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Chuck & Buck 1-22 Hour 3: 12th Man Roundtable with Gregg Bell and Hugh Millen · Chuck in the Morning

0:00
Speaker 1: The NFC Conference Championship game is here Seahawks versus Rams
0:04
Speaker 1: on Sunday, Hugh Millon Greg Bell coming up with their
0:07
Speaker 1: best analysis for the next hour. Let me first tell you, though,
0:11
Speaker 1: check is your cash word this hour and the thousand
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0:20
Speaker 1: dollars of powerplay cash. Also want to let you know
0:23
Speaker 1: that our coverage of the Seahawks postseason brought to you
0:27
Speaker 1: by snow Qualmy Casino and Hotel. Without further ado, we
0:31
Speaker 1: bring in our experts, Hugh and Greg, and let's start
0:35
Speaker 1: with the injury that has everybody talking throughout the entire
0:39
Speaker 1: Pacific Northwest.
0:40
Speaker 2: Greg, how is your hand?
0:46
Speaker 3: It's half the size it was yesterday. It's probably all
0:49
Speaker 3: out of the hospital, a little bitter than I was.
0:52
Speaker 2: So you're good.
0:56
Speaker 3: Sam Donald limited but I'll play okay?
1:01
Speaker 2: All right? Well, then you brought him up house.
1:04
Speaker 3: Well else wants to know that, Yeah, Sam Donald. Sam
1:07
Speaker 3: Donald is limited in practices. He's not throwing every day.
1:11
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't throw it all
1:12
Speaker 3: Sunday and we can talk to Hugh about is there
1:15
Speaker 3: an actual Russ factor from game to game of actually
1:17
Speaker 3: not picking up a football. I was going to ask
1:19
Speaker 3: him that, but there's a chance that he will go
1:22
Speaker 3: from the game against the forty nine ers until the
1:24
Speaker 3: game on Sunday at least pregame before the rams of
1:27
Speaker 3: not throwing at all. Drew Lock ran with the ones yesterday.
1:31
Speaker 3: That was by design. He was listed Donald does a
1:34
Speaker 3: limited participant, which means by role that he took some reps.
1:38
Speaker 3: You could even take one rep and you're technically limited.
1:41
Speaker 3: That one of his normal reps of the practice. So
1:44
Speaker 3: I'm expecting the same today. They could list him as questionable.
1:48
Speaker 3: They can listen whatever they want. He's playing and this
1:51
Speaker 3: is part of the maintenance care plan. Charles Cross did
1:53
Speaker 3: not practice none of the top three left tackles practice yesterday.
1:56
Speaker 3: There's still four days until the game, so I wouldn't
1:58
Speaker 3: read a ton into that yet. But Cross now has
2:01
Speaker 3: a foot issue on top of the knee hamstring that
2:03
Speaker 3: he had coming back from Mark Heit only played a
2:06
Speaker 3: snap or two and he got hurt in the backup.
2:09
Speaker 3: Josh Jones was ruled out of last week's game with
2:11
Speaker 3: the knee injury, so that's whe they're at at left tackle.
2:14
Speaker 3: Pretty sure one of them is going to play. Other
2:17
Speaker 3: than that, those are the two biggies. And yeah, one
2:20
Speaker 3: thing the Rams had that they didn't have last time
2:22
Speaker 3: an injury front is DeVante Adams, of course, the touchdown
2:24
Speaker 3: maker this year fourteen touchdowns leading the NFL and receptions.
2:28
Speaker 3: He didn't play the last game he's played for the
2:30
Speaker 3: Rams on Sunday.
2:31
Speaker 1: All right, Hugh, So let's answer some of those questions
2:34
Speaker 1: that people have about Sam Darnold. As a former quarterback
2:37
Speaker 1: in the National Football League played through numerous injuries. I'm sure,
2:42
Speaker 1: what is it that you're seeing from Sam and how
2:45
Speaker 1: do you think he'll be coming up on Sunday.
2:48
Speaker 2: Well, there's a number of things here. First of all,
2:51
Speaker 2: what's his health on the first play of the game,
2:55
Speaker 2: and then what's his health on the last play of
2:57
Speaker 2: the game. Obviously you're concerned about exacerbating that injury. It's
3:04
Speaker 2: far less than ideal to be playing your most important
3:09
Speaker 2: game of your life and you can't take practice and
3:14
Speaker 2: be as sharp as you possibly can from a physical
3:17
Speaker 2: standpoint and have to worry about what limitations you have.
3:20
Speaker 2: So this is this is not a good thing. Now,
3:24
Speaker 2: there is a model where I could describe reasonably where
3:29
Speaker 2: this actually helps him, and it would go like this,
3:32
Speaker 2: that his oblique is mainly really good, He's fine, take
3:36
Speaker 2: an injection adrenaline, and the physical part isn't isn't a factor,
3:41
Speaker 2: And then the mental part. He's so preoccupied with gritting
3:46
Speaker 2: through the injury that some of the other things that
3:48
Speaker 2: might be on is uh in his mind about you
3:52
Speaker 2: know what's his success rated against the rams that that
3:54
Speaker 2: might get pushed out. He might not have enough bandwidth
3:57
Speaker 2: to worry about that stuff because he's worried about his
3:59
Speaker 2: obliqu So there there is a way where I can
4:03
Speaker 2: see him him holding up that NFC Championship trophy, and
4:07
Speaker 2: you know, he'll talk maybe at some date in the future,
4:10
Speaker 2: maybe years down the line, where he said, you know what, actually,
4:13
Speaker 2: the way my mind had to process and and and
4:16
Speaker 2: account for all of this actually in an odd way
4:19
Speaker 2: help me. So I don't think it's going to cripple them,
4:22
Speaker 2: but it's it's something I can't imagine. A fan uh
4:26
Speaker 2: uh thinks that is not a potential problem here.
4:28
Speaker 3: Well, let's let's let me ask, excuse me, if you
4:31
Speaker 3: don't pick up a football from Sunday Saturday night to
4:35
Speaker 3: Sunday the following week. Is there an effect on your game?
4:38
Speaker 3: Is that a Is that a picture that should have
4:40
Speaker 3: gotten a rotation and and some long tosses in before
4:44
Speaker 3: the game.
