October 21, 2025 • 13 mins
The Seattle Seahawks survive a wild Monday Night finish against the Houston Texans as Richard Sherman breaks down Sam Darnold’s roller-coaster night, another monster performance from Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and a statement outing by Mike Macdonald’s defense. Sherm also reacts to Detroit’s dominant win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jameer Gibbs’ breakout, and what it means for the NFC race and his latest Power Rankings.
Sherman dives into:
• Sam Darnold’s turnovers & clutch plays
• JSN’s 5th 100-yard game — is he becoming a Top 10 WR?
• Seahawks defense flying around — Tariq Woolen, Ernest Jones, Boye Mafe & more
• What Mike Macdonald is cooking schematically
• Trade deadline possibilities in Seattle
• Lions punch Tampa in the mouth — Gibbs, Goff & Dan Campbell’s culture
• Updated NFL Power Rankings (Colts, Seahawks, Lions, Packers)
If you love defense, turnover talks, and NFC playoff football, this episode is your jam. Hit subscribe and don’t miss what Sherm has cooking next.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's always better to get the turnovers and have these
moments in a win. Welcome back to the Richard Sherman
Podcast And what a game on Monday night. The Seattle
Seahawks pull off the home victory against the Houston Texans
and what looked like a dominant performance early on, but
(00:23):
the Houston Texans clawed back in with really supreme defense
and in playmaking. Derek Stingley had an incredible interception. Uh,
they had a I believe it was Will Anderson forced
to fumble on Sam Donald to recover it in the
end zone. I mean, the Texans defense was keeping them
in the game. But Sam Donald and Jackson Smith and
(00:47):
Jigbu once again, that connection is insane. Jackson Smith and
Jigba with what I believe to be his fifth hundred
yard game of the season, Uh, dunked over the goalpost.
That fine is going to be coming in a no
question about it. The Seahawks move to five and two,
tied for that long jam at the top of the
(01:07):
division with the La Rams and the San Francisco forty
nine ers. This division is gonna come down to the
wire as I thought it would. But I want to
talk about this game The Seahawks defense is stingy. I
mean they stingy on the ground, through the air, and
they're healthier. It was good to see Tarik Wooling back
(01:29):
out there making plays, swagging. You know, they got they celebrations,
they doing anything. The d line has just got so
much depth. The rotation is strong, the backups come in,
they're strong. Ernest Jones gets an interception in the game.
Playing at a really high level. It's time to start
talking about Pro Bowls for that man. Josh Joel played
(01:50):
some good football today but didn't want to catch the football.
Could have had an interception, maybe two. But come on, Josh, Joe,
you don't want to win the Super Bowl and drive over.
You got to catch that. You gotta catch the money.
There's only so much out there. I thought. I thought
Byron Murphy played a good game. Jaron Reid continues to dominate.
Leonard Williams was all over the place in this game.
(02:13):
He continues to lead by example. DeMarcus Lawrence was disrupted.
I mean you could say this Boye Mafey. You saw
him in coverage. He made an incredible deflection and coverage.
And and Mike McDonald, Mike McDonald's schemes are are just
beautiful to watch because it's the complexity. It's the way
he's manipulating the offensive line, the way he's putting his
(02:35):
guys in position, who he's dropping, the way he even
coaches and teaches these guys this system. And then uh
nick m and war all over the field. You saw
him in coverage multiple times. You see him blitzing, explosive.
You see him baton passes down. He's a Swiss Army knife.
He's the engine that's gonna help this this this Seattle Seahawks'
(02:58):
defense take a step to the next level. But this
is the perfect way to go into a buy. You
you had a hard fought game. Some things you can correct,
you know, the Arroyo fumble, that's something that's a coachable
moment for for a rookie tight end who who's grown.
You can coach coach over that. The Cooper cup uh
(03:21):
double pass interception was a head scratcher. I you know,
I usually when you get the double pass from the receiver,
it's a go route, something simple where they could just
lob it up, receiver comes under it. But that looked
like a dig I'm like, if we just gonna play
action and throw digs. You might as well, let's see,
I'm darnold the quarterback do it. But you know, you
(03:41):
know it's it's it's sometimes fun to get cute. But uh,
that ended up being an interception the sting Like we
talked about earlier, this Stingley interception was was was tough.
And then the four four turnovers in the game, and
to still find a way to win at home. It's
obviously been publicized, and the struggles at home to come
(04:02):
home and really dominate for a good portion of that
game and still be able to find a way to
win at the end. This is just a sound football
team in Seattle. They're doing the little things right. The
offensive line, you know, they're struggling at times. This was
a really great pass rush from the Houston Texans. They
have a really talented defensive line, so you got to
(04:24):
give credit words due there. They have a talented secondary.
