December 12, 2024 • 32 mins
The Packers visit Seattle for the first time in six years for a critical NFC primetime showdown. Jen Mueller and John Boyle preview Sunday Night Football at Lumen Field. Today’s Show: Zach Charbonnet (01:58), Sataoa Laumea’s growth (04:49), Josh Jacobs (06:40), Jordan Love’s strengths (11:21), Fantasy Insider Scott Engel (15:10), Mike Holmgren HOF (22:32), and two things we need to see (29:50).
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Seahawks Insiders. Gino looks go way
it up over the top.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Count of man out there is Locker.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
He's got a touchdown.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Sey Hawks getting you ready for Seahawks football Every Sunday.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Ertz drops back, Hastime loads up, proves aj Brown the defense.
Don't you keep your feet him?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
He does say off ball Presented by Delta, the official
airline of the Seahawks.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Now here's your host, Gen Mueller.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We are broadcasting from the Seahawks Podcast Studio presented by Sony,
the official headphones partner of the Seattle Seahawks. Gen Mueller
alongside John Boyle and I have a I don't know
if sobering is the realization that I came up with John.
But I was so proud of myself, Yeah, for doing
Christmas shopping early this year, Like I'm talking about, I
(00:51):
bought presents back in September.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Is that even Christmas shop?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I know it was. It was I had the best,
Like I was so dialed in to this. You want
to know where those Christmas presents are still sitting in
my guest room, not wrapped. And I realized I did
it so early that I have forgotten. They still need
to be sent out.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Oh see, I thought you were gonna forget who they
were for No, I have that list written down.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I knew.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
You lost them.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Nope, nope. They're taking up space in the guest room
closet and the guest room bed, and so now I
have to get those in the mail so that they
make them on time.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Excellent.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Are you in the same boat or no? I mean
I might have time or might not. I might keep
forgetting who knows.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Yeah, we're still working on it. We're getting there.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Okay, so you haven't forgotten anything. You are still working
up to.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
I've got an Amazon cart full of things. I just
need to hit the button on That takes a.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Lot more discipline than I have because if it goes
in the cart, I'm also just gonna hit by Well,
you know, two different approaches. I say this and you're going,
how does this relate to football?
Speaker 1 (01:56):
This is a great open.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
How many people do you think forgot about Zach Sharbonay
until they saw him run? How many people forgot how
good this team could be? Come on, John, that thing
so hard to reach. No, it's not. It's a perfect
segue in the holiday season.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
You do. I'm just not sure that was your best one.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Okay, we're not starting off in a great foot today.
I do think you forget Zach Sharbonay could take over
a game. I think you might have forgotten what Kenny
McIntosh could do in the running game, because we really
haven't seen him that significant or be able to contribute
in a meaningful way since the preseason. I know nobody's
forgetting about JSN, but you might be forgetting about DK
(02:45):
and Tyler given how many opportunities JSN has had. And
I just think the Seahawks are positioned well and Arizona
showed us a lot.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
No, I totally agree, And I think you so often
we hear the coaches we've got two backs we really like.
You know, they talk about both like starters. But unless
you are running the ball incredibly well and running it
forty times a game, you're just not going to get
your backup a ton of touches.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
So we haven't seen it he did.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
You know, Sharbonay did start a couple games earlier in
the year, but for him to break out like that
and have that big a game, break off a long run,
get some tough physical yards, I mean it really did
show how good a hands this running game is in
that if a guy goes down, they've got and even
as you said, Kenny McIntosh, you know, limited touches, but
I think he averaged over five yards of carry. He
looked really good. So you got to like what they're
(03:29):
seeing in the backfield.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I wonder how much of that was truly a few
scheme changes up front, because when you talk to Abe
Lucas and a couple of those offensive linemen, yes, I
know they changed the scheme and they did a little
bit more gap instead of zone. How much of that
was because it was Zach Sharbonay versus that was always
in the game plan, regardless of who your top back was.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Yeah, you know, I don't want to say it's like, oh,
Zach Scharboney made the difference and ken Walker couldn't have
done that, because I think that's not fair to ken Walker.
I just think this is a case of, you know,
both backs are really good and they it up better
than they had and ken Walker would had a big
game as well. So you know, they've they've struggled to
be consistent up front all year, and now that I
think we're just starting to see and this goes to
(04:11):
the pass protection too in those sacks when you have
the same five guys out there for a while, and
obviously Abe Lucas being back helps a lot, but you're
starting to get a.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Little bit of that continuity.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
And you know, the toe all Aumeya is really added
a nice element to that group as well. But some
of it's you know, they've got three new guys from
where they were what it was at five six weeks ago.
Three the five starters are different, and I think they're
just kind of coming together as a unit really well.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Well, and you mentioned Stoolamea and not only did he
have back to back starts, he got all the first
team reps last week. It wasn't a competition between him
and Anthony Bradford. That makes a difference too, as well
as just having real live reps in a game. And
Mike McDonald saw a difference in him from his first
start to a second.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
I think I think just confidence and like consistent just
like consistent performance and execution. So you know, as a rookie,
the first time you see things are the first time
you see things, so being able to be exposed to
all the things you need to be able to react
to and the calls and the footwork and all that
type of stuff, and then just keep hammering away on
the improvements. Again, it wasn't just like it's not with
these guys, it's never going to be this okay now
(05:15):
I'm ready. It's just this constant effort, everybody on everybody
on board, huff, you know, the coaches, all the rookies
going through all the reps, taking them, you know, keep
moving forward. There's many bumps in the road, but every
time this guy took a rep, he just you know,
is getting he was maximizing his opportunity.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
That's all you can ask for, you know, as Mike
McDonald just said that, like, the first game is always
going to be a little tough, and and you know
you talked to me after that first game and he's like, yeah,
it was a little nervous at first. Took took him
a little bit to get settled down. So you get
past those nerves and then you also, as you said,
get that full week of reps. I just think that
you know, week over weak growth is going to be
really big for him, you know, early on in his
(05:51):
first time starting, and it's you know, again, get if
you can keep all five of those guys together, you know,
and keep them healthy, that that could go a long
way to this line playing a lot better than a stretch.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
And whatever their difference and whatever the reason, it all
led to a season high in rushing yards for the team,
career highs for Zach Sharbonay and it sets up a
true strength on strength matchup against the Green Bay Packers.