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Speaker 2: Well, if you're if you're totally healthy, and you take
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Speaker 2: off a week at this point in the in the season,
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Speaker 2: you should be okay with that. That that shouldn't You'd
4:55
Speaker 2: rather have the reps for sure. But you know, quarterbacks
4:59
Speaker 2: and other positions have had to battle through, you know,
5:02
Speaker 2: lack of practice and ideal you know, you know, it's
5:05
Speaker 2: just the hand your dealt. So I don't I don't
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Speaker 2: think that should be a big factor. It's you know,
5:09
Speaker 2: the physical portion of it and and uh and and
5:13
Speaker 2: you know what's he willing to do? You know, we
5:17
Speaker 2: saw early in the game balls on the right hash
5:20
Speaker 2: he throws a corner out against cover two where he's
5:23
Speaker 2: got to rip it to beat the safety. But you know, uh,
5:27
Speaker 2: because of the positioning, there's gonna be just enough arc
5:30
Speaker 2: to get over the the corner. And they had designed
5:33
Speaker 2: the play for Jackson Smith and jig but to influence
5:36
Speaker 2: the corner. But so he could basically just rip it
5:38
Speaker 2: as hard as he could to the sideline's beautiful, but
5:42
Speaker 2: that was you know, early in the first quarter.
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Speaker 1: Let's have JSN hold up the trophy. I think he
5:48
Speaker 1: forgot already about Sam's O believe, let's just hold off,
5:51
Speaker 1: you know, let's let address let him do football things
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Speaker 1: for for right now.
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Speaker 2: We'll wait till the Lombardi for that.
5:56
Speaker 1: Let's not get off Sam Darnold, because you brought something up, Hugh.
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Speaker 1: It's something that they certainly are talking about in every
6:02
Speaker 1: other corner of America. And that's whether or not Sam
6:05
Speaker 1: Donald does have a RAMS issue. I mean, six turnovers
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Speaker 1: in two games earlier this season, his last three times
6:12
Speaker 1: he's faced them once in a Viking uniform. He's been
6:14
Speaker 1: sacked thirteen times and pressured I don't know how many
6:17
Speaker 1: times during that stretch. So, as you see it in
6:20
Speaker 1: your film study, do we have a large enough sample
6:22
Speaker 1: size here to worry that Sam Donald has a specific
6:25
Speaker 1: RAMS issue.
6:28
Speaker 2: I don't personally think so. I think that's just the
6:30
Speaker 2: way it's played out. You know, he played a playoff
6:32
Speaker 2: game last year. He had twenty seven pressures, which is
6:36
Speaker 2: more than any quarterback had in any playoff game in
6:39
Speaker 2: the twenty twenties. This decade and this year with the
6:46
Speaker 2: foreig interceptions, they were bad, but they were also for
6:51
Speaker 2: sure three and you could even argue a fourth were
6:54
Speaker 2: directly impacted by very poor offensive line play, whether it
6:59
Speaker 2: was old Timmy on the first one, whether it was
7:02
Speaker 2: Anthony Bradford, and so you know, protect a little better
7:06
Speaker 2: now he's got to know. And then the combination of
7:09
Speaker 2: the center and the right guard on another one, he's
7:12
Speaker 2: got to know when he's under pressure. Hey, you know,
7:15
Speaker 2: don't force anything. The second game, if you're gonna throw interceptions,
7:19
Speaker 2: you don't want him to be near the goal lines
7:23
Speaker 2: because they're more likely to impact points. He throws the
7:27
Speaker 2: slant that got returned down to basically a pick sick like,
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Speaker 2: down to the one yard line, and then the other
7:33
Speaker 2: time he's down inside the five yard line about to score.
7:38
Speaker 2: You know, not every interception impact scoring, but when you're
7:42
Speaker 2: about to score or the other team gets the ball
7:45
Speaker 2: on you won. Obviously those were incredibly impactful interceptions. Look, hard,
7:51
Speaker 2: things are hard, and being an NFL quarterback is hard,
7:55
Speaker 2: And I mean I wish it wasn't hard. I tried,
7:58
Speaker 2: but it's hard. And and so you know, battling through
8:02
Speaker 2: in the NFC Championship game. A lot of you know,
8:05
Speaker 2: the physical ailments, the demons of the Rams, the pressure
8:08
Speaker 2: of your biggest game of your life. But you know what,
8:11
Speaker 2: this is a guy that dropped fifty two points on
8:14
Speaker 2: Penn State in you know, fifty two to forty nine
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Speaker 2: win and three hundred and twenty five yards in a
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Speaker 2: pack twelve pack ten championship gamet nosys pack twelve against Stanford.
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Speaker 2: I've creeped on his career, even going back to San
8:31
Speaker 2: Clemente High School in a championship game, like he's got
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Speaker 2: a clutch gene. We just needed it to come out
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Speaker 2: on Sunday.
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Speaker 1: Greg, the biggest friend will be the running game, being
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Speaker 1: as effective as that has been here as of late.
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Speaker 1: To Sam Donald, I'm sure Mike McDonald wuld love nothing
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Speaker 1: more than to just throw seventeen passes again this weekend
8:53
Speaker 1: because Ken Walker's running wild on the Los Angeles Rams.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, if they throw seventeen passes like they did against
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Speaker 3: San Francisco, at me, they're running at thirty five plus times,
9:01
Speaker 3: which means they have the lead and are dictating the game.
