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Horton Hears A Who Dat (Technical issue at 40 min mark)
29 Plays1 month ago
Tristan and Miles talk about when they knew the boat race was on, the Seahawks’ surprisingly strong special teams, and an offense that only had to play half a game. TECHNICAL ISSUE AROUND 40min in. Due to the an issue with the recording we can't fix it. We would recommend stopping around 40 min.
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Transcript
Magical Connection: New Orleans vs. Seattle
00:00:00
Tristan Amundson
Miles, New Orleans is considered the birthplace of jazz. And holy smokes, don't we love it when those sweet sweet saints come marching in to Seattle.
00:00:13
M dub
Thank
00:00:13
Tristan Amundson
I feel like every time this team comes up to the Northwest, it's some something good happens. It might be a beast quake. it It might be Tori Horton just showing us...
00:00:25
Tristan Amundson
some of the best Nate Burleson impressions we've ever seen. i don't know, but there's something magical about New Orleans and about this city and about this fan base and about this team that, that loves to, well, I mean, put on a show, give us what we want. I can't think of the last time the Seahawks played New Orleans and I, I walked away sad and here's another great example of it.
Seahawks' Decisive Victory
00:00:53
Tristan Amundson
This was a fun game. how you doing, man?
00:00:56
M dub
Tristan, what a pleasure to be with you, and what a pleasure to talk about the Seahawks moving to two and one with an absolute demolition of the New Orleans Saints, a game that was forty four to thirteen in the end, but it's kind of hard to remember that final score because this game was legitimately wrapped up, put a bow on it, somewhere between 7 and 11 minutes into the game. Truly, it was over that quickly.
00:01:24
M dub
And we all just kind of watched ah maybe a preseason game or some sort of intra-squad scrimmage take place for like the last 90 minutes of runtime at Lumen Field. But ah the competitive football game was over pretty quickly this weekend.
00:01:41
Tristan Amundson
So let's get into the game a little bit, but I want to ask you a question. When did you get a sense? And I admittedly, I have this canned and ready to go on my end. When did you get a sense that this was going to be a bit of a laugher that or or actually, can I rephrase that? When did you get a sense that the Saints were truly outmatched and they knew it?
00:02:07
M dub
Um, well, you know, the score was 28 to three pretty quickly. So that, that gave me a pretty strong sense.
00:02:11
Tristan Amundson
It was.
00:02:14
M dub
There was 11 minutes left in the second quarter and the score was 28 to three. That gave me a strong sense. I did have a pretty good sense. However, when the score was still zero to zero saints, saints get their first drive of the game.
00:02:25
Tristan Amundson
Here we go.
00:02:29
M dub
They get to about midfield and they're facing a fourth and two. And they decide to go for it, which I appreciated the decision from the Saints because that's not what I wanted to happen.
00:02:36
Tristan Amundson
yes. yes
00:02:41
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:02:42
M dub
You know, you you want to make the opposing fan base uncomfortable. Kellen Moore makes the call. We're going to go for it. I feel uncomfortable. And then I see Spencer Rattler line up in shotgun.
00:02:54
M dub
And i it it seems to me like offensive coordinators around the league Don't take it. I thought it's, it's a, I know there's things to do in the off season. It seems to me like every offensive coordinator, you need to take through it two or three days and watch simply every fourth down decision across the NFL.
00:03:12
M dub
Cause if you did that, you would know this is a bad sign to get your quarterback and shotgun. We got fourth and two to go and let's just get started by scooping that ball three yards further back and and making it even longer for us.
Capitalizing on Momentum and Errors
00:03:24
M dub
And sure enough, it doesn't convert. That was when I started to get a sense. What about yourself?
00:03:29
Tristan Amundson
So and I think it's important for us to sincerely say we did not. This is not rehearsed. We did not talk about this beforehand. ah The exact same moment.
00:03:39
Tristan Amundson
So for me.
00:03:40
M dub
Sorry to steal your moment there.
00:03:41
Tristan Amundson
Well, you did you did steal my thunder, but I think it's worth it because it's great that we saw the exact same thing for me.
00:03:42
M dub
Wow.
00:03:47
Tristan Amundson
The second they decided to go for it that early, i i looked at my wife and I said, they're they're trying to steal um a possession right now.
00:03:58
Tristan Amundson
And i it's funny, it's actually a Saints thing. I distinctly remember the Super Bowl that they won. Sean Payton talking about that Super Bowl and him basically saying, because I believe during that Super Bowl, they do an onside kick. They recover an onside kick.
00:04:14
Tristan Amundson
And I remember hearing him discuss that Super Bowl win in retrospect, and he knew going into it that they were outmatched. And so he basically knew going into the game, we're going to have to steal a possession because we're not as talented as that team.
00:04:29
Tristan Amundson
And the second they got um they the second they came up to the line and it was clear they're actually doing this. I had that sense of, oh, holy smokes, like they're kind of tipping their hand right now that they are outmatched and they need to steal a possession. They need to do whatever they can to try to keep the ball right now.
00:04:49
Tristan Amundson
I thought that was such a telling moment right off the bat. I did not even think of it as them being aggressive. I thought of it almost as defensive, like. We were not the odds of us winning this game are slim.
00:05:04
Tristan Amundson
Everything's going to have to go right. And we're going to start rolling the dice immediately. um So that's how I kind of just interpreted that right off the bat. But I love that we both the alarm bells kind of went off because you see teams go for it on fourth down all the time. It's a common thing.
00:05:22
Tristan Amundson
But that was different. There was something about the down in and distance. There was something about it being that that early in the game. um The field position, I believe that they were still on their 40 or 45. It was not at midfield yet.
00:05:35
Tristan Amundson
it There was something off about that. And I think it really speaks to they knew going into the game how out ah overmatched they were, um which is kind of a fun thing as a fan base to realize and and to enjoy.
00:05:49
M dub
It is a fun thing to to enjoy. And technically, I think you came to that realization five to ten seconds at least ahead of me. Because it it took me seeing Spencer Rattler in Shotgun and going, oh, this play is destined to go nowhere on fourth and two, you know, when you do that.
00:06:07
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. Yeah. No, it's
Special Teams and Defensive Highlights
00:06:10
Tristan Amundson
100%. Yeah, 100%. So I will say this. This game is exactly, it's exactly the game we hoped would we would get, meaning they were outmatched. We we had hoped that this would be, i had heard players say before the game, hey, we can't sleep on the Saints, right? So that's that's a good sign too. Going into it, the players kind of knew, hey,
00:06:35
Tristan Amundson
yeah know don't we got to be full power. like you know let Let's not sleep on these guys. um This could be one that they come in and sneak in and win. So right off the bat, that the team knew...
00:06:48
Tristan Amundson
what they should do in this game. And the fact that we actually went out and executed is if that is sports are so random and you never know exactly what you're going to get.
00:06:59
Tristan Amundson
The fact that they were actually able to go out and execute on what they knew they needed to do.
00:06:59
M dub
Thank
00:07:05
Tristan Amundson
And, and that resulted in an actual blowout blowouts don't happen in the NFL very often. You just don't see it all the time. um And, and certainly as a Seahawks fan, you know, to your point, we haven't seen a ton of them.