I mean truly across the board on this one. And
it doesn't matter who's running the ball. You know that
Seattle wants to establish the run, and you know that
on the other side of this matchup, Green Bay has
(06:23):
one of the best running backs in the league. In fact,
you would probably hear more about Josh Jacobs if it
wasn't for a couple of other backs who were doing
some pretty impressive things in Saquon and Derrick Henry. But
third most rushing yards in the league. And he's a
tough one to bring down. Man.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
It's just a physical runner. He breaks a ton of tackles.
I think is yards after contact numbers are pre dag high.
It's kind of a relentless runner, you know, and then
yards after contact are tough. But they do a great
job of block and form as well, and he just
has a really good feel for like what the blocking
scheme is, kind of where the soft spot is in
the defense, and then he's going to hit it with
a full head of steam. So he's a really good back.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
I mean, they've been playing a physical running game all
year long. Seahawks fans probably unfortunately do not need any
reminders about Josh Shacobs. When he was here with the Raiders,
and I believe was twenty twenty two, he had a
pretty good game, including a walkoff long touchdown run. So yeah,
tough back to deal with. Seahawks have been playing run
(07:23):
defense really well since really before the buy against the Rams.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
But this will be a big test when you.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Talk about Josh Shacobs and the number of yards after contact,
more than half of his total yards. Remember he's got
the third most yards in the league. More than half
have come after contacts, so you're gonna have to get
a lot of guys to him to bring him down.
In addition, when it comes to broken tackles, I believe
he has the second most in the league, So you
(07:50):
were going to have to get everybody to the ball.
And really, Seattle has been able to do that. It's
interesting because I was reading some of the opponent viewpoints
of this game and saying, look, Seattle struggled to get
it's the run, and they pointed to last week where
you give up one hundred and twenty one and James
Connor has some yards. But John, I'm looking at that
and I'm thinking about how that game felt on the sideline.
That's another one of those Hey, you can torture the
(08:11):
numbers all you want, That's not what it felt like
during the game.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It did not feel like they were getting gashed or
run on a huge wee. He did. You know, obviously
it wasn't.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
You weren't going to hold the eight yards every time
you play him like you did in week twelve. But yeah,
I mean they that did not ever feel like a
huge issue. He did, you know, he broke off some
nice runds. He's a really good running back. They've run
the ball well all year. But you know, I still
look at that game and I feel like they're playing
good run defense and just kind of the bigger body
of work. It's also easy for people who haven't been
pay attention to look at the season long rushing numbers
(08:39):
and say, oh, well, here's where the Seahawks average, because
you're factoring a lot of games that was almost an
entirely different defense from where they are now exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And if you look at this four game winning streak,
the Seahawks defense has allowed just fifteen and a half
points per game, that is tops in the league. Another
example of strength on strength against the Packers. During the
same period, they are averaging almost thirty points a game,
that is fifth best in the league. Do you like
this matchup overall? I mean, I love what's on the line,
(09:08):
But do you like the overall matchup?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
I mean I like it as like a football fan
who thinks it's going to be a very compelling game.
If you're a Seahawks fan who's just your main goal
is for the sex to win, it's you don't love
it because they're a really tough team, Like this isn't
one of those where you look at all the matchups
and like, oh, the sea Ks are going to dominate
this game. I think they got a great chance to
win it, and they're going to be competitive, But it's
I mean, the way these teams match up, I think
it's going to be how I mean, like you said earlier.
(09:32):
Both teams have been running the ball well lately. Both
teams defend their run well. Both teams have been getting
a lot of takeaways this season. You know Seahawks more
so lately, but there's a lot. Both these teams are
doing a lot well lately.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Well, and I want to talk about that in just
a second, but if you stick with a Packers offense
and what Seattle has to do, it has to be
stopping the run because you don't have a true not
just because of Josh Jacobs, but for as good as
Jordan Love has been, you don't have a true number
one receiver out there, and so those receiving yards have
been down quite a bit. In fact, Jordan loves not
attempting the same number of passes that he was earlier
(10:04):
in the year.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Yeah, well, you know, ideally, if you have a good
running game, he doesn't need to. But yeah, for sure.
I mean every game, every coaching player is going to
tell you it starts with stopping the run. But it
really feels that way this week to the point you
just made, and as this defense has shown in this stretch,
when you can stop the run and get teams into
these more obvious passing situations. That's where Mike McDonald can
you know, as Devin Weatherspoon would say he can cook.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
No, he said, get in his bag. I'm sorry, not cook.
Get in his bag. Yeah, and then that way they
could cook.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I I personally, I would love.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
To wait the person who has a cooking show.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I know, I have a cooking show on what's called Yeah,
I Cook, You measured. Leonard Williams is out. We've got
episodes with Derek hall Boye, Mafey JSN and Julian Long.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Now that's a j That is the segue.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Way to set me up for that one. You know
who can actually cook quite a bit is Jordan Love,
at least on the field. I have no idea if
he can cook off the field, you.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Should invite him on your show.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
We can tell I'm gonna it's an open invitation, Jordan,
if you'd like to come and cook with me and
I cook you measure. Look, even though they're not trying
to get the ball down the field, when you look
at the overall numbers, and keep in mind Jordan Love
has missed a couple of games this season with injuries,
the seventh in the league with twenty one touchdown passes
thrown and he leads a top ten offense. And while
(11:19):
we focus on Josh Jacobs, Jordan loves quite the playmaker too.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
Deep Aarryer accuracy is really impressive. It's arm talent's really good.
