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Securing a Seattle Staycation
38 Plays17 days ago
Tristan and Miles talk about the Seahawks dominating the 49ers while clinching the 1-seed, being impressed with a 0-point drive, and really sweating out the result.
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Transcript
Power Words for Seahawks Performance
00:00:00
Tristan Amundson
Miles, I want to give you a few words that I want you to try on for size. Tell me which one fits best. Dominate. Command. Rule.
00:00:13
Tristan Amundson
Control. Reign over. Crush. Overpower. Outclass. Overwhelm.
00:00:24
Tristan Amundson
Best. Eclipse. Tower over. Subjugate, conquer, vanquish, subdue.
00:00:37
Tristan Amundson
Here's a few others. Suffocate, smother, choke, strangle, stifle, overwhelm, crush, oppress.
00:00:50
Tristan Amundson
Any of those fit better than the other? Miles,
Defining Seahawks' Defense: 'Suffocate'
00:00:54
Tristan Amundson
what do you think? i don't know if you... if you have a favorite on that list, but if if you were to close your eyes and think about what we saw on Saturday night, which word do you like the best?
00:01:09
M dub
Bully. Tower over. Emasculate. ah Man, those are a lot of good words there. um I honestly felt ah that there was some bullying going on in this football game we saw, especially in terms of time of possession. Things got pretty wild out there.
00:01:28
M dub
The scoreboard did not really show it, but I think i think every single one of those words was was quite appropriate to describe the Seahawks beating the San Francisco 49ers.
00:01:39
M dub
in San Francisco on this last week of the regular season. Did you have a favorite word or are there 10 to 15 others that, that did a better job?
00:01:49
Tristan Amundson
Well, yeah, I mean, we could have kept going. the The word that came to mind, and I think the word that you you're hearing a lot of people say over and over again, and it might be the best word, is suffocate. um be And I think that just speaks to the tightness of the coverage that we were watching, um the speed at which the the defense was playing.
00:02:09
Tristan Amundson
there didn't seem to be many opportunities. I shouldn't say there didn't seem to be. There were not many opportunities for the 49ers offense to move and to operate.
00:02:21
Tristan Amundson
And they they constantly felt smothered and suffocated. Like those those are the, I think, words that that give you the idea that there wasn't a lot of room to operate um have to take the stage. And and suffocate definitely feels like the ah the right one.
00:02:38
M dub
Absolutely.
Seahawks' Victory Recap
00:02:39
M dub
Should I give a quick recap of this game for the to officially enter it into the historical record, as we like to do?
00:02:46
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, I know that NFL.com has been waiting for you to do this. So yeah, let's get it done.
00:02:51
M dub
Thank you. NFL.com, here we go. Listen closely. Thank you. um On Saturday night, six-day week, the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers This game featured a relentless amount of very long drives by the Seattle Seahawks, an incredible amount of running plays, not...
00:03:11
M dub
All of those drives, by any means, ended in points, but it wasn't totally necessary because the Seahawks limited the 49ers to just 42 offensive snaps total and 173 total yards. The Niners had been averaging over 30 points a game in the last few games, they were limited to just three points.
00:03:34
M dub
So it is 13 to three with Zach Charbonnet scoring a first quarter touchdown as the only touchdown of the entire game. It felt like a lot more were going to come and they didn't. And even though this was 13 to three, this was a game with a pretty wide margin to it. Wouldn't you say?
00:03:51
Tristan Amundson
Man, it felt dominant the entire time, didn't it? There wasn't a moment once this game got started, really on either side of the football, where you felt as though the 49ers had something
Early Game Dominance by Seahawks
00:04:05
Tristan Amundson
we didn't.
00:04:05
Tristan Amundson
I think that's maybe the easiest way for my brain to think about We seemed that we it seemed as though we held all the cards and really had great control over the game from start to finish.
00:04:07
M dub
Thank you.
00:04:20
Tristan Amundson
I mean, Miles, you just think about that first drive, right? I mean, right off the bat, you go down, you get it to the one yard line. um It's a bummer that we didn't get that touchdown right away. But similar to a couple of weeks ago where You know, we we get it down that close. We don't score.
00:04:37
Tristan Amundson
We get the ball right back. And Rashid, you know, takes it in for a touchdown. Pretty similarly. Right. A couple of plays later, Charbonnet is able to take this one in for a touchdown in this game. So um kind of able to get right back to the score that we wanted or that we were looking for the first time.
00:04:53
Tristan Amundson
um Certainly left a lot of points on the scoreboard, but um or I should say off the scoreboard. um But man, I mean, it was just the the running game to see it come to
Running Game Strategy: Charbonnet and Walker
00:05:07
Tristan Amundson
life. I don't know if this is something that um don't know. i'm I'm sure it jumped out at you. I don't quite know how to ask this question.
00:05:15
Tristan Amundson
this is what i mean This is what I'm getting at. Every week so far, we have watched a Zach Charbonnet game. And then we watched a Kenneth Walker game. How cool was it? Maybe that's how I asked this question. How cool was it that we saw both of them have a great game at the same time? And hopefully that's something that that we're going to kind of continue to see.
00:05:15
M dub
you
00:05:35
M dub
I think that's a great way to put it. I think that's exactly what happened. I do think this was the team's plan for their offense the entire season. If you think back to those preseason games so long ago, they were run-heavy games. And I know the Seahawks have had more runs than the average team this year. I do think that's been a function of blowing out teams early and just running the ball out in a lot of fourth quarters.
00:06:00
M dub
But this was... A full controlling the game through the running game. Turn back the clock and alternating between both guys. We talked about it last week. Always have a fresh running back.
00:06:13
M dub
They always have a tired defense. The numbers were 39 running plays for the Seahawks up against those 42 total plays for the San Francisco 49ers. This game went by fast because the Seahawks were running the ball so much. The clock was just draining constantly.
00:06:30
M dub
And that led to the Seahawks just totally controlling time
Seahawks' Defensive Control
00:06:33
M dub
of possession. It was about ah rounding up, rounding a few seconds here and there. It was 38 to 22 minutes in terms of time of possession.
00:06:42
M dub
so yeah, the Niners were just totally constricted, had a hard time getting their defense off the field. Offense had a hard time moving the the ball when they were on the field.
00:06:52
Tristan Amundson
Whenever they were driving like that, I just kept thinking about our big defensive tackles being able to rest, right? B-Murph and Big Cat being able to to rest on the sidelines. And what that allowed them to do was um play so many snaps. So, you know, you mentioned that our defense only played a total of 42 snaps.
00:07:13
Tristan Amundson
And because of that, ah Byron Murphy and Big Cat respectively only missed 12 and 13 snaps. So Byron Murphy, 12 snaps, he wasn't on the field. And Big Cat, 13 of the 42 snaps, he wasn't on the field. So both of these guys um were able to play the majority of the snaps that we needed at defensive tackle and in their respective spots. um without having to even rotate that much because there wasn't much to rotate because they were barely on the field. um Watching our offense devour the football the way it did, man, to me, that was that was kind of my favorite my favorite piece of this game was just um the the constant...
