Hawks Live With Nehemiah Pritchett, Mike Morris, & More

Michael Bumpus and Bryan Walters prep for Week 7 vs. Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Today's show: Nehemiah Pritchett Interview (00:14), Falcons Preview (11:44), Mike Morris Interview (19:33), Around the NFL (31:10), High Level Preview (40:35), Inside the Film Room (51:10), Talk that Talk (1:01:58), Final Thoughts/ Keys to Victory (1:09:51).

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hawks Live presented by the Dining District at the Bellevue
Collection at Bellevue Squares Center Court, every Thursday from seven
to nine, live on air on Seattle Sports. No, I'm here,
your hosts, Michael Bumpis and Paul Moyer.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
You are listening to Hawk Slide presented by the Dining
District at the Bellevue Collection. The show is at seven
every Thursday right here on Seattle Sports Man and No,
Paul Moyer, he's out in Texas with his family, so
we got Ryan Walter is filling in and typically we
wait a little bit to get to the player interview,
but my man got some things to do, so he
joined us early. You guys cop it up one time
for a quarterback. Nemi Brichett. Yes, sir, neil Mine, thanks

(00:39):
for joining us today. Man, thanks for joining us. The
first thing I noticed when I look at your bio
from Jackson. My mom was born in Jackson, so we
like we like family already, so it's gonna start off
right there.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
Man.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
Okay, all right, last week you got some snaps, man,
what's it like? You know, you played in the toughest
conference in all the land, in the SEC and now
you got some reps in the NFL. What's it been
like so far?

Speaker 5 (01:01):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (01:02):
Man, it's been great. Just stepping in behind reuling this season.
Our coaches always talk about a standard that we have
with any chance we get on the field, So just
being out there and trying not to let the stand
it drop off.

Speaker 7 (01:16):
Let it be no drop off. So it's been fun though.

Speaker 5 (01:20):
So so, first off, I did my my geography lesson
and you're going to Atlanta. There's only I think Atlanta
might be the second closest city NFL city to Jackson, Alabama.
New Orleans probably closest. Right, So do you have a
bunch of family coming? Oh Atlanta, Yes, you got it.
How many tickets did you have requested?

Speaker 7 (01:37):
Probably like fifteen fifteen?

Speaker 5 (01:39):
I love it. That's the best. Now going back, I
want to go back to the New York Giants game
because something that impressed me about you want you know,
that big stop on third down you got in there,
you broke up the past. But something you said in
your post game press conference was, you know you've noticed
these tendencies all game, and you know you didn't know
Ifriq was you know, gonna get hurt like he did,

(02:00):
and you don't ever know when you're actually gonna be
thrown into the fire. Like that, you were taking notes
on the sideline, you're taking mental reps. What's that been
like so far? Kind of you know, being a rookie
almost kind of starting over and having to kind of
take more of those mental reps and kind of get
yourself into the game that way.

Speaker 6 (02:15):
Right in my case, like we have rep and David
willispooning in front of me. So it's just like the time,
the chances that I do get in, I have to
be on points. So I think a lot of mental
reps and a lot of film study comes into play
during that time. Just taking notes all throughout the week
and just getting those reps through practice. I think that

(02:37):
helps in the game a lot.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Now I'm gonna go back to high school when I
I played receiver. When I was in high school is
the corner?

Speaker 3 (02:43):
You know, you do everything in high school, right, And
I used to love cover too. And I love cover
too because I can get physical with the receiver to
give my eyes in the back of the kind of
see what's going on there.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
What's your what's your favorite covers?

Speaker 6 (02:54):
I'll say, man man, just because you get to get
hands on, you ain't got to worry about too much
like this show man, and this why you had to
go out for the rest of the down. So I say, man,
all right, we just covered too isn't bad either.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
I like too. You can make it look like man,
you know what I'm saying, and rough them up and
then you know you know what I'm talking about. So yeah,
I used to love too.

Speaker 5 (03:15):
I used to love when they would run to As
a wide receiver, you feel like you're always opening that
honey hole for some reason, but then you get smacked
by the safety. So it wasn't always true. H Going
back to your high school and all that, you're an athlete.
You played three sports? When started? When did you think that?
When did you pick football over every When did you know?
Because I know you were all stay in baseball as well,

(03:36):
good basketball player. How did football become the sport for you?

Speaker 6 (03:39):
I'll say my junior year when I started collecting offers
foot football always been my favorite sport. So like once
I started getting office in high school, like I knew
football was the one.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Now they say you played baseball.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
A lot of us play baseball, but you played baseball
for real like now I played. I'm sure you played
in high school. To be if it wasn't a fastball,
I wasn't touching it. So what was your what was
your off season like? Because you know it's hard to
juggle all the sports. I'm sure coaches are they want
you to spend time here and spend time there. How
did you juggle being a multi sport athlete in high school?

Speaker 7 (04:13):
Al Right, it was super busy.

Speaker 6 (04:15):
I really never got any downtime, and that's kind of
how it is now. But just playing all three sports,
your whole summer was taken up by going to baseball camps,
going to football camp, so going to baseball workout and
summer workouts. So it's just like you really have no downtime, so.

Speaker 5 (04:35):
Keeps you busy? Hell love it? Now? What what made
you ultimately the side on Auburn?

Speaker 6 (04:40):
It was the only SEC school, well old Missing Auburn
was the only two SEC schools to offer me.

Speaker 7 (04:47):
And Auburn was close to home.

Speaker 6 (04:49):
I mean my dad was an Auburn fan, so it
was SEC ball, so it was I mean it was
right up the road, so I just took a chance
around with it.

Speaker 3 (04:58):
So back in two thousand and then six you were
probably just a baby. Back then, I played for Washington State.
We went out to Auburn and the culture is just different.
And I was telling these guys at dinner, I go, obviously,
there's what ninety one hundred thousand fans out there, But
the grass at Auburn.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
I mean, it's like anything else.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
I'm from California, so we played in after three weeks,
it's nothing but dirt at this point, but the grass
at Auburn was something so smooth we fall on it.
You're sliding for a while. Just to signing before I
ask a football question, what was that?

Speaker 2 (05:30):
That? That Iron Bowl rivalry? Like, man, it's one of
the biggest games in the country every single year.

Speaker 7 (05:34):
Yeah, it's a crazy rivalry.

Speaker 6 (05:36):
It's something I grew up watching because like in BEMA,
like we have no NFL team, so it's all about
college football and Alabama. So that was a super big rivalry.
And especially when BEMA come to Jordan Hare in Auburn Stadium,
it gets real crazy.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
Now, did you follow what Alabama did last weekend? Did
you see what happened?

Speaker 7 (05:58):
I did?

Speaker 5 (05:59):
Oh, the big loss to Vandy. What do you think
about that? I know you're probably pretty fired up about that.

Speaker 6 (06:05):
I mean, it wasn't an so I wasn't superfieder, but
all right, I just like seeing them lose anyway.

Speaker 5 (06:12):
So all right, hey, take me take me back to
kind of the whole process getting ready for the draft.
Where did you think the Seahawks were a potential team,
you know, how the all the workouts and everything you
did or was that a kind of a shock on draft?

Speaker 6 (06:25):
It definitely was a shock. I had no clue to
see how its was gonna draft me. I had a
couple of thirty visits that I took prior to the draft,
and I had those couple of teams in line, had
a list of teams that I thought I could potentially
go to by talking to them at the Senior Bowl
the Combine. So but I never talked to Seattle during

(06:47):
the thirty visit or combine.

Speaker 7 (06:49):
So it was a shaka.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
How often do you talk to the fam back home?
I know it's a long ways away.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Have they been up? What's the communication?

Speaker 4 (06:56):
Like?

Speaker 6 (06:56):
I talk to them every day, especially my parents, my siblings.
Any chance I get to talk to him, I talked
to him.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
But how many brothers and sisters you got.

Speaker 7 (07:06):
I got two brothers and one little sister. You're the
oldest year. My sister is nine.

Speaker 6 (07:12):
Both of my brothers are sick, so it's a big
gap between it.

Speaker 5 (07:16):
Have they been out to Seattle yet to visit?

Speaker 7 (07:18):
They have not yet.

Speaker 5 (07:19):
Do they have any plans to come out?

Speaker 6 (07:20):
I'm not sure yet. I'll try to get them out
to a game for sure, though.

Speaker 5 (07:24):
Nice. So what have you been? Would have been your
thoughts on the Northwest so far? Being out here in Seattle?

Speaker 4 (07:28):
Is that?

Speaker 5 (07:28):
Does it kind of surprised you? And training camp? Atmosphere?

Speaker 6 (07:32):
Everything through our training camp? I mean, the weather was beautiful.
When I first got drafted, a lot of people saying
like it was gonna be raining a lot on the
weather wasn't gonna be too good. So but the whole
time I've been here has been pretty.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
It's about to get real right now. You feel it's
about to get real out here.

Speaker 5 (07:50):
Man?

Speaker 2 (07:52):
What was it like making that play? You know?

Speaker 3 (07:54):
I believe that was probably your biggest play of your
career so far. You seem like a reserve type of person,
but we all know ballers hit to hit the field
and flip a switch. What do you like when you're
out there on the field in your element.

Speaker 6 (08:09):
I'll say, I'm not a super big trash talker. I
just try to do my job to my best ability.
As you see, like when I make a play, I
get excited celebrate with my teammates, so it'd be fun.

Speaker 5 (08:22):
How's the cornerback room been for you so far? And
as someone really kind of took you under their wing,
who have you really looked for, looked up to as
a as a veteran?

Speaker 6 (08:31):
I'll say all of the guys like we bun like
super good me. Anything I have a question about, I'm
always asking the veterans or anything they see me struggling with.
They always pull me to the side and ask me
like do I need help with anything? They willing to
spend extra time with me. So all of the bit's
been been great.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Man.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
We get to speak to you guys every week a
different player, and we talk to you guys when you're
three and on. If we spoke to you guys when
you're three and three, and it doesn't seem like anybody
has changed it all, Like the focus is still there
with this team, the energy is still there. Why is
that is the coaching stad Mike McDonald what keeps this
team so focused?

Speaker 7 (09:09):
All right?

Speaker 6 (09:10):
And I'm glad that you said that, because after practice
today I'm glad, like everybody had great energy, great juice.
So I think we just continue to try to stack.
We know we got a lot of games ahead of
us as well, so just try to continue to build.
And like I said, we got a penny more time

(09:30):
to get more wins.