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Speaker 3: This is Kenneth Walker's time. It's been a job share
9:07
Speaker 3: up to now. And now that Zach Charbonnay is out
9:09
Speaker 3: for the year, is the Kenneth Walker solo act And
9:13
Speaker 3: what a perfect time for him right He's at the
9:15
Speaker 3: end of his contract. He had three touchdowns. Only Shawn
9:18
Speaker 3: Alexander is the only other Seahawk in the playoff game
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Speaker 3: to have three rushing touchdowns. Walker did daddy one hundred
9:24
Speaker 3: and eighteen yards last week with the whole world watching,
9:26
Speaker 3: and now the whole world, of the whole world of
9:28
Speaker 3: the football world will be watching on Sunday. There are
9:30
Speaker 3: a lot of suitors, a lot of general managers that
9:33
Speaker 3: are going to be watching that game on Sunday, and
9:35
Speaker 3: Walker is well aware of that. He fired his agents
9:38
Speaker 3: that he had for his first three and a half
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Speaker 3: NFL seasons three and a half years and hired David
9:44
Speaker 3: Canter in the New Rosports Group out of Florida. This week,
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Speaker 3: I confirm that on Tuesday, that happened on Monday. Walker's
9:51
Speaker 3: got an eye to what's next. And whether it's what's
9:54
Speaker 3: next in Seattle or not, that's gonna be up to
9:56
Speaker 3: the Seahawks between now in March. But you couldn't have
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Speaker 3: a better runway the NFC Championship game and a chance
10:02
Speaker 3: at a Super Bowl for him to prove it, and
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Speaker 3: he's gonna get every chance to. Georgia'loney came back to
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Speaker 3: practice yesterday off injured reserve. He looks like he'll be
10:10
Speaker 3: the running back two Cam Akers and Vellas Jones are
10:13
Speaker 3: the two options off the practice squad, but they aren't
10:16
Speaker 3: going to those guys with the Super Bowl on the line.
10:18
Speaker 3: It's going to be Kenneth Walker in every role, including
10:20
Speaker 3: pass catching. He's going to have more role than he's
10:23
Speaker 3: had all year. Remember, Charbada has been the two minute back,
10:26
Speaker 3: He's been the short yardage back, he's been the goal
10:28
Speaker 3: line back. Twelve rushing touchdowns this year. That all now
10:31
Speaker 3: goes on the Kenneth Walker's plate. Back to Donald He's
10:38
Speaker 3: The Rams have scored seven touchdowns then two games against
10:40
Speaker 3: the Seahawks. Three of those seven touchdowns their drives have
10:44
Speaker 3: been four yards, twenty five yards, and one yard. He
10:48
Speaker 3: has given literally given them with his interceptions three of
10:51
Speaker 3: their seven touchdowns. If he doesn't turn the ball over,
10:55
Speaker 3: the Seahawks not only wins Sunday, they win the Super Bowl.
10:58
Speaker 3: Their defense is that good. Have been saying that for
11:00
Speaker 3: about three months now. The turnovers are the thing that
11:04
Speaker 3: will level this game. And if he doesn't turn it
11:06
Speaker 3: over like he didn't in Santa Clara two weeks three
11:08
Speaker 3: weeks ago, like he didn't last Saturday night against San Francisco,
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Speaker 3: their defense is enough to win it all.
11:15
Speaker 1: Hugh, going back to the running game, how does Zach
11:19
Speaker 1: Charvinay not being there impact this football game?
11:23
Speaker 2: Well, my first question would be is Kenneth Walker going
11:26
Speaker 2: to remain healthy? But if he does, assuming he does,
11:30
Speaker 2: I think this lays out for a potential in one
11:33
Speaker 2: of the great performances in Seattle sports history. You're gonna
11:37
Speaker 2: you got a guy that has has averaged thirteen attempts
11:40
Speaker 2: per game. Jonathan Taylor led the NFL with nineteen attempts
11:46
Speaker 2: per game this year. It's a different ear, but Kenneth
11:50
Speaker 2: Walker had nineteen last week. You saw the rhythm he got,
11:54
Speaker 2: how he starts to see the field. You go back
11:57
Speaker 2: to two thousand and five, last time when the Seahawks
12:01
Speaker 2: first went to the Super Bowl, Sawn Alexander averaged twenty
12:04
Speaker 2: three carries per game and there were eight running backs
12:08
Speaker 2: in the league that were twenty plus. You got a
12:11
Speaker 2: chance with Canine to go against a ram defense that
12:15
Speaker 2: since Thanksgiving is twenty seventh in the league defensively in
12:20
Speaker 2: yards per attempt, and so I mean they that defense,
12:26
Speaker 2: they're twenty fifth in points. Since then, what do you
12:28
Speaker 2: have for Thanksgiving? Remember? What do you have?
12:31
Speaker 3: Are you?
12:31
Speaker 2: Are you a macaroni and cheese guy or are you
12:34
Speaker 2: a stuffing guy? Think back to Thanksgiving? Since Thanksgiving, the
12:40
Speaker 2: Rams prior to that their defense was averaging. They were
12:48
Speaker 2: averaging seventeen point excuse me, sixteen point three points per game.
12:54
Speaker 2: Since then, twenty six point nine, they've had a twenty
12:59
Speaker 2: ten point three point drop, while Seattle in that same
13:03
Speaker 2: time Thanksgiving at that time they were averaging nineteen point
13:07
Speaker 2: seven points per game. Since then eleven point six they
13:11
Speaker 2: they have dropped eight point one points where the Rams
13:15
Speaker 2: have given up ten more. There's a net eighteen points
13:19
Speaker 2: since Thanksgiving. These are two different teams, and that that
13:24
Speaker 2: Ram defense. Given how Seattle has been running that RAM defense,
13:27
Speaker 2: there's a chance with K nine and his speed making
13:31
Speaker 2: that stretch work, the cutback that he saw on a
13:33
Speaker 2: touchdown play that was designed to go over right guard,
13:36
Speaker 2: finished in the end zone over left end, there's a
13:39
Speaker 2: chance that that Kenneth Walker we've been saying like, whoa,
13:44
Speaker 2: that's the most memorable game of his professional career. There's
13:48
Speaker 2: a very strong chance that could.
13:50
Speaker 1: I'll tell you this, I don't want to see him
13:51
Speaker 1: tap his helmet once getting every carry he's been waiting
13:53
Speaker 1: for this his entire Klane.
13:55
Speaker 4: Filani No, no, no, you stay by you drink gatoring.
14:00
Speaker 4: No you Kenneth Walker, you're the dude like you're you're
14:04
Speaker 4: getting an old fashioned workhorse load here.
14:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what you wanted, So let's give it to it. Hey,
14:10
Speaker 2: you know what the NFL playoff record doesn't Eric Dickerson
14:14
Speaker 2: still have it? Two fifty four against the Cowboys? Can
14:17
Speaker 2: can somebody look that up? That sounds sounds about right?
14:20
Speaker 2: Go get it? Wow? How about that?
