Latest / Sea Hawkers Podcast: for Seattle Seahawks fans / 511: Seahawks vs. Bears Preview, Quenton Nelson's Fit, and JSN's Historic Start

Transcript

511: Seahawks vs. Bears Preview, Quenton Nelson's Fit, and JSN's Historic Start · Sea Hawkers Podcast: for Seattle Seahawks fans

0:10
This is the Sea Hawkers Podcast.
0:13
I'm your host, Brandan Schulze, and I am joined by my good buddy, Adam Emmert.
0:18
Adam, it is midweek, we're past the Chiefs game, we're post-Quenton Nelson
0:23
trade, and we're on to a Chicago Bears matchup on Monday Night Football.
0:28
Buddy, how you doing?
0:29
I'm doing awesome, man.
0:30
What a week.
0:32
Most dominant performance this team has put in this year.
0:36
Big Q comes into the building, lots of discussions around how that's
0:39
all gonna work out and how we're gonna bring him into the fold.
0:43
You know, you got the big, bad Bears coming to town on Monday night, and it's
0:48
gonna be a massive battle between some of the, you know, obviously the best defense
0:53
in the entire league with the Seahawks and an offense that is red scorching hot.
0:58
And not 49ers red scorching hot, where they
1:00
kick the crap out of a bunch of [catfish]
1:02
teams and then claim that they're amazing.
1:04
This is legit.
1:05
Like, the Bears are damn good, so lots to talk about, man.
1:09
I'm- I'm fired up to get into it with you.
1:11
The Bears offense is damn good.
1:13
I- I will go that far.
1:14
Mm-hmm.
1:15
The Bears as a team, eh, I'm not as a whole team ready to- to crown them as…
1:21
Well, I suppose they can still be good as…
1:23
They're- they're gonna pose a unique challenge, I think, for the
1:27
Seahawks defense that they haven't yet faced this year, so it's- it's
1:31
gonna make for a good game, buddy.
1:33
It is.
1:33
Now, do you wanna start with Bears?
1:35
Do you wanna start with Chiefs?
1:35
You wanna start with more Big Q?
1:37
Where do you wanna go?
1:39
Let's start with Chiefs, because, we- we did cover a little bit of
1:43
our thoughts on Quenton Nelson coming to the Seahawks on the three-in,
1:47
three-out episode to kick that off.
1:48
We- we have more to discuss there, I'm sure.
1:52
We haven't even gotten a press conference yet, which I think with it being a
1:56
Monday night game, things kind of being delayed, I- I feel like there's more
2:00
information that I know we'll discuss that I- I think we're wanting to hear.
2:04
Mm-hmm.
2:04
But I did pull up some information based on the Chiefs' performance,
2:08
and I think there's some emails and some talk about the Chiefs game that
2:12
I think's worthwhile getting into.
2:14
And yeah, it- it's, it was fun watching that 20 to three win.
2:20
Part of it was the, you know, field goal misses helped keep that game-
2:27
A bit more- They lose even if they make them.
2:30
Like, let's just, make sure we're clear on that.
2:32
Oh, yeah.
2:32
Yeah.
2:32
But it, it makes you a little more puckery, I suppose.
2:35
If they hit that one at the end of the half, it brings it a little
2:39
bit closer, and you don't maybe pull away, until that touchdown
2:45
by Wilson late in the game, so.
2:48
But overall- Good clean performance.
2:52
As we talked about, they followed the formula that we set out for the most part.
2:56
Yeah.
2:56
Don't turn the ball over.
2:58
Win the game.
2:59
Exactly.
3:00
And the equation was so difficult, I'm not sure that they were
3:03
gonna be able to do it, you know?
3:04
Don't turn ball over, win the, win game.
3:06
But they almost didn't turn the ball over, I guess.
3:09
I mean, you know, Sam had the pick in the end zone.
3:12
I think what's interesting is that- There's a universe where that pick
3:18
turns into a pick six if Charles Cross doesn't have the type of hustle that
3:21
he has to get all the way down there.
3:23
Mm-hmm.
3:23
And this whole, like you end up possibly losing this football game,
3:28
and we're looking at Sam and going, another turnover costs us the game.
3:32
But instead, because of the way that the game kind of played out after
3:37
that, we look at that pick and we're like, "Oh, yeah, I threw one, whatever.
3:40
It's fine."
3:41
And it's like, no, like, that was another terrible pick down in the red zone, and
3:46
the- you're, you're not gonna be able to do that against, like, your opponent
3:50
here coming up next week with the Bears, and get away with it, I don't think,
3:54
just in terms of keeping up points-wise.
3:56
But, yeah, it was a fun performance here against the Chiefs, and, you know,
4:02
this is original Patrick Mahomes that we shut down, and then we get new wave
4:06
Patrick Mahomes here, on Monday night.
4:10
Yeah, and maybe an enhanced running game over what we saw with
4:13
K9 and the Chiefs, but we have a Nick Emmanwori, Adam, and- Yeah
4:18
holy smokes, was that a, a fun Nick Emmanwori game.
4:22
John B.
4:22
emailed in, says, "A new catchphrase, flood the zone.
4:26
Number three, Emmanwori tsunami or, maybe just tsunami Emmanwori.
4:31
Pass it on."
4:34
Tsum- su- what would it be?
4:35
Like, a tsunamiari?
4:37
Like, something like that?
4:38
I don't know.
4:38
Yeah.
4:39
Yeah.
4:39
I, I think it's e- the, the Is of the, the two words trying
4:43
to, you know, Emmanwori tsunami.
4:46
It- trying to work that together.
4:48
Yeah.
4:48
How about just fricking badass Emmanwori?
4:52
We just go there 'cause he was, he was unbelievable in that football game in
4:58
just every little thing that he did.
5:00
One of- we broke down a couple plays, we even happened to be back-to-back
5:04
plays of Emmanwori in the three, three and three out episode that we did,
5:09
Two nights ago or wherever it was.
5:12
So go check that out and it's really cool to see.
5:15
But yeah, his speed, his versatility, his try hard, all of it, his smarts,
5:21
it's on full display in that game.
5:24
And the thing is, is like it's not just him that's kicking
5:26
ass on that sort of level.
5:28
The, just the difference is these guys are just kind of played in their
5:30
regular spots and then kicking ass, whereas Emmanwori just goes all over
5:34
the place and kicks ass everywhere.
5:36
Yeah.
5:36
He has two total pressures, which he was, ties him with guys like Byron
5:41
Murphy, Leonard Williams, Dante Fowler actually had two pressures in this game.
5:45
That's cool.
5:46
Mm-hmm.
5:46
DeMarcus Lawrence also had two.
5:49
Uchenna Nwosu and Derick Hall combined for eight, so we talked about, going
5:53
into that game a bit at how edge pressure was going to be needed, and that's where
5:59
we got majority of the pressure was from Hall and Nwosu, so that's kind of cool.
6:03
But yeah, the two pressures from Emmanwori, then he's targeted
6:07
six times in the passing game, only allows one reception.
6:13
And, that one I think was for 16 yards or something.
6:16
But just for that to be…
6:18
Oh, no, it was only seven yards.
6:20
It's, that, 16 is the percentage of catches allowed- … going his direction.
6:25
So one- You got-
6:26
seven-yard catch going at Emmanwori, and a, a big day for him.
6:32
Absolutely.
6:33
And we're not even talking about the other guys that didn't give up anything
6:36
downfield, whether we're talking about Jobe or Spoon or, you know…
6:41
I, I don't even know how many snaps Pritchett's got or if he was even
6:44
on the field, because it felt like everything happened within five yards
6:48
of the line of scrimmage, and- Yeah
6:49
there was just literally nothing the Chiefs could do.
6:53
Pritchett was on the field for 11 snaps, all of them in coverage,
6:57
and so he allowed zero catches.
6:59
Jobe actually allowed three catches for 33 yards, which, that's not a lot.
7:06
No … the most yardage actually through the air would've been, I
7:11
guess it was directed toward Tyrice Knight at 45 yards on seven targets.
7:16
Yeah.
7:17
And, you know, some of those two, it's the linebackers seeking in zone, and
7:20
like they throw it up and over your head and it's like, well, is that
7:23
on him or, you know, the guy that's supposed to be crashing down or- He
7:25
was just the closest guy, and that's- Yeah … how they assigned those yardage.
7:28
The, the linebackers get hosed on these stats for generally.
7:31
Oh, 1000%.
7:33
And look, our, our linebacking core is killer, man.
7:36
Like, Ernest Jones had another great game, and then Tyrice coming in, and
7:41
I wanted to talk about Tyrice Knight just a little bit more, because I
7:45
think the way that he is able to stay ready and stay engaged and not pout…
7:51
Do you, do you hear one word of complaint- No
7:53
from Tyrice Knight that he lost his starting job to Drake
7:56
Thomas when he's arguably every bit as good as Drake Thomas?
8:00
Like, he doesn't complain, he doesn't pout, he works his ass off, and
8:05
when he gets his opportunities, he comes in and just smokes people.
8:08
I mean- That is such a rare thing when you get to this level and
8:13
guys are as good as they are.
8:16
And when you're a starter level guy in this league, to not be getting playing
8:19
time and not to be getting reps, and you wanna be out there with this defense
8:23
and, like, make a name for yourself, it's gotta be incredibly frustrating.
8:27
And for Tyrice Knight to be the team guy that he is and then be 100%
8:34
ready when his number is called is so unbelievably impressive, and just, I know
8:39
he'll never hear this, but thank you, Tyrice Knight, for being who you are.
8:43
It's, it's awesome.
8:45
It's very cool, and it's a little bit annoying that injuries have to happen
8:50
sometimes for guys like these, guys like Tyrice to be able to show what he can
8:55
do or remind us what he can do, I guess.
8:57
Because- Yeah … I think that's where I was at, is that I've seen Drake Thomas do
9:01
all these really cool things and he's so physical and I, I like those physical, you
9:06
know, soul-stealing type tackles that…
9:09
And that's, you don't really get that as much with Knight, but it just, it's
9:14
so fundamental that it just, it looks easy, and- Yeah … I guess maybe that's
9:19
why it just doesn't jump off the screen to me the same way as it does Drake.
9:22
Yeah, I don't think it looks as explosive.
9:24
Like, I think that's the, the difference between their games.
9:27
Like, Drake really does just see it and go probably half a beat faster than Tyrice
9:33
does, whereas, you know, our dark knight i- on the dark side defense, I mean, he
9:39
is just, as you put it, fundamentally sound in every phase of the game.
9:43
And even though he gave up the most in pass coverage, we just gotta, discuss
9:47
that, I thought he had a great game there.
9:49
And then obviously he did a fantastic job of feeling the gaps and keeping
9:55
his gap assignment sound, along with everybody else on the front.
9:58
And when they all work together like that, there's nowhere to go, even
10:01
for the, you know, s- Super Bowl champions and the MVP and all that
10:06
that were crowned coming into this game with Kenneth Walker and the Chiefs.
10:11
I feel a lot about our Seahawks defense that I do about Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
10:16
Yeah.
10:16
It's just, they're so good every week, week to week, that for us to
10:22
just come on here and, and praise them, it just seems redundant.
10:27
You know what?
10:28
You do feel like you run out of superlatives.
10:30
You kinda feel like, you know, if you keep talking about the same guys over and
10:34
over again, what kind of show you have?
10:36
But at the end of the day it's like- They're freaking awesome.
10:40
Like, what are we supposed to do except for be fired up and-
10:43
Yeah … enjoy the level of play that we're seeing out there and the way
10:47
that coach has them all connected on a string and playing together?
10:51
I mean, it is otherworldly.
10:53
I know a lot of people like to put the Vikings defense over top of
10:56
the Seahawks defense this year, and I think that's poppycock.
10:59
Ooh, they blitz a lot.
11:01
80-some percent of the time, Brandan.
11:03
Like, Flores is giving you the business with the blitz, and okay, like, that's all
11:08
fine and dandy, but one of those defenses is fundamentally sound- Yeah … and
11:13
kicks butt, and one is a giant risk-taking defense that has been kicking butt.
11:20
There is going to be a point where you gamble like that and you get burnt.
11:25
Like, they're, they're not on the same level as the Seahawks.
11:27
They're not They have an interesting stretch coming up, the Vikings do, where
11:33
it is a just series of difficult teams.
11:38
These next six, seven weeks, Kyler has run into this in the past in Arizona-
11:43
… where they get out to these hot starts and then they run into a tough stretch, and
11:49
Minnesota is coming into a tough stretch.
11:51
I, I'll pull up their schedule if you're just interested- Yeah … at all
11:53
in hearing about it, because it's…
11:56
Well, it starts with the Lions coming up, and that's just…
12:02
I don't know what to think about the Lions because coaching decisions play so
12:06
much into their streakiness and success that you can't really count on them.
12:12
But- And that defense is god-awful … it, it's bad.
12:15
Yeah.
12:16
But, after the Lions, they play the Bills on Monday night,
12:22
then they play the Packers, 49ers, Falcons, Panthers, Patriots.
12:32
That's a stretch, baby.
12:33
Yeah, we're- And then, and then back against the Lions again before they
12:36
get to the- Yeah … tail end of their schedule, which is relatively easy.
12:39
We're gonna find out a lot about this Vikings team going forward, no doubt.
12:43
And I love that you bring up the fact that we've seen this movie a
12:48
billion times here in the NFC West.
12:50
Hot start to Kyler, look at this, like, they figured it out.
12:53
Kingsbury's a genius, all that freaking nonsense.
12:57
And then, you know, Call of Duty comes out, the whole thing, you know, the
13:00
wheels fall off and it, it- Grand Theft Auto VI is coming out, so- Oh, it's over.
13:04
Yeah.
13:05
I mean, Vikings better go out and get Jonathan Taylor, right?
13:07
So that they have a functional offense, they can just hand it off
13:10
every time with Carson Wentz, 'cause Kyler's gonna be unavailable with a,
13:13
you know, a hurt thumb, so he can go and play video games or something.
13:19
Yeah, as, as much as people are crowning the Vikings defense, I, I'm not too
13:23
worried about it, but- No, I just…
13:26
It's one of those, like, 10% annoyances where you're like, "Oh, best defense is
13:31
the Vikings," and you're like, "Yeah, which Super Bowl did they win last year?"
13:35
Oh, yeah, none of them.
13:36
Yeah.
13:37
Yeah, there was, there was a team that did that, and, they reside in Seattle,
13:41
and they just showed you that they are exactly who they were last year still
13:47
While we're on the topic of the Vikings, I think it is an interesting approach
13:51
by Flores, though, because he talks about it as though rushing five guys
13:57
on a down is just their normal cadence.
13:59
Right.
14:00
And that he, he doesn't consider that blitzing, that sending ano- an extra
14:04
guy from that is, and if they don't send five, then that's just how, how
14:10
other teams would, you know, drop eight and leave three in to pass rush.
14:15
Yeah.
14:15
That, that's the way that he views it.
14:17
And, and look, it's working for him, and it's been working for him for a
14:19
couple of years, no doubt about it.
14:22
Also, too, they haven't gone anywhere with it either.
14:26
Now, in all fairness, that probably comes down to their offense and, you know,
14:31
quarterback play and KOC and all of that.
14:34
But, and injuries on the offense, too.
14:36
Like, they- they've had a rough go there.
14:38
But even when they had, a Super Bowl winning quarterback at the
14:42
helm as they won 14 games with that defense, with Brian Flores, they were
14:46
still one-and-done in the playoffs.
14:48
And I feel almost bad rooting for him, but I think it's because that
14:53
Kyler Cardinals, attachment is still there for me, so it's- Hmm … I
14:58
still have a little of the NFC West Cardinals, even though it's not really
15:04
solid sports hate, but in division.
15:06
It's more disgust.
15:07
Yeah.
15:07
Yeah, yeah.
15:08
But I feel like now that he's with the Vikings, I kinda should be able to root
15:11
for him, but I, it's, I'm not there.
15:14
Oh, God, no.
15:15
I, I can't, I can't stand the way that he plays ball.
15:18
Like, I, I just, it's not for me.
15:20
But they have Justin Jefferson, they have dudes on defense that I really like.
15:23
Yes.
15:24
I love their unis.
15:25
I love the skull thing.
15:27
I love their stadium.
15:28
I, you know, I- Yeah.
15:29
There's a lot to like about the Vikings, but then Kyler's there- Yeah
15:32
and it, it ruins it.
15:34
And every Viking fan I've ever met in my life has been
15:37
cool, like, for the most part.
15:38
Yeah.
15:39
Like, I, I have no problems with, Viking fans.
15:41
It's again, why I hate rooting against them, because I like Vikings fans.
15:45
Yeah.
15:45
Yeah, and, like, in the kind of pantheon of, well, if it's not the
15:49
Seahawks to win the chip that year, who else would I like to see, you know?
15:54
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
15:55
Bills and Vikings are at the top of that list because of their poor
15:59
tortured history with the Super Bowl.
16:01
I, one of those, th- both of them deserve a, a ring at some point.
16:06
At some point, but hopefully not this year for the Vikings.
16:08
Not today.
16:09
Not today, Satan.
16:10
Maybe not.
16:11
No.
16:13
Switching over to the offense, I did want to, we need to at least recognize Jaxon
16:18
Smith-Njigba when he is doing things that have never happened before in the NFL.
16:23
And even though he's really good, and it comes off as us just talking
16:27
more about him being really good, we're looking at historic stuff here.
16:32
JSN leads the NFL with 867 receiving yards and eight touchdowns- The
16:40
only, the only player in the Super Bowl era to have at least 850
16:45
receiving yards and eight touchdowns through seven games in a season.
16:50
Never happened before.
