Latest / Sea Hawkers Podcast: for Seattle Seahawks fans / What If?... Lightning Has Already Struck Our Seahawks

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What If?... Lightning Has Already Struck Our Seahawks · Sea Hawkers Podcast: for Seattle Seahawks fans

0:07
Clinton: Welcome in, welcome in.
0:09
Welcome friends to the newest edition of Sea Hawkers What If,
0:13
the most unique Seahawks preview show in the entire multiverse.
0:16
I'm your host, Clinton Bonner.
0:18
I am joined by the one, the only, the great Brandan Schulze.
0:21
And folks, it would not be, it could not be, we could not traverse the
0:24
Seahawks multiverse without the protector of that multiverse, Mr.
0:28
Phil Lydick down center screen at YouTube.com/SeahawkersPodcast.
0:33
Boys, we're gonna just wash away that command.
0:36
We've talked about it enough.
0:37
Now we're 2-1.
0:38
We have these Chargers coming just up the, up the coast essentially
0:42
from LA all the way up to the PNW.
0:45
They are reeling in the year.
0:47
they are not playing good football, but there's talent out there.
0:51
Yeah.
0:51
And they confuse me.
0:52
They confuse me, Brandan.
0:53
I am…
0:54
And I might be a little bit scared, because last week's
0:57
game got me a little shook
0:59
Brandan: It's, it, it is a little bit scary because this is not a team I
1:03
was expecting to be 0 and 3 at this point.
1:06
Mm.
1:06
When…
1:07
And it would suggest that maybe the Seahawks have a cakewalk ahead
1:11
of them, when, I, I don't, I still can't in my bones feel that
1:17
that is true, because there is a lot of talent on this team, Phil.
1:22
Phil: There absolutely is.
1:23
You watch it, and it seems like they have reverse synergy.
1:26
Like, the- Mm … sum of the parts is less than the whole, or I, I,
1:30
I've no idea how this all works out.
1:32
But there's quite a lot of flashes of good stuff.
1:35
You would think it's, you just put that all to bad coaching.
1:38
But these were supposed to be good coaches.
1:40
Yeah.
1:40
It was supposed to be Harbaugh.
1:41
He goes out and finds, the brilliant offensive coordinator that's just
1:46
gonna take Herbert to the next level, and this offense looks terrible.
1:49
Like, all three games, they don't look good.
1:52
Clinton: Yeah.
1:52
They look completely…
1:54
They look broken, and I think that's the part that scares me.
1:56
Because I, I just think there's too much there, and I do think…
2:00
And, you know, now, now the NFL world's coming down on Herbert,
2:04
"Oh, maybe he's not this good.
2:05
Maybe he's not that good."
2:05
I'm like, yeah, I, I get that, and I understand his playoff record, and I still
2:10
seen the dude take over games before.
2:12
Yeah.
2:12
Where it's like, nope, he's, he's got the arm.
2:14
He's done the things.
2:15
He has scrambled for third downs- Yeah … and third and 12s, and gotten 13.
2:18
Phil: Still
2:19
Clinton: does that.
2:19
I've seen it.
2:19
I've seen it before.
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Yeah.
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So I am a little bit, certainly less cocky than last week when I predicted
2:25
a blowout for, against the Commanders.
2:27
I gotta eat that one.
2:28
but I think lots of Seahawks fans were kind of feeling that way.
2:31
A- and of course, this was a team that generated a lot of turnovers versus
2:35
the Bills, and still found a way to lose.
2:38
So Phil, let's talk about that first.
2:39
In previously with the protector, what did you see?
2:42
We all know this, the headlines, five turnovers, 16 points, but how?
2:49
Phil: Yeah, so the stats, other than the turnovers, look fairly even.
2:52
You watch the teams, the Bills are the better team.
2:55
The turnovers are what kept the Chargers hanging around.
2:59
As I watched the game, Hampton started out looking pretty decent.
3:02
He's a slasher.
3:03
I think he has potential if the O-line can block it up consistently.
3:08
The protection started out good, and then the edges just fell
3:11
apart, like they collapsed.
3:12
And then the Bills were just- torching them from the sides by the last probably
3:17
two-thirds, three-quarters of the game.
3:19
Herbert's really lacking.
3:20
I know he's happy in his relationship.
3:22
I don't know how much he cares about football.
3:24
I, I'm not…
3:24
I don't know.
3:25
He's, he's so chill, but he seems inaccurate regularly.
3:29
He has all the talent in the world.
3:30
The, the touch isn't there, like he doesn't bother to throw passes that are
3:35
catchable for his receivers at times.
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Receivers also aren't helping.
3:38
They're not getting open most of the time.
3:40
I like Ladd, though.
3:41
McConkey, he started wiggle- wiggling free here and there.
3:44
He seems talented.
3:45
I don't know if it's the route schemes or what it is, but, there's a
3:49
disconnect between quarterback and receiver, and there's not much disconnect
3:53
between receiver and defensive backs.
3:56
Mitchell impresses me with his speed.
3:58
I was kind of interested in him for the Seahawks, but, he's definitely fast.
4:02
Pre-snap penalties, there was a lot of self-harm for them going on on
4:05
offense, where they were just sabotaging themself with ridiculous pre-snap.
4:10
On defense, obviously they forced some fumbles, and they earned those.
4:14
Had some very nice picks, including rookie safety Genesis
4:17
Smith, had an awesome first half.
4:19
They were getting some pressure, but only with blitzes.
4:22
The tackling looked pretty solid until the fourth quarter, when
4:25
the defense is like, "Well, if the offense isn't showing up, I guess
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we're not gonna play as hard either."
4:30
Dicker did miss what should've been an easy 45-yard field goal.
4:34
Brandan, did you see anything else watching this matchup?
4:37
Brandan: No, other than I, I was also, noticing Mitchell, and the-
4:42
Yeah … they ran, like, the, the edge play or the little pop pass-
4:46
Mm-hmm … to get the ball to Mitchell and got him into the end zone.
4:50
And I thought, "Oh, why…
4:52
They, they used that at the goal line."
4:54
Mm-hmm.
4:54
"Why, why can't we do any pop passes to our speedy wide receiver?"
4:58
But, you know, the, he, he's…
5:00
I don't know.
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I, I guess I think of, - The, the, our goal line issues and
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think, "Eh, maybe there could be a little more creativity there."
5:10
Clinton: Mm.
5:10
I sure would, I sure would like that.
5:12
I mean, we've sort of said his name a couple times now in an intro,
5:15
which is, I think, warranted.
5:18
Keaton Mitchell's the guy that I think we'll end up talking about more.
5:20
It's…
5:21
When you look at Hampton and the style of back he is-
5:24
Phil: Yeah
5:24
… Clinton: it's, it's almost like, you're looking at, like, Emmanuel
5:27
Wilson versus, versus other guys that are a bit more dynamic.
5:31
Keaton Mitchell, that guy's got…
5:33
That guy, that guy has the outside juice.
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He can get to the outside, he can turn corners or take the pop pass and
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get around the edge without issue.
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one of, one of my yellow flags in general is I think the Chargers',
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offensive minds are waking up to the idea that he suits what McDaniel does and
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wants to do- Mm-hmm … more than Hampton.
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I think we're- So more
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Phil: A-chan without-
5:56
Clinton: Yeah … the wiggle, but yeah.
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G- I, I agree.
5:57
So I think we're gonna see more Keaton Mitchell, and I'm sure we'll get into it.
6:01
That was my takeaway too.
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I do have a Keaton
6:02
Phil: Mitchell question in- Cool … in the What If show, so you
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Clinton: know.
6:05
Sweet.
6:05
Well, well, well, we're, we're, well, we're here.
6:07
We're in What If.
6:08
So that's our previously with the protector.
6:10
That's a nice little synopsis of what we saw last week, in
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case you did not watch the game.
6:15
I'm sure everybody saw the headlines, but there's some,
6:18
some reasons things broke down.
6:20
And again, this to me, last week I was not nervous, guys.
6:23
I just wasn't nervous, and it came back to certainly bite me in the you know what.
6:27
this one, I just, just don't know if I'm, like, being overly overcorrecting,
6:32
but I'm like, man, I, I, I, I'm a little bit more nervous about this game, and
6:36
I need to be talked down a little bit.
6:38
Yeah.
6:38
So I'm hoping we get to do that throughout.
6:40
So for those that don't know, What If, Mr.
6:43
Phil will come up with a, a unique, theme every single week, and then six
6:47
questions that are within that theme.
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Brandan and I have no idea what it, the theme's gonna be.
6:53
We don't know what the questions are gonna be.
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So we answer them live, so if you wanna play along while you're watching
6:57
this on YouTube, then play along.
6:59
Put your comments in and answer the questions too,
7:01
'cause we'd love to see them.
7:03
And of course, if you're out there on YouTube, or any- anywhere else, Apple
7:07
Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, make sure you like, make sure you drop comments,
7:11
leave us reviews, do all the things.
7:13
Five-star reviews, only please.
7:15
And, let's have some fun with this.