14:23
Speaker 1: If you just called a two hundred and fifty five
14:25
Speaker 1: minute yard rusgiant that crazy, I wouldn't bet him.
14:29
Speaker 2: Like, hey, you know but Greg preached Greg everything you
14:33
Speaker 2: said about, you know, the the new agent and everything
14:35
Speaker 2: like this is this is crystallized. This is a healthy
14:38
Speaker 2: man with with as much like like that dude is
14:42
Speaker 2: gonna be just just like tingling with adrenaline on every
14:48
Speaker 2: moment like so this this could be fun.
14:50
Speaker 3: Mike McDonald knows that Klink Kubiak knows that McDonald said
14:53
Speaker 3: this week he has to appreciate Balker has to appreciate
14:58
Speaker 3: now that he's somewhat preserved, and he said he credited
15:02
Speaker 3: Walker for gotting through the progress and the managing and
15:05
Speaker 3: maintaining of his foot the entire season. We talked about
15:08
Speaker 3: this way back in August, that they were throttling him
15:11
Speaker 3: down so that he could get through seventeen games. This
15:13
Speaker 3: was the first season of his four year NFL career
15:16
Speaker 3: that he played every one of the seventeen games. He
15:18
Speaker 3: wanted to beat that, get to that benchmark so that
15:21
Speaker 3: he could tell other teams, as agent could present them,
15:24
Speaker 3: my guy's durable at the most at trended position in
15:27
Speaker 3: the sport.
15:28
Speaker 2: And now he's.
15:29
Speaker 3: Get the lead role of all those other snaps, the
15:31
Speaker 3: two minute, the hurry up, the short yard is the
15:33
Speaker 3: red zone. Yeah, I'm with you there. I think he's
15:37
Speaker 3: gonna have a season high and carries, and the way
15:39
Speaker 3: the Rams defense has trajectory the last month and a half,
15:43
Speaker 3: I think he's gonna have a season high in yards too.
15:45
Speaker 3: And in the passing game, he's a better receiver than Sharbon.
15:48
Speaker 3: A charmony plays more of the pass rep downs because
15:51
Speaker 3: he's a better pass blocker, but they used Walker more
15:54
Speaker 3: in the pass game. That's something else the Rams really
15:56
Speaker 3: didn't have to cover for the first two games.
15:58
Speaker 1: Well, I'm gonna save Seahawks defense versus Rams offense for
16:02
Speaker 1: our next segment. But let's we squeeze in a little
16:04
Speaker 1: special teams to close this out, because that's another area
16:08
Speaker 1: that the Seahawks have thrived in all season long. And Greg,
16:11
Speaker 1: I mean Rashidzshahed turned around that Rams game the last
16:15
Speaker 1: time with his special teams play, and obviously he got
16:18
Speaker 1: the team off to this phenomenal start on Saturday against
16:21
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers because of a special team's play.
16:24
Speaker 2: Talk about his impact. I think it's a.
16:26
Speaker 3: Pretty easy case you can make the Rashik Shahed is
16:29
Speaker 3: the MVP of the latter half of the season for
16:31
Speaker 3: Seattle since he showed up for New Orleans. They don't
16:33
Speaker 3: win a division if he doesn't return that punt with
16:35
Speaker 3: nine minutes left against the Rams. There were down sixteen
16:38
Speaker 3: that punt, returning the two point conversion half the lead
16:41
Speaker 3: and got sam Don on a position to foce overtime.
16:44
Speaker 3: So if they don't win that game and they don't
16:46
Speaker 3: win the division. The Rams are the number one seed.
16:48
Speaker 3: The Seahawks will by now have had two straight games
16:51
Speaker 3: on the road to get to this point. If they
16:53
Speaker 3: got there, and they'd be playing this title game down
16:56
Speaker 3: in Sofi Stadium. Oh, by the way, they wouldn't have
16:58
Speaker 3: beaten the forty nine ers. Let me, I won't say that.
17:01
Speaker 3: They wouldn't have gotten off to what was a perfect
17:03
Speaker 3: start by Mike McDonald's game plan against the forty nine
17:06
Speaker 3: Ers last week with the kick return on the first
17:09
Speaker 3: snap of first touch of the game. Shaheed is someone
17:13
Speaker 3: that they still have not unleased in the past game.
17:17
Speaker 3: And I don't know what game is the breakout game
17:19
Speaker 3: if it's this one, but there will be a game.
17:23
Speaker 3: It won't come next year after they resigned him, because
17:25
Speaker 3: his contract it is after this year that he is
17:27
Speaker 3: going to impact the past game as well. He already
17:29
Speaker 3: changes how they cover. But Rashid Shahed, not only are
17:33
Speaker 3: they going to resign him, you could make a case,
17:34
Speaker 3: and I think his agent will, that he's the most
17:36
Speaker 3: valuable player on this team, at least offensively, certainly special teams.
17:39
Speaker 3: I talked to Jay Harbaugh a couple of weeks ago,
17:41
Speaker 3: and I said, you know, all the metrics say that
17:44
Speaker 3: your kick returns, your punk return teams, and what schemes
17:48
Speaker 3: you do, and the players credit you with every week
17:50
Speaker 3: being different. He said, let me tell you something. Rashid
17:53
Speaker 3: Shaheed makes every scheme work. I've rarely had a guy
17:56
Speaker 3: that I can just put back there and every single
17:58
Speaker 3: thing I draw up works. Talks about how decisive he is,
18:01
Speaker 3: how he reads blocks, how he has an innate sense
18:04
Speaker 3: to go to the correct direction even if it's not called,
18:06
Speaker 3: based on what the cover team looks like when he
18:08
Speaker 3: gets the baller. He the Seahawks are the number one
18:12
Speaker 3: special teams in the cut in the league. That's a
18:15
Speaker 3: decisive advantage for Seattle. The Rams have already fired their
18:18
Speaker 3: special teams coach during this season, right after the Rams game.
18:20
Speaker 2: That's right. Yeah, No, I think Greg summarized it well.
