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Game of the Year
27 Plays6 days ago
Tristan and Miles talk about an all-time classic 38-37 victory over the Rams, a two-point conversion for the ages, and annoying your boss right when they have a baby.
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Transcript
Introduction to Shoreline, Washington
00:00:01
M dub
Tristan, let me take you to the beautiful, green, foresty suburb of Seattle, Shoreline, Washington. The year is
Dave's Baseball Journey
00:00:11
M dub
1992, and a couple named Dave and Jane have a son in Shoreline.
00:00:16
M dub
Dave has just finished a minor league career playing baseball. He was in the Mariners system, and he finds a place to reside, settle down, and coach the game he loves. He is still the coach at Shoreline Community College today. His son
Son's MLB Draft and Career
00:00:31
M dub
lived 18 years in the Shoreline area, graduates from Shorewood High School, and in 2011, he gets drafted into Major League Baseball. He becomes he he he succeeds in his father's profession.
00:00:45
M dub
After six minor league stops and three major league teams, last November, this son signs as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and it is a success. His first year as a
World Series Win and Celebrations
00:00:57
M dub
Dodger, he wins the World Series, and a few days later, it is week 11 of this NFL season.
00:01:05
M dub
And the team of his hometown, the Seattle Seahawks, comes to his new hometown, the los angeles Los Angeles, his hometown of about 12 months, as the Seahawks play the Rams.
00:01:17
M dub
Tristan,
Blake Snell: Loyalty Conflicts
00:01:18
M dub
there's no conflict in this story yet. Everything's great. Everything's peachy. Here we go. Instead of supporting the Seahawks, his hometown team of the first 18 years of his life, this son takes pictures on Instagram with the World Series trophy and Rams mascot Rampage.
00:01:37
M dub
And when Devontae Adams scores a first half touchdown on the Seahawks, the cameras cut to this man celebrating in his sweep. Blake Snell, you are one of maybe the 10 best athletes ever to come out of Washington, and we would have loved to celebrate this Seahawks victory with with you, but it is too late after what happened in week 11.
00:02:00
M dub
Tristan, the Rams
Seahawks vs. Rams: A Roller Coaster Game
00:02:01
M dub
come to Seattle this Thursday. it is a 38-37 Seahawks victory, one of the all-time regular season games in Seahawks history.
00:02:11
M dub
It's an absolute roller coaster, and what do you think, Tristan?
00:02:16
Tristan Amundson
Miles, i I hope that there is this small little voice in the back of Blake Snell's mind, this this tugging of his heart.
00:02:28
M dub
Thank you.
00:02:28
Tristan Amundson
something Something deep, something that was born, you know, maybe when he was four or five years old and and that that grew. And he tried to to cut the weed of Seahawks' love out of his heart. He tried to um you know, enjoy the glitz and the glamour, right? I mean, he wouldn't be the first, would he, to be seduced by the lights of Hollywood and and and just, you know, everything, the trappings, everything that comes along with that.
00:02:59
Tristan Amundson
but I'm a hopeful man, Miles. I'm i' i'm hopeful right now. I'm hopeful that that in this game, he felt some conflict in his heart, that he suddenly had this moment. Am I happy or am I sad that the Seahawks just won? And I got to believe, I got to believe in him, Miles. I got to believe
Blake Snell's Reconciliation with Seahawks
00:03:18
Tristan Amundson
that there's still hope for Blake, that somewhere in his dark little heart, his dark little Rams heart,
00:03:24
Tristan Amundson
There was a little bit of light and that light was shining like a lighthouse, like a beacon on the shores of the Puget Sound calling him.
00:03:37
Tristan Amundson
Come home. Come home, Blake. this These are your people. This is this this this is your sanctuary. I still believe in my am I a fool miles to to believe that that someone is as far gone as Blake Snell could still be saved. I mean, it's it's Christmas time, miles. I just finished watching a Christmas carol. I have to believe that that anyone can be redeemed.
00:04:03
M dub
That's very generous, Tristan. it's It's not a stance I was thinking about personally. i do think step one, these pictures got to come down from Instagram. They're still there after this Seahawks victory. So I think we start there and see how far we can get in the the reconciliation process.
00:04:21
Tristan Amundson
I mean, listen, I'm just going to beat it like a dead horse. He he was just visited by the the ghost of Christmas present. And he just saw what what what what what's what's happening right now in the present day. Come in and know me better, man.
00:04:36
Tristan Amundson
Enjoy. Have an open heart to your fellow travelers that that are walking along this journey. And now he's about to be visited by the final ghost, the Christmas of the future. Christmas is yet to come.
00:04:52
Tristan Amundson
I'm rooting for you, Blake. I hope you're listening right now, brother. We're rooting for you. The Hawk's Nest never churns people away. You can always come back. It's warm. It's safe.
00:05:03
Tristan Amundson
And but there's probably a lot of bird
Rams' Performance and Game Highlights
00:05:05
Tristan Amundson
poop around, but still, it's a warm, safe, good place. Miles, what an unbelievable game this was. Can I just start by saying the most surface level
00:05:13
M dub
Thank you.
00:05:15
Tristan Amundson
thing that I loved about this game. And I'm not a big fan of the NFL monetizing the fans every which way they have a chance to do so. And typically when it comes to these silly jerseys that come out, um I'm going to be the first one, Miles, to say that was dumb.
00:05:33
Tristan Amundson
Like, let's just go back to normal jerseys. We don't need to see all the weird colors. But listen, I always want to be intellectually honest. I always want to, you know, lead with honesty and transparency.
00:05:46
Tristan Amundson
The first thing I said was, holy smokes, I love those jerseys. I love the jerseys.
00:05:51
Tristan Amundson
I love the helmet. I loved how they kind of looked like a beetle, depending on the ah the angle in which you saw those green colors. I loved ah the jackets that the coaches were wearing.
00:05:51
M dub
you
00:06:02
Tristan Amundson
i I love the whole thing. I thought it was awesome. What did you think of the jerseys just to start off with?
00:06:08
M dub
Oh, man, Tristan, we are on the same page so often. i i really didn't like it. I didn't like seeing the alternate New York Jets West out there.
00:06:15
Tristan Amundson
you
00:06:16
M dub
I wanted those baby blues. think we're all yearning for those to be the full-time uniforms. And I thought that was perhaps the only mark. Maybe some issues with the broadcast as well, energy levels-wise. But ah those were the only two small things that I had the slightest bit of dampness, damperness on an all-time classic football game.
00:06:41
Tristan Amundson
um Yeah, okay, well, so so this is one of those, let's say listen, listen, no, no, it is.
00:06:43
M dub
All right. Sorry. i think I'm also leading with honesty. You know, just it's important. It's a good thing.
00:06:49
Tristan Amundson
We'll agree to disagree on this one.
00:06:50
M dub
Yep.