00:07:18
Tristan Amundson
it It feels pretty great. So this is just me saying to everyone listening, You got to enjoy these moments. I mean, you don't get a lot of these kinds of games.
00:07:31
Tristan Amundson
We have to enjoy it. You have to open up your ESPN app and just look at it. You just got to look at the box score. You just got to look at the touchdowns. You got to watch the highlights three or four times because there's going to be a stinker of a game at some point this season. And it doesn't mean that we're a bad team.
00:07:48
Tristan Amundson
This doesn't mean we're the best team. It's just you got to enjoy the moment. Do you agree, Myles?
00:07:53
M dub
ah that That is so beautifully said. I really do agree with you. And as this game got out of control early, i was telling myself, enjoy the rest of this ride ah into halftime and beyond.
00:08:06
M dub
And it even still got boring towards the end of the game, ah to be quite honest. But you are absolutely right. Now that it's done, you got to look at 44 to 13. It happens very rarely the NFL. And it happens very rarely in the nfl and yeah Yeah, the Seahawks are a really, you have to be a pretty good team to destroy another NFL team this badly on an NFL Sunday.
00:08:31
Tristan Amundson
That's true. Yeah. I mean, they maybe that goes back to the idea they did what they were supposed to do and they actually did it, which means, yeah, that's a very competent NFL team that was disciplined and and did their part.
00:08:44
Tristan Amundson
um All right. let' Let's dig into this a little bit. do we Do we want to talk about special teams? We want to talk about some defense. What do you think?
00:08:51
M dub
Well, speaking of enjoying it, should just quickly run down what had the the quick sequence that got us to ah this game being over at at a very early hour?
Player Confidence and Development
00:09:00
Tristan Amundson
Just out of control. Yeah.
00:09:02
M dub
just Just to enjoy the run through. So we have this failed fourth down from New Orleans. on their first drive that gives the Seahawks 55 yards to get to the end zone. They're helped by a defensive penalty.
00:09:15
M dub
15 of those yards are gifted to them. So Seahawks score touchdown, ah new Orleans stalls their next drive. Tori Horton receives the punt return immediately runs that in, uh,
00:09:30
M dub
Now it's 14-0. Next New Orleans drive also stalls. DeAnthony Bell comes and blocks that punt, gives the Seahawks 11 yards to the end zone. He scores the touchdown.
00:09:41
M dub
I'm losing track of all of it. Basically, it was 28-3 with 11 minutes left in the second quarter, and the Seahawks had less than 100 yards of offense at that point in time because everything was just... because And Darion Kendrick dropped an interception in that time span as well.
00:09:55
M dub
It was just... It was... It was wild.
00:10:01
Tristan Amundson
How cool is it that we keep getting to see Darion Kendrick like jump out on the onto the screen? Like I when he got the interception last week, I looked at my wife. i was like, I have no idea who that guy is. And I was like, I I feel like I know this team pretty doggone well.
00:10:16
Tristan Amundson
And to see him continue to just stand out and be be different than everyone else on the field is pretty cool. Like you just you you got to feel good about a story like that. A guy that.
00:10:27
Tristan Amundson
um You never wish injuries on anyone, but when those things happen, someone has to come in and and fill those voids. He must just be ecstatic. I mean, just the the work he's doing, he's proving himself very valuable to this team.
00:10:43
Tristan Amundson
And he's, again, taking advantage of love of a situation and and like putting his best foot forward. I couldn't be happier for him.
00:10:51
M dub
I agree. And that's with two dropped interceptions down the last two games. But I think it says ah there's so many good things.
00:10:56
Tristan Amundson
Crazy.
00:10:57
M dub
Well, one, he was the guy he missed all of 2024 with an ACL injury. He had been with the Rams since 2022 and comes over to the Seahawks when he's cut in the preseason.
00:11:07
M dub
So the things are just compounding on one another.
00:11:08
Tristan Amundson
Thank you.
00:11:09
M dub
Not only is he standing out for the Seahawks, but it's a direct subtraction from a division rival. And Darion Kendrick is one of many, many examples on this team, especially on the defensive end of, I think, Mike McDonald seeing a skill set that he wants from a player who's not necessarily valued at a high dollar level, but he sees the skill set that he wants, and he's very quickly developing young players who are, you know, quote, coming out of nowhere, you know, not super high draft picks.
00:11:41
M dub
This defense is littered with them because the defense has incredible depth, no weaknesses, Darion Kendrick's a big part of that.
00:11:50
Tristan Amundson
Josh Jobe comes to mind, right, as another example of a guy like that, that not necessarily very ah heralded, yet he seems to be making a massive impact. Shouldn't say
Synergy of Wide Receivers
00:12:00
Tristan Amundson
seems. He's making a massive impact.
00:12:03
Tristan Amundson
um Chaz, as we saw on that punt return, another gentleman that I've never heard of before, and yet he he makes a play that that made Dave Wyman in the booth.
00:12:15
Tristan Amundson
um you know, every now and again, Dave Weinman, if you're listening to the radio broadcast is Rabels calling a play. He just makes a noise that he can't control his body. Like the linebacker in him is just taken. he's He's possessed by the game and the noise he makes when, when, when Chaz lays out the kicker on Torrey Horton's return is just,
00:12:40
Tristan Amundson
It's wonderful. It's just, it's, it's incredible. Warren moon used to do that as well. Just kind of the, in not like the audible, like, yes. Ah, like it's, it's really fun to see.
00:12:50
Tristan Amundson
Um, can I tell you what I was thinking? Every time I see something like this, I I'm so happy. to see Torrey Horton and, and what he's done so far in this very, very young season. He's, he's proving himself to be a steal by, by John Schneider, I think. And I think we're going to continue to see his role increase.
00:13:12
Tristan Amundson
Whenever I see a return like that, and I mentioned it during the open, I think of Nate Brilson. um I think of Nate Brilson coming over, I believe, from Detroit to Seattle.
00:13:23
Tristan Amundson
um And at the time, was like heralded as like, this guy's going to be a solid number two kind of wide receiver for you. We were we were excited to see Nate play.
00:13:34
Tristan Amundson
And Nate Brilson was really bad when he came over to Seattle. he It was not... he He did not affect games whatsoever until he did. And the moment that everything changed for Nate Brulson is um a punt return for a touchdown.
00:13:51
Tristan Amundson
And it was weird because you saw the countenance of a player go from... And nothing else changed. Nate Burleson went from a non-factor wide receiver to a really great Seahawks wide receiver for the rest of his time in Seattle.
00:14:07
Tristan Amundson
And it was the confidence-boosting moment. I would love to ask Nate about it someday. It was the moment when he got that that return for a touchdown. And it's almost like the weight just left his shoulders and he remembered who he was, that he's a really, really good player.
00:14:22
Tristan Amundson
And now Torrey has already had a touchdown the, you know, ah this season before that return. And and obviously he had another touchdown yesterday on Sunday as well.
00:14:34
Tristan Amundson
But I guess I bring up Nate Brilson to say how important confidence is, especially for, for young players and to see Torrey given opportunities, taking advantage of those opportunities and building his confidence this early in the season.