16:52
Never happened before.
16:53
It is unprecedented, just like his skillset.
16:57
I mean, it- I feel like Mike Macdonald at the podium every week, where,
17:03
I mean, I wish it, that I could be Mike Macdonald, what a great
17:06
day, to wake up Mike Macdonald.
17:08
But, in terms of when the press is constantly out…
17:12
Well, so JSN's awesome, yeah?
17:14
Like, tell me about JSN being awesome.
17:16
Can you just give us a quote about how awesome JSN is, another straight week?
17:20
Yeah.
17:20
You know, Mike's gotten to the point now, he's just kinda like, "I,
17:25
yeah, like- … it's still awesome.
17:28
I don't know what to tell you."
17:30
Yeah.
17:30
I don't know either, but- It's outrageous.
17:32
It's outrageous what he's doing in, especially with there not being the
17:37
threat of the run game throughout the first part of this year, and
17:41
teams able to load up and really try to take him away from things.
17:44
And really without any of the other pass catchers having the type of season to this
17:49
point to where you're really impacting what defenses are gonna do, you know,
17:53
outside of the regular fundamentals.
17:55
And yet still, it makes no never mind to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
18:00
Like, I'm gonna go out there and I am going to cut off my inside foot like
18:05
Collinsworth always likes to talk about.
18:07
I'm gonna keep my pad level exactly the same, like, you know, Steve
18:10
Smith Senior likes to talk about.
18:12
I'm gonna, you know, be faster than you think.
18:15
Like, you know, Ocho Cinco was talking about on a pod that
18:18
I watched here just recently.
18:21
And it's gonna be week in, week out, and I'm not gonna say much about it at
18:24
all except for any mistakes out there were probably my fault, and I'll figure
18:27
that out too, because I'm Jaxon freaking Smith-Njigba and can do anything.
18:32
It's just, it's outrageous, man.
18:34
And it's an absolute joy to watch There was one thing that Mike Macdonald
18:39
said that, was unique, I think, to what we've heard from him this
18:43
season because they're talking about teams putting two guys on him.
18:49
Yeah.
18:49
And he's like, "Well, yeah, they can bracket him low and bracket him high,"
18:53
but then he can still go east and west.
18:55
Yeah.
18:55
And, or they could bracket him, on the right side and left side, and
18:59
then he can, you know, he, he has the openings to go deep or, or stop short.
19:03
Yeah.
19:04
So what are you gonna do?
19:05
Yeah, and because he's one of the smarter dudes in the NFL, like, he
19:10
can see what's happening and go, "Oh yeah, no, I'll just do this then."
19:13
And he's right almost every single time.
19:17
It's incredible, man.
19:18
It's incredible.
19:19
I, I'm wondering how long it's gonna take for JSN to supplant Steve Largent
19:26
as the best receiver in Seattle history.
19:29
It's- I mean, how many more seasons is that gonna take before
19:32
we can have that conversation with a straight face, you know?
19:36
It's, it's getting close.
19:38
I mean, he's, he's probably, he's gotta run down Tyler, right?
19:42
In terms of records.
19:44
Well, yeah, yeah.
19:45
But, or you, you just mean in terms of production or- In terms of impact
19:49
and staying power and, like, i- Hall of Fame worthy type stuff.
19:54
Like, I mean, before Jerry Rice came along, Steve L- Steve Largent
19:58
was the greatest to ever do it.
20:00
Yeah.
20:01
Yeah.
20:01
Like I, I feel like JSN is on that trajectory right now.
20:07
Oh, he's, he's definitely on the j- trajectory.
20:09
I mean, he…
20:11
I think, I don't even know if Steve Largent had an All-Pro season,
20:16
maybe one, which JSN had last year.
20:20
Yeah.
20:20
But then again, you know, back in the day we think it's bad getting
20:23
ignored up here in Seattle and, you know, southeast Alaska now.
20:27
I mean, good Lord.
20:28
Like back in the '80s- Oh yeah, it wasn't … I don't even think most of the people
20:31
in the NFL recognized Seattle as being part of the United States of America.
20:36
That was part of, like, some Northwest Territories nonsense
20:38
or something in their mind.
20:40
But I think that people who lived through the '80s remember obviously Jerry Rice
20:45
being the dude, and th- there were a couple years there where Largent, you
20:51
know, had, was ahead of him, you know, just in the league before Rice came
20:55
into the league and was a well-known- Mm
20:57
connection between Zorn and Largent, or Zorn and, Craig.
21:02
But there were other receivers too, so yeah.
21:07
It's, it, I think it's gonna take a couple All-Pro seasons and he'll, he'll
21:14
get there because we d- we haven't had that type of impactful guys.
21:20
I mean, we've had great wide receivers like Tyler Lockett, like, Darrell
21:26
Jackson, like, I mean, DK Metcalf, like, a few, like, he had quite a few
21:32
solid years too, and Doug Baldwin.
21:34
Yeah, it's…
21:36
But he's gonna get there real quick being where he is at, 28 touchdowns so far,
21:44
he's already at 4,400 receiving yards, and the season's not even halfway over.
21:51
Yeah.
21:52
It's absolutely insane, and I think, you know, we just talked about the
21:55
idea of, you know, when could he supplant one of the best to ever
21:59
suited up in the history of the league?
22:01
And yet in this season, currently, right now, where he is absolutely
22:06
dominating, and there's not even a close second- The closest second- To begrudge
22:10
against … is 216 yards behind him.
22:14
Yeah.
22:15
I mean, that's outrageous.
22:17
Again, and yet there's so many people out in the media that when they bring
22:23
him up, "Well, it's getting hard not to say that he's the best," and it's
22:27
like, "What are you talking about?"
22:28
Like, look, I, I love me Ja'Marr Chase.
22:31
I do.
22:32
I think he's one of the best receivers in this game by far.
22:35
Mm-hmm.
22:36
Him, Jefferson, I mean, you can go down the list, right?
22:39
But this year, right now- Those are the two guys that I think of, Mm-hmm
22:43
… immediately as being top guys, consistent.
22:46
CeeDee Lamb probably- Okay
22:47
close up there
22:50
Who, who, who else did you say?
22:52
Puka.
22:52
No.
22:53
Gross.
22:54
I know, but it's a true fact.
22:56
You know, we're- Yeah, I thought about it too, but then I didn't wanna say it.
22:58
I know, but you gotta be honest when you're talking about these things,
23:01
and- Yeah … you know, I just, I can't believe that he's not getting the…
23:06
Oh, yeah, easily hands down best receiver in the game.
23:08
It's not even close talk right now.
23:10
And I mean- I think people believe it … I guess maybe he's just gonna have to
23:12
whip everybody's asses for another eight weeks for, to get the recognition, and
23:17
maybe be back-to-back Super Bowl champion and all that, because it did feel like
23:22
the offense found some sustainable things this last week against the Chiefs in…
23:28
I think my biggest takeaway, I wanna talk to you about this, was how
23:32
quickly they were getting in plays, how decisive they were getting to the
23:34
line, how they were putting the…
23:36
We heard Mike talk about this a lot throughout the first few weeks
23:40
about, "We gotta put the pressure on them, and- Mm-hmm … we
23:43
gotta make them react to us."
23:45
And I felt like that was something that the offense found against
23:48
the Chiefs this last week.
23:51
And I think that's one of the things where we talked about with Sam not
23:56
having a pre-season, then getting injured, that it was going to take
24:00
some time to get into that rhythm with the offensive coordinator.
24:04
And so could it be that they simplified some things, but it could also be that
24:11
merging that just with the time between them, that th- they found that place to be
24:17
able to, like, find that rhythm, I guess?
24:20
Yeah.
24:20
I really do think it was the tempo, 'cause we saw a mixed tempo, too, and
24:24
get a little bit more, up-tempo and playing a little faster in spurts.
24:28
And then, you know, you heard Sam talk about it at his presser, too, a little bit
24:31
about getting up to the line early enough to where, you know, "Well, sometimes
24:35
we go on one, sometimes we go on four.
24:36
You…
24:37
And we can…
24:38
Now we can change that up a little bit."
24:39
And I know that sounds super rudimentary and just simple, but if
24:44
you do get to the line with seven seconds left on the play clock, it,
24:48
it gets hard to vary those things up and keep the defense on its toes.
24:51
So I think where they found a lot of that rhythm was literally pre-snap and through
24:55
the process in getting th- the play call in in a more timely manner, Sam getting
25:02
it out, in and out of the huddle in a more timely manner, guys hustling to the line.
25:06
I th- that was something that really stood out to me.
25:09
Mm.
25:09
Like, breaking the huddle and being up on the ball, like, now.
25:12
And it, it's all th…
25:14
When you start- You know, stacking, as Coach Mike would say, all of those little
25:19
things, one on top of another, each play, it really does make a difference overall.
25:24
And I, I think that's where the, the rhythm, came from in a lot of ways.
25:28
That, and they were able to move people offensively in the trenches and get
25:34
the running game to an adequate level.
25:36
Everybody keeps talking about this great run game that they had, and it was
25:40
like, you know, it was, it was decent.
25:42
It was functional.
25:44
Like- Right … but that was not an outstanding run game.
25:47
But that's, that's all they needed to get to the level
25:50
that you were hoping to get to.
25:52
There wasn't a lot of negatives in terms of the run game.
25:55
Yeah.
25:55
So the, d- just with them moving it forward, and I know people don't
25:59
really love the run, run, pass type of offense- Get over it … but
26:05
that's what worked for them.
26:07
Yeah.
26:07
And I think that helped get them into that rhythm and it, it kept Sam and then
26:12
his attempts l- his passing attempts low.
26:16
And it allowed them to just have this complimentary piece to where
26:21
then they were in third and short, and you could, you know, take
26:25
some deep shots on third down.
26:27
You could take some easy third down completions.
26:31
And it just, it seemed to work for those third downs, and we saw it play out in
26:36
terms of the third down percentages.
26:40
And we talked about it just in post-game that, gosh, it was almost 70%.
26:45
When was the last time that, we'd seen 70%?
26:49
Like, did we even see it at all last season?
26:50
And the answer is no, we never saw it last season.
26:52
Wow.
26:52
Really?
26:53
Okay.
26:53
Yeah.
26:54
The best, the best game that they had for third down conversion
26:59
percentage was against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year.
27:04
And that was a high-scoring game, and- It was … they didn't have
27:09
a lot of third downs either.
27:10
They only had nine third downs.
27:12
Wow.
27:12
And so they were six of nine.
27:14
So in terms of the numbers, yeah, only six, but they completed,
27:20
what was it, like 13 of 16?
27:23
And- Yeah … or- Whatever it was.
27:25
11 of 16, 12.
27:26
Yeah, I don't know what the percentage w- yeah, it was high, whatever it was.
27:30
It might have been 11 of 16 'cause just looking at last year, they only had two
27:36
games in the regular season where they even had 16 attempts on third down.
27:43
Yeah.
27:43
It was against the Rams in week 11, against the Panthers in week
27:48
17, and then in the Super Bowl they actually had 16 third down attempts.
27:54
They only went four for 16 in the Super Bowl, and in the other game,
27:59
the Carolina game was the one where they were actually over 50%.
28:03
They only had, I think, five six games maybe where they
28:09
were over 50% on third down.
28:13
And so that, that's just why I wanted to look at it.
28:15
I wanted to see Compare it to Kubiak, how it was going last season, how
28:21
is Fleury doing through these first few games of, of his new season?
28:26
And to hit that, that third down conversion number is, with relatively all
28:32
the same other people, just a different offensive coordinator, I, I just think
28:36
that's an interesting data point.
28:38
I think it is.
28:39
And I think where they have separated to this point has been how efficient
28:44
they've been on first and second down.
28:47
I mean, that's really where Kubiak had them kind of rolling, so that's
28:51
the way they were able to overcome- Yeah, but the best defense is just to
28:53
not get the third down- Yeah … as I heard Greg Olsen say on TV last week.
28:56
Yeah, I mean, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while, right?
28:59
And Greg Olsen said a smarty, and like I s- it, it'll fall
29:03
out of your mouth here and there.
29:05
But it, it kind of goes to show too that when you are rolling on that,
29:10
how it kind of feeds into itself.
29:11
Because when you convert more third downs, then you get more opportunities
29:14
to have more third downs, and then you can convert more, and then you end up
29:17
at 11 for 16 and it's an amazing day.
29:20
I heard Coach Mike at his press, on the Brock and Sch- Salk Show say, "Well,
29:25
that's not a world you want to live in."
29:27
And I understand what he's saying, like, you're probably not
29:30
gonna have that sort of success.
29:33
70 percent's not sustainable, right?
29:35
Yeah.
29:35
But I'm sitting over here going like, "What do you mean that's a
29:38
world we don't want to live in?
29:39
That's exactly the world I want to live in.
29:41
I want to go 11 for 16 every week."
29:42
That means you control the clock and- Yeah … yeah, that's, there's so many
29:44
good things that come along with being, that high percentage on third down.
29:49
Yeah.
29:50
And I think you hit the nail on the head too, in terms of the third down
29:55
percentage in this last game and talking about the run run pass, because I know,
30:00
I know the stat- stat nerds out there are like, "Well, statistically speaking,"
30:04
like, you know, they think, they, they…
30:06
"If you do run run pass, this never works.
30:09
That's something they did in 1946 and you gotta throw a bubble
30:13
screen every first down," you know?
30:14
And you're like, yeah, okay.
30:16
But if you do run run pass, as they did, and you can just be three…
30:22
Even if you're just getting three yards a run on those, and the other,
30:26
the defense knows it's coming and you can still make that happen, now
30:30
you're in third and short regularly.
30:31
That means that they're easier to convert.
30:33
When they're easier to convert, you end up going 11 for 16.
30:37
And if you, dear listener, hate run run pass, I'm gonna tell you something
30:42
right now, you better get over it and get used to it, because with Big Q
30:46
entering the building, they're not gonna run less on first and second down.
30:50
I promise you that.
30:52
And if you're in, third and four is, I think, where you would
30:58
least like to be on third down.
31:00
If you're third and three, third and two, then you're into downs where you
31:04
could run it and hopefully get two or three yards, or- Oh, you can run it on
31:08
third and one all day … throw it and, you know, that opens up play action.
31:10
And they- They had so few play action, I don't know if I wanna say opportunities.
31:16
They just didn't run it that much against the Chiefs.
31:19
They…
31:19
I went back just to look into the, oh, how did they do in play action in this game?
31:23
'Cause obviously Wilson ran it a bunch.
31:25
It, it should have seen success.
31:27
They had six…
31:28
They, they ran six play action plays in the entire game.
31:32
Yeah.
31:32
A lot of drop back, and I expect that play action rate to rise over the course
31:37
of the season as they get both Charbonnet and Price back, and you insert Quenton
31:43
Nelson, and you shuffle the offensive line however it is that they're gonna do it.
31:48
It, it's gonna be better, and when you're running the ball better, you're
31:51
obviously gonna have a lot more effect with the play action, and then that's
31:55
gonna make Sam Darnold better, and then now you're throwing less picks
31:59
at the end of the day because he's not gonna have to throw the rock as much.
32:02
It all just goes hand in glove, and that's why, I mean, I could
32:07
barely contain myself on the show.
32:09
We talked about the acquisition of Quenton Nelson 'cause it this is gonna be sweet.
32:16
Oh, man.
32:17
I cannot wait to see what it looks like when we get rolling with Quenton Nelson.
32:24
It…
32:24
Well, and part of me can't wait too to see how the rest of the line is
32:27
gonna shake out, but it's, it adding…
32:32
Man, it stinks that Cross, we don't necessarily know.
32:36
It sounded like it was a high ankle sprain, so it's probably gonna
32:40
be a couple weeks I'm guessing.
32:41
Yeah.
32:42
Also, Mike said in his presser when they asked him about that, "Oh, yeah, you
32:46
know, report high ankle sprain, couple of weeks," and Mike was very definitive.
32:50
He's like, "That did not come from me."
32:52
Oh, that's right.
32:52
"That did not come from my trainer."
32:54
And so what that means, I don't know.
32:59
But I think it's pretty safe to say that we won't see Charles Cross this week.
33:03
And, look, that, that's not ideal always.
33:08
I mean, your franchise left tackle, who's damn good at his job, not
33:13
playing, you don't want that.
33:14
But with that said, Josh Jones played himself some really
33:19
good football last year- Mm-hmm
33:21
when he was forced into action.
33:23
So you feel like you're in good hands there.
33:25
But I think with Cross not being available, I think that makes the
33:29
discussion as to how you insert Quenton Nelson into your lineup and what you
33:34
do with Zabel or Sundell and Bradford, like, from that point forward, a bit more
33:38
interesting, because you already have one position of change now with- Mm-hmm
33:42
left tackle.
33:44
How much change do you want on that offensive line all at once?
33:49
Like, how many positions do you wanna disrupt?
33:52
I was wondering about that.
33:53
With Nelson coming in, how…
33:57
I, I would feel better about it if Cross were there, and then you have a new guy
34:02
on the left side, but now you're, you're doing Quenton Nelson and next to Jones.
34:08
But Jones has been here for a while, so.
34:10
Yeah, yeah.
34:10
I, I'm fine with Josh Jones.
34:12
Like, I feel like- Yeah … we're in good hands.
34:13
I think we get, you know…
34:15
Maybe it's not…
34:17
It was close to Charles Cross' level when he came in last year.
34:20
Mm-hmm.
34:20
Let's say there's a bit of a regression, and he plays, you know,
34:23
just league average left tackle.
34:25
That's fine.
34:25
Well, I can live with that.
34:26
We can, we can wi- still win with our backup playing at that level Okay.