Speaker 5 (09:31):
So you know, it's a I gotta I gotta ask
this question. I asked every single rookie we talked to
this question. We've all had it. I know Bump has
had it. I'll explain mine. It's to welcome the NFL moment. Right.
Mine was the first day we ever had pads on.
It was in San Diego and I went over the
middle and I got crushed underneath the chin and I
had like four stitches. My very first time getting hit

(09:52):
in practice. Have you had it? Doesn't have to be
a hit, doesn't have to be just kind of like
a welcome to the NFL moment like here, I am, Wow,
I just got kind of humbled a little bit or anything.

Speaker 6 (10:01):
Yeah, in training camp, I was in with the ones
and I was going against DK met Chal and he
kind of he ran like three back to back fade
routes on me and it was perfect placement by Geno
and DK was making some d.

Speaker 3 (10:22):
So yeah, mine, I would say mine was when I
was running up a scene and I had a linebacker
running with me, and I'm like, you ain't supposed to
be this close. I still had him by a couple
of stats, but like, you're not supposed to be this close.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Different level there, man. I know you can't tell us
too much about.

Speaker 3 (10:38):
You know, the game playing against Atlanta, but but what
are you seeing with the Falcons?

Speaker 6 (10:43):
I think they're pretty good foot well rounded football team.
Got a great quarterback and Kirk Cousins. They added some
weapons with Mooney. This year they got Drake London, which
is a pretty good receiver also, so they got some
weapons for sure. So it's gonna be a good test.

Speaker 5 (10:59):
Have you know noticed kind of from from your first
week week one to now where you're at week six,
just kind of a development or a kind of the
you know what it's like to be a pro and
in your preparation to get ready for the games. Does
that change much at all?

Speaker 6 (11:14):
I would say I think I had a pretty good plan,
like during training camp, so I think that just transferred
over to the season, and I've been been doing pretty
good since.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Well, Nia and My We're glad you took time out
of your day to hang out with us today. I
know you guys got a big week, a long flight
back south. You gotta sALS, some family and stuff, so
we appreciate you. Man, give it up one more time
for cornerback Nea my Bridgett.

Speaker 7 (11:37):
Thank you go Hawks.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
All right, when we return, we'll get a Falcons preview
that is next right here on Hawk's.

Speaker 1 (11:42):
Lite hawkss Live. I'm presented by the Dining District of
the Bellevue Collection at Bellevue Square Center Court Live on
air on Seattle Sports.

Speaker 3 (11:55):
Welcome back to Hawks Live of Michael Bumpus with my
guy Brian Walters Man to show I always here at
seven o'clock every Thursday. You'll find us here man at
Belvy Square Center Court.

Speaker 8 (12:05):
Man.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
We just spoke to Neami Pritchett.

Speaker 3 (12:07):
It's always cool when you get to get to know
the player, right. You gotta see them out on the
football field and see them making plays and it's like
a it doesn't seem real, but then you sit down
and talk to these young men and you figure out
one why the Hawks drafted him, and then get to
know them a little bit. And I think it's important
to get to know these guys because they are people,

(12:28):
you know, I mean, not just football players.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
But let's talk about these Falcons.

Speaker 4 (12:32):
Man.

Speaker 3 (12:32):
It's an important week enough for these Seahawks start off
three to oh, you lose three in a row.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
Everybody's jumping ship.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
Not everybody, I know, y'all out because you're here on
a Thursday at Hawks Live, right, but a lot of
people are jumping ships, saying they should do this, they
should do that. But you got a game in front
of you that I think they have a chance to win.

Speaker 5 (12:48):
B walk.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
So the Falcons are four and two overall.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
Offensively, the Falcons are eighth in the NFL, the Hawks
are seventh. When it comes to running the football, the
Falcons are twenty first, the Hawks are twenty nine. Throwing
the rock, the Hawks are sick the season, the Falcons
are six, the Hawks are first, and then points per game,
the Falcons are putting up twenty four game and the
Hawks are doing the same. Defensively, they look similar as well,
all right, Seventeenth overall for the Falcons, nineteenth for the Hawks,

(13:13):
twenty fifth against the run, twenty seventh for the Hawks,
ninth against the past, and tenth for the Seahawks. You
look at the numbers, man, this should be an even game.
But I feel like there are some advantages. The Falcons
only have five sacks on the whole year, five sacks.
They also have five interceptions. They have just as many
interceptions as sacks. I think that's a unique stat right there.

(13:35):
But when you look at these Falcons, what do you see?
You what do you think the advantages are?

Speaker 5 (13:40):
I think that's exactly where my eyes went when I
saw the five sacks. You went up against teams like
the Lions. You have to go against Aiden Hutchinson. Then
you go to the Giants, which you know the Giants.
We weren't very We should have beat the Giants, but
that is probably the best D line in football right now.
They leave the league in sacks, which is kind of
mind to me. So, and you got Dexter Lawrence to

(14:02):
deal with. Then you go to the forty nine ers
and you have Nick Bosa you got to deal with
and all those guys, And then you go to the
Falcons and you kind of don't know any names and
that is such a relief to me, the fact that
they are they have the least amount of sacks in
the league. Right and so I'm sitting here looking at
the Falcons and I'm going, what's given us the most
most problems right now? And offensively Seahawks offense against the defense,

(14:26):
and it's been you know, our offensive line struggles. And
if they don't have to deal with some of those superstars,
I'm really looking forward to to. It's not a relaxing
game like for the offensive line, but the same time,
it's like, okay, like let's get into our stuff. Let's
protect Gino and let's really see what this offense can do.
And I expect some big numbers from him because of
that reason, because Gino has been under pressure all year.

(14:47):
He's been having to throw through tight windows, pockets closing
on him, he's been trying to scramble, he's been trying
to make plays that he's done really really well with
what he's been given so far. And and same with
Kenneth Walker and the running games. So I'm excited that
we don't have to deal with, you know, the big
name star, the big, big time defensive line. So it'll

(15:08):
be a little bit different than past weeks, which which
plays into our advantage a little bit.

Speaker 2 (15:13):
No, I love it.

Speaker 3 (15:13):
They had a three game stretch that was tough. You
named all the names that you could, right. The New
York Giants have the best defensive line of the game.
I agree with you. The Detroit Lions are probably one
of the two most well rounded teams in the NFL.
I threw the Baltimore Ravens in there as well, and
then the forty nine ers are the forty nine ers.
You know that they are going to tackle well, they're
going to get to the football. So I'm looking at

(15:35):
this offensive line and I'm saying you, finally, you don't
get a week off, but you don't have to deal
with as much as you have the past two weeks.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
And what that does, in.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
My opinion, it allows them to gain some confidence man.
Because you know, in any sport and in life and work,
if you don't have confidence, man, you don't stand a chance.
So I'm excited for them to have an opportunity to
do that. But I do want to see a clean
pocket and make sure these guys are good to go
so it comes to stop being the run. Here's the
one thing that Falcons do have. They have two running
backs who can get it done. You got Bejeon Robinson

(16:04):
out of Texas, you have Algier, who was a thousand
yard rusher last year. I think this is the way
the NFL is going. You're not just gonna have that
one power back unless you are the Baltimore Ravens, unless
you are the forty nine ers. You're gonna have a
one two combo back there. So once again, offensively, you
don't have to worry about the d line going crazy,
but you do have to worry about two running backs

(16:25):
who are more than capable.

Speaker 5 (16:26):
Yeah, exactly. And it's all set up because of Kirk Cousins'
ability to throw as well. So that's what get these
guys going. But we know what Bejean Robinson brings. He's
I'm gonna go Fantasy football wise, probably the number two
pick for almost everyone here, right behind Christian McCaffrey's. He
brings a lot to the table. But but those backs
are different. I think Algiers a little more of a
power back and he's gonna it's almost I'm not gonna

(16:49):
compare Bejeon Robinson to Kenneth Walker because they're they're they're
a little bit different, but I think that the Algier
and the Charbonnay comparison is there. I think those are
both the power backs you bring in to your starter
to kind of just kind of wear you down and
keep hitting you that way. But those guys, I mean,
with the struggles the Seahawks have have shown the past
three weeks, this is this is a little bit scary

(17:11):
when you look at those two guys and all right,
now we have to stop these two and some of
the best runners in the game, and they bring a
lot of problems. So it'll be interesting. But the ten
games are the ten games ten days off. You know,
you hope that these these little fixes or adjustments that
the Seahawks will make, we'll get them back on track.
You know, we're gonna have Bira Murphy back. Bira Murphy

(17:32):
to me is the main is the main who have
we had for the first three games versus who have
we not had for the last three games? And Byron
Murphy's the the uh you know, the what's the variable,
the missing variable that I've seen there. He's the guy,
and so I'm excited to get him back. We got
the new guy from Jacksonville I'm excited about that. So
they're adding the pieces to really hone down on the

(17:53):
running game and make kirk Cousins go back and throw
fifty sixty times a game.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
Yeah, the same way you just describe the backfield for
the Falcon. I want to talk about the Seahawks backfield
the same way, and I think there's a chance to
do that. You have Ken Walker, who's a thousand yard rusher.
You have Zach Charboney, who's the nice mix up. But
it's all about getting those guys going. Last game against
the forty nine ers, we saw Ryan Grouk try to
get the run game going, but once you're down thirteen

(18:18):
twenty points, you got to air down and let it
go because you need to get yards in points quickly.
I want to see how he approaches this game because
I think you have to be stubborn with the run
at first. Because the reason why those two running backs
from the Falcons are able to go one They have talent,
of course, but they got a pass game that can
go a couple games ago. Kirk Cousin throws for five
hundred yards. He's more than capable of tossing the ball
across the yard. He got Drake London over there, the

(18:41):
young player out of US Sea Draft, out of the
USC in his third year. You have Kyle Pitts to
tidy out of Florida as well, So they got weapons.
So just like we talked about the run game for
the Falcons and their potential, I think we can do
the same if the Hawks find a way just to
get a man on a man and get run game going.

Speaker 5 (19:01):
Yeah, exactly. And I loved what I really did love
what Grub did against the forty nine ers. He the
way he came out and just said, we're gonna establish
establish this run and really it's gonna set up the
play action and stuff for Gino. Did it work, Eh,
not as much as we would want it to, But
the thought is there, and that's what you have to do,
and that's what you have to keep doing every single game.

Speaker 3 (19:20):
All right, man, we got a tough game this week
going down south to the Falcons and taking on or
going to Atlanta and taking on the Falcons. All right,
when we come back, we will chat with Seahawks Mike Morris.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
That is next right here on Hawk's Lot.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
Hawks Live presented by the Dining District at the Bellvue
Collection at Bellevue Square Center Court, live on air on
Seattle Sports.