00:06:51
Tristan Amundson
um
00:06:51
M dub
Yep.
00:06:52
Tristan Amundson
and This is what we'll both agree on. Let's just talk about before we get, before we get plenty to agree on, before we get into the nitty gritty of the game, let's just talk macro big picture of this game.
00:06:55
M dub
There's a lot to agree on.
00:07:03
Tristan Amundson
This was such a fun game to watch. These are my initial thoughts. Give me your initial thoughts. Week 11, when these two teams met, am I saying that right, Miles?
00:07:14
Tristan Amundson
I should have looked that up. I'm pretty sure it was week 11. Is that at least?
00:07:17
M dub
That's right. That's right.
00:07:17
Tristan Amundson
OK, pretty doggone close. Week 11. Good. Week 11 gave us a glimpse of how entertaining this matchup had the chance to be or really was. I should say just and when I say matchup, I just mean these two teams in general playing against each other.
00:07:33
Tristan Amundson
Two great coaches, two great coaching staffs, extremely talented rosters. And week 11 did not disappoint, right? I mean, that was one of the best games of the year. i We talked about it on this very podcast. Man, I mean, we lost, but holy smokes, that was a fun game. And we walked away not feeling terrible about it. You know, that that was a great game.
00:07:55
Tristan Amundson
The fact... that this game lived up to the hype that this game, the promise of this game of being, you know, as good or better than week 11.
00:08:07
Tristan Amundson
It never happens, right? When you see the matchup a second time, it's usually a letdown. This was a snore fest. The fact that this game came through and lived
Seahawks and Rams: Top NFL Teams
00:08:17
Tristan Amundson
up to all the hype and promise that it possibly could have been.
00:08:21
Tristan Amundson
It was incredible to watch my litmus test when I'm watching a game like this. And I think about it all the time. And I thought about it, frankly, during week 11, if I was a Chicago bears fan, if I was a Miami fan, if I was a New York fan, Arizona, it doesn't matter. If I was an out of market fan, if I'm a fan, frankly, watching in London, watching in Hamburg, it doesn't matter.
00:08:44
Tristan Amundson
This is a game for them. This is a game that it was just entertaining, right? I mean, you don't have to be a Rams fan or a Seahawks fan. This was just a good football game from start to finish.
00:08:56
Tristan Amundson
And it's it's kind of fun when your team gets to be a part of one of those games. It's really crazy when your team is a part of two of these games. I have no doubt in my mind when I say this. I ah believe this for...
00:09:11
Tristan Amundson
Well, I think I believe this since about week nine of this season, and I feel very strongly about it now more than ever. These are the two best teams playing in the NFL. I think that the Rams and Seahawks are, and I don't even know which one's better, frankly. These are the two best teams.
00:09:29
Tristan Amundson
I have a feeling we're going to see um a repeat of this in the playoffs. I'm not quite sure how that's going to work seeding wise, but holy smokes, man, like just big picture. What did you think of this game? I thought it was so fun.
00:09:42
M dub
Well, I think the Blake Snell illustration is is actually very helpful because in both of these games, it was really easy to be a Rams fan.
00:09:54
M dub
Seahawks had major turnover problems in both games. And in this game, especially the Rams, the Rams won this game. The Rams completely dominated this game for 53 minutes, let's say.
00:10:08
M dub
And then there was some sort of myt mystical swell of energy that propelled the Seahawks to a victory.
00:10:13
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:10:15
M dub
But it it it even though the Rams lost this game, it's it's kind of hard to point to anything they did wrong. so And it's pretty easy to point to a lot of things the Seahawks did wrong. And it it seems like these it seemed like the scoreboard was somehow completely detached from what was happening down to down and game to game, series to series.
00:10:39
M dub
The Rams offense in this game. I mean, talk about doing everything right. We're talking 581 total yards, no turnovers, no sacks allowed, and in time of possession, they built up a 14-minute or 24-snap advantage.
00:10:55
M dub
The offense is on the field for 92 snaps. I mean, that's... That's crazy. That's really crazy
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00:11:03
M dub
against any team. And yeah, it's still, it still seems like the Rams won this game. And yet somehow the Seahawks ended up with more points on the board kind of independently. Does that make sense at all?
00:11:15
Tristan Amundson
You know, it does. And if you compare it to week 11, same thing, right? I mean, the Seahawks made way more mistakes than the Rams did in week 11. And one of our takeaways that week was, man, I mean, we win this game if we just make a few less mistakes.
00:11:30
Tristan Amundson
And, you know, sure enough, it's, any which way you slice it, they were able to make up for some of those mistakes in this game. Obviously, um listen, Sam Darnold still has little ways to go on the interception meter, but he did cut him in half from week 11 miles.
00:11:48
Tristan Amundson
So, I mean, you know, that's something. um And I will say, i don't know if you felt this way as you're just watching the game again, kind of more of a big picture, yeah,
00:11:51
M dub
Thank you.
00:11:59
Tristan Amundson
Even as I look at those interceptions that Sam threw, as I look at that um fumble that Cooper Cup had as he's I mean, we're getting into position to at least score a field goal, if not um get on the board with a touchdown or add a touchdown, I should say.
00:12:18
Tristan Amundson
i mean. Cooper Cup doesn't fumble often. Like he is, you we would all de define him as an extremely sure-handed, secure runner of the football.
00:12:31
Tristan Amundson
And as I look at those two interceptions by Sam, the first interception, they they faked man coverage. It looked like man. At the last minute, the the um the cornerback broke out of man coverage, jumped the route, almost had to pick six.
00:12:40
M dub
Thank you.
00:12:48
Tristan Amundson
To me, that's not like a boneheaded, like, why are you throwing into double coverage? This is obvious kind of interception. That's a, oh man, you got us on that one. Like they, they really excelled and like they, they had a good plan on that play.
00:13:03
Tristan Amundson
And they're good beat aren't good. But like, I don't feel like that certainly wasn't a bonehead. Like, what are you thinking, Sam interception? The same thing is kind of true for the second interception. Now, granted, if you look at JSN in the end zone on that second interception, I didn't think he was open either. So I'm not sure why Sam was going to him in the first place, except he's JSN.
00:13:24
Tristan Amundson
But I mean, pretty crazy. And I mean, really, really good coaching. They drop back Turner and, you know, he's in a lane he was unaccounted for. He was not supposed to be there. um Again, that just seems like the Rams coaching up and doing an unbelievable job. So i ah listen, i maybe i don't know. You could say that about a lot of interceptions maybe over the years, but.
00:13:46
Tristan Amundson
I didn't find myself thinking, Sam, what were you thinking? That was terrible. um they They seemed like just really great defensive plays. And it's kind of the same thing is true for that fumble. Does that make sense? Am I making excuses? How does that resonate to you?