It's got a really really good control of their system,
operates their offense really well, plays decisive think how extends
plays and still gets the ball down the field even
when pressured is pretty dang good as well. So it's
first time really being exposed to him on like multiple
games and stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
So's he's a really good.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Player, and he seems to be getting clean, getting healthier
and playing cleaner than earlier season. The one, you know,
as well as he was playing, the one sort of
knock on him was he's thrown a lot of interceptions.
For a lot of the first half the season, he
was either at or the top of the league interceptions.
Now he's gone three straight games without throwing one. And
you know, I was talking to one of their writers
that covers them, and he said, it's mostly just he's healthy.
(12:05):
He's been banged out for a lot of season. He's
finally getting healthy. So tough, tough challenge all around this
offense well, he's got.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
A clean pocket though too. I mean, look at the
total number of sacks allowed by that offensive line. It's
sixteen sacks. Are you kidding me? Yeah, that's the second
fust in the league. And I was asking a few
of the Seahawks defensive players this week, is that because
he can scramble and like avoid trouble or is it
truly just that clean? And they said, no, you know
he's going to step up in the pocket. He's not
(12:32):
going to be Kyler Murray that tries to escape. But
they really are doing a good job protecting. I would
say the other side of this, and I was talking
to Ad, the defensive coordinator last week, about the way
those guys are rushing, particularly on the interior, and why
that looks so different, and he said, nobody has the
same intent that these guys are playing with right now.
(12:52):
Look across the league and yeah, there's good defensive lines,
but these guys have taken it up a notch, to
which Jonathan Hankins says, Yeah, that's exactly what Ad preaches
all the time. You got to finish plays, and you
have got to finish those blocks this week and make
sure that there's no escape routes for Jordan Love, Josh Jacobs,
any of those guys.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Yeah, and I love the way Siaks have been rushing
up front, So I think it's good. Good again another
case of kind of strength on strength. They've protected all Shawks,
have gotten outter the passer really well. And how about
Jonathan Hankins first.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Sack last week? How bad that for a sack of
the season for the big guy cleaning up. Yeah, and
he is.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Playing his former team this week in the Packers, and
he just has a smile on his face all the time.
I just love it.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
He's having fun out there.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
He has had a love just kind of the grizzled
old vet who's just out there enjoying himself.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Each and the young guys the game.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I do think that that is an underrated part of
the game, right Like you talk about, yeah, you got
to have a deep rotation to keep these guys healthy,
or you talk about the emergence of JSN, Well, somebody
has to get less touches, less yards, less reps less,
all of that when all these other guys start stepping up,
and it is you have to be unselfish. This is
(14:03):
a special group right now. Maybe special is too Strong award.
This is a group who totally understands that and buys in.
That's how I would say that.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Yeah, it's and you can throw the edgereshers into that
with the d line getting Channa back you and talk
more about that layer. But like what that's going to
do for them down the stretches. He you know, he
kind of eased in played twenty snaps last week, but
as he builds up and you have that group gets deeper.
It's I mean, in terms of just overall talent and
depth more than anything. I love that group up for
That's really good.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Okay, you said down the stretch and I'm going to
pose a question to you in just a minute. But
I know that Luminfield is going to be rocking on Sunday,
which is why my noise canceling headphones are going to
be of the utmost importance because I literally can't hear
myself think this NFL season, feel every play, every hit,
every moment. With the Sony one thousand XM five noise
canceling headphones, the official headphones of the Seattle Seahawks. With
(14:53):
premium noise cancelation, you were in the zone, no distractions,
just pure football. Whether you're in your living room or
on the go, you'll never miss a beat with Sony headphones.
And while I'm thinking about it, I think we need
to get a little bit of insight from our fantasy insider,
Scott Engel.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Thanks Jenn and John.
Speaker 6 (15:11):
Here we are in the fantasy playoffs. Don't let the
pressure get to you. Don't overthink things. Go with the
starters that brought you here. You've gotten this far. Don't
obsess over certain lineup decisions. Make the best informed decisions
and just go with them. Don't worry about who the
other team has. You can't control that. Hopefully, Zach Charbonnet
(15:35):
boosted you into the fantasy playoffs. The number one fantasy
running back of Week fourteen with thirty eight point four
Fantasy points. If he is pressing into an expanded role
again this week, you have to start him. Keep checking
Seahawks dot com to see what the running back injury
situation is. Other running backs to strongly consider for this week. Rico'
(15:59):
dadell is a must start two consecutive one hundred yard games,
and the Dallas Cowboys have a top five offensive line
pass blocking matchup grade on Pro Football Focus. This week
against the Carolina Panthers. Also, if you need a flex
top twenty five guy to stream, Sincere McCormick of the
(16:19):
Raiders will now be the lead running back for Las
Vegas and he has a good matchup this week as well.
At wide receiver, you want a piece fantasy wise of
that Buffalo Detroit game, you have to go with Khalil
Shakira as a must start fantasy wide receiver three. He
has an excellent wide receiver quarterback matchup grade against Buffalo
(16:43):
on Pro Football Focus for this week. Also, you've got
to go back to Darnell Moony. He's got a great
matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders coming off a career
a high one hundred and forty two receiving yards, and
he has over eighty five as in four of his
last six games. At quarterback, you want to go with
(17:04):
Tua Tongue of Viola. The Houston Texans have allowed the
most passing touchdowns to opposing quarterbacks with twenty six. Go
to Seahawks dot Com News Fantasy Insiders, we have more
recommended starters for you. Your top twelve fantasy insurance running
backs that you need to pick up for the fantasy
(17:25):
playoffs defensive streamers for Week fifteen and sixteen a lot more,
and also check out my lineup rankings at rotoballer dot com.
Back to you, Jen and John for Week fifteen Packers
versus Seahawks.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
All right, thank you, Scott. Okay, I know everybody has
their own measures of what makes a good playoff team
or a good team down the stretch. Again, in reading
about this matchup and you go strength on strength, there's
a lot of people that are saying, look at what
Jordan Love is doing for the second straight year late
in the year, it's the quarterback who makes the biggest
difference during this point of the year and in the playoffs.