Speaker 3 (19:43):
You are listening to Hawks Slot, presented by the Dining
District after Bellevue Collection. The show starts at seven on
every Thursday, right here in Seattle Sports seven to ten,
broadcasting live from bell Vy Square Center Court. All right
now via the phone line. We are joined now by
defensive lineman Mike Morris.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
How we doing We're doing great.

Speaker 4 (20:02):
I ain't think y'all gonna have me on here, so quick.
Bow in my mouth. I'm king some tea. I'm drinking
some tea with some man.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
Take take it time. You good, good, Hey again, thanks
for joining us. Man.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
My first question is I'm watching you this year. You're
a versatile player, man. You know I've seen you in
the a gap taking on the doubles. I've seen you
on the edge.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
Man.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
How do you change up your game according to where
you're lined up defensively?

Speaker 4 (20:36):
I feel like you have to. You have to be
very versatile when it comes to the NFL, especially with
just knowing my role on the team, Like I have
to be very honest with myself and everything that's going on.
There are a lot of guys in front of me
who have a lot a lot more experience and who
have done this for a very long time. We is
going this tenth year than Jay Res going on eighth

(20:56):
or ninth year, Pink is going on was twelfth year.
So it's a it's a lot of guys up there
who have been in the league for a long time.
So I need to get in where I fit in
and make sure I'm as versatile as fossil, so the
coaches feel that they can put me out there and
have trust and faith in it. So it just like
I kind of have to live in that world. What

(21:16):
my from what my DC told me like, I have
to I have to be there.

Speaker 5 (21:20):
Hey, Mike, you might think this is uh, this is creepy.
Last year you came on the show, I was here,
we interviewed you. Awesome job, and then from that point forward,
I think you got injured that next week and you know,
your shoulder you went down and everything.

Speaker 4 (21:35):
I was injured when that when we when we did that,
when we did.

Speaker 5 (21:38):
That show, I think, yeah, exactly, exactly, no, yeah exactly,
I think that's exactly what it was. But every single week,
you know, we're coming from the press box we're walking
down and when you're injured, you're on ir you sit
in the suite, and you were walking down to the field.
Every time I'd walk by you, you know, and you're
six six to ninety five, and I'd and I just
talked to you. But man, I was intimidated by you. Man,

(21:59):
you're giant, and I was gonna say what's up, hey,
Mike every single time I walked by you, But I
chickened out. I didn't say what's up. Uh, But on
that note, on that every time, I don't know why.
It won't happen again. But you're not up there anymore.
Now you're playing, you're on the sideline. You're healthy. Yeah,
but hey, tell tell me about that process, just kind
of battling the shoulder injury, getting back and now you

(22:20):
know you're you're out there every single game this year.
How's that been for you?

Speaker 1 (22:25):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (22:25):
Man, it's been amazing. It's definitely been a journey, just
not only having a surgery but just working my way
back into it. And also, like as athletes, we kind
of have to build up that courage and trust ourselves
with coming back from injury. So I've been dealing with
that and like now like just believe or not, like
like right now is where I finally like actually just

(22:46):
feel comfortable with my shoulder and I feel comfortable with
everything that's going on with my body. So it's it's
been a grind, but I'm happy that I'm here in
this place.

Speaker 2 (22:55):
Right now talking.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
We're talking to d Lineman, Mike morris Man, so obviously
Mike McDonald is here. And if you ran his defense
when you were in Michigan, so I know you're a
younger guy on the team, but were you kind of
like all right, fellas, let me let me show you
how that's done. This is what he means when he
when he uses this type of terminology. How have you
been able to help the defense?

Speaker 4 (23:14):
No, no, no, no, I just let the coaches coach.
I didn't want to be. I didn't want to be
that guy that was one of the main impistes. I
never wanted to be because like I was that I
was I'm not gonna lie. Aiden and Goo used to
talk about me a lot of how like they call
their nickname for me in college was coach Mo. And
because I was just I was just coaching people up

(23:35):
too much. So I just took the back row seat,
especially like not playing last year and just like letting
the coaches coach and the coaches handle what they handle
and just sit in the back and just know what
they're talking about. I know, the whole terminology, whole defense
house orchestrated, but I'm just sitting back and learn the
coaches handle the business.

Speaker 5 (23:52):
Hey, well, all right, so the defensive side of the ball,
you got that down, But what about special teams?

Speaker 6 (23:58):
One?

Speaker 5 (23:59):
Did you ever have to play much special teams when
you're at Michigan? And then two, kind of how's that
adjustment been because you're like a huge part of the
special teams now for the Seahawks.

Speaker 4 (24:07):
Yeah, I mean just just versatility. You gotta you gotta
just help the team as most possible. But Coach j
was trying to get me in the special special teams
around when I was in college, and I was just like, nah,
I don't do that, just like as like a young guy.
And then by the time I was like a big dog,

(24:28):
it was kind of too late. But all I did.
I think all I did in college was special teams
like punk return, so I just go and rush and
then just walk while they returned the ball. But this year,
I've taken it out myself just to just with being
with coach j being being one of his players back
for back in Michigan. This is definitely taking upon myself

(24:50):
to just make sure that he's one of the best
special team coaches in the in the National Football League,
and my return man are one the best in the
league also, So just wanting to be the wanted to
be a key guy in that instance and just helping
my team the best way I can and my coaches.

Speaker 3 (25:10):
Also, you mentioned the return guys man Leaviska took one
to the house.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
What's that like for you, guys man?

Speaker 3 (25:17):
Obviously he gets a lot of the shine and the love,
but it don't happen without you, guys man. How excited
was that unit to see him take one to the house?

Speaker 9 (25:24):
Man?

Speaker 4 (25:25):
It was nice. And the thing about like the Luska
that what made it so special for us is like
he's a team's guy, teams guy, teams guy. You know,
he's all about the team, doing whatever he can to
help the guys out. And when that happened, it was
just I feel like it was a moment for all
of us that we all scored on that play. Like
the whole special Teams unit caught on that play because

(25:47):
previously he fumbles and he was Beatinghi Stuf about it,
and we just kept reaffirming him that, bro, you're our guy,
like they don't kick it to you again, and we're
gonna be good, and they keep it to him again
and then took it to the house. So that's the
testament just who he is a character, but also who
we were and having his back.

Speaker 5 (26:06):
Hey, looking forward to the Falcons, you know they you
know that they have two big time running backs. They're
tough to stop. You know, how excited are you or
you know what kind of challenge does that bring for
you guys? And you know, just to kind of get
things right with the Falcons, it gives us, It gives
us a.

Speaker 4 (26:23):
Great opportunity to kind of set the records straight because
these last three weeks have been hard, difficult, and we've
been battling like a lot of injuries. That's not an excuse,
but we just kind of need to set the records
strate on who we are in the in the NFL
and kind of just like tell everybody like, nah, those
games were flukes, Like this is who we really are,

(26:45):
you know, and just kind of just tell everybody we're here,
because there's a lot of a lot of you look
back at the film from the last three games, like
in those three games, we shot ourselves in the foots
every chance we could have got, and we still ended
up almost winning every single one of those games. So
if we just eliminate those things and eliminate just the

(27:06):
self afflicted wounds, those games could have turned the tide
and we could have probably been sitting here six and all.

Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah, man, I think you learn a lot.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
You learn a lot after losses, and I know you
don't want to lose games, but if there's a silver.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
I don't want to learn. I don't want to learn,
all right, I just want to win.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
But what what have you learned though after the losses
about this team and just about Mike McDonald and his leadership.

Speaker 4 (27:35):
I feel like this team is definitely greaty in all
aspects of the word, because after every single one of
those games, we could have easily been a team to
be like now, we're just gonna kind of fold and crumble.
And we see teams all all like that all around
the league. When things go hard. It's just like kind
of just like, all right, bro, game's over, Like I'm

(27:55):
still getting my check. But we made it very clear
of who we want to be as a team and
how we want to how we want to play and
if we're gonna lose, lose on our terms. And I
feel like every one of those games we lost on
our terms, even with the sufflicted wounds. Wounds, we showed
everyone that if we come to when we come to play, like,

(28:16):
do not sleep on us, because we will punch you
in the mouth. And its just again eliminating self flicking wounds.
And that's it. Like we're we're one of the best
teams in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (28:27):
Yeah, I like that.

Speaker 4 (28:29):
Let me let me put that Ino like it.

Speaker 5 (28:32):
I'm fired up, jump to the wall, hey, and on that.
You know, you guys had three games in eleven days.
That that's tough on a player. Uh, I've done that.
It's it's tough to recover.

Speaker 4 (28:42):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (28:42):
But then you also you had a little little mini
bye week is what we called it. What have you
done the last three days? If you got away from football,
cleared your mind, if you if you stayed in football,
what's been going on? The last pass.

Speaker 4 (28:55):
I sat down on the couch and relaxed, like I
went to like an a event out here, the wrestling
wrestling event, just just to kind of just get away
from football a little bit, because this job can be
really stressful, even though itsionary looked upon like that, but
I feel like every job is is a lot, especially
when things aren't going the way you wanted to and

(29:16):
we're not winning, and it could easily be frustrating. So
you just kind of got to remove yourself. And also,
like this game takes so much time away from our families,
because like there are times where I want to be
home and or my fiance has something to tell me,
but she can't tell me. I can't talk about it
because I'm at work and my phones don't be undisturbed.

(29:36):
So just being taking that time to spend time with
your family is definitely something that I look forward to.

Speaker 3 (29:42):
All Right, So you said you're on the couch. So
when you're on the couch, are you gaming Netflix? You
say you got a fiance, y'all? Watching Love is blind? Like,
what's uh?

Speaker 2 (29:50):
What's what?

Speaker 4 (29:51):
I can't I can't get on that wave. I can't
get on that way. I'm not gonna I'm a big kid.
So I like watching like all the old Disney movies
that I grew up watching. I'm trying to find us,
trying to find the show to watch with us, because
he watched we We just finished what's it called Modern Family,
so we're trying to find a similar show to that,

(30:12):
and we finished The Office before that, so yeah, we've
already watched them before, but we're just kind of just
running through that. So we're in that like comedy sitcom
phase right now. We're trying to just find a new show.

Speaker 5 (30:22):
Hey, Mike, you mentioned a w event. Are you a
w or E w W E? What's your preference there?

Speaker 4 (30:28):
Hey, man, man, man, Man, don't be messy.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
Trying to mess up his money, trying to mess.

Speaker 5 (30:35):
Man man Man, all right, I'm out trying.

Speaker 4 (30:37):
I'm not gonna answer that question. That question sounds like
a double ed sword.