7:17
But yeah, so.
7:17
Honest
7:18
Brandan: reviews.
7:19
Clinton: Honest five-star reviews is what we want.
7:21
So perfect.
7:22
I heard you guys talk about that on the flagship, like, ah.
7:24
No, five, it's all good.
7:25
Look, let's talk about this game, Phil.
7:28
What is your big theme and why are you taking us there?
7:31
Phil: Well, to introduce the theme, I know the Los Angeles
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Chargers, not Super Chargers anymore.
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You think Charger, you think they're gonna go charge, but they have
7:39
a lightning bolt, so apparently we're charging some electricity.
7:43
Mm.
7:43
Brandan, when they talk about lightning and it has struck somewhere,
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what do they usually say about that spot when lightning has struck?
7:51
Brandan: wow, this is really early in the morning.
7:54
Okay.
7:54
I have
7:54
Phil: no
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Brandan: clue.
7:55
Phil: It doesn't strike twice.
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Yeah.
7:57
Oh.
7:57
Clinton, lightning never strikes twice.
8:00
It seemed lightning struck us last week as Seahawk fans.
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We thought there's no possible way this winless garbage Commander team could
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beat us, but we were struck by lightning.
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And so what if lightning has already struck our Hawks and we
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can't be struck back to back?
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Of course we're going home.
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It should be harder for it to strike there, but our team is so
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much better than the Chargers.
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We play better together.
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They have some good things.
8:26
I am nervous because of some of the talent that's there, but if it's
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already struck, certainly we would hope it can't strike us again, right?
8:35
Yes.
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Well…
8:36
Clinton: Yes.
8:37
Yes.
8:37
Yes.
8:37
That's
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Phil: what I'm hoping.
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Clinton: I want, I want to believe, yes.
8:40
Phil: Yes.
8:40
Well, our theme all has to do with lightning.
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I believe Clinton gets to go first this time.
8:47
We have lightning rod, lightning, or ride the lightning, right?
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Lightning strike, lightning has to do with speed, lightning charge,
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and then a lightning round maybe.
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There's a good chance one of these- Oh … has, like, a special activity-
9:00
Might be a game … game-ish thing.
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I wonder which one that would be.
9:03
But Clinton, you get to go first.
9:06
Clinton: All right.
9:06
So there's some music themes going on up here, obviously the ride the lightning.
9:10
That's not where I'm going- Okay … with, with Metallica.
9:13
I'm gonna take this one over to Hot Rod Stewart.
9:16
Go with Hot Rod for number one off the board.
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Phil: Okay.
9:19
Great movie.
9:19
Hot Rod, just right
9:21
Clinton: off- Great movie and, and a, I, I'm a, I'm a Rod Stewart fan, so…
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Phil: Right off the top.
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There you go, Clinton.
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I could see that.
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What if we talk Sam and Justin?
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And this is kind of ridiculous, and yet it's actually happening.
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Who is more likely to calm the brewing lightning storms
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surrounding them, and why?
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I mean, Sam had overall a great game, a couple terrible plays, but lots
9:42
of awesome plays, and yet people are calling for his head because he
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has a very solid backup behind him.
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Justin, people are just tired of him not reaching his potential.
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Who's more likely to calm their storm this week, and why, Clinton?
9:56
Clinton: Okay.
9:56
I will say I think more likely to calm the s- storm, and again, I
10:01
think there are different severities of storm brewing- Yes … around
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these two quarterbacks, which is fine.
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That's why they have the, the, the s- the s- you know, the hurricane system, right?
10:09
I'd say I think it's still gonna be more likely that Sam is able to quell
10:15
those, the whispers that, and the calls for Drew Lock, et cetera, et cetera, more
10:20
than Herbert for several, several reasons.
10:24
number one- Overall, the offense is been pretty darn good.
10:29
Yeah.
10:30
And I really like what Fleury's doing.
10:32
We talked about it at the v- at the very opening.
10:34
We have got to figure out those goal to go woes.
10:37
Phil: Yeah.
10:38
Clinton: Talked about that during three and three out.
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Adam and Brandan talked about that last night a lot in the flagship.
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Great episode.
10:45
Go check it out.
10:46
but I'm also confident we will.
10:48
Now there's, there's some things there like, so how do you calm down Sam?
10:53
Well, you don't ask Sam to throw the ball 45 times B- it- they- so it's sh-
10:58
it's so, to me, so, so simple because a guy like Sam or a guy like Drew or,
11:03
by the way, a guy like Patrick Mahomes and, oh by the way, a guy like Josh
11:07
Allen, you ask them to throw the ball 45 times, two, three or four times
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that ball's gonna be in harm's way.
11:13
That's just-
11:13
Phil: There's one Brady.
11:14
There's just one Brady
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… Clinton: There, there's one Brady and he still made mistakes,
11:18
Phil: right?
11:18
It, it- But when he's the guy that could throw 50 and be, like,
11:21
in the zone, but there's almost never been anybody else like that.
11:24
Clinton: He, he could, he could, and I'm sure he would prefer
11:26
to throw 32 and let- Sure.
11:28
Yeah … let his running backs do their job.
11:29
So I think as an offense, so why does it calm down for Sam?
11:33
'Cause I think as an offense, we're way more balanced in this game than,
11:36
than we were against the Commanders.
11:37
I think the Chargers are a pretty good run D.
11:39
I don't think it's, like- Yes … that horrible.
11:41
I don't think it's horrible.
11:42
I don't think it's, you know, maybe top five.
11:44
I think they're good-ish.
11:46
Yeah.
11:46
with that said, I think we're gonna be more committed in,
11:51
in better weather, seemingly.
11:52
I think it's n- looking good for Seattle.
11:54
A- in better weather, more committed to the ground game, I think we'll have more
11:57
consistent success and/or at least more consistent patience to run the football.
12:03
This is a simple math thing for me, Brandan.
12:05
Lower the volume that you rely on Sam to carry the team.
12:09
Let Sam just be Sam.
12:11
28 attempts, 32 attempts, and the calm will kinda settle itself as we put
12:17
up, let's say, 27, 31 points against a team that's struggling right now.
12:22
So that's why I think it's Sam.
12:24
Phil: How about you, Brandan?
12:25
Brandan: Yeah.
12:26
I, I think Sam's the easy answer because Justin, I, I think for Herbert
12:31
to bring calm to his surrounding team, he would need the tools to do it.
12:36
Yeah.
12:36
And I don't think that Herbert has the same kind of tools that Sam has.
12:43
And you look at…
12:44
Now, I, I suppose, maybe it's a little bit unfair to Justin because
12:49
Sam's only been back one full game, but if you look at Herbert's turnovers
12:54
just through three weeks, interception in game one, two interceptions game
12:58
two, interception in game three.
13:01
He has not played a mistake-free game, and it's not like he
13:04
has a ton of volume either.
13:06
The most amount of passes that he threw were last week in 34 attempts against
13:11
the Buffalo Bills, and, and still had a pick, or and, and had a pick.
13:15
Mm-hmm.
13:16
And I mean, the 27 attempts against the, the Rams, he had two.
13:20
So, I think that he is, he's turning the ball over and i-
13:27
it- he's not the only one having that issue on his own offense.
13:31
So, I think that just- surrounding him.
13:36
even if he can bring calm, the Chargers do…
13:39
They ha- they have this weird way of, being a little bit
13:44
chaotic, anywhere on the team.
13:46
Phil: He's up against it a little bit.
13:48
He has Ladd, who's a good Ladd, but- Hmm … wouldn't you like Ladd to be
13:51
your number two, not your number one?
13:53
And- I
13:53
Brandan: mean, I'd love Ladd to be number three.
13:55
but-
13:56
Phil: Real- okay, you think he's that not awesome?
13:59
Brandan: Well, no, I, I think he's…
14:02
I, I think he is a good number two.
14:03
Phil: Yeah.
14:04
Brandan: But, you know, if I'm, if I'm had my way, I think you'd
14:07
have two more receivers better.
14:09
Phil: Sure.
14:09
And then his tackles, they're not playing well, so he's, he's dealing
14:14
with a struggling deck, and then he has to come over to Lumen and
14:17
deal with the storm of Lumen Field.
14:21
yeah, he's up against it.
14:23
It's weird that some fans are already calling for Drew Lock after one game back
14:28
that actually was not terrible at all.
14:31
I…
14:32
But, yeah.
14:34
I think that the, the pass defense of the Chargers does give
14:38
Sam a chance to really thrive.
14:40
Not to mention he has JSN as his number one, not Ladd McConkey.
14:44
Clinton: Mm-hmm.
14:45
Phil: Yep.
14:46
Okay, Lightning Rod will take a backseat now.
14:50
It's been off the board.
14:50
Brandan, where do you wanna go next?
14:52
Brandan: I want the Lightning Speed.
14:57
Phil: Lightning…
14:57
Okay, so now we get to the question that I tipped off in the opening.
15:01
Brandan, what if you talk about what you expect from the speedsters in this game?
