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508: Run Game Woes, JSN Making History, and a Chargers Preview · Sea Hawkers Podcast: for Seattle Seahawks fans

0:09
Brandan: This is the Sea Hawkers Podcast, episode 508.
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I'm Brandan Schulze of the Sea Hawkers Podcast, and I am joined by my good
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buddy and Sea Hawker Adam Emmert, as we are getting on through the week
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after our first loss of the season.
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Adam: Yeah, first loss of the season, ends the 12-game winning
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streak, but, hey, look, we got week four coming up to start a new
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one and looking forward to that.
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some interesting things to go over from last week's game against
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the Commanders and, then we'll talk a little Chargers as well.
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Brandan: Yeah.
0:43
Well, let's kick things off with an email, Adam- Ooh … from a Mr.
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Fernando Tejada because-
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Adam: That's
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Brandan: better … if, if you're new here, one of the things that
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we have done traditionally dating back, I don't know, many seasons-
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Adam: Mm-hmm
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Brandan: is before we get into assigning blame for the loss, we like
1:01
to take a count, among ourselves.
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Right.
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And Fernando recognized that maybe he had something to do with the loss, and
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Fernando checks in, says, "Hi, friends.
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Look no further.
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I take the blame for this one.
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It's on me.
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I went to show off in enemy territory, the place down south where we raised
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our last Lombardi Trophy, and to make matters worse, I couldn't
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watch the game live as I always do.
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Apparently, the football gods were not amused.
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Next week, I'll be back watching live so everything should be back to normal.
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I'm sorry, guys.
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This will never happen again.
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Go Hawks."
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From Fernando.
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Adam: Plus 17 Hawker points for, stepping up to the plate and,
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admitting your wrongdoing, and, yeah, I, maybe it is a little
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bit on Fernando because what an inexplicable, game in a lot of ways.
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And look, man, I, we probably all, have a little bit of responsibility there.
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I probably should've changed hats or, or hoodies at some
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point and I didn't, so my bad.
2:00
It, yeah, we'll figure it out.
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Brandan: Yes, we will figure it out.
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We've got Ryan here joining us live with a 9.99
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Super Chat.
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Go Hawks, Ryan.
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Yeah, we are live out on YouTube-
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for this flagship show and, appreciate everybody joining in.
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We've got lots of folks in chat.
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We're gonna start with breaking down the loss, and Adam, I looked into it.
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I dug into the numbers.
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Adam: Yeah.
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Brandan: And there's one stat.
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There's one stat to this game that I think sets it apart and is,
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that we could really blame the loss on.
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And I don't know if it's entirely true, but it feels true.
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Adam: Okay.
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Brandan: Sam Darnold has never won a game when he's thrown the ball
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into a defensive lineman's helmet.
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Adam: Interesting.
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He's O for two.
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Brandan: I don't know.
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I think, there's probably more than that even
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Adam: I, yeah, hard telling I
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Brandan: know and I- Like any, any loss.
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I didn't go back to run the numbers on the Jets or the Panthers, but, I,
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I think he, he's, entirely defeated
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Adam: At, at the very least, I mean, as a Seahawk he's,
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completely defeated while doinking it into a defensive lineman's helmet.
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yeah, that, that was a bummer.
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there's, there's a few things that didn't go well
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for Sam throughout the game.
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I mean, obviously the turnovers and we'll get to that, but, you know, it was kind
3:16
of the full Sam Darnold experience, right?
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Like, you have the, the big numbers from the game, you know, over 300 yards
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and pretty good completion percentage and four touchdowns and the whole nine,
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and then you get the two turnovers.
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And it's been the story of even his resurrected career, right?
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The leading the league in turnovers last year, first game back, so he's got a game
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and five snaps under his belt now and, you know, two picks within that time period.
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Brandan: You said we'll get to it, but i- isn't that kind
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of the main part- Could be now
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of the story for this game?
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Adam: Yeah.
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Brandan: Because, - What else would you really assign it to?
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Like, you can…
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The, the thing about a close loss like this-
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Adam: Mm-hmm
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… Brandan: is that I think that everybody kind of has their own
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nits to pick about the game.
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Like, oh, well, you know, if they would've gone for it, or if they
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would've just taken the points.
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Oh, if, you know, penalties had just gone a little bit better.
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Oh, you know, if Jadarian hadn't fumbled the ball.
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Oh, if they had run the ball with Jadarian a little more.
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Oh, if they had…
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There's, like, all these little things.
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Like, oh, if you had Julian Love, if you got a little bit better,
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pass rush on the edges.
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Like, everybody has, like, their little thing, and sure, w- any of those
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little things could've tipped the scale still, and, and they could've won the
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game, but, I mean, they were where they were because of the turnovers.
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Adam: Yeah.
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I mean, sometimes football is super complex, sometimes it's super simple,
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and one of the biggest things about this game was the three turnovers.
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I mean, you have Jadarian with the early fumble.
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That turns into seven points.
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Sam has the pick six in there, has another interception, and that leads
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to 21 points, and that literally is the biggest part of the game right there.
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No doubt about it.
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And, William's got a great comment here, Brandan.
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Brandan: It says, "Didn't the ball bounce off of Verse's helmet
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in the two-point conversion?"
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I said, I don't know if it's entirely true.
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Don't bother me- … with your facts, logic, and reason, William.
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Adam: That's right.
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I thought it was maybe, like, his hand, but maybe it was the helmet.
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I, I don't recall at this point.
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I actually remember that.
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I just remember that we scored, they lost, and we're world champions.
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That's what I remember from that.
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Brandan: I think it might have gone off of Verse's helmet in fact.
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Adam: Okay.
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All right.
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That's probably a true fact, yeah.
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Brandan: yeah.
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Zero Washington turnovers.
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You know, Price fumbles on the second possession, gave
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them that, that short field.
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That really set the tone, I felt like, and I…
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Yeah.
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It, it was such a bummer because I, I want Jadarian Price to do well, and then it
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takes him off the field, and I don't know whether or not it had to do, you know, if
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it was his demeanor which why they benched him, or if it just had to do entirely
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with the fumble why they benched him.
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it, it…
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Mike, of course, isn't gonna get into it, but, you know, it, it could've
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been a little bit about all of it.
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Adam: A little bit of all of it.
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I mean, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's the fumbles.
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You know?
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coaches have a real
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Brandan: hard time with that.
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In two and three games, coaches don't like that.
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I don't like that.
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I, I really don't like that.
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I would rather have a…
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I'd rather have Holani out there and- Well f- Or, or e- and go three yards
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per carry, and just run, hammer the run to set up the pass and not fumble.
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Adam: I couldn't disagree more with that, and the reason is, is that,
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look, in the offseason- Okay, how
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Brandan: many fumbles is, is too many for you, then?
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Adam: Well, that's not the point.
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It's not the point, because this is all about decisions that were made
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prior and where you are as a team and what you have to do now going
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forward because of previous decisions.
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So you don't pay Ken Walker in the off-season.
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Sure.
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Okay, fair enough.
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Like, i- I mean, at this point right now, so far it's not looking
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like giving Shaheed his money and not giving Ken his money, that's
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not looking great to this point.
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We'll see how it works out for the rest of the season.
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But your answer to that was to draft a first-round running
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back in Jadarian Price.
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And if that's the case, now after seeing Holani and Wilson out there,
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who did three yards a carry, that was, being generous there, Brandan.
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I mean, the lack of juice from Holani and Wilson is really
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just unbelievable to watch.
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Like, it- they're just kind of plotters.
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And you gotta have that juice in the backfield to have your offense be the
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type of explosive offense you want, specifically in the run game.
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So you made your bed.
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Now you get to lie in it.
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You decided you were gonna rely on a rookie as an organization.
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Fair enough.
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I, I'm fine with it.
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I was fine with the decision at the time.
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But you're gonna go through growing pains with that rookie, especially early.
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And on top of all of that, like, I have seen running backs come into
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this league with fumble problems.
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Adrian Peterson had fumble problems when he came out of college.
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Tiki Barber's maybe your most notable one, where he couldn't hold
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onto the ball for the life of him.
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Right.
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Those two guys got it fixed.
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There's a l- litany of backs that came into the league that had a difficult
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time holding onto the ball at first.
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Brandan: And- I'm not saying he's not gonna get it fixed.
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Adam: Right.
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So you're just gonna go through the growing pains of it.
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And you can't sit and keep running Wilson and Holani for
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below league average stuff and
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Brandan: doing that.
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You have to trust- Holani was three carries, 10 yards.
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That's a 3.3
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average.
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I did the math.
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Adam: Okay.
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Yeah.
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Well, the eye test says, the math says average.
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Eye test says below average.
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Brandan: Yeah.
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and my only point is that that's how important,
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that these turnovers can be.
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That if you have an average running back, carry it for…
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Look at what the Commanders did.
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They have average backs doing average performance.
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They didn't turn the ball over.
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They won the game.
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Adam: Yeah.
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It's true, and that's the exact formula you have to follow if you're
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gonna be a team that's hoping to squeak out a game here and there when
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you're maybe the best of the worst teams or worst of the best teams.
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But when you're looking to repeat the Super Bowl champions, just doing
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that and hoping f- to not turn the ball over and allowing the other team
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to hopefully turn the ball over and think you're gonna win a championship
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doing it that way ain't gonna happen
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Brandan: Yeah.
9:16
Well-
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Adam: A, a couple.
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Three or four.
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I don't know.
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Isn't that the point of doing a podcast is to have opinions?
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I, I don't know.
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Brandan: If we got on here, Dogzilla Monster, and said- … "Well, you know,
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maybe it's this way or maybe it's this way," then it- we, we could be Himan
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and Hahn and fence-sitting the whole time, and, you know, that's my job.
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.
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Adam: Right.
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Exactly.
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Yeah, I'm supposed to be the one that comes on here and says things
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like, "This is the way it is," and like, be wrong about them half
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the time and just go from there.
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And eat [catfish] in the comments.
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That's what I do.
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That's what I do.
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Brandan: All right.
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Do, do we wanna start then with the short yardage running?
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Because it does feel like- Yeah … this is a running conversation.
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And one of the things that, I, I saw an interesting stat
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this, this week, and that last year our Seahawks had an 82.9%
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conversion rate in short yardage.
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It was fourth best in the NFL, and to this point this season it is…
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It's only been three games- Yeah
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but 25% conversion rate, two of eight in one yard to go situations
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through three weeks, the NFL's worst.
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Adam: Yeah, I
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Brandan: mean- I don't like that.
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Adam: No, that's, that's icky, and when you brought that to my
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attention, it was a little shocking.
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Like, I knew it hadn't been great, but I, I, I felt like it
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would be at least 22nd, right?
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Like, not 32nd.
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And further out in the article that you had sent me that was going over
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this from Seven- or from, ESPN or 710 Sports, Seattle Sports, Seattle.
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This is gonna be a tough day for me.
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Just- … deal with it.
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I'm exhausted.
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at the end of the day here, they had some of the, you know, one
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yard to go runs, and the difference between Ken Walker and, and Charbs
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in Holani and Wilson is stunning.
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Brandan: I think I'm even more stunned of the numbers on the screen that Jadarian
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Price hasn't been given the ball once in a short yard si- s- short yardage situation.
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See, I'm gonna have trouble, too.
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.
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Adam: It's infectious.
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Brandan: And because I don't feel like short yardage carries are
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something you should have to earn.
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I can understand maybe.
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I can understand it a little bit if, if Coach Macdonald and, and Coach
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Fleury are like, "You know what?
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You, you're a rookie, you have to earn goal line carries because, you know,
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you, we, we put the veterans in there 'cause they've, touchdowns is
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what's earns, ear- earns these players money, and they've put in the work,
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and so they get the goal line carries."
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It, I don't necessarily buy into that, but, if that's the
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way that coaching goes, sure.
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But that you don't have a single one yard to g- to go carry
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for Jadarian Price out of…
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I know, I know it's only eight, but come on.
12:02
Adam: Yeah.
12:02
No, it, it does feel like he'd have had a couple at this point.
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Obviously, he had the chest injury in the one game.
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the comment you just had up from, John Way or Johnia there-
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Yeah … just that the idea that Wilson was brought in to be, yeah,
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tough yards was supposed to be Wilson's sweet spot, and that was the whole
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point of bringing in this guy, right?
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Kind of the bruiser type.
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because again, going back and watching the Green Bay tape, I was kind of like,
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eh, like, all right, he's fine, but if he can be that tough yardage guy alongside a
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Charbonnet when he gets back, then great.
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Okay.
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That, that's a nice pickup for not much money, and you put him in there,
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and he's obviously had the majority of the chances here and 0 for 5.
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Brandan: Johnny A.
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If, -
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Adam: Oh, there it is.
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Geez.
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My goodness.
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Yeah.
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Look, man, I just got back from a three-day t- camping/backpacking
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trip with my daughter in, about two or three hours ago, and I'm gassed, man.
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So this is g- it's gonna be, …
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It's gonna be wild.
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so buckle up.
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Bear with me, please.
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Brandan: The other one of those I feel like…
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Oh, 'cause, you, you left off the one barnyard conversion, right?
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That was the-
13:12
Adam: Yeah
13:12
… Brandan: the, the one of those, other eight.
13:15
So yeah, and we didn't see any of that.
13:17
One of the things C- Coach Macdonald was asked about this, this week,
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why we didn't see any of the barnyard, and he said, "There's a reason."
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He can't tell us what, but there is a reason.
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Adam: Yeah.
13:30
whatever
13:31
Brandan: the- Whether it has to do with injury maybe, or, you know,
13:34
somebody's tum-tum hurt and they didn't wanna do it, we, we won't know.
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Adam: Maybe if Fleury was like, "Look, I wanna work
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on this goal line stuff."
13:43
I mean, there's a…
13:44
Maybe it's Anthony Bradford, like, makes you a little bit nervous because I
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don't know if this is true or not.
13:51
Maybe, you know, Barner likes to kinda go right side a
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little bit more with that play.
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I don't know.
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Yeah.
13:57
-
13:57
Brandan: I don't know
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… Adam: but-
13:58
Brandan: I, I can't imagine it's Bradford 'cause they ran
14:00
right, like, 50 billion times.
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Adam: Yeah.
14:04
Yeah, 50 billion times.
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And look, at the end of the day, I really felt like to get down
14:09
that close to the goal line like that, just barnyard it three times.
14:13
Like, just do that.
14:14
I-
14:14
Brandan: Sure.
14:15
Adam: I, I don't know what reason would make it so that you couldn't
14:18
pick up two yards in three plays.
14:21
Brandan: I don't know.
