Transcript
Tristan Amundson: Miles, I... I went to the San Diego Safari Park. this weekend my niece was visiting from the great pacific northwest and we wanted to show her a good time down here in southern california so we went to the wild animal park And. ah we We went to a new exhibit.
Tristan Amundson: there's an exhibit uh for the elephants they've just it's an incredible enclosure the elephants have a ton of room and they actually put a restaurant right next to the elephant. So you can You can eat.
Tristan Amundson: and it's great food and and the elephants are just right there it's a it's a pretty incredible thing And I bring it up. Because... but Right after my meal, I just finished a very nice meal and I walked out the door.
Tristan Amundson: um to like the patio area because i just wanted to get a ah closer look at the elephants and beautiful, majestic. African elephant is is right in front of me.
Tristan Amundson: And then it just poops. Just right in front of me, Miles. Big old turd. And it stunk up the place. It stunk up the place miles and I couldn't get that that smell out of my.
Tristan Amundson: my nose for a while. And if I was to. try to create a parallel here. I feel like that's kind of what we saw on Monday night. You know what? you can have a beautiful enclosure you can have a beautiful animal everything can be perfect And every now and again.
Tristan Amundson: something just stinks up the place. and And I think that's just kind of what we experience. How are you doing, my friend?
M dub: Tristan, great to be with you. What is a better analogy for this game, do you think? Was it the the scenario with the elephant that that you saw or an imaginary scenario where perhaps a literal bear and a literal seahawk are in the same exhibit?
Tristan Amundson: Um... Yeah, well... Man, I don't know. i If I put a bear and a seahawk in an exhibit.
M dub: I guess it depends on how high the ceiling is
Tristan Amundson: I guess. Yeah, I mean, I guess so. if If the Seahawk is able to kind of roam a little bit, I don't think it would be that that big of a deal. I think you would smell better than what I than what I smelled. And.
Tristan Amundson: Um, Yeah, so I mean, you know, so in some ways it would be superior.
M dub: Either way, Tristan, a very difficult football game to watch on Monday Night Football. can i Can I recap this game for us? And can I provide a stat of comfort after this recap?
Tristan Amundson: That would be great.
M dub: Okay.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, we'll take all the comfort we can get.
M dub: A stat of of comfort and perspective. So the Seahawks host the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. Come in as the betting favorites. They lose the game, get doubled up, 34 -17. Game starts with a three and out from the Seahawks, and the Bears respond with an...
M dub: Absolutely nasty. Disgusting. 17 play, eight and a half minute drive for a touchdown. The Bears build a multiple possession lead that they hold for most of the game. In the fourth quarter. A glimmer of hope, D -Law with an incredible forced fumble and recovery.
M dub: Very deep in the field. Seahawks cash that in for a touchdown and get to within 20 -17. With just 11 minutes left, just just enough for a lot of hope to be felt.
M dub: within this heart. Only for the Bears to drop in two more touchdowns to close out the game. In an absolute blowout. Here's my stat of comfort. This is a stat that is... Not really a real stat, but I've just held on to it for a pretty long time. I think it has.
M dub: Tip, uh, been, uh... very illustrative of of what Mike McDonald has built here. The last time the Seahawks lost a game by multiple possessions. So at nine or more points.
M dub: We have to go. It is November 4th, 2026 right now. We have to go back to December 15 2024. towards the end of that season, when Green Bay...
M dub: won the game 30 -13. That is 30. Games ago. And in those 30 games, the Seahawks have delivered. 13 wins by multiple possessions. so this This felt very bad to see, but and it felt so discombobulating, I think, because it had been so long.
M dub: And ah so it's really bad. see we We got a lot to talk about here. But. Just to zoom out a little bit, what what a bit of perspective. that but Since the last time we we got a blowout dished out like this.
M dub: We have dished this out to 13 other opponents. That's a lot of pain inflicted on other opponents across the NFL. Anyway. But... those 13 wins are in the past we we we still got to look at this one but but there's my stat of comfort does it comfort you
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, you know it To your point, this this hasn't happened often. um And. <unk> We're talking about Super Bowl team here, right? We're we're talking about. a team that has just...