00:08:00
Tristan Amundson
The constant ah being able, obviously being able to run the ball, key third downs. To me, when I look at this game, when I think of complimentary football, right, the the story of this game is the defense. I'm not denying it. it's And they should be praised. And we i probably should spend some time talking about some specific players today.
00:08:22
Tristan Amundson
They did a great job, no doubt.
Complementary Football: Offense and Defense Balance
00:08:24
Tristan Amundson
To me, the complementary side of this, the domination that we were able to, ah you know, show on the other side of the football offensively, again, to your point, not so much in points, but man, being able to control the football um over and over again.
00:08:32
M dub
Thank you.
00:08:43
Tristan Amundson
It was so obvious when you're watching this game, you're just watching that clock be devoured by the by the offense. Maybe maybe that's the word, man. Suffocate is the word for the defense, and I think devoured is the word for this offense because although this offense didn't score a lot of points, there wasn't any time for the 49ers to operate. we We bullied them. We were very selfish with the football miles. We wouldn't we wouldn't give it to them. We just, no, this is our football. We want to play with it.
00:09:16
M dub
I think that's
Seahawks' Run Defense Praised
00:09:17
M dub
exactly right. I want to focus on the defensive side for just a little bit because the Seahawks, if you look at any kind of advanced stat, the Seahawks had by far the best run defense in the NFL this year.
00:09:29
M dub
That really comes out in this game. The Niners had a total of 12 rushes for 53 yards. I think we got to take out the two Brock Purdy scrambles. Those both came on passing plays, you know, so Brock Purdy had two really good scrambles in this game.
00:09:44
M dub
We take those out because those weren't design run plays. On design run plays, it's 10. ten The Niners only got 10 of them off with Christian McCaffrey for a total of 32 yards. And so that's...
00:09:57
M dub
I mean, that that's a that is, I know, in our advanced analytics age, favoring pass more than the run, but you can't really do much with the football, with with your game, with with the time that you do have possession when you're doing that. 10 rushes for 32 yards.
00:10:15
M dub
I went back and I watched them all in the NFL.com film room. Why not? it It didn't take very long. There was only 10 of them. And I noticed that it really is the defensive line doing this and controlling the game. Only two of those 10 runs just even got to the linebacker level. Nothing was longer than six yards.
00:10:32
M dub
It wasn't like there was there was any mega runs. that the The second level was able to handle them pretty quickly. But That's eight of the 10 designed running plays just getting swallowed up by the defensive line.
00:10:43
M dub
And in particular, i saw Byron Murphy and Boye Mafé making the most plays to just shut those down.
00:10:50
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, there's one Byron Murphy play that comes to mind, and I i wish I had the sequence in my mind right now. um think I could give you a timestamp, but he just took his player and and pushed him into Brock Purdy and kind of was able to give Brock Purdy a hug. around the off offensive lineman that was in front of him.
00:11:12
Tristan Amundson
And it was one of those Byron Murphy moments where he just took the guy. he was he was one on one and he didn't try to get by him. He just bulldozed him.
Young Defensive Talent Shines
00:11:23
Tristan Amundson
And that was such ah a piece of this game, wasn't it? That there was just a constant, we were constantly in their backfield. I mean, it it it never ended.
00:11:34
Tristan Amundson
um can i Can I give you my favorite sequence of this game, Miles? There was a moment in this game that stood out to me. And i I think it stood out to me because I like to project about these players long-term.
00:11:49
Tristan Amundson
And I like to think of man, we get to keep these guys for a long time. My favorite sequence on defense, and it kind of speaks to... the suffocating nature. And I guess it speaks to just not being able to get even across the line of scrimmage the way you're talking about.
00:12:05
Tristan Amundson
So it happened in the second quarter. There's five minutes left on the clock. It's first down. um They tried to run a screen pass to to George Kittle. And Eamon Rory comes up. he He gets off his blocker and just drives Kittle into the ground for a six yard loss.
00:12:24
Tristan Amundson
As I'm watching it from my lens, I watch that and I think, oh my gosh, we get to keep Eamon Rory for a long time. Like this is a Seahawk for a while. How cool is that? Young, dynamic player.
00:12:37
Tristan Amundson
The very next play, and this is why I love this sequence so much. The very next play is a dump out, pass to the flat on the right side. And the second the receiver, in fact, it it might have been McCaffrey, but i don't think it was. I think it was one of their wide receivers. The moment the receiver touches the ball, bam, tackle, no yak. You know, i think it was a minimal four or five yard game. It was a vicious hit. And you look up and it's Devin Witherspoon.
00:13:04
Tristan Amundson
And you just see these two young, dynamic defensive players. And it's it's almost like them taking turns to be the star. It's like, bam, I'll destroy him here. I'll get him on this side.
00:13:15
Tristan Amundson
I don't know if there's a more healthy version of football that you can see when it comes to talent development than your two young players. Just I'll take one. Now I'll take the other. I just that one. i don't know if this stood out to you or other people as they're watching it, but it was just so obvious.
00:13:34
Tristan Amundson
Even Rory Witherspoon back to back. Great stops.
00:13:38
M dub
I love that. I mean, the six yard loss really stood out as a highlight play of the game. but and In a lot of ways, I think it's the representative play of the game, but I didn't really notice the two of them together. i really liked that point about where the program is going to me.
00:13:53
M dub
As we wrap up week 18, Mike McDonald's second year, I got really reflective about just the creature that Mike McDonald has created here. I don't know if you noticed, it was a very quick shot.
00:14:06
M dub
Somewhere in the middle of this game, they showed Mike McDonald ah kind of with the whole defensive defensive unit huddled around him on the sideline. And usually when that happens in an NFL game, that means you're losing, right?
00:14:20
M dub
The coach is really...
00:14:20
Tristan Amundson
Yep, yep, yep.
00:14:22
M dub
It's really trying to get things going.
Mike McDonald's Coaching Success
00:14:24
M dub
And as we've mentioned, it was dominant from start to finish. There was no moment where the Seahawks really need to get back on the same page. So the fact that you saw that, that, and and everybody was listening so closely, it looked like it did. It looked like exactly what you want from your team, from, from your sideline already completely locked in. Hey, let's get locked in even further. so Two years for Mike McDonald.
00:14:50
M dub
He is 24-10 as an NFL head coach. That's winning 70.6 of his games. I looked in the entire record books. ah Well, the Super Bowl era, at least. The Super Bowl era coaches with at least two seasons.
00:15:06
M dub
all time. There's only three that have a better winning percentage than that. We've got George Allen. whos He was from the 60s and 70s. Not quite the Super Bowl success with George Allen, but then number two and number one are Vince Lombardi and John Madden. That is Currently the company Mike McDonald is keeping. There are a lot of other coaches who are right on his heels currently in the league. Ben Johnson Liam Cohen got off to great starts.
00:15:33
M dub
And Nick Sirianni and Jim Harbaugh are just a few percentage points away. So we'll see how it goes. But it really got me emotional thinking, Mike McDonald is 38 years old. And some of these young coaches, like ah you know Sean McVay, had family ties to the NFL.