Speaker 3 (30:41):
All right, all right, that's awesome, that's awesome. Hey Mike,
always always a pleasure talking to you. Man, Safe travels,
go down to the South and da thing.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
Man.

Speaker 4 (30:50):
We appreciate your time, Oh for sure, Man, I appreciate y'all.
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (30:54):
All right, Hey, come join us here at the Hawk
Slive at Belvy Square Center Court. Well, you'll have a
chance to win gift from the Dining District at the
Bellvy Collection tonight they're giving away gift cards to Tavernhall
and Wild Ginger.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
When we return, we'll go around the NFL. That is
next right here on Hawks Live.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
Hawkss Live presented by the Dining District at the Bellevue
Collection at Bellevue Square Center Court, live on air on
Seattle Sports.

Speaker 3 (31:21):
This is Hawks Live every Thursday at seven o'clock right
here on Seattle Sports seven to ten. I'm Michael Bombas
with Brian Walters, and we here with the people. Thank
you for joining us live, and if you're listening, thanks
for joining us on this Thursday. It is time for
us to go around the NFL. If you wanted to know,
the Broncos are getting it done. Twenty six to three

(31:42):
in New Orleans. Sean Payton, welcome back, and he's doing
this thing.

Speaker 4 (31:47):
Man.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
I don't know if I picked the Broncos to win
or not. I think I picked them to win. I'm
not sure. I'm just gonna say I did because it
makes me look smart. All right, let's go around the NFL.

Speaker 2 (31:56):
Man.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
The biggest news we're talking about receivers. You got two receivers.
Up here, we're gonna talk about receivers, so we'll go
with the smaller news with the receiver before we get
to the big one. Amari Cooper is out of Cleveland.
The nightmare is over for him. He led the league
in drops, but I want to say partly because of
his quarterback situation, the stress that he's under. We spoke

(32:16):
to somebody over there at Cleveland. They said he's essentially
checked out. They knew this team wasn't going anywhere, didn't
believe in de Shaun Watson. He checked out. He has
another chance this year to get her done, going to
the Buffalo Bills, and I think that's the best thing
to happen at Josh Allen. He starts the season undefeated,
hadn't turned the football over, but didn't have that number
one target at receiver. Now he has it in Amari Cooper.

(32:38):
What does that do for Josh in his game?

Speaker 5 (32:40):
Yeah, I'm curious how quick he can get into the
mix and start understanding the playbook and how Josh Allen works.
Because what a weapon. What a pickup by the Bills too.
You know, I saw stat that they're only owing about
eight hundred thousand of Mari's salary because the Browns converted
his salary to a signing of at the beginning of
the year. So now the Bills are only on the

(33:00):
hook for that small portion. So I mean to me,
this is just brilliant by the Bills to give as
long as now that he's with Josh Allen, he's not
drop happy, right because if he starts dropping passes and
Josh Allen can't count on that's a big thing, then
it's just then then you start getting on Amari Cooper
about that. So, uh, it'll be it'll be fun to
see how they work and how quickly the chemistry can

(33:22):
be built between those two because it's not going to
be right away. He's not gonna be able to go
in there and understand how Josh Allen works, how he's
calm plays right away. But you know, give it, give
it three, four, four weeks. I see that being a
huge weapon for him.

Speaker 2 (33:37):
All right.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
So that is the uh, the smaller news still big
news for the Bills. With smaller news, the biggest one
is uh Man Aaron Rodgers. They've been talking about this
for about a year and a half gets his wide
receiver and Devonte Adams right after a game where he
tosses a.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
Ball up to Mike Williams. Mike Williams doesn't catch a football.

Speaker 3 (33:57):
Rodgers is throwing him under the buzz Say, he didn't
get to thee I saw the film. There are things
that Rodgers could have done to help him get to
the mid line, our redline. But you got to be
where he's supposed to be. So now he didn't have
to worry about that. DeVante Adams is back there. He's
actually living with Aaron Rodgers right now, so they're they're
rooming together. They're getting to know the playbook they play.
Russell Wilson in the Steelers side note, Russell my start

(34:19):
this week.

Speaker 2 (34:20):
We got a two of the old heads going at it.
But let's focus on DeVonta Adams and what that means
to the Jets.

Speaker 5 (34:25):
Yeah, well you look at that and you go Davante Adams,
Garrett Wilson. I mean, those are two dynamic receivers that
Aaron Rodgers has. So no more excuses for Aaron Rodgers, No,
there's not. I mean, this is this, this is now.
The Jets are wanting to win right now, and if
they don't, then you got to put it all on
Aaron Rodgers. They've already, they've already, you know, scapegoaded Robert
sala For. I think the struggles of Aaron Rodgers and

(34:47):
and now Mike Williams there's you know, so they're they're
giving Aaron Rodgers every way out, so now it's his
time to perform. And you know, on that note, since
we're talking about salary, the salary, Davonte's ode eleven point
four million by the Jets, So they didn't get quite
as good of a deal as far as a bargain,
but I think they get a better receivers when it

(35:07):
comes to Devonte Adams compared to Mary Cooper.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
And there's some urgency over there. It's win. Now. Aaron
Rodgers is forty, I mean, ain't gonna play forever.

Speaker 3 (35:14):
So when you have the defense that they have, they
got guys in the second, first, second, and third level.
You have the running game that they have in Breeze
hallm you have the receivers that they have Davante, you
got Garrett and don't forget Lazard, who's coming off a
big game, had one hundred yards last game. It's all
set up for them to win. They get rid of
their head coach, they demote the offensive coordinator. I mean,

(35:35):
they've been doing a whole bunch of stuff over there
in New York, so they better get it done or
it's all for nothing. We shall see, all right, Let's
talk about Russell Wilson, justin fields four and two has
not turned the ball over one time, accounting for ten touchdowns,
and Mike Tomlin is saying, look, I told Russell Wilson
he had the pole position going into the season. He

(35:57):
got injured as Cavish jacked up, going to give him
an opportunity.

Speaker 2 (36:01):
What does this mean to you? Because there's a couple
of ways you can look at this.

Speaker 3 (36:04):
What angle are you looking at Russell Wilson possibly getting
the starting with Sunday?

Speaker 5 (36:08):
I have two angles on this one. I kind of
respect Mike Tomlin for this because I've never thought players
should lose their starting starting spot to an injury. I
think that's just kind of a part of the game,
and you know, guys should be able to have the
chance to prove, like you know, this was a fluke thing.
Let me get back in, let me prove myself, let
me put up the numbers. On the other hand, I think, man,

(36:30):
the Steelers have been winning. Justin Fields has been not
I wouldn't say he's winning games for the Steelers, but
he's not losing him for the Steelers. You know, he's
showing his athleticism, he's using his legs a lot. Their
their whole playbook, you could tell is different because of him,
because they're design quarterback runs with him and just kind
of getting them out there running with with the Naji
Harris and uh that running attack that they have. They're

(36:53):
they're kind of he's kind of they're incorporating Justin Fields
into that. They're not gonna do that with Russell Wilson.
So what I'm kind of curious about is how this
offense is gonna change. I know Russell's gonna hand it
off a lot, because that's what they want to do
if they want to hand it off. But they're not
going to be having design runs for Russ. He can't
run anymore like not like he could not like he
used to. So I think they're going to open up
the passing game a little bit with Russ. And you

(37:15):
know what, part of me, just to just throw this
out there, thinks that they want Russ to perform well
as trade bait to show that he still has value
and then get some trade for him at that point,
and Justin Fields is their younger, more athletic guy to
lead the team in the future. I like that angle.

Speaker 3 (37:30):
I'm also looking at the angle that they're trying to
see who they're gonna roll in for the next two years,
you know, because then you can draft a quarterback, you
can develop them. Who do they want to kind of
lead the charge for a couple of years, as they
figured out, if they go Justin Fields, there's no rust
to draft rush to draft a quarterback. If you go
Russell Wilson, you got to get one within the next
year or so. This is wild to me. I get

(37:52):
it because I feel like Russell Wilson opens up the
playbook a bit more for Arthur Smith. But I also
feel like, if the young man is winning ball game games, yeah,
you let him ride it.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
Until you're not winning ball games.

Speaker 3 (38:03):
I think you're tied for first place in the AFC
North or you're in first place, like they're in control.
But you know that Baltimore is getting better. You know
that the Bengals aren't gonna go anywhere. The Browns say
goodbye to them. But it's a three horse race, So
it's a it's an interesting move. I wasn't prepared for
that one.

Speaker 5 (38:20):
It's a really I can't imagine what that team meeting
was like. I mean, I'm sure Tom Lan didn't announce
it in front of the whole team, but you know,
you're four and two and you're winning, and all of
a sudden, we're making a change at quarterback, which I
don't know if that's happened ever in the league, that
they're gonna bench their starter or not their starter. They're
technically yes, Justin Fields was their backup point of the year,

(38:41):
So I get it. I give him a chance, give
russ a chance. You know, maybe Rusk can rejuvenate his
career and finish off there. So I'm excited to watch
him play again, see if he's coming back healthy.

Speaker 3 (38:52):
And then in Las Vegas you get rid of Davante.
This is just saying, look, we're trying to rebuild over here.
You know, Gardner issue was no longer the starter.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Go Koog's.

Speaker 3 (39:02):
You got O'Connor over there doing his thame Antonio Pierce.
The honeymoon is over with him no more in the
locker room smoking cigars, celebrating these little victories. They got
to get down to business. So you're we're seeing a
transition going on throughout the league. So yeah, So with
the with the Marii Cooper going to the Bills, now
going to the season, the Bills are already considered contenders.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
Does that I mean, does that increase you think their.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
Chances because you still got the Chiefs over there, you
still got Baltimore. I always describe the AFC as like
the prestigious conference when it comes to quarterbacks, and then
you come to the NFC and it's kind of like
this is more the collective group.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
But how much better does that move make the Bills?

Speaker 5 (39:45):
Yeah, it's almost a replacement for Stefan Diggs in a way.
It's that they're still looking for that big playmaker. And
you know Stefan Diggs. We've seen what he's doing now
in Houston. He's continued to perform. So they got to
get that that guy back that can to be that
game changer a little bit. So I think the Bills
are always contenders no matter what without Amar or with Mario,

(40:08):
they're still contenders. But they're trying to get themselves over
that hump to beat the Chiefs and get to that
Super Bowl because they haven't been able to do it.
So if a Mari's the piece of the puzzle that
does that and gives them that extra weapon, then then
what a movie. I think. Regardless, it's a great move
by them, even if it doesn't get them past the Chiefs.