Tristan Amundson: ascended the highest mountain in in in the sport. um And and I think that's honestly, you know, i'm I'm joking around when I talk about the wild animal park or the safari park, but.
Tristan Amundson: i i do kind of mean it man like it's it It is. In the context of this beautiful thing. there was just kind of we We laid a turd. I think that's kind of how I'm looking at this game. Honestly, I think I'm looking at it.
Tristan Amundson: that there are there's probably some bigger problems we should just talk about I do think that we have a path to fix some of the problems. i We, as if you and I are.
Tristan Amundson: going to fly up to Renton as a think tank to help Mike fix the problems. I think the Seahawks have a path to fix some of the problems. that they have um and and i'm actually I'm fairly happy with.
Tristan Amundson: Um, the next three weeks and what those can provide. by way of the offense kind of fixing some of these things that are happening and a new offensive coordinator figuring some stuff out.
Tristan Amundson: um So that is kind of why I do kind of feel comfortable with. Saying, hey, this was a stinker of a game. We can talk about it. We can talk about what went right, what went it wrong and and just kind of move forward. um and And I do have some hope. I have a little hope of my own. How about that? so um yeah where where do we want to start with this do we want to start with the running backs i i mean i'll kind of let you lead the charge here man i i have a couple of thoughts on on a few key position
Tristan Amundson: Um, uh a few key positions but i'll I'll cede the floor to you if you want to QB this thing.
M dub: Well, let let me get really big here. This is kind of a philosophical conundrum that I've been battling with in the hours since since this game finished. The discussion around the NFL is like...
M dub: Okay, the Chicago Bears had a really signature win, and they have announced themselves as two Super Bowl contenders, perhaps the lead Super Bowl contenders. So in a funny way, even though the Seahawks are 4 -4 right now, even that...
M dub: even in Even in this loss and in the national conversation, there's still great respect for the 2026 Seahawks. this this makes it I can't tell. I can't tell if this team is good or bad, I guess, is what I'm getting at. even in uh you know, the conversation about how great the Bears are, yeah that kind of only happens because the Seahawks are really good.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, I mean... And I mean, it's true. I mean, so obviously. You know, Coach talked about this during his interview on Monday, or I'm sorry, on Tuesday, I guess. yeah i mean if you if you take a step back and you look at the whole picture and you say Man, like we just had a great signature win against the Chiefs, right? So it's like you go from Alation to, again, to kind of this valley.
Tristan Amundson: And and that is kind of the nature of. of the gig i mean the nfl is a hard place to win i will say this the most impressive thing to me about. um about this Bears team.
Tristan Amundson: Most great offenses. but ah Let me maybe rephrase that. Most good offenses. can put up really good numbers against mediocre defenses and okay defenses, right?
Tristan Amundson: I would say it's it's unbelievably rare for... an offense to be able to put up good numbers. against a great defense does that make sense like I mean to see to see this offense actually be able to compete and and put up big numbers against this defense that we know is a really great defense. We know this is a top.
Tristan Amundson: top five defense in the league. You just don't really see that in the NFL. Like defense is really the most consistent thing in the NFL. If you have a good one. and so to see the bears come in and actually be able to take care of business was was I think like.
Tristan Amundson: big picture just nfl big picture it's pretty unheard of for even a good offense or a great offense to be able to put up numbers. against a great defense it kind of just turns typically into kind of a muddy gross game um So, I mean... i I really do. I hate to say it, but I really do feel like this is kind of a hats off.
Tristan Amundson: kind of kind of game you know you just kind of have to tip your cap and say whoa they That ah offense is pretty doggone good.
M dub: I do feel like this game was more about the Bears being really great instead of the Seahawks being bad. it just To come in at four and three, that you just didn't need that to happen. I was a little surprised looking at the Bears. It felt like the Bears were a juggernaut offensively during this game. And it's a little bit shocking to see the numbers are actually.
M dub: Not that great ah in the end when we look at... ah the box score, the box score and the, you know, the cold sober light of day. Passing yards for Caleb Williams. I talked last week about how the Seahawks were allowing an average of 144.
M dub: net passing yards and hadn't allowed a 200 -yard passer. We get that in this game, but... 237 net passing yards. That's... Pretty good. That's nothing spectacular.