(18:01):
And I say, I don't know about that, Like, you
need a good quarterback. But back to what you were
saying about the defensive line, John, wouldn't you rank a
solid defense or solid run game ahead of the quarterback?
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Yeah, I mean depends on degrees of how good is
this defensive line? Where's the quarterback at? Still, no matter
how good you are in a run game and defense,
you still need good quarterback play to be successful because
that position, just the nature of it, you're controlling so much.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
The quarterback's got to do his job.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
But yes, if you can run the game like run
the ball like the Seawks did last game, if you
have a defense playing like the way the s X is,
you sure can ease that burden on the quarterback and
you're not asking him to do nearly as much, which
we saw that Gino Smith played great against Arizona, but
there is way less on his plate of Like you
don't have to throw forty times throw for three hund
and fifty yards.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Well, I would also say, especially in the case of
the Packers, I just want my quarterback to have good
decision making skills, right because you're playing in crappy weather
for most of the time in that conference. At this time,
I don't need you to be the superstar. What I
need is for my run game to be going and
my defense to be right where the Seahawks defense.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Yes, I mean, it's what every coach will tell you
when they talk about complimentary football, like it is really
hard to win consistently when you have to lean incredibly
hard on one aspect of your game, whether it's the
quarterback playing out of his mind or the defense just
completely shutting the team out. Like that's you can't win
consistently that way, or you rarely can win consistently that
way in the NFL. So it's when you're getting all
(19:28):
those things working together, that's how you'd be a really good,
dangerous football team.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Speaking of complimentary football, that's the way I always thought
the Ravens looked right the last couple of years. There's
no let up, and I think we saw a great
example of that in Arizona. Defense forces the turnover, offense comes,
it's quick change, you score, defense forces another turnover, and
then the offense gets points off of that too. It's
one of those where the opponent doesn't have any room
(19:53):
to catch their breath like it is going back and forth,
and we saw that with Baltimore, and now I think
that's kind of where we are. And to me, like
that's part of complimentary football. It shows up in time
of possession, but it's also what's that overall feeling and
intensity during the course of the game.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Yeah, for sure, I'm greeting. I really wanted to just
bury him there. Last week when had that.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Position at the end of the half and then they
got the ball to start the second half, was like, man,
they could have really blown that up. But Hey, they
did more than enough to win that game. I know,
you beat a good team by double digits on the road,
that's a great win.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Well, look, here's the other thing. It is a division opponent.
These teams know each other very well. It was very fluky.
I think with the Packers, you have some idea of
what to expect, and we know that there have been
some I'm just going to say, fluky games and plays
against the Packers at bloomen Field.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
I know, totally normal football.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
It's just totally normal. It's just some of the best
highlights in Seahawks history that you are ever going to see.
I kind of hope that we're not leaning that direction.
I do know though, it's not just the Packers, but
upcoming on the schedule, it's the Packers, the Vikings, the Bears.
There's a very similar style of football that gets played
and it's going to be on display with the pack
They play a.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Great brand of football. They play winning football. They've been
doing it throughout their entire franchise history and especially since
since Matt's got there and doing his things. So we
got a lot of respect for them and how they play.
They're a physical football team. They play really hard. They
attack the football, they take care of it on offense.
They do all the things necessary that you need to
do to be a to be a really good football team.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
They do those things.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Mike McDonald talking about the Packers. We are broadcasting from
the Seahawks Podcast Studio presented by Sony, the official headphones
partner of the Seattle Seahawks. Okay, so the Packers, they
can clinch a playoff spot this weekend. Yes, there's a
lot of talk about how they've had no bad losses. Yeah,
why does it matter, because I'm going to tell you this,
(21:45):
they haven't necessarily had great wins either, if we're going
to count it that way.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
But yeah, people want to look at here's the teams
they've lost to the record. I think the teams they've
lost to have a combined five losses. So the thought
is they've only lost to the best teams in the
league and otherwise they're right up there, which you can
make argument, but I don't think that makes them unbeatable.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Well, I'm going to say this. They beat Chicago by
one point. They beat Jacksonville by three points, and that
was a high scoring game for a Jacksonville team that
hasn't been able to do a whole lot, and against Indy,
granted it was early in the year, they scored just
sixteen points. I would say they have some wins that
are not good. Also, I'm not interested in going like
down the row like it doesn't work in the NFL.
(22:24):
It it doesn't, and I'm not interested in doing that
on either side. I just I'm really curious to see
how this matchup plays out.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Can I take us on a slight detour from something
I heard from Mike McDonald, Yes, he talked about they've
done it forever in their history. I'm going to use
that as a moment to plug Mike Holmgren's Hall of
Fame candiasy because he was just named the finalists.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yes, the Packers have a rich history.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Go look at their history between the sixties and when
Mike Holmgren got there, it was not very good. He
turned them around. I mean they were like a super Bowl.
You know, the early NFL champions in the sixties didn't
do much of anything till Home Ring got there. Over
a twenty plus your span, it was really came to
Seattle turned that franchise around.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
So I'm just saying for the Hall of Fame voters, Yep,
get him in.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
He deserves it.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
He does. Indeed, he was around the practice facility.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Saw locker room watching everyone kind of flock to him
as Gino Smith comes up to him.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah, and I was going to say, and he has
a presence when he walks into the room, like you
know that coach Holmgren is in the room. Let me
also say this kind of on that same vein. We
have heard references to the Seahawks past so many times
in the last four or five weeks. Whether it's bringing
(23:36):
back the Legion of Boom style of practices and accountability,
whether it's the run game and what they did for
with Marshawn who also was at the practice facility this week,
or kind of the lessons learned. I do want to
point out that culture is still ingrained, right. It hasn't
gone away because there was a fear, I think, or
maybe a concern or questions about what happens to the
(23:59):
Seahawks history and do they still care about what happened
under previous coaches. Yeah, it hasn't gone away, whether it
was Kobe Bryant Payne tribute to Marshaan or like any
number of things, like it is still very much ingrained
what Seahawks football looks like.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Yeah, I mean you can go back to the introductory
press commerce for Mike McDonald and he and John Schneider
talked about that, like, this is not a coaching change
where you need to come in and make a culture change,
Like the culture was great here. You still have the
same front office, You have a lot of the same
business office people like the building. The culture in the
building is a lot like what Pete Carroll and John
Schneider and through them Paul Allen as well built here.