They were still able to put points on the board,
enough points to win this game and come out with
a win. They'll go into a bye week, got a
chance to get healthy, a chance to correct some of
the things that that were ailing them. And if you
look at last year, when they went into the bye week,
(04:45):
there were Mike McDonald was not playing during the bye week.
Last year, he made massive changes to the defense. He
replaced his I believe, if I'm not mistaken, he traded
away his starting linebacker. They cut one, They brought Ernest
Jones into the fold, started him, these Knight became the
other starter, and so and the defense took a step
(05:07):
forward after the bye. So I expect some changes this year.
Obviously five and two, they're really happy with that record,
but they're always looking to get better. I'm looking forward
to seeing what adjustments, what changes they make this year
during the bye week, because those corrections last year were phenomenal.
They helped. I mean, those guys are still making place
(05:29):
for this team. There's a lot of trade candidates, a
lot of teams that are in fire sales right now,
the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets being two of
the ones that come to mind. Right now. It doesn't
look like they need help at receiver. I saw that
Tyler Lockett acts for his release. I'm sure he's looking
to go to it to contender and maybe get a
chance to continue his career this year and chase some
(05:53):
postseason glory. I wouldn't I wouldn't expect them to look
for that, but maybe some some offensive line depth. You know,
if somebody really really impressive in terms of a pass
rusher becomes available for reasonable price, I would expect them
to be in those conversations. But this defensive line is
(06:15):
really good as he is as constructed. There's not a
lot of snaps to go around. There's not a lot
of room for somebody else to come in and you say, hey,
we're gonna bring a thirty million dollar pass rusher in
here and replace one of these guys. I think they
do a great job by committee. A lot of really impressive,
really talented guys on this D line, and they're doing
a good job. So I would think they stand pad
(06:39):
on a lot of these things. But if they get
an offer they can't I mean, get a deal they
can't refuse, and I'm sure they'll take it. John Snyder
has shown he'll be aggressive in the trademarket and I
expect that. But what a win, What a win, What
a start to the season for the Seattle Seahawks. They're
five into the offense. I know, I know, four turnovers.
(07:01):
It's correctable, It's always better to get the turnovers and
have these moments in a win. There aren't many times
you're gonna lose the turnover battle one to four and
win the game by eight points. But they did. And
that's a testament to this coaching staff, both both defensively
and offensively. These players executing a scheme. I love the
(07:22):
way this defense is playing. They're running and hidding, They're
swarming to the ball. I wish they could catch a
couple more of these interceptions because they're in position to
catch them, but I'm sure that'll come later in the season.
I'm looking forward to putting them back in my power
rankings higher higher. People were frustrated about Pittsburgh being three,
and Pittsburgh laid an egg way to let me down. Pittsburgh.
(07:46):
I tried to help big play sleigh and say, hey,
Pittsburgh three. Obviously, they won't be backing my power rankings
anytime soon, but the Seattle Seahawks will. They move up
to one. Two. It's gonna be hard to pass the
Indiannapolis Colt, no question about it. But I think that
Seattle Seahawks right now gotta be two in my power rankins.
We'll figure out the rest later on, But boy, these
(08:09):
Seahawks are gonna be something to deal with later in
the season. Now moving on to the other Monday night
football game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions,
it definitely went a lot different than I thought it
was gonna go. I thought this would be a shootout,
a battle. Detroit dominated almost from the start of the game.
There was a couple of hiccups in there. Jared Golf fumbled,
(08:31):
he missed a couple throws through an interception lay in
the game, and Tampa Bay took advantage of those things.
But I thought Jamier Gibbs, this may have been one
of the best games that I've seen him play. He
had about over two hundred yards total offense, one hundred
and thirty six yards rushing on seventeen carries, an incredible run,
(08:53):
a really cool spin. I mean, it just looked like
he had eyes in the back of his head on
that play. It looked like he was stuffed near the
goal line he spawned, the defender shot the gap right
as he spawned. I mean, it was poetic. It was beautiful,
and I know Detroit fans are excited right now about
the player. He is and the playmaking. Even when Jared
(09:13):
Golf he was twenty to twenty nine for two forty
one and a touchdown and interception. Even when he's a
little off, you still feel dominant. And Detroit has a
streak of fifty one consecutive games without consecutive games without
losing two in a row. That's an incredible streak. And
that's the testament to Dan Campbell and his philosophy and
(09:37):
the way this team battles and the way this team fights,
and the way the team this team continues to go.