M dub: And then the rushing attack. DeAndre Swift goes 27 rushes for just 69 yards.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah.
M dub: That's that's ah for a 2 .5 average. so So that's not spectacular. But at the same time, I do think the Bears had the right focus for playing the Seahawks. which was...
M dub: just look at the first down in front of you just try to get that first down i That was why I really favored the Seahawks in this game. I don't think I had kept up. with how Caleb Williams had changed from 2025 to 2026.
M dub: Watching Caleb Williams last year, especially that playoff. lost to the Rams, which is is so big in my mind. It really felt like Caleb Williams was very casual with first and second down and just had the attitude of.
M dub: I'll cram overnight. uh before the test to get this done on third down And I think that's why his passing percentage was so low. Not because of like his accuracy or anything like that, but just... Just kind of a...
M dub: I have these first and second downs to play with, and then I'll get the job done on third down. That attitude was was no, that that that is out the door, a completely new attitude where.
M dub: I think the Bears really... Yep. The stat that stands out to me from what I just said was the 27 attempts to DeAndre Swift. That is a lot of attempts. especially to give to a ball carrier. who is not really moving the ball forward.
M dub: But I think the Bears had the right strategy of we... We just need to get this first down. We just need to avoid a negative play. And they got a lot of first downs. They got 22 first downs in the game.
M dub: which was the most the seahawks gave up on the year ah With an average of just 14 .8 first downs allowed. within each game before this. so that That's a lot of extra first downs, and that created a big time of possession gap as well. 35 minutes to the Bears to 25 for the Seahawks.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, no, I mean, they they yeah I think it's a great point, man. They were able to be annoying. They just were able to stay on the field and keep things happening. Um,
Tristan Amundson: And I mean, there's there's a few different layers to that. I mean, ah if we're being totally honest, this is not a game. where our playmakers really jumped out, right? I mean, you didn't I didn't feel Byron Murphy in this game. I didn't feel even worry. I didn't feel spoon.
Tristan Amundson: um obviously leonard went out with the stinger um but before that i i'd be lying if i told you like leonard williams was really jumping off the page um It seemed as though this offense really had. the answers to a lot of the problems that our defense typically puts up i even During that first drive, I thought to myself, okay, this this could be a great.
Tristan Amundson: litmus test and in in some ways kind of prove out my theory of yeah you know first couple of drives we're you're we're figuring it out and then once we figure you out you're dead And, I mean, the Bears proved that.
Tristan Amundson: theory wrong at least on on monday night they were able to continue to put drives together I think that the thing that was most shocking to me was. Three rushing touchdowns. I mean, that that does not sound like... what this what we've become accustomed to with the Seahawks defense. We have such...
Tristan Amundson: um And you even brought it up, right? 69 yards of what? 27 attempts. That's. That is pretty good. that's ah That's a pretty good average we're holding a really good running back to.
Tristan Amundson: um And yet. they were able to get it into the end zone right so ah to me this is one of those from a defensive perspective everything I like what I heard Mike Salk say this a couple of days ago, which I agree with. i
Tristan Amundson: it It didn't seem like anyone was out of position. It just seemed like everyone was just. a half second late to their assignment. It wasn't it wasn't as though you were playing the wrong assignment. It's just that like everything felt slightly off in this game from a defensive side.
Tristan Amundson: um And I think that really starts with Caleb had more time in the pocket that we're used to seeing our r four usually can get. um to the quarterback and cause a lot of problems. I heard Travis Kelsey talk about that.
Tristan Amundson: on his podcast after the Seahawks. victory over the Chiefs that. his takeaway was well man they were just playing shell coverage the entire time there was no space in the passing attack And.
Tristan Amundson: they just kept winning with four over and over again. And like that is kind of the secret to the success. Like we are four can beat your five or six. And that allows us to kind of.
Tristan Amundson: have this too high shell coverage over and over again and and just really take away all the space. I heard. Speaking of the running game, tell me what you think about this. I thought this was an interesting statement by Mike during his his Tuesday interview.
Tristan Amundson: He basically said, Like we want to force you to throw the ball into the end zone. he he He was like disgusted by the three. rushing tds and he basically said like that can't happen like that's completely unacceptable And it was interesting. I was thinking about.