00:15:48
M dub
That's how he got his start. Even Bill Belichick, his father was a ah college coach. Mike McDonald is 38 years old. He had no prior connections. And he maxed out as just a high school player.
00:16:00
M dub
It's just incredible ah how quickly it's all come together. It made me think about 2023 when the Ravens blew out the Seahawks in the middle of the year and we kind of talked about, hey, who the heck is this guy who just completely destroyed a team that was ah that was at least close to making the playoffs?
00:16:18
M dub
And um it it's it's really something remarkable we're seeing here. And we got acknowledge it's a complete... complete best case scenario from that decision to move on from Pete Carroll.
00:16:31
M dub
it It took a while. it doesn't seem like a long time now. It took that whole month of January and maybe even into February that year, a whole month where the Seahawks were flying around without a head coach. And and what what a crazy what a crazy story. I just absolutely love it.
00:16:48
Tristan Amundson
And I like that you mentioned it took a while because patience paid off, right? the The Seahawks didn't hire the first guy. They didn't think to themselves, well, you know, we want to get our guy hired so that he can start working and, you know, which a lot of teams do. They had to wait because Baltimore was deep into the playoffs last year.
00:17:07
Tristan Amundson
So they had to wait and or two years ago, excuse me. They had to wait and wait and wait until the last minute. And they were able to hire um Mike. And because of that, they missed out on the office of coordinators they wanted. and they missed out on different staff and you know all that kind of stuff. And they got a late start, as they talked about a lot, because, hey, we got the the draft coming up in about a month.
00:17:28
Tristan Amundson
And yet that patience really, really paid off. I love the point, man, because he's he's such an interesting coach. And and to your point, it almost didn't happen. I was just listening to him. it might have been on the Brock and Salk show.
00:17:40
Tristan Amundson
I can't remember.
00:17:40
M dub
Yes, I heard this too. i This blew my mind.
00:17:42
Tristan Amundson
the this KPMG thing that he, he was, he had accepted an offer and that he was about to take it when thank God for the Ravens, we should all send the Ravens, you know, a gift. They, they decided to kind of reopen or restart their coaching intern program. And then he was like, wow, This is what I'm doing, man. I'm going to be an intern for the Ravens. I'm not going to go work for one of the top consulting agencies on the planet, which, by the way, is a really great job that he walked away from. No, I'm going to go and and play or coach for the Ravens. What an incredible turn of events.
00:18:19
Tristan Amundson
I got kind of lucky with Mike. Last night I was watching... That sounded weird. I did not get much lucky with Mike last night. Let's be clear about that. But last night I was on YouTube and I was watching his mic'd up.
00:18:33
Tristan Amundson
I don't know have if you've seen this. He was mic'd up during the Minnesota game. Did it did you? did
00:18:38
M dub
Oh, no, I haven't seen this.
00:18:39
Tristan Amundson
Okay, I hadn't either. So yeah i was kind of delighted to watch it last night. Here's what stood out to me. If you think about that Minnesota game, that was pure domination. And there's a moment where he's walking on the sidelines and he's on his headset and he's like, hey,
00:18:56
Tristan Amundson
emman royry like E-Man's doing a really good job. like nick Nick's playing a great game. I know ah a couple of those plays didn't didn't look that good and like it didn't go the way we wanted, but he was doing exactly his job.
00:19:08
Tristan Amundson
And he's just talking on the headset this whole time and he's like, lift him up. like Make sure he knows it. Make sure he knows we're happy. like That was all good. And he brought it up multiple times as he was walking the sideline, kind of his concern about making sure that Nick knew hey, you were doing the right thing.
00:19:26
Tristan Amundson
The play didn't go the way we want. One thing coach always talks about is um is focusing on process over outcomes because outcomes can change and there's variabilities, but you you focus on your process.
00:19:40
Tristan Amundson
And I love that he always brings that up. And that's very much what he was talking about on the sidelines. Like, hey, process-wise, Nick is in the right place doing the right thing. Like, let's make sure he doesn't beat himself up.
00:19:53
Tristan Amundson
um And I just I thought that was such an interesting thing to see in a game where, you know, in retrospect, we shut out Minnesota. Like, it's not as though Nick did anything terrible. um And so the idea that that Nick was kind of down on himself for making a mistake of some sort.
00:20:10
Tristan Amundson
And the coach was like very focused on wanting to lift him up and telling other coaches, make sure you lift this guy up because he's doing the right thing. And, you know, we should be happy with him. I thought it was really, really cool.
00:20:24
M dub
It just feels to me like he's focused on exactly the right stuff. Talking about ah Coach Mack here. Just... Yeah, and it seems like he's just so well-suited for the professional game and just for a place. i don't know. Does that make sense? You know, he's he's not going to get. it It just feels like a really.
00:20:41
M dub
ah Maybe I'm not really going anywhere with this, but it it just feels like focused on the right things, creates the right environment, team that's focused on winning. And and that's it.
00:20:50
Tristan Amundson
No, 100%, man. No, 100%. We're lucky to have him. Look, we're super lucky to have him. And this time of year in the NFL where we're seeing all of these coaches, good coaches get fired. John har Harbaugh just got fired today. Pete Carroll got fired, I believe, yesterday, right?
00:21:08
Tristan Amundson
um Maybe the day before. um no it would have been yesterday. All of these different coaches, good coaches, Kevin Stefanski, like good coaches in the league getting fired um because football is really difficult. This is a very difficult game to get right. And the fact that we have one of the really good young coaching, um I don't think he would like me to say stars. So I'm not going to say stars either. But one of the great coaching talents in the league is is pretty incredible, man.
00:21:38
M dub
That is the very zoomed out view. Tristan, I think we each both want to zoom back in on some specific moments in this game. I want to talk about in the third quarter, there was the play that produced the the the very funny clip of John Lynch up in the suite.
00:21:57
Tristan Amundson
Oh, yeah.
00:21:58
M dub
By the way, this this felt to me a bit little bit like the Seahawks were the protagonists in the Disney movie. We know John Lynch is an An excellent player, an excellent person, but there was a bit of a Disney villain vibe, I thought, to how he reacted to this play.
00:22:12
Tristan Amundson
he looks ah He looks a little bit like Gaston. So I think I agree with you. He does have a bit of a villain look to himself. No disrespect. Yeah, obviously, he seems like a great guy, but he definitely has a bit of a Gaston vibe.
00:22:25
M dub
Oh, I've never gotten it before. it it was just his reaction on this one play. Contrast with ah John Schneider, who has assembled this team for Mike McDonald, the coach. And I think, Justin Kennedy, you know what I'm talking about.
00:22:39
M dub
Our quick cutaway to Mr. Schneider up in the suite.
00:22:43
Tristan Amundson
Oh, the the pit stain?
00:22:45
M dub
let's Let's just say John Schneider was in this game. He was focused on this game. that We can't take that away from him.
00:22:53
Tristan Amundson
I have never, it makes me feel so good because I'm a big pit sweater as well. And to see John lift up those those big old arms of his and to see just, I mean, can can can you give me some some great words, some great descriptors of of that pit stain that we saw? It was elite. It was amazing.