18:26
Speaker 2: I could amplify, but let me just talk about him
18:28
Speaker 2: as a receiver, because yes, he's to be celebrated the
18:32
Speaker 2: way you brought him in, Tory Horton, you know, he
18:36
Speaker 2: was your return guy. You had to get somebody, so
18:39
Speaker 2: you get the premier return guy. But the flip side
18:43
Speaker 2: of that coin is that he's got fifteen catches for
18:45
Speaker 2: one hundred and eighty eight yards. He's been here ten games.
18:48
Speaker 2: That's that's on a pace. If you did that for
18:50
Speaker 2: a season for about three hundred and twenty yards for
18:53
Speaker 2: your number two receiver, that's just not good enough. And
18:56
Speaker 2: and for me, you know he's got the fifteen catches
19:02
Speaker 2: that the highest air yards he has on any completion
19:07
Speaker 2: is twenty one yards. That makes sense from the lion
19:10
Speaker 2: of scrimmage to where the ball is caught. If you
19:13
Speaker 2: had told me when he was acquired on November fourth
19:16
Speaker 2: that after ten games the over under on air yards
19:21
Speaker 2: on his max catch would be twenty one and a half,
19:25
Speaker 2: I would have bet my entire life savings on the
19:28
Speaker 2: over in ten games. So it hasn't materialized. It would
19:34
Speaker 2: be a great opportunity on Sunday for something to come
19:37
Speaker 2: alive down the field with him, because we know he
19:39
Speaker 2: has a speed. Now, the more I've watched him on tape,
19:42
Speaker 2: I said this studying his Saint tape. I don't think
19:46
Speaker 2: he's eminently instinctive as a receiver. I mean, I think
19:50
Speaker 2: he's just a fast guy that catches okay and doesn't
19:53
Speaker 2: have a great field certainly not in the sense of
19:55
Speaker 2: a JSN or a copper or you know, he's well
19:58
Speaker 2: down the at her in that regard. But he's our guy.
20:02
Speaker 2: He's got a lot of traits. We love that reverse.
20:05
Speaker 2: How how was that reverse? Yeah, the thirty yard or
20:07
Speaker 2: well timed. Got all those linemen galloping out there up
20:11
Speaker 2: the sideline. That's beautiful. So this guy is making a contribution.
20:14
Speaker 2: I just think there's there's room there. You know. It's like,
20:17
Speaker 2: and I'll close with this, it's like when you have
20:19
Speaker 2: a girlfriend. You know, you want her, you want her
20:23
Speaker 2: good in the kitchen and good in the bedroom, and
20:25
Speaker 2: right now she's she you know, it's like making a
20:29
Speaker 2: great pot roast, but doesn't kiss so well. Like we're
20:32
Speaker 2: getting a great special teams contribution. We need a little
20:37
Speaker 2: bit more in another area. And uh and by the way,
20:40
Speaker 2: that works outing for dudes too, don't. I don't want
20:43
Speaker 2: to hear the uh you know, any complaints make you flip.
20:47
Speaker 2: You can flip. Dude's gotta be good in the you know,
20:49
Speaker 2: in the backyard fixing fences and you know, doing their
20:52
Speaker 2: thing too. But but at any event, yeah, let's raise
20:56
Speaker 2: the game.
20:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, just want everybody to know I'll make a mean
20:59
Speaker 1: pot roast, I am terrible.
21:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, well so Shaheed.
21:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right, coming up, I'm gonna I'm gonna see
21:05
Speaker 3: Shaheed in a few hours and I'm gonna ask you
21:07
Speaker 3: if that's what he is.
21:09
Speaker 1: All right, we'll talk about the Seahawks defense against the
21:12
Speaker 1: Rams offense next on our Roundtable Sports Radio ninety three
21:15
Speaker 1: point three kJ R f M.
21:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, well it was, it was.
21:21
Speaker 5: It was interesting when you know, all we could see
21:24
Speaker 5: was your nose up.
21:27
Speaker 1: I felt like I was trying to like stay alive
21:29
Speaker 1: from drowning.
21:30
Speaker 2: I'm here, I'm here, but I was afraid I was
21:34
Speaker 2: gonna break it if I forced it too much.
21:36
Speaker 1: But Bucky's got I want to try it. It's our
21:40
Speaker 1: twelfth man Roundtable, it's you, It's Greg with us here.
21:43
Speaker 2: As of course, we're getting you ready for.
21:45
Speaker 1: Seahawks Rams on Sunday at three point thirty. All right,
21:51
Speaker 1: that's a big chunk. We haven't even discussed the Rams offense.
21:54
Speaker 1: With the assumed MVP and maybe the best receiver in
21:59
Speaker 1: the world and Puka Nikua taken on, this Seahawks defense
22:03
Speaker 1: was just absolutely on fire.
22:05
Speaker 2: Hugh.
22:06
Speaker 1: This is number one versus number one. I mean, you
22:08
Speaker 1: want a heavyweight bout the number one offense in the
22:11
Speaker 1: NFL versus the number one defense in the NFL.
22:14
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, let's get it on. Yeah, we've talked about
22:19
Speaker 2: the the defense for the Rams sliding, but you know,
22:22
Speaker 2: I think job number one. You mentioned Poka and Nikua.
22:25
Speaker 2: Let's let's go back to the game. Down in La
22:28
Speaker 2: Nikua had seven catches and four of them were for
22:32
Speaker 2: ten or more yards, but none twenty or more. Now
22:38
Speaker 2: in Seattle he had the same four ten or more yards,
22:42
Speaker 2: but all four of those were more than twenty five.
22:46
Speaker 2: He had catches of fifty eight, fifty four, forty one,
22:49
Speaker 2: and twenty seven. Everything else was less than ten. So
22:52
Speaker 2: those four big plays they had Nicola lined up on
22:57
Speaker 2: the right side of the formation, all four of them.
23:02
Speaker 2: Three of them were inbreaking, which leads me to Matthew
23:06
Speaker 2: Stafford has an interesting thing about if you remember that
23:09
Speaker 2: no look past he had in the Super Bowl that
23:13
Speaker 2: that created with three minutes to go, the twenty two
23:15
Speaker 2: yards to Cooper Cup. He beat a safety Von Bell
23:20
Speaker 2: on that play by no looking on him. Against Seattle,
23:25
Speaker 2: he had an inbreaking route where he no look on
23:28
Speaker 2: Ernest Jones, and that was one for fifty four yards. Uh.