But shout out to Jake bates Man. He missed, he
missed the fifty four yard er in this game, but
doinked in a fifty eight yarder. Kickers right now. I
didn't think that this kicking ball, this k ball deal,
that this new rule they made would make as big
(09:58):
of a difference as it has. But man, it's fifty
five plus. Isn't what it used to be? Fifty five
plus used to be hold your breath. Wait ah, I'm
not sure. And right now it's it's almost automatic. I
think it's probably above seventy percent for kickers right now,
knocking these fifty eight plus yarders down. And that's really
cool to see. I gotta say. And I know my
(10:21):
guy Mitch is in here, and I know all my
people in Honolulu Blue are excited. They're five and two.
They just beat the number one team in my power rankers.
They're wondering where they're gonna be. You're gonna have to
wait and see Detroit. But I tell you this. I
will tell you this. Like I said before, I'm a
(10:41):
halfy Indianapolis coach. At one, the Seattle Seahawks are gonna
be two? Can Detroit be three? Can Detroit be three? Hmmm?
I don't know your division rival, the Green Bay Pass
Michael Parsons three SATs this week? Can they beat three?
(11:08):
You're gonna have to wait and see. Baby, you don't
have to wait and see. But I'll tell you what.
This Detroit team just gotta give the fans a lot
of confidence both sides of the football. Playmaking on defense
against a really really good offense, a playmaking offense. They
harassed Baker Mayfield all night, punched the ball out, they
(11:31):
were swarming. I love when I see this kind of game,
a complete game from a team like the Detroit Lions,
a team that came in this season with high expectations.
It's been a little bit up and down against certain
against contenders. Let's say it, against the Green Bay Packers,
it wasn't a great showing, and then against the Super
(11:53):
Bowl runner up Kansas City Chiefs, it looked like they
took them to the woodshit. But then you get in
this game against the Tampa Buccaneers and you look like
the team everybody expected you to be coming into this season.
I didn't hear no, no, no talking about Ben Johnson.
I didn't talk about no I'm not hearing nothing about
these these missing coordinators. When this team is dominant, and
(12:16):
that's good to see. I look forward to seeing them
late in the season. It's gonna be interesting because, like
I said before, this league has a lot of parody
right now. Every time you think, because I thought the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the run, on the row,
they're clearly a favorite in the NFC, and then the
Detroit Lions remind me, hey, don't forget about us. Not
(12:39):
so fast, my friend as the great lead course, so
you would say you can't count them out, and I'm
not gonna count them out. I'm gonna put them back
in my power rankings. I appreciate y'all always for joining me.
You could be anywhere in the work, but you're here
with me, and I sure do appreciate it. Please, please
don't forget to hit that's up button. If you knew,
(13:00):
I see next.
It's always better to get the turnovers and have these
moments in a win. Welcome back to the Richard Sherman
Podcast And what a game on Monday night. The Seattle
Seahawks pull off the home victory against the Houston Texans
and what looked like a dominant performance early on, but
(00:23):
the Houston Texans clawed back in with really supreme defense
and in playmaking. Derek Stingley had an incredible interception. Uh,
they had a I believe it was Will Anderson forced
to fumble on Sam Donald to recover it in the
end zone. I mean, the Texans defense was keeping them
in the game. But Sam Donald and Jackson Smith and
(00:47):
Jigbu once again, that connection is insane. Jackson Smith and
Jigba with what I believe to be his fifth hundred
yard game of the season, Uh, dunked over the goalpost.
That fine is going to be coming in a no
question about it. The Seahawks move to five and two,
tied for that long jam at the top of the
(01:07):
division with the La Rams and the San Francisco forty
nine ers. This division is gonna come down to the
wire as I thought it would. But I want to
talk about this game The Seahawks defense is stingy. I
mean they stingy on the ground, through the air, and
they're healthier. It was good to see Tarik Wooling back
(01:29):
out there making plays, swagging. You know, they got they celebrations,
they doing anything. The d line has just got so
much depth. The rotation is strong, the backups come in,
they're strong. Ernest Jones gets an interception in the game.
Playing at a really high level. It's time to start
talking about Pro Bowls for that man. Josh Joel played
(01:50):
some good football today but didn't want to catch the football.
Could have had an interception, maybe two. But come on, Josh, Joe,
you don't want to win the Super Bowl and drive over.
You got to catch that. You gotta catch the money.
There's only so much out there. I thought. I thought
Byron Murphy played a good game. Jaron Reid continues to dominate.