Tristan Amundson: If you're a defensive. Play caller. It's kind of the old adage, right? like When you throw the ball, three bad things can happen and one good thing can happen. And I think that's kind of the concept of making a team throw it into the end zone instead of rush it into the end zone. There's just way more variables in your favor that, you know. that it could go wrong for the offense.
Tristan Amundson: And I just I kind of thought that was an interesting statement still, though, like. Like. Coach does not want to see them be able to run it in. Like that's unacceptable. Everyone's job is to stop the run. and force them to throw.
Tristan Amundson: the ball into the end zone i hadn't heard him say that before and i just i don't know if that is interesting to you i just thought that was kind of an interesting nugget out of the brain of mike
M dub: I mean, I don't know. yeah I don't think he'd be that happy if there were a bunch of passing touchdowns either. he still points to be Points to be scored either way.
Tristan Amundson: Well sure, yeah.
M dub: You know, I think those rushing touchdowns, the you know, the Bears built a lot of really long drives in this game. And then when they got down into the red zone as well. They use tempo in a very weaponized way.
M dub: So with the tempo, with those long drives, I view that as kind of how how these touchdowns came about more than... any like fault I mean this this defense was on the field for for a lot of the game.
M dub: Speaking of the red zone, though. I mean... Uh... I... The Seahawks were not that close in this game, but there were still a few wonky like turning points. And one of the big ones is...
M dub: Believe it or not, both teams had the same number of trips to the end red zone. Same number of trips to the red zone. as an offense for a piece.
M dub: Chicago cashes in all four of their trips for touchdowns. Seahawks scored just one touchdown out of four red zone trips. that I mean... Now there's the ballgame.
Tristan Amundson: I don't believe it. I refuse to believe it. No, you're, yeah, you're right. i I mean nothing more heartbreaking than that. Offensive pass interference on JSN at the two yard line.
Tristan Amundson: Um, that to me, I mean, you're watching it in slow motion and in real time and like JSN pushes off and the guys grab it like they're both. I saw two of ah offending parties simultaneously offending.
Tristan Amundson: And in my mind, it's like just. Don't worry about blowing that whistle. I thought it it was a crazy stat that the the TV crew had ready to go, that that is JSN's. first offensive pass interference. of his career, which is just.
Tristan Amundson: Like... ah Another thing about JSN that I... learned that is just unreal to think about. That this guy just. plays almost a perfect football game. It's it's kind of crazy. um That would have been a really big turning point, though. And then.
Tristan Amundson: For goodness sake, man, like we left four points literally on the field with. two missed kicks. um you know that also changes the dynamic of this game so that this was a weird one to me Though the biggest...
Tristan Amundson: my My biggest takeaway, and i I don't think this is going to be shocking, and I would assume most everyone felt this way. The biggest thing that concerns me. about this game. that I want to see them fixing going forward and I think some of it will self -evidently fix.
Tristan Amundson: is the offensive line, right? the Yeah. I have a hard time. sitting here blaming Sam and saying like, well, Sam, why didn't you just throw more touchdowns or, you know, just make it better?
Tristan Amundson: He was under attack. I mean. I don't know if I've ever seen a trade. in the NFL that reaped. as fast of a benefit jeffrey simmons who is one of absolutely one of the best in the league I mean, I kept thinking to myself, man, I wish they traded for him like three days later or something. So like there wasn't enough time for him to suit up for this game um because.
Tristan Amundson: Holy smokes, like Jeffrey Simmons looks like he's changing the temperature of that that defense. sam had no time i mean the past protection was really really rough to watch Um, That. combined with the fact that
Tristan Amundson: Man, I felt like the running game looked OK. I'm not quite sure why we didn't run the ball more, especially with how much Sam was under attack throughout the game. I kept thinking to myself, like, man, seems like we should just kind of run it and protect Sam and try to, you know, catch them off guard.
Tristan Amundson: Those were the two things that stood out to me the most in this game. Miles was like. One, pass protection was rough. Two. because pass protection is so rough like Let's just run it more and and like try to create.
