a lot of confidence in Drew Locke coming into this game. And it it is crazy that he absolutely paid it off. And the Seahawks absolutely.
M dub: Have two of the 32 best. quarterbacks in the league right now they just do it didn't feel like a backup game at all Crazy stat that I found, yards per play across the NFL on this young season so far.
M dub: Seahawks are seventh at 5 .8 yards per play. So that is 97 % true lock and 3 % Sam Darnold. Sam Darnold leading this team too. And that, that is in. E. Elite number. And I just imagined, well.
M dub: I think. ah you know Drew Locke had a great first tenure with the Seahawks. I think this second tenure and being... next to Sam Darnold and the very similar career paths, you know.
M dub: Beginning as a young starter. It goes... mediocre. Okay, stepping back as a backup. Andrew Locke's been in that phase a little bit longer than Sam Darnold, but to see... Sam, go from that backup phase to Super Bowl starter, Super Bowl winner. I think that's been very valuable for Jude Locke. And I just imagine.
M dub: the front offices and Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Atlanta, just... like Did Drew Locke make himself? 50 million dollars and i was kind of thinking what is the number of millions of dollars that drew lock made in this game because there are teams that that do not have one quarterback as good as the Seahawks do right now. It's it's pretty incredible that.
M dub: This happened, and it wasn't surprising. and it It doesn't even stand out as the most notable thing from this game, really.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, and it's... I'm glad you bring up Drew. I heard his press conference or at least a snippet of it yesterday. and They were asking him about his career and he kind of, he. he pointed to a couple of things he was like i'm a totally different person than i was you know, a few years ago. And he referenced.
Tristan Amundson: um having two kids right him and his wife having two kids um he lost his dad last year um he referenced you know just the the process of of growing up and he literally said like becoming a man. like that's that's the way he defined like the difference between drew lock of you know call it two or three years ago, whatever.
Tristan Amundson: to the Drew Locke of today. Um, and I don't know. I think you and I both like kind of the human aspect of all of this and and the human story. And you can't discount that, that like.
Tristan Amundson: If you look at any of these young quarterbacks, I'll use Cam Warden as as an example. I think he's very talented, and I think he's going to have a bright future. but he's a very young man he's still just figuring out a lot of things about life and and how he is a professional, you know, and if you look at guys like Jackson Dart or just young guys around the league.
Tristan Amundson: um there is a lot of maturation that happens and um to your point like drew and sam are two really good examples of Well, you know, like maybe maybe the fruit needs to mature a little bit. Maybe it just needs a little more time on the shelf before we say it's it's good or bad, right? and um You go through some big life events, you get some perspective.
Tristan Amundson: And yeah, like your work ethic is probably going to be a little different after having two kids and after losing your dad. um The way you look at life is going to be a little different. so I love that you bring up Drew there, man. I'm very happy for him. and ah I didn't think about it from that perspective, but you're right. there's Plenty of of football teams around the league that are wishing they had our backup. as their starter which is um I mean, again, early in the season. where we're sitting in a pretty good spot.
M dub: Absolutely. What was interesting about this, so Drew Lock had his time to shine. And then we get to the fourth quarter, and this game is already out of hand. But the Seahawks. ice this game. with one of the nastiest drives that you'll ever see.
M dub: So the the final totals here. is it is. 16 plays and 10 minutes and 14 seconds to pretty much close out the game. We got one pass from Mr. Locke.
M dub: We get four carries to George Helani. We got 10 carries to Emmanuel Wilson. The free agent signee. This is with Jadarian Price out ah for the game with a chest injury.
M dub: This was... I mean... Obviously. What are the Seahawks going to do? Of course, they're going to run the ball. But the fact that it kept on succeeding, that they kept on moving the sticks.
M dub: that it moved so slowly and was just so this is this is i think the most disrespectful thing the seahawks have ever done to an opponent this drive i mean The fact that it just kept on going.
M dub: Mark Schlereth on the broadcast had to focus on. The fact that the Cardinals D -line was just out of breath. To cap this whole thing off, with the barnyard on fourth and goal and to score a touchdown when you were already up. 24 -7 with about one minute left in the game.
M dub: That is the most disrespectful thing the Seahawks have ever done to a point. I could not believe what I was seeing and that you just didn't send Jason Myers out there. for the chip shot.