00:14:03
M dub
I do think it does seem like the only topic of conversation coming out of this game in our media scape is like, can Sam Darnold win the big game? Which I think is just such such a boring and uninteresting and and basically kind of irrelevant question.
00:14:18
M dub
I do agree with you on both interceptions, and i but I do think it's a bad sign, not as far as Sam Darnold's decision making, but just how thoughtful and well-coached and strategic this Rams defense is.
00:14:30
M dub
I felt that way, especially with the second interception, Kobe Turner dropping back from the defensive line. It immediately made me think of the play last year, which we talked about just a few weeks ago, when the Seahawks played the Jets at about this time last season, and it's the play where Leo Williams...
00:14:47
M dub
gets to pick six off of Aaron Rodgers. And it's from a play call that I
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00:14:52
M dub
called diabolical from Coach Mack, where he is having Leo drop back into pass coverage, which is just completely insane. That has to happen less than five times a year.
00:15:04
M dub
i don't know how you can think of all those 0.2% possibilities as a quarterback in the two seconds he had to throw the ball. And it was the same thing from the Rams on this play. So I i took it more as as just a ah sign of how devastatingly great the Rams are and how they seem that they seem to have answers all up and down the field in every facet of this game, except one, which I want to get to that I think ah kind of slid by.
00:15:32
M dub
But the Rams seem to have answers in just about every aspect of the game. And they're a terrifying team, even after winning this game. They're a terrifying team. And I personally felt a great deal of pressure release from my own emotional journey watching the game once this got to 30-28. I honestly, the the victory, I was really frustrated watching this game up to that point. But I kind of emotionally released because I was like...
00:16:02
M dub
Dang, you know what? The Rams have given us everything they've got two times and they still can't shake the Seahawks by the end of the fourth quarter. The fact that it ended up in a Seahawks victory this game was obviously fantastic. But did you feel that same emotional release at the same point in the game or or was your your emotional experience just totally different?
00:16:22
Tristan Amundson
Well, when when they scored that last touchdown, it definitely gave you, I'll say this, if there was anything Sam needed to prove, the fact that he converted multiple two-point conversions, one I know we'll talk about certainly, um but let's just talk about that last touchdown and that, I'll save the two-point conversion at that after that last touchdown to answer your question first.
00:16:47
Tristan Amundson
The fact that he was able to do what he did, lead us down the field and get that touchdown, to your point, it it speaks to the fact these are peers. These two teams are a problem.
00:16:59
Tristan Amundson
I mean, the Rams and the Seahawks, it's almost a shame that one of us isn't in the AFC so that we can meet each other in the Super Bowl.
00:17:06
M dub
I agree.
00:17:06
Tristan Amundson
I mean, really, I i i don't I think that would happen. I this is This is the year for these two teams.
00:17:10
M dub
i agree
00:17:13
Tristan Amundson
um and I would be, frankly, this moment shocked if it wasn't one of these two teams as the NFC representative in the Super Bowl. So, yes, I do agree with you that when we got that touchdown,
00:17:26
Tristan Amundson
it definitely had the feel of man, these two teams truly are peers. And, and then to me, the two point conversion on top of it kind of just cemented the thought of, again, talk about another really great play play call. We should probably talk about that last.
00:17:42
Tristan Amundson
It was really cool um to, to Saabert there. And it it obviously, the The joy of actually winning the game. I don't know about you. I had to walk out of the room. I was for some reason, I feel better watching plays like that. If I kind of walk into the hallway and I'm kind of watching the TV through the hallway, it's like I almost need I need to be farther away from the action. Like it was just too much to to be sitting on the couch with my family.
00:18:11
Tristan Amundson
And so I was watching it from the hallway. And when he catches that pass, it's such a great release. But I agree with you that there was there were kind of two releases. One was we're peers like, OK, yeah, like reconfirmed. Both of these teams are unbelievable, um no matter how this ends up, because it is kind of a crapshoot, right? I mean, a two point conversion in that moment, if we get it or if we don't get it, doesn't really mean a lot about the quality of the two teams, which I feel like that's kind of what you're getting at.
00:18:45
M dub
Yes. And I, yeah, especially with that final two point conversion. And then also ah the Seahawks convert three, three different two point conversions in this game, which incredible depth on the play calling chart.
00:19:00
M dub
We'll say two of them went exactly to plan. And the third, the other one, is the most memorable play from this game. One of the most memorable, bizarre, and weird plays of all time. We're talking about we're midway through the fourth quarter.
00:19:17
M dub
The Seahawks score touchdown on a very quick two-explosive play drive to bring the score 30-28 at the moment of the snap. and I mean, everybody it looks like the Rams just completely blow it up.
00:19:31
M dub
and And you're just kind of like, okay, moving on. Field goal gets the Seahawks ahead because it's just a two-point deficit. And then Tristan, when Terry McCauley jumps in on the broadcast to say, wait a minute. I mean,
00:19:47
M dub
it's it it hu Everything went by the book on this play, and yet the Seahawks did not deserve it at all. It was an unbelievable cauldron of emotions.
00:20:00
M dub
Zach Charbonnet very casually picking up the ball in the end zone. There was a Rams defender who was trying to do that, but kind of got bonked as A.J. Barner was kind of completing his incomplete pass route, and the ball just happens to go to Charbonnet, and um it's the weirdest two-point conversion in NFL history, I feel confident saying.
00:20:23
Tristan Amundson
No, I mean, it's it it was one of those great moments to me that we have in sports every single, I was going to say every year, but really we have it on a weekly basis in almost all the different leagues, which is if you watch baseball every year,
00:20:40
M dub
Thank you.
00:20:40
Tristan Amundson
I'm 41 years old right now. I've been watching the sport my entire life. Every single year, Miles, I look at a buddy while I'm watching a baseball game and I say, I've never seen that before. That's unbelievable. How is that possible? How how can I be 41 years old? I've been watching the sport for...
00:20:58
Tristan Amundson
know I don't know, let's call it 37 or 36 years, whatever it is. And I'm still seeing things for the first time. And the same thing, exact same thing happens in football.
00:21:10
Tristan Amundson
I think even more in football because that doggone ball is shaped so funny, right?
00:21:13
M dub
Thank you.
00:21:15
Tristan Amundson
It just it bounces in weird and miraculous ways. And you have those moments where you say, i have never seen that before. um And I heard Sean McVay say that exact thing i'm during his press conference. I was listening to Sean and and obviously he was upset about it. And in his...
00:21:34
Tristan Amundson
his take was I've been coaching a long time. I've never seen that before. And with the inference of like, you know, it was a bad call, which is totally understandable. Right. And I would feel the same
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00:21:45
Tristan Amundson
way if I was him.