Speaker 3 (40:26):
All Right, that was around the NFL on Hawks Live.
When we come back, Seahawks, they got some roster moves
going down. We'll talk about that next.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
Hawks Live presented by the Dining District at the Bellevue
Collection at Bellevue Squares Center Court, every Thursday from seven
to nine, live on air on Seattle Sports no. If
you're your hosts Michael Bumpus.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
And Paul Moyer, you are listening to the Hawks Live.
I got Brian Watks's filling in for Paul Moyer. I
am Michael Bumpus every Thursday right here on Seattle Sports seventeen.
You can holler at us, ma'am. There are some things
been going down with these Seahawks, man. Unfortunately, Rayshawn Jenkins
was put on the ir So what does that mean
for the Hawks? That means that you might see Kobe Bryant.

(41:09):
That means ty O Katta has been elevated from the
practice squad. Also, if you didn't know, if you haven't heard,
the Hawks brought over a man by the name of
Roy Robertson Harris from the Jaguars. He's a defensive lineman,
can play inside, he can play outside. There was some
things going down already Burns his banged up. Trey Brown
will see more of Niami. Pritchett is going to get

(41:31):
some more opportunity to play because of the injuries.

Speaker 2 (41:33):
This is just the football season. This is how things happen.

Speaker 9 (41:36):
Man.

Speaker 3 (41:37):
I got my opportunity in the NFL because guys went
down and you have to stay ready. I don't know
how you got yours, man, you were just nice like that.
Maybe you know they just gave you an opportunity. But
this is the NFL, man, what is this As a
guy who was a you know, a number two to
start this whole thing, and we heard from Pritchett, it's
just important that you're always locked in, you are focused,
ready to go, because you never know when.

Speaker 2 (41:58):
Your number is gonna be called.

Speaker 5 (41:59):
You know, answered your question, Bump, I think I had
about three guys get hurt in front of me before
I finally got my shot. So it's just next man up,
not just not not just you. Yes. And what we
talked about when neim I Pritchett a little bit was
the fact that he's on the sideline. He was a
four year starter ober R and so and he's on
and so now he's he's forced with this task that

(42:21):
he's got to be on the sideline, kind of taking
mental reps the whole time. You got to be in
these games. You gotta be, you know, studying the tendencies
that they're showing you. How are they attacking the corners
without even playing, without even being out there, because when
one guy goes down like Rieke did, you're you're thrown
into the fire and you can't there can't be a
misbeat there. And when he came in made that big

(42:42):
stop on third down against the Giants, and he said, hey,
you know, we've seen these tendencies all game. He was
in it. He's locked in. So that just that's the challenge,
that's the challenge to all these guys asked to step up.
If it's Kobe Bryant, where Racheon Jenkins is on the
i R. Now Kobe Bryant's ask to step up you know,
he's the guy that's got to fill in and there
can't be a the the big the gap and uh,

(43:02):
you know it's not We've been talking about injuries all
year with the Seahawks, but the Seahawks aren't the only
team dealing with injuries. This is every single team thinks
they have the injury bug at this point of the
year because they all do. It's football, there's gonna be injuries.
So I think that's the importance of the roster and
the depth bringing guys in like I'm gonna butcher the

(43:22):
name Roy Robertson Harris. There we go. That's the first
time that's a we need to find.

Speaker 2 (43:28):
A nickname for him.

Speaker 5 (43:29):
That's what we need to do. We need to find
like we gotta as we got to ask him what
do they call? You can't keep saying Roy Robinson Harris
did it again? Right, Robertson? I messed it up anyway.
But but bringing depth like that in is just is
huge because now if you have a guy like Bira
Murphy go down like he did, you just you just
have more rotation, more guys. Because we noticed guys, guys

(43:50):
were getting tired up front. Yep, you know, guys were
standing a little taller than we're used to than then
they were. The first three games when the rotation was full,
guys were getting a little taller, maybe driven back a
couple more years and they're used to. And that's that's
gonna happen when you don't have really the depth that
you're used to. So bring guys in like that, next
man up. Uh, you know, it's just it'll be it'll
be fun to see these guys step up.

Speaker 3 (44:11):
And at the beginning of the season, we just talked
about the depth of the secondary, the safeties of corners
not knowing or anticipating that you're gonna need that depth. Right,
We've seen Reke Willing go out, Trey Brown gets some opportunity,
Jenkins is out. Now Kobe's gonna get some burned. And
let's talk about Kobe for a minute. Man, Kobe is
is interesting to me because when he came into the league,

(44:33):
he's a Jim Thorpe Award winner best corner in the game,
opposite of Sauce Gardner, and he's causing turnovers and for
some reason he kind of just fade out of what
the Hawks were trying to do. Sometimes that's just out
of Look, this guy is playing just a bit better.
He's a bit older, he knows our scheme. But I'm
excited for Kobe because this gives him an opportunity to
re establish himself as a contributor, not just a guy

(44:56):
who runs down on special teams that makes place.

Speaker 5 (44:57):
Yeah, to me, it's kind of a testament to Kobe
because I think that the secondary is so deep that
I think coaches realize, hey, we need Kobe on the field,
and the quickest way for him to get on the
field is to move to safety because but he has
the ability to be a safety. He has the ability
to make plays of safety, not necessarily a corner. But

(45:18):
he's gonna get on the on the field faster that way.
And now we're seeing it. So uh, I don't think
we've ever seen Kobe really get into full swing of things.
You know, he's never been that like every down kind
of guy for the Seahawks really, so it'll it'll be
fun to kind of see him get in that game mode.
We know, we know what that is. Bump, right, There's
a big difference a guy that goes in every seven plays,

(45:39):
once every seven plays, once every ten plays, you know,
to fill a role for a guy who's tired and
he's a breather right as a receiver or as opposed
to your in there every second, every third down, every
passing situation. You're in there almost every single play. You
almost get in that, you get in the zone, you
get in the game mode, and your game changes.

Speaker 2 (45:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (45:56):
I feel like you you almost care less, if that
makes sense, and you're just in the game, just playing thinking,
you're not thinking about, man, this one play I'm in,
I'd better not mess this up, Like, that's not what
you're doing. So getting Kobe into that zone playing safety
where he's in every single down, it'll be fun to
watch him in action, I think.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
So Kobe will get more action. We're gonna anticipate seeing
Wallace as well. We've seen Wallace this year. He's made
a couple of plays himself. So you're really seeing the
depth of this secondary. Unfortunately, but fortunately because you have
some guys who can play and get her dumb. All right,
let's focus on the Falcons here for a little bit.
This is going to be a battle of the quarterbacks.

(46:34):
I feel like both teams want to get the run
game going, but both teams lean on their quarterbacks to
set the tone and get her going. I would love
for Geno not to throw the ball fifty times. If
he doesn't throw the ball fifty times, that means the
run that means the run game is going. I'm on
the other hand, I would love for Kirk Cousins to
throw the ball fifty times, because that means their run

(46:55):
game is not going. We haven't seen a lot of
play action. I mean, I think Geno operates well when
you can run the ball and hit them with the playagshot.

Speaker 5 (47:04):
Yeah, one hundred and uh And I think that's the
importance of getting the run game going, and both teams
will be doing that. To me, the Falcons team, it's
almost these teams are trending in almost two opposite directions,
which is kind of you know, the Falcons have won
three in a row. Seahawks have lost three three games
in a row, and and so this is uh but
but but we keep looking at it on paper, we

(47:25):
look at the stats, we look at what the Falcons have,
and it's a good matchup for the Seahawks. It's a
it's a matchup that we still feel the Seahawks should win.
It should come out on top of this one.

Speaker 9 (47:34):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (47:34):
Where the Falcons have really kind of impressed me a
little bit is their ability to win in different ways.
They've had out of four wins, You've they've had Kirk
Cousins go for over five hundred yards and that's how
they won the game. They've had the running backs go
off and that's how they run the game. And then
they've had their kicker just have to make a bunch
of kicks and they won a game that way. So
they've won games in multiple ways. So I don't think

(47:56):
the Seahawks game plan. I don't think that they're going
to be able to just take one thing away because
they're pretty efficient in all these things, you know, running.
But if you're going to do it, you said it
at the very start, is make Kirk Cousins throw at
fifty sixty times a game. Because I think our dbs
match up well with their receivers, I really do. I
think Witherspoon, I think if Trey Brown plays, Reek plays,

(48:20):
I think they just match up with Drake London, Darnell Mooney,
and Kyle Pitts. I think Kyle Pitts has been a
little bit of a disappointment for the Falcons I've heard,
you know, rumblings of him being kind of lazy, and
we knew that going and he's not going to be
the blocker that they expect him. So he's almost just
a big, maybe slower receiver. And yeah, I think we
match up with that. I think Julian Love, I think

(48:42):
guys like that take care of that. So I like
the secondary matchup against the pass catchers of the Falcons.

Speaker 2 (48:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (48:47):
For Kyle Pitts Man, when you're the number four pick overall,
they're expecting you to go for at least a thousand
yards and six touchdowns every year.

Speaker 2 (48:55):
He's yet to do that. But he's also had a few.

Speaker 3 (48:58):
Quarterbacks over there, right, you have Murrao there for a minute,
Desmond rid of there as well, so there's room for
growth when it comes to him over there. All right,
running game, gotta get this run game going. And I
went on our show on the Bumping Station Show ten
to two. If you guys ain't doing that throughout the day,
Holly at me and I went out there and I said, look, man,
you're not gonna get four or five linemen to show

(49:19):
up tomorrow and kind of save the day. So it's
up to the coaches to try to get the best
out of these guys that they have here and try
to coach them up because I watched the film and
it's just little things. You and I were talking over
dinner and we talked about that last run by the
forty nine ers to seal the game, and you said,
what it was blocked just perfectly to perfect.

Speaker 5 (49:38):
You know, when you get on a whiteboard and you
draw the lines, like, hey, you're blocking this linebacker and
you put the little line to seal them off. I
mean it was that. It was that in perfection. Just
everything you drew up was perfect, And no play you
ever drawn a white board turns out the way you
draw it, and that one did.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
So I'm not asking for those guys to be the
forty nine ers and execute that play that perfectly.

Speaker 2 (49:59):
But if you are six.

Speaker 3 (50:01):
Something three hundred pounds and you just get to the
right guy, good things are going to happen because you
have running backs who can manipulate, run around and do
all that good stuff. So I'm looking forward to see
how the coaches prepare this offensive line. Because you have
who you have, there's not going to be a huge
trade at the trade deadline.

Speaker 2 (50:19):
And bring in three or four guys. This is who
you have, so get the run game going.

Speaker 3 (50:24):
I also want to see something that we've been asking
for and we've actually seen a bit more of it
this year.

