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A River Almost Ran Through It
24 Plays15 days ago
Tristan and Miles talk about a football watch party in Fairhope, Alabama, an endgame strategy moment 40 years in the making, and the upcoming monstrosity of a rematch against the Rams.
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Transcript
Anecdote of a High School Coach in NFL
00:00:00
Tristan Amundson
Miles, St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama, my favorite part of the broadcast, sincerely, was watching a group of young men that they're sitting in a room watching their high school coach come off the couch, get on an NFL field and play at the highest level as big of a Seahawks fan as I am, as as as much as I was rooting against Philip Rivers for much of the game.
00:00:37
Tristan Amundson
I couldn't help like everyone else around the world, around the country.
00:00:38
M dub
you
00:00:42
Tristan Amundson
My heart grew. it was previously two sizes too small. It grew to the correct size, maybe even a little big because I could put myself, I could imagine the dumb smile that these boys had on their face. I could imagine on my face if I was one of them.
00:01:02
Tristan Amundson
Can you believe it? Coach is on TV. Coach is playing the Seahawks. coaches with he We're up. where It's the fourth quarter. Coach has the Colts up. I think he might pull this off. He might actually beat.
00:01:16
Tristan Amundson
the best defense in the league. I couldn't help it. Miles. I was, I was, i was taken by joy. i love the moment. Thank God their hearts were broken. The Seahawks one miles. How are you doing?
00:01:31
M dub
Tristan, it's great to be with you, and i am exhausted from the entire week of emotions. Tristan, the last time we recorded, we were already done with the Falcons game and moved on to the Colts game because of this incredibly unlikely story.
Phillip Rivers' NFL Comeback
00:01:47
M dub
The 44-year-old Phillip Rivers coming back after five years The news continued to trickle throughout the week as the start became more and more inevitable. Then then then the game actually started, and the emotions got even crazier. I did want to mention, what I didn't realize last week is that I thought Anthony Richardson, the the high draft pick who the Colts the cults of two or three years ago would have have hoped we're were starting every game, I thought he was just injured for the entire year in the preseason.
00:02:21
M dub
that That's not what happened. He actually got healthy, came back, subbed in for in garbage time for Daniel Jones a couple times. And then do you know why Anthony Richardson, how he got re-injured?
00:02:32
Tristan Amundson
It's crazy. I do, but but tell the people.
00:02:35
M dub
Just for the record, I did not know. So just to put it on the record, this is the truth. It's October. The Colts are warming up before a game. So he got injured on the day of a game, but the clock had not started yet.
00:02:47
M dub
He was warming up with the resistance band. Things went haywire. Things went Three Stooges style. His own resistance band smacks him in his face, and he breaks a bone in his face. and And that...
00:03:01
M dub
That is what brought us here. that We do not get this game. We do not get Phillip Rivers. We do not get it a CBS camera going down to Fairhope, Alabama, if that doesn't happen. It ble my it was like Thursday or Friday when i figured that out.
00:03:17
M dub
So anyway, this game was, yes, completely all about Phillip Rivers. The Seahawks win the game 18 to 16 somehow, but it it was still all about Phillip Rivers. And once the game actually started, Colts getting the first, when electing to take the ball off the kickoff, it was an incredible blend of emotions as we got into the rhythm of this game.
00:03:43
M dub
And he realized he was going to hang tough the whole game. It was astonishing to me because as the days went on, my my main thought Friday and Saturday was, this is dangerous.
00:03:55
M dub
This is dangerous. An NFL field is not a safe place to be for NFL players. you're And you're essentially putting a regular human on there. So my main... ah Genuinely, my main thought as the week went on became to be, this is dangerous.
00:04:09
M dub
Then the game starts and you realize, ah actually, it's dangerous for the Seahawks because they're pretty close to losing this game to this guy. The way it's going, which was the most, the series of the smartest non-explosive offensive football you've ever seen.
00:04:26
M dub
it was saying What did you think as the game went on and you realized, oh, this isn't going to be a laughingstock. Phillip Rivers is in this game for real.
00:04:35
Tristan Amundson
You, I think you just nailed it. We should probably stop recording. A series of the most, can you say that again? a series of the most non-explosive what?
00:04:44
M dub
Like the smartest non-explosive football you've ever seen.
00:04:47
Tristan Amundson
That's it. You just nailed it. That's the synopsis of the game. Our job is done. It was, that's exactly what we watched. It was non-explosive, but it was, you know what I, what my big takeaway was, this is what it looks like when a quarterback fully knows his limitations, right?
Experience vs. Youth in Quarterbacking
00:05:06
Tristan Amundson
This is, we see all the time examples of quarterbacks, young quarterbacks, athletic quarterbacks. They got an arm that can throw it a mile. They can run. have a They're athletic.
00:05:20
Tristan Amundson
And what do they do? what What do you do? You lean on your greatest strength. And when that happens, when a quarterback leans on his greatest strength,
00:05:31
Tristan Amundson
And his greatest strength happens to be his legs and his arm. That can work. We see it work all the time. But also now you're going strength versus strength. You are going, hey I can do some of this stuff at an elite level.
00:05:44
Tristan Amundson
Well, the truth is, so can all those defenders. Right. You have elite athletes that are also attacking you from a defensive perspective. Right. When you look at a quarterback like Phillip Rivers on Sunday, he knows he doesn't have any of that.
00:05:59
Tristan Amundson
he He doesn't. He does not have that elite athletic ability. So what's he going to do? He is going to lean on the only thing he does have. He knows he has one thing that is elite.
00:06:10
Tristan Amundson
He knows that he has 17 years, at which is a crazy number, 17 years of NFL experience. And that is his superpower. And he showed it off, man. I was so impressed. i i I think I even said last week, and this was my legit expectation going into the game, I thought that he would not make it past the third quarter. I figured our defensive line would get to him enough.