00:14:52
Tristan Amundson
ah It just seems like an incredibly valuable thing for the team moving forward. The fact that that he's been able to take hold of these moments and he's able to now almost kind of bank, almost deposit those moments, those confidence moments as he's kind of going into the rest of the season. He belongs. Torrey Horton belongs, I guess what I'm trying to say.
00:15:14
Tristan Amundson
It's sometimes in a job, you don't know if you belong. You might be the most talented guy or gal at your job, but you don't know if you belong and you feel maybe a bit of an imposter. And I'm sure that happens a lot in the NFL.
00:15:28
Tristan Amundson
it I hope it's really obvious to Tori. I think it is. Dude, you belong. Like you are making a massive impact at this level. I think that could um just really portend to to great things ahead.
00:15:41
Tristan Amundson
for this team and for Torrey, the fact that he's getting off to a really hot start, if that makes sense.
00:15:47
M dub
It absolutely does. ah That Nate Burleson punt return touchdown, you know, changed the face of national television for the decades to come.
00:15:56
Tristan Amundson
That's true. That's true. I mean, I didn't think of it that way.
00:15:57
M dub
I'm sure.
00:15:59
Tristan Amundson
ah That they did have probably um um a downstream effect on the fact that he, you know, went in to have a really great broadcasting career. That's that's an interesting point.
00:16:10
M dub
Yeah. Who would be next to Michael Strahan if if a certain block on a certain punt return, ah you know,
00:16:16
Tristan Amundson
I wonder if he ever thinks about that. Yeah. The the block that sprung him free on that. And ah and he if he looks at his life, all the tiny things that amount to where we are individually. That's kind of a, that's an interesting idea.
00:16:30
M dub
Back to Troy Horton. I think that play in the previous game against the Steelers kind of way out ahead of Jalen Ramsey for the touchdown. That was probably the ah confidence booster, i think. and yeah, now that confidence has to be through the roof with 95-yard punt return, the longest in Seahawks history, and a second touchdown.
00:16:45
Tristan Amundson
Yep.
00:16:53
M dub
how What a different picture.
Inspiring Comeback Stories
00:16:56
M dub
it is now to see, look at the Seahawks wide receiving group and go, oh yeah, but this is with this is what the plan was. You can understand now, we definitely did not understand after the first game against San Francisco, why Marquez Valdez-Scandling was released.
00:17:12
M dub
And it's probably what the the Seahawks were seeing this guy probably have an amazing spring and summer when he first got into the program. And now it looks like releasing MVS was not so much about m bs I mean, it was ah free agent investment that didn't work out, but it seems it seems to be more about Tori Horton now.
00:17:33
M dub
And immediately, you know, you look at Puga Nakua the last couple of years. And he made his debut in the NFL against the Seahawks and ah immediately gassed the squad.
00:17:44
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:17:44
M dub
it was like the Rams found another one way deep in the draft. This is unbelievable. And it turns out Pukinaku is a superstar that was hidden down there. And he just just so happened to have his first game against the Seahawks.
00:17:56
M dub
And it feels good that Seahawks have their own but own fifth round right receiver now who is immediately making an impact.
00:18:03
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. And to your point, you're starting to see the recipe, right? JSN is so dominant and, and is so, um, integral to the way that this team wants to attack defenses.
00:18:16
Tristan Amundson
JSN really has this unique, interesting ability to find gaps. It seems like in the defense to find the soft spot. Um, i was I was listening to Mike. Mike was being asked about that yesterday, um that long um reception to JSN where he almost kind of has to come back for the ball a little bit. He slows his body down.
00:18:38
Tristan Amundson
He has such a good feel. You combine that with, and it was another great example of the incredible yak ability of Cooper Cup where Cooper Cup is, I think, now officially the only wide receiver I've ever watched. I was mentioning last week how his yak is so interesting and he's getting so many extra yards. um Cooper Cup had a really kind of a a throw. I shouldn't say throwaway play, but it wasn't a very exciting looking play.
00:19:07
Tristan Amundson
um Caught, I think it was maybe, at say, a 15-yard ball um on the flat. And he stumbled and and kind of just re-fucked rolled forward for like another five or six yards.
00:19:21
Tristan Amundson
And it was kind of funny because he gave himself up. Like he didn't take a big hit, which I'm i'm glad about. And it was the appropriate time to do that. But it was kind of funny. and And with all due respect to Tyler Lockett, we saw last year a lot of examples of, you know, make the catch get down. Right. And Tyler was was doing the right thing for his body and and no problem whatsoever.
00:19:44
Tristan Amundson
It was kind of interesting to see Cooper do something similar to what we've saw Tyler do last year, except there was an extra six or seven yards magically attached to it. He just has this innate ability, I think, to do that.
00:19:56
Tristan Amundson
His ability to do that, and now I feel like Torrey Horton with his speed kind of filling in the gaps between those two players um already with with two touchdown receptions.
00:20:10
Tristan Amundson
I guess to your point, we're starting to see the formula of these guys working together. They all kind of have different skill sets that they're they're able to bring. Man, it all revolves around JSN, though, doesn't it? I mean, it is like he seems to me to be the centerpiece of making all of this work.
Saints' Financial and Strategic Struggles
00:20:27
Tristan Amundson
Maybe not even just the wide receivers. it but So far, I mean, tell me if I'm wrong. Tell me if you disagree. He seems to be the centerpiece of the offense in general. Like, that's kind of just what my eyes see as you watch the games.
00:20:40
M dub
I absolutely agree. And JSN three weeks into the year is second in the NFL in total wide receiving yards. And by the way, the top of this standings is completely dominated by the NFC West at number one.
00:20:53
M dub
Overall, we have the aforementioned Puka Nikua JSN at number two, Ricky Pearsall at number three ah with the backup throwing to him for two games.
00:20:59
Tristan Amundson
wow
00:21:02
M dub
But anyway, so that's interesting. ah I don't think that was predicted very much at the start of the year. A lot more kind of explosive big play receivers around the NFL.
00:21:13
M dub
You would have expected to be at the top. But yeah. Yeah. they the it's It feels very easy for JSA to get 10 to 15 yards in the middle the field.
00:21:24
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, no, he he has that innate ability. That's been been super fun to watch. Interesting that Ricky Pearsall is number three on that list, by the way. if you If you remember last year, he was shot in downtown San Francisco um and did not. He started the season on the IR with a gunshot wound, which is absolutely bizarre.
00:21:45
Tristan Amundson
And i mean, but Pretty cool personal story for him, just from a standpoint of being able to overcome that and what made an impact last year, amazingly, coming back from a gunshot wound and now, you know, obviously making a massive impact this year.
00:22:01
Tristan Amundson
um that's It's kind of crazy that he's number three in the league with with all that that's happened in his life in a fairly short period time. He wasn't playing football this time last year.
00:22:12
M dub
It is true, but Kyle Shanahan takes a wide receiver in the first round. I'm scared. Just straight up.
00:22:17
Tristan Amundson
Wow.
00:22:18
M dub
Yeah. Tristan, looking at this game, um the Seahawks played an excellent game, but I was really struck by the struggles that the Saints had. I was really having a hard time placing a worse team that I've seen, and it does start with the team's salary cap sheet. You got to go all the way back. Just some quick numbers here.
00:22:40
M dub
the Saints have 92.2 million tied up in dead money. That's the second most amount in the league.