(24:38):
And I mean, really you can go back to the
Homegrren now too. It could start with him, but it's Yeah,
this was Mike McDonald came in to help get some
football things cleaned up, but this was not a total
overhaul of the program, and you can feel that connection
to it. Mike, Mike McDonald's still embraces that because he
understands like that's important. These guys are a big part
of this team's history. So yeah, we're gonna see marshaull
nch out there. We saw Cam, we saw sum out
(25:00):
there during training camp. So's that's still going to be
there for this organization.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Well, Mike McDonald's also a football junkie. Yeah, and he
appreciates good football. And I'm sure he's chancer was here.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
And was training out the way he talked about like
he was just like a fan, like, oh man, that's
Cam Chancellor.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, Oh gosh, it is cool to have all of that.
And again, some of the greatest moments in Seahawks history
have come against the Packers. We need to talk about JSN,
We need to talk about what the Seahawks need to
do for a win. But first let's pause for a
word from our presenting sponsor.
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Speaker 1 (25:55):
When you do. Delta, Official Airline.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Of the Seattle Seahawks' broadcasting from the Seahawks podcast Studio
presented by Sony, the official headphones partner of the Seattle Seahawks.
And we probably waited too long to talk to about JSN,
but I'm gonna say this is another strength on strength John,
the way that Jackson Smith and Jigba has been playing
the leading receiver for six straight games for the Seahawks.
(26:20):
But when you look at the Packers, while they are
giving up a fair amount of yards in the air,
that secondary is really good at taking the ball away.
Their turnover differential is among the best in the league.
Second most interceptions and most points off of takeovers. Takeovers,
I'd like to take over. That's really what I would
(26:41):
like for being called takeaways and or turnovers or the
new stat that I just takeovers.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yead is taking to put that in a story this week.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Well, you can take over a game, John, So I
don't think I'm that far off. Yes, And we have
seen Jasen essentially take over a game with some of
these jaw dropping plays.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Well, I think it starts with just his competitiveness. And
the guy's really, you know, just a great competitor, so
he's kind of relentless in that matter. But like skill set, well,
I was we talked about in the offseason. He's got
great hands and then like the lower body, like power
and flexibility of getting in and out of breaks. It's
tough to stick with him. And then, like I said earlier,
as he's starting to get Mike more catches and stuff,
(27:22):
you know, I think he's generating a chemistry with with
with Geno, like lay and downs and stuff, finding open
windows and zones, and Gino's finding them.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
As you mentioned, six straight games leading the team in receiving,
He's got five hundred and ninety two yards four touchdowns
over that span. He's up to six in the entire
NFL and receiving. You he's he's crazy because DK was
like DK was like top three before he is injured. Yeah,
and it's good segue mentioned DK. One thing that Mike
McDonald talked about a little bit, and Jays I would
be the first says too, like the way teams defend
(27:52):
DK Metcalf very much plays into what Jasn is doing.
That's not to take away from and Jig, but like
he had one hundred and eight yards with DK Metcalf injured,
So that's saying that's the only reason.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
But if you watch the way teams.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
Even when DK Metcalf is not getting the most targets currently,
it's teams are putting so much effort into taking the
deep ball away from him because he's such a downfield
threat that it's creating other opportunities and Gino Smith and
Jackson Smith and Jigbar are really taking advantage well.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
And DK is not just like taking on the double
teams and just letting them take him out of the game.
He's he's making guys pay like he is a physical,
physical wide receiver. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
I tweeted this during the game. I was like, I
don't know if I've ever seen a like Pro Bowl
caliber receiver who just seems to really enjoy run blocking
quite like, like he gets into it.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
He does well.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
His dad was an offensive line so that's part like.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Where does that come from? Well, my dad was an
NFL lineman. Yeah, I kind of inherit that mentality a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Well.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
And he loved Sean Merriman, like he wanted to be
able to hit like Sean Merriman. That's one of the
things that he said before the season started. And I'm like, well,
that is different for a wide receiver. They're usually trying
to avoid those sorts of things. He's looking for that contact.
And I also want to go back to the point
we made. DK's fine with Jason getting the touches. Yeah,
(29:03):
Tyler Lockett. I would love to see Lockett get a
little bit more involved, but you know he's there as
a threats.
Speaker 4 (29:09):
Yeah and yeah, I mean he hasn't been getting the
targets lately, but teams still have to respect him. And
it's still you know, when those three guys are on
the field together, that's really hard for defenses to decide
how they want to do it well.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
And if you're going to like scoop the ball up
off the turf with like a grass blade, like a
blade of grass in between. I was like, oh my gosh. Yeah,
he's gotten some not quite circus catches, but like degree
of difficult.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
Many receivers just go to the ground there to make
sure they catch it, but he's like, no, I can
scoop it and go I can do that, yeah, and
go run ten more yards after the catches.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
He's a complete package. He is a great receiver.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
He has been really fun to watch and the Seahawks
are going to need all of that playmaking this week
against the Packers. They're probably going to need a few
more things. John Woody got what are the two things
you need to see from the Seahawks.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
I want to end Jordan Love's interceptionless streak. The Sacks
have been taking the ball away at a pretty high
rate seven straight games.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I think.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
I think so sounds about right. I'll go with that.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Yeah, let's get another interception or two. Okay, get the
takeaways and then I just want to see their un game.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Keep doing with so. And you gave me a hard
time for being greedy when I said that about it.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
I actually thought about that on the side side joke.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Like, let's make it one hundred and forty and you're laughing. No,
one seventy six. No, but we don't need one hundred
and seventy six. I'll take it if we can get it.