14:21
I think I heard Matt Hasselbeck speculate that maybe AJ Barner had…
14:26
You know, it could be something as silly as, like, his fingers were
14:29
taped and, 'cause he had a, like a jammed finger or something.
14:33
And- Maybe … I mean, that would be an explanation.
14:37
Yeah.
14:38
But I feel like AJ Barner, even with a, a bum finger, toting the
14:42
rock, is probably gonna be fine.
14:45
Adam: I would think so, especially on a play like that.
14:48
-
14:48
Brandan: QB sneak not an option.
14:49
Yeah, Sam Darnold, I-
14:51
Adam: He's a big boy, right?
14:53
Brandan: Yeah.
14:53
Adam: You know?
14:54
Brandan: He looked, he looked fine out there.
14:55
He, he ran the ball around the edge a little bit.
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Adam: He's buddy with, he's buddies with Josh Allen, and, you know,
15:00
Josh does that all the time, right?
15:02
Brandan: Sure.
15:03
Adam: Sam could do it.
15:04
Brandan: Yeah, we haven't actually seen Sam do it, but I, I do feel like
15:07
that is something he is capable of.
15:10
Adam: You would think, but they didn't go for…
15:12
go with that, and-
15:13
Brandan: You know what else we didn't see, is like- Yeah
15:15
a Shaheed jet sweep or something.
15:17
Yeah.
15:17
That feels like a faster way to the edge than to give it to Emmanuel
15:21
Wilson to try and hit the edge.
15:23
Adam: My goodness, and it just was glaring how there wasn't a chance that
15:27
he could catch the edge with the type of speed that he possesses, or lack thereof.
15:32
yeah, we haven't seen a lot of, rushing stuff out of Shaheed
15:35
and, you know, maybe this kinda leads into a Shaheed conversation, Brandan,
15:39
because as I mentioned a little bit earlier, the money that Shaheed got
15:43
this off season, we all celebrated.
15:45
I was excited for this.
15:46
I really felt like Shaheed would be able to get it going with, with Sam in…
15:51
Obviously we didn't have Sam for, the first two weeks, but- The
15:56
production just hasn't been there.
15:58
Brandan: No.
15:59
Six catches on 12 targets, 53 yards.
16:03
It, it's early, and he didn't have- It is … Sam Darnold, and that was
16:07
kind of the, the one thing that we talked about this off-season, right?
16:10
That this, this would be time for Shaheed and Sam to kinda sync up a little
16:15
bit better and get on the same page.
16:17
Then Sam goes down to injury five play, four plays into the first game.
16:22
And so I'm, I, I'm kind of more in the wait and see mode on Shaheed
16:28
because I do wanna see him.
16:30
And, and it felt like in this game we, we did see some Sam to Shaheed connections
16:36
more so than I think in the previous game.
16:38
So, and maybe I'm, it just, imagining that because it, it
16:43
fits my narrative a little bit better.
16:45
But-
16:47
Adam: It's always fun.
16:47
I- Yeah.
16:49
Brandan: But I…
16:50
The, the special teams part of it is the more concerning part to me that
16:54
y- we noticed it in week one, him not really taking off on the returns.
16:58
Was that a product of not having a pre-season?
17:01
he had a fumble that it didn't go against the team, it ended
17:05
up working out for the team.
17:07
And starting field position hasn't necessarily been great
17:11
for our Seahawks either.
17:13
Adam: It hasn't.
17:13
A couple drops in there, too, but last game, I mean, two receptions
17:16
for 14 yards for Shaheed.
17:18
He was out-received by Tory Horton three receptions for 48 yards.
17:22
Oh,
17:22
Brandan: yeah.
17:22
Yeah.
17:23
Maybe I was thinking of Tori being back.
17:25
Adam: Yeah.
17:25
Well, the thing is, is I think the game before he had four receptions.
17:29
Brandan: Yeah.
17:30
Adam: Yeah.
17:31
That's where he- So, yeah
17:31
… Brandan: that's how he gets 53.
17:33
Adam: Yeah.
17:33
So six, six receptions, and I think the majority of them were in week two.
17:38
you know, the YAC looks pretty decent, but yeah, man, it hasn't,
17:44
it hasn't popped yet with Shaheed.
17:46
And, you know, you've said a couple times now, you know, just through
17:49
three weeks it's a short sample size, and all of that is true.
17:52
And some patience for sure.
17:55
And I think really after this game as a whole just kinda chalking this
17:58
one up to like, okay, growing pains.
18:01
It's a new team, it's a new year.
18:03
They got a new offensive coordinator, new running back.
18:07
They're doing new things at right guard with Bradford's injury.
18:10
Sam was out for a couple weeks.
18:12
Like, it's been a bit disjointed on offense for a number of reasons
18:16
that are outside of like, say, Fleury, like, just doing a poor
18:19
job, which I don't think is the case
18:22
Brandan: Yeah, I, I think there's nitpicky stuff with Coach Fleury, but
18:27
there's nothing that I lean on and, and go, you know, this feels like
18:33
growing pains from a starting offen- like, a new offensive coordinator.
18:38
It doesn't feel that way at all to me.
18:40
Adam: No.
18:40
In, in this last week against the Commanders, I mean, Sam had 45,
18:44
attempts and, you know, I can understand as an offensive coordinator, a new
18:50
offensive coordinator, where the run game just isn't looking good, your rookie
18:54
back, the only one that has some juice to him, just can't hold onto the
18:58
football early it, it looks like, that you would fall into the idea of, "Well,
19:05
I gotta throw the ball," instead of just kinda sticking with it, sticking with it.
19:08
And, you know, honestly, it took Kubiak a little bit to get there as well.
19:12
I mean, the run, the run offense didn't really click until, like, what?
19:17
Week 10 last year?
19:19
And so, I mean, we're going into week four here.
19:22
So but as it stands, coming out of week three, the numbers aren't amazing.
19:28
Brandan: No.
19:29
18th in rush yards per game, but again, that was ki- 18th seems high
19:36
compared to, or considering, I guess, what we've seen through three games.
19:41
but a big portion of that was probably picked up in the second half
19:44
against the Cardinals, when they had kind of realized that they were done for.
19:49
rush yards per play, 22nd.
19:51
Rush percentage, 16th.
19:53
I feel like that's the important one.
19:55
It was important at least last year, wasn't the fact that they
19:58
were outstanding at running the ball with either Charbonnet or Walker.
20:02
It was that they had that 50/50 run split then that helped set
20:06
up the explosive passing game.
20:08
Adam: That's correct.
20:09
And so 16th, I don't know what that means in terms of the ratio, but,
20:14
you know, in terms of the league, you know, you're about dead average there.
20:17
I think the stuffed percentage, I think that's the one that
20:21
kinda jumps off the page at me.
20:23
A- actually, the stuffed percentage and the amount of
20:25
stack boxes that they're seeing.
20:27
Like, those two things, they probably go hand-in-hand in, in my guesstimate.
20:31
Brandan: Yeah.
20:33
I'm gonna get to Johnny A.'s
20:35
comment in a minute because I, I think it's gonna take us into a, a
20:38
conversation, too, about Zach Charbonnet and, and when we might see him.
20:43
But, yeah.
20:46
Is there anything fr- otherwise, though, what you've seen
20:50
from Gru- or f- from Grub.
20:52
- From the anti-Grub.
20:54
- Yeah.
20:56
From Fleury so far.
20:57
yeah.
20:59
Th- It's, it seems pretty good, right?
21:04
Adam: It seems
21:04
Brandan: acceptable.
21:04
Other, other than the goal line stuff, other than the…
21:09
I, I, I was bothered by not taking the points at, at the end of the first half.
21:13
I don't know if that's a Fleury decision as much as it is a Mike decision, so…
21:19
And, and we heard from Coach Mike in the off-season, like, how he got to
21:23
a point of not wanting to play not to lose, and wanting to play to win.
21:29
And I, I was wondering in my mind if that would show up in the form of
21:34
maybe going for it more often than not.
21:38
And we, we went for it in this situation, which I, I don't even
21:43
necessarily have a problem with the idea of going for it in that area, but
21:48
we haven't been good in that area yet.
21:51
Adam: Absolutely.
21:52
And just the way the game flow was going, you would sit and think, like,
21:57
three points are gonna be very valuable.
21:59
And it felt analytics-driven to me.
22:01
And in the moment, on our, watch party, I mean, I was screaming at
22:04
the, the camera like, "No, kick the field goal," like, real time.
22:07
I hated the decision before, - I
22:10
Brandan: did … we saw the result.
22:10
I, I yell…
22:10
I, I try and yell out what I want the team to do, and I was also yelling at the
22:14
TV to go ahead and kick the field goal.
22:16
Adam: That's right.
22:16
So on record being like, "Hey, didn't like the decision beforehand, I
22:19
would've done something different."
22:20
And also too, like, isn't taking three points playing to win?
22:24
Like, points help you win.
22:26
Last time I checked.
22:27
Brandan: Points do help you win, yeah.
22:28
Adam: I don't know.
22:29
Yeah.
22:29
Brandan: Yeah.
22:30
It's, -
22:33
I, I just don't like our short yardage plays well enough yet-
22:39
Adam: Yeah
22:40
Brandan: to really be confident in it.
22:42
And from what we've seen from Washington, we knew going into this game that
22:46
there was gonna be a, a stouter line to try and run against that, a-
22:52
and that played itself out pretty early on to where- Mm-hmm … I
22:57
didn't have a ton of confidence.
22:58
They didn't seem to have a ton of confidence, 'cause they were
23:00
throwing it, multiple times on the goal line rather than running it.
23:04
Adam: Yeah, there was a sequence there where they ran it
23:06
once and then pass, pass, pass.
23:07
Yeah.
23:08
And yeah, that, that's a sequence where I was like, "Just barnyard it, man."
23:11
But, there's a reason that we can't know the, why we couldn't do
23:14
it, so, that's why we didn't.
23:17
But what's Marlon got for us?
23:19
Brandan: Marlon says, "In my opinion, the goal line stuff may be issues over our
23:23
line not being able to move people, but not having our best running back on the
23:26
field was a bigger failure in my opinion."
23:30
there was one run where I thought Holani had a, a pretty decent size hole.
23:37
Haynes got pushed into the backfield, and I don't know if it was Settle,
23:41
but, you know, he was three or four yards in the backfield, and so Settle
23:44
could then just dis- I think it was Se- he could just disengage and
23:48
then tackled him one yard short.
23:50
if, if Haynes had, you know…
23:53
I think Bradford makes that block or at least doesn't end up, you know, two, three
23:56
yards in the backfield before, yeah.
24:00
I…
24:01
And maybe even Stevens.
24:02
I feel like Stevens has a little bit more, push on the run game, but they're kind
24:06
of going to this, split carries thing.
24:09
Adam: Well, look, of all of the things that you look at- It's nice
24:12
with Bradford's game, the weaknesses are generally in
24:18
pass protection in space, right?
24:20
Just because he is such a big guy, it's hard to move your feet.
24:23
That's not his forte.
24:25
But when you look at the strengths of Super Bowl champion Anthony
24:28
Bradford's game, it's in the short yardage stuff where it's just
24:31
hat on a hat and move people.
24:33
I- but the thing is, is that when you look at it, without Bradford you still
24:37
have four of the five same starting five.
24:40
You would think that you'd still be able to move people, but they didn't
24:43
get great push with the offensive line, and honestly the defensive line
24:46
didn't get great push for the majority of the day, in my opinion, as well.
24:50
so yeah, I, I think there's some things there.
24:53
Also, you know, to Mark's point here in the comments, you
24:57
know, wish, Utz wasn't out.
24:59
yeah, I, I agree.
25:00
I mean, maybe Brady Russell isn't the same caliber of fullback to be able
25:05
to kind of, y- get the ball moving there in the, the short yardage stuff.
25:12
Brandan: All right.
25:12
Well, there's one other thing that I wanna talk about before I
25:14
get into some running back stuff.
25:18
Adam, the secondary.
25:20
I, I, I felt like, Finley wasn't it in this game.
25:25
Adam: Yeah, I, I've heard a lot of people talk about
25:27
Finley's performance in this game.
25:29
You know, I, I definitely noticed a play or two, but it
25:31
wasn't what stood out to me.
25:33
Mm.
25:33
What stood out to me was the idea that the Commanders were able to get in second
25:37
and short quite a bit, especially through the early part of the game, and they did
25:42
that with the, the run game primarily.
25:45
And yeah, that was, that was the bigger disappointment to me
25:48
defensively than maybe Finley.
25:51
But again, you're on your, what, fourth safety at that point?
25:55
Brandan: You know?
25:55
Isn't that part of it, though?
25:56
Isn't it, the, you know, kind of the reaction time of your safety and
25:59
being able to, especially if they're pushing the ball up the middle, being
26:02
able to get to some of those runs by, by your safety to stuff those up?
26:07
what did Earl tell us?
26:08
What did Earl tell us?
26:08
Well, Earl said that if the safety's making the tackle,
26:09
that's part of the problem.
26:11
But, - Yeah … also, I'm okay with Julian Love holding running plays
26:15
to three yards rather than eight or nine.
26:18
Adam: Well, of course.
26:18
And d- was that a fantastic game from A.J.
26:22
Finley?
26:23
No.
26:23
It…
26:24
Was he a guy called up from the ready squad and put out there on, you know,
26:27
relatively short notice to do the job?
26:30
Yeah.
26:31
And does it also highlight Julian Love and his talent and just how darn
26:37
good he is and what he does- … to the, to the defensive backfield?
26:40
I certainly think so.
26:42
So praying for, you know, Julian Love's health.
26:46
And look, man, that was Finley's, like, isn't that his first go?
26:50
Like, being out there and playing?
26:51
Yeah, other than
26:51
Brandan: pre-season.
26:51
It w- yeah, it was his first regular season game.
26:54
Adam: So yeah
26:56
Brandan: But he's a pro.
26:57
We can criticize him
26:58
Adam: Oh, 1,000%.
26:59
I, facts are facts.
27:00
It wasn't a great game
27:02
Brandan: it wasn't that much of a great game by Eeman Ward either.
27:05
He played, 36 naps.
27:07
I think he did though have as many pressures as, oh, our, our
27:14
off-season acquisition, pass rusher.
27:17
Adam: Oh, Fowler?
27:19
Brandan: Yeah.
27:19
I haven't- Yeah … I haven't seen him enough to learn his name yet.
27:21
Dante Fowler.
27:23
Adam: Yeah, so look, I- if it were Boye Mafe in that same
27:27
position, do you feel like you'd be going like, "Oh yeah, I mean, that
27:30
would make such a big difference"?
27:31
Because I surely don't.