34:32
So when you're talking about major disruption, are you thinking…
34:36
'Cause I think the- Well, just change it how many positions, right?
34:40
Like, if Cross is one, and then Nelson would be two at left guard.
34:45
Do you wanna make it Zabel center would be three.
34:47
You wanna put him in his table somewhere as the, the third one.
34:48
And then you change right guard, it's four.
34:50
So now we're talking four out of your five spots on your
34:52
offensive line change in a week?
34:54
Is that- Yeah … is that the way we wanna go?
34:55
Maybe that is the best way to go.
34:58
I don't- Wait, four?
34:58
How do you get to four?
34:59
You, because you have Cross that w- isn't playing- Yeah … and Josh Jones in.
35:05
Quenton Nelson's obviously taking the left guard spot, so that's new.
35:08
Right.
35:08
And then there's a lot of talk of Zabel to center and taking
35:12
Sundell out of the lineup.
35:13
Right.
35:14
And then, okay, I guess that would keep Bradford at- So keep, keep Bradford, yeah.
35:18
Okay.
35:18
And keep the right side of your line fully intact.
35:21
Yeah, I suppose so Like no matter where you move Zabel,
35:25
it's going to be a new position.
35:26
Right.
35:27
So I, I was thinking that's what you're getting at is do we just
35:31
sit Zabel out for a week and just have the le- keep your center right
35:39
guard, right tackle all the same?
35:42
Well, okay, I have one other…
35:45
'Cause here are the, been the discussions, right?
35:47
Mm-hmm.
35:47
Zabel to right guard, Quenton N- Nelson in at left guard, Sundell
35:50
stays at center, Bradford out.
35:52
That's one.
35:52
Yeah.
35:53
The other being Zabel at center, Bradford stays in, Nelson at left guard.
35:58
And we're, we're all talking about Zabel moving because he had that
36:02
flexibility in college to a degree.
36:04
He played a little bit of right guard, he played quite a bit-- he played about as
36:09
much right tackle as he did left tackle.
36:11
Yeah.
36:12
And, and then he played 17 snaps at center in his entire college career.
36:17
So, Ton of experience there.
36:20
I- There's, there's two places I really don't wanna move Zabel
36:24
at the midpoint of the season.
36:26
I don't wanna put him out at tackle- Nope … because he doesn't have
36:29
the arm reach for e- he just doesn't have NFL length arms to play tackle.
36:34
Mm-hmm.
36:35
And I don't want him at center because he doesn't have experience there,
36:40
and he only played a, a total of two series while- Yeah … while the center
36:46
was injured, and I think the center might have been Sundell at the time.
36:49
I don't know what the overlap was.
36:51
Yeah.
36:51
But it might have been Sundell at NDSU.
36:53
And so I j- I just, to make the jump of snapping the ball at an FCS
36:59
level school to the NFL mid-season in a team that's trying to make a
37:05
Super Bowl run, I just think that that's a lot to ask of Grey Zabel.
37:10
And not only that, but it's like Sundell's not a dumpster fire.
37:16
He's a pretty good center.
37:17
He's the top five pass blocking center in the NFL right now.
37:23
Yeah.
37:23
This season.
37:23
Yeah.
37:24
I think what's really interesting to me about this conversation is because
37:29
Bradford came back and the offensive line looked good or better- Yeah … not
37:34
that there weren't a bunch of other factors involved in that too, it's not
37:37
like Anthony Bradford's, you know, a god that came in on the offensive line
37:41
and changed everything Well, he looked like one against Nick Bolton, though.
37:43
He'd throw him down on the ground.
37:45
At times.
37:45
He still had a couple whiffs and, you know, and looks lost
37:48
in space and, y- all that stuff.
37:51
I mean, he's- Yeah, but a normal, normal Bradford experience.
37:53
But what I cannot wrap my head around for the life of me is the discussion has
37:57
now changed to where Sundell is clearly the weakest link on this offensive line,
38:02
and Bradford's, you know, playing at, you know, well above average at his position.
38:07
And it's like no, no, he is still the weakest link.
38:11
Goodbye.
38:11
And Sundell's been pretty good.
38:14
I, I still, I still want him.
38:15
Well, and that's just it.
38:16
I love having him in our back pocket as depth.
38:19
Yeah.
38:20
That's great.
38:21
That's great.
38:22
And I just don't understand why you would move Sundell around and break
38:27
up the continuity between quarterback and center, which is a big deal.
38:30
I know people don't think it's a big deal, but it's a big deal.
38:33
But I think the one, like, possibility here that people aren't talking about,
38:41
why is it a foregone conclusion that Quenton Nelson can't play right guard?
38:44
Yeah.
38:45
Like, why, why is that just, like, assumed as a…
38:48
You're telling me that Quenton Nelson, there's no possibility.
38:51
I'm not saying it's likely, but there's no possibility the Big Q walks into the
38:56
VMAC and looks at everybody and says, "Oh, Zabel's a little better over there.
39:00
We like that?
39:00
Oh, I can do right guard.
39:02
Guard's guard."
39:03
"I don't know if you do.
39:04
I'm Quenton Nelson.
39:05
I can do anything."
39:06
Yeah.
39:07
I, I feel like it's possible.
39:09
Why, I don't know-
39:13
The only thing is that it's just he doesn't have the snaps there, and
39:18
that's not to say that he couldn't do it because- Yeah … yeah,
39:21
he's a he's an All-Pro guard.
39:24
Yeah, he's an All-Decade guard.
39:26
Like, he's one of the best guards of this generation, and it's an
39:31
impossibility for him to do that?
39:33
But Zabel can easily do it, and that's why we gotta move him over there.
39:37
I don't know.
39:37
I, I just think that that's something that's not talked about that I think-
39:40
Mm-hmm … could be in play because then that creates less chaos along
39:44
your line as well in terms of changing dudes in and out of positions.
39:48
It would offer the most continuity, and we were all thrilled about the
39:52
continuity of this offensive line coming into the season, and now the m-
39:55
a good chunk of the fan base looks at it and goes, "Continuity, schmotinuity.
39:59
Like, let's light it on fire.
40:01
Put Zabel at center."
40:03
Th- that's the only annoying part of this trade is how there's no obvious answer,
40:11
and I think it would be more obvious if Bradford were playing at the level that he
40:16
did through seven games last year because at this point of the season last year,
40:22
every single Seahawks fan would have been ecstatic to be replacing Anthony Bradford.
40:28
And then y- you go on the run and, and through the off-season we
40:31
talk about, oh, well, he clearly got better throughout the season.
40:34
Yeah, the first part of the season was a dumpster fire.
40:36
The second part of the season it was inconsistent, and then he finished
40:39
the season strong, and then comes out this season, gets injured, and they
40:45
don't even have a solid backup option.
40:47
They're bouncing between Haynes, they're bouncing b- e- and, and- And
40:51
Stevens … d- doing this rotation with both Stevens and Haynes, and yeah.
40:57
Then Haynes ends up being the odd man out.
40:59
They end up releasing him.
41:01
The Ravens announce strangely that, they've claimed him off waivers, and
41:07
then it turns out, oh, Miami had a waiver claim in, too, and so he's going to Miami.
41:12
Look, man, I mean, going and playing for the Dolphins stinks, not just
41:16
because they- Yeah … stink but also Dolphins, but you do get to live in Miami.
41:20
Maybe that's a, a pretty sweet bonus for Christian Haynes.
41:23
I hope it's awesome for him.
41:24
Yeah, South Beach.
41:25
That's, if, if you're gonna spend some time away from the
41:28
team, that's maybe where you go.
41:31
If you're not watching on video right now, Adam is, like, furiously, like
41:35
you can see his shoulder moving.
41:37
And I have to think that Ollie is, next to you and just getting,
41:41
like, a violent rubdown from you.
41:42
Yeah, hi, big huggy.
41:44
That's a good buddy.
41:45
Yeah, no, he came in from outside and has plopped himself right next to the
41:49
chair, and he said it was time for pets.
41:52
And, so he gets his pets 'cause he's a good dog.
41:55
But here's the thing.
41:57
O- so there's a lot of passionate debate about how this all shakes
42:00
out on the offensive line.
42:02
Mm-hmm.
42:03
Is there a wrong answer?
42:05
I don't know that there is I, I think Zabel at center, to just
42:10
expect him to be able to go and snap competently in one week is a lot- Scary
42:18
more difficult than people think than…
42:21
Because y- talk, talk to an offensive lineman just about how difficult it
42:25
is to switch sides, and your footwork, and how everything is opposite.
42:29
Mm-hmm.
42:29
And at least Zabel has that in his background, so he has the muscle memory.
42:33
Like, it's there.
42:34
Yeah.
42:35
I feel like with Nelson, you're asking him to entirely try and build
42:40
some of that muscle memory that he's never had to work with- Yeah
42:44
asking him to switch sides, and I just think that Okay.
42:51
Zabel, he had s- a, a rough couple games through the stretch where your right
42:57
guard was injured, and I'm sure Sundell was primarily focusing, just like we
43:02
saw some weird things from, Abe Lucas trying to help out- Yeah …
43:08
the right guard to where blitz pickups weren't getting picked up correctly.
43:13
And, I, I think everyone was, on that offensive line, was focused on,
43:20
okay, we gotta help out right guard because we're doing this rotation
43:24
thing, and, you know, clearly these guys are gonna need some help.
43:28
And so Zabel was on an island which they, I think opponents could then
43:33
focus on that, and, it, it showed.
43:37
So- It did … I think with Zabel going to right guard and having
43:41
Sundell, they can, they can focus that.
43:45
You- And then on the left side, Jones, I think can be competent out at left
43:50
tackle, and then you don't, you don't have to worry about Quenton Nelson.
43:54
Like, that's just- Set it and forget it.
43:57
Right.
43:58
Yeah.
43:59
He'll be fine.
44:00
No doubt about it.
44:01
Yeah, I think there's degrees of risk along there, the
44:05
way that you described it, and I think you hit it perfectly.
44:08
Also too, I think, let's say they did move Zabel to center, and that's
44:14
my least preferred option as well.
44:15
I'm in agreement with you.
44:17
But it's not an impossibility that it works.
44:20
It, it, you know what I mean?
44:22
It's not like, it's not like you're completely sure.
44:25
And if it doesn't work for a game and you're like, "Oh, nope,
44:27
that was a mistake," I mean, Sundell and Olu are still there.
44:32
You know, you can go back to one of them.
44:33
Which is another interesting part.
44:35
I, I think if this were planned, if Zabel being a center for this
44:40
team was an eventuality- Mm-hmm
44:43
for depth reasons, wouldn't you keep Haynes, a guy who has had
44:49
starting snaps now at guard, having that, that piece of guard depth?
44:54
If you're gonna move, if the plan all along was to supplant Sundell with
44:59
Zabel, wouldn't you get rid of Olu?
45:03
That's exactly what I would think.
45:05
Yeah, you're a thousand percent right.
45:07
And, you know, if you do think about this in terms of depth, which, you
45:11
know, I was accused not of it by one of our commenters on the last video.
45:14
It's like, well, no, this is exactly what I'm thinking about.
45:17
Like, you let Christian Haynes go, and so if y- now if you're thinking Bradford
45:21
is your depth piece and Zabel's your starting right guard, now you've got depth
45:24
there, you still have depth at center, and then you have left guard, which,
45:29
you know, you have future Hall of Famer.
45:31
So- Yeah, it makes sense to me the way that you frame it.
45:34
If you were to play Zabel at center, you'd think that you're getting
45:38
rid of Olu over Haynes for sure.
45:41
And that's why maybe I wish we were doing this show just a day or two
45:44
later, 'cause I feel like- Hmm … with the press conferences that you
45:47
usually get late in the week- Yeah
45:49
they're just gonna ask Mike and then…
45:51
Well, gosh, he, he probably wouldn't even tell us would he at this point.
45:54
I don't think so.
45:55
I think he loves keeping all of those little details to himself and making
46:00
the opponents, you know, just have to plan for a couple extra things.
46:04
I think it's one of those little edges that he loves chasing, you know?
46:07
Is this what's happening?
46:08
I- has he slipped it to a couple of the media members that just
46:13
in passing, "Oh, I, I don't know where we're gonna put Zabel.
46:16
Shoot, w- we've even thought of him as being a competent center."
46:20
And just having that discussion in the background then leads these people
46:26
who come out and talk on the radio and talk on Seattle media and go, "Hmm.
46:30
Hey," you know?
46:31
A- and not even…
46:33
I- I…
46:33
'Cause teams do this, they'll say, "You didn't hear this from me, but something
46:39
to think about is da, da, da, da, da."
46:41
Right.
46:42
And just that type of conversation then can spark it in the media of,
46:47
"Oh, we haven't really thought about Grey Zabel at center," and, "Oh, he
46:51
took snaps at center in the Senior Bowl, so maybe this is a possibility."
46:56
Yeah.
46:57
I, I wouldn't put that past Mike at, you know, any point
47:00
here running a disinformation campaign from behind closed doors.
47:03
That'd be pretty fun.
47:05
And, and it is funny- I like to wear my tinfoil hat sometimes, Adam … I,
47:08
I like, I like tinfoil hat, Brandan.
47:10
It, you'd fit in out here, in the Gulch.
47:12
But, at the end of the day too, I find it interesting that everybody
47:17
gets excited about Zabel at center when, again, 17 snaps in college at the
47:24
position, and I think o- the only reason to me that- You have to, you're not
47:28
counting his Senior Bowl snaps, Adam.
47:30
Right.
47:31
Yes, of course.
47:32
At the Reese's Senior Bowl, right?
47:34
Which is a cool event and all that, and, like, it's good for
47:37
what it is, but to count that as, like, live bullets experience, I
47:41
don't think anybody's doing it.
47:43
And I…
47:44
the only reason he was doing that at that time was when different teams were
47:48
looking at him to draft him, some teams viewed him as possibly moving to center.
47:53
Everybody had kind of agreed that because of the arm length, it's not gonna work
47:56
out at tackle, so do you put him at guard or do you put him at center?
48:00
And so some teams viewed him as a possibility there, and I think that was
48:03
the reason he was taking snaps there.
48:06
But I think the majority of the league looked at him as a guard.
48:09
And also too, it wasn't as if Sundell had a stranglehold on the center
48:14
position when he was drafted, and the second he was drafted, they asked
48:19
John Schneider, "What is he gonna do?
48:21
Guard?"
48:22
Like, there was no hesitation.
48:24
Mm-hmm.
48:24
So it wasn't ever the plan that he was gonna play center.
48:29
That wasn't, that wasn't their plan A.
48:33
No.
48:33
I think if it were to be a plan, you would see some pre-season snaps.
48:38
You'd see- Mm-hmm … yeah, you would at least see him in the pre-season
48:42
going, "Oh, yeah, well, we wanna work on him here just because this is a
48:47
position that we think that he could play, so we wanna get him some work."
48:50
Maybe, maybe he is getting work in practice.
48:54
Yeah.
48:54
I've never, I've never heard it reported, but maybe.
48:57
Maybe Quenton Nelson cross-trains at right guard during the off-season
49:01
and we've never heard about it.
49:02
Like, we don't know.
49:03
We don't know.
49:04
That's what makes it so fascinating.
49:05
And the only reason I throw out the Nelson at right guard rather
49:08
than at his native left guard- Yeah
49:10
is, it feels like in these situations we all banter about the, you know, more
49:15
obvious permutations of how these things would work out, and more times than not,
49:19
it feels like it's one that's a little out of left field and you're like, "Really?
49:23
Didn't see that one coming."
49:24
So that- that's why I threw it out there.
49:26
No, I, I think you're right to consider it as a possibility
49:30
because he's that talented.
49:32
It's, it does put less stress on just positionally, like they- they've…
49:40
It's been a rotating door at, at right guard the entire year so far, so wh-
49:47
what's another different guy that you plug in there but- Mm-hmm … this time
49:51
it's, you know, a, a, an All-Pro guard that just has to retrain his feet.
49:55
Right.
49:56
I think the last argument about moving Zabel to center is the idea that with
50:01
Nelson and Bradford out there alongside of Zabel on each side, that you
50:07
would be a stronger team up front in terms of being able to push people around
50:12
in, in the run game and all of that.
50:14
But then people also act like if Zabel went to right guard,
50:19
that you've become weaker?
50:21
By leaving the same guy in the center that's been there just now, taking one
50:27
of the guys that's already on the line and just put him in a different spot, and
50:30
then bringing in a guy who, I don't know, is leagues better than Anthony Bradford.
50:35
And we've been Anthony Bradford defenders on this show- Yeah … for a long time.
50:40
Like, half the season last year.
50:42
Yeah.
50:43
I mean- I don't know.
50:46
I just think that that's kinda, kinda a non-starting argument to me.
50:50
I under- I, I actually understand the argument of wanting a powerful offensive
50:56
line for the run game, and I look at that and I think, well, if, if that's
51:01
your goal, then just d- make Zabel your sixth man, and leave Anthony Bradford
51:08
in, and leave the center that's been playing center and has snapped in
51:11
NFL games for years now, leave him in the spot that he's doing fine in,
51:17
and now you have Zabel as your depth.
51:20
But that's problematic because Bradford is in his final year of
51:25
his contract, and I think you want your long-term option at guard to be
51:30
Grey Zabel, your first-round pick.
51:32
Yeah.
51:34
That's why you drafted him in the first round, just like you said.
51:37
It also…
51:40
When I look at the run game and why it needs to be, or how it could be improved,
51:44
and what is the, you know, real genesis of the struggle there, I think it,
51:49
the struggle to me goes in this order.
51:53
One, just running back's gone, and we're, got, you know, Emanuel Wilson
51:59
back there, and good luck with that.