But just have that that threat of a run game
that you know, help the offensive line out, help Geno out,
and just be able to move.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
The ball on the ground. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
I would say this, and this might sound really basic,
but I want the Seahawks to score first because Green
Bay has been really good at jumping out to an
early lead, not just in the game, but scoring on
the opening drive of the second half. When they do that,
they are in control. They're seven and one when they
get out to an early lead, I think, is that number.
I shouldn't have said that because now you're gonna quote
(30:49):
me on it, and I actually need to go back
and look that one up. But I want the early
lead against the Packers. Do not let them get comfortable.
And I could say I want red zone defense, keep
like maintaining the level they're at, because during this five
game stretch they are twelve at converting touchdowns in the
red zone. But I'm actually gonna say, Jalen Darden, yeah,
(31:13):
let's get some good return yards.
Speaker 6 (31:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
He's a fun, little like kind of quiet, kind of understated.
Was literally meeting teammates and coaches on the sidelines during
the game.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
We asked him yesterday, like, yeah, could you have named
everybody who blocked for you on Sunday? He's like no, No,
He's like, I'm working on that, but yeah, yeah, he
got here late Friday, din't even practice Friday. He got
here after practice Friday, got I'm playing with the team Saturday,
and go return punts and kicks the next day.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
So yeah, and he's like, yeah, it's just fuck, just
tell me what you want me to do. And also
I was like, I love doing it. Not everybody can
do it. There's a lot of pressure and a lot
of stress. Good with it. It's like, okay, well how
about if we break a return in front of the twelves?
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Love it?
Speaker 2 (31:48):
That's what I got, another big play. I am sure
that this is gonna be another one for the highlight reel,
maybe even record books. It is a primetime matchup on Sunday.
There'll be plenty to talk about next week, which is
when we will be back with a brand new episode
of the Seahawks Insiders podcast.
You're listening to the Seahawks Insiders. Gino looks go way
it up over the top.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Count of man out there is Locker.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
He's got a touchdown.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Sey Hawks getting you ready for Seahawks football Every Sunday.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Ertz drops back, Hastime loads up, proves aj Brown the defense.
Don't you keep your feet him?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
He does say off ball Presented by Delta, the official
airline of the Seahawks.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Now here's your host, Gen Mueller.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We are broadcasting from the Seahawks Podcast Studio presented by Sony,
the official headphones partner of the Seattle Seahawks. Gen Mueller
alongside John Boyle and I have a I don't know
if sobering is the realization that I came up with John.
But I was so proud of myself, Yeah, for doing
Christmas shopping early this year, Like I'm talking about, I
(00:51):
bought presents back in September.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Is that even Christmas shop?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I know it was. It was I had the best,
Like I was so dialed in to this. You want
to know where those Christmas presents are still sitting in
my guest room, not wrapped. And I realized I did
it so early that I have forgotten. They still need
to be sent out.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Oh see, I thought you were gonna forget who they
were for No, I have that list written down.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I knew.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
You lost them.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Nope, nope. They're taking up space in the guest room
closet and the guest room bed, and so now I
have to get those in the mail so that they
make them on time.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Excellent.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Are you in the same boat or no? I mean
I might have time or might not. I might keep
forgetting who knows.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Yeah, we're still working on it. We're getting there.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Okay, so you haven't forgotten anything. You are still working
up to.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
I've got an Amazon cart full of things. I just
need to hit the button on That takes a.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Lot more discipline than I have because if it goes
in the cart, I'm also just gonna hit by Well,
you know, two different approaches. I say this and you're going,
how does this relate to football?
Speaker 1 (01:56):
This is a great open.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
How many people do you think forgot about Zach Sharbonay
until they saw him run? How many people forgot how
good this team could be? Come on, John, that thing
so hard to reach. No, it's not. It's a perfect
segue in the holiday season.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
You do. I'm just not sure that was your best one.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Okay, we're not starting off in a great foot today.
I do think you forget Zach Sharbonay could take over
a game. I think you might have forgotten what Kenny
McIntosh could do in the running game, because we really
haven't seen him that significant or be able to contribute
in a meaningful way since the preseason. I know nobody's
forgetting about JSN, but you might be forgetting about DK
(02:45):
and Tyler given how many opportunities JSN has had. And
I just think the Seahawks are positioned well and Arizona
showed us a lot.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
No, I totally agree, And I think you so often
we hear the coaches we've got two backs we really like.
You know, they talk about both like starters. But unless
you are running the ball incredibly well and running it
forty times a game, you're just not going to get
your backup a ton of touches.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
So we haven't seen it he did.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
You know, Sharbonay did start a couple games earlier in
the year, but for him to break out like that
and have that big a game, break off a long run,
get some tough physical yards, I mean it really did
show how good a hands this running game is in
that if a guy goes down, they've got and even
as you said, Kenny McIntosh, you know, limited touches, but
I think he averaged over five yards of carry. He
looked really good. So you got to like what they're
(03:29):
seeing in the backfield.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I wonder how much of that was truly a few
scheme changes up front, because when you talk to Abe
Lucas and a couple of those offensive linemen, yes, I
know they changed the scheme and they did a little
bit more gap instead of zone. How much of that
was because it was Zach Sharbonay versus that was always
in the game plan, regardless of who your top back was.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Yeah, you know, I don't want to say it's like, oh,
Zach Scharboney made the difference and ken Walker couldn't have
done that, because I think that's not fair to ken Walker.
I just think this is a case of, you know,
both backs are really good and they it up better
than they had and ken Walker would had a big
game as well. So you know, they've they've struggled to
be consistent up front all year, and now that I
think we're just starting to see and this goes to
(04:11):
the pass protection too in those sacks when you have
the same five guys out there for a while, and
obviously Abe Lucas being back helps a lot, but you're
starting to get a.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Little bit of that continuity.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
And you know, the toe all Aumeya is really added
a nice element to that group as well. But some
of it's you know, they've got three new guys from
where they were what it was at five six weeks ago.