27:33
Like, Boye Mafe to me, like when people were talking about his
27:36
loss during the off-season- Yeah
27:37
they acted like, you know, he's Demarcus Lawrence, and it's like, well, okay.
27:42
he's our fourth pass rusher and I didn't feel Boye, like, a lot.
27:47
And we're definitely not feeling Fowler, but again, your fourth pass rusher.
27:50
Yeah.
27:51
Brandan: It's, it's just I, I want to, I want to feel him.
27:56
Adam: Sure,
27:56
Brandan: and I- And I don't care how that sounds
27:58
Adam: I've never been a, a big Dante Fowler Jr.
28:01
guy, right?
28:03
You know, kind of a guy that produced in Washington that one year and had
28:07
big sack numbers, what was that, three years ago, something like that?
28:11
And, you know, a two to three sack guy a year, after that, and
28:16
that's what I expect to get from him
28:20
Brandan: Johnny A saying, "I love Spoon, but one $40 million
28:23
guy is looking like a bargain."
28:24
JSM, the other Spoon, pretty quiet sadly.
28:28
Yeah, that's, so we, we didn't see much from Nick Emmanwori.
28:32
Coach Macdonald hinted that they need to simplify his role and saying
28:38
that, you know, maybe he shouldn't play, you know, m- the, the…
28:43
What I took from it is that maybe he shouldn't line up at four spots, and
28:47
maybe they could use him in just one.
28:50
And I, I do wonder about that.
28:51
A guy like Nick Emmanwori, when a g- when Julian Love is out, if a guy's
28:57
that smart that he can learn f- four different positions, why can't he learn
29:01
the one that your veteran Julian Love is at and maybe play a significant
29:05
number of snaps there in that role?
29:08
And I, I could see him making, more of a difference that way.
29:12
Adam: I feel like Julian Love's role is probably a little more
29:15
complex just with everything that he gets organized on the back end.
29:19
Sure.
29:20
Now, with that said, we've had one game of full-speed Nick Emmanwori, right?
29:25
We had limited snaps against the Cards, one full game of Nick Emmanwori full snaps,
29:31
and we didn't feel Nick Emmanwori yet, right?
29:33
Okay.
29:34
I still see the talent.
29:36
I know the dude.
29:37
I know I've seen what he did last year.
29:40
I'm not too concerned about it.
29:42
I'm sure we're gonna see some more splash plays from him, and
29:45
same thing with Spoon as well.
29:46
And look, there's even extra tape for teams to look at from last year
29:51
since we went all the way to the Super Bowl and won on the way that Mike
29:55
Macdonald has deployed these two guys.
29:58
And the league adjusts every off-season.
30:00
I'm not surprised that it's a little choppy to start.
30:05
Sure.
30:06
Brandan: Yeah, got Zero Hawk checking in.
30:07
E- Eman was- I mean, that's not wrong … a pure safety in college.
30:10
Johnny A saying, "I think Emo Nwachukwu is just getting warmed up.
30:13
He was so good in the playoffs last year."
30:16
I, I think, again, I, I feel like I'm being nitpicky with this
30:19
loss, and I, I think we all are- Yeah … because it's a team we expected
30:24
to beat, and so, so many things.
30:27
The, the edges could have won us this game, Adam.
30:30
Adam: Yeah.
30:30
they really, really could have.
30:32
And, you know, at the end of the day, I've seen people all over the map with
30:37
their opinions on this football game and what they would have liked to have
30:41
seen or what went wrong, you know, all the way from Sam shouldn't have
30:45
been out there, you should have, you know, stuck with Drew, which, I…
30:49
That's an opinion a person can have.
30:50
I'm fine with that.
30:51
But I just completely disagree, with that one.
30:53
I mean, after
30:54
Brandan: the turnovers, I, I feel like that that's not,
30:57
completely out of bounds, but-
30:58
Adam: Well, yeah
30:59
… Brandan: you know, gosh, Sam wanted to turn it over so
31:02
badly right before that pick six.
31:04
I think on first down, he, he nearly threw a pick.
31:07
Then on second down, he even got asked about it.
31:10
He's like, "So are you trying to get the ball out of bounds?"
31:13
"No, I was just trying to give Shead a shot," and threw it into double coverage.
31:18
Yeah.
31:18
Okay.
31:19
well, you made that choice, and then, you know, you threw it
31:21
into double coverage again on, on third down, and it was a pick six.
31:25
Adam: This is Sam Darnold.
31:27
This is a part of his game.
31:28
It always- Yeah … has been, going all the way back to USC.
31:31
And the only thing-
31:32
Brandan: And they asked him, "Did you see the guy?"
31:33
"Yeah, yeah, I saw the guy.
31:35
I should have put him the dirt."
31:36
Adam: Yeah.
31:38
At the end of the day, it's what you're gonna live with for the good
31:43
that comes with Sam, but there is bad, and there's a reason why he led the
31:46
ler- league in turnovers last year.
31:49
Brandan: Godzilla Hawk.
31:50
At least Jason is Money Myers again.
31:53
How about that 57-yarder?
31:55
It, it- now if you're to tell me that I…
31:58
'Cause I heard Clinton trying to make the argument that, well, yeah,
32:01
you missed, you passed up the first field goal, but then you ended
32:03
up getting the second field goal.
32:04
Adam: Oh my God.
32:04
Brandan: Well, well if that one counts for, for two because you didn't expect
32:08
Myers to, to mi- or you expected him to miss it because it was 57 yards,
32:13
like I'll, I'll buy that part of the argument because I had no expectations
32:17
of him making that 57-yarder.
32:19
Adam: Yeah, me neither.
32:20
drilled it.
32:21
Like it's great to see Jason Myers doing his thing.
32:24
He has been fantastic, and that's a, that's a huge, huge deal
32:28
for this team going forward.
32:30
But in Clinton's defense a little bit, I think what he was trying
32:32
to say is, since you got s- stuffed down there at the goal line-
32:38
Brandan: Right
32:39
Adam: you ended up with better field position on the ensuing drive,
32:42
which then- To be able to- … set you up for a field goal easier,
32:44
and so then it's kind of a wash.
32:45
So I understand what he's saying, it's just that's not how points
32:49
work and that sort of thing.
32:51
So, if you have points that you could take and then you don't take
32:54
them, then you don't have them.
32:56
Brandan: Yeah.
32:56
You could've, you could've got points both times.
32:58
Adam: Yeah.
32:59
Exactly.
33:00
So, yeah, he got, he got crushed in the comments, for that one, during
33:05
the post-game show, that's for sure.
33:06
Brandan: No, I, I think it's fine.
33:07
That's how…
33:08
I, I think that statistically that's how the stats nerds think about it too.
33:13
I know.
33:14
And so I, I think that, yeah, maybe that, that part's
33:17
running off a little bit.
33:19
and it's fine.
33:21
Okay, so I said I would get back to, Johnny A.-
33:25
Yeah … because he says, "Great job, fellas.
33:27
We have great pass catchers, tight ends," we got to see, AJ Barner in this
33:30
game, "but not great running backs.
33:33
Do we trade a pass catcher for a ball runner?
33:36
no RB1 is too risky."
33:39
And- I, I would argue we do have an RB1, it's just that we don't fully trust…
33:47
We, we, and the coaching staff, I put in that we, we don't have a full amount of
33:51
trust in the RB1 that we have on the team.
33:54
Adam: Yeah.
33:55
the current RB1, has fumbled twice on two nice plays
34:01
by the defense, by the way.
34:02
It's not like he's just coughing it up right and left in, like, just
34:07
kind of regular looking tackles.
34:09
I mean, he's horizontal and held up in the air as somebody perfectly peanut punches
34:14
it, and can he get better at that to- That
34:16
Brandan: wa- … improve?
34:17
That was more like a Superman punch than a peanut punch.
34:19
The dude was like- Okay, oh … a flying missile with, with his arm out.
34:22
Adam: I like that.
34:23
I like that.
34:23
It was a Superman punch.
34:25
And then, you know, the first one was a similar deal, where he's
34:28
being held up, they don't blow the whistle because they don't
34:30
do that anymore for some reason.
34:32
and it gets punched out late, late, late.
34:36
look, I'm not killing Jadarian for any of that stuff.
34:40
And we just need to understand he's a rookie.
34:44
There's gonna be growing pains, and you're gonna have to get going.
34:47
But the thing is, is that you got him as your RB1, but we have two RB1s.
34:52
There's another one that's on his way in Zach Charbonnet.
34:56
Yeah.
34:56
And y- so to trade one of the guys in the receiving corps right now,
35:02
for a potential running back, I don't think that there's gonna be any sort of
35:06
difference-making running back the team's gonna be willing to trade right now.
35:10
Brandan: No, and someone in chat was suggesting, you know, is there a n- a
35:13
team that's about to be 0 and 4 that w- I don't think that the Chargers
35:19
are gonna trade Omarion Hampton, after going 0 and 4 against us.
35:24
I had that wr- Yeah … more, he's the, yeah.
35:27
- Mm-hmm … and I don't know what other 0 and 4, like, Achane just got
35:33
injured for the Dolphins- Yeah, he's-
35:34
so he's not out there anymore.
35:36
And yeah, I, it's tough because you're probably looking at
35:41
somebody who is more of a veteran.
35:43
I think that, yeah, Charbonnet is coming, but to me, it, it,
35:48
it can't happen soon enough.
35:50
And I, I suppose that we're gonna live in the space where- No, I, let's just
35:57
live in the space, where Jadarian Price is good for the next three games.
36:01
Adam: It could very well be.
36:02
And, Spock here, he's got a, a comment, "Have you heard the
36:06
latest from Zach Attack Charbonnet?"
36:07
And, maybe there's new news as I, crawled out of the woods today that
36:13
I'm unaware of, but last I heard is just the practice window is opening,
36:16
and it, it sounds like he's gonna start ramping up here sooner rather than later.
36:21
Brandan: Yeah, I thought we were gonna get the news on Thursday, so I,
36:24
I haven't heard anything other than the, the practice, window being
36:30
opened up- Yeah … for Kadabra.
36:32
Bijan Robinson for Cooper Kupp.
36:33
Done.
36:34
Adam: Yeah, man.
36:34
Give me a case of the Bijans, man.
36:36
I'll take Bijan any day, dude.
36:38
I, I loved him from Texas.
36:39
I, I wanted him in the draft bad.
36:41
he's amazing.
36:43
Brandan: Yeah.
36:44
I don't think the Cardinals would give us James Conner.
36:47
That would be, a, a nice pick if they're not gonna use him,
36:51
but yeah, g- tough to see that happening within the division.
36:56
so yeah, practice window opening up, not eligible to play until week five.
37:02
That's would be the best possible timing, but usually if you're ju-
37:06
'cause he was eligible for his practice window to open up, I think,
37:10
last week, and they d- decided not to do it, so I don't think we're gonna
37:14
have him in time for the Niners game.
37:16
I think it's probably gonna be, yeah, two to three weeks at best.
37:22
So I would say, yeah, best case scenario, after the Niners
37:25
game, if we're doing best case.
37:27
Hard
37:27
Adam: telling, not knowing.
37:28
I mean, I'm not gonna put anything past Zach, and Mike is so tight-lipped
37:33
and guarded about the progress and injuries and all that stuff.
37:37
I mean, is there a chance that Charbonnet straps it up week five?
37:40
You betcha.
37:41
is there a good chance that it could be, like, week eight?
37:44
Sure.
37:45
Yeah.
37:45
it all falls into the hard telling, not knowing.
37:48
Unless you're, you know, an orthopedic surgeon who has the MRIs from Zach
37:52
Charbonnet and have been watching his, you know, his rehab.
37:56
And I don't know that you or I are those person or maybe
37:59
anybody watching this show.
38:01
Brandan: I just know that we must not be as hard up for running back
38:04
as the Miami Dolphins, because they tried out both Kenny McIntosh
38:08
and Damien Martinez this week.
38:10
Adam: Wow, okay.
38:11
Yeah, I would dare you to…
38:13
Can you name one starting Miami Dolphins wide receiver right now?
38:17
Try that one.
38:18
Brandan: Oh, gosh.
38:19
Adam: If they asked you- Now
38:20
Brandan: that they gave up Jaylen-
38:20
Adam: No, you can't do that
38:21
Brandan: yet.
38:21
After they gave up Waddle?
38:23
Yeah.
38:23
yeah.
38:23
There, is there anybody left?
38:25
Adam: No.
38:26
Brandan: I have no idea.
38:27
Adam: No, they are the JV squad this year big time.
38:30
Brandan: Yeah, they're very much predicted to go 0 and 17 this year.
38:34
Maybe that's part of the goal, but, -
38:37
Adam: I don't think there's any cause for panic, though, with where
38:40
the running back room is at this point.
38:41
We're three weeks in.
38:43
We're just getting going.
38:44
Jadarian hasn't even kinda found his groove yet, and we've seen the flashes of
38:49
what he can bring to this offense as well.
38:52
And Fleury's still kinda trying to figure out his sequencing, and then also, too,
38:56
trying to stay on target in terms of running the ball, even if you get down,
39:00
even if it doesn't appear to be working, even if the back has a fumble early.
39:04
Like, I, one of the things that drives me crazy about benching, Price
39:08
there, in that moment, with the early fumble, is look at James
39:12
Cook last week against the Chargers.
39:14
Right.
39:14
He, he fumbles one early and then goes off for over a buck 50.
39:17
Brandan: Right.
39:18
And that was, yeah, what was it, on the first or second play of the
39:21
game that he ended up fumbling it?
39:24
Adam: Yeah.
39:24
Brandan: Yeah.
39:25
Okay.
39:25
well let's, that almost perfectly leads us into the Chargers preview,
39:29
but that, I, I have something I wanna get to before we talk Chargers.
39:33
Yes.
39:33
And Adam, that's Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
39:37
This dude is on a, a historic three game stretch to start the
39:43
season, and I don't feel like anybody's really talking about it.
39:46
He's the first player in NFL history with eight or more receptions, 120 or
39:53
more receiving yards, and a touchdown in his team's first three games.
39:59
He had 10 catches, 128 yards, two touchdowns on Sunday
40:02
against the Commanders.
40:04
Fortunately, they lost.
40:05
unfortunately.
40:07
I, I, hopefully that was clear and I didn't mumble that.
40:10
six touchdown receptions in three games, which joins Calvin Johnson in
40:17
2011 and Marvin Harrison in 1999 as the only players in the Super Bowl era
40:24
to do that, six TDs in three games.
40:27
And then 120 yards plus receiving and a touchdown.
40:31
The only other player in NFL history to do that was Jerry Rice in 1989.