00:23:14
Tristan Amundson
Soggy. I mean, impassioned.
00:23:15
M dub
Impassioned.
00:23:16
Tristan Amundson
and And to see him lift up those arms proud and happy, I felt at one with John Schneider in that moment. If I if i ever meet John, umll I'll certainly um try to connect with him on a personal level that we we have the same situation with our um with just realizing and antiperspirant doesn't work.
00:23:38
M dub
With game day.
00:23:40
Tristan Amundson
Yeah.
00:23:42
M dub
It felt to me like that was what with the protagonist in the Disney movie would probably be, you know, going through it. If there was a Disney football movie, the protagonist would would be nervously ah sweating out the the result, um you know, with with with with binoculars too.
00:23:58
M dub
I love that he brings the binoculars. Yeah.
00:24:00
Tristan Amundson
tell Tell me about this play, though, that that brought such joy to John and such consternation to to Mr. Lynch.
00:24:09
M dub
Yes, it is a sorry, Mr. lynch Different Lynch, different Lynch.
00:24:12
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:24:13
M dub
Sorry, it threw me off there.
00:24:15
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:15
M dub
um
00:24:15
Tristan Amundson
No, Marshawn was happy. i'm sure In fact, Marshawn probably loved it.
00:24:19
M dub
Yes, I'm sure I did. So this was a run on 3rd and 17 by Mr. K9, Kenny Walker, that converts for a first down. And it made me think, I remember looking up a long time ago, a run on 3rd and 10 or longer is one of the rarest plays in the NFL. And Nate Tice, longtime NFL media guy, he crunched the numbers.
00:24:44
M dub
He found... that in this entire NFL season, every team, every game, there have been from third and 15 or longer, there have been only four runs that have converted for first down.
00:24:57
M dub
So you think about it, that's, you know, teams scored touchdowns every game. We're talking four of these types of plays across the entire season. And the Seahawks have converted all four of them.
00:25:09
Tristan Amundson
It's unbelievable.
00:25:09
M dub
All four of them are Seahawks plays.
00:25:10
Tristan Amundson
yeah
00:25:11
M dub
And I did want to shout out, yeah and there's somebody else who put a clip of all of them together. Eric Saubert doesn't play the greatest percentage of offensive snaps, but he's in three of these, which which I thought was really fantastic.
00:25:24
M dub
Coach Mack also talked about this play in his weekly interview with Brock and Salk. And I really appreciated his point here. there's this ah There's a very interesting analytic angle to doing this, I thought. And he made the point that if you're in third and 17, even getting eight yards can be so valuable to the punt that's happening next and then playing the field position game.
00:25:49
M dub
And that's not the most glamorous thing in the world, but field position really matters. We've we've really seen it affect some of the Seahawks games in December.
00:25:55
Tristan Amundson
Yep.
00:25:57
M dub
And by contrast, he he talked about that it's it's also really hurtful to lose yards in that situation, as in pass play that has to take a long time to develop to get to the sticks. And you have, he didn't quite get into this, I don't think, but it made me think, third and 17, you're opposing pass rushers.
00:26:18
M dub
are drooling at the possibility. This is their shot. You know, this is their snap of the game to totally affect it. And by running the ball, you're just totally taking it away from them. I felt like it would be really frustrating to an opposing edge rusher say, Hey, hey this was my, this is one of my five snaps of the game where, you know, I had to make my money here and you're just taking away with this run play.
00:26:40
M dub
So I really liked that perspective that, It almost does it. He's not even trying to get the first down. And there's a way where it feels like a bit of a surrender.
00:26:50
M dub
oh you know, especially when the snap happens and the handoff happens and you go like, oh my gosh, they're handing off the ball on, on third and 17 here.
00:26:56
Tristan Amundson
you
00:26:57
M dub
But I just thought it was a really interesting way of thinking about this really conventional piece of football wisdom.
00:27:05
Tristan Amundson
it's It's a really – wisdom, right? That is the word to to describe what you just said. it takes patience to exercise wisdom. it takes It takes a lot of different um qualities of a coach um that's willing to do that, a balanced mind, all those kinds of things. I think it's a ah really good point. I'm going to take it back to the the mic'd up I was watching because I was taken aback by something that I heard him saying on the sidelines during the Minnesota game, which was he he was clearly on the headset to the offense and he was saying an incompletions wonderful here.
00:27:43
Tristan Amundson
An incompletion is perfect. And he like, like, think about that. Like, it's a really funny thing to hear a coach say, Hey, an incompletion here. That's great. That's exactly what we want. No problem. um And I couldn't even tell you exactly what play he's talking about, but it it does, I guess it speaks to the wisdom that you're talking about and,
00:28:03
Tristan Amundson
ah The seat that we sit in on our couch as fans wanting everything to be a first down and a touchdown. And then the seat that the coach has to sit in and the offense and defensive coordinator has to sit in to say, yeah, we understand that we want you, you know, as a fan, you want to win every battle, but that's not, we're trying to win the war.
00:28:21
M dub
Thank you.
00:28:23
Tristan Amundson
So we're, we're going to make some strategic decisions here and maybe it is, you taking a run to set up a punt and to put us in much better field position down the line. So I think it's a really, it's a really fun one to, to bring up. And then the fact that we own this very interesting stat this season in the NFL tells you that when the Seahawks line up to run it,
00:28:48
Tristan Amundson
It's not a white flag situation. They're okay with it being a white flag as far as we're concerned, but it's not necessarily. And we're literally the only team in the NFL that can say that, which is pretty wild.
00:29:00
M dub
Yeah, the four for four, it's just totally nuts. Yeah, I can't believe that.
00:29:04
Tristan Amundson
is bri It's pretty cool. um can Can I take it to the end of the game? Do you mind? do i
00:29:09
M dub
I wish you would. I wish you would.
00:29:10
Tristan Amundson
i so So I was thinking about this game. I've been thinking about it a lot just in terms of the offense's role in this game was to...
00:29:22
Tristan Amundson
The offense's ah role in this game was to protect and control the football. And that's what they did. It's it's clear that that was the superpower of our offense in this game.
00:29:34
Tristan Amundson
Protect, control the football, possess the football, maintain the football, And yeah, we're not going to score a lot of points, unfortunate, but we're going to really ruin this game for the 49ers because we're going to possess it so much. So obviously it started in the first drive of the game, but they end it in the last drive. So let's let's just kind of talk through this, Miles.
00:29:58
Tristan Amundson
And feel free to interrupt and jump in here because I'd love your thoughts kind of as as we're describing it. So the 49ers are driving down the field, right? They have it in the red zone.
00:30:10
Tristan Amundson
Little pass to Christian McCaffrey to the right side of the flat. And it's thrown a little bit behind him. It looks like it's deflected by Boye Mafei. And that deflection and the momentum of Christian's body and where Drake happened to be, I shouldn't say it happened to be, where Drake put himself, Drake Thomas is in position to get a really important interception in this game that completely um churns the tide, right? the The Niners were knocking on the door to, at the very least, get a field goal, if not a touchdown.