00:21:46
Tristan Amundson
Um, but to me, like the, the beauty of sports, whether it's baseball or football is you get these plays that you've just, I've never seen that before. I've never, we've seen, um backward passes right in the middle of the field. it's a backward pass, it deflects off somebody or or the guy doesn't catch it and it's a live ball. Like we've seen that part of it happen in other versions of the game. We've just never seen that happen in the context of a two point conversion. And the fact that I guess the rules tell you that, you know, a backwards pass, that the the rules of a lateral are still in play even during a two point conversion. Yeah, first timer for me. um it was pretty great to see. And, you know, we'll we'll take it.
00:22:34
M dub
It was just so funny because it was so improbable. Nobody's expecting it. Nobody's thinking this in the whole stadium except for the referees. I don't know who had the idea that like, wait a minute, this this throw actually travels backwards all of six inches.
00:22:50
M dub
It was such a weird play because the Seahawks didn't deserve those two points. And yet... There is no conflict with the fact that this was the correct ruling, which is it's just it's such a bizarre moment in in any refereeing moment that but that this shouldn't have happened. And yet by the rules, it was it was called precisely correct. there There is no debate about this play afterwards.
00:23:17
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, I mean, the only pushback I would have on what you just said, you're right. I'm not, this is not a hill I want to die on. I think the only thing I would say, and every single coach ever would say this in football, you play to the whistle.
00:23:32
Tristan Amundson
you you play I've heard that so many times in my life. You play to the whistle. um I didn't actually notice. um I want to rewatch it now. I didn't notice the Ram that was also going for the ball.
00:23:43
M dub
Thank you.
00:23:43
Tristan Amundson
And I just, when I look at Zach Charbonnet, even though he, you know, he wasn't like running and he jumped on it, I think if he ran and jumped on it, if he was more violent in his motion, then maybe it it feels different to everybody. And you're like, oh, wait, what happened? um But the fact that he...
00:24:00
Tristan Amundson
casually kind of walked up and grabbed it. And yet he did the thing that every coach will say, which is like, yeah, play to the whistle. You haven't heard the whistle yet. So you, you keep doing your thing. And so, yeah, we want possession of that ball in the end zone. I'm not saying it's not bizarre and wild, but um I do think that the coaching point of coaching points is you play to the whistle.
00:24:22
M dub
It did remind me of something Pete Carroll said in ultimately his last year with the Seahawks in 2023. There was these two-minute drives, and it it came up that he was very clear and very intentionally coached to his players.
00:24:37
M dub
In these two-minute drives, the referee has to reset the ball between snaps. And his coaching point was, you hand this ball to the referee. They are not paid to catch the ball for you to toss it from even two or three feet away.
00:24:50
M dub
You go all the way in and hand the ball to the referee. And that was something that Pete very intentionally thought about. It really did help the Seahawks in a two-minute drive. I want to say against Tennessee, could be a different game.
00:25:03
M dub
And Coach Mack did reference after the game, you know, pick up every loose ball. Doesn't matter. And I wasn't quite sure if it was as intentional of a coaching point, but it seemed like it it could have been.
00:25:18
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, yeah. I mean, he does seem like a guy that's on the details. And um that's why i say the, you know, it's such a universal thing that you you play and tell the whistle in football that um as heartbreaking as it is for a Rams fan, which I'm sure, I mean, it would be heartbreaking if if the roles ah were reversed, right? I mean, it's ah it's a tough, tough call. And it's ah it's a tough play that um cost them the game. um But, I mean, you know, it's it's the the miracle of the NFL. And, again, you can point to it again. The the fact that that ball is just a funny shape, right? It it it it is, by definition, like the the the beauty of football, like the shape of the ball.
00:26:03
Tristan Amundson
um
00:26:04
M dub
you
00:26:04
Tristan Amundson
It pretends to... to to crazy outcomes, right? I mean, it bounces in, in again, you know strange and miraculous ways. and And this time it bounced our way. And that's yeah I love that you say that. It bounced right to where Charbonne wanted to be.
00:26:20
Tristan Amundson
And that's a big part. like That's chance, right? That's luck. like There's nothing else you can say except that um the ball bounced in our direction, which, again, if you're Blake Snell, you should really think about that from a cosmic perspective.
00:26:33
M dub
Yeah.
00:26:33
Tristan Amundson
you know What side of this you want to be on, right? Because I think it's that same end zone that golden Tate had the miraculous, um, or what, what was it called?
00:26:44
Tristan Amundson
It was, uh, the fail Mary, right.
00:26:44
M dub
The fail Mary.
00:26:47
Tristan Amundson
Um, there's been a lot of good things. I believe that's the end zone that, uh, Tony Romo, um, fumbled the, the snap and, and got tackled behind line scrimmage.
00:26:54
M dub
Oh, sure.
00:26:57
Tristan Amundson
So, I mean, listen, I mean, you know, it seems as though there's some powers, um, in that, in that stadium. And, you know, again, Blake, you know, the We're here, man. I mean, open arms. We're ready to um to to kiss you on the cheek. We're ready to slaughter the the fatted calf and welcome the prodigal prodigal son home.
00:27:21
M dub
I'm very glad you had that perspective on the Blake Snell issue. Again,
Reflections on Past NFL Seasons
00:27:24
M dub
I'm still kind of stuck on you know, very easy to delete something from Instagram, and and we do have to start there.
00:27:30
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, no, 100%. No, listen, man, this has been such a great game. um One other thing, can I just make another kind of sub note of this in general?
00:27:42
Tristan Amundson
um you You talk about Blake Snell, you talk about social media. Don't let me go too long on this because ah this is a classic Tristan rabbit hole. But I don't know if you got a chance to watch the live stream YouTube thing that that Puka did before the game where he got in trouble.
00:28:00
Tristan Amundson
um
00:28:00
M dub
Thank you.
00:28:01
Tristan Amundson
My only the only thing I want to mention is this.
00:28:06
Tristan Amundson
it it is scary for a society when we have young men and women contributing nothing and being worthless. And that's what those guys on that YouTube channel are doing. Apparently it's a very popular channel, which is super scary because i can't, I can't imagine anyone watching it ever for any reason.
00:28:28
Tristan Amundson
um And so I just, it's just one of those crazy things. as I was watching it, my takeaway was, You really got to be careful the the kind of people you hang around and the decisions you make based off of that, because I don't think Puka did anything with any malicious intent whatsoever.
00:28:46
Tristan Amundson
I think that he was tricked.
00:28:47
M dub
Thank
00:28:47
Tristan Amundson
And would what I would say to Puka if I was his friend is like, bro, you put yourself in a position to be around people that tricked you so that they could profit off of you.
00:28:58
Tristan Amundson
um That's the worst kind of human in the world. That's a gross, disgusting kind of person. um i i know that I know it won't have any impact, but man, I would love it if they lost a couple million followers and just, you know, this ruined their reputation. It won't because our society just doesn't look at it that way. um But I just wanted to make the, as we're talking about social media stuff, um man, you got to be careful who you're hanging out with. And I want to I want to give Pooka a hug and be like, dude, you're a winner. You should be hanging out with winners. You are hanging out with losers. And like, that's what's going to happen to you if you keep hanging out with idiots. So anyway, I just wanted to mention that because I thought it was such a dumb storyline and it was completely built off of ah just two little trolls is the only way I can describe it.