40:37
I think that was his MVP season, and I think he may be the
40:42
last wide receiver to win MVP.
40:45
I don't know if anybody's done it since then.
40:46
I think it's…
40:48
We've had a couple of running backs
40:49
Adam: here and there.
40:49
Randy, Randy, I guess Randy never got one.
40:50
Calvin
40:51
Brandan: never got one.
40:52
Adam: Calvin got it.
40:52
Yeah.
40:53
Brandan: So I think, JSN MVP conversation, w- we, we need to…
41:00
The campaign needs to start now.
41:03
Adam: You know, I've actually heard some people in the mainstream media
41:05
talk about, you know, JSN being somebody that you need to talk about in the MVP
41:10
conversation, and it's 100% correct.
41:13
I…
41:13
At this point, if I'm even gonna take my…
41:16
It…
41:17
We're a bias show, right?
41:18
This is, a show for twelves by twelves, right?
41:21
Right.
41:21
We're fans.
41:22
But if I'm gonna take my bias glasses off and put on my unbiased ones, I don't think
41:27
that there's a legitimate argument against Jaxon Smith-Njigba being the best receiver
41:33
in the NFL hands down without much arg-
41:37
Brandan: Yeah, and just scrolling through the history again, yeah, I don't see
41:42
anybody other than running backs and quarterbacks, until we get to…
41:47
Oh, did he not even…
41:50
Oh yeah, 80- oh, '87 I think was the, might've been his year that he won.
41:56
I don't know.
41:56
This is confusing.
41:57
Wikipedia, do better.
41:59
Adam: Yeah.
42:00
Absolutely.
42:00
Maybe we should've used AI.
42:01
I don't know.
42:02
But-
42:03
Brandan: Maybe
42:03
… Adam: you know, the funny thing is is that when I think about a lot
42:05
of the all-time great receivers, the one that Jackson kind of matches up
42:11
with the best to me is Jerry Rice, 'cause he's not Calvin, he's not Randy.
42:18
He's- No … yeah, like he plays- But he gets open … plays
42:21
a different style of game.
42:22
And then also, I, when, when I was a kid watching Jerry play, I never felt like he
42:27
was the fastest guy on the field, ever, and yet he could dust anybody at any time.
42:32
And their lower bodies are built really similarly as well.
42:35
-
42:36
Brandan: Well, Rice was known, right, for running the hill every day and- Right
42:39
and wearing out anybody else that tried to do it with him.
42:43
I feel like one, one of the funny things that I get watching the press conferences,
42:47
Adam, is that the media tries to ask creative ways to, to get answers from the
42:53
coach to talk about just how good JSN is.
42:57
And to-
42:57
Adam: I'm so over it.
43:00
I'm so over it.
43:02
Brandan: You're over the questions or you're over the responses?
43:05
Adam: Yes.
43:06
Because, well honestly, I'm fine with the responses, 'cause as Coach Mike I'd just
43:09
be like, "Yep, still pretty damn good."
43:12
Yeah.
43:12
Yeah.
43:12
Best in the league.
43:13
I don't
43:13
Brandan: know, boys.
43:13
But, but you can see, you can see the cogs working in Coach Macdonald's brain, like,
43:18
how do I say, how do I provide an answer that isn't just, "Well, Jax is awesome?"
43:25
Adam: Yeah.
43:25
A- Kudos to Coach Mike for playing the game, but I am sick and tired
43:30
from the press corps, "How do you feel about the way that Jaxon
43:33
Smith-Njigba's playing to this point?"
43:35
Like, that's the question every time.
43:36
"How do you feel about that?"
43:38
And I- just ask a real question.
43:41
Like, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, three straight games with 128 yards receptions.
43:46
That's the first time we've ever seen that.
43:48
what's the closest receiver you've ever seen, like, produce like that?
43:52
You know, give him something.
43:54
Like, if you wanna talk about JSN, which we ought to because he's [catfish] awesome,
43:58
like, can we do something other than, "Hey, Coach Mike, how do you feel about
44:02
Jaxon Smith-Njigba and how good he is?"
44:05
Good God.
44:07
Brandan: There has to be…
44:08
You're right.
44:09
There has to be other ways to ask the questions to be able to get
44:13
either some kind of comparison, some type of- I don't know.
44:18
But even just reacting to stats questions I feel like doesn't
44:22
always provide the r- best responses either, so th- there's so many-
44:27
Adam: Well, I just spent 22 seconds thinking about a different
44:30
question and came up with one.
44:32
It, it may- That's true … it may not be a great one, but it, in 22
44:35
seconds it's still better than, "How do you feel about JSN this week?"
44:38
Brandan: It's true.
44:38
If it, if, if it's your job, you, you could probably take even 20 minutes in
44:42
an evening, because you know you're gonna ask the question the next day, so.
44:46
Adam: Yeah.
44:46
Brandan: Craig Payne,
44:48
Adam: asked- Credence-less, let's go.
44:51
Brandan: Craig Payne asked a good question.
44:53
Could you imagine how painful that would be for the league
44:55
to give an MVP to a Seahawk?
44:58
Yeah.
44:58
'Cause you know we are all the way up here in the PNW.
45:00
Well, it did happen once with Shaun Alexander.
45:02
You know?
45:03
That's
45:03
Adam: right.
45:03
Brandan: And, and he, he did deserve it that year.
45:05
Yeah.
45:05
Well, maybe he, co, you know, Walter Jones earned
45:10
a little bit of that MVP too.
45:12
Adam: Yeah, Hutch and Jones have something to say about that,
45:14
but at the end of the day, the league was mad about it because then
45:16
they put him on the cover of Madden just to, you know, screw with him.
45:20
Brandan: Yeah.
45:20
Just don't, just don't put, JSN on the cover of Madden.
45:23
Ever.
45:23
We don't need that.
45:24
Adam: We're good.
45:24
Brandan: Space For The Win, "JSN has incredible technique and finesse.
45:29
JSN is JSN," Crunchy Fish Head.
45:31
And, people are starting to recognize it.
45:34
I guess it just takes an amazing historic start through three
45:37
games for people to go, "Huh."
45:40
Although, he, he did win Offensive Player of the Year last year, so.
45:44
Adam: He did.
45:44
He's, he's on the map.
45:45
Look, here's another, here's another idea of a question for, for these guys.
45:48
Like, we all hear the, the main reason JSN can make all of his routes
45:53
look the same is because he plays with such consistent pad level.
45:58
Are there any drills that you can use to help train some of the other
46:01
receivers to find that consistency and pad level and be able to run
46:05
routes with that sort of efficiency?
46:08
Like, there you go.
46:09
There, there, there's one.
46:10
Maybe he'll be like, "Nah, it's just JSN being JSN," fine.
46:12
But at least it's a different question.
46:14
Brandan: It does…
46:15
That is a good point, though.
46:17
If you have a guy on the team that can do this consistently,
46:20
can he teach some of that?
46:23
Adam: Well, look, as much as, I, I make fun of Cup all the
46:27
time because of his former random and all of that stuff, right?
46:30
Yeah.
46:31
you know, he has.
46:32
He, he's, he's shared knowledge with, JSN and it shows.
46:36
And I think he can do that as well with some of the other young pass
46:39
catchers, specifically Horton.
46:42
I'm, I'm really excited to see what he can become when you look at what he did
46:47
last year and then just in this last game, you know, three receptions for 48 yards.
46:51
Like, this is a big day for Horton.
46:53
and you know, he's just getting going this year.
46:58
Brandan: Yeah.
46:59
I, I'm, I'm ready to see more, but I'm also not ready to see so much that
47:05
he gets hurt and then, then ends up having to sit out more games this year.
47:09
I don't know what the best way to work him in in, but I'm okay with kind of this
47:14
slow ramp up period because, I, I'm just concerned about the injuries part.
47:20
Adam: Yeah.
47:21
interesting comment there from, a Sidney Hawks fan, "Please
47:24
contrast JSN with Doug Baldwin."
47:26
And I,
47:26
Brandan: I think the question- I, I think that that's the, the, would be
47:28
the question to maybe one of the coaches but, yeah, not a lot of history
47:33
with Doug Baldwin in the building.
47:34
Adam: Right.
47:35
I mean, ig- if I'm kind of thinking about that, I think some of the similarities are
47:38
with the body control and, you know, great hands, hand-eye coordination, all that.
47:43
Yeah.
47:44
I think the difference between their games is Jax is so smooth and everything does
47:49
look exactly the same, and that there's kind of more of a tactician to his game.
47:54
Whereas Doug was more, more sudden and- Yeah … you know, more herky-jerky,
47:59
a little more sack so to speak, you know, the short area quickness.
48:02
Brandan: Yeah.
48:02
Russ had JSN on his show or podcast this past week.
48:07
Adam: Oh, did he now?
48:07
Brandan: And, they actually talked a little bit of Doug Baldwin.
48:10
And, one of the things that JSN said himself was that i- one
48:15
of the similarities is that when he gets to the line, he doesn't
48:18
really know how he's going to necessarily attack the defensive back.
48:21
Like, he doesn't have a, a, a, a th- a thought out plan- Pre-planned
48:25
thing, yeah … of, you know, how, how he's gonna try and get by his guy.
48:29
And so he's a little bit improvy that way.
48:31
And I think that, there was some commentary there about how Doug Baldwin
48:36
would kind of do some similar, you know, basketball move style stuff at the line to
48:41
try and get out and get around, you know, to ma- get that, immediate separation.
48:45
Adam: Yeah, yeah.
48:46
Doug was fantastic, man.
48:50
We, we all miss Doug Baldwin.
48:51
but, you know, I think one of the other similarities that you would have
48:54
to say between those two players, both incredibly intelligent human beings.
48:59
Brandan: For sure.
49:00
Adam: Yeah
49:03
Brandan: Yeah, loving JSN so far this year.
49:05
He can, and just keep it going please.
49:07
Adam: Absolutely.
49:10
Brandan: And he can start by doing it against the Los Angeles Chargers, Adam.
49:15
They're g- 0 and 3 coming into this game, and about to go 0 and 4?
49:22
Adam: it definitely appears that way, and then you look at the
49:25
Chargers' schedule tool, too, c- upcoming.
49:28
I mean, Seahawks are one of many difficult teams that they're
49:32
gonna be going up against.
49:33
This is unbelievable.
49:34
This is not the, the start that I thought we'd see from the Chargers.
49:39
I, I thought that they would be a, a better team out the gate, with
49:44
their offensive line getting healthier.
49:46
But losing their center early on in, was it Biadasz?
49:49
In…
49:50
You know, the, the guards are okay, but maybe not great.
49:53
And then, you know, even Joe Alt's had his struggles so far this year.
49:58
I, I think that's the biggest surprise for the Chargers so far.
50:01
What's not a surprise is maybe the defense taking a bit of a step back with
50:05
Jesse Minter moving on to Baltimore.
50:07
Brandan: Right.
50:07
Adam: but it's looking bad for, for Harbaugh down there.
50:11
Are they cooked, Brandan?
50:13
Like, at this point, with, cocaine dealer McDaniels.
50:18
The, those-
50:18
Brandan: Well, that's the surprising part for me, is that I thought for
50:22
sure with Coach McDaniels coming in that, that Mike McDaniel would
50:29
be able to turn around this offense, because that's what we saw him do with
50:34
the o- Tua was doing great with- Yeah
50:37
with Mike McDaniel early on.
50:40
And I thought, "Oh yeah, pair Coach McDaniel with, a q- a quarterback
50:47
that is, you know, actually has all the tools in, in, in Herbert," and
50:53
they haven't been able to get it done through the first three games.
50:56
That part has been surprising to me.
50:58
Adam: Okay.
50:58
So this was the
50:59
Brandan: big question- But cooked, I…
51:00
They might be cooked for the playoffs, but I don't think that…
51:04
That doesn't mean they can't turn things around, because they're already behind the
51:07
3-and-0 Chiefs and the 3-and-0 Raiders.
51:10
Like, I don't think they're gonna be able to come out of that division.
51:13
Adam: Raiders-Chiefs for first place this week, boys and girls.
51:15
Like, who of you had that on your bingo cards?
51:18
I don't think anybody, but, look, I, I am surprised that
51:23
McDaniel hasn't had better…
51:25
Is it McDaniel or McDaniels?
51:26
I always forget, 'cause there's too many of these-
51:28
Brandan: I think it's McDaniels when it's, when you're pluralizing it, and I
51:31
think it's Mike McDaniel, singular.
51:33
Adam: But it's Josh McDaniels plural.
51:37
Brandan: I think so.
51:37
Or is it- I think that's where it's confusing.
51:39
Right.
51:39
It, it's confusing.
51:39
You got Mike Macdonald, Mike McDaniel, Josh McDaniels.
51:42
Adam: Way, way too many of, of the, the Macs in the mix there,
51:46
for me to keep straight.
51:47
But, I think maybe we're seeing that with Mike McDaniel's, offense, is
51:55
that him and Tua had those two or three years where the league was kinda trying
52:00
to catch up with the orbit motions and the jet motions and all of that stuff.
52:05
And the league started to figure it out.
52:07
And so as Tua's play dropped off, along with, I think that was paired with
52:13
the league figuring out that scheme.
52:15
And so that scheme might just be DOA.
52:17
Or the other option, this is what I wanted to ask you, Brandan, is
52:21
this just a example of a complicated offensive system being put in place?
52:27
We're only three weeks into the season, and by week 10 we go, "You know what?
52:32
There were some growing pains early, but now they're on fire."
52:35
Brandan: I think if you're an optimistic Chargers fan that that's kind of where
52:40
you're at least hoping it's going- Yeah … in, into that complicated part.
52:45
The other part you could say is that maybe Justin Herbert can't handle a
52:50
system that's that complicated, and the, there's this unwillingness then
52:55
with the coach and the quarterback trying to resolve these two.
52:59
Because I think that's one of the, the stuff that we heard from Philadelphia
53:03
and what's going on with Jalen Hurts and, and why there's been some
53:08
disgruntled folks, like with A.J.
53:09
Brown going out of there.
53:11
That's been part of the idea is that maybe the offense can't get
53:15
that much more complex for Hurts.
53:17
I don't know how much of that's true, but I know that, yeah,
53:22
Mike McDaniel's pretty smart, and Justin Herbert, I have no idea.
53:27
Adam: Yeah.
53:28
Look, at the end of the day, Hurts doesn't have a noggin problem.
53:32
He's a plenty smart guy.
53:33
Yeah.
53:33
Like, that, it's very obvious just listening to him speak.
53:37
He has a talent problem with the, with the arm.
53:39
That, that's where the issue is.
53:40
Brandan: Herbert doesn't have a talent problem with the arm.