15:06
We have Keaton Mitchell and Rashid Shaheed in this matchup.
15:10
What kind of roles do you anticipate from these lightning burst speed demons?
15:15
Brandan: Yeah.
15:16
We talked a little Rashid Shaheed in the flagship show, and how he only
15:20
has, a little over 50 yards on the season in the receiving game.
15:24
We wanna see more also in special teams.
15:27
So, I just, I need to see more with Shaheed and, you know, maybe, …
15:35
I, I'm not ready to, just, completely wad up the contract
15:41
that, we gave him in the off-season and, and toss it aside.
15:44
But I, I think we all are holding Shaheed to a higher standard because
15:48
he had that payday, too, and- He gets
15:50
Phil: a
15:50
Brandan: million
15:51
Phil: bucks- Last year
15:51
a game now.
15:51
Once you get a million- Yeah … bucks a game, we all want something.
15:54
Brandan: Yeah, last year it was like, oh, we had this nice trade piece and
15:57
it didn't cost us a lot, and he had so many impact- impactful moments, like…
16:03
And, and we haven't seen those impactful moments yet.
16:07
and I don't know if this is necessarily the week for
16:11
him, but, Keaton Mitchell is a, a very electric player.
16:15
He's probably a guy that I would choose to feature more because- Omarion Hampton
16:23
has been having similar types of struggles with fumbles on this Chargers offense.
16:28
And Clinton and I talked about on three and three out how the, w- with E-
16:35
EPA- Mm-hmm … and how Jadarian Price has had negative EPA, like around negative 13.
16:41
Clinton: Yeah,
16:42
Brandan: brutal.
16:42
It, it's been even more.
16:43
It, it's been worse for Omarion Hampton.
16:45
The, the reason why it isn't, Jadarian hasn't beat on EPA- negative EPA per play
16:51
because he, the, he's run fewer plays.
16:54
Okay.
16:54
Omarion Hampton's run more plays, but he's deeper into the
16:58
negative than Jadarian Price is.
17:00
It's like negative 16, so he's cost his team 16 points, - Yeah
17:05
through his turnovers.
17:07
And, I think that if the Chargers are going to wanna win this game, they,
17:16
either they have to sideline Hampton and, and feature Mitchell a little more, or
17:21
Hampton has to work out his fumble issues too through these first three games.
17:25
Phil: And he might be a counterpunch to us because we're
17:28
so strong, when it comes to our front seven, speed might be less our
17:33
thing and more strength, so- Well,
17:35
Brandan: speed's kind of our thing too.
17:36
Phil: Well, we do have speed, but, yeah.
17:39
I mean, depending on the personnel grouping.
17:41
I just feel like our edge guys are strength guys, not speed guy.
17:45
And I don't know about Drake.
17:47
Do we think Drake's fast or just really smart?
17:51
Which
17:51
Clinton: Drake?
17:52
Sorry
17:53
Phil: Drake, Drake Thomas?
17:58
Clinton: Oh, oh, sorry.
17:59
I gotcha.
17:59
Yeah.
17:59
I was, I was-
18:00
' Phil: Cause he missed the- He, I was stuck on, yeah, I was stuck on Maye.
18:02
I was looking at- He, he kind of gave away the edge in a, at a huge moment last week.
18:04
I was wondering if it was just a bad choice, or do we
18:07
think he could get beat on
18:08
Clinton: that?
18:08
I, I thought on that play, he, I thought, I thought he was held
18:09
pretty good in that play, too.
18:10
I think it is a good old tug on that jersey- Grab, yeah
18:13
right, right when he's about to…
18:14
I think he's there, so I, I think Drake is pretty, Thomas is pretty
18:17
cerebral, and really sniffs out the run more often than not.
18:21
Now,
18:22
Brandan: look- Yes, I don't think of him being quick, though, or, or- Yeah.
18:24
Clinton: Yeah.
18:24
Yeah, but he's quick to- He's very fast … he's quick to fire, though.
18:26
He's not, I'm not saying he's, he's gon- he's gonna win a three-cone drill.
18:30
He's a good athlete, certainly.
18:31
He wouldn't be playing, but he's also, I think he's usually a step
18:34
ahead of, most run games.
18:36
That's why, why we get to call him TFL Thomas.
18:39
You don't get TFLs- Yeah … without firing quickly, so I think he's
18:42
very fast to recognize patterns.
18:45
I think he's
18:45
Phil: helped,
18:45
Clinton: helped.
18:46
Phil: Getting Eman, getting Eman closer to 90%, like he's supposed to
18:48
be playing, will definitely help us with the speed in the linebacker area.
18:52
Yeah,
18:52
Clinton: that would- I would think so, too.
18:53
Phil: Yeah.
18:53
Clinton: I, I agree.
18:54
so, you know, I, like I said earlier, Keaton Mitchell worries
18:59
me because I think they have an opportunity to up his, up his volume.
19:02
Yeah.
19:02
And I think that's the dude who is way more special.
19:06
you know, his, his, average carries, yards per
19:10
carry are above six last game.
19:12
I know it's a small sample size, but six and a half per carry is
19:15
like, dude, give that ball more.
19:17
Give that guy more f- more touches, and I think they will.
19:20
I just think they're gonna try the outside more, 'cause that's the type of…
19:23
He is not an A-gap runner.
19:25
He is not a goal line type of dude.
19:28
His body, his body size, you know, kinda dictates that in the NFL.
19:32
But he is a very fast dude out there, very quick twitchy.
19:39
And again, I, I think we saw 15 carries from Hampton last
19:43
game, eight from Mitchell.
19:44
Now, they might be very similar.
19:47
It might be, like, around the same thing, but I would not be shocked if
19:50
that evens out even a bit more, guys.
19:52
And every time Keaton Mitchell touched the ball, he's one of
19:56
those dudes that can house it.
19:58
Yeah.
19:58
That's how fast he is.
19:59
So Mitchell's gotta be super disciplined.
20:01
You know, last play of the game, well, basically last play when Mariota
20:05
keeps it, DeLaw jumps inside, right?
20:08
DeLaw is trying to crash down.
20:10
They got nine, nine yards to go for a first down, and situationally-
20:14
Phil: Yeah
20:14
… Clinton: we don't need a, we don't need a TFL there, and I love Demarcus Lawrence.
20:17
Yeah.
20:17
But DeLaw takes the cheese, bites down hard, Mariota escapes
20:22
and slides for his first down.
20:24
It's like, dude, if they got a three-yard gain there- Sure … or
20:26
a two-yard gain, nobody cares.
20:28
But you can't give up a 10-yarder.
20:30
So I'm sure, Macdonald will drill that with, with the team, guys.
20:36
Shaheed real quickly for me, I've been on the record for a couple of
20:39
weeks now, I wanna see less Shaheed.
20:41
I wanna see more Horton.
20:42
So I don't know what to expect from Rashid Shaheed.
20:45
I wanna see Horton returning kicks, not punts.
20:47
I have a specific reason for that, but kickoffs I'd love to see Horton,
20:51
and I'd love to see Horton getting, when it's, when it's 12 personnel
20:56
Horton being wide receiver two when it makes sense, and then when it's 11
20:59
personnel, Horton being on the field with Kupp and JSN and less Shaheed.
21:04
So I'd be totally okay if Shaheed has less and Horton has more.
21:08
Phil: There was all that great talk in the off-season
21:10
before, Sam got hurt.
21:12
Like he and Shaheed were just sharing a mind, like we were supposed to see
21:16
this great new chemistry, and we've yet to really see it develop because
21:19
JSN's always open, so why bother?
21:22
Brandan: We did see the o- the one deep attempt to Shaheed
21:25
when he was in double coverage.
21:27
Yeah.
21:28
Phil: It was too forced.
21:29
But,
21:29
Brandan: so I think they're aware- It was a choice, yeah … that they,
21:33
I think there's an awareness that they want that connection to, to work.
21:38
And so will we see m- I could see them trying to up that to a
21:42
couple of deep attempts though in this game, and I, 'cause I don't
21:46
think that they're ready to…
21:48
They, they paid the guy.
21:49
I don't think they're ready to quickly move on to Tory Horton even though
21:53
maybe in a few weeks we start to see that he is the better option.
21:56
I, I just don't think that we're there yet.
21:57
Clinton: You're probably right.
21:58
You're probably right.
21:59
Yeah.
21:59
It, it's just, it's not the outcome I want right now 'cause I, I've, you know, you
22:03
know me, I'm there on the fi- practice field all the way from Connecticut.
22:06
But personally, I think Horton's better, and I'm gonna stick to that
22:09
until, maybe I'm proven wrong.
22:11
I'm, I'll be happy to be proven wrong, but I think Horton's a
22:13
better r- wide receiver right now.
22:15
Phil: I'd like to see Shaheed on some crossing routes and some
22:18
in routes, some of those things, 'cause everybody's expecting the
22:21
post and the nines and everything.
22:23
Well,
22:23
Clinton: those are the exact routes that Horton caught last week.
22:26
Phil: Mm-hmm.