52:01
I think two is, as Fleury's getting going here as OC and trying to bring his
52:06
vision to life, that is a zone-based, you know, operation, that whole
52:11
Shanahan scheme, and the thing is, is that Wilson is not really all that
52:17
adept at running that zone stuff and getting lateral and then one cut and go.
52:22
That's not his game at all.
52:26
So, and then offensive line being the third.
52:28
So I, the offensive line and their play I think has been made to look
52:33
worse because of the scheme not fitting the talent that had been out on the
52:37
field, and then also missing your top talent when it's all said and done.
52:41
So I don't necessarily need to see a big improvement from the
52:44
offensive line in the run game.
52:46
I think that if Bradford's out and, Sundell stays in at center, you're
52:52
gonna be just fine and it's gonna look better when you add Quenton Nelson there.
52:55
But what you really wanna do is you wanna shore up the pass protection
52:59
up the middle, because our biggest problem is Sam Darnold throwing picks.
53:03
Sam throws picks when he gets pressured up the middle, like
53:05
almost every other quarterback.
53:07
So leaving Bradford in because it makes you a big, beefy offensive line
53:11
and you're more powerful, well, okay, cool and all that, but that's not our
53:15
biggest issue with the offensive line.
53:17
Our biggest issue is pressure up the middle, and the biggest committer
53:20
of that is Anthony Bradford.
53:23
So I'm more interested in seeing him on the bench and leaving our top
53:27
five center and pass pro in the game.
53:30
Yeah.
53:31
Yeah.
53:32
Is there a world where we end up hating this trade because it, it just- For sure.
53:37
It's football.
53:38
Yeah.
53:40
Just ask me, ask a 3 Rams fan- And just only because- … about how that
53:43
goes … just because it's so not obvious as to what the answer is that
53:48
we're all, as fans, debating where, what the best combination might be, that's
53:54
the one thing that gives me pause and go, just to say, "may- maybe
53:58
we shouldn't have done this trade."
54:00
I mean, yeah, I guess, but a third round pick for a generational
54:05
guard, yes please, all day.
54:07
You're gonna do it and figure out, these are rich people problems.
54:11
Right.
54:11
I love these rich people problems that we have right now on the offensive line.
54:15
Can you imagine three years ago, four years ago, talking about these sort of
54:19
offensive line rich people problems?
54:21
Mookie Alexander of Field Gulls tweeted out our 2016 starting offensive line.
54:27
Yes.
54:28
Yes.
54:29
Well played, Mookie.
54:30
Yes.
54:31
And it just made me realize, oh my gosh, Justin Britt was the most
54:36
solid piece of that offensive line.
54:40
Yeah.
54:40
And it was- Not great.
54:44
Not great.
54:45
Y- are the names up?
54:46
Do you got the names in front of you?
54:47
I can't think of them off the top of my head, but- I, I don't even have
54:50
them off the top- Okay … of my head because- It's all good … I've,
54:52
I've tried to ignore, That era of offensive line … that era of…
54:58
Yeah.
54:58
It's…
55:00
It was…
55:02
Hmm.
55:03
Who was the, the dude that ended up going to Indy?
55:08
Was it one of them?
55:08
Oh, gosh, I can picture him too.
55:11
Glowinski.
55:13
Glowinski was on there.
55:14
Oh, here we go.
55:15
Here's your starting offensive line according to AI in 2016.
55:19
Okay.
55:19
George Fant at left tackle.
55:21
Yeah.
55:22
Yeah.
55:22
He played basketball, so he was gonna be great there.
55:25
Well, and I think, I think Mookie must have pointed out that it was maybe at
55:30
some different part, 'cause I don't even think it was Fant that was on that list.
55:36
Oh, interesting.
55:37
Okay.
55:37
I think he might…
55:38
Oh, Sowell was starting.
55:40
Oh, I forgot about that dude.
55:41
In week one.
55:42
Fant took over, but Bradley Sowell, Mark Glowinski, Justin Britt,
55:46
J'Marcus Webb at right guard, and Garry Gilliam at right tackle.
55:51
Yeah.
55:51
And then Ifedi took over for, the right guard there at
55:56
some point throughout the season.
55:57
Mm-hmm.
55:57
And yeah, we all, we all love Screw You Ifedi.
56:01
Like, I mean, that's, ugh, three times a game with that guy.
56:05
But yeah, to go from there to where we are…
56:09
And also too, just a random aside, if you're not following Justin
56:12
Britt on social media, get after it.
56:14
He's hilarious.
56:15
He's a good follow.
56:16
Yeah.
56:17
He was, he was doing a little bit of calling for Drew Lock here a
56:21
couple weeks ago I, I think Oh, sure.
56:24
Yeah After the interceptions.
56:26
He, he was ready to move on.
56:28
Yeah.
56:28
I mean, everybody's got different thresholds for
56:30
that sort of thing, no doubt.
56:32
But, no matter what happens with this reshuffle, Brandan, we're in a good place.
56:38
We're in a good place.
56:40
Mm-hmm.
56:40
That's why I asked are there really any wrong answers, you know?
56:43
The, the best answer is what would the, w- what would the Bears really,
56:48
really hate for us to do- Show up?
56:50
… on Monday night?
56:50
I mean, yeah.
56:52
That's a good question.
56:54
'cause defensively speaking, they're not necessarily a
56:57
juggernaut, no doubt about it.
56:59
But huge game, man.
57:01
And I'll, I'll be, I'll be curious to see which way this goes and to whether or not
57:06
we're gonna be seeing Charbs and Price back possibly, which would be outrageous.
57:13
That'd be amazing.
57:13
It would be amazing.
57:15
I, I'm not counting on it, but I- I think it's likely.
57:19
Really?
57:20
Yeah.
57:22
I know they activated Price in his practice window.
57:27
Mm-hmm.
57:28
I'm just, I got my hopes up about Charbs being back last week,
57:32
and then my hopes were dashed.
57:34
And so now I feel like I'm, I shouldn't get my hopes up so
57:38
I, they can be dashed again.
57:40
I've been hurt too many times.
57:42
It takes big balls to get blue chips, buddy, man.
57:44
You got no risk it, no biscuit.
57:46
You gotta put your heart out there.
57:47
You ain't gonna find love for your, week, eight running back.
57:53
So yeah, I'd say for me, I, I think Charbs is a lock in my mind.
57:57
Mm-hmm.
57:58
Full participation in practice last week.
58:00
You get another mini buy here, so to speak, with the Monday night game.
58:05
I feel like he's, he, he's likely to play.
58:07
And then when they asked Mike about those two guys, you know, he was coy about it.
58:11
He's like, "Both could play," or, "One or the other could play,"
58:13
or, "Maybe neither could play."
58:14
Like- … with all that.
58:16
But he did say that one of the differences with Charbs coming back and him
58:22
being, like, full participant and then not playing, is that with Price, he hasn't
58:28
been removed from the game for so long.
58:30
The injury's not nearly as serious.
58:32
And so being able to come back and step right back in should
58:36
be a quicker process for him.
58:38
Yeah.
58:39
And workload-wise, I feel- They could split that up … just,
58:46
yeah, they can split that up.
58:48
Wilson can still get a few snaps- Oh … in there, here and there
58:54
God, no.
58:55
Yeah Please, no.
58:57
That, that felt like the- Let him finish on a high note.
58:59
100 yards on the dot.
59:00
Good for him.
59:02
It's funny, 'cause I, I feel like our center conversation was
59:05
about to that extent when, when Clinton tried to bring it up.
59:09
No.
59:10
Yeah.
59:11
I mean, because knee-jerk, we're all reacting as we're going
59:15
through this news, and- Yeah
59:16
knee-jerk, it's like, what?
59:17
No.
59:18
Why?
59:18
God.
59:19
Stop.
59:20
And, you know, then listened to some arguments and then thought about it some
59:24
more, and all of that, and the, that kind of- And you can think of more reasons
59:27
why … having a more nuanced view.
59:28
Yeah, and so, you know, it really changed my viewpoint to,
59:31
no, like I'm, I'm still there.
59:33
I'm still with no.
59:34
I'm still there, but I can, I, I can explain why my ex,
59:37
knee-jerk reaction was no.
59:40
Well, yeah, because your gut is really smart.
59:42
It's smarter than your brain most of the time, or more nerve endings
59:45
in your gut than in your brain.
59:48
Can this defense stop JSN?
59:51
No.
59:53
Exactly.
59:53
Yeah.
59:54
I, it- it's cool too, because this matchup is really interesting, and
59:59
everybody's gonna focus on Bears offense versus the Seattle defense.
1:00:03
And rightfully so.
1:00:04
I mean, that's good on good.
1:00:06
Bears are doing a lot of cool stuff on offense.
1:00:08
Ben Johnson is the offensive Mike Macdonald right now.
1:00:12
It's gonna be- Number one rushing team in the NFL … that's,
1:00:16
it's gonna be a real test.
1:00:18
I mean, you got to warm up against Kenneth Walker, and now you get to see
1:00:22
what you're made of here against the number one team rushing the football.
1:00:25
And Ben Johnson doesn't forget.
1:00:26
He doesn't forget to run the football, and run it hard up the middle.
1:00:30
But where this game is gonna be won and lost, Brandan, is our offense against
1:00:35
the Bears defense, and that's something that nobody really wants to talk about.
1:00:39
I know that Bears fans don't wanna talk about it, because their defense- Are, are
1:00:42
they going who, on that matchup?
1:00:45
Well, they'd just been, I- th- in that game against the Packers, th-
1:00:50
they just decided, Matt LaFleur just decided they were gonna go b- bombs away
1:00:54
against- Yeah … that Bears defense.
1:00:57
And Bears fans were like, "Get Jaylon Johnson off this team."
1:01:03
"We miss Kobe Bryant, even though he never played a snap
1:01:05
for us in the regular season."
1:01:07
A- and yeah, not having, Montez Sweat for a couple weeks, I'm sure it
1:01:13
didn't help out either, although, they were very surprised that he had
1:01:17
been using PEDs and had not seen any kind of enhanced performance from his
1:01:21
ability- … to this point this year.
1:01:23
So Bears fans just in general I think have been very down on
1:01:29
the defense, and rightfully so, the way that they played- Yeah
1:01:33
against the Carolina offense to start the season.
1:01:36
I guess you could count the game against the Vikings as a good one,
1:01:40
'cause what did they hold the Vikings to, just nine points in that game?
1:01:43
Yeah.
1:01:44
They also played Kyler Murray.
1:01:46
So
1:01:49
That's true Yeah and he's even stinkier now than he was in Arizona somehow
1:01:55
Somehow And they played well enough to get that win against the Patriots.
1:02:03
Although, some coaching decisions could have made that a lot closer.
1:02:09
Trotting out the field goal kicker for a long field goal at the end of
1:02:12
that game against the Patriots, and say you miss that, then the Pats
1:02:18
have one more shot at going down and, and driving for a touchdown.
1:02:22
That…
1:02:24
Ben Johnson has made some calls through this point of the season
1:02:28
that I don't feel like he's really gotten burned by too much.
1:02:32
Yeah, I mean, he's an aggressive coach.
1:02:34
Maybe in the Vikings game.
1:02:35
'Cause were they aggressive for no reason the Vikings game, why
1:02:38
they only scored three points?
1:02:39
I don't know, Ben- That's a long time to think back … honestly, this
1:02:42
Bears game has kind of stuck up on me.
1:02:43
I, my, my level of prep, for Bears isn't, is high- Don't tell people that
1:02:48
exactly.
1:02:49
I's just being honest.
1:02:50
It's just being honest about where it's at.
1:02:52
Just I've watched enough Bears to know what's going on for the most part.
1:02:57
But to be granular about which games they really got torched and not,
1:03:02
that's not in the cards for me today.
1:03:04
But- … I will say that consistently speaking, the pass defense has been poor.
1:03:11
It's been very poor.
1:03:12
Mm-hmm.
1:03:12
And in walks in the best receiver in the league by far, without
1:03:16
question, and a potentially improved offensive line to protect Sam Darnold.
1:03:22
But within that improved offensive line, that's what gives
1:03:25
me some pause for this game.
1:03:27
I, I'm not sure that when you insert Quenton Nelson and move Zabel to
1:03:32
wherever you're gonna do it and however it's gonna go, with Cross
1:03:36
being out too, that it's not gonna look a little rocky for a week or two.
1:03:40
Like, that's, that's something that's in range.
1:03:44
That's what I'm least excited about.
1:03:47
I'm, I'm very excited about Quenton Nelson long-term.
1:03:50
Oh, yes.
1:03:51
But short-term- Yes … and how that could work out against a Bears
1:03:56
front that I, I think is capable.
1:03:59
I, I- Yeah … don't really like their back four, but I
1:04:02
think the front seven is good.
1:04:05
Yeah.
1:04:06
And look, you know, Sweat has been a good player.
1:04:09
Obviously, he's been, juiced while he was doing that at, at times.
1:04:13
So, we'll see if he comes back un-juiced.
1:04:16
W- that'll be interesting to see.
1:04:18
But I, I've always liked Grady Jarrett, even though he's an older player.
1:04:22
And then who's…
1:04:24
Gordon, the, the edge player.
1:04:26
He's, he's been doing some stuff and he's had some good sacks and production.
1:04:30
So, the, the, the front isn't terrible.
1:04:33
You talking Kyler Gordon, the- Yeah … their corn- yeah, their
1:04:36
corner out of the slot there?
1:04:37
Yeah, yeah.
1:04:38
He's been coming down playing a lot of edge- Yeah, yeah … and
1:04:39
like getting after things.
1:04:41
Yeah.
1:04:41
Mm-hmm.
1:04:42
Yeah, they can mix things up with him.
1:04:44
Yeah.
1:04:45
Yeah, I like Gordon.
1:04:46
He, he was the one, he's the one guy in the secondary that I, I think, That
1:04:51
I like St- I, I don't know a lot about Stevenson, at their other corner.
1:04:56
I just know that- He- … Jaylon Johnson is the- Stevenson stretches a
1:04:58
group … dude that everybody targets.
1:04:59
Yeah.
1:05:00
Yeah, for sure.
1:05:01
Back end, it, it looks tough, but I, I want to be sure when I
1:05:05
do Blue Friday bets this week, that I bet the over for everything
1:05:11
Barner in the receiving category.
1:05:13
Mm-hmm.
1:05:13
Because, do you remember when Devin Bush played here?
1:05:16
Uh-huh.
1:05:18
I do too.
1:05:19
And, and d- he can't cover a tight end for the life of him?
1:05:22
No.
1:05:23
No, I can't believe he's a starter in the league still.
1:05:26
I was stunned, stunned to see his name on the depth chart.
1:05:29
I thought it was a different Devin Bush, honestly.
1:05:31
I thought- Me too … maybe it was a, a different guy that didn't play here.
1:05:34
Yep.
1:05:34
I was like, "There's no way, no way it's the same dude."
1:05:38
Yep, still bumping around.
1:05:39
He was with the Browns last year, I guess.
1:05:41
Yeah.
1:05:42
So just making the rounds.
1:05:44
Making the rounds.
1:05:45
Hey, keep giving him checks.
1:05:46
You know, happy for him in that regard and all that, but, I think there's a
1:05:50
lot of match-ups here that the Seahawks should be licking their chops, with.
1:05:55
Now, they have been pretty good stopping the run throughout the year.
1:05:58
And, you know, again, I could see the run game being a little bit of a mess
1:06:04
getting going right out of the gate just with all the offensive line changes.
1:06:08
But- Mm-hmm … I don't know, maybe Quenton Nelson comes in and Zabel's like,
1:06:12
"Yeah, I'll play right guard all day.
1:06:13
Whatever, man."
1:06:14
And, Sundell's like, "Yep, still here, kicking butt" and they just, you
1:06:18
know, jelly it right down their throat.
1:06:19
Maybe that's how it goes.
1:06:21
It could go that way.
1:06:22
We'll see.
1:06:24
Looking at their offense, I do.
1:06:26
Caleb Williams, Adam, he's had some amazing fourth quarter runs.
1:06:31
And, I do…
1:06:34
I think that the run game with Ben Johnson- That's scary … has
1:06:38
helped him quite a bit.
1:06:39
I think Luther Burden is a, a really good wide receiver.
1:06:44
Colson Loveland, a good tight end.
1:06:46
R- Rome Odunze seems like just a guy.
1:06:49
Sorry Huskies fans.
1:06:50
But DeAndre Swift, I, is not…
1:06:53
He's like K9, but like a l- like just a little bit like K- He likes
1:07:00
to bounce it outside like K9 would do, and so he has that kind of speed.
1:07:04
It's like- Swift?
1:07:05
Yeah.
1:07:06
He's like- Okay … he's like a 90%, ei- 85% K9 I feel like.
1:07:12
That type of dude.
1:07:13
Is, am I going too high on my percentages?
1:07:16
Do I know what percentages mean?
1:07:17
I- He is the Tee Higgins of running backs.
1:07:21
I have never understood the Swift, like love affair.
1:07:24
I think it's just because his name is Swift, and so you think he should be fast.
1:07:28
He, he looks faster.
1:07:29
Yeah.
1:07:29
I generally do.
1:07:30
It…
1:07:31
I have never watched a, a game of Swift and been like, "Wow, what a great back."
1:07:37
Yeah.
1:07:37
I mean, I, I…
1:07:38
The vast majority of games I've ever watched with Swift out there, I've been
1:07:43
like, "I guess he's about barely average."
1:07:47
I, I don't think he's…
1:07:48
I, I can't understand people's obsession with that guy at all.
1:07:52
But you talk about Monangai, that's terrifying when he gets running downhill
1:07:56
between those guards and up the middle.