00:22:45
Tristan Amundson
wow
00:22:47
M dub
And then they are 32nd overall, ah just with salary cap rollover year to year, 32nd overall in the amount of money they are spending on their active roster. So 92 million in dead money, 145 million spent on their active roster.
00:23:01
M dub
Those two numbers should not be that close together. so you kind of know coming into the season that puts you on the back foot, but I was really struck by, it felt to me, even with that, there was a lot they left on the table with 53 NFL players that they've actually signed and have on the team.
00:23:21
M dub
We have in the first quarter, the competitive portion of this game, the team commits six penalties and they were trying to go up tempo, which is another one of those red flags about like, uh, feeling outmatched.
00:23:27
Tristan Amundson
Well, yeah. yeah
00:23:33
M dub
And As you kind of, it seemed a little alarming. It's kind oh, Seahawks, the defense really has to get in position here. But truth be told, it was more often the Saints tripping themselves up.
00:23:46
M dub
And then ah we saw the Saints really ah had a ton of passing attempts. But despite trailing so big in this game, they barely went down the field at all. So Spencer Rattler, there's some sacks and pressures in there.
00:24:00
M dub
Spencer Rattler goes 28 for 39 for a total of 218 yards. I don't know why he don't just push it down the field here and there, especially because with injuries to the Seahawks secondary, we had undrafted Tai Okada, his third year with the team, gone back and forth between the roster and practice squad, gets his first career start today.
00:24:23
M dub
Plays really well. And nothing against Tai Okada, but you hear undrafted guy making his first career start. You might want to target him just to see what happens.
00:24:34
M dub
You know, who knows? But believe it or not, this was the first game of the season when Tai Okada was not targeted. He's the only defensive player to play 100% of the snaps, and he doesn't receive a target. So kudos to Tai Okada.
00:24:51
M dub
Great game.
Special Teams Improvement
00:24:52
Tristan Amundson
Absolutely.
00:24:53
M dub
On the other hand, how how do you have that many? There's not that many secondary players on the field where you're you're passing this ball around 40 times in a game. How do you never get to that?
00:25:05
M dub
Another clear blunder. I mean, great job by DeAnthony Bell on the blocked punt. It is a textbook blocked punt. They pointed out on the broadcast. coming diagonally across, so he's not going to rough the kicker if he just so happens to miss.
00:25:19
M dub
But he wasn't going to miss because he was completely unblocked. The Saints just lined up nobody next to him, and he did he did he just was able to run in there and completely block the kick. And it was the simplest block pun in NFL history.
00:25:34
M dub
So I think that was the big reason this game got completely out of control. But after the the George Helani kickoff, you know, ah Blue Beruski in Pittsburgh last week.
00:25:46
Tristan Amundson
Yep. yup
00:25:48
M dub
It is, I mean, it is as simple as all this stuff sounds. It's it's it's obviously difficult to nail all this stuff as an NFL team or, or else everybody would do it. You know, but you wouldn't, if it wasn't, if it was easy, then no teams would have problems with, with these types of like procedural issues.
00:26:05
M dub
Steelers did last week. Saints had way more problems this week. And the point is, it's really good to see that the Seahawks, the 2025 Seahawks, are a team that when the opponent makes a mistake like that, the Seahawks take full advantage of it.
00:26:19
M dub
They're sharp on the rules, sharp on what's happening, and they are absolutely maximizing these mental mistakes by their opponents.
00:26:27
Tristan Amundson
No, 100% agreed. And you know, what's, what's really great about, about watching kind of the maturation of this from a Seahawks perspective, you bring up the special teams. I think you want to talk about Jay Harbaugh a little bit.
00:26:42
Tristan Amundson
but Something that occurred to me as I was watching really the last three weeks. If you remember, we spoke quite a bit last year about special teams seem to be a real liability for this team, that it was a real issue.
00:26:56
Tristan Amundson
it's been such a breath of fresh air to see um the special teams unit really be a highlight reel and really helping this team actively win, especially obviously the last two weeks, it's been very obvious, but even the the less obvious things, um the way that kicks seem to be ah covered, the way that kicks are, are you know the way we're kicking off some of the basic, I mean, you know,
00:27:22
Tristan Amundson
pardon the pun, but some of the basic blocking and tackling literally seems to be working and and working at a better better clip. I'm not sure why that is, whether it's just kind of getting the right personnel, whether it's Jay getting comfortable with um a philosophy around the Seahawks, whether it's just the newness of last year to this year and and the natural stability that comes with a second year, again, you know, on any job. but um I want to hear your thoughts on Jay, but it's just, I at least wanted to mention just, man, it's been great to see the the difference from last year to this year.
00:27:58
M dub
Completely agree. I think continuity might actually be a pretty big part of it. I hadn't thought about that. It is Jay Harbaugh's second year, but there's there's some of the players on on special teams who recur over and over again who have been, you know, while they're not regular offensive or defensive players, they they have been on the roster for kind of a long time now.
00:28:19
M dub
Ty Okada's third year. got Brady Russell in his third year. I always identify him because he got picked up
00:28:23
Tristan Amundson
Yep.
00:28:26
M dub
off the Eagles practice squad about the same time this podcast started. We've got Derrick Young is actually in his fourth year of the Seahawks. Seventh round pick way back when.
00:28:36
M dub
He's one of the longest tenured players on this team. I mean, there's been a lot of turnover. We're really looking at like Michael Dixon and Derrick Young and the rest of the 2022 draft class are some of the longest tenured players on the team.
00:28:50
M dub
you're You're completely right. So there's been some some outstanding returns. We we saw Torrey Horton take it to the house. We saw Derrick Young have a 60-yard kickoff return. So the numbers here are Seahawks are second overall in the league in average on returning both punts and kickoffs.
00:29:07
M dub
When it comes to the defense, they are below average in terms of punt return yardage per punt. Maybe some of that is Michael Dixon just really gets it far out there.
00:29:17
M dub
but They're actually third best in average kickoff return on on their defense on kickoff returns. so So that's excellent as well.
00:29:26
Tristan Amundson
Interesting. That's excellent. Yeah. Huge.
00:29:28
M dub
And with the amount they're scoring, there have been more kickoffs than punts on the season.
00:29:34
Tristan Amundson
Makes sense.
00:29:35
M dub
And I also wanted to shout out Jason Myers. Yeah. ah because he he really is having an outstanding season. So he's 10 of 10 on extra points. He's six of seven on field goals.
00:29:47
M dub
I think the one play that you would look at from special teams as a negative this year was his missed field goal. It was in Pittsburgh last week. was early on in the game. I do feel like that play was...
00:29:59
M dub
there was poor coverage on the on the offensive line. There was somebody up in Jason Meyer's grill rushing the kick, and I feel like that was why the kick was missed. Either way, is pretty good, but that includes 4-4 from beyond 40 yards, which even...
00:30:14
M dub
Even today in the NFL, you can't count on that. And you're seeing a handful of teams around the league really struggle, having a revolving door at the position, or guys who were excellent start to fall off.
00:30:27
M dub
This is actually a pretty special year from from Jason Myers. But one last thing about special teams I thought was kind of funny is that one week after this great moment against Pittsburgh, George Helani had zero special team snaps in this game.