22:27
Clinton: Digs.
22:27
Yeah.
22:27
In routes, 15- Sure … 15 yards.
22:30
Ball thrown behind him.
22:30
Sam's good at
22:30
Phil: those
22:31
Clinton: Caught it.
22:31
Yeah, he's real good at those.
22:32
Phil: He's real- Why won't he throw one to Shaheed?
22:33
I haven't seen him even attempt one yet.
22:36
Clinton: Don't know.
22:36
Don't know.
22:36
Brandan: It's been one game though.
22:38
Phil: That's true.
22:38
That's also very true.
22:40
We have a sample size of one.
22:42
Clinton: Well- Okay … sort of.
22:43
We have a sample size of eight games last year too
22:46
Brandan: Right.
22:46
Oh- But we're talking about the, everything that we heard over
22:49
the off-season- Yes … got us hyped up for this combination.
22:51
Clinton: Look- Yes … I'm happy to be very wrong on this, and she'd go bananas,
22:55
82 yards and two touchdowns, Sunday.
22:56
I would, I will come on and whatever.
22:59
I'll just say, "Yeah, he's I'm dumb."
23:01
hope that's the case.
23:03
I'd just throw the ball to Horton.
23:05
I think he's better.
23:06
Phil: And then also, can't we use him on, like, some end arounds
23:09
or some, like, some, you know-
23:11
Clinton: Should
23:11
Phil: be able to … jet sweeps?
23:12
You would think so.
23:14
I know.
23:14
I gotta stop talking about this.
23:16
- We gotta keep going, which means Clinton gets to pick,
23:19
take us in a new direction here.
23:21
Clinton: Okay.
23:22
I am gonna go with lightning strike, 'cause that sounds fierce.
23:27
Phil: Lightning strike.
23:28
Let's talk about their coordinators and how they might
23:30
strike us a little bit, Clinton.
23:31
Mm.
23:32
Okay.
23:32
What if we talk about how the Chargers will plan to attack Seattle?
23:35
Is there anywhere, other than Keaton Mitchell, which we've talked about,
23:39
anywhere, or maybe how they use him, you expect their coordinators from
23:43
either side to try and exploit us?
23:46
Clinton: Very, very happy I got this first.
23:49
Phil: Okay.
23:49
Clinton: because brought it up on three and three out this week.
23:53
We had, like, six or seven, like, major topics of discussion, and Brandan, I
23:58
brought it up with you, and you were like, "Well, it's not exactly…"
24:00
You know, you had a difference of opinion on what was the bigger
24:03
concern, which was a cool debate.
24:05
It was all good.
24:07
Cool, stat that I saw recently was Seattle is, like, I think, whatever, way,
24:11
way up there in run defense, basically per play efficiency on the run D.
24:16
you know, so basically stopping the run.
24:19
They're way, way, way up there, like, top five easily.
24:22
Cool.
24:22
Seattle is also 26th in a negative way, so 26 out of 32, when it's, third and
24:30
whatever the, third and distance to go.
24:32
Mm-hmm.
24:32
So Seattle is 26th and third, and the shortest distance to get a
24:37
first down, like, third and 6.2
24:39
or something like that, where the top teams are actually, like, I think
24:41
the Vikings are, like, third and 9.1.
24:44
Oh.
24:44
It's a huge discrepancy.
24:46
So- Logically, if we're so good against the run, and we are really, really
24:52
good against the run, then how the heck are we 26th in third and down
24:57
a distance to go for a first down?
24:58
The things do not equate unless there's something…
25:01
This is kinda like the, the Padawan saying, "Somebody erased the planet.
25:05
Something's missing," when they're looking for the missing planet in Star Wars there.
25:08
The, the missing thing is we're giving up way too much checkdown stuff early
25:13
in downs to set up second and two, second and three, second and one.
25:16
So if I'm McDaniel, I'm looking at Ladd McConkey all day long and
25:21
saying, "We're in so much nickel.
25:23
The Seahawks are in, like, 70-something percent nickel."
25:26
That, like, crazy amount of nickel because we got hybrid dudes who
25:29
are really playing linebacker.
25:31
Cool.
25:31
If we're in that kinda nickel with guys that are actually DBs and safeties, we
25:37
cannot surrender six, seven yard dunk, you know, dink and dunks to set up
25:42
second and short and third and short, 'cause you're gonna get burnt, especially
25:45
by good teams, as the year goes on.
25:47
So I completely expect McDaniel to try and exploit that through Ladd McConkey,
25:52
and if we see it in the first quarter and blending into the second quarter,
25:55
and it's like, it's sec- just watch.
25:57
Is it second and two?
25:58
Is it second and three?
25:59
They just get another easy seven yards and, McConkey turned around, the
26:03
ball was in his chest, and, and then we rally to the ball, but we're not getting
26:06
any PBUs or really trying to defend that any other way, I think it's bad news.
26:11
That's how I would attack us right now, and I suspect McDaniel's no dummy.
26:16
Phil: Yeah, we don't get short range PBUs very often.
26:19
We kinda let them get it and tackle them,
26:21
Clinton: which is all that- Which I understand.
26:22
It's hard.
26:22
It's hard, but- And then Nwosu
26:24
Brandan: had a short range PBU.
26:25
Clinton: That's right.
26:26
Like, it does happen- Bit of a bit
26:28
but it, that's what's being exploited right now.
26:30
Otherwise, the data would not be what the data is.
26:32
Like, it's- Yeah … they, they can't s- that's where they're getting into shorter
26:36
second and third downs, and, that's hard to defend when the game wears on.
26:41
Phil: Awesome awareness.
26:42
We're trying to mitigate explosives, so it makes sense as to why, but yeah.
26:47
Clinton: Yeah, but these guys are not explosive.
26:49
Ladd McConkey, great slot guy.
26:50
Quentin, Quentin Johnston, not explosive, can't separate, doesn't have good hands.
26:54
So do it.
26:56
Phil: Okay.
26:56
Clinton: You know, Tre- Trey Harris is Fine.
26:59
He's
26:59
Phil: okay Yeah.
27:01
How about you, Brandan?
27:01
Where are they gonna- Yeah … try to strike us on either side of the ball?
27:04
Brandan: Look, I'll take the dink and dunk stuff all day long.
27:07
That's fine.
27:08
I, if, if I were them, I-
27:11
Phil: It's
27:11
Clinton: not fine.
27:12
It's not fine.
27:12
It's killing us.
27:13
Brandan: We have the best defense in the league.
27:15
It, it is fine.
27:16
the thing that I would worry about them trying to exploit, we've
27:20
seen in the, these first three weeks, Josh Jobes played pretty well.
27:25
Phil: Mm-hmm.
27:25
Brandan: But we've also seen momentary lapses.
27:28
And so I would think that they're gonna try to get Trey Harris
27:33
one-on-one with Josh Jobe in, in a moment to where they can exploit that
27:38
and, and pick up a big explosive.
27:40
And if they do, I, I think that that's where, i- if they, if they find a play
27:45
like that in the playbook to where they can exploit Jobe, I, I think that that's
27:49
gonna go a lot longer to getting them into the red zone to where they'd wanna be.
27:54
And then, gosh, I'd like to see more out of our defense in the red zone 'cause
27:59
they, they gave up, what was it?
28:03
It, it was only, well, I guess only, two of three touchdowns in red
28:08
zone appearances, but I would like to see that number at zero, Phil.
28:12
Phil: Yeah.
28:12
That'd be good.
28:13
It feels like we're getting so many quick pressures, and yet they're still
28:17
getting some of those things downfield.
28:20
That makes me feel like our coverage isn't holding quite well enough.
28:23
Maybe it's more on Clinton's point that that's happening, it's these quick things,
28:27
because we're pressuring them quickly and they're still completing passes.
28:30
Did you guys have anything on Chris O'Leary, like, the, the DC, where he
28:34
will try to exploit us in, attacking us in some kind of way, Clinton?
28:39
Clinton: I just think that they, they have some talent on the edge group
28:42
there, and th- and that's where-
28:44
Phil: Some old guys
28:44
… Clinton: it, it just, it's simple.
28:46
Like, that's, not, not too deep here or, or very much analysis.
28:50
Tulley's the young guy.
28:50
Tulley, yeah, Tulley being the- Yeah … the young- the youngest, yeah, the…
28:52
He's the best rusher out there, so nothing much deeper than that for me.
28:56
I don't specifically know the Chargers defense well enough,
28:59
to come up with, like, schematically how they might try this.
29:03
But, so I'll just leave it there 'cause I don't have a, a huge
29:06
depth of knowledge on their
29:07
Brandan: defense.
29:07
Well, they should try and stop JSN, but, - … we've seen, we've
29:10
seen how that's worked out for teams so far through three weeks.
29:13
Phil: Yeah.
29:13
Good luck with that.
29:15
Good lu- they might, they might be able to hold our run down.
29:17
I think they've got opportunity and talent to do that if they focus on it.
29:21
I don't know that-
29:22
Brandan: Yeah.