00:06:36
Tristan Amundson
It would be there would be so many body blows that by the end of the third quarter, midway through the third quarter, we have another quarterback in. It's just not going to work. I walked away like everyone did. Incredibly impressed by Philip Rivers. Well done.
Colts' Strategic Play against Seahawks
00:06:53
Tristan Amundson
Hats off. I mean, there's there's nothing else you can say, right? Except just hats off to Philip Rivers.
00:06:58
M dub
Absolutely. Tristan, I genuinely think this game will change not how all of quarterbacking is done in the NFL in the next few years, but I do think it will change how backup quarterbacking is done in the NFL in the next few years because knowing your limits, I think, is ah is a great way to say it. And I think teams are going younger and younger with backups, maybe compared to 20 years ago. That's that's just a thought I'm pulling out.
00:07:26
M dub
at the moment. and I don't know if it it actually is that way, but it does feel like every team's backup is a fifth-round rookie. And i think we i think I feel like they used to be more more of the 37-year-olds like 20 years ago. I think we're going to go back to that because it shows – because Because, yeah, this is how you win a game as a backup quarterback. It go it took an incredible... and It'll be a relief to talk about this and not Phillip Rivers finally. It took some incredible strategic work by the Seahawks to get out of this because... it
00:07:58
M dub
Rivers never put the ball, i mean, until the very last second, never put the ball in harm's way. I am shocked at what happened with the Colts offensive line, who essentially won this game with two backup tackles.
00:08:12
M dub
They prevented the C. There were a couple sacks. those are That's more of a scorekeeping fluke, a fluke in how the scores and the stats are kept. The entire game, this incredible defensive line from the Seahawks never really got a clean shot at Rivers, which is this astonishing. that's That's the line, you know.
00:08:33
M dub
It was, yeah. I can't believe what we saw.
00:08:35
Tristan Amundson
well So can I put a
00:08:38
M dub
And he almost got it, man. He almost got it. It was so close, I couldn't believe it.
00:08:44
Tristan Amundson
He almost got, can I put a picture to exactly what you're talking about? And this is a prop to their offensive line. The play where Philip Rivers, he he stumbles and he goes down to one knee and then he gets back up and and scrambles up you up and it ends up at least not being a loss. You know, ah i think it didn't count of as as a sack. I think he ended getting one or two yards on the play.
00:09:07
Tristan Amundson
um You can picture the one that I'm i'm talking about, right? Where he, he stumbles.
00:09:10
M dub
Yeah, it took about 15 seconds. Yeah, I can definitely picture it.
00:09:13
Tristan Amundson
Exactly. That's exactly my point. It is wild. As you're watching it, it looks like he's in slow
Seahawks' Clock Management and Defense
00:09:19
Tristan Amundson
motion and we have our defense. Yeah. In fact, I'm trying to remember who it was. It might've been Jenna. I think it was Jenna coming off the edge and he's screaming around the edge and that,
00:09:30
Tristan Amundson
Freaking right tackle just stayed in front of Chena long enough and kept him off of his quarterback, gave his quarterback time to slowly kneel, get back up, run and scramble and just kind of do a quick little, you know, belly flop and make it so it wasn't a total loss of a play.
00:09:49
Tristan Amundson
And i mean, that's shocking like that. That should have been a give me sack. And it wasn't because that right tackle did his job in an insanely elite level.
00:09:54
M dub
you
00:10:00
Tristan Amundson
um You're totally right, man. Their offensive line should be lauded for what they were able to do. um It was it was pretty cool to see. And yes, save. And I think you're totally right. in fact, I would love to get your opinion.
00:10:15
Tristan Amundson
at some point during this podcast to talk through the clock management. Cause I think as, as I was watching the last five minutes or so, or let's even call it the last what let's call it the last two and a half, three minutes when, when they got the ball back and we start doing timeouts, I even thought to myself,
00:10:32
Tristan Amundson
I'm pretty sure this is the right time to do the timeouts, but i like this is happening too fast. I'm not quite sure. I don't understand exactly you know what the smart money is. Obviously, they did it exactly right.
00:10:43
Tristan Amundson
Between really good clock management, game management, I just chalk it up as another great game by by Mike as he manages the game as a head coach.
00:10:54
Tristan Amundson
And then, I mean, I couldn't help Miles. I was thinking of you the whole time as I watched Jason Myers hit six field goals. And I think, man, the Myers watch is going off right now because he's he's upping his average. Right. I mean, what did you say before? The average is like two and a half or something like that per field, you know, for a field goal kicker. And Jason Myers just, you know, making it look easy, six for six.
00:11:19
Tristan Amundson
Save those two things. We're talking about a very different outcome, right? And it's a massive, massive, massive feather in the cap to that offensive line and and to Phillip using that that big old grain of his.
00:11:26
M dub
Thank you.
00:11:35
M dub
Gosh, you know what? So I do think and this game was all, every path in this game did lead back to Phillip Rivers. I felt like you don't get that performance out of the Colts offensive line on a normal week. I think they knew they had to dig deep to find something this week. But the c Colts are still alive for the playoffs. That is a part of it. They are legitimately fighting for a playoff spot right now.
00:11:59
M dub
I also couldn't help but feel like it pulled the Seahawks out of their normal preparation. Try as they might, they were heading into this unprecedented situation and it it felt to me, I don't know how, it it didn't seem like Coach Mack really talked about it this way, but it It felt to me like the week they had leading up to this game had to be off in some way. cause I think because they just didn't know what to expect. Thinking back to
Impact of Experience on NFL Dynamics
00:12:27
M dub
a few weeks ago when he got Max Brosmer coming in you're going, okay, we have a rookie undrafted quarterback coming in.