00:30:46
Tristan Amundson
We stop that. Now, most of the time, When actually but before we go on before we go to the drive, which is what I really want to get to anything you want to talk about in that interception. Do you have any and anything you want to mention about Drake or or anything in that sequence so far?
00:31:02
M dub
It did feel shocking to see Christian McCaffrey, and I think they showed on the broadcast that he is third all-time in total scrimmage yards per game. I mean, that's a lot of people with gold jackets where he's got more scrimmage yards per game.
00:31:17
M dub
Felt so weird to make him see him make a clear error where he's he's kind of doing a volleyball slap of the ball up. Drake Thomas is a great position.
00:31:28
M dub
There's a way where this this this throw could have been a touchdown.
00:31:32
Tristan Amundson
What?
00:31:32
M dub
But that to deflect the ball up, it just happened so quick. he did He just kind of slaps it up, and Thomas just has it immediately. It was really cool. And at this point, there's like 10 minutes left in the game. It's important because a touchdown at this point with 10 minutes left gets the Niners within three. And suddenly, you've been working hard this whole game, and it would just be a three-point deficit. But now Seahawks have the ball, 10 minutes to go, and they're looking at like 96 or so yards to the end zone.
00:32:01
Tristan Amundson
And we've we've both watched a lot of football. but Most everyone listening to this podcast, we've we've all we have all seen this before, right? You run it three times up the gut.
00:32:11
Tristan Amundson
It doesn't work out. You end up punting. Maybe you punt out of your own end zone. Maybe you punt with... You know, you get a couple of yards and you punt and the other team gets the ball back. Let's call it. Let's let's call it aggressively. They get the ball back at their at at their own 40 yard line with eight minutes to go. we We have seen that movie miles over and over again.
00:32:37
M dub
Not only that, I was happy to watch that movie at that point in the game because I thought, that's so funny.
00:32:37
Tristan Amundson
That's
00:32:43
M dub
I was expecting that to happen, and I was excited for that to happen because I was going, there's no way the Niners get the ball all the way back to the end zone if this punt goes back to their forty
00:32:53
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, we're going to reset it to midfield and we'll we'll just do this again. And that's typically what's going to happen. It's going to be a nail-biter potential situation for us. Instead, the Seattle offense just took the air out of the ball. They took the air out of the stadium. They took the drama out of the game. They really did. They they destroyed all drama.
00:33:15
Tristan Amundson
um The executives at ESPN hated what was happening, I'm sure, during this whole very methodical drive. So... The offense gets the ball back. I want to give you the exact time. 10 minutes and 20 seconds left in the game.
00:33:31
Tristan Amundson
That's an eternity of football that still has to be played. 10 minutes and 20 seconds. first First play. We won't go through every play, obviously. First play, one yard run by Charbonnet.
00:33:43
Tristan Amundson
um Eventually, he hits a nice little um kind of out route, a curl, I believe, ah to JSN on the left side, the bottom of the screen, if you're watching it on the TV broadcast. And now we're in now we're in business. Now we're running the football and you're just watching the clock.
00:34:02
Tristan Amundson
And 10 minutes turns into eight minutes, turns into seven and six and five and four. They get the ball all the way down basically to, I mean, really to the other side of the field, right? I think we got the ball down to the five-yard line.
00:34:18
Tristan Amundson
um One of the plays, by the way, worthy of mentioning, beautiful pass. um Roll out to the right. He finds, Sam finds Cooper Cup um kind of in a... ah a soft part of the coverage. Coop gets a 20 yard reception that might've been the absolute backbreaker of the game because now suddenly, you know, I think at that point it was like four minutes left in the game and and we're just going to keep this thing moving.
00:34:47
Tristan Amundson
um They drive down. They get in field goal position. What's funny is we don't even make the field goal, and it's not even that big of a deal because now when you look at the clock, it says 2 minutes and 24 seconds. They just drained 8 minutes off the clock.
00:35:10
Tristan Amundson
And you won in all phases of the game in that moment. And you didn't even score. You didn't even have to score because you, you took the life out of the game. You smothered the game again, an anaconda has wrapped itself around this football and pop.
00:35:28
Tristan Amundson
There's nothing left. There's no game left for the 49ers at this point. um what What were your thoughts? Just watching this, um, this this drive. I'm trying to think, what's what's the word? How do you describe these drives? I mean,
00:35:45
Tristan Amundson
je
00:35:46
M dub
It's the best zero-point drive I've ever seen in the NFL. It was so dominant. And not only did the time get down that far, but in the middle of that, the Niners burned all three of their timeouts. So it ate up that much time, and there were three timeouts in the middle to stop this clock from rolling. And they ran out of timeouts. The timeouts ran out before the drive did.
00:36:08
Tristan Amundson
That's it's such a great thing to bring up. I kind of had forgotten about the fact that you're yeah, while this is happening, the Niners are taking those timeouts as strategically as humanly possible to no avail.
00:36:20
Tristan Amundson
um It was just an unbelievable sequence, man, to to watch, call it a 90 plus yard drive. that eats up eight minutes and completely puts this game out of reach.
00:36:31
Tristan Amundson
The Niners get the ball back after the missed field goal, but at that point, they're starting again on their own five.
00:36:34
M dub
Thank
00:36:37
Tristan Amundson
They go three and out, and then the best formation in football, victory formation, we get a C. To that was the... that was that was the I mean, theyre it's so funny, man.
00:36:52
Tristan Amundson
There are so many moments in this game that you could say, oh, yeah, that that sums up the entire game, right? Because they really played a complete game from start to finish. But if you want to talk about 10 minutes of this game that kind of describes the entire game, you could just say to somebody, start watching at the interception and finish the game. And that's basically the entire game right there.
00:37:14
Tristan Amundson
where they're going to keep going three and out. We're going to keep suffocating them on defense, and we're going to possess the ball. And hopefully that, I mean, what i mean really kind of brings us back to the first point, if we have both Sharp and K-9 working together, and we get this version of the Seahawks where you have two really, really great backs that are peaking at the right time, um man, that puts Sam in a great position. Holy smoke. I mean, it really, really does do some cool things for us.
00:37:45
M dub
Absolutely, Tristan. This podcast has been full of well-deserved praise for the Seattle Seahawks. But can I bring up the one nitpick I had in this game? And it does come at the end of this drive. And I thought it was the decision to go for the field goal.
00:37:59
M dub
Now, Jason Myers misses it, which is very uncharacteristic. But the situation was, there's two minutes and 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. And the Seahawks are facing a fourth and one on the three-yard line.
00:38:13
M dub
Niners have already burned the timeouts, as we've said, and the the score is 13 to three, which is how the game would end. I really thought field goal doesn't, even if it goes in, it's still a two possession game. It's still a 13 point.
00:38:27
M dub
um It's if the field goal goes in, it becomes a 13 point margin. The Seahawks have this barnyard in their back pocket ah out on the range. They have their barnyard and they line up for it with the intention of just taking the delay of game and then kicking the field goal. But ah the game is pretty much put away if you just get that first down and and then youre really you're really close to a touchdown as well. I...