53:42
Adam: He does not, and I mean, I think he seems smart
53:44
enough to run the offense.
53:46
I really honestly, when I think on this, I think, oh, great.
53:50
To the snail.
53:51
He's got it right here.
53:52
- He's got it nailed
53:53
Brandan: here
53:53
… Adam: the, the Chargers wide receivers are ass and
53:55
can't separate or catch.
53:57
And you know, going into this season, while I expected the Chargers to be
54:00
pretty good, everybody talks about Ladd-McTonn- McConkey and Quentin
54:04
Johnston as if, like, they're both really good receivers, and McConkey's, like,
54:09
a great three that you put in the slot and does white guy receiver things.
54:12
You know- Yeah … Wes Welker, Amendola.
54:14
But
54:15
Brandan: not, not as good as Wes Welker.
54:17
Adam: No, no.
54:17
I, he could get there.
54:19
Like- Sure … I think he's got that kind of talent, but he can't be your
54:21
number one, and Quentin Johnston's been a bust since the word go.
54:24
And, like-
54:24
Brandan: He's not even the number one.
54:26
He's barely a four.
54:27
Adam: Yeah.
54:27
He's just not good.
54:28
Their wide receiver corps stinks.
54:30
They should've kept Josh Palmer.
54:31
He's, like, the three or the four on Buffalo's team, and he might
54:34
be their best wide receiver in LA.
54:37
Brandan: Trey Harris I think showed a little bit of game here these
54:42
last couple weeks, and he, he's-
54:44
Adam: You think so?
54:45
Brandan: You…
54:45
I mean, I'm, I'm just trying to pick out a guy because- Yeah
54:51
I think Ladd McConkey has, I think, the best hands of the, of their pass catchers.
54:58
it's not Gadsden, 'cause I think he's been hit in the hands
55:01
several times and, can't catch.
55:03
And Johnston, yeah.
55:05
not…
55:06
DK's a better pass catcher than Quentin Johnston.
55:08
Like, that's, that's slander against DK Metcalf, even though,
55:12
that m- may be car- comparable.
55:14
But yeah.
55:16
yeah, Keaton Mitchell may be, the one guy that you can throw
55:21
to and actually count on to catch it, but he's not a wide receiver.
55:24
Adam: Yeah.
55:25
Yeah, we saw Gadsden down at, in, -
55:28
Brandan: Trying, right?
55:29
… Adam: Tramble.
55:30
Yeah.
55:30
In- I mean, the frame is there, the name is there, but it didn't feel like
55:38
the production was gonna be there.
55:41
yeah, I mean, Herbert has been struggling, and I think some of that is
55:47
the receivers, but this was an interesting stat from, the folks over at NFL Pro.
55:52
the Seahawks align in nickel personnel on 70.4%
55:57
of plays, the eighth highest rate in the league.
55:59
in nickel zone coverage, the Seahawks only allow 4.2
56:02
yards per play, second fewest in the league.
56:05
Brandan: Hmm.
56:05
Adam: Justin Herbert has thrown two touchdowns and three interceptions,
56:09
completing just 53%, .7%
56:12
of his passes, and 37.5%
56:15
success rate, both third lowest in the league against nickel coverage.
56:20
So it could be a difficult day for Herbert on top of what he's already
56:24
been having to deal with this year.
56:26
Brandan: Yeah.
56:27
they're gonna need Omarion Hampton to be able to run the ball
56:33
well, but the offensive line hasn't been that great for the Chargers so
56:37
far this either, this year either.
56:39
Adam: So I know that Mike McDaniel has had excellent rushing attacks in
56:43
terms of numbers in his time down in Miami, but I always felt like his rushing
56:48
attacks were soft rushing attacks.
56:51
Mm-hmm.
56:51
And that's not Jim Harbaugh.
56:53
Brandan: Right.
56:53
Adam: Jim Harbaugh is down- downhill, you know, trap,
56:56
duo, gap scheme stuff, right?
56:58
Like, that's not what they're doing at all, and I feel like there's a, a,
57:03
a mismatch between these two coaches.
57:05
And when I got to thinking about that, it made me wonder, Brandan, like you
57:11
remember the last couple years of Pete Carroll and then his year with the
57:14
Raiders, and you could kinda tell, like, you were a great coach for a long
57:20
time, Hall of Famer, all the accolades, won a Super Bowl, went to two, won
57:23
national championships, all that stuff.
57:25
But there comes a point where the game kinda passes you by, and you
57:29
keep trying to find these hotshot coordinators and bring them in to
57:31
kinda fill in the gaps and update your, your thinking and your systems.
57:35
Brandan: Oh, no.
57:35
Adam: Is that where we are with Jim Harbaugh?
57:39
Brandan: It, it, it's possible.
57:41
It, it's possible, and, it's a bummer because I, I
57:44
want this father-son match up.
57:47
Now it's head coach to, special teams coach with the Jay and Jim connection,
57:51
but I, I kind of, for their sake, I want this to be a good, you know, a good game.
57:58
Adam: Me too.
57:58
I want Coach Mike to give Jay the absolute big time green light to pull out one of
58:04
his, like, special teams special plays.
58:07
You know, on a punt or a kick return that's just wild and crazy and it, like,
58:12
catches them all off guard and you get, like, you know, some big play out of it.
58:16
I want full go for Jay Harbaugh in this game to stick it to dad.
58:20
'Cause that's always fun to stick it to your dad every now and then, you know?
58:23
Brandan: Have we seen a good special teams trick play on, like,
58:28
a punt or a kick, a field goal?
58:30
It's been a minute.
58:32
I, I'm trying to think of one that Jay has-
58:35
Adam: Fake punt?
58:36
Brandan: Yeah.
58:36
H- have we- I think we've done a fake punt, right?
58:40
Mm-hmm.
58:40
With Jay Harbaugh.
58:42
Adam: Yeah.
58:42
Yeah.
58:43
I, I love this comment from, Slower42 here.
58:46
"Can you imagine the goofy conversations in meetings between,
58:49
McDaniel and Harbaugh?"
58:51
I can't even imagine.
58:52
Like, I, I can imagine Harbaugh like asking him some weird qu- or, you know,
58:56
McDaniel saying something weird, and like, you know, Harbaugh just being like,
58:59
"Well, can you get me some cocaine?"
59:01
'cause it, this, that looks like…
59:03
He needs to ditch the glasses and the capris, man.
59:06
He looks like he's trying to be a drug kingpin.
59:08
He runs a speedboat somewhere, a cigarette boat somewhere, you know?
59:11
I think he was targeted- It's time to move
59:12
Brandan: on from the look … by the
59:13
Adam: administration.
59:14
Yeah.
59:14
Brandan: Like, it worked in Miami.
59:15
Yeah.
59:15
I, I think it's, it's time to move on from it.
59:18
Adam: Yeah.
59:18
Brandan: we should move on to the defense for the Chargers because our
59:21
Seahawks will face a Chargers defense that has o- old man Khalil Mack,
59:26
who's still, among the leaders in getting pressure on the quarterback.
59:32
Tuli, Tui Polotou.
59:34
I worked on that name.
59:35
he is their- How do you know it?
59:37
… lead, lead pass rusher.
59:39
And he's, he's been having a good start to the season so far.
59:42
So a few guys up front that you have to worry about with this Chargers defense.
59:47
Adam: Yeah.
59:48
yeah, both him and Mack have been kinda the, the two guys, like, actually
59:53
getting to the quarterback here.
59:54
And, I think, …
59:56
How, how did you say Tui, Polotou?
59:59
Tui Polotou?
1:00:00
Did I get it?
1:00:00
Dude,
1:00:00
Brandan: I nailed it the first try.
1:00:01
Don't make me try and say it again.
1:00:02
Adam: Okay, fine.
1:00:03
so we're just gonna go with Tuli 'cause that's his first name.
1:00:05
It's a little like Ola with Timmy until you get it.
1:00:08
look, he's, he's leading their defense in pressures, so that's pretty cool.
1:00:14
Derwin James, I mean, he's still Derwin James, right?
1:00:16
You know, older, even worry.
1:00:18
look, I, I think that this could be another long day for this
1:00:24
Chargers defense that really has just been kinda getting rolled here.
1:00:28
And this is a great opportunity with, like, the Bills last week.
1:00:33
Five turnovers, but yet still run for 100 and, you know, over a buck 50.
1:00:37
This is a great opportunity for Brian Fleury to get the run game going, get
1:00:41
Jadarian rolling, build some confidence, and, you know, maybe even work on some of
1:00:46
that short yardage stuff we talked about.
1:00:48
Brandan: Even if we don't have a James Cook style performance in the
1:00:51
run game, there's still this Chargers secondary that hasn't been good.
1:00:56
And I feel like- Yeah … with the receiving corps that we have, and
1:01:00
Sam Darnold, it could be another day where you throw for 300 plus yards.
1:01:06
Now- Yeah … I, I, you know, I would rather- Have the stat line
1:01:11
of, you know, 23, completions and, you know, on 27 attempts and,
1:01:17
and you run the, run the ball well.
1:01:19
And, and 'cause I, I do feel like if you get into the 40 to 50
1:01:23
attempts, then there's gonna be one or two that don't go right.
1:01:25
Adam: Yeah.
1:01:26
look, it- that's the sweet spot in terms of attempts, you know, to kinda
1:01:30
keep Sam from doing some Sam things there.
1:01:34
but look, I mean, the only stat I really care about is 1 and 0 this week.
1:01:40
Like, get the dub, you know- Yeah … first and foremost.
1:01:42
Let's get a new win streak started.
1:01:44
Let, let's get going here, and, maybe we can bury the Rams as, they,
1:01:49
they start out 1 and 2 here as well.
1:01:51
So, that, that could be fun.
1:01:53
Brandan: Yeah, they start out 1 and 2, and they're going to face
1:01:56
the Eagles coming off their loss.
1:01:58
John Hobbs saying, "Get right game before we play the Niners."
1:02:02
Adam: Better
1:02:02
Brandan: be.
1:02:02
Does that con- does that concern you at all though, that it is,
1:02:05
you have the Niners on the horizon, a division match up.
1:02:09
Is this one of those dreaded trap games?
1:02:12
Adam: Nope, we just went into one and we got out, and Admiral Akbar
1:02:16
tried to warn us, and we didn't listen.
1:02:17
But, look, th- that's a wake-up call.
1:02:20
I honestly think that after that loss, that's…
1:02:24
Honestly, it's the Letterkenny coach, hockey coach when I think about that loss.
1:02:27
It was [catfish] embarrassing.
1:02:29
And I think this team is gonna be super sharp this week.
1:02:35
Coach Mike is gonna be super sharp.
1:02:36
I think Fleury's gonna continue to grow.
1:02:39
we've seen good things so far.
1:02:41
I think this is probably, like, a three to four score blowout.
1:02:45
Brandan: Oh, nice.
1:02:46
I, I hope that's true.
1:02:47
I n- and I hope Ernest Jones gets his pick this week because that dude
1:02:52
played out of his mind last week.
1:02:53
And, and he should have gotten some more, counting stats
1:02:57
bec- for as well as he played.
1:02:59
I- he, he- Yeah … deserved them.
1:03:01
Adam: Yep.
1:03:01
No, EJ Ford, not recognized to be the great player that
1:03:05
he is, nearly enough.
1:03:07
I do have one very serious question for you though, Brandan.
1:03:10
Brandan: Are you- If we can be very serious.
1:03:12
Adam: Okay.
1:03:13
Are you concerned about a Marquez Valdes-Scantling revenge game?
1:03:18
Brandan: Oh my gosh, is he still in the league?
1:03:21
Adam: He is, he is on their depth chart.
1:03:24
MVS.
1:03:25
Brandan: Oh my.
1:03:25
Wow.
1:03:26
Adam: Mm-hmm.
1:03:27
Brandan: He must have taken, …
1:03:31
Okay, this tells you what you need to know- … about the
1:03:35
Chargers wide receiving corps-
1:03:37
Adam: Answer
1:03:37
Brandan: the
1:03:37
Adam: question!
1:03:41
Brandan: If he has one successful catch, I will count this as an MVS revenge
1:03:46
game, whether the Chargers win or lose.
1:03:49
Adam: There you go.
1:03:49
Yep, after his cup of coffee with Seattle, you know.
1:03:52
I, I don't know.
1:03:53
There's just something to
1:03:53
Brandan: think about.
1:03:54
He was with the Chiefs week one, wasn't he?
1:03:57
Adam: Maybe.
1:03:58
Brandan: I swear I saw him out there- He was with the Chiefs last
1:04:00
year for a minute- … catching it from Patrick Mahomes
1:04:01
… Adam: I think.
1:04:03
Brandan: I swear I saw him week one with the
1:04:05
Adam: Chiefs.
1:04:05
You might be right.
1:04:06
I don't know.
1:04:06
Here, well, here, let me click on his name here.
1:04:08
Let's see where, what he's got going on here this year.
1:04:12
Brandan: - Maybe he was on somebody's practice squad in between there too.
1:04:15
Who knows?
1:04:15
Adam: Yeah.
1:04:16
-
1:04:17
Brandan: John Hobbs in the chat saying, "I will never forget Shanahan talking
1:04:20
before the Super Bowl in Santa Clara.
1:04:22
he was asked about the Seahawks, and he put his head down and he
1:04:25
said they were a better team."
1:04:28
Yeah.
1:04:28
Let's, …
1:04:29
Hopefully, hopefully we get to hear him say that once again
1:04:32
coming up here in a couple weeks.
1:04:33
Where- Yeah, I- What's, what's the MVS history timeline?
1:04:36
Adam: well, from what I can tell here from the ESPN game logs,
1:04:40
he, he played last week against Buffalo for the Chargers, but has not
1:04:44
played in other games so far this year.
1:04:46
Brandan: Okay.
1:04:46
Maybe I'm thinking of somebody else.
1:04:49
Adam: But the…
1:04:49
It could be that I, I've seen him- He could've been…
1:04:52
Brandan: No, I swear I saw a catch, but-
1:04:55
Adam: Okay
1:04:55
… Brandan: so he would've logged it if he were there.
1:04:57
Adam: Yeah
1:05:00
Brandan: Yeah.
1:05:01
So Chargers this week, Niners next week.
1:05:05
I'm, I, I'm very confident coming back home, coming off a loss where,
1:05:11
gosh, they should've had that.
1:05:12
I do…
1:05:13
And the idea that Julian Love was back on the practice field this week.
1:05:18
Adam: Oh, that's awesome news.
1:05:19
Brandan: Yeah.
1:05:19
I know, right?