00:29:47
M dub
You know, I don't know a lot about that YouTube channel. I just knew the headline that that came out of it. I will say the astonishing one-week fall from grace that Puka and the Nakua family had this week, I think it added some legitimate spice to this rivalry because seeing him play one of the best football games you'll ever see from a wide receiver,
00:30:12
Tristan Amundson
Unbelievable. Unbelievable.
00:30:14
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:30:14
M dub
in the midst of all this, really brought up a heated emotion out of me that doesn't even come up in it in a normal Seahawks loss.
00:30:24
M dub
It it was... There was no... None of that spicy, hot emotion came out of me in any of the the three losses earlier this year than it did seeing Puka completely dominate this game.
00:30:39
M dub
What I kept on thinking about was... You know, on Sunday night of this week, Sean McVay and his wife had their second child. So we're that's the day. of The Rams played earlier on Sunday.
00:30:50
M dub
and They're turning around.
00:30:51
Tristan Amundson
just wild.
00:30:51
M dub
They're flying to Seattle.
00:30:53
Tristan Amundson
wild
00:30:53
M dub
Sean McVay's second child is three days old. you you just i mean, the NFL is and it isn't a normal workplace at the same time. There's really no place in the world where you can cause your boss this much of a headache.
00:31:10
M dub
um Because after this game, Sean McVay has to answer questions about another tweet from the Puka Nakua account that there is no time for him to understand that the game has just ended and he's getting riddled with questions about another tweet that's just gone off. I'm sure he's he's he was confused. He was frustrated.
00:31:29
M dub
You can't do this to your boss on the week they have a child and the boss is also putting in 16 to 18 hour days. in this I mean, it's just crazy that's happening in the first place. And test you can't do that to your boss in a normal work situation.
00:31:45
Tristan Amundson
NFL head coaches are creatures, man. I mean, it's just a totally, it's a wild life that they are living. And yeah, you're totally right. I didn't even think about the fact that Sean had to deal with the drama of Puka and his baby And a short week. It's, it is wild. Like just the layers of stress probably on that dude as he's trying to kind of coordinate all of this. I hope that he is just enjoying some eggnog, um, with his wife and beautiful child. Um,
00:32:15
Tristan Amundson
and And just being able to to kind of take a step back.
00:32:18
M dub
Thank you.
00:32:18
Tristan Amundson
It's such a good point, though. I mean, you you do at a certain point, just you're shaking your head if you're Sean McVay like Puka, what are you doing, brother? um And I mean, i do in some ways, it's kind of a ah perfect scenario, though, because, man, Puka Nakua is such character.
00:32:34
Tristan Amundson
player to watch. He is such an inner entertaining, unbelievable, really perfect wide receiver that obviously has kind of come out of nowhere over the last couple of years. And, and, you know, his rookie season is like, who is this guy?
00:32:47
Tristan Amundson
And he's just turned into one of the greats. And the fact, I mean, I'll, I will say props to him that he was able to have maybe the best game of his career and just play unbelievable ball, you know, balls out, um, uh, football.
00:33:01
M dub
Thank
00:33:02
Tristan Amundson
And he did that. um with all of these distractions i mean it really is like it it does speak to just his his raw talent um and uh you know one other note by the way just kind of of the unique uniqueness of this game don't know if you saw it at the end of the game the game was over and uh matthew stafford was like halfway through the tunnel going back to the locker room and cooper cup ran over and like ran into the tunnel, which is such an unusual, weird thing to see and ran in there and gave him a big hug, which again, you know, just kind of speaks to the bond.
00:33:38
Tristan Amundson
I'm sure those guys have of winning the Superbowl and all the success they've shared together. Um, but no, I, I love the, I love the, the point of Sean McVay, man. That's it's wild what that man had to deal with in the course of what 72 hours.
00:33:52
Tristan Amundson
I was just, just crazy.
00:33:54
M dub
Yeah. And in the meantime, he puts together one
Sean Alexander's MVP Season
00:33:56
M dub
of the best offensive and defensive game plans you'll ever see. it's Yeah.
00:34:01
Tristan Amundson
It's just, yeah. Talk about being a great employee.
00:34:02
M dub
Yeah.
00:34:03
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. I mean, Sean McVay worth his weight in gold. ah just Just unreal. um so So I think we each have a couple of players we want to highlight here. For me, this was Ken Walker's day. um Ken Walker just, don't know. Do we call him Ken or do we call him Kenneth? dude Do we have a thought on that, Miles? Is he is he a Ken or a Kenneth kind of guy?
00:34:27
M dub
I think he's a canine.
00:34:28
Tristan Amundson
I know he's a can't I know he's got that dog in him. There's no doubt.
00:34:31
M dub
I think I like Kenny. I think I normally say Kenny, actually. And that implies a much closer relationship than I have with him, of course. But I kind of like Kenny Walker the most.
00:34:41
Tristan Amundson
Okay, well, I mean, you guys, um you know, you've hung out a lot, so that makes sense. Kenny kenny Walker. um He had, it occurred to me watching this game and then watching it again, um and then right before we podcasted it, I i jumped on my my laptop and watched a little bit more.
00:34:59
Tristan Amundson
And, you know, Kenneth Walker is an interesting player because he has games where he doesn't really show up much. And I mean, i say that, I don't know, with with a lot of respect. He's a great player, but he has he has games where he just does not jump off the screen.
00:35:14
Tristan Amundson
This was one of those games where he jumped off the screen as, you know, one of the one or two best players on the field. And this was a game where he looked like one of the best running backs in football, right? He looked like P. John Robinson. He looked like Jonathan Taylor. He looked like one of those guys that was just wrecking the game every time he got the ball. Um, He didn't touch the ball that many times. I want to say I can look it up right now. It was either 11 or 14 touches on the day for Kenneth Walker, from at least from a rushing perspective. so So pretty crazy that he didn't actually touch the ball that much.
00:35:49
Tristan Amundson
um But he had such a massive impact in obviously both the the rushing and the receiving roles.
00:35:54
M dub
Thank
00:35:57
Tristan Amundson
Just ah an unbelievable game for Kenneth Walker. To me, he was the guy that really jumped off the page. And yeah, just confirmed 11 attempts for 100 yards um on the ground for his rushing, which is pretty crazy. And then talk about making the most of your touches.
00:36:12
Tristan Amundson
um Three receptions for 64 yards, which obviously one was that beautiful screen pass where you you had to love seeing our guy Gray Zabel just leading the charge on that, didn't you?
00:36:24
M dub
Oh, yeah. that was It was beautiful. And it it just felt really good to see a straight-up run play be so explosive against a Rams defense that was also having a day.