00:38:53
M dub
I thought the best call was to to go for it in that situation. it felt like a no-lose situation for me, and um i was disappointed to see they were just planning to take that delay of game.
00:39:06
M dub
It's a decision I would have made differently, just removing the Jason Myers miss from it completely. Did you feel the same way?
00:39:12
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, it's interesting. i didn't. I felt like it was a really, really blah, blah, blah. Let me speak. A really long yard for for AJ to pick up. So now to your point, if you don't pick it up, it's really not the end of the world because the Niners are starting in such terrible field position. um And I mean, really, to me, it was the play right before that where. um Zach Charbonnet barely, barely misses out on getting the first down. And it's a you know a totally different conversation because now we're probably just running it in anyway with you know three or four shots at it. um You know what I thought was funny, though, was the very first touchdown opportunity. um That first drive in the first quarter, JSN gets the pass interference and we have it on the one.
00:40:01
Tristan Amundson
And to me, that is like the obvious bring AJ out for the for the barnyard, just, you know, drive that thing in. It's you were talking about how lucky we are to have Mike McDonald.
00:40:12
M dub
Thank
00:40:12
Tristan Amundson
It's another great thing about coach. He's so honest and transparent. So one of the reporters during the press conference asked him, asked him, why didn't you just run the barnyard?
00:40:23
Tristan Amundson
in the beginning of the game to get that touchdown. He pauses. He looks at the reporter. Yeah, we probably should have done that. That would have been a smart play. That's that. That's probably what we should have done. We just didn't, which I just, I coaches don't do that. Coaches aren't that honest. I love it. But yeah, I disagree with you in the fourth quarter. um To me, I would have done it the exact same way they did it. um Just because I think that yard was so long.
00:40:49
M dub
Gotcha. Fair enough. I do. ah does feel like there's, it's so funny. The Seahawks are so dominant play to play, drive to drive this season um on both sides of the ball. It does feel, these moments feel a little wobbly, a little...
00:41:04
M dub
Something just doesn't feel quite as precise ah as the as your normal play-to-play rhythm. it We'll see what happens with the playoffs, though. they There certainly have been good moments, looking back at the timeout management ah against the Colts at the end. that That was the high point, strategically, I felt. So ah we'll see things we'll see what happens to the playoffs. These moments can be pretty big.
00:41:28
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, and it's it's now kind of easy to forget that there was a time not long ago that on this very podcast, what we were saying was this team needs to be tested.
00:41:38
Tristan Amundson
We need some close games so that this team actually knows how to play in a close game because we were blowing all the teams out back to back.
00:41:41
M dub
That's
00:41:45
Tristan Amundson
There was like five or six weeks of blowouts. And so we finally gotten what we wanted. We've gotten some of these close games and the team has had to learn how to how to play in those.
00:41:57
M dub
Absolutely. With the end of the regular season, Tristan, can I give a short update on our historical record chasers for the regular season?
00:42:04
Tristan Amundson
Yes, please.
00:42:06
M dub
So Jason Myers had his worst game of the year. I think he would tell you that. He went two for four. That does move him into a tie for in terms of most field goals in a season ever.
00:42:17
M dub
He is tied for third all-time with 41. However, what happened? He's not even the league leader. Kaimi Fairbairn with the Texans comes out of nowhere with six-for-six performance.
00:42:29
M dub
in week 18 to tie the all-time record at 44. So Jason Meyer still the third tied for the third most field goals ever in an NFL season with 41. The main event, though, a man named Jackson Smith and Jigba.
00:42:43
M dub
He plays wide receiver for the Seahawks. He caught six passes for 84 yards in this game. that did That gave him 119 receptions for the year. Now, by the way, JSN had tied the Seahawks all-time record for receptions last year when he got 100. So he completely blows the Seahawks record out of the water.
00:43:02
M dub
That is tied for the 20th most receptions in any NFL season. But the real deal was his yardage. He ends with 1,793 which is the eighth best season all time.
00:43:14
M dub
which is the eight best season of all time
00:43:18
Tristan Amundson
Wow. That's the number we've been waiting for, right? Where would he land on that list? Eight, not too shabby.
00:43:27
M dub
It's pretty wild. there's it's just a i mean It's mostly modern guys ahead of him. Yeah. the One Jerry Rice season. nobody there's no Nobody has done two seasons better than him ever, I guess. That's another way to say it. Jerry Rice does not have two seasons more productive than this, which is crazy because Jerry Rice is the second best football player ever behind Tom Brady.
00:43:52
Tristan Amundson
ah One of the greatest of all time. One of the great legends of all time. Yeah. You can't tell the story of the NFL without talking about Jerry Rice. So pretty, pretty incredible, man. We're again, lucky to have these young dynamic players playing for us, right? Having them on our team and to see JSN just um have this transcendent year has been absolutely incredible.
00:44:17
M dub
Speaking of young, productive players... The Seahawks have a personal rule that they enforce on themselves that they do not do contract extensions during the season. And we saw how how much they abide by that rule and both how flexible that rule is at the same time.
00:44:34
M dub
Just a few hours after their regular season ended, they signed one of their young players to a long-term contract extension. He was injured in this game. Doesn't matter. is left tackle Charles Cross.
00:44:47
M dub
Tristan, the numbers four years, $104.4 million. dollars And the interesting one in my opinion is a big seventy five million is guaranteed
00:45:01
Tristan Amundson
Pretty cool. Pretty cool to have your offensive line um locked up. I mean, if you think about the conversations we were having this time last year, um you know, hey, Charles Cross, he's, you know, towards the end of his contract. How do you really feel about Abe Lucas?
00:45:20
Tristan Amundson
And now where we sit you know and And not to even mention what's going on in the middle of the offensive line, right? We had nothing, it seemed, at guard. Now you sit, left tackle secure for a long time. Left guard secure for a long time. Center, it seems secure for a long time. It seems like they really like what Sandell's doing. um Right guard is probably a bit of the question mark, right? um Bradford...
00:45:47
Tristan Amundson
played Had a pretty good season, but maybe an opportunity to upgrade there. And then abe Lucas locked up for a long time. Suddenly you have really at at the very least three fifths of your line exactly where you want it.
00:46:01
Tristan Amundson
The difference a year can make, man.
00:46:05
M dub
It is pretty crazy. i do I would anticipate that right guard is the only thing they would look at in the offseason. um Yeah, I think Jalen Sundell had a really good year. I want to give some more context for the Charles Cross numbers. So he just finished the fourth year of his career.
00:46:21
M dub
This spring, the team had already picked up his fifth year option for 2026. So that's already locked in at $17.5 million. dollars So this extension starts beyond that. It starts in the year 2027. It's going through That's way far out there.
00:46:39
M dub
And so this is really big, even in the entire context of all NFL tackle numbers. It is the fourth largest contract given to any left tackle. And it has the third most guaranteed money of any contract to a left tackle.
00:46:54
M dub
It's expensive, but I think you made a good point. We were texting about it. You mentioned that. is Is this the Seahawks trying to get ahead of a rising cap? And I think with that extra buffer year, i kind of think that's what John Schneider was thinking. With with that 2026 already locked in, the fifth-year option, I do think that they were trying to get their their work done early here. And while this is a really big deal now, it will it will get surpassed by a handful of players by the time it already happens in 2027. It'll still be above average, but it won't be, i don't think, quite top five money.