1:05:19
Limited participant on Wednesday, but- That's fine … a healthy Julian Love
1:05:24
would, would make me feel a whole lot better with the back half of the defense.
1:05:29
Adam: Yeah, it very much would.
1:05:30
I've got some Niners thoughts too.
1:05:31
I, I figured maybe after the break we'd talk a little bit of the NFC
1:05:35
West after, the Rams fall, deliciously this last week.
1:05:40
It was amazing.
1:05:42
Brandan: All right.
1:05:42
We'll get to the Rams talk, we'll get to other NFC West rival talk.
1:05:47
We're gonna do it coming up next after the break
1:05:51
Getting into the second half of the show.
1:05:53
If you're looking for more Seahawks-Chargers preview, Thursday
1:05:57
night we're gonna have Clinton Bonner, me, Phil Lydik, and we are going to be
1:06:02
previewing in a deeper level this matchup between the Seahawks and Chargers.
1:06:06
So look forward to that.
1:06:08
I'm also, like you Adam, as we look back, toward the
1:06:12
past, lose- watching the Rams lose was oh so good this past weekend.
1:06:18
Adam: Oh, it was amazing.
1:06:19
And look, I know they're all gonna just be like, "Oh, it was
1:06:23
the non-PI call," and all that.
1:06:26
and the…
1:06:27
You know what?
1:06:28
The league came out and said it was the wrong call.
1:06:30
Brandan: Oh, really?
1:06:31
Adam: yeah.
1:06:32
But I think what they meant to say was that it should've just been offsetting,
1:06:39
because- The, the Rams defender holds the receiver at the very beginning
1:06:45
as he breaks out of his route.
1:06:47
That- there's the DPI.
1:06:48
And then- Hmm … you know, the receiver grabs the Rams defender.
1:06:51
There's OPI.
1:06:52
I, I think it should've been offsetting and replay the down.
1:06:55
But, nothing like seeing them lose to the Broncos.
1:06:59
that was freaking hilarious, man.
1:07:02
To be up 16-nil, at the beginning of the game.
1:07:05
Brandan: Yeah.
1:07:06
Or at, at halftime.
1:07:07
Yeah.
1:07:07
The, the way the…
1:07:09
Going into the half, I can understand why people, especially on the East Coast,
1:07:13
said, "Eh, I've seen enough of this game."
1:07:16
Adam: Yeah.
1:07:17
I was already mad.
1:07:17
I texted Bronco Jared.
1:07:19
I was like, "I thought this defense was supposed to be good.
1:07:21
Like, what's going on here?"
1:07:23
'Cause, you know, Rams were getting whatever they wanted,
1:07:26
early and often, and, you had Collinsworth being like, "Oh, oh, oh.
1:07:30
Just imagine when they get back, Puka and, Jared Verse.
1:07:35
They don't even have their two best players.
1:07:37
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh."
1:07:38
And then they lose.
1:07:39
Brandan: Yeah.
1:07:39
They're…
1:07:40
I, I think I saw the stats that their pass rush was around
1:07:44
28th in the league right now.
1:07:47
Adam: Yeah.
1:07:48
Brandan: That, that's not real good.
1:07:49
Adam: It's not real good.
1:07:50
Brandan: That had a nice image of Aaron Donald getting, slammed
1:07:54
to the turf, like Undertaker style.
1:07:57
Adam: Aaron Donald not practicing right now because of back issues, so.
1:08:00
Brandan: Oh, that's weird, after that play?
1:08:02
Adam: Yeah.
1:08:03
So, you know, just, just not going great for the buy a Super Bowl
1:08:08
super team right out of the gate.
1:08:09
I…
1:08:10
You know what, my favorite part of the Broncos game was though, Brandan?
1:08:14
It was watching Sean McVay do the scream into the play call sheet again.
1:08:19
Like, you know, just like the crybaby [catfish] that he is.
1:08:22
Oh, it was so fantastic.
1:08:24
Brandan: What did you think, though, of the points strategy?
1:08:26
Because we talked a little, we had a little bit of a st- discussion
1:08:29
earlier about taking the points.
1:08:31
One of the things that we saw coming out of the half was the Broncos,
1:08:36
with their first touchdown, rather than going for the, the easy
1:08:40
one-pointer, they decide to go for two, get it into a single possession.
1:08:45
And then on the very next touchdown that they scored, then able to tie it
1:08:49
up with another two-point conversion.
1:08:52
Adam: Ah, big, big fan.
1:08:52
It resulted in a Rams loss.
1:08:54
So it was fantastic.
1:08:56
Brandan: Did you agree with the strategy, though?
1:08:58
Because I do-
1:08:59
Adam: yeah, I think so.
1:09:00
I, I- In the moment it, that felt right.
1:09:02
Brandan: Well, I like the idea of making a game that would've been a three-possession
1:09:08
game otherwise, being 16 and 0, going for that first two-point conversion.
1:09:14
If you, if you don't make it, it's still a three possession…
1:09:17
Well, you still have two possessions left to try and catch up.
1:09:20
Adam: That's right.
1:09:20
Brandan: But if you get the two-point conversion, then you go
1:09:23
from it being a three possession game to a two possession game.
1:09:26
Adam: Yeah, and being down that much, like-
1:09:28
Brandan: You're down only one possession a- a- after the successful conversion.
1:09:31
Adam: Yeah, you're down three possessions, like, there's not a
1:09:34
lot of chasing points at that point.
1:09:35
Like, you kinda have to.
1:09:37
And so it made sense to me.
1:09:40
I'm just curious, do you think Sean Payton, like, secretly at halftime said,
1:09:44
"Enough of this nonsense," and grabbed the playbook back from Davis Webb?
1:09:48
Brandan: There were people speculating on that.
1:09:50
Yeah.
1:09:50
But I, I think that the, the folks who…
1:09:53
I didn't, I was listening to it, and so I, I couldn't see the actual play calling,
1:09:57
but it sounded like Davis Webb was out there calling plays in the second half.
1:10:00
Yeah.
1:10:00
So again, that does lead you to, to draw it back to the Seahawks, the
1:10:06
concern about play calling and, trying to dial it in on a new team.
1:10:13
Davis Webb's at least had some experience, right, with, with that team.
1:10:17
Adam: Mm.
1:10:17
Brandan: So, but he is a first time play caller, and maybe trying to
1:10:24
dial it in with a new team, and getting there at just the right time.
1:10:28
I…
1:10:29
Do you have any concern that that then is gonna happen this week with the
1:10:32
Chargers, that McDaniel is gonna be able to dial it in with the Chargers?
1:10:37
Adam: No, not to this point.
1:10:38
It's been a dumpster fire.
1:10:39
His, his stuff has been a dumpster fire for years now.
1:10:42
There's a reason why he's not the head coach of, Miami anymore.
1:10:45
Yeah.
1:10:45
Right?
1:10:45
So no, I don't have a lot of concerns that way.
1:10:49
but moving on from, the Rams, who are now tied for
1:10:54
last place in the division.
1:10:56
Niners-Cards, entertaining game.
1:10:59
Cards made a game of that.
1:11:01
Cards- The team that Molly won
1:11:05
Brandan: Yeah, the fact that they were able to climb back in it.
1:11:08
Th- they did, they didn't have that opportunity against our Seahawks.
1:11:11
They looked like they didn't even want to.
1:11:14
But Niners injuries, despite the fact that they're 3-0, those injuries are adding up.
1:11:19
Now they are getting, I think Evans is supposed to be coming back, and, - Is
1:11:24
Adam: he really?
1:11:24
Brandan: I thought, even though I think I saw he had a broken rib-
1:11:27
That was scary … or something.
1:11:29
.
1:11:29
Adam: He couldn't breathe.
1:11:31
Brandan: Yeah.
1:11:31
But Trent Williams is, is gonna be back, so th- there's
1:11:37
at least a couple guys.
1:11:39
I saw that they signed Pettis this past week.
1:11:42
Which is kinda funny.
1:11:43
Like-
1:11:44
Adam: Pettis is kinda funny
1:11:46
Brandan: They're, they're pretty hard up for wide receiver help.
1:11:49
Adam: Oh, one of their reporters actually asked them about
1:11:51
Aiyuk, and, yeah, Shanahan was not having it, which was hilarious.
1:11:55
so yeah, Cardinals, Cardinals played 'em tough, and good for them.
1:12:01
And I think one of the interesting things about the Niners is, I was just kind of
1:12:07
hearkening back to last year and, you know, we catch them in week one, right?
1:12:12
And like they squeak one out, you know, off of a, a Sam Darnold butt
1:12:16
fumble off of Abe Lucas's butt, right?
1:12:18
Like, yep.
1:12:19
Mm-hmm.
1:12:19
Good job, you know.
1:12:20
Congrats, I guess.
1:12:20
All that.
1:12:22
And then, we start to see them towards the end of the year, and
1:12:25
I just remember those storylines, like, "Brock Purdy's on fire.
1:12:29
Best offense in the league," you know, "Kittle's unstoppable.
1:12:32
CMC, they just ride that guy, and like nobody can stop him.
1:12:36
Doesn't even matter who their wide receivers are.
1:12:38
Like, they're just so hot and they can score against anybody."
1:12:42
Boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo.
1:12:44
Then I'm thinking it to this year.
1:12:45
Oh, and w- I, I just was trying to…
1:12:47
Do you recall what happened, in the subsequent match u- ups when we
1:12:51
saw the Niners in week 18 and then, again in the playoff sprint?
1:12:54
What, what
1:12:55
Brandan: happened?
1:12:55
Yeah, well they, they…
1:12:56
It was a close game against us for week 18.
1:13:01
Adam: Sure.
1:13:01
Brandan: it's just that offense though.
1:13:02
But close in the, in terms of the score.
1:13:03
Yeah.
1:13:03
Not, not a lot of offense.
1:13:05
- How many
1:13:06
Adam: points was it?
1:13:06
Three?
1:13:07
Brandan: Three.
1:13:07
Adam: Did they suck balls the entire game?
1:13:09
Brandan: Pretty much, yeah.
1:13:10
Adam: Yeah.
1:13:11
There is, bro.
1:13:12
Yeah.
1:13:13
And then, did they, did Shanahan get depantsed on national television
1:13:17
in the playoffs as the offensive guru by the best coach in the league?
1:13:22
I, 'cause I- Mm … I recall that happening too, in those
1:13:24
hideous black uniforms.
1:13:26
Brandan: Yeah.
1:13:26
Adam: Like, that was fun.
1:13:27
So I'm really looking forward to week five here when we get to
1:13:33
see the Niners, and everybody's talking about MVP Purdy, right?
1:13:39
And the unstoppable Niners offense and all of that, and we go out
1:13:44
there and we shut their ass down to basically zero points yet again.
1:13:49
Brandan: So are you hoping secretly then that the Broncos don't take
1:13:54
the, the Niners down so we can be the ones to mar their undefeated
1:13:58
record i- in the following week?
1:14:00
Or, or do you just wanna see them lose back to back weeks
1:14:03
because that would be ideal?
1:14:05
Adam: Here's the best case scenario.
1:14:07
Niners lose 35-34, to the Broncos.
1:14:11
Offense looks outstanding.
1:14:12
Their defense looks like trash.
1:14:14
12 and- They have a 16
1:14:15
Brandan: point lead going into the half.
1:14:16
Adam: Yeah.
1:14:17
Exactly.
1:14:18
Blow it.
1:14:18
Blow it.
1:14:19
They lose by one.
1:14:20
But then they're coming into the Seattle game, be like, "Oh, the
1:14:22
offense is unstoppable again.
1:14:23
Rah, blah, don't talk to me about substations.
1:14:25
We're, we're awesome.
1:14:26
Like, we should have won the division and the one seed last year."
1:14:29
And, and then send, Shanahan home crying again.
1:14:33
That, that would be great.
1:14:34
Brandan: John Hobbs in chat saying, "Trust me, the Niner fans are saying that
1:14:38
already, according to the Niner fans, they already won the Super Bowl this year."
1:14:42
It's funny that it's shifted now from the, the Los Angeles Rams being
1:14:48
the, the media darling f- to, that's poised to win the Super Bowl to now,
1:14:53
oh, look, the, the Niners, the…
1:14:55
E- despite all the injuries, Shanahan's got 'em in it.
1:14:59
Purdy is, I think, the top, quarterback rating in all the NFL,
1:15:04
and, despite all of the struggles that they've gone through, look at
1:15:08
'em, they're, they're still 3-0.
1:15:11
Adam: Yep, still 3-0.
1:15:12
Still old as hell.
1:15:14
Everybody's getting hurt and dropping like flies already.
1:15:17
It's been three weeks of NFL football.
1:15:19
I, just congratulations to everybody down in the Bay Area for their hot start.
1:15:26
Like, it just, it's great.
1:15:27
Enjoy it now.
1:15:29
Like, we're coming, couple of weeks, we'll see you then.
1:15:33
It's gonna be a great time.
1:15:34
I get…
1:15:34
Is that, is that game in, Lumen or, South Lumen?
1:15:40
Brandan: It's in Lumen.
1:15:41
Adam: Okay.
1:15:41
Brandan: Yeah, the Seahawks have five straight home games.
1:15:45
The, of the, the only road game that they have in this next stretch of games, Adam,
1:15:50
is the one that we're going to in Denver.
1:15:53
Adam: Oh, okay.
1:15:54
Very good.
1:15:55
Well, it's gonna be fun.
1:15:56
I'm looking forward to stomping all the California teams here
1:15:59
over the next couple weeks.
1:16:00
It's gonna be great.
1:16:02
Brandan: Johnny A asks, "Will Evans be out?"
1:16:04
He was out at practice on this week.
1:16:07
He does have a fractured rib.
1:16:08
Kittle was saying something about how it, it, it sucks to have fractured ribs.
1:16:12
We've seen guys play with it though, so, yeah, it, I don't know, like,
1:16:18
at what point does the broken rib feel okay enough to still play with it?
1:16:23
And, you know, they bulk
1:16:24
Adam: up with the- Depends on how
1:16:24
Brandan: much
1:16:24
Adam: cornmeal you put in there, yeah.
1:16:26
Brandan: Yeah, they, you see guys wear the, the flak jackets and that
1:16:30
sort of thing to, for the added protection, but yeah, that's, -
1:16:33
Adam: The weird thing is too is didn't Evans, like, get
1:16:36
injured just running a route?
1:16:38
Like, it was non-contact.
1:16:39
Brandan: I have no idea.
1:16:41
Yeah.
1:16:41
It, it could be one of those contact injuries that shows up later too.
1:16:44
Adam: That could be, that very well could.
1:16:47
Brandan: All right.