Leonard Williams was all over the place in this game.
(02:13):
He continues to lead by example. DeMarcus Lawrence was disrupted.
I mean you could say this Boye Mafey. You saw
him in coverage. He made an incredible deflection and coverage.
And and Mike McDonald, Mike McDonald's schemes are are just
beautiful to watch because it's the complexity. It's the way
he's manipulating the offensive line, the way he's putting his
(02:35):
guys in position, who he's dropping, the way he even
coaches and teaches these guys this system. And then uh
nick m and war all over the field. You saw
him in coverage multiple times. You see him blitzing, explosive.
You see him baton passes down. He's a Swiss Army knife.
He's the engine that's gonna help this this this Seattle Seahawks'
(02:58):
defense take a step to the next level. But this
is the perfect way to go into a buy. You
you had a hard fought game. Some things you can correct,
you know, the Arroyo fumble, that's something that's a coachable
moment for for a rookie tight end who who's grown.
You can coach coach over that. The Cooper cup uh
(03:21):
double pass interception was a head scratcher. I you know,
I usually when you get the double pass from the receiver,
it's a go route, something simple where they could just
lob it up, receiver comes under it. But that looked
like a dig I'm like, if we just gonna play
action and throw digs. You might as well, let's see,
I'm darnold the quarterback do it. But you know, you
(03:41):
know it's it's it's sometimes fun to get cute. But uh,
that ended up being an interception the sting Like we
talked about earlier, this Stingley interception was was was tough.
And then the four four turnovers in the game, and
to still find a way to win at home. It's
obviously been publicized, and the struggles at home to come
(04:02):
home and really dominate for a good portion of that
game and still be able to find a way to
win at the end. This is just a sound football
team in Seattle. They're doing the little things right. The
offensive line, you know, they're struggling at times. This was
a really great pass rush from the Houston Texans. They
have a really talented defensive line, so you got to
(04:24):
give credit words due there. They have a talented secondary.
They were still able to put points on the board,
enough points to win this game and come out with
a win. They'll go into a bye week, got a
chance to get healthy, a chance to correct some of
the things that that were ailing them. And if you
look at last year, when they went into the bye week,
(04:45):
there were Mike McDonald was not playing during the bye week.
Last year, he made massive changes to the defense. He
replaced his I believe, if I'm not mistaken, he traded
away his starting linebacker. They cut one, They brought Ernest
Jones into the fold, started him, these Knight became the
other starter, and so and the defense took a step
(05:07):
forward after the bye. So I expect some changes this year.
Obviously five and two, they're really happy with that record,
but they're always looking to get better. I'm looking forward
to seeing what adjustments, what changes they make this year
during the bye week, because those corrections last year were phenomenal.
They helped. I mean, those guys are still making place
(05:29):
for this team. There's a lot of trade candidates, a
lot of teams that are in fire sales right now,
the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets being two of
the ones that come to mind. Right now. It doesn't
look like they need help at receiver. I saw that
Tyler Lockett acts for his release. I'm sure he's looking
to go to it to contender and maybe get a
chance to continue his career this year and chase some
(05:53):
postseason glory. I wouldn't I wouldn't expect them to look
for that, but maybe some some offensive line depth. You know,
if somebody really really impressive in terms of a pass
rusher becomes available for reasonable price, I would expect them
to be in those conversations. But this defensive line is
(06:15):
really good as he is as constructed. There's not a
lot of snaps to go around. There's not a lot
of room for somebody else to come in and you say, hey,
we're gonna bring a thirty million dollar pass rusher in
here and replace one of these guys. I think they
do a great job by committee. A lot of really impressive,
really talented guys on this D line, and they're doing
a good job. So I would think they stand pad
(06:39):
on a lot of these things. But if they get
an offer they can't I mean, get a deal they
can't refuse, and I'm sure they'll take it. John Snyder
has shown he'll be aggressive in the trademarket and I
expect that. But what a win, What a win, What
a start to the season for the Seattle Seahawks. They're
five into the offense. I know, I know, four turnovers.
(07:01):
It's correctable, It's always better to get the turnovers and
have these moments in a win. There aren't many times
you're gonna lose the turnover battle one to four and
win the game by eight points. But they did. And
that's a testament to this coaching staff, both both defensively
and offensively. These players executing a scheme. I love the
(07:22):
way this defense is playing. They're running and hidding, They're
swarming to the ball. I wish they could catch a
couple more of these interceptions because they're in position to
catch them, but I'm sure that'll come later in the season.