M dub: It was so disrespectful, and yet this game was so over. The Cardinals had just kind of folded in so many minutes ago that i don't I don't think it registered with anybody. I don't think it counts as bad blood in this divisional, you know, matchup. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
M dub: I... Enjoyed it. quite a lot.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, i I heard the Cardinals coach after the game talking about. um the seahawks and just his thoughts and he was pretty honest about what he was facing and just kind of the the dominance in every aspect of the game no weak links stuff like that so was it was pretty cool to see um So a couple of things thinking about that final drive and and just thinking about the offense in general.
Tristan Amundson: 1. so two things that i that i don't know stand out to me as as great developments so far And. Drew Locke being a part of this. In fact, let let me take it back to your Drew Locke conversation just in ah in a small way.
Tristan Amundson: This did not look like. Brian Fleury's second game as ah offensive coordinator. And this did not look like ah our backup quarterback playing that second game. Like think about the context.
Tristan Amundson: Your offensive coordinator has only been here for two weeks in the regular season, right? This is his second. game of live actual action. And he is doing it With. a backup quarterback, and to your point,
Tristan Amundson: you know. What? Sam has. played three snaps in the season so far, four snaps, something like that. So. Like this has all been. A first year.
Tristan Amundson: Offensive coordinator with a backup quarterback. In no way has it looked like that. Like it really and and, you know, using even the Patriots game as a little bit of of perspective. like There is not.
Tristan Amundson: really any points in that game where I felt like man they look disheveled they they look like you know we we got some stuff to work out right like there's there's a lot of problems happening they were having those pre -snap penalties which they they talked about But it. You know how sometimes when you watch a new offensive coordinator, you can tell.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, like he needs a couple of games to figure out how to do this job. It seems like Brian... is really hitting the ground running. And there's no better way to express that than the fact that.
Tristan Amundson: 2 -0 with a backup quarterback is is a pretty... pretty awesome thing like this is not the plan think about the plans he was making in the off season, you know, in July during hard knocks, he was thinking, okay, then we'll do this with Sam and this was Sam. And if, and like, Drew's awesome too, but like Sam is the main, you know, idea here.
Tristan Amundson: It's pretty cool to see Brian just absolutely like. He looks like he's been doing this with Mike for a long time.
M dub: That's absolutely right. And ah big ups to Brian Fleury for it. Just this. the the call on play number two that ends up being the 82 -yard touchdown. I love. taking an aggressive shot that early with your backup quarterback and just saying.
M dub: Yeah, you're gonna need to defend everything here. That's not how it always goes in the NFL. You see some really conservative stuff with the backup quarterback. So too. have the trust in drew lock and had the idea and to go ahead with it so early in the game was ah Really important. I think in a lot of ways that's the most important play of the game.
M dub: even though it took a while for the Seahawks to score again. Yep. That is. Not something you see. first year offensive coordinators do very much.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah. Yeah, no, for sure, man. Yeah, that that was cool to see. Um, yeah so So. a couple of things one ah Like. So wait, have we I can't remember if we talked about this before or after the we started recording. Have we talked about our favorite plays of the game? Did we get into that? during this did we actually talk about it in in real life recording the the podcast miles
M dub: ah That was ah a pre -record.
Tristan Amundson: was
M dub: For me, it would be it would be this Jaron Reed sack and the envelopment, but it sounds like you had a different one.
Tristan Amundson: I did, and that's I'm assuming that's the one you thought would be my favorite play of the game.
M dub: It is, yeah, yeah.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah.
M dub: but yeah yeah
Tristan Amundson: Which, which, I mean, yeah. I, and I love, I love the ode to to Riley Mills there. You, I mean that. you know that's a top fiver for me for the rest of my life. um So my favorite game made me think about Hard Knocks or game. I'm sorry. My favorite play made me think about Hard Knocks. So if you remember in Hard Knocks, the scene where.
Tristan Amundson: Derek Hall is is wrestling with Leonard Williams and you know, they're they're having, you know, just going back and forth. And I mean, Derek Hall is a monster of a man. And. you could see like pretty clearly that Leonard Williams is just stronger than Derek Hall. um And he he's bigger too. Like it it makes sense, I guess, but.
Tristan Amundson: i i was taken aback by the strength of leonard just in that tiny little scene during hard knocks So that my favorite play of the game, to me, it just represents that play.