Three the five starters are different, and I think they're
just kind of coming together as a unit really well.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Well, and you mentioned Stoolamea and not only did he
have back to back starts, he got all the first
team reps last week. It wasn't a competition between him
and Anthony Bradford. That makes a difference too, as well
as just having real live reps in a game. And
Mike McDonald saw a difference in him from his first
start to a second.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
I think I think just confidence and like consistent just
like consistent performance and execution. So you know, as a rookie,
the first time you see things are the first time
you see things, so being able to be exposed to
all the things you need to be able to react
to and the calls and the footwork and all that
type of stuff, and then just keep hammering away on
the improvements. Again, it wasn't just like it's not with
these guys, it's never going to be this okay now
(05:15):
I'm ready. It's just this constant effort, everybody on everybody
on board, huff, you know, the coaches, all the rookies
going through all the reps, taking them, you know, keep
moving forward. There's many bumps in the road, but every
time this guy took a rep, he just you know,
is getting he was maximizing his opportunity.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
That's all you can ask for, you know, as Mike
McDonald just said that, like, the first game is always
going to be a little tough, and and you know
you talked to me after that first game and he's like, yeah,
it was a little nervous at first. Took took him
a little bit to get settled down. So you get
past those nerves and then you also, as you said,
get that full week of reps. I just think that
you know, week over weak growth is going to be
really big for him, you know, early on in his
(05:51):
first time starting, and it's you know, again, get if
you can keep all five of those guys together, you know,
and keep them healthy, that that could go a long
way to this line playing a lot better than a stretch.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
And whatever their difference and whatever the reason, it all
led to a season high in rushing yards for the team,
career highs for Zach Sharbonay and it sets up a
true strength on strength matchup against the Green Bay Packers.
I mean truly across the board on this one. And
it doesn't matter who's running the ball. You know that
Seattle wants to establish the run, and you know that
on the other side of this matchup, Green Bay has
(06:23):
one of the best running backs in the league. In fact,
you would probably hear more about Josh Jacobs if it
wasn't for a couple of other backs who were doing
some pretty impressive things in Saquon and Derrick Henry. But
third most rushing yards in the league. And he's a
tough one to bring down. Man.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
It's just a physical runner. He breaks a ton of tackles.
I think is yards after contact numbers are pre dag high.
It's kind of a relentless runner, you know, and then
yards after contact are tough. But they do a great
job of block and form as well, and he just
has a really good feel for like what the blocking
scheme is, kind of where the soft spot is in
the defense, and then he's going to hit it with
a full head of steam. So he's a really good back.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
I mean, they've been playing a physical running game all
year long. Seahawks fans probably unfortunately do not need any
reminders about Josh Shacobs. When he was here with the Raiders,
and I believe was twenty twenty two, he had a
pretty good game, including a walkoff long touchdown run. So yeah,
tough back to deal with. Seahawks have been playing run
(07:23):
defense really well since really before the buy against the Rams.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
But this will be a big test when you.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Talk about Josh Shacobs and the number of yards after contact,
more than half of his total yards. Remember he's got
the third most yards in the league. More than half
have come after contacts, so you're gonna have to get
a lot of guys to him to bring him down.
In addition, when it comes to broken tackles, I believe
he has the second most in the league, So you
(07:50):
were going to have to get everybody to the ball.
And really, Seattle has been able to do that. It's
interesting because I was reading some of the opponent viewpoints
of this game and saying, look, Seattle struggled to get
it's the run, and they pointed to last week where
you give up one hundred and twenty one and James
Connor has some yards. But John, I'm looking at that
and I'm thinking about how that game felt on the sideline.
That's another one of those Hey, you can torture the
(08:11):
numbers all you want, That's not what it felt like
during the game.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It did not feel like they were getting gashed or
run on a huge wee. He did. You know, obviously
it wasn't.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
You weren't going to hold the eight yards every time
you play him like you did in week twelve. But yeah,
I mean they that did not ever feel like a
huge issue. He did, you know, he broke off some
nice runds. He's a really good running back. They've run
the ball well all year. But you know, I still
look at that game and I feel like they're playing
good run defense and just kind of the bigger body
of work. It's also easy for people who haven't been
pay attention to look at the season long rushing numbers
(08:39):
and say, oh, well, here's where the Seahawks average, because
you're factoring a lot of games that was almost an
entirely different defense from where they are now exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And if you look at this four game winning streak,
the Seahawks defense has allowed just fifteen and a half
points per game, that is tops in the league. Another
example of strength on strength against the Packers. During the
same period, they are averaging almost thirty points a game,
that is fifth best in the league. Do you like
this matchup overall? I mean, I love what's on the line,
(09:08):
But do you like the overall matchup?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
I mean I like it as like a football fan
who thinks it's going to be a very compelling game.
If you're a Seahawks fan who's just your main goal
is for the sex to win, it's you don't love
it because they're a really tough team, Like this isn't
one of those where you look at all the matchups
and like, oh, the sea Ks are going to dominate
this game. I think they got a great chance to
win it, and they're going to be competitive, But it's
I mean, the way these teams match up, I think
it's going to be how I mean, like you said earlier.
(09:32):
Both teams have been running the ball well lately. Both
teams defend their run well. Both teams have been getting
a lot of takeaways this season. You know Seahawks more
so lately, but there's a lot. Both these teams are
doing a lot well lately.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Well, and I want to talk about that in just
a second, but if you stick with a Packers offense
and what Seattle has to do, it has to be
stopping the run because you don't have a true not
just because of Josh Jacobs, but for as good as
Jordan Love has been, you don't have a true number
one receiver out there, and so those receiving yards have
been down quite a bit. In fact, Jordan loves not
attempting the same number of passes that he was earlier
(10:04):
in the year.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Yeah, well, you know, ideally, if you have a good
running game, he doesn't need to. But yeah, for sure.
I mean every game, every coaching player is going to
tell you it starts with stopping the run. But it
really feels that way this week to the point you
just made, and as this defense has shown in this stretch,
when you can stop the run and get teams into
these more obvious passing situations. That's where Mike McDonald can
you know, as Devin Weatherspoon would say he can cook.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
No, he said, get in his bag. I'm sorry, not cook.