I'm looking forward to putting them back in my power
rankings higher higher. People were frustrated about Pittsburgh being three,
and Pittsburgh laid an egg way to let me down. Pittsburgh.
(07:46):
I tried to help big play sleigh and say, hey,
Pittsburgh three. Obviously, they won't be backing my power rankings
anytime soon, but the Seattle Seahawks will. They move up
to one. Two. It's gonna be hard to pass the
Indiannapolis Colt, no question about it. But I think that
Seattle Seahawks right now gotta be two in my power rankins.
We'll figure out the rest later on, But boy, these
(08:09):
Seahawks are gonna be something to deal with later in
the season. Now moving on to the other Monday night
football game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions,
it definitely went a lot different than I thought it
was gonna go. I thought this would be a shootout,
a battle. Detroit dominated almost from the start of the game.
There was a couple of hiccups in there. Jared Golf fumbled,
(08:31):
he missed a couple throws through an interception lay in
the game, and Tampa Bay took advantage of those things.
But I thought Jamier Gibbs, this may have been one
of the best games that I've seen him play. He
had about over two hundred yards total offense, one hundred
and thirty six yards rushing on seventeen carries, an incredible run,
(08:53):
a really cool spin. I mean, it just looked like
he had eyes in the back of his head on
that play. It looked like he was stuffed near the
goal line he spawned, the defender shot the gap right
as he spawned. I mean, it was poetic. It was beautiful,
and I know Detroit fans are excited right now about
the player. He is and the playmaking. Even when Jared
(09:13):
Golf he was twenty to twenty nine for two forty
one and a touchdown and interception. Even when he's a
little off, you still feel dominant. And Detroit has a
streak of fifty one consecutive games without consecutive games without
losing two in a row. That's an incredible streak. And
that's the testament to Dan Campbell and his philosophy and
(09:37):
the way this team battles and the way this team fights,
and the way the team this team continues to go.
But shout out to Jake bates Man. He missed, he
missed the fifty four yard er in this game, but
doinked in a fifty eight yarder. Kickers right now. I
didn't think that this kicking ball, this k ball deal,
that this new rule they made would make as big
(09:58):
of a difference as it has. But man, it's fifty
five plus. Isn't what it used to be? Fifty five
plus used to be hold your breath. Wait ah, I'm
not sure. And right now it's it's almost automatic. I
think it's probably above seventy percent for kickers right now,
knocking these fifty eight plus yarders down. And that's really
cool to see. I gotta say. And I know my
(10:21):
guy Mitch is in here, and I know all my
people in Honolulu Blue are excited. They're five and two.
They just beat the number one team in my power rankers.
They're wondering where they're gonna be. You're gonna have to
wait and see Detroit. But I tell you this. I
will tell you this. Like I said before, I'm a
(10:41):
halfy Indianapolis coach. At one, the Seattle Seahawks are gonna
be two? Can Detroit be three? Can Detroit be three? Hmmm?
I don't know your division rival, the Green Bay Pass
Michael Parsons three SATs this week? Can they beat three?
(11:08):
You're gonna have to wait and see. Baby, you don't
have to wait and see. But I'll tell you what.
This Detroit team just gotta give the fans a lot
of confidence both sides of the football. Playmaking on defense
against a really really good offense, a playmaking offense. They
harassed Baker Mayfield all night, punched the ball out, they
(11:31):
were swarming. I love when I see this kind of game,
a complete game from a team like the Detroit Lions,
a team that came in this season with high expectations.
It's been a little bit up and down against certain
against contenders. Let's say it, against the Green Bay Packers,
it wasn't a great showing, and then against the Super
(11:53):
Bowl runner up Kansas City Chiefs, it looked like they
took them to the woodshit. But then you get in
this game against the Tampa Buccaneers and you look like
the team everybody expected you to be coming into this season.
I didn't hear no, no, no talking about Ben Johnson.
I didn't talk about no I'm not hearing nothing about
these these missing coordinators. When this team is dominant, and
(12:16):
that's good to see. I look forward to seeing them
late in the season. It's gonna be interesting because, like
I said before, this league has a lot of parody
right now. Every time you think, because I thought the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the run, on the row,
they're clearly a favorite in the NFC, and then the
Detroit Lions remind me, hey, don't forget about us. Not
(12:39):
so fast, my friend as the great lead course, so
you would say you can't count them out, and I'm
not gonna count them out. I'm gonna put them back
in my power rankings. I appreciate y'all always for joining me.
You could be anywhere in the work, but you're here
with me, and I sure do appreciate it. Please, please
don't forget to hit that's up button. If you knew,
(13:00):
I see next.
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