00:12:34
M dub
We know what to expect. We're going to get a pick six out of this or or two, you know, but with this, there was like no precedent for it. And what I really thought about, i mean, the defense, the defense limits the team to 16 points. Okay. And that's, it's a team full of NFL players over there.
00:12:52
M dub
One of them is 44 years old. That's okay. 16 points should be enough to win. Let your offense win an NFL game. That's what they got. But it it felt to me like nobody on this incredible and incredibly deep defense had like one of their best five games of the year.
00:13:08
M dub
like If you were to put Chenna's top five games of the year, Witherspoon's best five games of the year, it's it felt like nobody on the defense would have this c Colts game in their top five, which really stood out to me. I think this is the first time all year you could actually say that.
00:13:25
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, no, agreed. Yeah, I mean, you you you you certainly wouldn't have you wouldn't have circled it, right? But, I mean, again, i just the the storylines rising to the occasion, the whole thing around this game made it just just made it so interesting. And, yeah, I mean, the the Colts' defense –
00:13:45
M dub
Thank you.
00:13:45
Tristan Amundson
Man, talk about doing what you got to do. I mean, it's so hard, right? I mean, it's it's the toughest thing when you're when you're doing the whole Monday morning quarterback that we're trying to do right now to decipher what's the difference between great defensive play versus poor offensive play, right? And and vice versa. Um, and I, it's not like you, you or I, or anyone really has a good answer for that. I don't think anyone knows really, um, end of the day, how to fully differentiate those two things. I know that, you know, that they were legit.
00:14:18
Tristan Amundson
I do know that they're also missing sauce Gardner, right? Which is crazy. This defense should have been even better with sauce, you know, maybe the best cornerback in the league. Um, And I couldn't help watching this game to think about um Latu, their defensive tackle, who was right around the same neighborhood as, and i i'm I'm blanking right now, I think it was around the same neighborhood as ah Devin Witherspoon. Is that right, Miles? so um I know I'm just throwing a
Game Analysis and Critical Plays
00:14:47
Tristan Amundson
crazy thing at you right now. I know he was in the same neighborhood in the draft as either Byron Murphy or Spoon.
00:14:54
Tristan Amundson
And I can't remember which one, but I remember he was one of the names that was like the Seahawks could potentially. no I remember now it was Byron Murphy because they picked Latu one pick before Byron Murphy.
00:15:09
M dub
There it is. Yes, that's correct.
00:15:10
Tristan Amundson
Yes. Yeah. So, I mean, kind of cool to see. I mean, that guy's turned out. I mean, he was all over the place. He was a great player um on Sunday. And, you know, thank God Byron Murphy is showing to be a really important, great player as well. So that, you know, again, it's kind of one those everybody's happy everybody wins. But I think you're with me, man. Like, I'm good with the Colts winning out for the rest of the season. You know, like, I'm um i'm now happy to join the bandwagon and cheer on the team.
00:15:40
M dub
Yeah, horseshoe up or, you know, i don't know if they have a phrase or something, but, you know, nail on those shoes.
00:15:44
Tristan Amundson
I think it's let's ride.
00:15:45
M dub
Oh, but wait, wait, wait a minute.
00:15:46
Tristan Amundson
I think it's let's ride. I think.
00:15:48
M dub
wait a minute
00:15:48
Tristan Amundson
oh Is that not right?
00:15:51
M dub
The other horsey team took that one.
00:15:54
Tristan Amundson
The other horsey team miles, no turnovers in this game for us. How about that?
00:16:00
M dub
No turnovers. Yeah. yeah but It does seem that at and um it was it was a fact that escaped me. But you are right. There were no turnovers and that has been a problem.
00:16:13
Tristan Amundson
It was, the I mean, to me, that was like, i mean, I'm just looking to stack victories there when it comes to turnovers and when it comes to getting our differential where we want it to be, when it comes to getting Sam to not turn the ball over so much, which I guess, is that the other story of the game? If I'm now to make this little more serious, like ah Sam took care of the football, like On one hand, you could say this was not a very inspired game. Fair enough. You could say that we underachieved on offense. Absolutely.
00:16:44
Tristan Amundson
On the other hand, you could say that we kind of played into the defense a little bit. Miles, is that fair to say we mile or not miles? You weren't in the game. Sam ah minimized mistakes, which is kind of what we've been asking him to do.
00:17:00
M dub
You know, you're right. Those are some very meaningful positives to take forward. i did think that the... It looked frequently like the sea Seahawks offense was really struggling.
00:17:14
M dub
And I think they were struggling less than just they were losing the field position game. The field position game was completely crazy. So both teams had 10 drives and the Seahawks were pretty clean.
00:17:24
Tristan Amundson
you
00:17:25
M dub
They score a field goal on six of those drives and they punt away four of those. Average start for their drives, the 20-yard line. That's pretty far back there. And then the average drive distance was 31.5
00:17:39
M dub
Contrast to the Colts, who also get 10 drives, and they only turn over the very last one at the end there. Their average start was on the 35. A full 15-yard head start.
00:17:51
M dub
And then their average drive distance was 21.5 yards. So, their their each drive is going way shorter than the Seahawks ah offense, but they're ultimately closer to the end zone on average because that field position was just so great. So,
00:18:09
M dub
you know At the end of the day, Sam Darnold had about 270 passing yards somewhere in that neighborhood. gsn has another 100. Shahid really justifies the trade you know with with this game. Just phenomenal play by him. Clearly his best game is a Seahawk.
00:18:23
M dub
The running game struggled. Absolutely. But I do think they they they just kind of kept on losing the yardage special teams wise. The c Colts kickoffs. They were kicking it to Shahid, but they were really getting them in the corner.