00:47:32
Tristan Amundson
I 100% agree. Yeah. And it's, I think it's how you have to look at this. I think also you have to look at this as, um, really John Schneider making lemonade out of lemons, right? I don't think they do this extension if cross isn't injured. I mean, I'm making a massive assumption. Maybe he would laugh if he heard this, but I would have to imagine that, you know, having a little bit of space, having him not practicing makes it a little easier to have these conversations.
00:47:59
Tristan Amundson
Um, And so and then obviously it signals to all of us that they have to feel pretty good about where that hamstring is and, you know, his performance going into the future. um And I can't imagine how good it would feel as a player just to have that security. So I think it is just a win win for all of us. And ah he seems like a good guy. He seems like one of those cornerstone type players.
00:48:23
Tristan Amundson
um And yeah, I have a feeling that. probably within a year, this suddenly goes from a top three kind of money to a top eight kind of money with with the market continuing to evolve and the cap going up. So um nice to have this guy locked in. Probably by the time he runs this contract out, it'll probably be like the 18th player, you know, left tackle paid in in the league or something like that because the cap keeps going up. So lock up a good asset as when you have a chance, still a young ascending player.
00:48:55
M dub
We do know John Schneider has a long history with the offensive line that has been ah up and down over the many years, to say the least. I did the research.
00:49:07
M dub
this So Abe Lucas and Charles Cross have both been extended now for their second contract after after their rookie contract being drafted by John Schneider and the Seahawks. In John Snyder's entire tenure, there was only one other offensive lineman that got signed to a second multi-year deal, which which sounds like it's getting pretty specific.
00:49:29
M dub
But a general manager is always trying to draft on offensive linemen who are good enough. to sign them to a long-term second deal. So that was Justin Britt from the 2014 draft. It was a long time ago. And funny enough, this is how long John Schneider has been with the Seahawks.
00:49:44
M dub
His first year in 2010, he drafts Russell Okung. And our current four-year guaranteed rookie deals were not in place at that point. Russell Okung signed a six-year deal out of the draft, which is how long his Seahawks tenure was.
00:49:59
Tristan Amundson
Interesting. i i didn't remember that. That's wild. That's really interesting because that does explain why Russell was around so long and only one contract. That's kind of cool.
00:50:09
M dub
Yeah, I think that was the Sam Bradford year. Sam Bradford, I think, it was that last quarterback to get the absolutely gigantic contract ah as a rookie. and And they put a ceiling on that for probably the rest of all time.
00:50:22
Tristan Amundson
Yeah. Well, you know, they, they want to keep that money. Um, miles. Now the team is just chilling. I mean, feed up. I don't think they're in Cancun. I think they're still in Seattle, but, but still feed up, enjoying some time with family.
00:50:38
Tristan Amundson
I'm assuming, I'm assuming Sunday was a very chill, relaxing day for all the guys. Um, When I think about this bye week, the importance of getting this first round bye, I mean, it's just it's unbelievable, isn't it?
00:50:52
Tristan Amundson
Getting the number one seed while we're healing and while Charles Cross is able to give that hamstring another week of, you know, staying off of his feet. Kobe Bryant, you think about all of the bumps and bruises that all of these guys have.
00:51:06
Tristan Amundson
over the course of a year to be able to just heal while the rest of the league has to stay in the meat grinder, which is the NFL and keep battling out there and, you know, not wishing injury on anybody, but it is kind of part of this game and and how things work.
00:51:23
Tristan Amundson
Right.
00:51:24
M dub
Thank you.
00:51:24
Tristan Amundson
So the fact that we don't have to be a part of that meat grinder um is so massive, but what I really What stood out to me about this week one, i want your thoughts on this.
00:51:34
Tristan Amundson
I think this is such a cool little tidbit. So McDonald was talking during his press conference and they were asking him about the bye week. And just asking about actually, you know what? They weren't asking about the bi-week. They were asking about the running game and they had asked about the bi-week earlier and he gave kind of a normal answer. And then they were asking about the running game and how it's gotten so much better over the course of, you know, the last four or five games. And he specifically cited, know,
00:52:05
Tristan Amundson
um changes that they made and things that they were able to fix during their buy week. And then also during their Thursday week where, you know, you get kind of the mini buy.
00:52:16
Tristan Amundson
And he talked about um that those being opportunities to fix problems and um and and just to get things running smoother operationally and do some self-scouting. And he specifically gave a nod to the run game and how that was a part of the team that ah benefited from the extra long by which is kind of makes you think man having this by week, giving it to a staff like this could be extra dangerous beyond healing bodies.
00:52:46
Tristan Amundson
The self scouting they might be doing or are doing for sure ah could be absolutely huge.
00:52:54
M dub
Absolutely. Yeah, it is a really great situation. Definitely don't wish injury on anybody. I am wishing elimination on several teams, though.
00:53:02
Tristan Amundson
Who do you ah wish elimination on the most? i i I assume we have the same answer. but But if you could ask Santa for a late gift, who would be eliminated?
00:53:14
M dub
Well, here's the thing, Tristan. I'm going to assume that at least Trent Williams and probably also Fred Warner return to the field for the San Francisco 49ers. Let's say that happens.
00:53:25
M dub
Tristan, are the best three teams in the NFC, the three NFC West teams? I don't really think that's much of an exaggeration, do you?
00:53:33
Tristan Amundson
It's not. No, no. They're the best for sure.
00:53:35
M dub
Which is such a bizarre situation that as I look at the other playoff teams, we have the Bears in the two seed, the Eagles in the three seed. I mean, famous last words, but
00:53:48
M dub
slamming on some wood here. to ah But um i really have a healthy fear for the other NFC West teams that I am not quite feeling for the other NFC teams in the playoff picture.
00:54:03
M dub
And it is funny that we we have these three dominant seeds and their numbers one, five and six, which is just so random. And so I was wondering, we have the two seed bears hosting the seven seed Packers.
00:54:16
M dub
I'm of two two schools of thought here. One is to really root for the Packers and hope that seven seed wins. I think that's a possibility. I think that's relatively close to a fifty fifty game.
00:54:26
M dub
And then you have the Packers traveling to Seattle over one of the other NFC West teams coming in for the divisional round. Is that worth rooting for this weekend? Or should it just be, hey, let's let these games play out. And whoever comes into Seattle comes into Seattle the next week.
00:54:43
Tristan Amundson
I think there's two versions of this answer. I think there's the honest version and what I wish was my answer. So let me start with what I wish my answer was. I wish my answer was, Miles, I'm totally above it.
00:54:56
Tristan Amundson
We're going to play whoever we play. I'm not worried about it. We're the big bad wolf. Come whoever, it doesn't it doesn't matter. We'll be waiting in Seattle. that's I wish that I had the constitution to be able to have that as my actual opinion.
00:55:15
Tristan Amundson
I'll be rooting for the Packers because i think it'd be great to have the 49ers and the Rams to have to play another game on the road.