Speaker 2 (50:29):
This is screen game. Get going. If you cannot protect
your quarterback consistently, what do you do? You get the
screen game going quickly?

Speaker 3 (50:37):
All right, Hey, make sure you get out to Bellevue Collection, Dining,
dishc so many great restaurants to choose from.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
Today.

Speaker 3 (50:43):
We had our pre show meal at Tavern Hall. I
had the spicy Chicken pizza. Our producer had the spicy
chicken sandwich and b wald Hat Pepperoni pizza.

Speaker 2 (50:55):
Pepperoni pizza he got.

Speaker 3 (50:57):
He stepped outside the box, you know, he tries something
new and with Pepperoni pizza.

Speaker 5 (51:01):
Do I regret it?

Speaker 4 (51:02):
No?

Speaker 2 (51:02):
No? You okay?

Speaker 3 (51:03):
All right, when we come back, we'll go inside the
film room. Man, We're gonna break down some plays and
that is next right here on Hawk's.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
Live, hawkss Live. I'm presented by the Dining District of
a Bellevue Collection and Bellevue Square Center Court live on
air on Seattle Sports.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
This is Hawks Live. I'm Michael bumpas this is my God.

Speaker 3 (51:24):
Brian Waltch's Man, presenting live from the Dining District at
Bellvy Square. We are at Center Court every Thursday at
seven right here on Seattle Sports seven ten. It's time
to go into the film room. This is what keeps
me young and alive is watching film.

Speaker 2 (51:40):
All right.

Speaker 3 (51:41):
I know you people watch the game, but I can't
wait till I get home and the all twenty two
is up and I can get in coach mode and
we're texted back and forth between the broad cast crew
and trying to figure out what went right and what
we're wrong. So this first play, after a fumble, Laviska
Chanolk gets another opportunity.

Speaker 2 (51:57):
He goes ninety seven yards and a kick return to
the house.

Speaker 9 (52:01):
Niners lead twenty three to three. As right gets set
to kick it away from left to right, Leavisca Shanal
de Williams the two deep men. This one's gonna come
up short out to the three yard line. Is Leviska
Shehanal how to cross the twenty cuts back inside twenty
five thirty, breaks a tackle.

Speaker 5 (52:17):
He's on the run.

Speaker 10 (52:18):
He could go forty thirty five being chased twenty fifteen
to ten.

Speaker 5 (52:23):
Well let's get shit.

Speaker 10 (52:24):
All our hero of the game so far touch down,
say Hawks, just exactly when the Seahawks needed something to happen,
some bit of good luck, Laviska Shenal.

Speaker 8 (52:39):
Takes it almost one hundred yards for the touchdown.

Speaker 3 (52:44):
So if I remember correctly, they were down twenty three
to three at this point. Laviscus Chanld had fumbled m
Kate return prior to this, and the Niners score, and
you gotta make something happen, and this is how you
do it.

Speaker 2 (52:59):
I'm sitting next to a kick return extraordinary, so you
let me know what you see.

Speaker 5 (53:03):
B I think that's the best part is that he's
coming off of fumble and then you just you just
hope he can change the game somehow, and he comes
in and does this returns it for a touchdown. This
is a straight middle return. It's easy. There's two double
teams on the forty nine ers L five and the
forty nine ers are four. So for anyone who doesn't
know what that is, it's gonna be the middle guy

(53:25):
on the left side of the field for the forty
nine ers, the fifth guy in from the sideline, and
then it'll be the fourth guy in on the right
side of the field for the forty nine ers. So
when you take it, there's still a guy an R
five for the forty nine ers that is left unblocked
on this. So to me, this is probably a game
plan thing. They see him and Chanault, they say, hey,

(53:46):
we're gonna leave you one on one with this guy.
You have to make him miss. We're not gonna block
him because if you double team two guys, you're gonna
be short someone. Right, you don't take into account the kicker,
but you're gonna have another guy, so you're gonna be short.
You're gonna have to leave a guy unblocked. So I
don't know if I've ever seen this bump. I don't
know if you've seen this. Uh, just a guy in
the middle of field left unblocked on a middle return.

(54:06):
But that's exactly what they did. And Chanolt put his
foot in the ground and made the guy miss. And
then that's when everything else works. Because what I love
to see here is after the initial point of attack
by a lot of these blockers. Here you see Aj
Barner and Drake Thomas, the perfect examples. After their initial block,
they worked their way upfield and and and kind of
pick up garbage is what I would say. You know,

(54:28):
they're just kind of they're floating and picking up more garbage,
and that's clearing the way for Chanolton chanol had one
job well he made he made two good cuts. But
then the third one was make the kicker miss. Returners
can never get tackled by the kicker. That's like a
cardinal rule them bears. You do not get tackled by
the kicker. And he didn't, and he was off to
the races with it. Really the play that got the
Seahawks back in the game as a momentum changer.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
Man, I love this.

Speaker 3 (54:51):
This The mental toughness to come back after a fumble
is huge. And we talked to Mike Morris, who was
on this team, this uh special team's when that happened,
and he said, look, we let Leviiska know we have
his back and we believe in him, and he's gonna
make a big play. And that's exactly what happens. This
is textbook, man, middle return. You hit it up the gut,
you pass the first wave, second wave, and then you

(55:11):
hit the sidelines. You get away from everybody. What I
don't appreciate about this is that on the TV broadcast,
they showed my man.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
Leaviska throwing up on the sideline that list.

Speaker 3 (55:21):
I took a punt to the house in Arizona in
college for like seventy some yards and I was throwing
up too. Now, I mean, when you exert all that
energy and you're so emotional, things happen.

Speaker 2 (55:32):
My guy went one hundred and two. I don't think
he threw up though, And you know.

Speaker 5 (55:35):
What that will. I was on the oxygen. But any
time you could ever get on the oxygen, you got
it because it means you did something.

Speaker 7 (55:41):
You know it did.

Speaker 5 (55:42):
But the thing that that happens the returners when they
have a play like this, they run more after the
play than they do during the play. You know, he
runs one hundred and some yards whatever, but then after
the play you see him take off down the sideline celebrate.
You never catch your breast, so you're running two hundred
yards and you don't stop. So the oxygen is it's
tough to come back.

Speaker 3 (55:59):
And he's hollering at the camera. We saw him yelling
at the camera. He exerted a lot of energy, burned
like a thousand calories that one play, right this next
play Geno Smith, Oh my goodness, this one hurt my heart.

Speaker 2 (56:10):
He's looking for DK. Unfortunately the pass is intercepted.

Speaker 9 (56:13):
JSN shifts over to the left side til the locket
is wide to the right. Geno from the shotgun four
man rushed by the Niners. Geno time stands.

Speaker 8 (56:23):
Droves intercepted, intercepted by Green inside the twenty down to
the fifteen. The second pick of the night for Geno
and he just underthrew that ball and it was undercut
by the cornerback and man, oh man.

Speaker 5 (56:38):
Those kill you.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
Those just hurt. Man, this one hurt.

Speaker 3 (56:43):
They had a chance to would go up or tie
the ball game at this point, and this one hurt
my soul and everyone else is sold in that stadium.

Speaker 5 (56:51):
What you see be well, we did hear from DK
this week, and he came and owned it. He owned
the route, he owned everything. It's a tough one. I mean,
the plays there. The thing that's about this play, this
is very receiver. We love to talk about this play
because as a receiver, our main rules are one state

(57:14):
quarterback friendly. Yep, like that would be kind of the
main rule you have. And what that means is you're
always kind of no matter what route you have, unless
it's like a deep ball or a post or something,
you're always kind of working your way back to the quarterback,
and so you're kind of limiting the distance between the
ball and you, so the defender can't undercut these things.
And on this play, DK just has a fifteen ten

(57:36):
to fifteen yard in route. It's a dig route to
put his foot in the ground and come quarterback friendly
straight across the field, maybe losing a yard, and Gino
saw the initial angle that DK gave him. He put
his foot in the ground and DK kind of just
kept fading up field a little bit drift drifting up field.
He saw green grass, is what he said. And the

(57:59):
dB on the fort night was able to undercut it.
And that's exactly why you stay quarterback friendly. So it's
just a tough situation because they were going in, like
you said, bump to tie it or take the lead.
All the momentum was on the sea X side and
you have a big interception like that. But good thing
that we've had ten days. We'll have ten days until
they get back on the field to clean these little
things up and kind of attention to details.

Speaker 3 (58:21):
This is why you do exactly what you're told, nothing more,
nothing less. If the QB is expecting you to flatten
that thing out, go horizontal across the field, you do
exactly that, even if there is green grass out there.

Speaker 2 (58:35):
And I've been big up to the DK because he
owned it.

Speaker 3 (58:37):
He said it was his fault, and big ups to
Geno because he did not throw DK under the bus either.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
But yeah, you described it perfectly.

Speaker 3 (58:44):
When you when you start playing football, especially at the receiver,
they tell you not to drift because you cause interceptions
and you might get little by that safety who's lurking
back there. So unfortunate for DK and the Seahawks, but
that's the way that went.

Speaker 5 (58:58):
Down, all right. I was just gonna say it. In
the receiver, when you don't have a quarterback's eyes, you
never want to change your angle that you're on, too.
That's kind of a big thing. If you have his eyes,
then maybe a scramble drills happening, you can change your angle.
But when you don't have a QB's eyes, he's going
through his reads. He sees your initial angle you take,
and he's assuming you're gonna stay on that angle until
he gives you his and so that and that's exactly

(59:18):
what happened there.

Speaker 2 (59:19):
That's a great point, all right.

Speaker 3 (59:20):
This last one, Isaac Grindo Ice is the game with
a seventy six yard run after the Seahawks have made.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
It a one score game with one thirty nine remaining hurd.

Speaker 9 (59:28):
He's gonna go under center in the backfield, single setback,
getting the handoff.

Speaker 8 (59:33):
Straight ahead of no off to the races. Is Grindo
be chased? Can't he get caught? He is at the
five yard line. Witherspoon catches him. There's only a couple
of things you can't do in that situation, and that's
give up a big play.

Speaker 3 (59:56):
I hate to say this about the Niners, but man,
this is beautiful. I mean, this is this is football
right here. This is what offensive coordinators dream about. Your
guys executing late in the game to seal it. McCaffrey's
not in the game, Mason's not in the game. We're
down to your third stringer, and yet they're still able
to execute this zone beautifully. You got a double team

(01:00:19):
on the zero tag by your left guard. He combos
up to the linebacker. Your right guard double teams which
are tackled. Then he climbs up to the linebacker. You
got your fullback who's lining up in the tight end spot.
He double teams and goes up to the nickel. Everything
that needed to happen happen in this play.