29:23
Clinton: Maybe … I mean, Jam- if they leave the better running back in,
29:26
James Cook, as Adam said last night, James Cook fumbled in the first series.
29:30
He got, what?
29:31
23 more touches.
29:33
Brandan: If we're leaving in talented running backs, I want them
29:35
to hand the ball to Or- Omari and Hampton all day long because I think
29:39
we'll get one on the ground, if they keep handing it off to him.
29:42
Clinton: I think it's a win if, if Keaton's not on the field, so.
29:48
Brandan: All right.
29:48
Phil: I can see that.
29:49
Did it not?
29:50
It didn't cross off.
29:51
I tried to cross it off.
29:52
This thing doesn't like me.
29:53
Brandan: It, it was strike.
29:54
There
29:54
Phil: it is.
29:54
There it is.
29:55
Strike is gone.
29:56
Brandan, ride Charger round.
29:58
Brandan: I want to ride the lightning.
30:00
Nice.
30:00
Phil: Ride the lightning.
30:02
Okay, here we go.
30:03
We have JSN riding the lightning.
30:06
We've just been looking at J- Oh, this is not where I thought
30:07
Brandan: the question was gonna go.
30:08
Okay.
30:09
Phil: It went right to what we were just kind of peeking at,
30:11
thinking at, pointing toward.
30:13
Every game has to do with JSN in some kind of way when the Hawks are playing.
30:16
What if the Hawks attempt to keep riding the JSN lightning?
30:20
Can his electric start continue against these Bolts, Brandan?
30:25
Brandan: I, I think it can-
30:26
because I look at the secondary and they've, I, I don't
30:32
think it's necessarily good.
30:34
I, I was surprised when I…
30:35
Sometimes I, I pop on PFF to see what the lineups are and, and how it kind of
30:40
looks, and they have, like, three out of their four DBs that are graded out highly.
30:45
And I, just what I've seen through the first three games, I, I
30:49
didn't expect that to be true.
30:51
So, I think that they're gonna be able to throw against this Chargers defense,
30:58
and I think with this historic start that we've seen- I think it continues.
31:04
And the reason why, I, I, I was thinking that this might be leading toward
31:08
the firing of, of Coach Harbaugh-
31:11
Phil: Oh
31:11
… Brandan: on the Chargers' side, because, riding the lightning
31:14
generally re- refers to death row.
31:16
And so maybe, maybe JSN is so good that, the, the calls
31:21
for Coach John Harbaugh…
31:23
I need to make sure and be specific about that, because there have been
31:26
calls for Coach Jay Harbaugh on our team-
31:28
Phil: Yeah
31:29
… Brandan: based on our special teams' performance through three weeks.
31:32
But, I, I think that this continues to the point to maybe after this game,
31:37
to tie these two together to where I thought the question would also go,
31:40
that, JSN puts that pressure, that, Chargers fans start
31:45
calling for Coach John Harbaugh's head.
31:47
Phil: Ooh.
31:47
M- maybe JSN's gonna silver surf, ride the lightning- Mm … and zap Harbaugh
31:52
with it somehow in this game by them being completely incapable of stopping him.
31:56
The only way to stop JSN is pass rush.
31:58
I, I don't think there's a defensive back way to real- u- unless you just
32:02
wanna leave everybody else open.
32:04
Clinton: Well, let's, let's talk about that.
32:05
I think that's interesting, because the Chargers generate a decent
32:08
amount of pressure with four.
32:11
Okay.
32:11
It's not, it's not outstanding.
32:12
It's not- Okay … bottom barrel by any means.
32:15
The interesting part about the Chargers is they don't blitz a lot.
32:17
They're one of the, they're one of the teams in the league with, like,
32:20
the f- the fewest blitz percentages.
32:22
So they still get a, a decent amount of pressure with their
32:26
four, and they don't blitz.
32:27
So Brandan, how does a, how does a defensive backfield that maybe looks okay,
32:32
mid-ish, how do they get good PFF grades?
32:35
Well, you got a lot of dudes, you know, you're not blitzing a lot.
32:37
You're not putting a lot of dudes into, situations that are,
32:40
that put a lot of stress on them.
32:42
I don't think that the Tiger's gonna change his stripes here, and all
32:46
of a sudden they're gonna go blitz happy with a team when you got a
32:49
JSN who can, if you're gonna leave him on a one-on-one, good luck.
32:53
And Sam's clearly skilled enough to feed him the ball over and over again.
32:57
So- Of the-
32:59
Brandan: Pressure guys are the edge guys, though.
33:01
And-
33:02
Clinton: Yeah … we
33:02
Brandan: have a couple pretty talented edge offensive linemen.
33:05
Clinton: We got good tackles, yeah.
33:06
I mean, so I mean, Abe's had an okay start, but again, I
33:09
think that's hi- his, his part-
33:11
Brandan: I don't think he's given up a lot of pressure, though.
33:12
Clinton: Yeah, I think he's been okay.
33:13
but it's all good.
33:14
Let's, let's like- Yeah, he's, he struggled
33:15
Phil: in the run game, but he hasn't given up a lot of pressure.
33:16
And Cross- Yeah … has been awesome.
33:18
Clinton: And Cross has been, yeah, I, it's, Chorizo Cross as I
33:21
like, as I like to call him because he's, he's just, he's a little spicy.
33:24
I like that guy.
33:25
I like, I like Cross a lot.
33:27
What I'm, what I'm getting at here is simply they don't blitz that much.
33:31
So if you're gonna try and depress, JSN, then if you're not blitzing a
33:35
lot, then you could do everything you possibly can to bracket, double, triple-
33:39
Phil: Sure.
33:39
Clinton: That's true … to say, "Okay, look, we're gonna reduce you
33:43
to a quote-unquote average game."
33:45
For him, which is probably like 685, maybe a touchdown, which is ridiculous,
33:50
but that's kinda like a depressed average game for JSN right now.
33:54
So if we rotate it over a little bit, it's like they don't blitz a lot.
33:56
Okay, cool.
33:57
So if they don't blitz a lot, they're probably gonna
34:00
overweight on JSN because duh.
34:02
So what does that mean?
34:03
It means we have to have-
34:04
Phil: Play action
34:05
Clinton: kills you.
34:05
Well, play action, but we ask, we have to have success elsewhere in this game.
34:08
Yeah.
34:08
We have got to have success in volume and not just an explosive
34:12
or two, and without 45 attempts.
34:14
We have to have success within reason, 30, 32 attempts.
34:19
So we need one of our other pass catchers, to step up meaningfully because I do
34:24
think they're gonna put all, all hands on deck- Mm-hmm … to attempt to slow JSN
34:28
because they don't deploy lots of blitzes.
34:30
We'll see how it all goes.
34:32
We'll see how it all goes.
34:32
But of all the times you could bet over under on JSN, this one feels like he
34:37
might just be at like an average day-
34:39
Phil: Interesting
34:40
… Clinton: for me.
34:41
Phil: If they bracket and they don't blitz, that's play
34:44
action destruction, right?
34:46
Or that's, …
34:47
Right?
34:48
Because now you're, you're, you're- Pretending like you're gonna run.
34:54
They're on JSN.
34:55
Somebody else has single coverage or totally open on an, on an easy dump off.
35:00
On the other hand, you could also just actually run them to death if
35:04
they're so focused on stopping JSN so they don't know what's gonna happen,
35:08
and hopefully we could actually get a run game going if they're totally…
35:10
That, that seemed to- Yeah … happen quite a bit last season, right?
35:13
They were so, teams were so determined to hold down JSN that we really
35:17
got K9 going i- in a great way, .
35:20
Clinton: I, I love the point there, too.
35:22
I think the, the flare routes and the easy stuff, I think Fleury has shown
35:26
in three games he can generate things that get f- free squares, you know?
35:31
So I expect that if it's so overloaded on JSN, which I think it's gonna be,
35:35
then just like you said, Phil, you should have some mismatches where you've got
35:39
speedy guys on- Yeah … linebackers, and you should be able to find the
35:43
hot roots and get free yards there.
35:45
So we'll see.
35:45
That'd be a big thing to watch.
35:47
Phil: I didn't notice them getting a lot of pressure against
35:50
the Bills unless they blitzed.
35:51
I know you said they didn't blitz a lot, but they seemed to be kind of effective
35:54
when they did, and when they didn't blitz, they weren't really getting after Allen
35:58
very much, at least in the Bills game.
36:00
But they've also got a even better line, I think.
36:03
Clinton: Yes.
36:03
Yeah, Bill's o- line's pretty darn good.
36:05
Yeah.
36:06
Phil: Okay, Clinton, two left.
36:07
We can have a lightning charge or a lightning round.
36:10
Clinton: Let's go with the lightning round.
36:11
That one sounded like we had a little game, game within a game, potentially.
36:14
Phil: You guessed it right.
36:16
We're gonna do a lightning round.
36:17
I have written down some questions, and here's how it goes.
36:20
Starting with you, and then Brandan will get to do the follow-up.
36:23
I don't know what's easier or harder.