1:07:59
That guy's a force.
1:08:01
He has a thumb injury.
1:08:02
He may not play.
1:08:04
Although, I have heard that his chances of playing this week are
1:08:08
better than the chances of the previous weeks where he didn't play.
1:08:13
Well, that would make some, some sense I guess.
1:08:15
Like, you know, the others were 0% chance since he didn't,
1:08:19
and, now there is a chance.
1:08:21
So, kind of interesting, but yeah, they've been running
1:08:24
the holy piss out of the ball.
1:08:26
Again, I, I think, I think they keep Swift to well under 50 yards through
1:08:32
this game, and then it's just a matter of how they contain Monangai up the gut.
1:08:36
And, you know, earlier in the season, Seahawks were struggling against some of
1:08:40
the more gap scheme power duo, that stuff, up the middle, earlier in the year.
1:08:45
The Niners got us with that a little bit here and there.
1:08:48
And then Caleb's played at a pretty high level.
1:08:52
He really is.
1:08:53
It's…
1:08:54
I think he's over 70% completions or something on the year.
1:08:56
Yeah.
1:08:57
He is.
1:08:58
Yeah.
1:08:59
And that's super interesting.
1:09:01
But- With Caleb, I- I think they find, they found more
1:09:06
underneath stuff for him to do.
1:09:08
Like I think, and, and have him be content with that.
1:09:11
I, I think he was a guy who really liked hunting the big plays,
1:09:16
like- Yes … quarterbacks do.
1:09:19
And I think Ben Johnson has been good for him to get him into this, "Okay,
1:09:22
it's okay to take stuff underneath and let, let guys like Luther
1:09:27
Burden do some of the work for you."
1:09:29
1000% yes, and that's exactly what the league has been
1:09:31
forcing quarterbacks to do.
1:09:33
It's what Mike Macdonald forces quarterbacks to do.
1:09:35
You have to be patient, and Caleb's still a young player.
1:09:39
This is a big game under some big lights, and if they're not running the ball to
1:09:44
the level to which they're accustomed to, I'll be very curious if Caleb Williams
1:09:49
can continue to be patient throughout a football game and, you know, not hunt
1:09:54
for that big play when he shouldn't.
1:09:56
Now, on the flip side of that coin, there are gonna be moments that Caleb Williams
1:10:01
does stuff running around the pocket that you would usually attribute to Patrick
1:10:08
Mahomes, but he's moving a lot better than Pat coming off an ACL right now.
1:10:14
And that he can whip the ball around from all the weird arm
1:10:17
angles and make outrageous throws.
1:10:19
I mean, he had a couple in the playoffs last year that just- You shouldn't,
1:10:23
you shouldn't see from- What do you do?
1:10:24
… a quarterback ever.
1:10:25
Yeah.
1:10:26
You know, as a defender you're like, "What do you do?"
1:10:28
And it was fun watching him when he was doing it against the Rams.
1:10:31
It would not be fun against us.
1:10:33
No.
1:10:33
It, it would not be fun against us.
1:10:35
But I do think that there's a world in which the pass rush really
1:10:39
makes things difficult for Caleb.
1:10:40
We know that they're pretty good at doing the muddle rush and containing your
1:10:44
edges and keeping them in the pocket.
1:10:46
And then, you know, as good as Thuney and Jonah Jackson are, I mean, I've
1:10:52
seen Garrett Bradbury play football and that- You know, he's a guy
1:10:58
you could put at center, I guess, would be a polite way to put it.
1:11:01
He is a guy who does play at center.
1:11:04
Yeah, Thuney, all-pro guard.
1:11:07
Are they gonna have any trick plays that are illegal for Thuney this week?
1:11:14
I don't know.
1:11:15
I mean, I would wait and ask them.
1:11:17
They tried it against the Patriots, and they seemed like they, they just
1:11:20
didn't know that you could not hand it forward to an offensive lineman,
1:11:25
and seemed a little bit surprised, even in the post-game questions.
1:11:29
"Oh, we'll have to go back and look at that and, and see what we did there."
1:11:33
Sorry, Ben Johnson, you, you just, you just can't hand it forward to a lineman.
1:11:38
It's just- Hey … it's- If they ain't cheating, they ain't trying.
1:11:42
Well, maybe they'll try and cheat again this week and to see what
1:11:45
they have for us, but if w- Yeah
1:11:46
if Mike Macdonald is having to prepare for the plays that they're
1:11:49
actually cheating, that's…
1:11:52
I, I don't know how you do that.
1:11:54
I, I don't either.
1:11:56
Look, corners and defensive backfield, they're gonna have their hands full.
1:12:00
I mean, when you're talking about a Odunze, Burden, Loveland, like, that's,
1:12:04
that's a legit, passing threat.
1:12:07
I'm not worried about a Odunze I mean, he's, he's not been good this
1:12:11
year He gets some now and then.
1:12:13
I mean, a talented guy.
1:12:15
But no, Burden's the guy that you would look at first and
1:12:18
foremost, no doubt about it.
1:12:19
But- I just, I don't look at a guy that- Would he be the best wide
1:12:23
receiver on the Chiefs right now?
1:12:25
Who?
1:12:26
Odunze?
1:12:26
Yeah.
1:12:27
Yeah, probably.
1:12:28
Okay.
1:12:28
That's kind of what I was getting at.
1:12:29
Compared to last week with no weapons and all of that, like- Yeah, and
1:12:32
we covered all those guys- He's gonna end up- … with who we have.
1:12:34
That's why I just, I don't worry about him getting any kind of
1:12:37
production because w- we'll have him on lockdown no matter who is on him.
1:12:42
Burden, I'm, is the one guy that you actually need to provide some attention
1:12:46
to, and then Loveland, it's, he's kind of, I'm not gonna say he's
1:12:52
younger, Kelce, but he's capable of- Yeah … production that is, I think, beyond what
1:12:57
Kelce is at this point in his career.
1:12:59
Yeah, high level in terms of catching the football.
1:13:02
He's a good blocker, too.
1:13:03
But- Yeah … there is a guy that plays for the Seattle Seahawks,
1:13:08
I mean, we have Emmanwori, and that's a guy that can match up against
1:13:12
somebody like Loveland pretty well.
1:13:14
I love the idea of putting Spoon on Burden as often as you can, but they
1:13:18
probably won't do a lot of matchup based type situations, because we play
1:13:25
like 80, 90% zone or whatever it is.
1:13:27
You're just not gonna get a ton of man opportunities to just man these guys up.
1:13:31
It's a pretty matchy zone that they play.
1:13:34
Yeah.
1:13:34
But it'll be interesting to see that chess match between, it- 'cause I think
1:13:38
this is the most interesting part of this entire game to me, is offensive genius Ben
1:13:44
Johnson, defensive genius Mike Macdonald.
1:13:47
And they both had- Both considered … extra time to prepare for this game, too.
1:13:51
Yes.
1:13:52
And both considered for the Seahawks job.
1:13:55
I mean, that- Okay … that's something that's out there.
1:13:57
And you know, Ben Johnson's got an edge to him now.
1:14:01
And- He was so pissed after they got stomped by the Packers.
1:14:07
Oh, yeah.
1:14:08
Yeah.
1:14:09
I don't…
1:14:10
Did, did LaFleur, like, flirt with his wife or something?
1:14:14
Like, why does he hate Matt LaFleur other than just being the Packers head coach?
1:14:18
I think he takes, he internalizes the sports hate within the division-
1:14:22
Okay … which I think is awesome.
1:14:24
Yeah, I, I'll be here for it.
1:14:26
With…
1:14:26
It's just not something that you normally see from NFL coaches, that they…
1:14:32
He, he does, he takes sports hate to his, to his job.
1:14:37
And makes it public.
1:14:39
Right.
1:14:40
Yeah.
1:14:41
And I, I do kinda respect it.
1:14:44
I, yeah, I'm here for it.
1:14:45
I, I, I love it.
1:14:46
I think it's hilarious, but- But I, I don't think he has any reason…
1:14:50
I mean, I'll be watching for it.
1:14:52
If, if he, if…
1:14:54
He seems to save it for the division rivals, though.
1:14:57
Yeah.
1:14:58
It…
1:14:58
Well, he may be a, a little pissier shaking hands at the end of this game when
1:15:02
Mike Macdonald shuts his entire ass down.
1:15:04
Like, 'cause that's what Mike's been doing to the, the league all year.
1:15:09
And i- you know, if you're a Bears fan and you're listening to this, you
1:15:13
know, hope, health for all your guys and, you know, good game, all that stuff.
1:15:18
But if you think that it was just this last game that this defense came to life
1:15:22
and now the champs are back, oh, no.
1:15:25
That has not been the case in any way, shape, or form.
1:15:28
This- This defense hasn't gotten nowhere.
1:15:30
This is four weeks in a row now where they…
1:15:34
Say what you will about Justin Herbert, he's, he's good.
1:15:38
Then they, then…
1:15:39
And so that was, like, the warmup for Brock Purdy, and yes, okay, they
1:15:42
did take the loss to the Niners.
1:15:44
But Purdy was on MVP trajectory, and they held him to a sub
1:15:49
200-yard game and interception.
1:15:53
I think he scored just one touchdown on a, a- On a legit
1:15:58
drive … on a, on a legit drive.
1:15:59
Yeah, as the rest of them were set up by Sam Darnold and running back turnovers.
1:16:02
Uh-huh.
1:16:03
Yeah.
1:16:04
Uh-huh.
1:16:04
Mm-hmm.
1:16:04
Yeah, I remember that.
1:16:05
Yep.
1:16:06
And then, who did we have be- before Mahomes?
1:16:10
Oh, Bo Nix.
1:16:12
Yes, Bo Nix.
1:16:13
And…
1:16:14
Looked so bad that Ryan Fitzpatrick, I think, like, could probably be sued for
1:16:19
slander after what he said regarding Bo Nix's performance that game.
1:16:23
He said that Bo Nix's play was almost disrespectful to the quarterback position.
1:16:28
Man, on a national broadcast.
1:16:30
In a, in a game that Bo Nix won against the Seahawks defense.
1:16:34
Man, I…
1:16:35
Bo Nix pissed in his Cheerios that morning, man.
1:16:38
The Beard was not having it.
1:16:40
So that's the kind of stretch, the four-game stretch, and then you
1:16:44
had Mahomes looking like, the shell-shocked version of himself
1:16:49
from the 2020 season Super Bowl where he played the Bucs and- Yeah
1:16:53
only put up nine points in, in that game too Look, they, they made the great
1:16:59
Mahomes look mortal, no doubt about it, and they took the shoo-in MVP in Kenneth
1:17:04
Walker and let him know that he made a massive mistake, massive, for leaving
1:17:09
this team and going to the Midwest.
1:17:12
I don't see there gonna be…
1:17:15
I don't see the Bears having, like, outsized success.
1:17:18
I, I feel like this defense-offense matchup is gonna be close to a wash, and
1:17:23
when I say that, I mean Bears score 17.
1:17:27
That's why I feel like this game, say what you will, we've talked about it a, a ton.
1:17:32
Turnovers, yes.
1:17:34
But I think that if everything else plays to a wash, we're gonna have
1:17:39
coaching decisions that, where we've seen some aggressive stuff from Mike,
1:17:44
and we gener- gen- generally see some aggressive stuff out of Ben Johnson- Yeah
1:17:51
to where I wonder how many of those aggressive Ben Johnson calls that we
1:17:56
get backfiring, because I can see him looking back to these last few games, the
1:18:00
way that the defense has not been super successful on fourth down when teams
1:18:05
have run fourth down plays against us.
1:18:08
Mm-hmm.
1:18:08
I, I can see him maybe being a little overly aggressive and
1:18:12
that coming back to bite him.
1:18:14
Yeah.
1:18:14
I would imagine that that's an area that he's gonna want to attack.
1:18:17
I think he feels pretty confident if they get down in the red zone, that he's gonna
1:18:21
be able to have his way with the Seahawks defense not having the red zone numbers
1:18:25
that they're accustomed to to this point.
1:18:28
But the fourth down and the red zone stuff feels like high variance numbers to me.
1:18:32
I feel like all that stuff is gonna come back down to an equilibrium, an
1:18:36
average, and if you go in with your game plan being like, "Hey, man, we're going
1:18:41
for it on every fourth no matter what.
1:18:42
These guys can't stop a cold on, you know, fourth down," well, I think you're
1:18:48
gonna be in for a rude, rude awakening.
1:18:50
And, you know, you turn the ball over on downs around midfield, and the
1:18:55
12s are fired up and all of that, the avalanche just starts, and you
1:18:59
can't get away from that snowball.
1:19:00
Like, it just gets too big.
1:19:02
This is a tough spot for the Bears.
1:19:04
They're a legit team.
1:19:06
This is gonna be a good game, but- This is a measuring stick game for them.
1:19:10
And for us.
1:19:12
Yeah.
1:19:13
Yeah.
1:19:13
We, we, we measured our stick- For this season … well enough last year.
1:19:17
But for this year, this is, this year, you know, it's a new
1:19:20
team, all of that stuff, right?
1:19:21
It helps shutting down the undefeated Chiefs and, you know, making Pat have
1:19:25
Pat face on national TV and all of that.
1:19:29
But this is one of the teams in the NFC that you're looking at as a fan and
1:19:33
going, "Who do I think is legit in this conference that we may have to beat in the
1:19:37
playoffs to get to where we're gonna go?"
1:19:40
And the Bears are on that list for me.
1:19:44
Well, something to look forward to, Monday Night Football between
1:19:48
our Seahawks and the Chicago Bears.
1:19:50
It's gonna be a good one.
1:19:51
The entire world's gonna be watching, and we get another straight game
1:19:56
of our Seahawks in prime time.
1:19:58
It, it's kinda glorious being Super Bowl champs and getting to watch our
1:20:01
team in prime time in back to back…
1:20:04
Has it been back to back to back weeks?
1:20:05
Yeah.
1:20:07
Yeah.
1:20:07
It, it's freaking sweet.
1:20:09
So when we, we go back to back on championships here with the addition
1:20:13
of Big Q coming in, how many prime time games do they get next year?
1:20:17
All of them?
1:20:18
All of them.
1:20:18
We, we just put them…
1:20:20
Yeah.
1:20:20
Why would you, why would you have anybody else in prime time?
1:20:22
Just we're, yeah, we're America's team now.
1:20:26
I, I don't want that moniker- … or anything that comes with it.
1:20:29
USA's team.
1:20:30
There you go.
1:20:31
That'd be fine.
1:20:31
I'm fine with that.
1:20:33
That works for me.
1:20:34
The world's team.
1:20:35
The world's team, exactly.
1:20:37
The only true and righteous team to root for.
1:20:40
It's a long title, but we could shorten it.
1:20:43
Maybe we could do an acronym, like the G-Cubed for, Yeah … Pete Carroll.
1:20:47
Yeah.
1:20:48
The GECBUS, which I've also heard it pronounced.
1:20:51
Oh, interesting.
1:20:52
Okay.
1:20:52
Yeah.
1:20:53
All right.
1:20:54
Let's get to the second half of the show.
1:20:55
Yeah, let's do it
1:20:55
Getting into the second half of the show, Adam, and I just…
1:21:00
On break, I happened to be looking at seahawks.com
1:21:03
because sometimes when we prepare for the, the, for the show-
1:21:07
Mm-hmm … we, we have things that we know that we wanna talk about.
1:21:10
Sometimes we're inspired by the Seahawks website.
1:21:13
Yeah.
1:21:13
Especially when it comes to recognizing, I don't know, better
1:21:16
life, that sort of things.
1:21:18
'cause sometimes they have some cool stories that you wanna recog- I
1:21:22
didn't particularly find one, but I did see something that made my point a
1:21:28
little bit of what I was trying to get at with some of the tinfoil hat stuff.
1:21:31
Because the only piece of information that we have from the team right
1:21:36
now is the Seahawks mailbag that John Boyle, seahawks.com-
1:21:42
Yeah
1:21:42
senior reporter, put up this week.
1:21:44
And post-Quenton Nelson trade, it was, it was a very heavy mailbag of questions
1:21:51
about the offensive line, about the trade, are we gonna see any more trades?
1:21:56
Buried in here is the question, I, I guess I couldn't say buried just because
1:22:01
it's, it's one of the questions that you're looking for, but, it talked
1:22:04
about, you know, how fast Quenton Nelson could, get up to speed and
1:22:08
that being one of the questions that they're gonna ask on Thursday when they
1:22:12
get to talk to, the, the, you know, generally the Seahawks media gets to
1:22:16
talk with some of the coaching staff.
1:22:19
And then we have R.
1:22:20
Collins asking what will happen to the line.
1:22:23
Will Grey Zabel move?
1:22:25
And this is the response: "Ah, yes, the big question with
1:22:29
the Seahawks adding Nelson.
1:22:30
What does that mean for the rest of the line?
1:22:32
Nelson has been a left guard his entire career, and he's really darn
1:22:36
good at it, so it's hard to see the Seahawks asking him to move positions.
1:22:39
Zabel, Seattle's first-round pick in '25, has been really good at left guard
1:22:43
since earning that job as a rookie.
1:22:44
But he was also…
1:22:46
But he also was a player known for his versatility in college, so he
1:22:51
likely could handle a quick move.
1:22:53
Moving Zabel would displace another player, perhaps Anthony
1:22:56
Bradford at right guard, or less likely, Jalen Sundell at center.
1:23:00
Zabel was a guard and tackle at North Dakota State, but excelled
1:23:03
at center during Senior Bowl week.
1:23:06
But again, this is a question Macdonald will address on Thursday."