Tristan Amundson: It was the first third downplay of the game. so The Cardinals have the ball. It's about midfield, and it's it's third down. They run the ball. to over their left side. So, you know, they're they're running it.
Tristan Amundson: um basically over their left guard. It happens just so happens that Leonard Williams is. um is on that side of of of the line of scrimmage.
Tristan Amundson: So he's... um basically straight up on the left guard. And. Is the leverage and. body control that you see Leonard Williams display where he gets out of his stance And it's as if.
Tristan Amundson: the The guard is standing straight up, and Leonard is like a tree that's falling, right? It's like he's he's ah like ah in this slant position. And just. It's...
Tristan Amundson: It's one of my favorite things about football when you see... one man just absolutely. physically dominate the other guy. And it's just like, there's nothing else you can do. Like, I'm going to win this battle.
Tristan Amundson: Leonard throws the guy out of the way just absolutely dominates the line of scrimmage. You can see the line of scrimmage. exactly where The Cardinals want to run. is exactly where like if you're just watching the line from like Eye in the Sky.
Tristan Amundson: it's suddenly like it's just pierced right there. And like the the line, it's a squiggle. right where he is because He's ruined the whole play. Tackle for loss.
Tristan Amundson: And it just was one of those, I'm bigger, stronger, faster. and And I also probably know what's coming also. And all of those things combine. Man, I mean.
Tristan Amundson: Leonard Williams is such an important piece of this defense and there's so many important pieces you talked about before like jaron reed in no way feels like a you know quote unquote backup right he's not he's a starter kid caliber guy that's just a part of a rotation.
Tristan Amundson: And. man that that was a play that just it stood out to me as is a really cool example of leonard's strength his knowledge of the game. And his ability to just ruin plays. And that's ah right. That's what a superstar does. They ruin plays. watched last night aaron donald ruin a play and being like oh okay yeah it looks like he's Looks like Aaron's back as well.
Tristan Amundson: um When you have superstars on your team that can just ruin things and and and watching a defensive lineman ruin a play, there's there's not much better in football.
M dub: It is. Excuse me. It is unbelievable. how great this Seahawks defensive line is at stopping the run. Nobody is anywhere near close to figuring this out.
M dub: Jeremiah Love, pick number three in the draft. Goes nine carries for 29 yards. Tyler Algier. signed at $6 million dollars a year. So Seahawks have signed Emmanuel Wilson at $1 .5 million dollars last spring.
M dub: He ends up nearly getting 100 yards with all the fourth quarter stuff. Algier, five carries for 10 yards. they The Seahawks just shut off the run game every time.
M dub: And then... Okay. Teams aren't challenging the Seahawks deep either in the passing game. so You know, the Seahawks will give up that four or five yard ah short offensive pass completion. But that's it. Everything else is off the table, and it ends up adding up to not very many yards at the end of the day.
Tristan Amundson: Pretty incredible, man. Yeah, pretty incredible to see Again, that complementary style of football that that this team is able to play with and and everything starting. right there speaking of not giving up a lot of big plays.
Tristan Amundson: Do you agree with me? This is one of those games like we talked we've talked about so many times over the last two years. where it's just a spoon game, like just. Like Devin Witherspoon is everywhere and you just, he stands out, like kind of jumps out at you as you're watching the football game. This felt like a spoon game to me.
M dub: it was you know Yeah, and he has to make plays elsewhere on the field. because I mean, they're not challenging anything. that ah There's so many short... there's There was like no deep pass attempts from the opponent in each of these first two games. so yes, he has to kind of make his havoc elsewhere.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, I mean, it's really cool just to see. um Just to see like the energy of it. um The other thing I got to talk about, just, you know, speaking of the the secondary.
Tristan Amundson: The Nicky Monroy, I mentioned it before, is like I was most curious to see was Nick going to play right. Questionable. He ends up playing. As I'm watching the game, I see he's on the sideline and not playing anymore. So instantly, right, your mind goes to the worst case scenario. Is this guy hurt?
Tristan Amundson: um obviously turns out he wasn't i don't know about you i was like refreshing uh espn like looking for even worry updates i was refreshing every um everything i could think of to try to you know see Is something wrong with Nick?