23:35
Speaker 2: He had another one for the touchdown pass to Nicoua
23:39
Speaker 2: from the one yard line. He no looked on that.
23:42
Speaker 2: Every time he does this, it's it's a receiver running
23:46
Speaker 2: from the right side to the left. I have not
23:49
Speaker 2: seen him do anything other than again right to left.
23:53
Speaker 2: And Stafford, if you and this is how I filtered
23:56
Speaker 2: the air yards ten to twenty two. That's intermediate breaking
24:00
Speaker 2: routes filtered for that Stafford number one in the NFL
24:04
Speaker 2: and attempts number two in rating only to Jared Goff.
24:10
Speaker 2: But to the left side, he's he's he's got more
24:14
Speaker 2: than double coming from the right side. So Seattle has
24:17
Speaker 2: to be aware of that. And uh, and and this
24:21
Speaker 2: idea that he's gonna look you off. He did it
24:23
Speaker 2: to Ernest Jones twice. And he did it and and
24:25
Speaker 2: on the overtime touchdown, tyle Akatta was duped out. He
24:31
Speaker 2: was in the wrong position as well, and Nicoua gets
24:34
Speaker 2: an overtime touchdown. Seattle course had to come back and
24:37
Speaker 2: get the touchdown. So that portion of it is uh
24:41
Speaker 2: is lethal. And Greg I'll close my thoughts on Nikoua
24:45
Speaker 2: with this. Eventually, Dennis Allen, the defensive coordinator for the
24:50
Speaker 2: Bears was gonna get out schemed by Sam McVay at
24:53
Speaker 2: midfield in overtime third and five when when the Bears
24:58
Speaker 2: had to get a stop because they probably would have
24:59
Speaker 2: forced to pund that. It was a easy design blitz
25:04
Speaker 2: for Matthew Stafford to just rise up and hit Nakula
25:08
Speaker 2: right there on a low hot adjustment. It fooled him
25:11
Speaker 2: zero and Nikou on third and five and actually I
25:14
Speaker 2: think it was excuse me, a third and seventy caught
25:16
Speaker 2: it at five years whatever it was. He then dragged
25:19
Speaker 2: guys for twelve more yards down into field goal range,
25:23
Speaker 2: and so that was kind of the play of the game.
25:25
Speaker 2: And it was a very ill conceived blitz. You know,
25:29
Speaker 2: I'm bringing seven Matthew Stafford, he probably said, really, really,
25:33
Speaker 2: you're trying that on me thirty seven years old. You're
25:36
Speaker 2: trying that on me? Anyway, Seattle can't make those mistakes. Yeah.
25:39
Speaker 3: McDonald has been reluctant to blitz so far in his
25:42
Speaker 3: three four Well we'll throw out the JB game three
25:44
Speaker 3: meetings against the Rams and the key to the same
25:48
Speaker 3: the Seattle meeting here last month. The front four that
25:52
Speaker 3: had done wonders all year affecting quarterbacks did not in
25:55
Speaker 3: that game, and that allows Kua with those deep crossers
25:58
Speaker 3: that he was talking about two hundred twenty five yards
26:01
Speaker 3: receiving because of those deep crossers. That's the task this weekend.
26:05
Speaker 3: Does McDonald to the front four to Leonard Williams and
26:08
Speaker 3: de Marcus Lawrence and Byron Murphy? Are they going to
26:11
Speaker 3: get to affect the quarterback Stafford with just rushing for
26:16
Speaker 3: and allowing them to still cover seven and have their
26:19
Speaker 3: six and five man defensive secondaries on all the things
26:21
Speaker 3: that McDonald's able to do with it, Employee Emon Worry,
26:25
Speaker 3: Can you do it without bringing any of those back seven?
26:29
Speaker 3: They didn't in the second meeting. Will they? I think
26:33
Speaker 3: they're gonna blitz a little more. I think Witherspoon's gonna
26:35
Speaker 3: blitz a little not the seven man in the wholesales
26:38
Speaker 3: that Stafford can easily pick out.
26:40
Speaker 2: But there's so.
26:42
Speaker 3: Much film in the latter half of this season from
26:44
Speaker 3: the Seahawks defense and McDonald of Emon Worry in coverage
26:47
Speaker 3: and Witherspoon in coverage because of how successful the four
26:51
Speaker 3: front four pass rush has been, that is a lot
26:54
Speaker 3: there for McDonald to do that Stafford and McVeigh haven't
26:57
Speaker 3: seen and disguising blitzes and bringing Witherspoon and Memory from
27:01
Speaker 3: different places. I think they're gonna blitz more those two
27:04
Speaker 3: guys in particular, and probably not both at the same
27:06
Speaker 3: time because of the risk of Hughes outlining. But that's
27:10
Speaker 3: the key, because when Stafford is pressured as an affected pressure,
27:15
Speaker 3: his numbers, like most quarterbacks, go way down. Stafford is
27:19
Speaker 3: an absolutely different quarterback since he was here last month.
27:22
Speaker 3: He is a sixty five plus percent passer on average
27:25
Speaker 3: for this entire season. He's been under sixty percent in
27:29
Speaker 3: three of his last four games. I know it was
27:31
Speaker 3: zero degrees in snowing in Chicago, but he was twenty
27:35
Speaker 3: of forty two.
27:36
Speaker 2: The MVP.
27:37
Speaker 3: That's MVP is a regular season vote. The MVP of
27:40
Speaker 3: the league was twenty of forty two with the season
27:43
Speaker 3: on the line against Chicago. He is not the same
27:45
Speaker 3: quarterback he was overthrowing wide guys and wide open receivers
27:50
Speaker 3: in Atlanta when they lost in a Monday night game.
27:52
Speaker 3: After they came to Seattle the opening round. They nearly
27:55
Speaker 3: should have lost to Carolina, and Stafford was a barely
27:58
Speaker 3: fifty percent passer that day. It's not the same offense
28:02
Speaker 3: because it's not the same quarterback. He has not been
28:05
Speaker 3: an MVP the last four games. Some people in Los
28:09
Speaker 3: Angeles are talking about the hand that he's snapped on
28:11
Speaker 3: the top of a helmet of a panther in that
28:13
Speaker 3: first round game and how he hasn't been the same since.