36:24
Probably harder- Hm … for Brandan to end, so you're probably glad you chose.
36:27
What if I blast you both with questions where you only offer a
36:31
single statement answer- That's fun.
36:37
… and we're just gonna lightning round through.
36:37
Here we go, Clinton.
36:37
Clinton: Okay.
36:38
Phil: The key stat for winning this game is…
36:43
Clinton: Sam under 33 pass attempts.
36:46
Phil: I knew it.
36:46
I knew you'd say that.
36:47
Brandan.
36:49
Brandan: offense.
36:52
well, defense getting a turnover.
36:54
Phil: Defense getting a turnover.
36:55
Okay.
36:57
Clinton, this player must be neutralized.
37:02
Clinton: Ladd.
37:03
Phil: Ladd.
37:04
Clinton: It's, it's
37:04
Phil: Ladd.
37:04
Brandan.
37:05
Brandan: Julien Peloto.
37:07
Clinton: Ooh, I like that one.
37:07
I like that one.
37:08
Phil: Good call.
37:10
Clinton, easiest position group for the Hawks to exploit.
37:19
Clinton: Lightning round, huh?
37:20
hmm.
37:24
Okay, I I'm gonna just go with the linebacking core based on what we
37:30
said and getting some, getting some mismatches that we just talked about.
37:33
So I'll stop there- Yeah … 'cause lightning round.
37:36
Phil: Like- Chargers DBs … their linebacker core.
37:37
Brandan.
37:38
Clinton: Yeah, yeah, their linebacking core being exposed by
37:40
our, by our sp- some speed guys.
37:42
Phil: Yep,
37:42
Brandan: I'm gonna say Chargers DBs 'cause we
37:44
Phil: have
37:44
Brandan: Jason.
37:47
Clinton: Chargers.
37:47
Smart, smart.
37:48
Phil: Clinton, something you need to see more of from
37:52
the defense in this matchup.
37:54
Clinton: Oh, the defense.
37:54
Okay, phew, oh, I had, I had a big answer ready for the offense.
37:57
Phil: From our defense.
37:57
Oh, nevermind.
37:57
Something you need to see more of.
37:59
Clinton: Oh, I need to see more of.
38:00
Okay, yeah, it's what I said earlier, but I, I want to see more, more aggressive,
38:05
more man, on, on early, early downs when they're passing, so.
38:10
More
38:10
Phil: man on early downs.
38:11
Clinton: Yeah.
38:12
Phil: Brandan.
38:12
Brandan: Yes, yes.
38:13
Ju…
38:13
I, I wanna see Julian Love back on the field.
38:17
Phil: Julian.
38:17
Oh, I would like to see more of that.
38:20
Clinton, area you hope to see move forward in our run game?
38:25
Clinton: Hmm, goal to go.
38:27
we have, we are tied for 15th, tied for first with 15 goal to go
38:33
snaps, which is five yards or in with the Ravens, and we have got to get
38:39
better there, so run the freaking ball into the end zone from goal to go.
38:44
Phil: I thought you were gonna say more Price, but okay.
38:45
Brandan.
38:46
Brandan: Well,
38:46
Clinton: I was gonna
38:46
Brandan: say that, that that was, that was my answer
38:48
Clinton: because, - Well, Price- Well-
38:50
Price is the guy that needs to get the ball
38:51
… Brandan: Price is in, just in short yardage.
38:53
I, we haven't- That's what I mean … seen Price in short yardage at all.
38:56
I know.
38:56
I, I wanna see Jadarian Price carry the rock on a short yardage play, just one.
39:02
Clinton: And make it from the two, and he scores.
39:04
Brandan: Please.
39:06
Phil: Okay, I knew that- I said at least
39:07
Brandan: one
39:07
Phil: was gonna be Clinton's answer.
39:08
At least.
39:08
Brandan is in agreement.
39:10
Okay, now we're go a whole different area, but I think it's
39:12
fascinating for a lot of us.
39:14
You guys have gone to a lot of games with little Flockers.
39:17
Mm-hmm.
39:17
Here you go.
39:18
Most emotional, juiced up Flocker to watch the game in person with, Clinton?
39:27
Clinton: let's see Pretty juiced.
39:31
James is pretty juiced.
39:32
oh, man.
39:35
I'd, racking my brain with who I've, who I've sit- sat
39:38
next to throughout the years.
39:40
I'll just go Adam.
39:41
Adam's pretty easy.
39:41
You know, it's a, it's a familiar square, but Adam brings it the entire game.
39:45
He doesn't…
39:46
He, he's in it the entire time.
39:47
So, let's go Adam.
39:49
Phil: Okay.
39:49
Brandan?
39:49
Clinton: Familiar.
39:50
Phil: Lisa
39:50
Brandan: Carlson.
39:51
Phil: Nice.
39:52
Lisa Carlson.
39:53
So there you
39:53
Clinton: are.
39:53
I don't think I've ever sat next to Lisa at a game, actually- She's
39:57
far away … in all these years.
39:58
Phil: You don't have to be right next to them to tell how juiced up and
40:00
emotional they are in the game, right?
40:03
Clinton: No, I g- suppose not.
40:05
Phil: Some people can emit that from a distance.
40:08
Brandan, looks like you get lightning charge.
40:11
I guess I don't need to ask you.
40:12
Brandan: No.
40:12
Phil: No.
40:12
I'll
40:12
Brandan: take that one.
40:13
Phil: Okay, you're gonna get it.
40:15
What if we talk sa- that's not right.
40:17
Clinton: That's not right.
40:18
That's
40:19
Brandan: Rod.
40:19
Clinton: Back to Rod.
40:20
Hot Rod.
40:21
Double dipping Hot
40:21
Phil: Rod.
40:21
As I hit the wrong button somehow.
40:23
That's okay.
40:23
There we go.
40:24
Clinton: There
40:24
Phil: we go.
40:24
This is something that's been bothering me and maybe some other fans a little bit.
40:28
the scoring- Mm … and the, and the really, the dominance in the first
40:32
half hasn't been there yet for three full games, and I ha- kind of have the
40:36
results of the first half on the screen- Mm … for those of you watching at home.
40:40
Brandan, what if our Hawks can finally charge out to a great first half?
40:43
How might that happen in this matchup?
40:46
Brandan: I think, having…
40:48
That was one thing that I felt like we had a pretty good, judge of,
40:54
that Fleury was gonna have these plans to start the game to, you
41:00
know, kind of march the ball down the field a bit, and I, I don't…
41:04
I feel like not having Sam kind of robbed us for, of that through the, the first
41:09
two games at least, and then we didn't get it against Washington because I
41:14
think in part of their rushing offense.
41:17
So, I would expect a, a really nice thought out plan, set of plays that's
41:25
gonna march us down the field against this Chargers defense and get us on the
41:29
board on the very first drive of the game.
41:32
And if we, if we can get out to that kind of start, then I, I think the,
41:35
the other drives that could lead to a great first half can make it happen.
41:39
But I think the key part is getting that first drive with that first
41:44
touchdown off the board, right away.
41:47
Phil: Yeah, against the Commanders, they have a terrible pass defense
41:50
and a really good run defense, and for like three drives Fleury was
41:53
determined to run into brick walls.
41:55
Mm-hmm.
41:55
And so overall, in the first half of the first three games, we are down 31-17.
42:00
Can we close that margin and how in this matchup, Clint?
42:03
Clinton: Hmm.
42:04
There's lots of ways.
42:05
it's interesting too, because yes, you want that early touchdown.
42:09
We saw that against the Cardinals.
42:10
We had a 82-yard touchdown- That's true
42:12
and then, then it kind of just, then they scored and we kind of stalled
42:15
out, right, for the rest of that half to take it to, sevens by halftime.
42:19
So I'll, I'll go, I'll take it to a different area.
42:24
to close out a half- properly.
42:28
So meaning if we're, if we get the ball first, we do not allow the team
42:34
to get a chance at a double dip.
42:35
Mm-hmm.
42:35
If we get, if we, defer and we get the ball second,
42:39
we get a chance to double dip.
42:41
Like, we've, we had it, we had it with the Commanders, right?
42:44
We end up giving them back three points after we get the three points,
42:48
and it's because we could not…
42:50
All we had to do was sustain the drive, get one more first down, and give,
42:54
Jay Mai a closer field goal, not a 57-yarder in the rain, which he made, but
43:01
we gave them back time, and they get down there and they kick their own 57-yarder.
43:05
So we need to land the end of the first half, and if that happens, whether we
43:10
prevent a double dip or we get a chance to double dip, I think we'll look back
43:13
and be like, "Oh, we're up 10 at halftime?
43:15
Sweet."
43:15
Yeah.
43:15
I think that'll be a really good thing to look for.
43:17
Phil: That's a great strategy, and we were good at that last year.
43:19
Very.
43:19
There's a couple strategy elements to this that maybe people don't think about.
43:23
One is exactly the one you're talking about.