Tristan Amundson: Nothing was wrong with Nick. He was totally fine. um dude what a massive piece to be added to this defense like ah everything you just said right what this secondary can do, what this... What this defensive line can do. That's in the context that Nick Imanrori has played.
Tristan Amundson: I believe nine snaps. on the entire season. And we're about to unleash his special skill set on, you know, the rest of the year. It's like.
Tristan Amundson: Think about that. Like, that's crazy to think. We're we're just tapping into Nick right now.
M dub: Yes we are. I think he was on a pitch count. uh for this game pretty low pitch count
Tristan Amundson: He was, yeah.
M dub: I would kind of expect that same thing for next week. and ah Yeah, it did it took a while. I didn't notice him play for a while in this game. um I think, yeah, I think it was... a a pretty intentional plan to have him be ah playing a very small role And ah yeah it's very exciting to to think of him coming back because.
M dub: In a lot of ways, he's the Seahawks' most unique defender.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, I mean, he he messes things up in the same way that you could see spoon messing things up. I mean, that's you kind of imagine. both of those wild cards on the field at the same time. Well, we we don't have to imagine. We've we've seen it. it's ah It's quite chaotic for the other team. so um Yeah, man, what a just.
Tristan Amundson: Start to finish, what a cool game. Complimentary football on both sides. Um, yeah You can't say enough. It's really, really cool to see.
M dub: Some minor notes here from the rest of the game that I noticed. um I didn't hear the broadcast mention this, but... And actually, we we haven't mentioned this. One of the few position battles in training camp was at w right guard. And we had Anthony Bradford, Christian Haynes, and the rookie Bo Stevens in the mix.
M dub: I think you and I both would have thought that. Uh... Both Stevens might have taken it, and and the Seahawks took him in the fourth round because they felt a need at the position. Turns out Anthony Bradford wins the job.
M dub: Starts week one and plays very well in that win over the Patriots. injured this week, and the solution was to rotate. Christian Haynes and Bo Stevens at right guard kind of.
M dub: it's kind of two -thirds christian haynes one -third bo stevens kind of possession by possession It did feel like the Seahawks had that scheduled to do that. But I thought that was – it ended up working out pretty well because the Seahawks – You know, the run game went went well, and there's just one sack given up. That was on a...
M dub: kind of meaningless play at the end of the first half. So it's it's even hard to count that one sack. But what stood out to me was. Arizona goes to San... Not San Diego. Arizona goes to the Chargers week one.
M dub: And ah the Chargers do this on their offensive line and just get absolutely roasted for it. for what like Why are you rotating these these guys out? that like It just doesn't work. and i think I think there's probably a lot of truth to that. That's not an ideal situation that any team wants. but I just thought it was funny that when the team is playing well. you don't even really notice that that's happening, that the Seahawks are doing the exact same thing that the losing team did in week one.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, I actually heard Coach talk about this um in his his press conference yesterday. And he said that exactly what you just said. the The plan going into it was we wanted to rotate him.
Tristan Amundson: And he said how pleased he was by the fact that it actually worked like just. mechanically because and if you imagine right if if i tell you hey rotate these guys in and out You don't know how long an offensive. um series is going to be. Right. So it could be, hey, Christian, this is your series. And it turns out to be three and out. Right. And then, hey, Bo, this is yours. And it turns out to be, you know, a 10 play series. you You just have no idea.
Tristan Amundson: So apparently the bouncing act of those two things worked pretty well for them. um and you know he basically the way that coach described it was They've both played well. Christian has earned like. earned it like he's he has absolutely earned it and they really wanted Bo to get you know some reps which you know If you just think about...
Tristan Amundson: how valuable it is just for a rookie to get on the field and to get those first couple of reps and okay I've played an NFL game. I know what this feels like. I've i've i've actually been out here. um great way to um to kind of get his feet wet in the nfl so i was i was really you know just like you pleased that it worked well but also I think pleased just with the idea that.
Tristan Amundson: Now a guy has some experience in the NFL and something he can build off of. And, and I'm sure like plenty of mistakes they can, you know, they can kind of dig into and he can learn from.
M dub: Yeah, I saw one pressure given up by Bo at least. um It is the NBC broadcast in week one. They did make a note that the Seahawks, and this is just such a far cry from. ah previous years.