Tristan Amundson: opportunities for Sam to throw when they're not. necessarily expecting it to me i don't know if you felt this way the play calling felt like really obvious.
M dub: I really agree with everything you were saying. It was... was Definitely a... Monster Trade and the... The pass pressure numbers would have been even worse. I think there were two.
M dub: different sacks by montez sweat that got called back uh by a penalty in the secondary so but Those get wiped off the stat sheet. but ah you know Sam still feels that the next day.
M dub: I took a look. Seahawks allowing pressures on 27 .7 % of pass plays. That is the... Second worst mark in the league. Last year in the same stat, they were about league average at 20 .9%.
M dub: So that's alarming because this is the exact same group. We had Josh Jones filling in for Charles Cross at left tackle. In this game... But also make the addition of Quentin Nelson. So, but yeah, of of the full year. same group that that's a pretty alarming difference and yeah i was feeling like Like. ah especially the interior runs, looking at the stats afterward, both, so we should say Zach Charbonnet got back in this game.
M dub: It felt like he was on a limited pitch count. I wanted it to see more of them. It felt like the interior runs with Charbonnet could have been really strong, but... That was really just ah a very small handful of plays. I hope to see it a lot more next week.
M dub: um But. Yeah. It was. I think pretty unfortunate timing. I think we caught the Bears at ah at a really big emotional high. there's nothing I mean, the Bears could continue this emotional high all throughout the season, but you could tell there was a lot of excitement and just really positive vibes on that defense, and they were too destructive for for the Seahawks to really get anything going.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah. Yeah, and I mean... Going back to the play calling and and the the lack of rush and the lack of ball control, right? I mean... yeah It has to be said as good of a defensive performance as.
Tristan Amundson: as they had against Kansas City, and it was a great defensive performance. The best defense is when... you When the camera pans over to the sideline and you see the opposing quarterback looking bored on the bench. That's I mean, it's the best feeling when you're watching a game as a fan, when that quarterback has the look on his face of like.
Tristan Amundson: man, I've been sitting here a long time. Like this is what are we doing? I want to play. And. that we're not giving you a chance to play. That's the best defense in the world. And it starts with a running game. So I agree with you, man. I actually. yeah I will say if we want to start talking about things that were encouraging to me.
Tristan Amundson: Jadarian looks different than everybody else. Like he has a different little step. Like he it's kind of clear that you can kind of see his pedigree, I guess. And Zach looked just fine. Like to me, I was looking at Zach Charbonnet.
Tristan Amundson: And it felt like I was looking at Zach Charbonnet. that That to me is encouraging. Like I have no. complaints about what we got from the number one and number two, 1A, 1B, however you want to say it, running backs.
Tristan Amundson: um And so I think the hope is let's just get back to that running the football. And and i I guess the other hope and and here's where maybe I will.
Tristan Amundson: blend this into the next couple of weeks. Two, in my mind, like. Dare I say, like, winnable games, winnable opponents. and opportunity for this ah for this new.
Tristan Amundson: restructured offensive line to kind of get to know each other, Quinton to get to know the team. and to start really dedicating themselves to it. And then you have a bye week, which. I don't know if there is an offensive coordinator in the league that needs a bye week more than Brian to be able to. And this I'm not trying to in any way throw shade his direction whatsoever.
Tristan Amundson: I just think he's new it's a new job for him. like i They looked a lot better coming out of the bye week, that little mini bye that we had after Thursday night. And I think that this is a team and an offense that could use.
Tristan Amundson: some time. to kind of get back to some homework like i think I think. Sometimes in the middle of the semester, the homework pile packs, you know, it starts kind of growing sometimes in my business life.
Tristan Amundson: um The emails. they start stacking and you're like, man, I really need to get to those emails, but I have other stuff I got to do. I have. top priority things, I can't reply to all these emails right now.
Tristan Amundson: Um, i'm sure it happens to professors right man i got a lot of you know grading i need to do but I also have a lecture in 30 minutes I got to prep for. I think we kind of need this bye week, man. to we got We got to grade some papers. We got to return some emails. And I think it's going to really, really help Brian.
Tristan Amundson: um going into the you know the the home stretch of the season.