00:36:35
Tristan Amundson
Absolutely. Yeah, no, I mean, they, they were having that man, that defensive and offensive line is just crazy, man. That that was one of my big takeaways too, is like the Rams offensive line is just impressive.
00:36:52
M dub
The Rams offensive line is impressive. This game also really showed how s sacks can be a quarterback stat because no sacks allowed. The Seahawks did get pressures much more in the second half than the first half.
00:37:04
M dub
But Matthew Stafford takes the sack away by just dirting the ball every time that that pressure is really coming. And it's smart. He avoids a hit. He avoids the lost yardage. And that is probably the final level of elite quarterbacking your Hall of Fame level when you're controlling the SAT game on top of of everything else.
00:37:25
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, no, it's just really, really, really impressive stuff. He, I mean, listen, I'll say it over and over again. These two teams are unbelievably good. And that means that they're the the teams, right? Like a lot of individual contributors are doing great work. That offensive line, unbelievable work. And then to your point, what Matthew Stafford is doing right now. I mean, there's, there's nothing that you saw in this game that didn't make you think yeah he he should be the MVP. And I mean,
00:37:53
Tristan Amundson
I don't know. Just what else are you going to say? He he has seen the game at such an incredibly high level control. it You nailed it, right? Like he's just in control at all times.
00:38:06
M dub
Trista, can I talk about ah the Seahawk player who I thought had the greatest impact on the game? And it was interesting because this was a player that the Seahawks clearly need to integrate more. But I think in a very hidden way, he was already the Seahawks' best player in this game. I'm talking about Rashid Shahid.
00:38:25
M dub
So in total, he touches a live ball just two times. He has the 58-yard punt return to kick off the fourth quarter comeback. And then on the next possession, gets the possession started with a 31-yard run.
00:38:38
M dub
The Seahawks have their game-tying touchdown the next play. But Tristan, compared to his time with the Saints, the Seahawks are barely using this man. He's got 25.4 yards per game receiving in Seattle.
00:38:52
M dub
In his career with New Orleans, he had 48.9, including 40 as a rookie. So he is not even contributing to Seattle as much as he did as an undrafted rookie with New Orleans.
00:39:04
M dub
um average depth of target. It's 12.4 yards with the Seahawks. Just last year with Clint Kubiak also coordinating him in the New Orleans offense, it was 17.6 average depth of target.
00:39:16
M dub
And
00:39:19
M dub
and yet His impact as a returner, I think, really swung this game. And what we saw was the Rams were very scared to kick the ball off to Rashid Shahid.
00:39:32
M dub
The Rams had eight kickoffs, and he did not return any one of them. That's not really happening in the NFL right now. With with the current kickoff rules, you're seeing...
00:39:43
M dub
returns the vast majority of the time, and there's barely any touchbacks anymore. So for the Rams to do it eight times in a row showed that it was clearly what they were trying to do. So taking out his punt return touchdown, that gave the Seahawks their drives started on average at the 33.6-yard line.
00:40:03
M dub
That's pretty good, especially compared to the Rams.
00:40:05
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:40:06
M dub
Their average start on their possession was at the twenty six point seven yard line. However, the ram one of the Rams' possessions also started with them 99 yards down the field, the interception that's almost taken to the end zone.
00:40:21
M dub
If we take that out, because, you know, that's a fumble recovery, if we take that one out, the Rams' average start is at the 21.2-yard line, you know, in the kicking game, the special teams game.
00:40:35
M dub
there Each team had 13 possessions in this game. That's not even because it went to overtime. That's a ton of possessions. So you add up on every single drive, you're adding up those yardage.
00:40:46
M dub
That's an advantage of 161 yards to the Seahawks. And then you look at the difference between the two offensive attacks overall, and the Rams had 166 more yards of offense.
00:40:51
Tristan Amundson
Well,
00:40:59
M dub
So that's that is how the Rams got to 581 total yards of offense, and yet this game is tied because... All those extra yards were given back a chunk a chunk at a time in this in the kicking game because they were afraid of Shahid. So even without with only two touches on the ball, he had a really profound influence on the game.
00:41:22
M dub
And that's how you get to this equal score line, even though it feels like the Rams are completely running over the Seahawks' defense on every single drive. I thought that was a really big deal.
00:41:34
M dub
And when you add it all up, you're talking about about 250, 240 yards coming from shahid in total
00:41:42
Tristan Amundson
Well, dude, that is such a profound, interesting breakdown. I didn't um I did not look at it that deeply whatsoever. But that that brings back I mean that that um what's the word I'm looking for here?
00:41:57
Tristan Amundson
it It makes up that margin, right? I mean, it's suddenly. makes the the the stat line the output, even when you're adding in his special teams yardage impact and adding that to the offensive yardage impact.
00:42:08
M dub
you
00:42:11
Tristan Amundson
It it kind of just equals it out is what I'm hearing you say. um And I mean, obviously, you know, the the the huge play that he was able to bring and get us that touchdown. what What stood out to me about that Rashid touchdown that I thought was interesting was that happened right after, obviously, the interception um off of Turner that um Sam Darnold threw right, you know, towards, you know, right right at our end zone, right? And or at their end zone, I should say.
00:42:41
Tristan Amundson
And so what ended up happening after that play, so interception happens, the Rams go three and out, and then Shahid gets his hands on the ball and it's a touchdown.
00:42:46
M dub
Thank you.
00:42:53
Tristan Amundson
It's kind of weird to think about that between an interception that was thrown by us, right, in, you know, potentially that would have scored a touchdown for us. Let's assume that Sam doesn't throw that interception and he gets the touchdown.
00:43:08
Tristan Amundson
It's crazy the power of... Three plays later, we get the touchdown anyway, which is just, it's it's weird because it kind of just erases that interception.
00:43:20
Tristan Amundson
ah The impact, I should say, of that interception, you know, because now suddenly what what would have been a touchdown... now just churned into a touchdown and all it took was three more plays to to make it happen, which you know might have been the case anyway.
00:43:36
Tristan Amundson
it's Again, football is such a weird thing, but the incredible impact of that touchdown, it wasn't just a touchdown, but it was like an interception, a racing touchdown, if that makes sense. Just from a standpoint, we're only talking three plays later. Three and out, bam, here's your touchdown that you didn't get, Sam. We're good to go. Like, let's keep going. And by the way, that touchdown celebration, like kind of running around the the pylon was was awesome, kind of track and field style.
00:44:06
M dub
You know, i don't even think I saw that. I think I just blacked out.
00:44:09
Tristan Amundson
ah he he He runs it into the end zone and then like takes a quick like turn and then runs back around the pylon. So it's like as if like he had to get there, like he was running lines or something like that. And coach said, like, run to the pylon, chur you know, turn go go around the pylon and come back. And it was pretty, it was pretty great. It was ah like a, it was a cool, it was a cool, like, I'm a better athlete than you, you know, kind of ah um celebration, just because he got there so fast, kind of stopped on a dime. And then, you know, did his little loopy loop de loop.