00:30:41
Tristan Amundson
that That is funny. Yeah. Yeah. Like, why would that be? How would that be? I guess. I mean, obviously they knew he was going have to play running back. So it makes sense as you were chatting and and just talking through some of those special teams, um, players and, and trying to see a through line of, um,
00:31:00
Tristan Amundson
of of why the change. And I think the continuity piece is huge. You're totally right in that um there's a lot of returners. I'm just kind of looking through um in some ways, agreeing with what you're saying about, you know, the same kind of faces.
00:31:17
Tristan Amundson
Brady Russell played 88% special teams. That's a To your point, kind of ah a long term guy that's been out there. Drake Young. um But I'm looking through and there are some names that obviously we haven't seen before playing some real significant snaps out there.
00:31:35
Tristan Amundson
And it's occurring to me that that there's some different body types, I feel like, that are playing special teams we haven't seen before. ah one easy one to point out is, is Chaz, right? Like that's a linebacker body out there. I feel like we've seen maybe some smaller guys in the past seeing Chaz out there at 61% is kind of interesting.
00:31:56
Tristan Amundson
And then, you know, a guy that I heard coach mention, um that I haven't really looked into that much. And frankly, I didn't realize it was happening until, um, until I was listening to him yesterday was the other linebacker that's spelling night. And I'm, I'm blanking on his name. I'm trying to lu ah look him up right now.
00:32:16
Tristan Amundson
Drake, Drake, Thomas, um, Drake, Thomas was out there for 64% of the time. um those it it just occurs to me that like those are different kinds of athletes, right? Having a linebacker type athlete out there, you're giving up speed, but you're gaining more pop, right? so um So some different names.
00:32:37
Tristan Amundson
Obviously, um Oots has been out there a little bit for special teams. Not a ton this game. um Yeah, the the special teams piece is going to be an interesting thing to continue to watch and and see how that progresses.
00:32:50
M dub
Drake Thomas, another player in his third year with the team. And hey, credit to Mike McDonald and Jay Harbaugh for not just coming in and clearing house like happens so much in the NFL.
00:32:58
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:59
M dub
yeah A lot of these guys were, i mean, John Schneider signed everybody, but in the Pete Carroll era, they were initially brought onto the team and I mean, I think you do get more continuity in in the other positions on an NFL field, but this is for special teams. and That can be a revolving door. You have a lot of guys coming in midseason.
Defensive Depth and Rotations
00:33:20
M dub
but That's a lot of guys to be around for their third or fourth year. So I think that might have something to do with it.
00:33:24
Tristan Amundson
yeah Yeah, no, it's it's super, man, it's an interesting kind of fun conversation. um And I'm glad we're having it. i'm I'm glad that it's obvious that it's been it's been a positive. Can we talk um some snap counts real fast? You know, I can't I can't go a podcast without giving some snap count numbers because, you know, it's ah it's a passion project of mine.
00:33:48
M dub
Once again, haven't mentioned the defense, but third straight week of ah allowing under 17 points. I mean, that's kind of lost in the middle of everything, but I mean, this defense is a beast.
00:33:56
Tristan Amundson
It's unbelievable.
00:34:00
Tristan Amundson
it's It's unbelievable. And again, listen, I'm i'm not even going to try sugarcoat it. My eyes are on Byron Murphy all year um for whatever reason. Oh, you know, I know the reason it's because we know what happens to a defense if you add a dominant defensive tackle.
00:34:19
Tristan Amundson
And we know that the Seahawks made a massive investment into this defensive tackle with with a really high draft pick when we took him. And with that comes really high expectation. So I know why my eyes aren't leaving him.
00:34:32
Tristan Amundson
And it's so nice to see it being paid off. So another sack for Byron Murphy, another, yeah um what what really feels like another dominant day tackle for loss, QB hurries, QB hits, um obviously the sack.
00:34:48
Tristan Amundson
Byron was out there and I just kind of love, i love the juxtaposition of these numbers and the way the game went was helpful for these numbers, right? Because a lot of the starters started backing off a little bit.
00:35:00
Tristan Amundson
Um, But this game, we saw Byron Murphy in 70% of the snaps. ah That might be, i haven't looked this up, but um we have been looking at these numbers quite a bit over the last year.
00:35:13
Tristan Amundson
I think that that's probably his highest defensive snap count of his career. I could be wrong on that, but if it's not, it's doggone close. um Big Cat at 62%, which I, again, as um as this game got more and more out of hand for ah for the Saints and the Seahawks um were dominating, they started pulling back some of their best players, which as they should, right?
00:35:40
Tristan Amundson
Let let Leonard Williams have a little bit of a rest, which gave way to Mike Morris, the guy that we talked about a a good amount yesterday, or not yesterday, last year, um feels like yesterday.
00:35:42
M dub
you
00:35:51
Tristan Amundson
Mike Morris, um, will always be famous for me or remembered by me because, um, I heard him talk about gaining weight to be, to be be able to play defensive tackle in the NFL.
00:36:04
Tristan Amundson
Um, as I believe the Pete Carroll era wanted him to, they said, Hey, if you're going to play here, you're going to gain some weight. Um, And I remember him saying that he was 300 pounds, but he was pretty sure that he was about to get his six pack back because, you know, he just he's that marvelous of a of a human specimen.
00:36:24
Tristan Amundson
And so I'll always think about the idea that a 300 pound man can also have a six pack. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. But that's that's Mike Morris. um Twenty five percent of the snaps and he jumped out. I mean, again, towards the end of the game. So I'm not saying, you know, it was massive impact.
00:36:41
Tristan Amundson
But man, I love the idea of getting a guy like that solid reps. And we saw that across the board. um We should talk about defense. So i'm I'm going to stop so you can comment.
00:36:52
Tristan Amundson
But we should talk about the snap counts on the offense too later because, man, this game gave a lot of backups an opportunity to play, which I think is kind of cool.
00:37:02
M dub
All these highlight plays in this game to get to 44 points. I mean, the offense and special teams is scoring a total of 44 points. I have never seen a bigger smile in any circumstance on Coach Mack's face than when Byron Murphy got his
Strategic Resting for Future Games
00:37:17
M dub
sack. Camera cut to him and he...
00:37:19
M dub
he was He was happy as a clam. I mean, that that was his happy place on the football field.
00:37:21
Tristan Amundson
Yep.
00:37:24
M dub
I thought that was a great moment. Another thing on the defense I wanted to to shout out was we saw both Derek Hall and Uchenna Nwosu each get hold held penalty-wise on what was going to be a clear sack.
00:37:39
Tristan Amundson
yep
00:37:42
M dub
And in a lot of ways, that's pretty smart by the offensive lineman. I'd rather do that hold than then have my guy just take a total hit. But I'm a little surprised that as a ah football nation, we don't have like a term for this or we're not really tracking this super well because that 10 yard holding penalty is often more yards than the actual sack is going to be. And we seem to kind of just like bury that play. And I think it happened ah a handful of times to Derek Hall and the second half of last season. And here it happens again.
00:38:17
M dub
i think... You know, obviously it shouldn't be called a sack, but there's got to be something. Because thats I'd rather have that than a sack, like, most of the time, you know?