Speaker 5 (01:00:35):
Yeah, I don't even want to talk about this play.
I hate this. It was such a It was hurt.
It hurt when this happened because we have so much
hope you get down there. And the worst part about
this is, you know, as a defense, you need three
stops and they're going to run the ball three times yep.
So there's no question. This is just kind of you
versus them. There's no trickery, there's nothing happening and happen,

(01:00:55):
nothing fancy that they're going to run at you because
they need to waste your time outs. This is just
just say, hey, we need to just stop him. And
the forty nine ers, like you said, this is perfection
by them. The way they executed these blocks. The running
back didn't even get touched. He didn't get touched until
Witherspoon tackled him. He went through, he touched his own guy.
But after that it was just there was a hat

(01:01:17):
on a hat. Double teams worked up to second levels
they broke off. The only person that had a chance
was Jenkins, who kind of took the wrong angle of
eight yards down the field. So the game was gonna
be over anyway because's probably gonna fall for us first down.

Speaker 2 (01:01:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:01:29):
So it was just perfectly executed play by the forty
nine ers at the most inopportune time.

Speaker 3 (01:01:34):
Man, that was tough. But you know what, Zip, your
cap forty nine ers are playing good football. They have
the Chiefs this week. So hold for an l you
get a W boom. You're in first place all by
yourself in the NFC West.

Speaker 5 (01:01:45):
All right.

Speaker 2 (01:01:45):
When we come back, it's time to talk that talk.
This is when b and I square off.

Speaker 3 (01:01:50):
We talk about some topics and he tells me I'm
right and I tell him he's wrong.

Speaker 2 (01:01:55):
That is next right here on Hawk's lot.

Speaker 1 (01:02:00):
It's time to talk that talk with Michael Bumpus and
Paul Moyer on Hawks Live.

Speaker 3 (01:02:08):
Welcome back to Hawk's Live of Michael Bumpus with Brian Walters.

Speaker 2 (01:02:12):
Every Thursday.

Speaker 3 (01:02:13):
We are live from Bealfy Sports in the Court and
live on Seattle sports Man.

Speaker 2 (01:02:17):
So it's time to talk that talk.

Speaker 3 (01:02:20):
This is when we throw out a topic or two
or three, maybe even four depending on the time.

Speaker 2 (01:02:25):
And we debate them, why is it gonna happen? Why
isn't it gonna happen? And yeah, we just go after it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:32):
So the first one we got here, Brian Walters, the
Seahawks will not excuse me, the Falcons will not run
for more than one hundred and fifty yards on Sunday.
And now you got one eighty five by New England,
you got one seventy five by was it the boys?

Speaker 2 (01:02:50):
Last week?

Speaker 3 (01:02:51):
No, by the Giants, and then last week got over
one hundred yards I believe as well. So you know,
they've shown that it's hard for them to stop to run.

Speaker 2 (01:02:59):
What do you said?

Speaker 5 (01:03:00):
You know what I don't like about this is usually
one hundred yards to the mark. You know, usually we'd
ask this question, we'd say, you know, the Seahawks or
the Falcons will not rush for more than one hundred
yards right Sunday. You know that's kind of the the
the you know the mark you used. But now we're
going one to fifty, so we're giving a little lead weight.
I'm gonna say that after this whole ten day break

(01:03:20):
that they've had, not break, they've been practicing they've been working,
they've been getting in the film room, they've been making
little tweaks and changes. They have some guys healthy, Bira
Murphy's back, they got the guy from Jacksonville in the trade.
I am gonna go with They are gonna hold them
to under one hundred fifty yards. I'm gonna I'm gonna
board this. And as good as those running backs are,

(01:03:43):
I just I see it as a breakthrough game.

Speaker 2 (01:03:46):
For the Seahawks.

Speaker 3 (01:03:46):
Okay, all right, Well, the Falcons are averaging one hundred
and thirteen yards per game, so if they are to
go for over one fifty, it will be a horrible
performance by everyone involved. And Mike McDonald talked about their
waves of defense. Right, you got your defensive line, Yeah,
you got your force, your secondary force and all that

(01:04:08):
good stuff. Everybody is invited to this party. If they
go for a buck fifty, I would be concerned about
the win this weekend.

Speaker 7 (01:04:16):
So I'm with you.

Speaker 3 (01:04:16):
I don't think they're gonna go for buck fifty. They're
averaging one thirteen.

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
I'm sure they have a game or two out there
where they were explosive. This is not gonna be that game.
So I think we agree on this one.

Speaker 5 (01:04:27):
It's not going down, all right, all right, all right, bumba,
I'm gonna say here we go. The Seahawks will be
turnover free.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
On Sunday, turnover free on Sunday.

Speaker 5 (01:04:39):
And how about we add to this and will force
a turnover.

Speaker 3 (01:04:43):
Okay, I like that double whammy. Turnover free. Gino threw
two interceptions last game. He's averaging interception the game.

Speaker 2 (01:04:52):
Essentially. DK has fun with the ball twice. Laviska has
fun with the ball.

Speaker 3 (01:04:58):
So I think just coming and I think they will
be turnover free, and I think that they will force
a turnover. I believe Kirk Cousins has five interceptions on
the season, and he's due. Kirk Cousins is gonna be
forced to throw the ball more than thirty to forty
times because we just talked about how they're gonna lock
down the run. So there's gonna be opportunities out there

(01:05:19):
for our safeties to get involved, for the corners to
get involved. So look, I'm on both of these, man.
I'm two for two on this one. They will be
turnover free and they will force a turnover.

Speaker 5 (01:05:31):
I'm gonna go one for two on this one, all right.
I'm gonna say I think there'll be a turnover. It happens,
It happens. There's a lot going on. If you know
you have ten to fifteen drives a game, I think
the chances are there will be whether it's a tip
ball off the line of scrimmage that's you know, randomly
picked off, or some guy makes a great play getting

(01:05:52):
his hand on the ball causes the fumble. I think
a turnovers could happen and will happen. So I'm gonna say,
but one, I'm only going one.

Speaker 4 (01:05:59):
One.

Speaker 2 (01:06:00):
It's it.

Speaker 5 (01:06:00):
I'm not going two or three.

Speaker 9 (01:06:01):
One.

Speaker 2 (01:06:02):
We can handle one.

Speaker 5 (01:06:02):
We can handle one. But the big thing, if you
turn the ball over once you got to you gotta
force two or three turnovers. You gotta win that turnover battle.
I mean, we're minus six right now in the turnover battle,
and so it's pretty wild to me that we're still
three and three because those are unheard of numbers. But
I think we'll get to Kirk Cousins. And I think

(01:06:24):
that after the ten days, the ten days off. I
keep going back to this ten days off because it's big.
It's a huge thing. I think it's a refresher. It's
like a little mini reset button, and I think the
emphasis will be on, you know, just getting to the
ball forcing turnovers. I like to see some of the
big I think we saw week one Julian Love had
uh he kind of he punched the ball out on
the Denver. Yeah, they just recovered it, and they just

(01:06:45):
recovered it. We haven't seen that sense. We haven't seen
that kind of the ferocious like punches. Yeah, and that's
what it takes. And I want to see that. I
want to see him swarming, and I want to see
the second or third guy in uh, you know, big
punches on the ball and just to get that lucky angle.
I mean, and that's what it is. A lot of
the ball security is still good in the NFL these days,
but you get that lucky angle, there's nothing you can do.
It's gonna come out. So we're gonna we're gonna force

(01:07:07):
two or three turnovers.

Speaker 2 (01:07:08):
Okay, yep, there we go.

Speaker 3 (01:07:10):
Next one, the Seahawks will be once again all alone
in first place come Monday.

Speaker 5 (01:07:17):
This is easy. Seahawks are gonna win, forty nine Ers
are gonna lose. They'll be in first place as simple
as that. Forty nine Ers play the Chiefs so but yeah, no,
I can't go, but I'm gonna stick with it. Forty
nine ers are gonna lose to the Chiefs. I don't
think the forty nine ers are what they used to be.

Speaker 4 (01:07:31):
Uh huh.

Speaker 5 (01:07:31):
And the Chiefs are are looking pretty pretty complete, I
should say. And it's not even a question Seahawks are
winning this week. This is a nice little bounce back
game for him against another Bird opponent, and everything kind
of lines up in the matchup, and I go to
the defensive line. It's this is probably the weakest defensive
line that they have faced in the last three weeks.
It is the weakest. So this is and that's been

(01:07:54):
an nemesis. So boom, win by the Seahawks, lost by
the forty nine ers there in first place all alone.

Speaker 2 (01:07:58):
Okay, don't hate me. I think the Niners win this weekend, man,
I do.

Speaker 5 (01:08:03):
I just think they win in California talking.

Speaker 2 (01:08:06):
No, that's just the Niners are playing better and better
every week.

Speaker 3 (01:08:09):
The Chiefs have really only played one former Bole opponent,
and that was what Week one or two against Baltimore.
I think the Niners are playing good football right now.
And I think that Pat Mahomes isn't playing his best
football right now. He has six touchdowns, six interceptions. He's
being carried by the run game in the defense right now,
Pat Mahomes is liable to go off though. He has

(01:08:32):
a three hundred and fifty to four hundred yard game
in him. But I'm just looking at the way the
Niners are playing right now. Man, I think they're gonna
get them. And I think the Niners right home too.

Speaker 5 (01:08:41):
So isn't that scary though? That Pat Mahomes has not
had a great season and.

Speaker 2 (01:08:45):
They're still They're still undefeated. That's how complete that team is.
He had Jujus Smith Schuster have went for what one
thirty last game.

Speaker 3 (01:08:53):
Yeah, they just find ways to win. But I think
like there's teams on the ascend right now, right Baltimore.
We'll see how Detroit bounces back from that deal. The
Vikings have who are they playing?

Speaker 2 (01:09:05):
Green Bay? I think this week, Oh it's a good game.
I forget who it was.

Speaker 3 (01:09:09):
Vikings have a good game coming up this week, so yeah, man,
it's it's gonna be interesting. But unfortunately, I think the
Niners are going to get her dead.

Speaker 2 (01:09:18):
So all right, don't shoot me, all right? Vikings Lions. Actually,
who do you think is that one?

Speaker 5 (01:09:25):
I'm gonna go Lions.

Speaker 2 (01:09:26):
Lions.

Speaker 5 (01:09:26):
They can't stay undefeated, just like you just picked the
Fort and Jeeves.