00:18:37
M dub
Kind of the the Seahawks left corner of the field of the Seahawks special
Role of Kickers in Game Outcome
00:18:43
M dub
team formation. And Yeah, credit to the Colts. think everybody in the Colts building was trying to find a way to steal a yard or two to help Phillip Rivers win this game. And that's what they were doing.
00:18:54
Tristan Amundson
yeah It's a good point. They played about as perfect of a game as you could ask them to play. Right. I mean, ah from special teams to all of the offensive players. I mean, Jonathan Taylor was was running a great game. It looked like to me. He he was really doing some work out there.
00:19:13
Tristan Amundson
um Defensively, they really did. Because how easy is one of these games if there's suddenly a couple of fumbles, right? Or there's suddenly a couple of interceptions or whatever. And then suddenly we just, you know, we can put our our our foot on their throat and we just, we win. And that they never gave us those opportunities because they played really I would say disciplined football. i I didn't really think about that until just now, but it's a really good point you bring up that they didn't make those mistakes. And then from a, from a field perspective, they, they were able to kind of play keep away just enough to, to make it
00:19:53
Tristan Amundson
I mean, really, in some ways, almost a Pete Carrolly kind of game. If I think about just kind of ah a muddy rope, a dope kind of dirty, get them to the last moment and try to win the game kind of game. And I mean, frankly, they almost did it. So you hats off completely. Yeah.
00:20:11
Tristan Amundson
like let Let me think about what I want to do here just a little bit. I'm i'm tempted to go into snap counts, Miles, but i I don't know if it's a little too soon in the podcast for me to start scratching the snap count itch. Anything that we should get to before I before i get into some some some numbers that thought were kind of interesting?
00:20:33
M dub
I think we should get to the snap counts. Let me just, a quick plug on Jason Myers. I'm so glad Jason Myers' record watch went mainstream just just a few days after. I feel proud that we we got there just a few days before. So he's got 37 made field goals on the year now.
00:20:48
M dub
The all-time record is 44 in a season. From outside of 40 yards, he is 20 of 24. Brandon Aubrey of the Cowboys is 18 for 22. Don't let the reputations fool you. Jason Myers is absolutely kicking it.
00:21:05
M dub
And by the way, Blake Groupie of the Colts, prior to his 60-yard field goal to go ahead in the last minute, outside of 40 yards, he was 7 13 this year. this year And he drills the 60-yarder to give the Colts the lead in the last minute. So, shout out to the kicking game.
00:21:24
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, I mean, and I like you shy. i Sorry, but I should slow down and speak. I like that you shout out Blake Groupie because um seems like I don't know his game very well. um it seems like he looked like a very young man to me, like a very, very young kicker. um i can't imagine the amount of pressure and stress he was under.
Player Rotations and Snap Counts
00:21:47
Tristan Amundson
They actually i heard coach talk about it during the press conference that from their numbers and what they looked at, they felt as though they had taken him out of his possible, like his longest range for that final field goal that he kicked, which makes sense that, you know, kind of correlates with what we saw on the, ah the TV broadcast of that magical line that he was supposed to get to that.
00:22:05
M dub
you
00:22:09
Tristan Amundson
He was, I don't know about seven or eight yards away from getting to. um and so, I mean, that's, that's a pretty cool credit to him. i thought it was perfect. If I was his agent, I would take a picture of that last field goal because it was lined up perfectly on the 50 yard line.
00:22:27
Tristan Amundson
So it's like, as obvious as can be, here's a 60 yarder that he's just going to nail. um So yeah, I like the fact that you, you shout him out as well, because man, like,
00:22:38
M dub
Thank you.
00:22:39
Tristan Amundson
Just unbelievable job by both kickers. They both did a great job. a lot of long distance kicks. Certainly not the version of football that we all love. We we like lots of touchdowns and and, you know, we would we hope that ah Jason doesn't have to work nearly as hard come Thursday that we can just have lots of touchdowns and he can have easy um extra pointers. But um no, both both great jobs.
00:23:04
Tristan Amundson
So here's what I'd like to talk about really quickly from a snap count perspective, Miles. um i thought it was really interesting the breakdown of how many um how many safeties we were playing in this game and and by way of snap count. And i um I have a feeling that a lot of what they were able to do offensively, meaning the Colts, was based off of kind of the interesting array of players that they were deploying on defense in this game.
00:23:37
Tristan Amundson
So I just thought this was interesting and I want to hear your thoughts on it. So Nikki Manrory and Kobe Bryant both played 100% of the snaps, both at a safety position, right?
00:23:49
Tristan Amundson
And we know that that even specifically Kobe, you know, he he goes out into coverage a bit too.
00:23:49
M dub
you
00:23:54
Tristan Amundson
Obviously, we know Nick does also specifically with kind of tight ends and running backs. But still, they're both very much playing a safety kind of position. Julian Love also playing safety.
00:24:07
Tristan Amundson
So Nick and Kobe were... on the field 100%, both of them. And then Love was on the field 82%, which now I'm going to sound kind of stupid because this is Captain Obvious speaking, but that does mean that 82% of the time, there were at least three safeties on the field for the Seahawks at any given moment.
00:24:23
M dub
you
00:24:29
Tristan Amundson
That's pretty interesting. Like that's, that's an interesting look, I think, based off of the quarterback and the team you're playing. So let me pause there. but You know, any thoughts on that kind of that, um the the breakdown of those guys being on the field so often together, Kobe, Nick and Julian.
00:24:50
M dub
Well, we did have Ty Okada also coming in to spell Julian Love during during those snaps. He was out. I think the Seahawks defense with Nick Emanwari, and we talked a little bit about how positionless he was last week. I think it's a whole new...