M dub: With John Schneider, Seahawks are one of three teams to return the exact same five -man. offensive line from last year. And. ah it It does seem like. You know, this worked out well for week. week two and you're right good to get those guys experience but It does seem like plan A, you know, barring any injury, it's Anthony Bradford in there as the full -time starter.
M dub: And the exact same five guys as last year.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, which is great. I mean... Again, another thing that we should just be grateful for. We're lucky that. um that we have that, that we have. um that continuity it's it's so rare so rare as a seahawks fan to have it you know over the years it's always been kind of a a carousel of of moving pieces and so to have that continuity.
Tristan Amundson: You're seeing it pay dividends and you're seeing the talent that each one of these guys has and and what they bring. and you know they always talk about the more an offensive line plays together. It just. you know, just builds, builds, builds, it gets better. Or as coach would say, you know, they're just stacking, right? They're stacking wins, stacking plays.
Tristan Amundson: um So yeah, pretty cool to to see that.
M dub: Another thing that happened in the second half, one of the Seahawks' few miscues, and it feels okay because we know how inconsequential this was to the game. And we know how valuable Eric Sobert is. as a blocker, but he kind of, this there's this kind of broken play, and Saubert really makes an athletic play to come down.
M dub: Catches the pass. um We're at... quite a ways behind the line of scrimmage and he ends up with one catch for negative 10 yards and you know it will be uh quite some time for him to work his way out ah hopefully You know what? I shouldn't say that hopefully.
M dub: we We get a target to Eric Sobert next week and we erase this negative 10. from the season -long stat line but i just felt bad for the guy makes a great play on the ball broken play, you know.
M dub: ah What else are you supposed to do? you know Who knows? He could have broken free, but ends up one catch, negative 10 yards. Um, Can't feel... Obviously, it doesn't matter that much. Not not really going to show up at the year -end performance review. but Can't end up feeling bad for the guy.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, it's it's funny when I saw that play. I kind of thought about Drew Locke because. um and When I was rewatching it, you know, that was supposed to be a screen to the right side, I believe, to number eight.
Tristan Amundson: And it ended up not. you know just didn't work the screen just was was sniffed out and so It's funny because when I saw that, I kind of thought about Patrick Mahomes because I feel like in a scenario like that. you'll see a guy like patrick mahomes see that like okay number one didn't work This, this second option kind of sucks and just throw it at the guy's feet immediately. And almost like with disdain, like, all right, here you go. Like throw it at the feet. I don't care.
Tristan Amundson: And um I feel like that was one of the moments where. you can see Drew trying to do a little too much. with that pass like that That play was broken. It wasn't going to work.
Tristan Amundson: um just throw it at his feet obviously you know it turns out to be much ado about nothing but that was kind of my my feeling or my thinking when i was watching that like you you watch the the patrick mahomes of the world just kind of like all right whatever Like throw throw it in the ground. Doesn't matter. um Instead, he tried to make something out of nothing, which.
Tristan Amundson: usually can be really bad when you try to do that in this case it just Just cost us 10 yards.
M dub: Yeah, and still end up scoring on the possession as well since Seattle scored on all their second -half possessions. I'm gonna go off script here something I noticed we've got Abraham Lucas At right tackle. I don't know if you saw this.
M dub: he's He's got a new, and it's interesting. I think we care about face mask designs a lot as football fans, but we don't really have names to describe them. But Abraham Lucas has busted out what is just undeniably an 80s or a 90s.
M dub: face mask. It's a new face mask. It's a completely different feel. And I don't know how else to describe it other than we've got like... The center bar. going down and maybe like we're we've only got like Like there's more lines.
M dub: you know, in the modern face mask. uh but but abraham lucas is taking it back we got the center bar going down and probably and only the like three or four squares on either side.
M dub: is this how
Tristan Amundson: Minimum Interesting.
M dub: I was just going over on the podcast.
Tristan Amundson: Minimalist. Turns out Abe is a minimalist when it comes to his face masks. Now I got to like take a. I got a look on Sunday or I might even just rewatch a little bit of the game so I can get a close up. I need to see.
Tristan Amundson: Abe's out. Abe's new look face mask. um I mean... He's such an intimidating looking dude. Like that's what as you're describing kind of like him going old school. It's like, yeah, that.