Speaker 3 (01:09:30):
The only reason why I'm picking the Vikings is because
I like when quarterbacks get thrown away and and that
team finds them.

Speaker 2 (01:09:37):
It just makes them great. Like what's happening here in
Seattle with Gino, It's.

Speaker 5 (01:09:42):
About the system, not the player.

Speaker 2 (01:09:43):
There you go, there, we go.

Speaker 5 (01:09:44):
All right.

Speaker 3 (01:09:45):
When we come back, we will give you our final
thoughts and keys the victory.

Speaker 2 (01:09:48):
That is next on Hawk's Lit.

Speaker 1 (01:09:53):
Hawks Live. I'm presented by that dining district of the
Bellevue Collection at Bellevue Square Center Court Live on it.
They are on Seattle Sports.

Speaker 2 (01:10:03):
This is Hawks Live. I'm Michael Bumpus.

Speaker 3 (01:10:05):
Well my guy Brian Walters, And for the thousands of
you that hung out with us tonight, we appreciate you.
This is going down as the biggest crowd in live
radio history. We broke records today, folks, and we would
have done it without you. So I appreciate every one
of you. Okay, even you guys in the back, you know,
way back there.

Speaker 2 (01:10:24):
We appreciate you guys, all right, man final thoughts and
keys to victory.

Speaker 3 (01:10:30):
All Right, my final thought, it's not a must win game,
but it's like a you probably need this win, you know,
because I expected this team to win nine eight games
this season, possibly ten after the three h start, I'm thinking, hey,
you know, man, you might go to New Orleans, but
then reality hits and you still got some things that
you were trying to fix, some personnel that you're moving around.

(01:10:52):
You got a draft well in twenty twenty five, and
pick up some free agents. But they should not shit good.
There's a high probability that they win this ball game
if they correct some things. Yes, yeah, wow, brilliant.

Speaker 2 (01:11:10):
I'm trying to be careful for careful, you know, because
you know I said that they should beat the New
York Football Giants and that didn't happen. Yeah, so don't
take anybody for granted.

Speaker 3 (01:11:19):
I know.

Speaker 5 (01:11:19):
It's uh, you're right, it's not a must win game.
Almost as a must win game, but it's not quite.
But the thing you want to see is just you
just need to see the little improvements you want to see,
and because we've talked about you want to see the
route running by the receivers, get a little bit better.
You want to see, uh, the offensive line be able
to create a nice, big pocket for Gino this week.

(01:11:40):
The defensive line is the weakest one they've seen so far.
So you want to see Geno. I want to see
Gino go off if he can have a pocket. I
want to see what he can do without being under
duress every single play. You want to see the running
game go off too, you know, I mean it's like,
I mean, I don't even know how to. You just
want to see everything get better. But I think the
most important thing is you got to shut down their

(01:12:01):
running backs. It's a if you can see them eliminating
the big plays, because we've seen a lot of big
plays in the last three weeks and that's what's killed them.
It's those are such those are momentum killers. And so
if you can you know, teams are gonna get first downs,
teams are gonna run the ball, teams are gonna get
little chunks on you. But it's the big, big explosive
play that flips field position, that changes momentum, that extends

(01:12:26):
the drives, that puts points on the board, and then
in the other way, looking back, it's the little turnovers
that takes points off the board or puts points on
the board. So either way you look at it, you know,
those are the little things you gotta fix. So and
coach Mike McDonald, he said it after the last game
of the press conference. It's about, you know, there's too

(01:12:46):
many you know, there's a lot of there's a lot
of good things, but there's just there's too many highs
and lows. Yeah, and that's the you just gotta gotta
The highs are great, but you gotta limit the lows.
You really do. Those lows are really bad. And that's
I mean, that's says I mean, I can't even you
can't sugarcoat that it is. The lows have been pretty bad.
One of my neighbors gave me a marriage advice. He's

(01:13:06):
been married like thirty five years. He said, ride the
high weather the lows. I'll go, Yeah, that Seahawks right there.
So that's my marriage advice for the Seahawks. Ride the
highs and weather the lows. And then let's get.

Speaker 3 (01:13:19):
Back to this this enthusiastic, intense defense that we saw
the first couple of weeks. Everyone's fresh, so I get
that right, and the body is fresh, the legs afresh,
the mind is fresh, everything's new. So you're flying around
and you're making plays, and then you get punched in
them out a couple of times. Then you gotta decide
if am I gonna keep walking forward? Am I gonna
put up my guards? What's gonna be my plan of attack.

(01:13:41):
It's time for these guys to start walking forward. I
think they put up their guards and maybe took a
couple steps back. It's time to move forward defensively and
get these linebackers flying around. I think that if your
tacklers are not making the majority of the tackles, that's
an issue.

Speaker 2 (01:13:57):
And those are the linebackers right now.

Speaker 3 (01:13:58):
You have Julian Law who's leading the team in tackles,
and last year he led the team in tackles, and
I'm glad that he's a safety net for these guys.

Speaker 2 (01:14:06):
But you want your lbs making those tackles. You pay
those guys to make the tackle.

Speaker 3 (01:14:10):
So if they can get violent again and get downhill
be efficient, I think they're gonna they're gonna have a
chance to win this ball game.

Speaker 5 (01:14:17):
You know, people people discredit the first game of the
year when they played the Broncos, and the Broncos tonight
ran for two hundred twenty five yards against the Saints. Yep,
all right, And everyone said when the Seahawks played on
the Broncos, they're not a good team. They're not a
good running team. They're just not good. And the Seahawks
held the Broncos to under one hundred yards rushing that game.
So the defense can be dominant, and the Broncos have

(01:14:39):
proven that they are. They are a decent team. They're
four and three right now. They've came back and made
a little run, So that's what you want to see.
But when we got done watching that Broncos game, we
saw exactly what we just talked about. It was it
was guys were kind of just fully committed to their assignments.
They're fully committed to these gaps, and they were Everything

(01:15:00):
that was happening was happening at the line of scrimmage
or behind the line of scrimmage, and it wasn't happening
three or four yards, you know, in your territory in
front of the line of scrimmage as a defense. So
I think that's the big thing, is just playing on
the other side of the line of scrimmage. We haven't
seen that. We haven't seen many big tackles for losses
and those game changing plays that puts the other team

(01:15:21):
behind the sticks. And when we talked about it, we
talked about how they were such a cohesive unit and
guys were kind of flowing, flowing together. So if one
guy took a shot fast Downhill took a shot, you
knew other guys were going to clean it up. If
you missed it, you know, you knew your job was
to take a shot on the guys outside or in
this gap, and you're gonna either make the big play

(01:15:43):
or you're gonna affect him and turn them back into
where you have help. And that's what you want to see.
And they did it fast motion and weren't letting, they
weren't getting stuck on these blocks, and it was just
it was really really encouraging, and you just kind of
getting back to that kind of football.

Speaker 2 (01:15:56):
And you got to protect Gino man. I mean, Gino
is leading the league in.

Speaker 3 (01:16:00):
Passing yards, completions, attempts, he's eighth when it comes to
completion percentage, and he's doing all of this while being
the second most sacked quarterback in the game. So if
you can protect him, imagine what life will be like
with a clean pocket for Gino, with receivers running the
precise routes and flattening things out when they're supposed to
just doing what you're supposed to do. I don't think

(01:16:21):
Geno is appreciated enough. On our show Bump and Stacy.
Every day you should see the Geno hate that comes
through and I go, what are you guys looking at? Yes,
he had a bad game his last game through a
couple interceptions.

Speaker 2 (01:16:32):
One was his fault. I believe the one in Tyler
Lockett to open up the game.

Speaker 3 (01:16:35):
But he's putting up these type of numbers and he's
not being protected. You have to be able to protect
Geno against a team with five sacks. So if he
gets a clean pocket, I'm excited to see how these
receivers can challenge their secondary.

Speaker 5 (01:16:49):
Even on that interception to Tyler Lockett and the first
drive of the game, Gino got hit by three forty
nine ers on that play right as you're released it.
He got drilled it. Boso was one of them, and
two other guys from the other side all got Geno.
So even on that he's getting he's getting pressured. So
I think Geno throws one of the best passes in
the game, the way it comes off his fingers, the spiral,

(01:17:11):
the precision. He's known to be. He's proven it for
the last two years as a Seahawk, that he's been
the starter, that he's one of the most accurate passers
in the league. So if we can get him sitting
back there in a pocket where he can really break
down make multiple reads, I don't think we've really seen that.
He hasn't had enough time to sit back there and
really go through a progression, and you know, he's had

(01:17:33):
to go through one, you know, maybe won two reads,
and then everything's always broken down and he's had to
he's had to scramble or do what he does best.
He moves in the pocket so well, the way he
buys extra time. He does it like nobody else in
the National Football League. And so just the Falcons do
not have a good defensive line. Five sacks. If we

(01:17:55):
can keep Geno off the ground, off the ground, no sacks,
maybe one sack, you might he might give a one
Sagie might leave one one on one battle. It's okay,
one and a half.

Speaker 9 (01:18:04):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (01:18:05):
If we can do that and have Gino just sit
back there, and have one clean game. The confidence that
brings one to the offensive line, the confidence that also
brings to Gino saying I'm not going to be getting
drilled every single time I throw the ball. We'll be
huge for this team. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:18:18):
I also think that keep the d line fresh Byron
Murphy is going to be back. I'm telling you, you.

Speaker 3 (01:18:25):
Go forty to fifty plays against a double team, you
are going to be worn out by the time you
reached the fourth quarter.

Speaker 2 (01:18:32):
You mentioned it earlier. That's what we're seeing. So Roy
Robertson Harris, welcome to the team. Welcome to the club.
Byron Murphy, welcome back.

Speaker 3 (01:18:40):
Let's get healthy and keep that rotation fresh man and
uh and just get after that dang quarterback.

Speaker 2 (01:18:47):
Keep the linebackers clean, and we should.

Speaker 5 (01:18:50):
Be okay, we have this three and oh whenever he's
visiting that lineup three and oh.

Speaker 2 (01:18:58):
All right, there we go that one.

Speaker 5 (01:18:59):
You heard it.

Speaker 2 (01:18:59):
Now, that's a stat right there. That's a stat ay.

Speaker 3 (01:19:03):
Special thing to Mike Morris Neiami Pritchett for joining the show.
Our board operator Max Trobel, on site engineer is the
lovely Brendan Rodgers. Production assistant is Ashley Oaks. And our
executive producer is Nasa Troby. The Seahawks Pregate show is
live this Sunday starting at seven am. Until next time.
All Michael bumpas as Brian waltch As. This has been
Hawks Live. Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 1 (01:19:23):
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