00:25:06
M dub
I think Nick Emanwari breaks the mold a bit. i think it's I think your traditional three levels and you know how you describe your formations, I think the Seahawks are kind of turning a new page in NFL history with having 10 guys at your more conventional position and one guy who's just a complete wild card.
00:25:27
M dub
That's kind of how I i look at it. because Three safeties sounds like a lot. I mean, and it's hard to argue against it, but I really am feeling more and more the that that people are going to catch on to just how positionless Nicky Manwari is.
00:25:42
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, really playing safety linebacker all at the same time, right? Like and and frankly, a little defensive end also mixed in there. So he's he is doing kind of a cool little little movement there. So I'm going to keep this going to the line.
00:25:57
Tristan Amundson
I thought this was really interesting. These numbers jumped out because this is very different in my mind than what we've been seeing so far. So let me first give you just Leo and and Byron Murphy's numbers. So Big Cat was only on the field 68% of the time in this game.
00:26:16
Tristan Amundson
Byron Murphy, 63% of the time. Let me give you a comparison because you you have to have some numbers to understand what that looks like. Versus Tennessee, Big Cat was on the field 80% of the time. BMURF, 73%.
00:26:31
Tristan Amundson
And then the l LA game, now granted, not a ton of snaps, right? The the snaps, it was 47 snaps on defense total.
00:26:36
M dub
Thank
00:26:39
Tristan Amundson
But... 92% and 88% of the time these guys are on the field. what What do you make of that? Just kind of the idea of of Leo and B. Murph playing such less snaps. Do you think, I mean, is it possible to say that a ah coach in the NFL would would say, hey, we're going to play on Thursday. Let's try to lower these guys' reps on Sunday.
00:27:03
Tristan Amundson
Or can you even think that way? or do you just have to win the game in front of you?
Seahawks' Coaching Decisions
00:27:07
Tristan Amundson
any thought on on why their numbers were so much lower than they've typically been this season?
00:27:13
M dub
Oh my gosh, I just flashed back to last week when I thought all the Seahawks starters going to get out of this after like 30 snaps. um I would guess that the Seahawks are looking at total snaps with these guys and less the percentage of the game. So I would actually guess somebody's monitoring that and kind of tracking...
00:27:34
M dub
when to go with the first string D line and how often to bring in the, the kind of backup wave of D linemen. I have nothing to prove that, but that's just what I'd guess.
00:27:45
Tristan Amundson
That could, yeah, that could be the case. So in that case, so and we can give you some numbers behind it. So 92% of the snaps was 47 snaps versus l LA. And that was Leo Williams in this game. So you, you, you might bring up a good point here in this game, 68% of the snaps equaled 41. So that's a six snap difference, right? Which is,
00:28:09
Tristan Amundson
I don't know. it's It's not nothing, but it's not a crazy number either.
00:28:11
M dub
Thank you.
00:28:12
Tristan Amundson
41 versus 47. Yeah, so maybe it is just an overall snap count. For for Byron Murphy, you know those numbers would kind of correlate as well.
00:28:22
Tristan Amundson
Maybe not quite. A little less snaps for Byron. I know that they were trying to work in um ah Riley Mills into this game, and he ended up playing 12% of the snaps, which...
00:28:35
Tristan Amundson
That's a name I've been kind of looking forward to getting on the field for the Seahawks. um Riley, our fifth round draft pick this last year, defensive tackle out of Notre Dame, 300 pounder, was one of Notre Dame's best players and then got injured his last game in December. um i believe it was a torn Achilles, I think. It might have been um might have been an ACL. Either way, has been recovering this whole time.
00:29:03
Tristan Amundson
First time back into game action. Um, don't know if we'll get much out of Riley this year, but I do love the idea of getting him some reps this year so that he can really hit the ground running next year.
00:29:11
M dub
you
00:29:15
Tristan Amundson
So this just kind of feels like, you know, getting a little bit of our money's worth this year, just so his, his year two can, can be all that it can be, if that makes sense.
00:29:27
M dub
Absolutely. Yeah. No, I was excited. I've been looking. It felt like, oh, we get another name out on the field. it does feel like, you know, it's pretty tough to come in, make your debut in December. I'm going to guess he's he's just going to be getting up to speed by the time the season ends.
00:29:43
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, no, absolutely. Hey, can you i'm I'm cheating here. I'm looking at your notes. Can can you talk through kind of the the timeouts a little bit? i'm I'm really curious to hear your thoughts on that, because I think I mentioned it earlier. Like i that's a that was a part of the game that I was considering in real time.
00:30:00
Tristan Amundson
But the coach, the game sped up on me. I couldn't quite decipher if they did it the right way or not.
00:30:07
M dub
Yeah, it you know, I have felt that, you know, you when when ah when somebody's an NFL head coach, you get to see all of their strengths and weaknesses. It's only 17 games, and yet all of those strengths and weaknesses come out.
00:30:22
M dub
I had felt that, although Coach Mack's strengths are significant and numerous, I had felt that this kind of strategic moments, that the... the The very cerebral moments of strategy had been his weakness. And I was really thrilled to see how this game played out because I felt like it was the best way that him and the entire team on the Seahawks handled a really tough late game situation.
00:30:49
M dub
And I didn't see it coming. And once it happened, I felt like they executed it perfectly. And I think it turned out that way. So coming out of the two-minute warning, The Colts are facing, the Colts are trailing, by the way. The Colts are trailing, and Rivers completes that absolutely devastating third and seven pass to Alec Pierce to give him a first down. And we're kind of getting into field goal range, although they're not quite there yet.
00:31:16
M dub
There's one minute and 14 seconds, and the Colts have a first down on the Seattle 49-yard line. So they're just theirre one yard past half field, one minute, 14 seconds left.