00:55:19
M dub
Thank
00:55:24
Tristan Amundson
Potentially, well, certainly someone's going to have to get eliminated out there eventually. And then we'll just meet, you know, the last the last other representative um for the for the conference championship game. um Yeah, I don't know. do Do you feel that way? I wish that I had this constitution just to say, come what may, we'll be in Seattle.
00:55:46
Tristan Amundson
But I am going to be rooting for the Packers and in a moment of honesty.
00:55:51
M dub
That makes sense. And I don't, you know, I think the Packers are a great team. When they beat the Seahawks last year, I got into a reverie about their team building. I really like how they've gone about it.
00:56:03
M dub
I don't think they're a weak opponent by any means, but just compared to what happens when these NFC West teams play each other, i would like to avoid it. and And by the way, something else to root for this weekend since since we're gonna be Since we're not above it, we do have the Rams going to play the Panthers in the Queen City, Charlotte.
00:56:22
M dub
um Look, the Rams are going to destroy them, but we we can dream. You know, we can dream. And the Niners play the Eagles in Philadelphia. that That's a tough game. that's that There's a lot going on in that game that's going to be a tough physical one.
00:56:38
M dub
The Eagles are fascinating and frustrating to me. The most dysfunctional great team maybe in NFL history, ah but they could absolutely defeat the 49ers and get them out of the way.
00:56:49
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, I think I agree with you. I think the Packers Bears game is 50 50. And I feel the same way about the Eagles Niners. The Eagles are probably better than I realize. i'll I'll admit that they're they're probably better than than I fully understand. And so I think that's going to be a great game.
00:57:07
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, bless Carolina's heart. I mean, if you think about now, Carolina has beaten the Rams, so we have to we have to give them their their due praise. um But if you just think about the Molly whopping that the Seahawks put on the Panthers.
00:57:22
Tristan Amundson
earlier this season.
00:57:23
M dub
you you
00:57:24
Tristan Amundson
It's, it's, this is such a disrespectful thing for me to say. It is cute that they're in the playoffs, but it's, I don't think much is going to happen. um That said, go Carolina, go Packers. Those are going to be my big rooting interests. And and frankly, go Eagles. That's if you want to know who I'm rooting for this weekend, that's exactly who, in you know, maybe in that order.
00:57:48
M dub
It does feel cute that the Panthers are in the playoffs, and and yet we have that footage of the beast quake, don't we? May they generate their own beast quake.
00:57:56
Tristan Amundson
We do.
00:57:56
M dub
I'm not sure who's going to do it, but ah yeah.
00:57:58
Tristan Amundson
Well, they Ricky Dowdle, I mean, they they got a Rico Dowdle, excuse me. They got a pretty good running back. um They got Ted Arona, Ted Arona McMillan, who decided not to play against the Seahawks or at least not show up, but would be great if
00:58:11
M dub
Oh, he well, he had that illness, in fairness to him. there were They were noting that in the Seahawks week.
00:58:16
Tristan Amundson
Let's let's hope that he has the game of his career, right?
00:58:18
M dub
He's healthy.
00:58:19
Tristan Amundson
He he has the talent for it. And the little Bryce Young just kind of does his thing and create some chaos. So, yeah, we'll be rooting for some chaos ball in the Queen City, a place that you and I both would love to visit soon.
00:58:31
M dub
uh even daydreaming even daydreaming i'm seeing stafford uh throw a touchdown to book in au
00:58:39
Tristan Amundson
It's it's an unbelievable connection those two have. I mean, those are two really special players.
00:58:46
M dub
ah uh maybe they'll i don't yeah don't know yeah it's uh good luck carolina
00:58:55
M dub
Tristan, this has wrapped up the 50th regular season. Not full season, but the 50th regular season in Seahawks history. We have been honoring that history all year at the end of our shows with 50 seconds in Seahawks history.
00:59:10
M dub
Tristan, sometimes history is happening right in front of you. My time starts now. The 2025 Seahawks had an average margin of victory of just over 11 points. That is only the third time in franchise history they've managed to do that.
00:59:25
M dub
with the Super Bowl years 2005 and 2013 being the other ones. This is the very first team in franchise history to lead the league in total point differential. The 2025 Seahawks were the league's best in defensive points allowed per game at 17.2.
00:59:42
M dub
The only other time that happened in franchise history was the Legion of Boom era, four years in a row from 2012 to 2015. now Back of the day, the team did finish top five in both offensive and defensive scoring on two occasions. It happened in 1984 and in 2015.
01:00:02
M dub
However, this year, 2025, the Seahawks were third best in the league in offensive points per game, making this the very first season in franchise history where the team was top three in points on both sides of the ball.
01:00:17
M dub
And to wrap it up, they won 82.3% their games, the very best mark in all years.
01:00:28
Tristan Amundson
You got to enjoy it, right? I mean, this is, to your point, the first time the Seahawks have ever won 14 games. That is wild. the it's It's one of the great seasons as Seahawks fans will ever experience.
01:00:42
Tristan Amundson
we We may never experience again a season this relaxing where we're just watching blowout after blowout. And even those games that we lost were all close.
01:00:54
Tristan Amundson
i Broken record, man. You just you got to enjoy it, right? We just got to enjoy these things because it is not normal in the NFL to have a season like this. It's been an unbelievable year for the Hawks.
01:01:08
M dub
It all felt so natural, too. it maybe It snuck up on me how great it was. There was something about, i mean, i guess 2012, 2013, you really felt they were building towards something. It was so obvious how dominant they were. This one kind of snuck up on me how how great this team was.
01:01:26
Tristan Amundson
Yeah, you know, I think from a defensive perspective, you could almost just look at Nick Emanwari as like a microcosm for just gradually getting better and better and better week in and week out until, you know, now we're at the dominmin dominant stage, right? And we both know, i mean, Nick is not, he has not peaked. He's still, there is still more left in the tank. And that guy has really changed this defense. Yeah.
01:01:53
Tristan Amundson
So it's it's pretty exciting. I mean, exciting exciting that we get bonus football now for the rest of you know the playoffs and into the Super Bowl, hopefully, where we get to see this defense continue to ascend and continue to get better. And if you don't believe me, I'll just, I will point to Nicky Monrory. I'll point to Byron Murphy. as two really important players on this team that have not reached the height of their powers yet. They are still ascending players and they're really, really important players on this team. And I think if we kept talking, we'd we'd come up with a couple of others too, of younger guys that are are coming along that are still kind of in this ascension. So yeah, very, very exciting.
01:02:37
M dub
It reminds me of something that way back in the preseason that ah Coach Mack said at at one of his press conferences, it was some words of wisdom that that really stuck with me.
01:02:51
M dub
Do you know what I'm thinking about?
01:02:53
Tristan Amundson
Man, I mean, he he said so many words and Coach Mack talks so much. I mean, he's a man of many words, as we all know. But what what would be o what would be that word?
01:03:06
M dub
I'll tell you, Tristan, there's one time he got up to the podium and he he looked out at the the reporters and the media and he said these words. He said, go Hawks.
01:03:17
Tristan Amundson
gohawks