1:23:08
So, sneaking in that, that thought about him being a center-
1:23:15
Right … was right there in the article.
1:23:17
Yeah, it was.
1:23:18
It was.
1:23:19
So, the psyop from Mike Macdonald in full effect, like leaking things
1:23:24
to the in-house reporter, John Boyle.
1:23:26
There you go.
1:23:26
John Boyle could…
1:23:28
He works with Mike Macdonald.
1:23:29
He could go ask him.
1:23:31
He doesn't have to wait for Thursday.
1:23:34
He surely could.
1:23:35
I wonder if there's a decor there that, maybe Mike wouldn't appreciate.
1:23:40
'Cause I mean, I, I think he's found the joy in doing the press
1:23:43
conferences as much as he can.
1:23:45
Yeah.
1:23:45
But, like almost every coach in the league, every head coach,
1:23:49
I, I think they loathe having to deal with the stupid press.
1:23:52
Well, for the in-house ones, you could easily have those conversations
1:23:56
of how should I approach this move?
1:24:00
Is there any, is there any input from the coaching staff that
1:24:04
could happen midweek ahead of…
1:24:05
How, how- In the propaganda?
1:24:08
You bet your ass there is.
1:24:10
I, yeah, I bet, I think every team operates that way.
1:24:13
That'd be my guess.
1:24:14
It, that they- And if they don't, they should be … they have the messaging.
1:24:17
Yeah.
1:24:18
Yeah.
1:24:19
I mean, let's go here, man.
1:24:20
Have some media literacy, as a team.
1:24:23
And I, I, I would be stunned if the coaching staff, or maybe
1:24:27
it's not even the coaching staff.
1:24:28
I'd say it probably would be more likely to come from the front office, right?
1:24:32
Just John and crew just being like, "All right, now easy, boys.
1:24:35
This is what we're gonna talk about, okay?"
1:24:37
Like, "These are the things that we wanna accentuate.
1:24:39
Here are the things…"
1:24:40
Because the team reporters, and it's not just Seahawks, it's every single team.
1:24:44
You know, if there's a player that is struggling or doing poorly, boy, it is the
1:24:47
Kid Gloveiest type of stuff that you'll ever see, and, if they're just doing
1:24:53
average, then they're the greatest to ever do it, and then when they're JSN, you
1:24:56
just keep asking the coach to, you know, tell you how awesome he is, so, Well,
1:25:01
you work in the building with the guys.
1:25:03
You don't wanna dump on anybody if you're the team reporter.
1:25:05
Well, not only that, but you're taking a check from the owner.
1:25:09
Right.
1:25:09
Yeah.
1:25:10
Yeah.
1:25:10
And your boss is John Schneider.
1:25:13
Right.
1:25:14
Or, yeah, in some way, shape, or form.
1:25:16
I would think that they have the separation where- Of certain state
1:25:19
… yeah, John oversees the, the front office, which the front office staff,
1:25:23
which the media part is part of.
1:25:26
Yeah.
1:25:26
I think it's probably separated from the coaches that way.
1:25:29
And I, so I think- Oh … that you're right in that you would
1:25:31
get more direction, I think, from that part of the organization than
1:25:36
you would from the coaching staff.
1:25:37
Yeah.
1:25:38
Well, by the time most of you will be listening to this, this,
1:25:40
Decision will have been made, and, we'll go from there.
1:25:43
We'll, we'll have the Thursday q- questions that they may or may not answer.
1:25:47
We'll just have to see.
1:25:48
One question that was answered is, would the 49ers remain undefeated-
1:25:54
Mm-hmm … in the 2026 season?
1:25:57
And thanks to the Atlanta Falcons, that answer is no, they will not.
1:26:01
I will not thank the Atlanta Falcons for giving me the answer to that question.
1:26:05
I had the answer to that question before the season started.
1:26:07
There was a 0% chance the San Francisco 49ers were going undefeated this season.
1:26:13
But I guess thanks to Atlanta for beating them.
1:26:15
Like, that's cool.
1:26:16
You just said you weren't gonna thank them I, I, it's, it's a, it's a
1:26:21
backhanded thank you, that's for sure.
1:26:23
I can't stand that franchise or that fan base, so, like, it's tough for
1:26:26
me to, to give them a lot of praise, you know, as they start the seventh
1:26:30
ranked down there and all that, so.
1:26:32
It is annoying that we couldn't have been the team to do it.
1:26:35
So in that way, I, it frustrates me a little bit.
1:26:39
But Falcons- I, I- The Falcons could do it.
1:26:41
Hey, I, I'll celebrate every single Niners tears loss, man.
1:26:45
That sounds great.
1:26:47
It does help us get a little bit closer to the division.
1:26:49
It, but it worked out in a week that the, the Rams also got a
1:26:52
little bit closer in the division.
1:26:54
Yeah, fair enough.
1:26:55
The injuries for them are just outrageous.
1:27:00
I, I, I can't see them surviving with just Puka for the entire season.
1:27:09
Josh Downs wants to be traded Yeah, I'm sure he does That seems
1:27:14
like an F them picks move for the Rams You don't have no more picks.
1:27:17
They F'd them all already.
1:27:22
You know?
1:27:23
Yeah.
1:27:24
I think at this point you'd be trading Ty Simpson for anything of value, like-
1:27:27
Maybe … and you don't wanna do that 'cause Stafford's officially old now.
1:27:31
Yeah.
1:27:32
Well, they were asking…
1:27:34
I, I think the Colts were asking for a first for Daniel Jones.
1:27:38
No, they weren't.
1:27:40
They couldn't.
1:27:41
Do they?
1:27:41
There's no way.
1:27:42
I mean, they…
1:27:43
Do you do it with a chuckle if you're, at Dodds or whoever the assistant
1:27:48
GM there is who supposedly has a connection with John, like is part of
1:27:51
why the Quenton Nelson thing happened.
1:27:53
Right.
1:27:53
Yeah.
1:27:54
I think it helped Yeah.
1:27:56
I, I wouldn't call it a favor, but I think it helped.
1:28:00
No, and how you know it wasn't like a buddy, buddy favor is they did
1:28:03
send Buckner to the Niners, so- Yeah
1:28:05
thanks for nothing They could have just not done that and helped us out.
1:28:08
Yeah.
1:28:09
But they surely did.
1:28:09
Also, I heard that the trade was the most trade compensation that any team's
1:28:15
having ever given up mid-season for a guard, which was surprising to me.
1:28:19
Yeah.
1:28:20
Well, not many of the good guards get moved because it turns out it's
1:28:23
super important to have great guys who play in front of your quarterback.
1:28:26
So this is a rare opportunity, and I…
1:28:30
Again, I still can't thank John enough for striking while the iron's hot,
1:28:33
understanding our window here, and not, he didn't even have to go F them picks.
1:28:40
Like Nolan Teasley for, you know, Quenton Nelson.
1:28:44
Yes, please.
1:28:45
Sure.
1:28:45
Like, and I like Nolan Teasley a lot, you know?
1:28:49
Yeah, speaking of front office guys, like- Yeah
1:28:52
they can, they can be helpful for a team, but those guys get
1:28:55
promoted away anyway generally.
1:28:56
So the, the fact that we got compensation for him getting hired
1:29:00
by another team feels like a bonus, and now we use that bonus on an
1:29:06
All-Pro, a future Hall of Fame guard.
1:29:08
Yeah.
1:29:09
Yeah, pretty sweet.
1:29:10
So thanks to Nolan.
1:29:11
And still best of luck to you there in Minnesota, no doubt about it.
1:29:15
And the fifth rounder in '28, which- Who?
1:29:21
Exactly.
1:29:22
Yeah.
1:29:23
Yeah.
1:29:24
Don't bother.
1:29:24
That's two, that's two football lifetimes away.
1:29:28
Yeah.
1:29:28
I'm not even worried.
1:29:29
It…
1:29:30
You can trade those picks all day.
1:29:31
Yeah.
1:29:32
And I'll be mad about it then, but that, that's future Adam.
1:29:35
We don't need to worry about him.
1:29:36
We don't need, he doesn't- I- … need to worry about it.
1:29:37
Really, ag- it's, it's, we're talking about getting an opportunity
1:29:41
to go Quenton Nelson, which if they had traded a second, I, I couldn't have
1:29:45
found a, a, a way to be mad about it.
1:29:48
Nope.
1:29:49
Hell, you could have sold me on a first that you know is gonna be
1:29:53
very late in the round in the first round for Quenton Nelson to try to
1:29:57
go and get another championship, and I would've been, "Yeah, sure.
1:30:00
Okay."
1:30:01
It would've been- I would- … a little tougher, but yes, it- Yeah.
1:30:03
That's why I don't negotiate the trades.
1:30:07
That's what we got done.
1:30:07
What do you want?
1:30:08
Yes.
1:30:09
Sure.
1:30:10
Yeah.
1:30:13
I also wanted the Cardinals to win, but having that expectation that they'd
1:30:17
beat the Broncos, not gonna happen.
1:30:20
Nope, not gonna happen.
1:30:21
Frustrating the Rams won.
1:30:23
We're gonna get more into that when we get to Do Better, 'cause, man.
1:30:28
The important thing, again, is that the Niners lost.
1:30:31
That's right, yeah.
1:30:33
And, I think, I think some Niners fans too are feeling the
1:30:39
fragility of their undefeated start.
1:30:43
'Cause- And the fragility that Mike Evans provides them at the receiver spot.
1:30:49
And every other receiver- Who could, who could have foreseen that?
1:30:53
I don't know, man.
1:30:54
You'd have to have like- A dude that's-
1:30:56
a crazy crystal ball.
1:30:57
Yeah … dude that's hurt almost every single year- Yeah … and, if,
1:31:00
you know, fights his way through with a bum hamstring every single year.
1:31:05
Mm-hmm.
1:31:06
Weird that he'd have a soft tissue iss- injury again this year.
1:31:09
Wild.
1:31:09
Who saw it coming?
1:31:10
Yeah, especially with him being a year older and everything like that.
1:31:14
Yeah.
1:31:15
Incredible- Well, the substation makes sense, right?
1:31:17
All-time wide receiver, but- Mm-hmm … he's, he's getting toward the end.
1:31:22
Yeah, health is a part of talent.
1:31:23
And look, you, there hasn't been one dude to outrun Father Time here.
1:31:28
Like, his body's betraying him.
1:31:29
That sucks.
1:31:30
I hate that when that happens to every great player because it stinks to watch
1:31:34
them be a shell of themselves or, like, great for their tiny spurts that they
1:31:39
can pull it together and, and be healthy.
1:31:42
It's, it's always a, a bummer to watch unless it happens
1:31:45
to the Niners or the Rams.
1:31:46
And then well, it's delightful.
1:31:51
Another thing we can celebrate, our executive producers.
1:31:54
We've got DCH, Ryan Petersen, Lisa Carlson, Dave Bloomquist, who is hosting
1:32:00
my daughter in France this week- Awesome … so a big thanks to Dave and Heather.
1:32:04
And we've got James Gertz, Neighbor James.
1:32:07
We've got Brian Shaw, and we've got Marq, AKA Godzirwa Hawk.
1:32:12
And coming in with the score donation of 20-03 is Steven Kirkpatrick.
1:32:18
Dude, Steven, you're the man.
1:32:20
You know, we talk about the difference between players in this
1:32:23
league isn't, like, talent per se.
1:32:26
Everybody's talented.
1:32:27
It's about consistency from going from bad to good, good to great.
1:32:31
Steven Kirkpatrick, like, every single week with the winning score, and it is
1:32:35
every single week, 'cause we win so often.
1:32:37
Uh-huh.
1:32:38
I mean, he's clearly an HOFer at this point.
1:32:41
He is an all-timer, and we appreciate you- Yeah
1:32:43
Steven.
1:32:44
Yes.
1:32:44
Consistency It's, it's always great when there's a win, and just a short
1:32:48
time later, I get the note that the, the Zelle has come in from Steven, so.
1:32:53
Awesome.
1:32:53
Whether you wanna support the show through Zelle, you
1:32:56
can go through Venmo @hawkra.
1:32:58
You can go through seahawkerspodcast.com,
1:33:01
click the donate button, or getintheflock.com.
1:33:04
Lots of ways to support the show, and- Yeah … that's what
1:33:07
helps bring these shows every week, four to five shows a week.
1:33:12
We, we enjoy doing it too.
1:33:13
Yeah.
1:33:14
We also work with, Egyptian princes that need your money very,
1:33:18
Via wire transfer, so feel free to send money to them sight unseen.
1:33:21
They'll get it to us, don't worry about it.
1:33:24
Definitely not a scam.
1:33:25
I n- I just need to get my hands on the voter roll texts, because this time of
1:33:30
year I've never gotten any more political texts than I have this year- Wow …
1:33:34
that seem to be asking for money.
1:33:35
So if we can actually go to two people, a- and then
1:33:40
that would be a game changer.
1:33:41
But I also, I, it would also feel a little gross.
1:33:45
It would feel a little gross, yeah.
1:33:47
I had, I had a political text this week, Adam, saying- Yeah … "Hey, we
1:33:52
noticed that you're on the absentee list, and that your ballot has not been
1:33:56
received by the state of Montana yet."
1:33:58
Yeah, I got one of those too, and I texted back, "Please stop noticing."
1:34:04
I, I said, "Are there any candidates on the ballot that do not spy on me?"
1:34:09
There you go.
1:34:09
See, I can imagine, oh, God, that'd be an amazing Better At Life.
1:34:13
I'd love to know the snarky responses that come back to those texts.
1:34:18
'Cause that feels gross.
1:34:19
It feels gross.
1:34:21
Why, why do you care?
1:34:22
Why- Is there a flock camera in my ballot, like, that I don't know about?
1:34:27
I don't know.
1:34:28
And it, the part of the reason is, is because our, it is public information.
1:34:33
If you know the person's na- I think it, is it just the name
1:34:36
that you can go and look that up?
1:34:38
It's kinda wild- Yeah … that it's out there like that.
1:34:39
But- Yeah I don't need…
1:34:43
I c- I can…
1:34:44
I'm a big boy.
1:34:44
I can vote and figure out where to drop my ballot off on election day, thank you.
1:34:48
Yeah.
1:34:49
Come on, daddy mommy state.
1:34:51
Like, I don't need your little gentle reminders, for me to be a good boy.
1:34:56
Oh, I forgot there was a election coming up based off this, giant
1:35:00
pile of flyers in my mailbox that I get every single day with all the
1:35:04
people that I'm supposed to vote for.
1:35:06
Dude, and not only that, but, like, they're getting bigger.
1:35:09
They're getting bigger in size.
1:35:12
It- it's crooked.
1:35:12
Brittany- It used to be- … brought in a pile the other day and, like,
1:35:15
I swear to God, one was a billboard they stuffed in our [catfish] mailbox.
1:35:20
Eight and a half by 11.
1:35:22
Can we…
1:35:22
That, that should be the absolute max.
1:35:25
It's not a c- Too big … it's not like a, a race to see the largest size
1:35:29
of paper that you can fit in the box.
1:35:32
Like, five by seven, that should be th- if it- That's the limit.
1:35:35
That should be the limit.
1:35:36
That's the limit.
1:35:37
Can we vote on that?
1:35:38
Yeah, absolutely.
1:35:39
Let's get the ballot referendum because, like, look, for the short attention
1:35:45
span that all of us voters have out here, like, w- how many people,
1:35:49
like, really dig into the issues?
1:35:50
I'd say it's probably an alarmingly small percentage.
1:35:54
Like, you should be able to get your entire political
1:35:57
platform on a five by seven.
1:35:58
Like, and that's probably too much information for the average voter.
1:36:01
Like, five by seven's plenty.
1:36:03
I'm not reading it anyway.
1:36:04
You can put as much information- No … as you want on there.
1:36:06
No, and here's the other part.
1:36:08
Making it bigger isn't gonna make me more likely to read it.
1:36:10
Yeah.
1:36:10
And they're on the color paper, right?
1:36:13
And I don't know, you- how many people would know this, but, like, the
1:36:16
stuff that's printed in color, it's makes terrible fire starter in comparison to-
1:36:21
Oh, sure … to regular fire starter.
1:36:23
So even when I burn them, because hello political candidates,
1:36:26
I'll let you know, you can just stop sending them to my address.
1:36:28
I literally light them on fire to stay warm.
1:36:31
They don't burn as good, and that's a disappointment.
1:36:34
That's annoying.
1:36:34
You would think…
1:36:36
That's the other part of this, and while we're voting on this issue- Yeah
1:36:39
it has to be small, it has to be on paper that burns easily.
1:36:44
So I can burn after reading.
1:36:45
You betcha.
1:36:46
Uh-huh.
1:36:46
Uh-huh.
1:36:48
Uh-huh.
1:36:48
Well, you know, a- as we attack politics on this show this
1:36:51
week, you're, you're welcome.
1:36:52
Yeah, yeah.
1:36:54
All the politics.
1:36:55
Taking on the- That get- … big issues.
1:36:57
I, I would…
1:36:57
I, I didn't know if you've noticed this though, Brandan.
1:36:59
I, I'm curious if other states are this way, and that's the
1:37:01
only reason I put it out there.
1:37:02
All of our candidates here in Montana on their ads on TV, all of them, none of them
1:37:08
say if they're a Republican or a Democrat.
1:37:10
Oh, no.
1:37:10
They wouldn't do that.
1:37:11
It's like they…
1:37:11
No, they're like, "God no, please don't.
1:37:13
I don't want…
1:37:14
Like, don't associate me with those people."
1:37:17
It's wild.
1:37:18
It's wild.
1:37:19
I'm curious if that's kind of the way it is in all states.