1:16:48
any- anything you want, anything else about our rivals that you
1:16:52
wanna touch on before we move on?
1:16:54
Adam: Oh, you used the wrong word there, but, the
1:16:56
other teams in our division?
1:16:57
Yeah, I think we're good.
1:16:59
I think we covered it.
1:17:00
Brandan: Yeah.
1:17:01
Well, I, I, I still consider them rivals.
1:17:05
Adam: I don't, I, I just don't wanna give them credit until, you
1:17:07
know, the week of, then- They actually
1:17:08
Brandan: do something?
1:17:09
Adam: Yeah, then I'll call them rivals, I guess.
1:17:11
I don't know.
1:17:12
Brandan: All right.
1:17:13
Well, I really wanna thank our executive producers, Adam.
1:17:17
We've got DCH, we've got Ryan Peterson, YouTube Live executive producer.
1:17:21
We saw him earlier.
1:17:23
we've got Lisa Carlson, Dave Bloomquist, James Gertz, and Brian Shaw.
1:17:29
We've also got, a couple of folks who came in live with super chats, including
1:17:34
Johnny A, Godzerohawks, and Go Hawks.
1:17:38
I, I should add Mark as an executive producer.
1:17:40
It sounds like he's been, coming in hot and, and doing
1:17:43
some of the live streams too.
1:17:43
Mark, Mark has been
1:17:44
Adam: outrageously awesome.
1:17:45
Yeah.
1:17:45
Brandan: Yeah.
1:17:46
Adam: Yeah.
1:17:46
E- EP for sure.
1:17:48
Brandan: Okay.
1:17:49
- Pretty much … Mark, s- send, send me, let me know how you want to be
1:17:52
recognized among the executive producers.
1:17:54
If you wanna just be Mark, if you wanna be Godzerohawk, just
1:17:57
let me know We've also got Flip Carson, who came in at $25 a month.
1:18:05
Tim gave us an upgrade, Adam, through, getintheflock.com.
1:18:09
Oh, man.
1:18:10
Tim Boesky, also sent us 150 via Venmo because Tim bought everyone a round of
1:18:15
drinks at the dinner meetup opening week.
1:18:18
Adam: That's right, and that was super sweet, man.
1:18:20
I, I wish I hadn't have been driving because I would've definitely taken
1:18:23
you up on that one, but, yeah, man.
1:18:26
Tim's sweet, man.
1:18:28
Everybody that, is in the flock, you guys are amazing.
1:18:32
And, you know, if you haven't gotten in the flock yet, if you- you just kind
1:18:35
of keep listening to this show and you haven't kind of caught the value for value
1:18:39
vibe that we try to throw out there, it's just like, man, if this bring a little
1:18:42
value to your life, don't be a freeloader.
1:18:44
If- you can be a freeloader for two years, though.
1:18:46
That's the, that's the freeloader
1:18:48
Brandan: period.
1:18:48
Freeloader grace period of- Yeah … two years.
1:18:50
Adam: Yeah.
1:18:50
And, and we're not even mad at two-year freeloaders, right?
1:18:53
Like, thanks for being here.
1:18:54
Love- Well,
1:18:55
Brandan: and really, you know, it's if you can afford it situation.
1:18:58
Adam: Oh, 1000%.
1:18:58
If you can't afford it, screw us.
1:19:00
Like- … that's exactly how that works.
1:19:03
But hey, man, even if it's just, you know, 50 cents a month, a
1:19:05
buck a month, something like that, we'd appreciate it, man.
1:19:08
go to getintheflock.com.
1:19:10
And, and if you can't do that, let's say you're a little strapped for cash,
1:19:13
there's always the Subscribe button, there's the, the Like button, there's the
1:19:17
Share button, there's the Hype button.
1:19:19
There's probably other buttons too, like press them all.
1:19:21
I don't know.
1:19:22
Have a
1:19:22
Brandan: fit.
1:19:22
Review button.
1:19:23
You could leave us a review somewhere.
1:19:25
Adam: That'd be cool.
1:19:25
Brandan: Yeah.
1:19:26
We always like those.
1:19:27
Adam: Yeah.
1:19:28
And- Make it five stars, though, just so that I feel good about life.
1:19:30
Yeah.
1:19:30
Brandan: Well, yeah.
1:19:31
I mean, y- you gotta do five stars 'cause nobody, -
1:19:35
Adam: Well, you don't.
1:19:35
But
1:19:38
Brandan: I mean, you, you should.
1:19:39
If you've gotten- Yeah … this far, like- Yeah … you know.
1:19:42
I- if it were a one or two star show, you, you wouldn't be listening by now.
1:19:45
Adam: And not only that, but if you hate this show and you've been
1:19:47
listening this long, then it's good enough for you to hate listen to.
1:19:50
That's five stars.
1:19:52
Brandan: Although I would, you know, a hate listen review should be, three would
1:19:58
be appropriate for that, wouldn't it?
1:20:00
Adam: Yeah, I know, but it hurts the stats.
1:20:03
Brandan: Maybe.
1:20:03
Adam: Yeah.
1:20:04
Brandan: I don't know.
1:20:04
Adam: I- That's fine.
1:20:05
I don't care about the stats.
1:20:06
Leave three stars if you're, if you're hate listening to this.
1:20:09
Brandan: We've also got David Gilbert who came in at 12/12, so
1:20:13
welcome to the flock, David Gilbert.
1:20:17
Adam: Appreciate you a ton, David.
1:20:18
Thank you for getting in the flock, man.
1:20:19
lovely to have you as a member and, being one of our little flockers.
1:20:25
Brandan: You know, another way to help us out, join…
1:20:27
When you, when you've subscribed and you join us live, and you're just producing
1:20:31
in the comments by offering up comments, like John Hobbs saying, "Thank you, guys.
1:20:35
Go Hawks."
1:20:35
Adam: Yeah.
1:20:35
Thank you,
1:20:36
Brandan: John.
1:20:36
That helps too.
1:20:37
Adam: It does.
1:20:37
It…
1:20:38
You guys, and that's the thing is this show is as much, about you guys
1:20:41
and for you guys as it is about us.
1:20:43
And, we love having your interaction in the comments and getting you guys in
1:20:47
the show and, reacting to that stuff.
1:20:50
So keep it coming, man.
1:20:51
We freaking love it.
1:20:53
Brandan: Ad-free episodes at getintheflock.com.
1:20:56
if you're experiencing audio issues on YouTube watching it live, generally
1:21:02
the, the produced episodes after the fact, I level out all the audio.
1:21:06
So if you're, a real audio nerd and go, "Eh, you know, this just
1:21:09
doesn't sound quite balanced enough for my taste watching live," then
1:21:13
you can always listen after the fact.
1:21:16
Adam: Yeah.
1:21:16
I mean, if it doesn't sound balanced, it's YouTube's fault because,
1:21:19
Brandan's got this stuff dialed in, like, you know, dead nuts, so.
1:21:22
Yeah.
1:21:23
Brandan: It sound, it sounds perfectly balanced to me, and I, I, I'd have no
1:21:26
control over, some of the things that YouTube does though sometimes.
1:21:29
We do not.
1:21:29
And, and even StreamYard.
1:21:31
Adam: Yeah.
1:21:32
Yeah.
1:21:33
Brandan: All right, Adam, one email before we move along.
1:21:37
Adam: All right.
1:21:38
Brandan: My fellow Bran Dan checking in.
1:21:41
Adam: Yeah.
1:21:43
This is great.
1:21:44
Brandan: He says, "Hello, guys.
1:21:45
I wanted to follow up with Brandan and let him know that I, Bran Dan, am real."
1:21:50
"Oddly enough, I have a brother named Braden who was named
1:21:54
after some town in Montana."
1:21:56
Adam: No, no.
1:21:56
Guys, Eli, I don't trust that at all.
1:21:58
There's no way that's true.
1:21:59
That's amazing.
1:22:00
Brandan: also, Nolan Teasley, our former assistant GM and current
1:22:03
Vikings GM, is my ex-wife's brother.
1:22:06
Actually, half brother.
1:22:07
Same dad, different moms.
1:22:08
He was a super nice guy, and I hung out with him many times.
1:22:11
Adam: That's super sweet, man.
1:22:12
Very cool.
1:22:13
sorry to hear there was an ex thing in there, but you know other
1:22:16
than that, that sounds awesome.
1:22:17
Brandan: Yeah.
1:22:17
Well, it doesn't sound like it, was any, any fault of Brandan's.
1:22:21
Adam: No, definitely not.
1:22:22
Yeah.
1:22:23
Anybody who's Bran Dan, - You're basically perfect people, right?
1:22:28
Brandan: Yeah.
1:22:28
Adam: Yeah.
1:22:29
Brandan: if you wanna send us an email, gohawks@seahawkerspodcast.com.
1:22:34
Generally in the past we have also done our pick 'em league standings.
1:22:38
We have moved that to Saturday, so, -
1:22:40
Adam: Yeah
1:22:41
… Brandan: we,
1:22:41
Adam: we- If we can get Clinton to remember.
1:22:43
Yeah.
1:22:43
Brandan: Right.
1:22:44
And, and I'll try and remember too.
1:22:46
Adam: Yeah.
1:22:46
Brandan: Because I, I think I can even create a slide that shows
1:22:48
it, to help us remember.
1:22:50
But- That'd be
1:22:50
Adam: sweet
1:22:51
Brandan: yeah, pick 'em league standings, tune in for that on Saturday
1:22:54
when we do our live shows as we look for injuries, news, updates, and
1:22:59
your guys' top picks for the games.
1:23:02
Adam: Heck yeah, man.
1:23:03
Brandan: All right.
1:23:04
On to Do Better and Better at Life.
1:23:06
Adam: All right, man.
1:23:07
My do better this week is for, there's, there's a number of names for this
1:23:13
creature, depending on where you live in your neck of the woods.
1:23:17
Whether they're pumas or cougars or mountain lions for where I'm at, and
1:23:22
the ones that like, you know, skulked the hills around our cabin here.
1:23:26
and-
1:23:27
Brandan: You know, for a, a, a, a hot minute I thought
1:23:29
you were gonna say Sasquatch.
1:23:30
Adam: Oh, the Samsquatch.
1:23:31
Yeah.
1:23:32
nope, it's not the Samsquatch.
1:23:34
This is for something that, more of us see on the regular, even though they are,
1:23:38
tough to, tough to see at times.
1:23:41
They're very elusive.
1:23:43
So whether they're, whatever you call these hideous death creatures
1:23:46
that stalk you and, will eat you at a moment's notice, for them
1:23:52
and for a study done by, an organization called Current Biology.
1:24:00
They've gone out and they've done this study, study to try to convince people
1:24:05
that these fuzzy merchants of death are actually good for you, the human race.
1:24:11
They, they published this thing and their whole premise is, is that
1:24:16
the existence of mountain lions in urban, you know, wilderness interface
1:24:22
areas- reduces vehicle collisions by over 76% over a five-year period.
1:24:31
They, what they say is is that these, these puma select for moderately
1:24:35
s- developed areas relatively close to roads when hunting ungulate prey,
1:24:40
and humans, and babies, and dogs, and all the other [catfish] that they hunt too.
1:24:44
Sure.
1:24:44
They're ambush predators, and edges are great places to hunt
1:24:47
because they provide cover and good sight lines because they're evil.
1:24:51
So they're trying to convince everybody that these death machines
1:24:56
that run around the woods…
1:24:57
It's the number one, animal I'm afraid of in the woods by far.
1:25:01
Mm-hmm.
1:25:01
They're, they're scary.
1:25:02
I, I can't stand them.
1:25:03
So to mountain lions and Current Biology for this pack of lies that
1:25:08
you're trying to shove down the American people's throat, do better.
1:25:13
Brandan: You know, we need to check Current Biology on the, the, the list of
1:25:16
trusted journals 'cause I, I've been doing a little research on certain journals.
1:25:20
You, you gotta watch out for some of those.
1:25:21
Adam: Yeah.
1:25:22
I, I think you need to watch out for this one too.
1:25:25
Yeah.
1:25:25
Brandan: But so the argument is is that, well, at least they stop
1:25:30
you from hitting a deer sometimes?
1:25:32
Adam: Yeah.
1:25:32
So, a previous study published in 2016 found that reintroducing these large
1:25:37
cats to Eastern USA could prevent 680 injuries and five fatalities per year.
1:25:44
Could?
1:25:45
Based on what?
1:25:46
Like, what are you a seer of sooth of, of, you know, mountain lions?
1:25:49
Get out of here.
1:25:50
Y- you're telling me that, you know, people outside of [catfish]
1:25:54
Boston want a bunch of mountain lions running around in the suburbs?
1:25:58
I don't think so, Tim.
1:26:00
Brandan: I do feel like that could end up going less well- Horribly
1:26:04
for household pets and those- Yeah … sort of things too.
1:26:07
Adam: Yeah.
1:26:07
Brandan: But all right.
1:26:09
Well-
1:26:12
Interesting study You don't
1:26:13
Adam: think this is a good idea.
1:26:14
You know it's not a good idea
1:26:15
Brandan: I, I ha- I have no idea.
1:26:17
I'd have to read the literature, Adam.
1:26:19
Adam: No you don't.
1:26:20
No you don't.
1:26:20
Trust your gut.
1:26:21
There's more nerve endings in your gut than your brain.
1:26:23
Don't look it up, but it's true
1:26:25
Brandan: Well, one thing I know is true, Adam, My Do Better This Week, and
1:26:30
I know you'll co-sign with this one, it's Sean McVay and his stupid,
1:26:35
excuse after the press conference I'm sure you saw in the news after the f-
1:26:41
af- after the game against the Broncos.
1:26:43
After their loss to Denver, Sean McVay did the weasely thing of hurrying into
1:26:50
the press room before all the other reporters got there, and he talked real
1:26:54
fast for about a minute and a half.
1:26:57
There happened to be one or two reporters that had gotten there
1:27:00
actually early and were able to ask a question, and then he just bolted.
1:27:06
He was in there for, like, two minutes, and everybody called him out after
1:27:10
the fact, except, you know, reporters who were, you know, Sean McVay
1:27:14
apologists, and they know who they are.
1:27:17
Adam: Yeah.
1:27:17
Brandan: But, then Sean McVay comes out and offers this as an apology, Adam.
1:27:24
Says, "I'm sorry that I missed you guys yesterday."
1:27:26
he's not sorry.
1:27:27
I-
1:27:27
Adam: Wait, wait.
1:27:28
You need to start over.
1:27:29
You got, "I'm sorry that I missed you," like with this horrible
1:27:31
Brandan: voice.
1:27:32
I- I'm not gonna wreck my voice to try and sound like…
1:27:33
to do a Sean McVay impression.