43:25
The other one is if you've got a strength in the pass game and they've
43:29
got a weakness in the pass defense, and the reverse is you're not that great
43:33
at running yet, but, and they're good at defending the run, you can still
43:37
develop the run game by dominating them with the pass game in, like,
43:41
let's say the first three or four drives, and then the rest of the game,
43:45
now you can crush them in the run.
43:47
To try to do that in the reverse, you're playing with fire a little bit,
43:50
that then you get behind and you get something like what happened last week,
43:53
where we kept trying to run early.
43:55
We're behind, now we have to pass, and before you know it, Darnold's throwing
43:58
380 yards, and we couldn't pass for the whole rest of the game, which
44:02
if we had in the first three, four drives, we probably could have ran.
44:06
So, sometimes I think Flurry kind of has-
44:09
Brandan: Maybe we gotta turn it over.
44:10
Phil: Yeah, and not turn it over.
44:11
Diagnose a little bit about the opponent and where our strengths
44:14
are, which is often gonna be JSN for as long as he's on our team.
44:19
Mm-hmm.
44:19
Is they, that should be a consideration for those of us that want to run.
44:24
we should still lean into our strength and make them def- make them stop JSN.
44:29
Is that, is that crazy thinking?
44:32
Brandan: No, no, I, I like that thinking.
44:34
Phil: Yeah.
44:34
Okay, good.
44:35
I, I didn't know where, where I was on that.
44:37
All right, we are gonna get to your what if Super Hawks, we call them wishes
44:41
here on Seahawks What If, but before we find out Brandan and Clinton's,
44:45
we're gonna find out from our friends in Discord who gotontheflock.com.
44:49
We're glad for those who have done that, and they're our friends, which
44:53
means they get to drop these wishes in the magic wishing well that
44:56
everybody knows where it's at in Lumen.
44:58
Mm-hmm.
44:58
We have a direct access point to it from our SeaHawkers Discord.
45:03
The very first one was Car Car.
45:05
She got in early.
45:06
Julian love plays.
45:08
That's probably the most important wish that I've seen, and I think
45:11
Brandan had that one as well for something in, in one of the questions.
45:14
Josh, no rotation at right guard, more consistent O- O-line play.
45:19
Sorry, Josh, our coach already said that you don't get your wish this week-
45:24
… so I wish I had told you in time.
45:25
You could've got a new one.
45:26
He's gonna continue to do the swapping.
45:28
We'll go over to the right side.
45:30
Those came in next.
45:31
I just needed the space properly.
45:33
Godzera wishes for a run game.
45:36
That would be a fun thing.
45:37
Keep getting the tight ends involved.
45:39
That was nice.
45:40
Better ball security.
45:41
That would be nice.
45:42
I'm with you.
45:43
And then we have KNTSTP, we get a 100-yard rusher.
45:48
Mm.
45:48
More Horton, better return game.
45:51
I think this is Clinton.
45:52
I didn't know that was your-
45:53
Clinton: Yeah,
45:54
Phil: that might be me.
45:55
It's Clinton.
45:56
Clinton.
45:56
Clinton: I got a Discord burner.
45:57
I didn't even know.
45:59
Phil: Love it.
45:59
Okay, Shoe Master Flex, zero turnovers, more barnyard at the goal
46:03
line, five sack game, and go Hawks.
46:06
Maybe you're just highly influential with some of these people, Clinton.
46:09
Like- … this is one of your followers- Essentially, I
46:11
don't know … specifically.
46:12
And then Amy, she wishes that, Jay pulls his catfish together and
46:17
makes me not look so stupid for giving him a year instead of a week.
46:20
Yeah, maybe Amy's wish last week kinda jinxed Jay.
46:24
We'll get back to this another week thing, and he can dominate again.
46:27
Bunny has some really long wishes.
46:30
Royal Horton Sheed Barner go off in a week.
46:33
LA Sparks secondary.
46:35
Oh, I get it, yeah.
46:36
I could say the same for JSN, but we all know he'll go off.
46:39
Would be nice to see a second receiving threat really torture
46:42
their paper thin secondary.
46:43
I agree, Bunny.
46:45
And then the genie in the bottle wish, this one's, kinda out there.
46:48
I wanna see our defense return to form.
46:50
That part's not.
46:51
I'm hoping that when we hoist the Lombardi in four and a half months,
46:55
we look back and say, "Wow, they had 17 consecutive shutouts."
46:59
Okay, now that's a wish.
47:01
Clearly best defense in history, or at least we just say that
47:05
DC game was an aberration.
47:07
They got back in form after that.
47:09
Thank you.
47:10
Jared-
47:10
Brandan: They're still third best in terms of points allowed-
47:12
Yeah … even after the Commanders game.
47:14
The, the, and that's kind of wild to think that- Mm-hmm … yeah, we dropped from…
47:18
Well, and we weren't even number one.
47:19
I think we were number two behind the Patriots after- Mm
47:22
two weeks.
47:23
So yeah, we go from two to three after- And- … giving up 30 points
47:27
… Phil: and 17 shutouts.
47:28
That's not really a lot to wish for.
47:30
I mean, that's just-
47:31
Brandan: I mean, that's just gonna happen.
47:32
Phil: Yeah, so good, good call, Bunny.
47:35
Jeremy, "Wish we could get a full game from Price and see what he can do.
47:39
Wish our secondary can do a job of, a better job of covering guys
47:43
a little longer so our pass rush can get home and cause some chaos."
47:46
Yes, we're pressuring.
47:47
We're not getting it finished because I think our, for whatever reason, our
47:51
coverage isn't holding quite long enough.
47:53
And when I say whatever reason, I mean Jar- Julian Love wasn't there.
47:58
Yokai Hawk, "Cohesive O-line play.
48:02
Edge setting, penetrating D-line play.
48:06
Third wish, more practice reps for special teams."
48:09
Okay, Lord getting after Jay.
48:11
Rising Hawkra, "Seahawks turning around and respond with
48:14
a win and no more turnovers."
48:17
Well, if we get no turnovers, we win.
48:19
Nate Chutes, "I wanted to be original, but I cannot.
48:23
I wish for Price to feature heavily for the run game and to dominate, and
48:28
JSN for 120 and a touchdown again."
48:32
Clinton is very much influencing people on the more Price.
48:36
we're finding that out on our network here.
48:38
So, I hope Clinton's right if that's what happens.
48:41
Anything else pop out besides Clinton's influence on all of these, Brandan?
48:46
Brandan: A lot of special teams wishes, and so- Yeah … it kind of has me a
48:51
little bit concerned because you got Jay Harbaugh going up his, against his dad.
48:55
He wants to win and defeat his dad, and I just, I hope we don't get cute with
49:02
special teams- Oh … in this game.
49:04
Yeah.
49:04
And, I just want competent.
49:06
Phil: Cute isn't good, yep.
49:08
Clinton, how about you?
49:09
Something pop out on these wishes?
49:12
Clinton: well, they call it the flock for a reason, right?
49:14
So l- l- no, that's, you called it already.
49:16
All the people that are on the same wave, whether I influence it or not,
49:19
I think it's, I think it's the obvious thing is that more Price would be,
49:23
I think we'll get a result that we want if Price touches the ball more.
49:28
Phil: I wouldn't say poisoning the well, but sweetening the well for Price.
49:32
There you go.
49:32
The wishes are going Mr.
49:33
Price's way.
49:34
It sounds like he's probably, you know, gonna have to get 100
49:37
yards this week somehow or another because we've wished for it.
49:40
Your What If Super Hawks, we start with Clinton this week.
49:44
Last week, Brandan wished for Barden- Barner 40 plus and a touchdown.
49:52
How about that, Brandan?
49:53
Clinton: Yeah.
49:54
Phil: Great.
49:55
At least something went right.
49:56
Very good.
49:57
And Clinton for the Hall sack.
49:59
He was,
50:00
Clinton: - Yeah, which, yeah, so did okay there.
50:03
-
50:03
Phil: So I guess we're good on wishes.
50:04
I just wish your scores- Yeah, we did okay … I wish your
50:06
scores had been closer to right.
50:07
That's what I wish
50:09
Clinton: Yeah.
50:10
Well, well, wait a second, but Barner did not score a touchdown.
50:12
Brandan: No.
50:13
Clinton: Right.
50:13
No.
50:13
I mean- So he had a, he had a, you know, he-
50:15
Phil: But he really got game,
50:16
Brandan: though.
50:16
Clinton: He had a good
50:16
Phil: game.
50:16
He really- He had a good game … had some screens that were beautiful.
50:18
We-
50:19
Clinton: Oh, no, listen, I love that, that game.
50:20
69 yards is a great game from most Seahawks players.
50:22
I
50:22
Brandan: mean, he should've had a touchdown based on- I agree
50:25
their positioning o- near the goal line.
50:26
Clinton: We're at the two-yard line.
50:27
I, like,
50:28
Phil: you- That should've been one, and JSN's just not sharing the receiving
50:30
one, so if Barner wants one, he's gonna have to Barner or he's gonna have to
50:33
rumble on a 70-yard screenplay himself.
50:35
Clinton: Yes.