Tristan Amundson: that seems on brand for abel lucas like be the old school mauling right guard that just Is it complete? Like. you're if you're a defensive end you're just kind of shaking your head like this guy is just going to be so annoying to play against and that's what I think of Abe Lucas on the line just
Tristan Amundson: Like. Not the most finesse. you know he's He's not like a dancing bear out there. He is just like a mauler. And it's going to be a long day. And I just feel like that's that's the Abe Lucas vibe. It's going to be a long day.
M dub: the The vibe completely changes with this face mask, though. I don't know how else to describe it. These things matter. you know Your uniform numbers. I don't know why they matter to us so much, but it it really does matter.
M dub: the The feel is is fantastic, and I hope we see more of this. it's It's definitely a throwback face mask look, and ah I'm very happy to see it. it's It feels very refreshing here in 2026.
Tristan Amundson: Um, I feel like we we can't stop. We can't hit stop record and without just giving J -Love a little bit of a shout -out, man. That interception was awesome. um I heard coach in the press conference again, kind of talking through.
Tristan Amundson: what he was doing he was playing a post route and he basically in fact great question by brady henderson brady was like what's something that the average fan wouldn't see when when you watch that play And he basically was like.
Tristan Amundson: the The way that. the the the position like playing the post um from the safety position he's He's got a few different... um a few different responsibilities But the way that the play developed.
Tristan Amundson: He's like, you know that it's going to it's like going to go to that wide receiver. And so basically what coach was saying was like. The reason why Jordan or ah ah Julius was able, Julian, man.
Tristan Amundson: whoo I should just stick with J Love. The reason why Julian Love was able to make that interception. is because he understood the play. He understood what was happening, and he ran to the spot where he knew the football had to be thrown. And so and you basically just speaks to, obviously, knowledge of the game and anticipation.
Tristan Amundson: Which... is an elite thing right i mean like the difference between someone who has experience in a field and they don't is being able to anticipate things and see where something's going. um It doesn't catch him by surprise. and Just like awesome veteran. interception. using his brains, which. Julian seems to have a lot of. um want to give him that shout out because it was a first of all unbelievably athletic awesome interception
Tristan Amundson: But the reason he was there is because of his knowledge of the game.
M dub: I love that. That's so good. he He is such a smart player. And, you know, he's yeah yeah he he's really reading everything back there. and and waiting for his moment. um It's happened two games in a row now.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, well, I mean, I love what I heard Coach say. Coach was like, he paused and he's just like. That's an elite why like that's an elite safety in this league. Like, Julian is elite at what he does.
Tristan Amundson: um And. I just love him getting the props like that from head coach. like This is ah an elite safety in the league. it's Super fun to watch.
M dub: I got one more thing here, Tristan. A little bit off the field, but letterboxed. That's the... website where you track and review movies that you watched.
M dub: The letterbox, the company visited the Seahawks practice facility. It was asking. for everybody's top four movies. And a handful of guys answered the answer the question.
M dub: Um, from Some of the guys were getting a lot of Marvel. You know, a lot of maybe. ah Maybe mainstream blockbuster hits. And then. But we we have a superstar here. come out and he's taking the internet by storm.
M dub: it's It's our defensive tackle, Byron Murphy. Tristan, do you want to know this? here's here's Here's Byron mury Murphy's top four movies overall. Imitation of Life from 1959. Flowers in the Attic from 1987.
M dub: American Gangster from 2007, and Rosewood from 1997. tristan i haven't heard i haven't seen any of those and i haven't heard of three of them He's going all across the decades.
M dub: He knows cinema backwards and front, and he turned 24 years old this month. It was just completely unexpected. Byron Murphy. Big and mean. Tattooed neck in the middle.
M dub: And. um an absolute ball knower when it comes to cinema. Really knows his stuff backwards and forwards. He's gotten a lot of respect across the internet and he absolutely deserves it. It was.
M dub: A shocking and beautiful moment in Seahawks football.
Tristan Amundson: Man, I am. I will. adapt this to to like just the vibe of this team. a lot of thoughtful guys on this team, right? like Like when you say that about Byron, he's watching. One of his favorite movies is from the 50s.
Tristan Amundson: as a as I mean, as young as he is. Like that's just a super thoughtful guy. Like that's a guy that's interested and curious and things. um about things i should say And is that not like ah an attribute of this team in general, right? I mean, we just talked about Julian. um Big Cat um obviously has lots of ah different.