1:27:35
Adam: Okay.
1:27:36
" Brandan: I had been going for a few minutes, and there was some
1:27:40
misunderstanding with some of the timing.
1:27:43
Once a question was asked, there was enough silence.
1:27:46
I…
1:27:47
It was never my intention to ever miss any of your questions.
1:27:50
If there was any sort of misunderstanding, that was definitely not the case.
1:27:55
I apologize for that.
1:27:56
I understand my role and responsibility is to be able to talk, whether
1:28:00
it's after a win or whether we don't get the results that we want.
1:28:04
I want to a- at least acknowledge that.
1:28:07
I know a couple of our beat reporters were just…
1:28:10
There were a mix-up with timing, but I was there for a few minutes.
1:28:15
There was a pause in any sort of questions, and obviously emotional game.
1:28:19
That's what led to that, but if there was any misinterpretation,
1:28:22
I do apologize for that."
1:28:24
That is your typical Sean McVay apology.
1:28:29
All the excuses built into the apology, and all of the excuses why it wasn't
1:28:35
his fault because, "Oh, I was there.
1:28:37
I was there for a few minutes.
1:28:39
I answered some questions.
1:28:40
You guys were just late getting there before I was there."
1:28:43
Sean McVay, do…
1:28:45
You know what you were doing.
1:28:47
Own up to it, and next time, just stick around for the press conference.
1:28:51
Y- Wait for the reporters to get there.
1:28:53
They need some time to get from the press box to the press room.
1:28:57
Do better.
1:28:58
Adam: Do better.
1:28:59
Oh, what a joke show this guy is.
1:29:01
Like, the captain of inaccountability, right?
1:29:03
Like, he's just unaccountable, at all times.
1:29:06
This sounds a lot like, "Well, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings,"
1:29:11
you know, rather than being like, sorry for act- you know, doing I'm
1:29:14
Brandan: sorry I was early and you were on time or maybe somewhat late
1:29:18
Adam: Right.
1:29:19
Sorry I didn't stick around to face the music for my pathetic performance
1:29:22
by my football team in the second half, and have to explain away the
1:29:25
fact that my quadrillionaire owner, you know, bought this super team and
1:29:30
I can't get them to a winning record.
1:29:32
Like, you can't possibly do that.
1:29:33
You should have
1:29:33
Brandan: heard how fast he blew through his opening comments
1:29:36
in the press conference too.
1:29:37
Oh, yeah.
1:29:37
He, he, he cruised through them like he got into Mike McDaniel's Coke.
1:29:42
Adam: Yeah.
1:29:43
That, that feel- That feels right.
1:29:46
Man, I, I just, I can't stand the man.
1:29:48
I can't stand him at all.
1:29:50
This lack of accountability.
1:29:52
This is exactly…
1:29:53
It's so LA on the nose too, right?
1:29:56
Like, oh no, I know I'm a- Oh,
1:29:58
Brandan: we faced adversity in Denver, and now I g- I, I'm too mad
1:30:02
to answer questions after the game.
1:30:05
Adam: I need a safe space and a, you know, support animal
1:30:07
or some crap, like, after that.
1:30:09
I'm wondering though, Brandan, the apology that you read there, that
1:30:12
he apparently read, how old was the intern that wrote that for him?
1:30:17
Because it certainly wasn't him.
1:30:18
Those weren't his words.
1:30:20
Brandan: Well, in LA fashion- Like, those were Joe- … I, I did try to,
1:30:23
to dramatize it because it, it may have been not just a, an intern, maybe
1:30:27
it was a Hollywood script writer.
1:30:30
Adam: Hmm.
1:30:31
Maybe.
1:30:31
They needed some, needed some, like, John Bay, like, e-
1:30:35
explosions in the middle of it too.
1:30:37
Brandan: I should have had some dramatic music playing under me.
1:30:39
Adam: Yeah.
1:30:40
Brandan: Maybe that's for a short later.
1:30:42
Adam: Ugh, can't stand that guy.
1:30:44
Can't stand him.
1:30:45
Yeah, I think one of the reasons that I can't stand him though, Brandan-
1:30:48
Brandan: Yeah
1:30:49
… Adam: is because he didn't grow up in, like, our generation.
1:30:52
Like, he's younger than us, right?
1:30:54
Brandan: Our coach is younger than us.
1:30:56
Adam: Yeah, I know.
1:30:56
But he, he's still like an old soul.
1:30:58
Like, he was born, you know, '53, you know?
1:31:02
Not Sean McVay.
1:31:03
And I think one of the things that he missed out on is my better at life
1:31:07
than Skip Bayless this week, Brandan.
1:31:09
Brandan: Let's
1:31:09
Adam: hear it.
1:31:09
'Cause, 'cause he didn't grow up in our era.
1:31:11
And for all the folks that did grow up in our era, I feel
1:31:13
like you missed out on this.
1:31:15
My better at life this week is for the mall.
1:31:18
Not just our mall, not the mall in Kalispell, not, you know,
1:31:22
anywhere, but malls in general, the malls all over the country, the mall
1:31:25
that is in your neck of the woods.
1:31:27
Because guess what, Brandan?
1:31:29
Malls are on the comeback.
1:31:31
Finally.
1:31:32
And it is good for America.
1:31:33
So the title of this article in the Wall Street Journal
1:31:36
is Malls Were Left for Dead.
1:31:38
Now They Are the Top Performer in Commercial Real Estate.
1:31:42
There you go.
1:31:42
And they are performing 13% above, all the other commercial stuff.
1:31:46
Investors are starting to see, like, the benefits of brick-and-mortar again
1:31:49
in like retail, and having it all under one roof where young children, not Sean
1:31:56
McVay, can go and socialize and build, you know, their ability to talk to
1:32:01
people, even when they're in the wrong.
1:32:03
You know, go to Orange Julius, have a disgusting Orange Julius.
1:32:07
You know, play the video games, chase each other around, try to exchange phone
1:32:12
numbers, have face-to-face contact.
1:32:14
It's fantastic.
1:32:16
So- I am excited to hear about this upcoming resurrection of the great
1:32:22
American tradition, the mall, and do the mall in the rest of America.
1:32:27
You're better at life than Skip Bayless.
1:32:29
Brandan: See, '80s are making a comeback.
1:32:31
I was out in Seattle.
1:32:32
We, I went to a concert- That doesn't mean anything … they had
1:32:34
an opening band that was specifically '80s music, and it was awesome.
1:32:39
And I know you're shaking your head, but, it- You
1:32:42
Adam: know how I feel
1:32:42
Brandan: about the '80s
1:32:43
you know, we, we've got '80s music making comebacks, we've
1:32:45
got malls making comebacks.
1:32:47
It's, it's, it's our time.
1:32:50
Adam: It's our time.
1:32:51
They, just skip the '80s coming back and just go straight to the '90s.
1:32:54
It was a garbage decade for music, movies, and everything.
1:32:57
The '90s kick its ass by every stretch of the imagination.
1:33:01
Brandan: Man, malls were great, though.
1:33:02
Hanging out at the mall.
1:33:04
Adam: They were.
1:33:04
Yeah, man.
1:33:05
Brandan: Kids don't know what they're missing.
1:33:06
But maybe- It,
1:33:07
Adam: it- … maybe now they'll know … it's an unpaid babysitter.
1:33:09
It's an unpaid babysitter, too, for, like, current parents.
1:33:11
That'd be great
1:33:13
Brandan: Well, my Better at Life this week is also of the older generation, maybe
1:33:17
even a little bit older than us, but, also someone that I know you would
1:33:22
ex- would respect, Adam, because he is a fellow horn player, and that is- Oh
1:33:27
Dr.
1:33:28
Jesse McGuire.
1:33:30
And I don't know if you saw this, Adam, but, Dr.
1:33:33
McGuire, he, he was a trumpet player and he'd been playing at the Na- he'd,
1:33:37
he'd been playing the national anthem on his trumpet for years and years.
1:33:41
I, I- Yeah … even saw him, playing, gosh, it was like a, a
1:33:44
Niners and C- Panthers game over 12 years ago that he was at.
1:33:50
And he…
1:33:50
Oh, it even…
1:33:51
Yeah, 'cause this was his 25th anniversary.
1:33:53
He was playing the Arizona Diamondbacks game against the Yankees, and the
1:33:58
Diamondbacks wanted to commemorate this 25th year anniversary when they won
1:34:03
their World Series, and so they had him out to play the national anthem.
1:34:08
And for the first time ever, that had ever happened to him, his trumpet
1:34:14
malfunctions during the national anthem.
1:34:17
Like, you- How?
1:34:17
He, he, you could see him playing, and then he's, like, fiddling with one of
1:34:21
the, the buttons going up and down.
1:34:24
I don't know.
1:34:24
I don't- One of the valves stuck?
1:34:25
One of the valves.
1:34:26
- Yeah … and, and you could see him kinda fiddle with it, try and fix it.
1:34:30
He blew into it again.
1:34:31
It didn't sound quite right.
1:34:33
Do you know what he did next?
1:34:35
Because what do you do?
1:34:35
What do you do if you're a trumpet player and you're, you're trying to
1:34:38
fix it, and you're halfway through, you know you've gotta finish the anthem?
1:34:42
Like, that's…
1:34:43
You can't just let it go.
1:34:45
The dude picks up the microphone and picks up right where he left off, singing it.
1:34:51
And- Wow … the dude has an amazing…
1:34:54
well, not an amazing voice, but a, a good voice.
1:34:57
Like- Good
1:34:57
Adam: enough, yeah
1:34:58
… Brandan: he, he, he went out and he crushed the, the anthem,
1:35:01
like, all in tune, and…
1:35:02
'Cause you have to worry about a trumpet player, right?
1:35:05
Of, like, can this dude carry a tune vocally?
1:35:08
Oh, he could.
1:35:09
And not only did he, finish the national anthem, he was supposed to do the
1:35:14
seventh inning stretch, God Bless America.
1:35:16
He sung that too 'cause his trumpet still wasn't working.
1:35:19
Adam: No, no chance that's true, but okay.
1:35:21
Like, yeah.
1:35:22
He just was, he just was high off of his own supply there.
1:35:25
Like, he was excited to sing again, I think.
1:35:28
Brandan: But, going in, I, and then I wanted to do some research about this
1:35:32
guy 'cause, he had articles written about him, profiling him over the years.
1:35:38
He said that, he, he started playing his first trumpet solo
1:35:41
in church at 11 years old.
1:35:44
He played When the Saints Go Marching In, and after which, someone walked
1:35:47
up to him and gave him five bucks.
1:35:49
And, after that, a cute girl named Lisa walked up and said hello, and,
1:35:53
and so then, that, he was hooked.
1:35:55
And he's gone on to play with Pat Boone, James Brown, Sammy Hagar, Paul Simon,
1:36:00
Stevie Wonder, and, and he's a doctor.
1:36:04
Apparently he even does some volunteer work as a, as a, as a minister at prisons.
1:36:09
amazing guy, an amazing situation that he found himself in, that he went ahead
1:36:13
and crushed it in the national anthem.
1:36:15
Dr.
1:36:16
Jesse McGuire, better at life than Skip Bayless.
1:36:19
Adam: That all sounds incredibly impressive, no doubt about it.
1:36:22
And, you know, to have the gumption to just grab the mic and,
1:36:26
like, sing it at that point, like, that takes the type of balls that
1:36:30
only a trumpet player would have.
1:36:33
Because how dare you, Brandan?
1:36:34
You said he was a horn player.
1:36:37
He was a horn player.
1:36:38
Yeah.
1:36:38
That is a different thing.
1:36:39
So, since you weren't a band nerd, let me band nerd fill some
1:36:42
things in here for you- Okay … as somebody who played the saxophone,
1:36:46
and then also the French horn.
1:36:48
Now, there's a distinct personality type that goes with each and every,
1:36:53
you know, instrument in the band, and this may n- or may not surprise you.
1:36:57
Bronco Jared, trumpet player.
1:37:00
- Oh, okay … what does, what, what kind of comes to
1:37:02
mind with Bronco, Bronco Jared?
1:37:04
Maybe a little braggadocious, brash.
1:37:06
A little overconfident.
1:37:07
Like, over the top.
1:37:09
Little overconfident.
1:37:09
Maybe drowns out everything and everybody around him at times, as trumpets do.
1:37:15
Yeah, that's what trumpet players are.
1:37:17
So it is no, no shock to me whatsoever that this guy had the confidence,
1:37:23
the rational confidence, to just pick up, maybe semi-rational,
1:37:26
picks up the microphone, belts it out, and then to go back to it.
1:37:29
Because let me tell you about a stuck valve on a trumpet or a
1:37:33
French horn or any of these things.
1:37:34
You know what you do?
1:37:35
You unscrew the top, you pull the valve out, and you go boop-boop.
1:37:38
And you put in a couple drops of oil, and you screw it back in, and you
1:37:41
go broop, and then it's good to go.
1:37:43
But you gotta make the noise, broop, when you do it.
1:37:46
And so there's no shot that it's doesn't still work, like, at that point.
1:37:50
He had to sing it later.
1:37:51
That's just the full trumpet player bravado- … coming out towards the end.
1:37:55
I'm here for it.
1:37:56
band nerds unite.
1:37:58
Love it.
1:37:59
Brandan: Okay.
1:37:59
So, where is the dividing line of, or, or at what level of brass instrument does
1:38:07
the performer just say F it and walk off?
1:38:11
Adam: That's a trombone player.
1:38:13
Like, like, they're the least motivated of, of everybody, right?
1:38:17
Like, they don't even have exact places to put their slide to make notes.
1:38:21
They're just kinda like doop-a-doop-a-doop-doop.
1:38:23
They're the, yeah, they're the sleepiest, like, just kinda like whatever
1:38:26
with this stuff trombone players.
1:38:29
It's hilarious.
1:38:30
so yeah, they would just, "Well, screw it.
1:38:33
Doesn't work anymore.
1:38:34
Well, I'm, I'm out.
1:38:35
best of luck.
1:38:36
Somebody else pick this up."
1:38:38
Yeah.
1:38:39
Brandan: Well, I, I hope for our sake, Adam, that it is the Los Angeles Chargers
1:38:44
that have the fail horn played for them as they take the L- … to our
1:38:48
Seattle Seahawks coming up this Sunday.
1:38:50
Adam: I'm warming up the fail trombone for 'em.
1:38:52
Womp, womp, womp.
1:38:55
Brandan: And I think with that-
1:38:56
Adam: There's only one thing left to say
1:38:58
Brandan: Go Hawks.
1:38:59
Adam: Go Hawks.