50:36
All that.
50:36
We also didn't talk about JSN going one for one as quarterback, too, so
50:40
that was, that was something.
50:41
Phil: He's, he's got a little, he's on a little heater.
50:43
He had just mentioned that on some interview I'd heard.
50:45
He's like, "I'll play quarterback, too.
50:47
Whatever they want me to do."
50:47
And it was, like, just the week before, and sure enough, he threw one.
50:50
Clinton: It's funny.
50:51
Phil: It's funny.
50:51
What's your wish, Clinton?
50:53
Clinton: Oh, so you gotta give the people what they want, especially when you ask
50:56
them to, you know, to to agree with you.
50:59
Okay.
50:59
So I'm gonna go simply with I, I need…
51:03
It's not even a wish.
51:03
I think our Seahawks need Jadarian Price 18 touches, and- Oh … let,
51:08
let the chips fall where they may.
51:10
18-plus touches, and I think we'll get very good results from our run game slash
51:15
the, utilization of the running back.
51:17
Phil: And under one and a half fumbles, right?
51:20
Clinton: Zero.
51:20
I- I'll- I'll- I'll tack, I'll tack this on.
51:22
Under half a…
51:22
I'll tack this on.
51:23
Zero fumbles.
51:24
Phil: Okay.
51:26
I'm not, I'm not- Now I'm just being a jerk,
51:27
Clinton: sorry.
51:27
I'm not a…
51:27
No, no, I'm not oblivious to it.
51:29
You can't fumble- Yeah … and I'm asking for more trust, so I
51:31
gotta, I gotta own that part, too.
51:33
It's a good call-out.
51:34
Phil: It can't be a positive effect, even if he gets 100 yards.
51:37
If there's a fumble, it's not an overall net positive for a running back, that
51:41
it's almost impossible to overcome unless you have a massive game, right?
51:45
Clinton: Unless you fumble it right to Chazz Surratt's-
51:47
Yeah … very willing hands.
51:48
Phil: Yeah, that's true.
51:49
Okay, Brandan, your What If SuperHawk.
51:52
Brandan: mine would be…
51:54
Ooh, can we go, ca- can I just wish for a double revenge game, and, Marquez
52:00
Valdes-Scantling getting zero catches?
52:02
And, I don't know who that would come up against, but, I, I did wanna talk
52:07
revenge game and Uchenna Nwosu, and- Okay … let's see Uchenna Nwosu get a turnover.
52:15
Ooh.
52:15
Whether it's a, a forced fumble or an interception, he catches it
52:18
this time- I like that … against his former team and the Chargers.
52:21
I, I don't know if there's anybody left there within that organization
52:25
that he would get revenge against, but he gets revenge- Justin
52:27
against his former team.
52:28
Clinton: Love that one.
52:29
Justin.
52:29
Love that one.
52:30
I mean, the- Oh, yeah.
52:30
He played with Justin, but- … Chargers fans must, you know, the, the deep Charger
52:33
fans must be like, "Man, we let that guy go after one contract, and Seattle
52:37
didn't give him a huge contract, and he just became a- Yeah … heck of an
52:41
NFL player," so I love that, Brandan.
52:44
Phil: Yeah.
52:44
Okay.
52:45
Very, very nice.
52:46
I'm glad you brought that up.
52:47
Well, s- just only because Brandan, managed- … to pick us winning by not
52:52
quite as much- Less, yeah … as Clinton.
52:54
Brandan is- Well, was,
52:55
Brandan: I still picked double digits though, didn't I?
52:56
Phil: Yeah, you did.
52:57
Yeah.
52:57
We, we were not good at picking this last, other than kind of who was gonna shine.
53:01
But, I was with you, so I, I don't, and I think all of the Hawkdom
53:06
was with you guys on your picks, so how could you possibly feel bad about
53:10
expecting us to dominate the Commanders?
53:12
It just happened.
53:13
But we're home.
53:14
Weird things should not happen at Lumen.
53:16
Clinton, what is your score prediction for this one to hold
53:20
Brandan off and your one-win lead?
53:23
Clinton: Yeah, 27-19 Seahawks.
53:26
We win.
53:27
It's fairly close-ish, but we win this game and, we just get the 3-1, get,
53:32
get right along the way in many ways.
53:36
Phil: Brandan.
53:37
Brandan: I had us winning by the exact point spread of seven points, 24-17.
53:42
Clinton: I think I got eight though.
53:43
Yeah, you got eight.
53:44
I got 27-19.
53:44
Yeah.
53:45
Yeah.
53:45
You got it.
53:45
So your, your, your, price of- Oh,
53:47
Brandan: shoot.
53:47
I wanted to go higher than you.
53:48
Clinton: Okay, then go higher.
53:49
Yeah, it's not too late.
53:50
Phil: You can go to 13.
53:52
Brandan: 29-17.
53:54
Phil: 29?
53:56
Okay.
53:56
You wanted 20-
53:57
Clinton: Not gonna, yeah, not gonna hold you against it.
53:58
You wanna go higher, go higher.
53:59
That's the-
54:00
Phil: 20-
54:01
Clinton: That's the advantage of
54:01
Phil: being second … it's the advantage of go- Yeah.
54:03
Yeah, that's, that's your, your advantage this week.
54:05
All right, gentlemen, anything that I missed?
54:07
I guess I missed talking about Nwosu, but you handled that.
54:10
Was there something else you were dying to talk about in this matchup
54:12
that the questions didn't get us to?
54:15
Clinton: Only thing I'll say is there was a lot of consternation
54:18
about the Seahawks, you know, like, "Oh, we gotta get home faster.
54:22
We gotta get home faster."
54:23
And we talked about this in three and three out.
54:25
Phil: Yeah.
54:25
Clinton: Sea- Seattle put on plenty of quick pressure.
54:29
Phil: That's right.
54:30
Clinton: Mariota got rid of the ball in less than two seconds.
54:32
So again, it's, it's, I don't think it's a pressure thing.
54:36
I think it's can we, is McDaniel smart enough to take what seemingly
54:40
Seattle's giving right now?
54:41
It's my biggest concern.
54:43
And if not- Is McDaniel
54:44
Brandan: smart enough?
54:45
Clinton: Well, we'll see.
54:46
I think, I think Herbert can-
54:47
Brandan: Is Justin.
54:47
Yeah, he's not playing quarterback.
54:48
Clinton: I think Herbert can throw a ball seven yards into McConkey's chest eight
54:51
times, on Sunday and, and betwixt us.
54:54
I hope it's not the case, but- But
54:55
Brandan: can he be patient?
54:57
Clinton: Well, I hope not.
54:59
I hope not.
55:00
So that's a big thing for me, Phil, is like, I think our pressure is just fine.
55:04
It's just fine.
55:04
It takes a ton
55:05
Phil: of seven yarders to get a touchdown.
55:07
Clinton: If they're trying to go to Quentin Johnston deep, more than like-
55:10
Let 'em … fi- that's what I'm saying.
55:11
Right.
55:12
'Cause I think that's where we'll get a couple of sacks and maybe
55:14
get that Nwosu strip sack- Yeah
55:16
that, that Brandan's after.
55:17
That's the last thing I wanna say is, guys, don't worry about the pressure.
55:20
I think the pressure's actually okay.
55:22
We just can't give up underneath crap over and over and over again and
55:25
let the ball get out in two seconds.
55:28
Phil: Yeah.
55:29
Anything else, Brandan?
55:30
Brandan: No, just that, Quentin Johnston can't separate, and even when he
55:34
can separate, he generally can't catch.
55:36
So- … not, not worried about Quentin Johnston.
55:40
Phil: Yeah.
55:40
All right.
55:40
And is JSN gonna get 200 yards?
55:42
Clinton thinks no, Brandan thinks there's a
55:44
Brandan: chance.
55:44
185 though.
55:45
Clinton: Nice, nice.
55:46
I hope so.
55:46
It's gonna be fun.
55:47
It's gonna be a good time.
55:49
They gotta come to the PNW, a 4:25 start Eastern, 1:25 start on the,
55:54
on the Pacific, the Pacific Coast.
55:56
Yeah, what do we call that?
55:57
The West Coast, and it's gonna be a lot of fun.
55:59
We've…
55:59
Check out the Flagship.
56:00
That was last night, so episode 508.
56:03
Is that right, Brandan?
56:04
That's where we're at.
56:04
Episode 508 last night.
56:06
That just went live la- yesterday.
56:07
Great time.
56:08
Check that out.
56:09
Obviously, hit the likes, hit the subs.
56:11
We'll be live Saturday morning, and I gotta talk to Adam.
56:14
And I'm sure, I'm not sure about a watch party, but we'll figure that
56:16
out, but we'll be back Saturday.
56:18
But until then, boys, I, I think with that-
56:21
Brandan: There's only one thing left to say.
56:23
Phil: Go Hawks.
56:25
Clinton: Go Hawks.
56:25
Go Hawks.
56:25
Phil: Ride the lightning.
56:27
Ride the
56:28
lightning.