00:44:44
M dub
You know, he is of every close-up of Rasheed Jaheed on the broadcast. This looks like a man who's out for a walk in the park. he He does not look tired, even at the end of this NFL game. I do want to say, i think the most important thing about these next two games is almost the most important thing.
00:45:01
M dub
ah Almost as important as the actual winner loss with with the playoff berth clinched here is that Rashid Shahid is targeted deep at least two times each game, preferably three or four.
00:45:14
M dub
I think they just need those reps. We haven't really seen it. And I think this is who the Seahawks thought Percy Harvin would be. We actually have Percy Harvin now.
00:45:25
M dub
It's Rashid Shahid. They're not really targeting him, and they just need to figure that out. I don't think the team gets very far in the playoffs unless Rashid is fully unlocked.
00:45:36
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, no, it's going to be massive to to fully unlock him. The fact that he was able to impact the game, to your point, the way he did with the special teams work, with that really cool run play, ah that was fun to see. um If I could give Clint any note, it would be,
00:45:52
Tristan Amundson
I know we worked really hard apparently on trying to do a a fun little sweep type of play with Cooper Cup.
00:45:56
M dub
Thank you.
00:45:58
Tristan Amundson
I just, as much as we love Cooper, I don't think that's the strength of his game at this point. Like kind of that, that, that sneaky speed. Let's, um you know, let's, let's give it to a Shahid and let him kind of do his thing. i I think that's, that's probably the way I would go moving forward, but it's a really good call out, man. I think,
00:46:17
Tristan Amundson
both Kenny and, Rashid, like just completely put, they left their fingerprints on this game in such a powerful way in a similar fashion. Right. I mean, those guys had a massive impact in the same way that, that Matthew and Puka did in the same way that Sam did. Um, and really honestly, like a lot of key contributors, pretty cool to see, um What a game, man.
00:46:43
Tristan Amundson
I mean, we that might have been the game of the year ah for the entire league, and we got to enjoy it and and walk away with a victory. um
00:46:50
M dub
Thank you.
00:46:51
Tristan Amundson
And I think it goes
Enduring Passion for the Seahawks
00:46:52
Tristan Amundson
without saying. I mean, I said it to start this podcast. This Rams team deserves nothing but respect. They're such a freaking good team. It's going to be a nightmare. every time we play them. And I think the only solace is it's a nightmare for them as well to play us. And the fact that we've each taken, we've split this the the regular season, i think is just, it's poetic, it's perfect. it it Man, like the NFL knows how to make drama and here we go. Like, let's get into the playoffs with these last two games um in as tight of a race and interesting,
00:47:28
Tristan Amundson
finish as you can get two games left for the Seahawks and for the Rams. And you mentioned to me earlier, three games left ah at this point today for the 49ers. So this could, this would go any number of ways.
00:47:42
Tristan Amundson
It's hard not to look at the two games in sort in totality. And yet coach Mike reminds us, right? Well, all we're focused on is Carolina because that's all you can do. um We don't have to worry about winning two games. We got to win one um in in Carolina next week.
00:47:59
M dub
Yes, we do. Going to the East Coast, Tristan, the Seahawks are 4-0 in the East Coast time zone already this year. Absolutely crushing the sleep schedules.
00:48:11
M dub
Tristan, the Panthers, to me, seem like a team that has been stuck in September when we don't know what which team is what. They're 7-7. They're the most bizarre 7-7 ever. They have a negative 53-point differential on the year. Bryce Young has a career yardage per game of 180 yards.
00:48:28
M dub
This should be a victory. And what is interesting is this actually could be ah playoff preview because it does seem like whoever's going to win the NFC West will be the one seed. I did misspeak last week.
00:48:39
M dub
the The second place finisher in the NFC West cannot be the two seed because the four division winners are seeds one through four. So that does set up with with the Panthers and Buccaneers both at seven and seven.
00:48:52
M dub
That does set up the possibility that this is a playoff preview. Because most likely what is going to happen is whoever wins between the Panthers and the slumping Buccaneers, they will be the fourth seed.
00:49:03
M dub
And they will host in the first round the fifth seed, which is most likely to be whatever completely diabolical team happens to finish second place in the NFC West. And it could be there's three candidates right now.
00:49:16
M dub
And i would expect that to be a pretty decisive playoff blowout. So. It is very important to keep the momentum going with this game. And I think you just have to see some deep targets to to Rashid in this one.
00:49:29
M dub
That's what I'm looking for the most. But this should be ah a Seahawks victory because there's there's a few meaningful tiers up here. Is that what you see even with the long travel here?
00:49:39
Tristan Amundson
You know, i do, certainly. um And you have, I think, been much better about predicting these things than me. I've i've been typical nervous Nelly when it comes to, ah you know, hey, we you know, we we don't want to lose to teams that don't have as much to play for or teams that we think of as not as good as us. And you have, I feel like, done a better job this year of saying, no, we're going to beat this team and here's why. um And you've been right with a lot of these blowouts.
00:50:08
Tristan Amundson
um You know, I would love for another one of those. And I think that that we're peaking at the right time. I will say this. You and I have been asking for a test game right we've been asking for hey we need a game that comes down to the wire we've had so many of these blowouts like this team needs to feel the tension and test and drama and we got the best example of that versus the Rams it a ah gift really to to get this game and get this win and kind of get the reps i think of um of winning a tough hard-fought game um and so yeah it's it's hard to say going into this game exactly what it'll look like they've done the travel really well so you know let's just let's hope we can keep this moving do you have a thought i mean do you have a gut feeling do you think this will be a blowout like like you've kind of predicted some of the others or or do you think this will be end up end up being a tight contest
00:51:03
M dub
um I don't think this will be a blowout like we've seen earlier this year, but I think this will be a pretty decisive victory. I think those, you know, Bryce Young has not had, this is his third year. he has not averaged over 200 yards per game in any of those seasons.
00:51:17
M dub
And I think without explosive plays, there's there's just no way the the Panthers really move the ball against this Seahawks defense.
00:51:25
Tristan Amundson
Well, either way, they get a rest up here the next couple of days, which is great. Little mini bye week that we find ourselves in.
00:51:31
M dub
Yes. And quick historical note, as we move into the historical part of our section from from this Rams game. All time in NFL history, Puka Nakua, already with two games to go, has the 34th most yards in any NFL season.
00:51:47
M dub
And he is still looking up at our beautiful Jackson Smith and Jigba, who already, if he did not play the last two games of the season, has the 22nd most yards in NFL history from any player at any time.
00:52:01
M dub
And we'll obviously climb that list as as these next two games go on.