00:31:29
M dub
they They call a run play for Jonathan Taylor, and it's stuffed for no gain. And immediately, Seahawks call a timeout. And i I was not thinking at that level to think, use the timeout now.
00:31:43
M dub
And that's what I'm so impressed with is they, they, they, they had to see this coming quite a ways down the line in order to make that timeout.
Recap of Final Drive
00:31:51
M dub
They call the first timeout. And I, once it happened, I immediately was like, I think this is the right strategy where you're vulnerable is if the Colts get another first down.
00:32:01
M dub
So you're really banking on the c Colts not getting another first down because they can really burn the clock. um The Colts do not get a first down. The next two plays, they they get some incremental yardage that really helps set up that 60-yard field goal, but they don't get a first down.
00:32:17
M dub
The point of the timeouts, using them there, is so that the Hawks get the ball with some time on the clock. So like I mentioned, the the Colts get that first down with one minute, 14 seconds left.
00:32:28
M dub
They got three more plays and then a field goal, but the Hawks get the ball still with 47 seconds left. They don't have the timeouts anymore, but that's okay. They needed the time to get the ball down the field.
00:32:39
M dub
The Seahawks field goal winning drive actually only takes them 25 seconds to get down the field. So Hawks get the ball at 47 seconds left and they're kicking it back off at 22 seconds.
00:32:52
M dub
um Hopefully I conveyed it correctly, but it was, um I thought it was just a really brilliant call. And coach Mack after the game has given a lot of credit to a guy behind the scenes named Brian Ayers, who I did some research on. He's been with the team since 2013. And Tristan, this relationship got started because Brian's dad, Mike, initially worked with a young assistant coach named Pete Carroll,
00:33:18
M dub
with the Minnesota Vikings back in 1985.
00:33:18
Tristan Amundson
Wow.
00:33:22
M dub
this play call here, this game in 2025 was many years in the making with a lot of relationships. Brian ears lasting through the the peak hill, the coach Mack transition.
00:33:35
M dub
And that's what it takes, that type of long distance time to to be on top, completely on top of a high stakes strategy moment like that and and ultimately win the game.
00:33:49
Tristan Amundson
That's incredible. No, listen, that's really helpful. And as as you were talking, what came to my mind is you only use timeouts in that moment if you have supreme confidence in the defense, right? Because to your point, if you don't make the stop, you're you're really screwed. It's not going to work out. And so the fact that they were able to strategically use those timeouts coach knowing my defense is going to take care of this. We they're going to we're going to get the stop here.
00:34:18
Tristan Amundson
We're going to get the ball back. Once we get the ball back now we can control the clock, right? So we can we can clock it. We can throw it to the sidelines, yada, yada. We have options now. um Now that makes that makes a ton of sense.
Preview: Seahawks vs. Rams
00:34:31
Tristan Amundson
It's been something that has stood out to me about coach um for the last two years now, which is I'm not finding myself second guessing a lot of his decisions, and that is so rare in the NFL, but he really does do the the clock management side of it well. and And maybe you bring up a good point.
00:34:51
Tristan Amundson
He does his staff also, right? Like does a really good job of of managing the clock. They nailed it. um You know, just to kind of put a bow on it. um Sam is able to drive the the team right down the field.
00:35:02
M dub
you
00:35:05
Tristan Amundson
A really beautiful out cut to Rashid. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my. This is what this what happens when you try to say a name too fast. Rashid Shahid on the left side there gets two great completions by Shahid out there and sets us up for that beautiful that beautiful six for six. Right. That last field goal by ah by the great Jason Myers.
00:35:31
M dub
Yeah, and Rasheed, it was Rasheed and Myers, the whole thing. Rasheed gets the kickoff, completes both of the passes, and it's on to the Myers from there for the game-winning field goal for 18-16 victory.
00:35:47
Tristan Amundson
Not how we drew it up. Not how we drew it up. In fact, if you if you went to Vegas and you bet on the Colts, you won a lot of money yesterday, which is hilarious to think about.
00:35:50
M dub
well
00:35:57
Tristan Amundson
That that was the smart money. Take the points. Take the points. Just bet on the Colts.
00:36:03
M dub
Yeah, 13 and a half point victory. But a quick note, ah we didn't write this down, but I think it helps to say this after a win. This was the first game all year. There were some really bad calls. The pass interference back and forth was, was it was bad.
00:36:19
M dub
it was It was very difficult to decipher what they were seeing, how they wanted to call it. What did you think about that?
00:36:25
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. You know, it's, it's tough, man. Cause there's always a few like that. I have to say, I'm hearing you say it now. I've heard a few folks on sports radio talk about it.
00:36:36
Tristan Amundson
If I'm being totally honest, those calls didn't really stand out to me too much in real time while I was watching the game. I didn't find myself thinking, are you kidding me? This is, you know, terrible. I, I just kind of, maybe I'm just getting used to the fact that it's like, yeah, you know, disappointments a part of life. You're to have some bad calls. Um,
00:36:54
Tristan Amundson
It just didn't. Yeah. If I'm being totally honest, they didn't like jump out to me, but you're not the only one.
00:36:59
M dub
you
00:36:59
Tristan Amundson
I've heard a few folks mention those. In fact, Brady Henderson, I was listening to you this morning, was talking about some of those rough calls that that could have changed the the game as well.
00:37:09
M dub
And, you know, I thought they were bad calls, but just quick shout out to everybody posting online. It's a tough job they have, and I felt they were inconsistent. ah This is not, by the way, i'm evidence of some master conspiracy where a a puppet master in the NFL league office has figured out the incredible narrative that will drive the NFL forward, and it's all against your team. I'm just noticing that's...