M dub: Here's something that I'd like to see change, and and hopefully it can get changed before the bye week. it's really surprising to me how little this offense is using A .J. Barner. We had another absolute monster Hall of Fame -level game by JSN, and there's a lot of questions now about who, okay. who Who's the Seahawks' second option? And I really think it could be A .J. Barner.
M dub: I was really shocked He... In receiving yards among tight ends, he is 26th in the league right now. Close close to the bottom out of you know out of all the one.
Tristan Amundson: Wow.
M dub: the one string tight ends in the league. Barner is is a much better tight end than that. Now, there's a lot of depth at tight end. Just about every team does have a pretty good tight end. but He should be nowhere near 26th. For the season, it's 21 catches for 203 yards.
M dub: And the really alarming thing to me is no touchdowns. He's barely getting targeted in the red zone. When we look at Barnard, so this is Barnard's third year. His first two years combined, 2024 and 2025.
M dub: and this This is getting some Ryan Grubb. numbers in there okay to to bring up a blast from the past. First two years of his career in the red zone. 19 targets.
M dub: 15 catches for nine touchdowns. Just an absolute red zone beast, and we love seeing that dancing robot touchdown dance. This year, though, just six targets for three catches and no touchdowns in the red zone.
M dub: there's a the There is a big weapon already on the team that is not really being used.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah, I mean, I... Again, I hate to pile on, but something something's askew with the offense. It's clear. um and and specifically like the play calling and the play design and all that kind of stuff i do think i mean listen man it's It's worthy to bring up and it's happening in Las Vegas right now. Like Clint Kubiak was really good.
Tristan Amundson: i Really, really good offensive coordinator. and um probably better than than we fully appreciated at the time, like like most things in life, right?
Tristan Amundson: And so. and and that's not to say that brian can't be absolutely great but he is getting some on -the -job training um And i I am hoping and I am hopeful that.
Tristan Amundson: Playing. um I mean, we Spade a spade. I mean, like... Cardinals are not one of the top teams in the league. Neither is Vegas. Vegas is ascending. And their their offense should scare you a little bit. but um These are defenses that you should be able to play against and and have a plan against.
Tristan Amundson: And. If I just take a step back and I look at. the idea of of winning the next two games and then going into the bye, right? Suddenly you're you're six and four.
Tristan Amundson: You go into the bye week. You have some. some time to take care of some of that homework, some of those those things you've been putting off. And then you go into the the final stretch of this season.
Tristan Amundson: I think hopefully ready to be exactly who you want to be. um and and to kind of dictate the way you want to dictate moving forward. So, um you know, with your running backs that you want, with the offensive line that you're looking for, kind of hitting all cylinders. I mean, and it it maybe be it's as simple, maybe if we were in the meeting rooms, it's as simple as.
Tristan Amundson: Hey, man, like. you You sent your second year left guard to right guard. You brought in a new left guard. And you were starting a backup left tackle like.
Tristan Amundson: Maybe that's just too many moving pieces for us to expect that it was just going to be a seamless. Run first. great pass protection day. It could be that simple, I suppose.
M dub: Hopefully it is. As we come up against this second game with the Cardinals, I'm remembering the first one. It was that 31 -7 blowout in Week 2, led by Mr. Drew Locke. And I don't know if you remember the fourth quarter, but the sea i mean the game was already over, but the Seahawks just added insult to injury by just...
M dub: the The Cardinals defensive line was really defeated against the run as as the Seahawks just. just ground down the clock. I'm hoping to see that from quarter one and not in the fourth quarter in this game next week.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, you would hope that you can establish the run the right way um and and give our defense a little bit of a break. Give them a chance to. um Give them a chance to.
Tristan Amundson: to watch that. um ah that that quarterback on the other side look bored, you know. And that quarterback, by the way, is going to be Gardner Minshew. We have a new quarterback to to face this week, which is kind of interesting. Minshew magic. He's kind of a cult hero around the NFL. I mean, Washington State graduate.
Tristan Amundson: Um, And so, you know, kind of an exciting matchup. I mean, it's kind of hard not to love Gardner Minshew and what he represents. So different quarterback. um In fact, two different quarterbacks from week two, which is kind of an odd thing. um They're going to their backup and we're going to our starter.