00:38:29
Tristan Amundson
Well, so it to your point, it's a really, really good point. You would think that we would be tracking just, you know, if you look at a defender's stat line, you think that you would just track sacks, tackles for loss and holds. Right. And and that would be part of the story of a great defensive end.
00:38:47
Tristan Amundson
He got 12 sacks this year. He had seven tackles for loss. And he was held eight times like that. That actually it does tell you a better story about how dominant a guy is.
00:38:58
Tristan Amundson
If T.J. Watt is constantly getting held, there's a reason for it because he's constantly being a nuisance that an offensive lineman can't handle. I think it's a really good point.
00:39:17
Tristan Amundson
OK, had a little glitch there. But Miles, what what do you think about that? Like just having in the same way that we track sacks and tackle for loss, like just having holds as as part of the the metric that we look at and judge defensive lineman for. I think it's I think it makes a lot of sense.
00:39:41
M dub
Or like something like pressure yards lost. you know and And if you get a holding penalty, that's 10 yards added to added to your total. Because I feel like Derek Hall would score really highly in this category.
00:39:49
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, no, agreed. And it happens to elite edge rushers. It happens all the time.
00:39:53
M dub
He got a lot of sacks last year.
00:39:54
Tristan Amundson
To your point, it happened to Chenna as well.
00:39:55
M dub
and I feel like this happened bunch of times to him.
00:39:56
Tristan Amundson
um Really fun to see those two guys. Like, fun to see. And Boye as well. what You know, he should he should be mentioned in this also because he had a great impact. it's It's a good rotation that we're starting to see between Derek and Boye and Chena and Demarcus Lawrence, D-Law.
00:40:16
Tristan Amundson
like they're it's kind of You're starting to kind of get the sense of what this can look like. And then, of course, having Big Cat and Byron you know anchoring in the middle and causing their trouble.
00:40:27
Tristan Amundson
This is another thing that could be really fun to watch, man. Like we're seeing in week three now, what does it look like, say week seven, week eight, as this team really gets continuity on that defensive line and they start being able to kind of have stunts that they're playing against each other and with each other?
00:40:44
Tristan Amundson
it mean i think it's I mean, it's already been fairly dominant. This could be really cool to watch progress.
00:41:01
M dub
I think it could be really fun. And and the cherry on top, where it's it's it's been working without this cherry on top right now, but the that cherry on top is going to be Nick Emanwari.
00:41:04
Tristan Amundson
Yes.
00:41:13
M dub
I mean, obviously you want to see Spoon healthy and and back to being his spoon-y self, but Nick Emanwari, the cherry on the sundae, we haven't been able to to see just yet.
00:41:15
Tristan Amundson
Really the Joker, right? I mean, and i mean that sincerely, like kind of that that Joker player, that wild card that you you don't, ah an offense is going to have a really hard time knowing what they're going to do with Nick. Is he going to drop back? Is he going to be with the linebackers? Is he going to be on attack?
00:41:32
Tristan Amundson
um No, I totally agree. I think he's going to be um an incredibly fun piece the The last thing I wanted to mention, well, let me say is anything else you want to cover off on the
Preview: Seahawks vs. Cardinals
00:41:43
Tristan Amundson
defense? Or can I just mention kind of what we saw as this game went on?
00:41:47
Tristan Amundson
And what I'm really talking about is giving guys a rest, which is going to be incredible as we play football in two days.
00:42:02
M dub
Yes, I think that was really important. i was I was taking note of that as well. The broadcasters were taking note of that. Some of the total offensive snap counts for the Seahawks major offensive players were astonishingly low heading into this traveling on Thursday night to face the Arizona Cardinals.
00:42:12
Tristan Amundson
It was pretty great. So let me give you just three that make a lot of sense right off the bat. Jalen Sandell, Charles Cross, and Sam Darnold all had the exact same ah percentage of snap count and in the exact same number of offensive snaps.
00:42:26
Tristan Amundson
I'm assuming that wasn't ah by mistake, right? That that was well-coordinated. They played the exact same amount of time on the field. That was 68%. Charles Cross was on the field 68%. That's pretty great. That's pretty incredible.
00:42:41
Tristan Amundson
um Maybe notable, interesting at least, that um and and I'm assuming this is just because of availability and and who was behind them, but Gray Zabel and Abe Lucas played the entire game 100%. Anthony Bradford played most of the game, 93%.
00:42:58
Tristan Amundson
But then we got other guys that were able to come in and kind of, you know, fill in the gaps behind them, which is which is really great to see. ah Bryce Cable do got in the game only 7%, but, you know, kind of got his beak wet at least out there and was able to play. um Olu Olu Timmy, man, do you remember when we couldn't?
00:43:18
Tristan Amundson
i I didn't even... stand a chance to say his name right at the beginning of last year, just to see the growth in me personally. That was, that was nice. Um, Olu with 32%. So, you know, getting his reps, which is great.
00:43:32
Tristan Amundson
Um, no coincidence that he has the exact same snap count as, One drew lock with um also 32%. So given your backup quarterback a chance and then the last one, and then I'll shut up and you tell me what you think of all these numbers.
00:43:47
Tristan Amundson
um Josh Jones ah coming in at guard with another 33%. So this is just kind of a ah quick snapshot of what it looked like on the offensive line, but really giving um these other players a chance to get some reps out there. Some, some potentially really valuable reps into the future.
00:44:13
M dub
Yes, and in that way it did kind of feel like a practice session with everybody on the roster getting a ah chance to see to to get on the field.
00:44:20
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:44:22
M dub
I think what was more important than the percentages was just the the sheer number of snaps for some of these players. So the the Charles Cross and... ah Darnold combination, 39 snaps a piece because so the Seahawks total, even, even greats able played a hundred percent of snaps.
00:44:41
M dub
A lot of these Seahawks drives finished off really early because you had the block plant that was in the red zone. You had the Rick young taking a a kickoff way far back. and these drives were getting done in a hurry because they were scoring in a hurry. So you just, you just did, you had kind of half of a football game for a lot of these players.
00:45:01
M dub
To go into the fantasy positions, Cooper Cup had 31 total snaps.
00:45:05
Tristan Amundson
Unbelievable.
00:45:06
M dub
K9 had 30.
00:45:07
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:45:07
M dub
JSN got to almost 100 yards and just 28 total snaps on the entire game.
00:45:08
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. Oh, it's unbelievable. I mean, 49% of the snaps for GSN is hilarious. twenty eight
00:45:14
M dub
This is basically half a football game for all those guys.
00:45:14
Tristan Amundson
if If you look at that, yeah um in ah do you bring up the fantasy football thing, right? Percentage of of offensive plays is a big deal. Hey, you know, is this a guy that that we want to trust?
00:45:25
Tristan Amundson
if If someone was just tree topping this game and didn't understand the context, they might look at that and say, man, what what was wrong in Seattle? Why Jason only get 49 percent? ah He wasn't needed. He you know, he was needed at the water cooler to enjoy um some Arctic freeze Gatorade. That was more important ah to have JSN do ah for most of this game than actually play it, which, um again, great problem to have, man. What what a nice luxury this game was.
00:46:02
M dub
So moving ahead to Thursday at Arizona, and this is a Thursday night game against a division rival. So it is true that absolutely anything can happen.