28:16
Speaker 3: Perhaps whatever the reason this is so far on, what
28:20
Speaker 3: we've seen is a different Stafford than Seahawks are going
28:23
Speaker 3: to get on Sunday than they got a month ago
28:25
Speaker 3: December eighteen.
28:26
Speaker 1: Man, it's got to be a third one then, because man,
28:28
Speaker 1: the difference between Stafford and Game one and Stafford in
28:31
Speaker 1: Game two statistically was just outrageous. And I don't expect
28:36
Speaker 1: to see the Stafford that they confused.
28:38
Speaker 2: Like nobody in game number one.
28:40
Speaker 1: And I don't expect to see the Stafford that threw
28:42
Speaker 1: for four hundred and seventy five yards in game number two.
28:44
Speaker 1: It's goin on a land somewhere in the middle, right,
28:46
Speaker 1: I mean, that's somewhere.
28:48
Speaker 2: In the middle of those two Staffords. We're going to
28:50
Speaker 2: have our playoffs steat.
28:51
Speaker 3: You would think that their defense is so good and
28:53
Speaker 3: the Seahawks offense can score enough on a regressing Rams
28:57
Speaker 3: defense that if they hold Darnold or Stafford to under
29:01
Speaker 3: four hundred, they could possibly win. Right, They won with
29:04
Speaker 3: him throwing for four to seventy five. Can he throw
29:06
Speaker 3: for three something? One hundred fewer yards is probably one
29:10
Speaker 3: or two fewer scores and certainly five or six fewer
29:13
Speaker 3: first down. So no two games are the same. We've
29:16
Speaker 3: saw that. We saw that in the San Francisco game
29:19
Speaker 3: back to back these last two weeks. But there is
29:22
Speaker 3: there are some corollaries you can draw about how Stafford
29:25
Speaker 3: is playing recently.
29:26
Speaker 2: Well, the Rams are number two in their use of dime,
29:29
Speaker 2: and that's going to be a showdown there with Seattle's
29:34
Speaker 2: emerging running game. I mean, over the last four games,
29:38
Speaker 2: you know, the first fourteen games, the Seahawks ran for
29:42
Speaker 2: a one hundred and nine yard average. There now in
29:45
Speaker 2: the last four games one hundred and sixty eight. And
29:48
Speaker 2: these are on design runs, by the way, that's excluding
29:52
Speaker 2: scrambles and so and so. Now the Rams they have
29:57
Speaker 2: to look at Sula, Chris Sula, the defensive coordinator. He's
30:02
Speaker 2: got to say, do I want to keep playing all
30:04
Speaker 2: that dime? Where I've got these athletes that I like
30:07
Speaker 2: the help in pass coverage or do I need to
30:10
Speaker 2: get heavy and stop this run? All right?
30:13
Speaker 1: One last thing next we'll get keys from Greg, prediction
30:16
Speaker 1: from Bucky, and one last thought from Hugh Millen on
30:19
Speaker 1: this special edition of twelfth Man Roundtable. Sports Radio ninety
30:22
Speaker 1: three point three KHARFM that they've got a special Blue
30:25
Speaker 1: Friday rally tomorrow out there also Blue Thunder at nine am.
30:30
Speaker 1: Jermaine Curse is going to be there for autographs and
30:33
Speaker 1: photos at ten and a happy hour all day long,
30:36
Speaker 1: A happy day at Hawk's Peak Sports bar and grill
30:40
Speaker 1: all day long. It's snow, Call me casino and hotel.
30:43
Speaker 1: One more segment of our twelfth Man Roundtable. One more
30:45
Speaker 1: segment here this morning with Greg and Hugh. So Greg
30:48
Speaker 1: will tee it up with you Seahawks ram super Bowl
30:52
Speaker 1: on the line.
30:52
Speaker 2: What's going to be the key to victory in this one?
30:56
Speaker 3: Jermaine Curse, by the way, Lake What High School, University
30:58
Speaker 3: of Washington. Of course, he's the He has caught the
31:01
Speaker 3: last pass thrown in the last NFC Championship game played
31:04
Speaker 3: in Seattle. He cut the overtime touchdown from Russell Wilson
31:08
Speaker 3: to beat the Packers and sent the Seahawks into Super
31:11
Speaker 3: Bowl forty nine. Look, it's what I presage it at
31:15
Speaker 3: the beginning of the show that Sam Darnold not turning
31:19
Speaker 3: the ball over is the overarching key to this game,
31:21
Speaker 3: to the Super Bowl, to them raising trophies if he
31:25
Speaker 3: doesn't give the Rams a short field. I don't think
31:27
Speaker 3: the Seahawks defense gives up the touchdowns in the yards
31:30
Speaker 3: nearly that they have against the Rams. On defense, can
31:33
Speaker 3: they pressure Stafford affect Stafford without blitzing or out out
31:37
Speaker 3: blitzing much? Meaning the front four Byron Murphy and Leonard Williams.
31:43
Speaker 3: Williams got the Pro Bowl. Murphy could you could argue
31:45
Speaker 3: is that all Pro defensive tackle? The way he plays
31:47
Speaker 3: to run in the pass. Murphy and Williams have combined
31:50
Speaker 3: for ninety one quarterback pressures, and the NFL Next Gen
31:53
Speaker 3: SATs says the league's advanced stats as second in the league.
31:58
Speaker 3: Only Zach Allen, John Franklin Meyers at a Broncos are also
32:00
Speaker 3: in the AFC Championship Game. That's the only duo of
32:04
Speaker 3: defensive tackles with more pressures in the league than Byron
32:06
Speaker 3: Murphy and Williams. Can Murphy and Williams affect Stafford, which
32:11
Speaker 3: means that four for the Seahawks have to beat five
32:13
Speaker 3: for the Rams in pass protection on the offensive line.
32:16
Speaker 3: If they can do that like they have almost every
32:18
Speaker 3: other team in the league, then McDonald can do all
32:21
Speaker 3: the games and stunts and tricks and the skises in
32:24
Speaker 3: the secondary. With Emon Worry and Witherspoon. How much are
32:27
Speaker 3: they going to have to bring Emon Worry and Witherspoon.