M dub: Not only are they going with Minshew, but I saw that they are moving Jacoby Brissett down to QB3 and moving Carson Beck to QB2. NFL's a tough business, man. That is crazy. Cardinals will also be without Jeremiah Love at running back. He's going on IR. They also lost Kendrick Bourne for the season. some more and and The Cardinals have traded away Marvin Harrison Jr. since the last time.
M dub: ah These two teams played. Speaking of Minshew, though, I did do the research. This is his 12th season playing football since he started his collegiate career. 12 years this is the ninth different team he's played for the man The man packs up a suitcase.
M dub: and move somewhere new. just about every single year it's One of the wildest NFL careers there's ever been.
Tristan Amundson: Yeah. and And he's fun to watch. I mean, i you know, you have to admit when you watch Gardner, obviously there's a reason he's not a starter in the league, um but he can be a scary little quarterback. He's got some wiggle. He can create on his own.
Tristan Amundson: He can definitely inspire. You know, he kind of has that, I think, almost that Baker Mayfield quality about him from like a. like an inspiration get people going get people excited kind of kind of vibe so um he's a he's an interesting high energy quarterback. um I was not able to watch last week him.
Tristan Amundson: put together that comeback against the Dallas Cowboys but It's it'll be an interesting thing to see now. The Cowboys defense versus the Seahawks defense. Very different animals. Very, very different animals. Um,
Tristan Amundson: And the I would argue the Seahawks. stick -to -itiveness and being able to close out a game very different than than the Cowboys' pedigree in that way as well.
Tristan Amundson: um but yeah should be an interesting game i would expect this is a bit of a get right game i believe i don't know if you know this i i would think this one's in seattle right if i remember correctly that the last game was down in the desert
M dub: That's right. We're wrapping up a pretty unique stretch where the Seahawks, this will be the fifth out of six games at home. The Seahawks only left Seattle for that Thursday night game against the Broncos. Otherwise, it's been a really long stretch.
M dub: of home games I did see the end of that Cardinals Cowboys game it it was one of the most it's one of the more shocking regular season games you'll see in the In the solitude of my living room, I genuinely gasped. At a certain moment, I just could not believe what I was seeing. Just a a genuine out loud gasp at what I was seeing as that game concluded.
M dub: Um, Yeah, I do want to, I do expect it to be a get right game, but and for the sake of completeness. We do have to say, I mean, we... Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL.
M dub: we We just have to lay this out right now. Seahawks are 4 -4. Cardinals are 3 -5. With a Cardinals victory, they would be tied in the standings. I mean, it we don't expect it to happen, but...
M dub: it It just is a possibility when two NFL teams face each other on Sunday.
Tristan Amundson: The NFL, man. The NFL.
M dub: Those those are the stakes.
Tristan Amundson: it's Yeah, yeah. The NFL is ah an absolutely crazy. It's a crazy thing. um how how that can happen. And it happens fast, right? Before you know it.
Tristan Amundson: the lowly cardinals look like they yeah that they're in it so Each game is so important. I think that's what's unique about this league. There's only a few games. And so each game. just has all of that importance and uh yeah we'll we'll see kind of how that how that all goes down. um yeah I don't know if you're thinking about this, just as as we're thinking about this unique stretch in another home game.
Tristan Amundson: This could be kind of a dumb thing to bring up. but and And maybe this has nothing to do with football. Maybe it's just kind of thinking about. a guy that's moving to a new city.
Tristan Amundson: Kind of nice that... like quentin nelson or as they call him q Like. can kind of just focus. on practice and getting to know his surroundings a little bit like i whenever trades like this happen I always think to myself like just how disruptive and weird that would be for the player.
Tristan Amundson: you know you you get traded and i'm assuming within a few hours within six or seven hours of the trade You're on a plane. You land. You get sent to a hotel you've never been to before.
Tristan Amundson: you're living out of the hotel Um, Big Cat was talking about this ah this week when he was talking about like how difficult it is to be traded midseason. you're living out of the hotel you don't know anything about the surrounding area and you're getting to know a new team, i mean it it is wild to think about.