Tristan Amundson: interests from gardening to spearfishing, right? um Byron Murphy. you know didn't know but apparently a cinephile Going way back.
Tristan Amundson: Um, And, you know, you you talk, you listen to when you listen to a lot of these guys talk, Sam, Sam Bradford is the same way. Drew Locke is the same way. like interesting guys that have something to say.
Tristan Amundson: Um, And, and are multiple like aren't just one thing and and i'm sure not say that everyone needs to be that some folks just want to play football um and that's good too but um I think it's it's cool to have some characters on your team like that and some some really introspective, thoughtful guys. And you don't necessarily expect that, you know, stereotypically from a defensive tackle. um And we got a few that are like that on the defensive line, which is, yeah, that's a, I had no idea, man. That's super fun.
M dub: It's just funny to think in a bye week, you know, Leonard Williams is at the garden store or loading up on Magic the Gathering cards.
Tristan Amundson: Yep.
M dub: Byron Murphy is ripping through Scarecrow video in the U District. um it's pretty and who know who knows from the other I'm sure there's a lot of things that we don't know as well that these guys are doing. I just thought it was so cool.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, yeah. I mean, there was a time when you know Seahawks players just stole donuts from Top Pot, but now we got them doing a lot of cool things. so um yeah that's dude that's a fun one though seriously that's a that's a super fun fun game fun fact and Byron also had a great game. so that's ah That's cool. any Anything else um on the agenda today, Miles?
M dub: The Seahawks have a game next week. They will be traveling across the country playing an early 10 a .m. game against the Washington Commanders. Much like the Seattle Seahawks, the Washington Commanders will be playing their backup quarterback.
M dub: Marcus Mariota instead of the injured Jalen Daniels. Really tough play. Really weird weird looking play that Jalen Daniels got injured on. jade and dan just got injured on um Backup versus backup. I mean, it it is so weird. cross -country flight.
M dub: Playing QB2. it It is just unbelievable how confident I am in a win. Obviously, anything can happen. any any given son Anything can happen on any given Sunday. It's a new phrase I thought of.
M dub: But. Gosh, it it is really hard to picture a loss in this one. and That won't be the case the rest of the year. I think this is one of the few soft spots in the schedule here. but It is. ah I'm not - concerned. I want Sam Darnold to rest in this game. you know like i'd like Let's not rush this thing back. No no worries. Take another week, Sam.
M dub: I'm not concerned about it um If he's healthy, great. We know why not. But it's really pretty far down on the list of concerns here. What a position to be in.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, I mean... It'll be interesting to see if Sam can come back or not to me. The yeah, the confidence that you can have in Drew is awesome. And we'll just we'll see what happens next week. um Should be a great game. Uh,
Tristan Amundson: It does bum you out. the the The NFL is a brutal place and you just see. All of these great. young players, you know, getting hurt every single week and the NFL has already in a young season lost.
Tristan Amundson: a lot of really good quarterbacks um Maybe not for the year, but you know at the very least for for good chunks of time. So it's a bummer to see. and um yeah hope Hope that he's back. i As ah maybe counterintuitive as as this is, I would rather.
Tristan Amundson: I would rather him play like. Like, I want to see good players, right? I want to see, with all due respect, Marcus Moriota is a good player. good You know, he's been in this league for a long time. um But.
Tristan Amundson: You want to see. guys like jayden daniels play you want to see you know just kind of those dynamics um and the headache he would be so hoping him a a fast recovery i did hear this is the second time he's dislocated this elbow so um Like...
Tristan Amundson: That's probably a bit troubling for him.
M dub: man
Tristan Amundson: he I might. I don't want to do the training staff's job for them and equipment. We might just put ah a brace on that going forward. You know, I think it's his non throwing elbow. I think it is. I hope it is. um let's just you know maybe brace that puppy up or or do something so i'm hoping that he has a speedy recovery um something that he i'm sure didn't say this weekend miles, but something.
Tristan Amundson: that i know i said in southern california i know you said in the the great state of Oregon. I know that many of our brothers and sisters said. across the entire Pacific Northwest, and as we know, across the world, really, because this is an international fan base.
Tristan Amundson: Go Hawks!
M dub: Go Hawks.