32:30
Speaker 3: That's a real key defensively for Seattle. I'm thinking the
32:33
Speaker 3: Seahawks win this game because of their defense. Much lower
32:37
Speaker 3: scoring than the shootout on Thursday Night last month. It's
32:40
Speaker 3: talking like twenty four to twenty and a really a
32:43
Speaker 3: classic game, one of those I can't believe I was
32:45
Speaker 3: there to witness type of games.
32:47
Speaker 2: Nice Greg, nice work, Bucky, what you got.
32:50
Speaker 5: I think it's going to be a crazy battle. I mean,
32:52
Speaker 5: I just think these teams are too evenly matched for
32:55
Speaker 5: it not to be regardless of how it starts and ends.
32:58
Speaker 5: I don't think you can start off as slow or
33:00
Speaker 5: allow the Rams offense to go the way they did
33:03
Speaker 5: the first half plus like the last time they played,
33:06
Speaker 5: and hope that you have a comeback in store. But
33:09
Speaker 5: I think it's going to be more hard fought. I
33:10
Speaker 5: think every blade of grass I'm going to go twenty
33:13
Speaker 5: to nineteen.
33:14
Speaker 2: I think the Seahawks pull it off.
33:16
Speaker 5: I think it comes down to the final possession.
33:18
Speaker 1: Twenty to nineteen. That'd be a thriller. Two all right, Hugh,
33:23
Speaker 1: last thoughts from you. Davante Adams going to make a
33:27
Speaker 1: difference in this game. He's healthy going into this game,
33:30
Speaker 1: which is not Makase here lately.
33:33
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, we didn't see him the last time in Lumen.
33:35
Speaker 2: And for the season, there were seven receivers who had
33:39
Speaker 2: double digit touchdowns, and Davante Adams led the NFL with
33:44
Speaker 2: fourteen despite playing in only fourteen games. The next closest
33:48
Speaker 2: guy was eleven, and Jigba had ten. I watched his
33:54
Speaker 2: entire touchdown reel. Of the fourteen touchdowns, twelve are in
33:58
Speaker 2: the red zone and ten of those ten of the
34:02
Speaker 2: twelve are inside the seven so low red zone. And
34:07
Speaker 2: what's unique about what they do is a few things
34:12
Speaker 2: we've heard all heard r PO. RPO is obviously stands
34:16
Speaker 2: for run pass option. There's a misnomer, a misconception out
34:20
Speaker 2: there that that involves the quarterback. The quarterback as an RPO.
34:24
Speaker 2: He can be the part of the run in terms
34:28
Speaker 2: of like if you ran a quarterback draw. But it's
34:30
Speaker 2: basically this. The offensive line are blocking a run play
34:35
Speaker 2: and the running back is taking his angle as if
34:37
Speaker 2: he's getting the ball, and then the quarterback decides whether
34:40
Speaker 2: the hand the ball on the run play or throw
34:43
Speaker 2: either a slamer or a bubble screen or what have you.
34:46
Speaker 2: So almost all RPOs are from shotgun. Matthew Stafford will
34:51
Speaker 2: do RPOs from under center. He did one against Seattle
34:56
Speaker 2: where Davante Adams down down at so far Davante Adams
35:00
Speaker 2: has a very narrow split, very close to the ball,
35:04
Speaker 2: and so you usually say, well, you're not gonna run
35:06
Speaker 2: a slant on that. You're too close to the ball.
35:08
Speaker 2: You must be an outbreaking route or a fade. But
35:11
Speaker 2: then he will run a slant from a very tight
35:14
Speaker 2: split with the quarterback under center, with the offensive line
35:20
Speaker 2: blocking a run game, and they've got touchdowns in this.
35:23
Speaker 2: And then when you think he's gonna do the slant,
35:26
Speaker 2: there's all that space out there because of the tight split,
35:29
Speaker 2: so it becomes a load. And by the way, now
35:32
Speaker 2: Adams presumably doesn't have the quickness that he did a
35:35
Speaker 2: few years ago. But we're talking about one of the
35:37
Speaker 2: greatest receivers at the line of scrimmage. Quickness, releases I've
35:42
Speaker 2: ever seen. Like when he was going fourteen to fifteen
35:47
Speaker 2: hundred yards, that dude was just like a magic show
35:50
Speaker 2: at the line of scrimmage with his quickness and his releases,
35:53
Speaker 2: his ability to just get by. He's like Houdini. So
35:56
Speaker 2: he is a big time load down there in the
36:00
Speaker 2: low red zone. And for those reasons I described all right,
36:04
Speaker 2: excellent stuff, Greg, you got a specialty show tonight.
36:07
Speaker 3: I do seven and nine. We kind of have Gary
36:10
Speaker 3: Kanon in the Los Angeles Times rans beat writer. You're
36:12
Speaker 3: gonna hear the update and latest from Sam Darnold situation
36:15
Speaker 3: in the practice field today that I'm going to go
36:17
Speaker 3: out and check out. Anderson Hurst is going to be
36:21
Speaker 3: co hosting producing for me from seven to nine.
36:24
Speaker 2: Thanks.
36:24
Speaker 1: All right, And you're playing through pain. Everybody just know
36:27
Speaker 1: he's playing through pain right now.
36:30
Speaker 3: I'm left handed south pot here for the next few days.
36:33
Speaker 2: I don't think you can cover the beat left handed.
36:35
Speaker 2: I don't know, a little worried about that.
36:38
Speaker 1: Greg will also be with us tomorrow morning at seven
36:41
Speaker 1: oh five. His last thoughts that he'll get given to
36:44
Speaker 1: us before the week comes to a close. And of
36:46
Speaker 1: course you x's and o's every Friday at nine o'clock.
36:49
Speaker 2: Thank you, gentlemen. Awesome stuff. Thank you all right.
36:51
Speaker 1: Hugh Mellen Greg Bell are QB one top analyst, Seahawks insider,
36:56
Speaker 1: top insider Greg Bell joining us every week here on
37:00
Speaker 1: the twelfth Man Roundtable. We've got more on this matchup.
37:04
Speaker 1: Plus we've got your keyword at the top of the hour.
37:07
Speaker 1: It's chucking Box. Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ RFM.