00:37:37
M dub
a popular go-to attitude. It was just some missed calls. its It felt like they were allowing a lot of physicality with the Colts cornerbacks. And then suddenly when Jobe does it, well, that's a PI. It was just frustrating.
00:37:48
M dub
But you know what? The story ends there and probably wouldn't have mentioned it if the Seahawks lost. But with the win, i'll I'll mention that. And you know what? Hey, first time all year we've really talked about the refereeing. It's December 15th right now.
00:38:01
Tristan Amundson
Absolutely. And I mean, listen, I think there's a lot of great things to come out of this game. I think the most important thing, the most important lesson out of this game, look at the last three games the Seahawks of have won.
00:38:14
Tristan Amundson
um They've been blowouts, Miles. We have been they they have been games where we end it in victory formation, right? Hey, taking a knee, victory formation, drew lock. Get out here. We need you to you know run the last six or seven minutes of this game over and over again.
00:38:31
Tristan Amundson
I think and now it's not quite what you and I have wanted because this wasn't the test maybe that we wanted the way that LA just got a great test with Detroit, right? And they're able to beat a really good Detroit team.
00:38:44
Tristan Amundson
At the same time, I think this is at least for what this game was and and the the the capabilities that the Colts represented, I think it was as good of a game as we could have gotten from a standpoint of testing the players, giving the players an opportunity to have some adversity, to kind of feel that. And and hopefully that helps them on Thursday as they go into this really important game versus the Rams.
00:39:13
M dub
Hopefully it does help them. I'm a little concerned. It just meant the run game is not in good shape and that's not going to work against the Rams who ah will really punish a team and and just score in bunches if if you're not on it. i did The Seahawks are pretty much top of the league lead in rush rate versus pass rate. I think that's a note that gets handed to every broadcaster each week.
00:39:36
M dub
just Just want to point out to the broadcasters, that's just because there have been like five fourth quarters where the Seahawks are just running out the ball and not throwing any passes at all. It's not really the team's philosophy.
00:39:50
M dub
Nonetheless, the I think the run game has to be Has to get some more yardage, more bigger plays, more yards per run in order to stand a chance against this Rams team on Thursday night.
00:40:02
M dub
Both teams are 11 and three. And I know that first game was incredibly close. it was It was just a few yards away from yet another Jason Myers game winning field
Playoff Seeding Importance
00:40:11
M dub
goal. I do feel like the underdog in this one. Do you feel the same way?
00:40:15
Tristan Amundson
You know, I think it's even money. I really do. I think that the the Ram, if I'm a Rams fan, if we invited a few Rams fans onto the podcast, I think they would feel exactly the way we feel, which is, um you know, gird your loins. Here we go. Holy smokes. We we got ah a tough game. Holy catfish, as it were. We got a tough game to play. Yeah. So, no, I don't necessarily feel like the underdog. I just feel like these two teams are. i just I believe this to my core. These are the two best teams in the NFL playing against each other. We saw it already. It was a great game versus the Rams. And here we go again.
00:40:53
Tristan Amundson
And I think it's almost a coin flip who wins the game. I really do. they're both really, really good teams. I don't think, I think it's going to look a lot like last time. um I think the moral of the story, what I'm going to keep going back to is it was a, it was a doggone close game last time.
00:41:11
Tristan Amundson
And how many picks did Sam throw against LA miles? Was it four? Was it three? It was a lot.
00:41:17
M dub
was four It was four.
00:41:17
Tristan Amundson
It was four.
00:41:17
M dub
was four.
00:41:18
Tristan Amundson
So, I mean, Listen, I mean, maybe that's the story of the game, right? I mean, if Sam can take care of the football, um you know, and I'm not saying don't throw any interceptions because we still want him to play aggressive. But if if it can be one interception versus four, um you know, I think maybe, you know, maybe that's the thing that changes the tenor of the game. Yeah.
00:41:41
Tristan Amundson
But yeah, I, I, I'm not, I definitely don't feel as though we're the underdog, but i really do feel as though, um I think that, that, that Kurt and, and, um, Al are in for a treat. I think it's going to be the best Thursday night game of the year. And i don't think it's even close. These two teams are so fun and so good.
00:42:02
Tristan Amundson
and listen, I just I think as you watch the rest of the league, when you watch Dallas play, when you watch Washington, basically when you watch the NFC East, the Eagles included, i just don't. i There's a different um class of team, and that class of team is the Seahawks and the Rams. That's what I i truly believe.
00:42:24
M dub
We haven't done this yet all year, which I think has been good. I don't think we want to get into it now, but we're going to mention playoff seeding. The Rams do hold the one seed over the Seahawks, even though they have the same record because of that first game that Rams win in the first head-to-head matchup.
00:42:37
Tristan Amundson
Thank you.
00:42:41
M dub
I think that one seed is going to be really important because that seventh seed. And so if you're the two seed, you get the privilege of facing the seventh seed, right? That seventh seed is going to be like the 49ers, the Packers or the Lions. it's It's just absolutely, especially considering some of these division winners that are going to sneak in, in both conferences, right?
00:43:02
M dub
That is a brutal – somehow and the seventh seed in the NFC is going to be like the fourth best team in the NFL. It's going to be really crazy. So I do think it's time with three games to go to really start valuing that one seed, really start looking at it, and hopefully the Seahawks get it because that would be really huge to to advance paths, to not have to have that – the second seed in the NFC is going to face a trial one way or the other.
00:43:33
Tristan Amundson
It's going to be crazy, man. i It's going to be, you're you're totally right. It's going to be trial by fire. i can't help but think, though, and I know this isn't exactly what you're talking about, but it's just it's where my mind goes when I think about the playoffs coming up.
00:43:42
M dub
Thank you.