00:52:07
Tristan Amundson
I love it. I love it. Yeah, no, I mean, he he's a guy it's impossible to hate, right? He's impossible to hate. He's such a good player. um i would imagine that I would imagine most Rams fans, most intelligent Rams fans, certainly my friends that are Rams fans, because most of them are are just...
00:52:24
Tristan Amundson
silly, you know, um really dumb, dumb people. But my friends that are Rams fans miles, they they are very smart people. And I would imagine they feel the same way about JSN that we feel about Puka, which is we're just these are the sort of players you just want to watch and enjoy because they're doing really special things.
00:52:47
M dub
Shocking stat i'm I'm discovering just right now, live, looking at the archives, JSN, more yards in any season than Randy Moss ever had. ah can't believe it, he's ah even as I'm looking at it.
00:52:59
Tristan Amundson
That's crazy. That's incredible. That's fun.
00:53:03
M dub
ah Tristan, we have just seen a very historic moment in Seahawks history. It almost feels ah wrong to go back in into Seahawks history. But um was was there anything else to get to? Or or can we cap this thing off with 50 seconds in Seahawks history?
00:53:18
Tristan Amundson
Oh, I'm ready for your 50 seconds.
00:53:21
M dub
My time starts now. Tristan, there have been 1,164 men who have suited up for the Seattle Seahawks, and only one of them ever was named the MVP of the entire league.
00:53:35
M dub
The year was 2005, and it was running back Sean Alexander. He ran for 1,880
00:53:42
M dub
the 14th most in any season in NFL history. More importantly than that, he also scored 27 touchdowns, which at the time, 27 rushing touchdowns, which tied the all-time record that had been set just three years earlier by Priest Holmes.
00:53:58
M dub
Incredibly, Alexander's record would be broken the very next season by LaDainian Tomlinson, who got 28 the very next season. But it's been 20 years since then that's a big chunk of football history.
00:54:10
M dub
The most rushing touchdowns any back has gotten in a season is just 18. It is one of the untouchable records in football. That year, it was especially helpful for Alexander to run to the left. He had two Hall of Fame linemen in front of him, tackle Walter Jones and guard Steve Hutchinson. He also had probo Pro Bowl fullback Max Strong.
00:54:32
M dub
That year, Seattle had the highest scoring offense in the NFL. and went all the way to their first Super Bowl appearance.
00:54:40
Tristan Amundson
And i mean, one of my favorite seasons of all time, Sean was such an interesting guy to watch. He, he wasn't hard nosed. He was maybe the opposite of Marshawn, which is funny to think, you know, it it takes all different kinds of players and,
00:54:58
Tristan Amundson
Marshawn and Sean Alexander played so differently, but in such great ways. And Sean Alexander was fun to watch, Miles. ah And I remember every single one of those touchdowns.
00:55:10
Tristan Amundson
His big runs, he would hit the line and it'd be, you know, ah gain of one, gain of one, gain of two, gain of three, like just nothing.
00:55:12
M dub
Thank you.
00:55:20
Tristan Amundson
And then suddenly, bam, he would get through and it would be a 40-yard touchdown. It would be a 50-yard run. It would be a 60-yard run. He was such an interesting player. And he would almost just kind of slither through the line. And then suddenly, he would be something great. So, Sean Alexander, that MVP year was interesting to watch because he was the epitome of...
00:55:40
Tristan Amundson
Oh, come on, Sean, what's going on? Then bam, he would just delight you, um which, you know, obviously very different than Marshawn Lynch, right?
00:55:44
M dub
you
00:55:48
Tristan Amundson
Where most plays that Marshawn had, you would look at and be like, yeah, that was great. Like, I mean, you know, I'll take a three yard Marshawn run because it looks like it hurt the other guy. Sean Alexander didn't like instill fear from like a physical, I'm going to beat you to death kind of running back.
00:56:03
Tristan Amundson
But I mean, obviously, the magic and the fear that Sean was able to extract was just these really gorgeous, smooth. He was like a glider and he would just glide through the line of scrimmage and suddenly he would just be gliding right by the secondary. It was so fun to watch. Thanks for thanks for bringing that back to back you know to the front of my mind.
00:56:26
Tristan Amundson
Is it sad? Is it sick that I can name all five offensive linemen off the top my head from that team? Miles, is that is that a good thing or a bad thing at my age?
00:56:35
M dub
It sounds like something I'd love to hear. i mean, I wonder if two Hall of Fame famers on the same lineman has happened since then. But so we got we got Jones and Hutchinson. Who else we got?
00:56:44
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. Well, and, and let me give you one other layer Hutchinson's Twitter handle. Um, I'm not, I don't have it perfectly, but it's something along the lines of poison pill because he was after that year, of the year after signed by Minnesota.
00:57:00
Tristan Amundson
And it was a a very interesting maneuver that they did contractually with, uh, uh, it wasn't, it was one of the tags, one of the player tags, but there was like a poison pill, um,
00:57:12
Tristan Amundson
ah part of the contract that Minnesota put into it that basically meant that that the the Seahawks weren't able to match it, and which frustrated everybody. The Seahawks wanted to keep him. He wanted to stay. And Minnesota just outsmarted us contractually on that one. So anyway, I'm sorry.
00:57:32
Tristan Amundson
you got You got the great Walter Jones. You got Hutchinson. In the middle, we had Robbie Toback. And then we had Gray at Right Guard, um a.k.a. the professor. He was known for his binder. Every single week he would fill um a binder, um you know, one of those ah um uh what do you call those i guess not not the three ring binder but the kind the spiral binder is how would you call miles where you know kind of your your typical taking notes right he would fill one of those every week with notes so he he had a binder full every single week um and so aka the professor and then sean locklear holding down um at right tackle Great, great group.
00:58:01
M dub
Sure.
00:58:21
Tristan Amundson
And, you know, you still hear stories about Tobac and Gray and all of them just getting along super well, very tight knit group um from Poison Pill to to the Hall of Famer to to Tobac to to the professor.
00:58:41
M dub
It is crazy i thinking. The NFL really has changed. It would be interesting to see a team operate like this ah currently. it would It would just be so against the grain, but hard to argue against its effectiveness.
00:58:54
Tristan Amundson
Pretty great, dude. Pretty great. Hey, this was an awesome podcast, Miles. I, I got only one thing to say. i mean, how can anyone, in fact, I saw a guy in the plane yesterday. We're up in in Seattle as a family for the holidays.
00:59:09
Tristan Amundson
And I saw a Seahawks fan and I'll tell you, I'll tell you exactly what I said to him, Miles. It's not going to shock you. It's not going to shock anybody. I've been saying it to to men and women on the streets, every chance I get every, every, Every hat I see, every beanie I see that has that Seahawks logo, I only say one thing and I only hear one thing back.
00:59:32
M dub
Go Hawks.
00:59:33
Tristan Amundson
Go Hawks.