00:46:12
Tristan Amundson
Oh, is that right?
00:46:13
M dub
But the the people in Las Vegas, there's a lot of people in Las Vegas who own and operate sports books. And they set betting lines. And it's interesting. They set them in a way. They're they're not just a fan of of of their favorite team. And they don't just set the line that way. But a lot of lot of computing power is spent to try to set that line in a way that will maximize their earnings as a sports book.
Reflections on Past Blowout Games
00:46:40
M dub
And i am I am honestly really having a hard time figuring out how. And this is not to set there's not a guarantee that the Seahawks will win by any means. Because...
00:46:51
M dub
Anything could happen in this game. But I don't know how those those people Las Vegas, very skilled at earning money at this, they have the Cardinals as a slight favorite in this game. I'm not quite sure what they're looking at. Against a similar opponent, the Saints, the Seahawks blew them out by over 30.
00:47:08
M dub
Arizona played them down to the wire pretty much. Saints had a lot of backdoor scoring at the end of that game. I watched a little bit of the end of the Cardinals play the 49ers on this same day on Sunday. Niners have Mac Jones in, backup quarterback.
00:47:24
M dub
This game gets down to crunch time. It was, i i think, a very poorly played game on both sides. Both teams kind of giving the ball away to each other at the end and the Niners getting a last second field goal to win it.
00:47:38
M dub
Kyler Murray's averaging 181 passing yards on the season. that The Cardinals are down. i mean, it's nice to have depth on your roster, but the Cardinals have had injuries to like four or five cornerbacks, which you just can't build that much depth into an NFL roster.
00:47:56
M dub
And then also, it it it was an injury I avoided watching personally, but it sounded like there was a really devastating season-ending injury to James Conner, wishing him all the best. But That's another big competitive disadvantage for the Cardinals in this game.
00:48:11
M dub
I'm not, I mean, and I know it's on the road.
00:48:14
Tristan Amundson
No, I agree.
00:48:14
M dub
This is one of the least intimidating road environments in the NFL.
00:48:14
Tristan Amundson
We were talking about this before the game. I'm i'm not a betting man, um but I am tempted to put money on this game because it it just, for whatever reason, it doesn't equate to me.
00:48:18
M dub
I can't get it to add up here.
00:48:25
Tristan Amundson
that This seems like um very a very strong Seahawks victory um potentially coming in. yeah The Arizona Cardinals, Kyler murray Murray for that matter, is not a player I've ever been massively...
00:48:40
Tristan Amundson
um impressed with. I think that there's a lot of flaws on this team. yeah Maybe we will just be eating our words um after Thursday night. It'll be interesting to see if if that's the case. But i I tend to agree with you, man. i I think that this is a very winnable game, um especially just you in the context of of how these teams have played so far this year.
00:49:03
Tristan Amundson
Um, and, and what this defense seems to be kind of, uh, churning into at the moment. So I'm looking forward to, I think it's going to be fun. And frankly, as a Seahawks fan, I love the idea of getting Thursday night out of the way early.
00:49:16
Tristan Amundson
Um, and it couldn't, you know, we just talked about all those snap counts, the fact that we were able to rest so many players and JSN played basically half a game. And that was the case for many of our players that certainly pretends well to, um,
00:49:31
Tristan Amundson
to to To them going into this game even more healthy than they would have been and and feeling better on a Thursday night. So, um yeah, looking forward to it.
00:49:48
M dub
Tristan, not only are the Seahawks going to play the Cardinals on Thursday night, but out of the 50 previous seasons in Seahawks history, there was a moment between these two teams that I thought really stood out.
00:50:02
M dub
And this year we are exploring 50 seconds in Seahawks history to honor those 50 seconds. you ready to hear about a very ah very specific Seahawks-Cardinals game?
00:50:08
Tristan Amundson
I'm ready right now
00:50:12
M dub
You might begin to imagine why I thought about this. Are you ready?
00:50:20
M dub
Tristan, it's December 2012. The Seahawks are a building roster. They are seven and five. Okay. They're hosting the four and eight Cardinals. little mediocre.
00:50:31
M dub
By the end of the game, Russell Wilson's stat line is also looks mediocre. He goes seven for 13. He has 148 passing yards, throws an interception, and throws one touchdown.
00:50:43
M dub
But it's okay. The Seahawks are are able to just pull out ahead of the Cardinals, 58-0. The defense gets four interceptions on the game. Richard Sherman scores a pick six.
00:50:54
M dub
Malcolm Smith scoops and scores on a fumbled punt. I've described a couple of the scoring drives there. The Seahawks literally have 10 different scoring drives in the game. It is very close to the biggest margin in any game in the Super Bowl era.
00:51:09
M dub
that was So this this is a fifty eight to zero game. The record is 59-0, which has happened two times when the Patriots beat the Titans in the snow in 2009. I have a very vivid memory of that game.
00:51:21
M dub
And also the Rams beat the Falcons 59-0 in 1976. So even though 7-5, 4-8, not the biggest record disparity, ended up in a 58-0 game, one of the biggest demolitions of all time.
00:51:35
M dub
I was thinking about that game early in this one against the Saints. And I don't know why it ended up, you know, 44-13. You're still about 20 points away from that gigantic margin.
00:51:44
Tristan Amundson
Uh, well, you know, just what we talked about before, when those moments happen, you just have to laugh and enjoy it.
00:51:45
M dub
But Tristan, any memories or impressions of 58-0? fifty eight
00:51:50
Tristan Amundson
You really have to, you, you have to soak up those victories because,
00:51:50
M dub
to zero
00:51:56
Tristan Amundson
um It just it's so unique and you don't get you don't get many of them. I'm trying to think of if there's anything that really jumped out. Unfortunately, and it's kind of we talked about in this game, it all happens so fast and the scores are so violent that, you know, it it kind of tends that you don't remember or at least I don't remember a lot of specific things in giant blowouts like that. Not the same way that you remember the tension of, you know, those close games like the the Green Bay playoff game that we had a few years ago.
00:52:28
Tristan Amundson
um Well, I say a few years ago, I suppose, what, seven or eight or nine years ago now. um um'm I'm trying to think of of any specifics. Nothing massive comes to mind except just kind of the elation, the feeling of going to bed that night and and just the smile on your face as you as you go to sleep, knowing that your team just absolutely dominated and demolished another team.
00:52:52
Tristan Amundson
It's always a good feeling.
00:53:03
M dub
I was wondering with this game, because, you know, the Saints get a touchdown drive in the second half of this one, and the Seahawks did not allow that to happen at all to the Cardinals in this one. I was wondering, like, what the difference was. You could feel the Seahawks easing their foot off the gas pedal in the second quarter. i was like, is because because the division rival? Is it because the Seahawks blew out the in the Cardinals? The blowout kind of came late, whereas this one came early.
00:53:28
M dub
or i also kind of wondered, is is it just is it just that nasty group? Your Richard Shermans, your Cams, and your Earl Thomases just aren't even going to let a little 44-13 score happen.
00:53:36
Tristan Amundson
Just make sure they dominate. Yeah, because in some ways it's it's even it's a crazier feat for the defense, right?
00:53:41
M dub
They're going to make sure they go all the way and and make sure it's 58-0.