00:43:48
Tristan Amundson
I just think, again, because I really do believe that the Seahawks and the Rams are are kind of in the league of their own. Now, as I say this, I guess I don't fully, i can't picture fully how the how the seating's going to work and, you know, this team will face this team and, you know, will the number one and number two have a chance to face each other at the end? I suppose they usually do.
00:44:09
Tristan Amundson
um i guess what I'm saying is i can't help but believe that This is just going to be a replay again. Like we're going to face the Rams in the playoffs and we're going to play this team three freaking times. and it's going to be great. i I have no regrets about it. I think it's going to be incredible for the league. Again, i just think it's going to be these two juggernauts.
00:44:31
Tristan Amundson
they're going to be able to play each other three times before the Super Bowl to decide who gets to go to the Super Bowl. I feel very strongly about that. I just think that's that's where this where this um season's going.
00:44:45
Tristan Amundson
um And the fact that we have this many face-offs against each other is awesome. It's just the only thing that's crazy is that um the first game on the on week 11 didn't get flexed into into Sunday night football. it's Everyone lost because of that. Yeah. It really should have been Tirico and team doing that game. But I i digress. It's going to be an incredible game.
Closing Anecdotes and Fan Engagement
00:45:07
Tristan Amundson
It's a monster game Thursday night. um I don't know if it's going to be raining on Thursday or not. I don't know what I want. Do you have a preference there? Would you rather it just be an ugly Seattle day, but sideways, cold rain, terrible, or or do you want a clean game? what do Do you have a preference weather-wise on Thursday, Miles?
00:45:29
M dub
Let it rain. Let it rain. Hey, welcome to Seattle. Welcome to Seattle. let Let it dump down, which happens less often than you'd think. But there was a good hour last night here in Portland where it was the kind of conditions I would have liked to have seen in this game. Yeah.
00:45:46
Tristan Amundson
That's awesome. Yeah, no, listen, I think I'm kind of with you. I think that'd be kind of a fun, a fun way for this game to go.
00:45:53
M dub
ah This is, it'll be a truly, the intensity, the tension just from the living room here for this week and these games four days apart is, we're we're really in the meat of the season now.
00:46:07
Tristan Amundson
It's time to hydrate. It's time to stretch. We got a couple of days, you know, if you need to go to the chiropractor, if you need to get a massage, now's the time. Get yourself ready for this game. It's going to take all of us. It's it's going to be a tough one.
00:46:21
M dub
That's a great message. I i appreciate it. Tristan, this is the fiftieth season in Seahawks history. And here's 50 seconds in Seahawks history. My time starts now.
00:46:34
M dub
Tristan, if half of all the Seahawks ever played defense, that adds up to 582 total defensive players. Only two of them ever have won the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year award.
00:46:47
M dub
First was the late, great Kenny Easley, who passed away earlier this year. He won with his 10-interception season 1984. And then... and then In 1992, out of the 800-person town of wilkin r Wilson, Arkansas, a third-year defensive tackle named Cortez Kennedy won the award.
00:47:07
M dub
As a defensive tackle, he forced four fumbles, collected 14 sacks, and had 92 tackles. He did it all for a team that finished 2-14 with an offense that averaged 8.8 points and 111 passing yards per game and never got to 20 points across the entire season.
00:47:27
M dub
Cortez was a career Seahawk for all 11 years he played, and his number 96 is retired by the team, and he's an NFL Hall of Famer. However, in this one season out of his career, Kennedy wore the number 99.
00:47:42
M dub
He did that to honor his college teammate Jerome Brown, who went on to play for the Eagles, but passed away after just his fifth NFL season in a car crash season.
00:47:52
M dub
Cortez Kennedy himself passed away very suddenly back in 2018 at just 48 years old due to a heart issue. But he's one of the all-time great Seahawks, no doubt.
00:48:04
Tristan Amundson
Whoa. Listen, you know how to how to pull my heartstrings. You just bring up Tez and I'm going to you have me locked in. i did not know that that's why he wore number 99. That's a really that's a great part of the story that I was completely unaware of.
00:48:21
M dub
Let me tell you what, Tristan, you walk down the YouTube hallways and look at Cortez Kennedy stuff, and it gets emotional because he's clearly one of the all-time great players.
00:48:31
M dub
This is one of the all-time great seasons in football history, and the fact that he did it for such a bad team just adds just some sort of other level to it.
00:48:38
Tristan Amundson
Thank you.
00:48:42
M dub
But there is so much there was so much expertly made stuff by both NFL Films and the Seattle Seahawks about the man Cortez Kennedy was. it It will get you emotional, even if you did not live through Cortez Kennedy as a player.
00:48:59
M dub
they got this Hall of Fame player, and people are barely talking about his on-field skill. It was clear that he was just, he was a Hall of Fame friend. That's a corny thing to say, but he's a literal Hall of Fame player, and people are You got the equipment manager talking about how good of a friend he was with with Cortez Kennedy.
00:49:19
M dub
I really recommend people take take a stroll down the YouTube lanes because this was a unique guy, but on the field and off. And it's really tragic that he passed away due to this health issue so quickly. um yeah he was He was everybody's friend, simply everybody's friend.
00:49:36
Tristan Amundson
That's awesome. Yeah, I know. Absolutely. And and the Seahawks, we had a few of those, right? I mean, Walter Jones is an example. um Cortez, there's been a few of those guys that just kind of shine brighter than everybody else and pretty, pretty cool. um Miles, I think there's only one way to wrap this up.
00:49:54
Tristan Amundson
We got a huge game on Thursday. um I'll be flying up to Seattle for Christmas on Friday. if anyone you know if If the fans want to meet me in the city, I'll be walking around.
00:50:06
Tristan Amundson
um And if if anyone does want to say hi, the best way to get my attention is just to say, go Hawks.
00:50:15
M dub
gohawks