1:37:21
We might be a little bit unique compared to some other places, but-
1:37:25
Yeah … yeah Another unique person is our John Davidson, The Bard-
1:37:32
Yeah, The Bard … emailing in.
1:37:33
Go Hawks at seahawkerspodcast.com.
1:37:36
John says, "Hi, fellas.
1:37:38
Thought I'd make some notes an hour or so before the game in my guise
1:37:43
of Negative Nancy, so here it goes.
1:37:47
OMG, the Chiefs are unbeaten.
1:37:50
OMG, Kenneth Walker is returning.
1:37:53
OMG, Mahomes is a Hall of Fame quarterback.
1:37:57
OMG, Charbonnet is out.
1:38:00
OMG, we can't convert on third down.
1:38:04
OMG, our offensive line is a bit porous.
1:38:07
OMG, my quarterback is not clicking at all at the moment.
1:38:11
OMG, my OC has not got his act totally together yet.
1:38:16
OMG, our, Andy Reid is a football genius.
1:38:19
OMG, this is a must-win game to keep up with the whiners.
1:38:23
So Negative Nancy goes to bed because kickoff is on Monday morning at 0:30 our
1:38:30
time, so I'm taping it, getting up at 8:00 AM and watching it live as it were.
1:38:36
Monday morning, 11:00 AM, Negative Nancy states, 'OMG,
1:38:42
what do I know about football?'"
1:38:45
"OMG, no more Negative Nancy.
1:38:47
OMG, go Hawks."
1:38:50
"But shall I say now that we are going to get hammered by Chicago?"
1:38:55
From John- OMG, man.
1:38:56
Yeah.
1:38:57
Let's go.
1:38:58
From John The Bard, or Doubting Thomas.
1:39:01
Doubting Thomas.
1:39:02
Yeah, his Negative Nancy and my Negative Nancy must be twins, 'cause,
1:39:06
I've got one of those, prints around here, and, mine, internally
1:39:11
this week was, very much in the same OMG realm, like, "Oof, best team we faced.
1:39:17
Oof, haven't been looking good.
1:39:18
Oof, what are we gonna do?"
1:39:20
Well, oof- Oh, Charbonnet's out.
1:39:22
Yeah.
1:39:23
Yeah.
1:39:24
No, "Oof, we're just gonna kick the holy [catfish] out of the Chiefs
1:39:27
and laugh all the way to the bank."
1:39:30
That was fun.
1:39:30
I enjoyed that.
1:39:31
That was one of the more fun weeks out of the year so far.
1:39:35
Yeah, it was.
1:39:36
Getting the win on the opening day was nice.
1:39:38
Yep, yep.
1:39:39
I, I texted my dad when they were having the scramble
1:39:43
for the fumble recovery.
1:39:45
It…
1:39:45
Like, that was a wild play, right?
1:39:47
Mm-hmm.
1:39:47
Yeah.
1:39:47
And like…
1:39:47
But I didn't wanna, like, you know, say anything about the game,
1:39:50
like, "Ah, kicking your ass," like, anything like that, right?
1:39:52
So I was just like, "Oh my gosh, this thing is getting wild."
1:39:55
And, he just writes back, he's like, "Yep, crazy game."
1:39:59
Like, he was so mad.
1:40:01
Like, not even, like, much text after either.
1:40:04
So we've had these beat downs of these teams, these super fun games,
1:40:08
like Broncos in the Super Bowl, right?
1:40:10
And I'm with Bronco Jared.
1:40:12
Couldn't get to fully enjoy that because I could feel his
1:40:14
pain, like, from across room.
1:40:16
I could feel my dad's pain from out your back door up there in Kalispell as the
1:40:21
Chiefs just had their soul snatched.
1:40:23
This is why at the start of the season, I think you get all excited b- you're
1:40:27
like, "Oh, hey, this is a dame, a game that my dad and I could go to."
1:40:30
And then I think as the s- as the game gets- Yeah
1:40:32
closer, you, you realize internally that this drive back from Seattle
1:40:37
to Montana- … is going to be…
1:40:39
You're, you're go- you…
1:40:41
One of you is not going to enjoy it and make the other one miserable.
1:40:44
That's right.
1:40:45
It's not gonna be as joyous as you think.
1:40:47
And, you probably aren't gonna listen to the, sports talk, or
1:40:52
you're gonna listen to some sports talk that's gonna piss off one of the
1:40:54
people, that's for sure, you know?
1:40:56
Yeah.
1:40:57
And that's what the drive for, especially after- Yes … a win.
1:41:00
Yes.
1:41:01
You might even replay the game, you listen to the talk, especially after a win.
1:41:07
Yeah, you don't wanna do that if you're, the, the loser in the situation.
1:41:11
And- No … yeah, if, if one of you can't enjoy it, it makes it tough.
1:41:15
It makes it tough.
1:41:16
But, Get him out to a Raiders game.
1:41:19
Yeah, maybe.
1:41:20
I don't know.
1:41:20
We had talked about maybe going down to Vegas, you know?
1:41:22
I don't know.
1:41:24
Maybe.
1:41:25
I, I do like the idea of going to LA at the end of the year once they've given up.
1:41:30
Mm-hmm.
1:41:30
That'd be fun.
1:41:31
I wanna see that stadium.
1:41:33
I, I wanna see- Yeah … the Raiders stadium, too.
1:41:35
Mm-hmm.
1:41:36
I suppose that would be the one that makes sense since this is
1:41:38
the year that we're there, and we go to LA any year, but- Yeah.
1:41:43
But then you have to go to Vegas, so.
1:41:45
Yeah.
1:41:47
All right.
1:41:48
What do you say we get on to some do better and better at life?
1:41:52
All right, man.
1:41:54
My do better this week is for somebody that's been getting a lot of
1:41:58
praise and a lot of, comparisons to his replacement here in Seattle,
1:42:04
and that is one Coach Klint Kubiak.
1:42:08
I don't know how many of you watched Raiders/Rams, but I did.
1:42:11
I watched it intently.
1:42:12
I wanted those stupid Rams to lose and, and really be in a place
1:42:16
where their season was legit over.
1:42:19
And I thought, too, this Raiders team coming in, you know, play a little better.
1:42:22
This could be cool.
1:42:24
Like, and then watching Klint beat the Rams again, like how fun would that be?
1:42:28
But, Rams come out, it starts getting out of hand early, right?
1:42:33
So they go into halftime with the Rams up, what are they up here?
1:42:39
28 to 3 at, at half.
1:42:42
Yeah.
1:42:42
Okay?
1:42:43
And you're thinking- Mm-hmm … "Crap.
1:42:45
We're, we're getting blown out.
1:42:47
Like, this stinks.
1:42:48
You know, what's Kubiak doing?
1:42:50
Rah, rah, rah."
1:42:51
But the Raiders- Oh, what did he…
1:42:53
Six.
1:42:53
They had six at half.
1:42:54
28 to six.
1:42:54
Okay.
1:42:55
I thought so.
1:42:55
Oh, my play-by-play reset.
1:42:57
That's why.
1:42:58
It, it had me all screwed up.
1:42:59
So 28 to six, Rams come out, punt the ball.
1:43:04
Defense, it does well.
1:43:05
You're like, "Sweet.
1:43:06
All right.
1:43:07
Opportunity."
1:43:08
Raiders get the ball back.
1:43:09
11 plays they go, get down the field, marching down the field.
1:43:13
They, they decide to go for it on a fourth and two at the Rams 13.
1:43:22
What the [catfish] are we doing?
1:43:24
Kick the field goal.
1:43:25
Take the points.
1:43:27
But, statistically speaking, you know, you're either going, you know,
1:43:30
g- big, so you go for it on fourth down.
1:43:32
Look, man, you're the Raiders playing a pretty good Rams defense.
1:43:36
Don't go for it there.
1:43:38
Take the points.
1:43:39
It's a long game.
1:43:40
It's your first drive in the second half.
1:43:42
You just made 'em punt- Mm-hmm … like, quickly.
1:43:46
Okay.
1:43:46
So they go for it on fourth down, turn the ball over on downs.
1:43:50
Awesome.
1:43:50
Sweet.
1:43:51
Glad we got zero points out of that.
1:43:53
We. Yeah.
1:43:55
Yeah.
1:43:56
Anybody against the Rams, we.
1:43:58
Uh-huh.
1:43:58
Yeah Then the, the Rams have one play.
1:44:04
One play, and they fumble, and Raiders recover the ball.
1:44:09
They're right down there, get ready to score again, right?
1:44:13
Get to fourth down, and it's fourth and 5 on the LA 25.
1:44:18
Go for it.
1:44:19
Mm-hmm.
1:44:20
What are we doing?
1:44:21
Take the kick.
1:44:23
Kick the points.
1:44:25
'Cause at that point, then it would be 28 to 12, right?
1:44:30
Mm-hmm.
1:44:30
So they don't know- And then you're within two possessions … two
1:44:34
possessions, exactly.
1:44:36
Like, right there.
1:44:37
It happened that fast.
1:44:38
Just take the points.
1:44:39
They're free.
1:44:40
They're right there.
1:44:41
Just you, you, you take them, and then you have them.
1:44:43
And accumulating points is the name of the game, or so I'm told.
1:44:46
Rams punt again.
1:44:47
Next possession, Raiders get the ball back.
1:44:50
Touchdown, Raiders.
1:44:52
Unbelievable.
1:44:53
That's amazing.
1:44:54
So now it's, it would be 28 to 18, right?
1:45:00
10-point game.
1:45:02
But it, then if you kick the extra point, now you're looking at 28-19, right?
1:45:08
Like, it's a nine-point game, three field goals.
1:45:10
You, you could go for two in that situation- Two point
1:45:12
and make it a one-possession game.
1:45:14
Right.
1:45:14
But so that's what they do, is they actually go for two even though
1:45:17
they'd already turned down the two field goals- Hmm … because at
1:45:21
that point then, they were down 16.
1:45:24
Right.
1:45:25
So because you turned down the two field goals, you look at the math, and
1:45:29
you go, "Well, now I gotta go for two."
1:45:32
They don't convert on the two-point conversion.
1:45:34
So that is now seven points left on the field for, like, no
1:45:38
reason other than statistics.
1:45:41
Now, then, then they, they score there.
1:45:46
Next, one play again for the Rams, picked off.
1:45:50
Raiders go down, score another touchdown.
1:45:52
What do they do?
1:45:53
They go for [catfish] two again.
1:45:55
Don't get it.
1:45:57
So now it's 28-18, when at that point you had just left eight points on the field.
1:46:05
Mm-hmm.
1:46:05
What would that put you at?
1:46:07
It would've been 28, 26?
1:46:10
28-26 is what- Yeah … the score would've been when the
1:46:13
Rams didn't get the ball back.
1:46:15
Let's say they score the next touchdown as they do in this game, and it's 35-26.
1:46:20
That's very different math.
1:46:22
Or no, what would it have been?
1:46:23
They were within a score at that point.
1:46:25
Yeah.
1:46:28
I, I see what you're getting at though, right?
1:46:29
It, it, it's all over.
1:46:30
Like, you played yourself out of the game by not taking the points.
1:46:34
You ended up making your deficit larger as the game went on instead of
1:46:37
narrowing it down by just taking the freaking points, all because some math
1:46:42
nerd thinks it's the right way to go.
1:46:45
When you…
1:46:45
It literally took you out of the game.
1:46:47
It cha- the entire ending of this game would've been different if, 'cause
1:46:52
the Raiders eventually get a field goal.
1:46:53
That's what it was.
1:46:54
And so- At the end, yeah … yeah.
1:46:57
So then at that point it's 35-21.
1:47:01
You tack eight points on there, it's 35-29.
1:47:03
You know, it's a six-point game, touchdown wins.
1:47:06
And it just, it just irked me, man.
1:47:09
Like, Klint Kubiak, what are we doing?
1:47:11
You're an old school guy.
1:47:13
Your dad's like king of the old school dudes, him and
1:47:16
Sha- old man Shanahan, right?
1:47:19
Just take the points.
1:47:20
Do better I think I, I like the idea of taking the field goals when
1:47:26
you ha- they have that opportunity.
1:47:27
I don't…
1:47:30
I, I think the…
1:47:32
Yeah, going for two in the situations that they did made a
1:47:35
little more sense to me because…
1:47:37
just in terms of possessions.
1:47:39
'Cause- Right, right.
1:47:39
But I was just saying you're never in that situation if you
1:47:42
just take the field goals, right?
1:47:43
Yeah.
1:47:44
Right.
1:47:44
Yeah.
1:47:45
I know it's, I know it stinks taking field goals instead of touchdowns.
1:47:48
But- Yeah … if you had taken those, then it would've changed the
1:47:51
way you approach the, the other…
1:47:54
when you actually got the touchdowns.
1:47:56
Right.
1:47:57
The other thing that drives me crazy is when teams do the, do this.
1:48:00
You're down, two touchdown, but you need a touchdown, a touchdown and
1:48:03
a two-point conversion to tie, right?
1:48:06
Yeah.
1:48:06
Or, no, to win.
1:48:07
Two touchdowns- Right … and an extra point would tie, right?
1:48:11
No.
1:48:12
Or- And these situ- not in this game.
1:48:13
Yeah.
1:48:13
I'm just saying these situations, where you're down 14.
1:48:16
Where you're down 14 and then they go for two.
1:48:18
Yeah.
1:48:18
And they go for two, and that lights my hair on fricking fire every time.
1:48:22
'Cause they're like, "Well, then if you miss it, then you've got the
1:48:24
opportunity to go for it again."
1:48:26
It's like, okay, so now I'm putting myself in a position to where I have
1:48:30
to go for it twice, whereas if I just kick the freaking extra point, if I
1:48:34
happen to score the touchdown again and have the benefit of going for two
1:48:38
to win the game, then I can just do it once and walk off the freaking field.
1:48:43
The lowest- There's not-
1:48:44
percentage play … there's not enough procrastinators in the NFL.
1:48:47
Just put off making the hard decisions until you need to make the hard decisions.
1:48:51
Why make the hard decision when you don't even know if you
1:48:53
have to make the hard decision?
1:48:55
Yeah.
1:48:56
That's my point.
1:48:57
It's not about procrastinating.
1:48:58
It- it's about making decisions about what might be, like, an
1:49:04
eon away in the game, I just…
1:49:07
I, I…
1:49:07
it's just being overthought by a margin that I just, I can't handle.
1:49:11
It's gotta stop, Brandan.
1:49:12
This has to stop.
1:49:14
Well, it will end up benefiting whoever plays it the right way.
1:49:21
That's the, the great thing about football, is that I think it equalizes
1:49:26
ultimately to the right decision.
1:49:28
And, the better teams at making those decisions
1:49:31
consistently will end up winning.
1:49:33
That's why I'm so happy that of the new school coaches, like we were just
1:49:37
talking about Ben Johnson and his, his aggressiveness, that Mike Macdonald is
1:49:42
the most traditional of the new school coaches, because he has sense in his head.
1:49:48
It's nice.
1:49:50
Yeah.
1:49:51
Whereas Dan Campbell feels like the Tasmanian devil of new school coaches.
1:49:58
I mean, I…
1:50:00
that would kill me on the inside, to be a, a Lions fan and watch Dan
1:50:03
Campbell just be like, "Ah, we'll roll sixes this time," you know?
1:50:08
Just…
1:50:09
It wouldn't kill me because I…
1:50:12
the expectation has been set I got it … this is what we're doing.
1:50:17
I hear you, but like, you know how there's different seasons of life, right?
1:50:21
Like, you first get out of school and like you're in the accumulation phase,
1:50:25
and then you're in the family phase, and then you're in the get rid of [catfish]
1:50:28
phase, and, you know, all that, right?
1:50:30
Mm-hmm.
1:50:30
There's different seasons of, of life of a football team.
1:50:32
When Dan Campbell took over that team, the Lions were the dregs of the entire
1:50:36
NFL, just above the Cardinals, right?
1:50:39
Maybe behind the Browns, somewhere right in there.
1:50:42
And so when you're trying to turn around the culture and do the whole
1:50:44
thing like Dan Campbell did, and did very well by the way, I understand
1:50:48
the extra aggressive mentality.
1:50:50
Hey, we're gonna have to take risks nobody else wants to.
1:50:52
We're, we are at a talent deficit, all that.
1:50:55
And then the Lions became very good.
1:50:58
You don't have to do that nonsense no more.
1:51:00
You're the one- Yeah … that is protecting, like, your talent and
1:51:04
your advantage and all of that.
1:51:06
You don't need to take the crazy risks, Dan.
1:51:09
Quit chasing the…
1:51:10
Go on Kalshi or something instead, you know?
1:51:13
Or don't.
1:51:14
That's, that's usually the way to go about it.
1:51:15
Well, definitely nobody should do that, 'cause that's just lighting…
1:51:17
You're li- it's basically like lighting your money on fire like a political flyer.
1:51:22
Just about, yeah.
1:51:23
That's, that tends to be the way it goes. But- Yeah … yeah.
1:51:28
I enjoy that, and, we- we'll see.
1:51:31
It, I don't know if it's gonna get any better.
1:51:33
You, you may find someone else to go after every single week in this situation,
1:51:37
and, Oh my God … I'm here for it … 'cause, about two weeks ago
1:51:39
it was a Dallas game I don't remember who they were playing … that Packers,
1:51:44
the Packers Lions game was that way.
1:51:46
Was it?
1:51:47
Okay, I didn't watch that game to the end.
1:51:49
Just every c- both coaches being aggressive and, and then there were missed
1:51:54
field goals too that just compounded it.
1:51:57
Yeah.