00:53:43
Tristan Amundson
Than for the offense, because the offense. OK, you're scoring. You can keep scoring. The fact that you keep another team um from not being able to even touch it. Now, I'm trying to remember. So now you really got me thinking.
00:53:57
Tristan Amundson
I think this is the game where it's the most prideful thing I ever heard Richard Sherman say. um i don't know if you remember this or if this is going to ring a bell and I could be wrong, but I think it was this game because it was a blowout game like this where Richard Sherman.
00:54:13
M dub
well
00:54:14
Tristan Amundson
um It's it such an incredible disc. It's, it's like, I don't know if we're talking about a college level class, it's like 503 is the number on this class for what Richard Sherman says here.
00:54:26
Tristan Amundson
he i remember him complimenting This is like, it's incredible. I remember him complimenting Arizona wide receivers for defending against the interceptions. And like the, the, the Arizona wide receivers were doing a good job of trying to bat the ball down so that, um, so that we couldn't get all the interceptions, which is just like, it's the most disrespectful, incredible work.
00:54:54
Tristan Amundson
Wonderful thing I think I ever heard Richard say, and um I'm almost positive it was this game that that he was talking about how they were doing a really good job of fighting to keep to keep them from intercepting like more footballs.
00:55:16
M dub
It's disrespectful and it's accurate. You you turn on the tape of this the Legion of Boom era and ah the one team does start with the ball in their hand on each snap, but it really does feel like a 50-50 proposition in terms of which team is going to score next.
00:55:27
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, I'm looking at it right
00:55:32
Tristan Amundson
i'm looking at right now.
00:55:32
M dub
That's how aggressive that defense was.
00:55:33
Tristan Amundson
Richard had two interceptions. Bobby Wagner had two interceptions, which for a middle linebacker have two interceptions is pretty incredible.
00:55:36
M dub
Still talking about it 10 years later and it with no plans of stopping anytime soon.
Legacy and Media Transitions
00:55:40
Tristan Amundson
um Yeah, that that that's pretty neat. Did you mention, forgive me, I'm trying to remember the the different numbers. Did you mention how many yards Russell threw for in this game?
00:55:54
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:55:58
M dub
Yeah, 148 yards, which I thought really mirrored the Sam Darnold line in this game, which was 14 for 18 for 218 yards. No indication that ah Sam Darnold was masterful in this game, and I'm sure Russell Wilson was the exact same in that one, but that's all he needed to get it done.
00:56:07
Tristan Amundson
It's pretty, pretty incredible. The other fun thing. um And I just know that these guys love each other and and they played for played for and with each other for a long time, but Marshawn and Robert Turbin 128 108
00:56:15
M dub
yeah
00:56:19
Tristan Amundson
hundred and twenty eight hundred and eight yards That's just kind of fun to see the The fact that Turbo had that many yards, 20 carries in the game, um it kind of speaks to your point how, you know, the starters ended up getting a little little rest, you know, as this game was going on and the backups came in and and absolutely mauled them. This is pretty, pretty cool.
00:56:46
Tristan Amundson
Pretty cool. Pretty cool. that's that's a fun That's a fun one to remember.
00:56:47
M dub
Yeah, what are the Seahawks supposed to do Put Turbo in there, stop passing, and still just kept on rolling through the Cardinals.
00:56:49
Tristan Amundson
it's It's fun. I'm looking at all the stats right now, and this is a fun walk down memory lane. um You don't see a lot of those. 58 to nothing. That's that's pretty wonderful.
00:57:07
M dub
It is incredible to me that all all three of these absolutely monster, you know, almost 60-point games, the records are not as high and low as you would think. There's a lot of times in the NFL history at a 12-2 team has played a 2-12 team and has never popped off like this.
00:57:21
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, not terrible. And yet this was probably the moment in the season when they took completely different paths.
00:57:23
M dub
The records were 7-5 and five and four and eight going into the game. That's pretty close together.
00:57:29
Tristan Amundson
That's pretty, pretty incredible. Another fun name to see here that people will love to hear again is Leon Washington. That was a fun year of having Leon Washington on the team.
00:57:36
M dub
I think it's fair to say that. yeah
00:57:38
Tristan Amundson
He was a spark plug um and kind of ah just a ah fun, a fun role player. And then I'm looking at Michael Robinson's name on this team, who obviously, you know, similar to Nate Burleson, you know, earlier talking about him, a guy who's gone on to a lot of great work in the media, which is which is really fun.
00:57:56
Tristan Amundson
Mike Rob here. Sydney Rice, another kind of blast from the past name that you don't see all the time, um ah you know, contribute on this game as well. So a lot of a lot of fun um old names on this team.
00:58:15
Tristan Amundson
Oh, yeah.
00:58:20
M dub
i bet I bet they wish they got one more field goal just to make sure that record, i mean, you know, I'm sure that that's how they, I'm sure that's what they think.
00:58:21
Tristan Amundson
Sixty one would have been fine. Yeah, that's pretty wild.
00:58:28
M dub
61-0 would have been wild to see, but just to show fifty eight to zero and there are about 20 games in Seahawks history where they have about a 30-point margin like they did in this one.
00:58:39
Tristan Amundson
Pretty cool.
00:58:39
M dub
So it it doesn't happen very often.
00:58:40
Tristan Amundson
Pretty cool. I like this 50 seconds in Seahawks history.
00:58:41
M dub
About every other year you get one like this that is is just a complete demolition.
00:58:42
Tristan Amundson
i'm I'm looking forward to this continuing. These are always fun walks down memory lane. As you're saying, um and everyone should know, I'm not told this before. So I'm kind of racking my mind as you're hearing it. yeah I'm hearing it for the first time also.
00:58:57
Tristan Amundson
um So it's it's a fun ah fun flashback for me.
00:59:06
Tristan Amundson
and Pretty great. Pretty great.
Season Optimism and Closing Remarks
00:59:08
Tristan Amundson
Well, hey, hopefully this year will be very similar.
00:59:10
M dub
What a year, what a year, 2012, the whole world at our feet.
00:59:11
Tristan Amundson
We can um we can start dominating again. And and if this game um is any indication, we are we are on the right track, my friend.
00:59:29
M dub
Definitely on the right track, definitely on the right track. we we Our takes aged very well after week one, and I dare say but, but Over the last two years, the Seahawks played the Giants each year, and and this podcast had some some very friendly Daniel Jones takes. We we we really thought we thought he was really under siege back there behind some offensive lines and thought he had some potential.
00:59:51
M dub
It felt wild as we were saying it, but we were saying it. You can check the tapes, and so far, Seahawks plus 41 on the year, second best in the NFL compared to the Colts at plus 47.
00:59:55
Tristan Amundson
There you go. um yeah Did you, as we wrap up, I don't know if you heard this in the stadium or not.
01:00:02
M dub
forty seven
01:00:02
Tristan Amundson
um I was hearing a lot of who dats. Which is, you know, understandable. I'm sure there were some saints that um that came up. But but I heard another phrase that there was more deafening miles.
01:00:16
Tristan Amundson
And it it really the crescendo, it really started to rise and and and grow in power. As I heard many, many of our brothers and sisters say.
01:00:29
Tristan Amundson
Hawks.
01:00:38
M dub
Go Hawks.