Tristan Amundson: All of the. the differences and i guess just all the variables that you're dealing with just as a person So I'm... I don't know, again, maybe a stupid thing to bring up, but kind of nice that Quinton just gets two weeks in one spot like he's able to. um Hopefully settle a little bit more in the Northwest and and kind of get to know, hey, this is where my locker is. at at atcent or what's What's it called? Quest, CenturyLink.
Tristan Amundson: Lumen. Here's my locker room at Lumen. Here's... Um, you know, I don't know, here's how I get to work in the morning. Like, oh yeah, that's right. I take a left turn. Okay, good. You know, I don't know all those little things, like they kind of add up from a stress perspective. So.
Tristan Amundson: I don't know, cat kind of a weird, random thing. I thought it was fun hearing Big Cat talk about that, though. Um, just how difficult it is to be in a new city.
M dub: It would be extremely difficult. Listening to Quentin Nelson's opening press conference, though, this is one extremely even keeled dude. And I think he can handle it as good as anybody in the NFL.
M dub: I think there's just something about the nature of offensive guard versus defensive tackle, though. like defense with Because Jeffrey Simmons just did the same thing, but you could... There's just so much excitement from him. you know I think being freed from the Titans, going to a Super Bowl contender.
M dub: And, you know, Quentin Nelson did experience that same thing. but It's just ah it's a little hard to... You can't... um You can't wreck a play as an offensive guard or just like completely create a play as an offensive guard like Jeffrey Simmons could a defensive tackle. um I do think. Quentin Nelson played a pretty good game as far as what I could tell.
M dub: Even though there were a ton of problems on the offensive line. Um, Yeah we'll see how it goes. i I do want to see, i ah I was looking forward to more interior runs and just seeing, okay. Can we really call a lot of plays where we're specifically running behind Quentin Nelson?
Tristan Amundson: Yeah. And you would think that that would also. help graze Abel too right like hey here's a new position but we're going to run the ball. Like you don't have to, because past production, hey, I need to know, you know, assignments and stuff like that. I know there's certainly assignments with.
Tristan Amundson: with running as well but there is a little bit more of like... hey let's run some power let's just let's let's block the guy in front of me let's go after it um and and i feel like that would have helped him get more comfortable on in his new position so two guards kind of figured it out a little bit figuring out their um you know, the the the vibe of the room.
Tristan Amundson: I hope the guys all go to the Metropolitan Grill this week. as a as a group of five and actually maybe bring charles cross as well The six of them can all go. And actually, heck.
Tristan Amundson: bring Bring Bradford with you guys. And the seven of you go. and just order the seven biggest steaks they got. and and hang out i think that's we need some bonding time miles we need some We need some steaks, some some salads, some... ah some i don't know whatever your favorite some mac and cheese it's a good steakhouse meal um yeah I think we we need some bonding this week in in the great city of Seattle for the boys.
M dub: Coach Mac. Let's cancel practice. let's Let's make sure these boys get some food.
Tristan Amundson: let's just I think it would help. I think it would help. They ah they certainly need need the moments just to be able to get to know each other and talk. and and and do all of that because ultimately that's.
Tristan Amundson: It's the craziest thing about football, man. Like everything comes back to the offensive line. It is the single most important unit. On the field. and every other unit benefits from the offensive line doing well.
Tristan Amundson: um And so, yeah, let's let let's get those boys right. Hopefully this is a big turnaround week for them.
M dub: Well, Trisha, that's all I got. A little shorter this week, but, ah you know. I guess he... It takes a little shorter to wallow in the defeat than to ah describe all all the wondrous things that happen in a Seahawks win.
Tristan Amundson: Well, you know, we the the zookeepers came out. You you kind of scoop up. A little scoop of the poop and and move on, right? so um It is what it is. It's a Seahawks um loss this week, but.
Tristan Amundson: let's Let's get right here with... ah With Arizona, I was going to say Arizona and Vegas, but let's. One week at a time, Miles. Let's just handle Arizona. Um, And I'll tell you what.
Tristan Amundson: I was frustrated on Monday. i wasn't I wasn't, by the way, as frustrated as I was after the San Fran loss, but I was frustrated. but You got to be consistent.
Tristan Amundson: And you still got to say Go Hawks.
M dub: Go Hawks.