1:51:58
The Packers field goal kicker, they had, they deci- they
1:52:02
decided to take the points, down on like the two-yard line.
1:52:05
Yeah.
1:52:06
And he kicks it through, but there was some sort of
1:52:09
procedural penalty and they…
1:52:12
Oh, I think it was a delay, was it a delay of game?
1:52:15
They end up going back five yards and he misses it.
1:52:18
Yeah.
1:52:19
So here they go.
1:52:19
Rookie kickers.
1:52:20
They're, they're, he's, LaFleur's trying to do the smart thing
1:52:24
against chaotic Dan Campbell.
1:52:26
Yeah.
1:52:26
And then by getting penalized it ends up, you know, backfiring.
1:52:31
He gets smacked down by smack.
1:52:33
Yeah.
1:52:34
Yeah.
1:52:34
And they lose by a field goal.
1:52:35
Rookie kickers, man, rookie kickers.
1:52:37
Like, it, that, that's the other thing about the analytics thing, right?
1:52:41
If you have a rookie kicker and he's been a little shaky here and there, that
1:52:45
changes the calculus whether or not it goes into the formula or not, right?
1:52:50
It might change the calculus for the Chiefs, who have a veteran
1:52:53
kicker, Adam, which rolls right into my do better this week.
1:52:57
Oh.
1:52:57
Because- Okay … because this week, just when you thought, as a Chiefs fan,
1:53:03
it couldn't, you couldn't possibly get worse after losing to the Seahawks,
1:53:06
losing your undefeated season to Seattle, Harrison Butker misses two field goals.
1:53:13
What do they do to solve it, Adam?
1:53:15
They bring in Justin Tucker.
1:53:18
No, they did not.
1:53:20
They, they signed him to the practice squad this week, and Andy Reid was up on
1:53:26
the podium answering questions, and he was answering in a way that was not cool.
1:53:35
And, Andy Reid is my do better this week because he, he, he comes out and
1:53:41
he's trying to defend this, defend signing Tucker to their practice squad.
1:53:49
And- He's acting like…
1:53:52
He, he actually refers to Tucker as a kid, as though he's like some college
1:53:56
kid- … who just didn't know, you know, oh, he just didn't know what he was doing.
1:54:00
No, Tucker was a full-grown adult that, you know, just happened to, end up
1:54:07
reportedly having, reportedly by the Baltimore Banner, by the way, having
1:54:12
16 massage therapists across- Yeah
1:54:15
eight Baltimore area spas, who accused Tucker of inappropriate
1:54:21
sexual behavior during sessions that occurred between 2012 and 2016.
1:54:27
Andy, this is not a kid, by any means, that just, you
1:54:31
know, fell into the wrong crowd or didn't know what he was doing.
1:54:34
No, this was a series over multiple years, and something that he ultimately
1:54:40
served a 10-game suspension for.
1:54:43
Mm.
1:54:43
And you're up there defending him.
1:54:44
"Oh, well, he served a suspension."
1:54:47
Yeah, and he ended up being not a very good kicker when he came back from it,
1:54:52
and now this is what you're tuning to?
1:54:55
Andy Reid and the Chiefs do better.
1:54:58
So you get a bad kicker and a horrible person.
1:55:00
Congratulations for signing that.
1:55:03
There's controversy around Butker too, but it's not…
1:55:07
It's just his mouth, right?
1:55:08
And opinions.
1:55:10
Like- Yeah … what we're talking about here with, Tucker, I mean, as we
1:55:16
said with Dirtbag Deshaun Watson, once a coincidence, twice is a trend, three
1:55:20
times is definitely a you problem.
1:55:22
What the [catfish] is 16?
1:55:24
Like, I, I'm sorry.
1:55:26
I hope the Chiefs get what they deserve from the
1:55:29
football gods on this one.
1:55:31
I, I really do.
1:55:32
And maybe, maybe this game against Seattle was just the…
1:55:36
'Cause, you know, the gods see in the future too.
1:55:38
So they probably knew this was coming down the pike.
1:55:41
This may be the beginning of the end of this, version
1:55:46
of the Kansas City Chiefs.
1:55:47
Yeah.
1:55:47
And, they Do we break the Chiefs- … become the Chiefs … and
1:55:49
their spirit and their honor?
1:55:51
And- Not that they- Yeah … not that they have a ton anyway.
1:55:53
I mean, they also have Rashee Rice on their team, but Yeah, well, there's that.
1:55:58
Yeah.
1:56:00
So.
1:56:00
Thank God the Joe Mixon thing didn't happen here.
1:56:04
No.
1:56:05
You know, that, by comparison- I know.
1:56:09
There's a kid that did something, you know, at that time.
1:56:13
Yeah.
1:56:13
That w- th- a literal kid.
1:56:15
Yeah.
1:56:16
Mm-hmm Justin Tucker, no kid Not a kid.
1:56:20
We're having- Not a kid.
1:56:21
Just a dirtbag … yeah.
1:56:23
Yeah.
1:56:23
Just wild.
1:56:25
On to Better at Life.
1:56:27
All right, man.
1:56:28
I'm so glad that we can go from some of these downer Do Betters to the
1:56:31
uplifting Better at Life segments.
1:56:33
Well, good.
1:56:34
Well, mine's all about killer bees, Brandan, so here you go.
1:56:37
Oh, here we go.
1:56:38
Here's the uplifting part.
1:56:39
So headline from Popular Mechanics here, "She was dying, then a swarm
1:56:43
of stinging bees healed her."
1:56:46
And so this story goes into detail about, a gal in California.
1:56:51
She's o- originally from England but had been in California to receive
1:56:57
treatment for Lyme disease because it was just ravaging her body.
1:57:01
I don't know if you've ever been around people with Lyme d- disease.
1:57:03
It's nasty.
1:57:05
It, it's kinda like- I can't imagine it being good … yeah,
1:57:08
it's kinda like MS in a way.
1:57:09
But it's caused by a bacteria.
1:57:12
And they, they do have some antibacter- or, yeah, antibiotics for this
1:57:18
bacteria, and it, and it can't help and all that stuff, but it's kinda famous for,
1:57:23
like, being over here in your body, and the, the antibiotics go get it, and then
1:57:27
it go hi- it goes and hides over here.
1:57:29
And you can never quite, you know, pin it down, this Lyme disease bacteria.
1:57:34
But this gal, sick as a dog, had been just in terrible pain for 15 years.
1:57:41
15 years.
1:57:42
Barely did anything, but today she decided she was gonna walk out onto her
1:57:46
balcony in California to get some sun for a change, and as she did that, she
1:57:52
got attacked by a swarm of killer bees.
1:57:56
So talk about somebody who feels like their life is going the
1:57:59
totally wrong direction, and God clearly hates her, right?
1:58:03
Like, that's what you gotta be thinking in that spot.
1:58:05
She even remembered thinking to herself that she thought this was the end, surely.
1:58:10
So she did have a reaction.
1:58:12
It wasn't great, but they got her to the hospital.
1:58:14
You know, puffed up, allergic reaction, all that stuff.
1:58:18
Day one was miserable.
1:58:19
Day two was miserable.
1:58:20
Day three was miserable, and then she woke up day four.
1:58:25
And she was normal again.
1:58:27
And she says in the article here, it was the first time in 15
1:58:31
years that she felt normal again.
1:58:34
Whoa.
1:58:35
And they're like, "What are you talking about, woman?"
1:58:37
Like, "You can't be, you can't be serious now."
1:58:40
And, You just got attacked by bees.
1:58:41
Yeah.
1:58:42
Like, you're telling me killer bees made you better?
1:58:44
They're like, "I don't know, man."
1:58:45
So they, they do a test, and, they go through.
1:58:50
Zero of the bacteria in her body.
1:58:53
So what they figured out is there's stuff called, like, I think it was called…
1:58:58
Let's see if I can find it in here.
1:59:00
It's like metarin.
1:59:02
It's the, it's the stingy part of the venom that- Mm … that
1:59:05
when the bees sting you.
1:59:06
Yeah.
1:59:07
Apparently that, as it was injected into her bloodstream, went and killed
1:59:12
all the bacteria in her body, and freaking cured her of Lyme's disease.
1:59:18
Now they're trying to look into how they can, you know, leverage this and do it
1:59:22
in a way where maybe you don't have to go and get attacked- You don't have to be-
1:59:25
attacked by a swarm of bees.
1:59:27
Yeah.
1:59:27
Maybe take a pill.
1:59:28
Just, just be cool.
1:59:30
We're gonna put you in this room- … that's full of killer bees.
1:59:33
You're gonna feel better in four days, I promise.
1:59:35
I promise.
1:59:36
I promise.
1:59:37
That even if your throat swells, shut, we'll, we'll, we'll tube you.
1:59:41
It's gonna be all right, you know?
1:59:43
So to, Ellie Lobel- The, the gal who got herself killed by killer
1:59:50
bees in something that's gonna help thousands upon thousands of people.
1:59:54
You are better at life than Skip Bayless.
1:59:56
Thank you for your sacrifice.
1:59:58
Maybe a, a future ballot measure.
2:00:00
We call them healer bees.
2:00:02
Healer bees.
2:00:03
There we go.
2:00:03
It's a better branding for them, that's for sure.
2:00:06
It's not as scary.
2:00:07
It's not as scary.
2:00:07
Because the, the legit name is, like, Africanized bees.
2:00:11
Mm.
2:00:11
And somehow that sounds scary too.
2:00:14
I don't know.
2:00:15
Like, yeah.
2:00:15
Yeah.
2:00:16
D- 'cause Africa's a big continent.
2:00:18
The, the big b- the, the, it just makes me think that they're very big, large bees.
2:00:22
Yeah, all the critters in Africa have to be burly as hell to,
2:00:25
like, survive in that environment.
2:00:26
That place is outrageous.
2:00:28
Yeah, you gotta be a big bee to go after rhinos and giraffes and stuff.
2:00:32
Yeah, man.
2:00:33
Protect yourself from honey badgers and [catfish].
2:00:35
Yeah.
2:00:36
Yeah.
2:00:37
No, you're right to think that.
2:00:41
Well, my better at life this week, Adam, is for me.
2:00:44
I know.
2:00:45
Because I haven't been giving myself enough credit lately.
2:00:48
All right, man.
2:00:49
Pat yourself on the back.
2:00:50
Let me tell you what's happened.
2:00:51
Yeah.
2:00:51
Let me tell you what's happened in the last week.
2:00:52
Okay.
2:00:52
I fixed a dripping faucet in one of our showers.
2:00:55
Ooh.
2:00:55
Felt pretty good about that.
2:00:56
In fact, I, this was almost an emergency situation because
2:01:01
I, I had noticed it dripping, and I'm like, "Oh, can I just
2:01:05
tighten it down a little bit more?
2:01:06
No."
2:01:06
And I'm like, "Oh, what size Allen wrench do I need to take off the faucet?"
2:01:10
And so I twisted it the normal way you would twist a faucet.
2:01:13
I, and I twist it, water obviously comes out.
2:01:17
I go to twist it back down, and the water does nothing.
2:01:23
And this, this just happened today, and so I…
2:01:26
Okay.
2:01:26
Oh.
2:01:26
I, so I go and I'm like, "Well, I guess I'm fixing this now," 'cause I had…
2:01:31
It, it had been a dripping faucet, and I'm like, I, I'm gonna have to
2:01:34
get, one of those, cartridges.
2:01:38
Right.
2:01:38
'Cause that's what it needs is a cartridge replacement that generally
2:01:40
fixes the, the dripping faucet.
2:01:43
But, this was a, a problem for future Brandan, so I thought.
2:01:48
Until I decided to look and see what size Allen wrench I needed
2:01:51
to take off the faucet handle.
2:01:53
Yes.
2:01:53
And, and then now it was a problem for present Brandan, and- … I
2:01:57
had to go turn off the water to the house, run to the store, get the
2:02:01
parts, and so I fixed the faucet.
2:02:04
That was, problem number one solved this week.
2:02:06
Okay.
2:02:07
Very well.
2:02:07
Also fixed, a washing machine that wasn't draining.
2:02:11
I went to go do my laundry, 'cause I had it piled up from weeks
2:02:14
of travel and- Oh, yeah … I'm like, "I, I gotta get this done."
2:02:18
I, I take my laundry out of the, the washer, this weekend,
2:02:23
and it's just sopping wet.
2:02:27
I'm like, "Okay, well, I'll, I'll run an extra spin cycle."
2:02:30
No, still sopping wet.
2:02:32
What is going on here?
2:02:33
And well, my first thing was that I had put clothes in the dryer
2:02:37
and they just weren't getting dry.
2:02:39
Yeah.
2:02:39
And, and so that was the first problem.
2:02:42
I thought, "Oh, my dryer's broken again," 'cause I've been dealing with the dryer.
2:02:45
Yes, you have.
2:02:45
I've had the same thing happen in the past.
2:02:46
Yeah.
2:02:46
I think I've talked about it on the show.
2:02:47
Yeah.
2:02:48
And, and then no, I go back and, and so when I'm trying to…
2:02:52
'Cause the clothes didn't dry, so okay, now I gotta wash them again because
2:02:55
they've been sitting in here and, not getting dry, so they stink.
2:02:59
And so restart the cycle Turns out the, there was something that the…
2:03:04
I had to pull out the g- the filter was gunked up.
2:03:08
There was a, a sock that had made its way into the, the filter.
2:03:11
So- Good job, filter.
2:03:13
Did your job.
2:03:14
Yeah.
2:03:15
Yeah.
2:03:16
So fixed that problem, feeling pretty good.
2:03:18
That's impressive.
2:03:19
So- Two plumbing projects.
2:03:20
Man.
2:03:21
Two plumbing projects in one week, and then to top it all off, I
2:03:25
successfully parented my way through an emergency appendectomy this weekend.
2:03:29
And, and got to spend hours in the emergency room, and then,
2:03:34
hours in the hospital, and, came up on the positive end there too.
2:03:40
And, and so for me, navigating three situations in three or four
2:03:46
days, better at life than Skip Bayless.
2:03:48
I'm taking the credit.
2:03:50
Someone buy this man a beer.
2:03:51
That's a big week by you.
2:03:53
Yeah, that's impressive for sure, man.
2:03:55
I'm feeling, I'm feeling it after. Yeah, dude.
2:03:57
Especially after today.
2:03:59
Yeah.
2:03:59
Yeah.
2:04:00
It, 'cause at some point you're like, "What did I, what did I do?"
2:04:04
Emergency plumbing.
2:04:05
Not on my list.
2:04:06
You- Not on yours
2:04:06
you did some emergency plumbing recently too.
2:04:09
Yeah.
2:04:09
So- Yeah … I think you, you could feel, feel my pain here.
2:04:12
I, I definitely do.
2:04:14
Yeah.
2:04:14
Our, our shower sprung a major drain leak because I built it [catfish].
2:04:19
And, so we decided it was time to add a shower onto the
2:04:22
back of the, the bathroom.
2:04:24
So we, we, we built a walk-in shower back there.
2:04:27
And, it's less [catfish], and that's nice.
2:04:29
That is nice.
2:04:30
Yeah.
2:04:31
One pro tip that a lot of the…
2:04:33
'Cause you'll find YouTube videos that show you how to change a shower cartridge.
2:04:38
I didn't even know that was a thing.
2:04:40
Oh.
2:04:40
If, if your handle is having difficulty turning- Uh-huh … a lot of times
2:04:44
there's just build-up in there.
2:04:46
Like, it gets- Mm … calcified or something.
2:04:48
Yeah, minerals and stuff.
2:04:49
Yeah.
2:04:49
And maybe 'cause we have hard water here where I live- Sure … that
2:04:53
I've had this problem with faucets.
2:04:55
Faucets are easy, 'cause you can turn off the water underneath the- Mm-hmm … sink.
2:05:00
And for the shower, it's a little bit difficult, because you, it's- Unless
2:05:04
you have a panel to access your shower on and off, knobs, you have to
2:05:08
turn off the water to your whole house.
2:05:10
Yes, you do.
2:05:10
And not only do you have to turn off the water to the whole house, you
2:05:14
then have to drain the pipes, or else when you go to change the cartridge
2:05:19
out- You're taking a bath … you, all the water will be coming out.
2:05:23
Yep.
2:05:24
And yeah.
2:05:25
You don't want that to happen.
2:05:27
So, be, make sure and plan accordingly for the water, that it's shut off.
2:05:33
I, this- Mm-hmm … it, it didn't end up being a problem.
2:05:35
It, well, it ended up being a little bit of a problem when I, I put it in the new
2:05:40
cartridge and it still wasn't quite- St- it, it was still dripping a little bit.
2:05:45
Okay.
2:05:45
So I, I took it out and greased it and, and, and reseated it, and it was
2:05:52
in that part where I realized I needed to let the, the water drain a little
2:05:56
bit more, 'cause I had turned off- Oh
2:05:57
the water to the house, but I had turned it back on.
2:06:00
Yep.
2:06:01
And then so- You pressurized it … I let it fill.
2:06:02
Yeah.
2:06:02
And I had forgotten to…
2:06:04
As I pulled it out, I realized that I hadn't drained it, fully, so.
2:06:09
There you go.
2:06:10
Look at you, man.
2:06:11
Hey, if this podcast [catfish] doesn't work out for you, you can always
2:06:13
fall back on plumbing now.
2:06:15
I I will be plumbing, yeah, plumbing Brandan out on YouTube.
2:06:20
Give a like and subscribe.
2:06:22
Be a good, be a good show.
2:06:24
Look, you've been a uniform model before, so you'd probably look
2:06:27
good in a Maytag uniform, you know?
2:06:30
And I think with that- There's only one thing left to say … go Hawks.
2:06:34
Go Hawks.