Get in his bag. Yeah, and then that way they
could cook.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I I personally, I would love.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
To wait the person who has a cooking show.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I know, I have a cooking show on what's called Yeah,
I Cook, You measured. Leonard Williams is out. We've got
episodes with Derek hall Boye, Mafey JSN and Julian Long.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Now that's a j That is the segue.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Way to set me up for that one. You know
who can actually cook quite a bit is Jordan Love,
at least on the field. I have no idea if
he can cook off the field, you.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Should invite him on your show.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
We can tell I'm gonna it's an open invitation, Jordan,
if you'd like to come and cook with me and
I cook you measure. Look, even though they're not trying
to get the ball down the field, when you look
at the overall numbers, and keep in mind Jordan Love
has missed a couple of games this season with injuries,
the seventh in the league with twenty one touchdown passes
thrown and he leads a top ten offense. And while
(11:19):
we focus on Josh Jacobs, Jordan loves quite the playmaker too.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
Deep Aarryer accuracy is really impressive. It's arm talent's really good.
It's got a really really good control of their system,
operates their offense really well, plays decisive think how extends
plays and still gets the ball down the field even
when pressured is pretty dang good as well. So it's
first time really being exposed to him on like multiple
games and stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
So's he's a really good.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Player, and he seems to be getting clean, getting healthier
and playing cleaner than earlier season. The one, you know,
as well as he was playing, the one sort of
knock on him was he's thrown a lot of interceptions.
For a lot of the first half the season, he
was either at or the top of the league interceptions.
Now he's gone three straight games without throwing one. And
you know, I was talking to one of their writers
that covers them, and he said, it's mostly just he's healthy.
(12:05):
He's been banged out for a lot of season. He's
finally getting healthy. So tough, tough challenge all around this
offense well, he's got.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
A clean pocket though too. I mean, look at the
total number of sacks allowed by that offensive line. It's
sixteen sacks. Are you kidding me? Yeah, that's the second
fust in the league. And I was asking a few
of the Seahawks defensive players this week, is that because
he can scramble and like avoid trouble or is it
truly just that clean? And they said, no, you know
he's going to step up in the pocket. He's not
(12:32):
going to be Kyler Murray that tries to escape. But
they really are doing a good job protecting. I would
say the other side of this, and I was talking
to Ad, the defensive coordinator last week, about the way
those guys are rushing, particularly on the interior, and why
that looks so different, and he said, nobody has the
same intent that these guys are playing with right now.
(12:52):
Look across the league and yeah, there's good defensive lines,
but these guys have taken it up a notch, to
which Jonathan Hankins says, Yeah, that's exactly what Ad preaches
all the time. You got to finish plays, and you
have got to finish those blocks this week and make
sure that there's no escape routes for Jordan Love, Josh Jacobs,
any of those guys.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Yeah, and I love the way Siaks have been rushing
up front, So I think it's good. Good again another
case of kind of strength on strength. They've protected all Shawks,
have gotten outter the passer really well. And how about
Jonathan Hankins first.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Sack last week? How bad that for a sack of
the season for the big guy cleaning up. Yeah, and
he is.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Playing his former team this week in the Packers, and
he just has a smile on his face all the time.
I just love it.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
He's having fun out there.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
He has had a love just kind of the grizzled
old vet who's just out there enjoying himself.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Each and the young guys the game.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I do think that that is an underrated part of
the game, right Like you talk about, yeah, you got
to have a deep rotation to keep these guys healthy,
or you talk about the emergence of JSN, Well, somebody
has to get less touches, less yards, less reps less,
all of that when all these other guys start stepping up,
and it is you have to be unselfish. This is
(14:03):
a special group right now. Maybe special is too Strong award.
This is a group who totally understands that and buys in.
That's how I would say that.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Yeah, it's and you can throw the edgereshers into that
with the d line getting Channa back you and talk
more about that layer. But like what that's going to
do for them down the stretches. He you know, he
kind of eased in played twenty snaps last week, but
as he builds up and you have that group gets deeper.
It's I mean, in terms of just overall talent and
depth more than anything. I love that group up for
That's really good.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Okay, you said down the stretch and I'm going to
pose a question to you in just a minute. But
I know that Luminfield is going to be rocking on Sunday,
which is why my noise canceling headphones are going to
be of the utmost importance because I literally can't hear
myself think this NFL season, feel every play, every hit,
every moment. With the Sony one thousand XM five noise
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(14:53):
premium noise cancelation, you were in the zone, no distractions,
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on the go, you'll never miss a beat with Sony headphones.
And while I'm thinking about it, I think we need
to get a little bit of insight from our fantasy insider,
Scott Engel.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Thanks Jenn and John.
Speaker 6 (15:11):
Here we are in the fantasy playoffs. Don't let the
pressure get to you. Don't overthink things. Go with the
starters that brought you here. You've gotten this far. Don't
obsess over certain lineup decisions. Make the best informed decisions
and just go with them. Don't worry about who the
other team has. You can't control that. Hopefully, Zach Charbonnet
(15:35):
boosted you into the fantasy playoffs. The number one fantasy
running back of Week fourteen with thirty eight point four
Fantasy points. If he is pressing into an expanded role
again this week, you have to start him. Keep checking
Seahawks dot com to see what the running back injury
situation is. Other running backs to strongly consider for this week. Rico'
(15:59):
dadell is a must start two consecutive one hundred yard games,
and the Dallas Cowboys have a top five offensive line
pass blocking matchup grade on Pro Football Focus. This week
against the Carolina Panthers. Also, if you need a flex
top twenty five guy to stream, Sincere McCormick of the
(16:19):
Raiders will now be the lead running back for Las
Vegas and he has a good matchup this week as well.
At wide receiver, you want a piece fantasy wise of
that Buffalo Detroit game, you have to go with Khalil
Shakira as a must start fantasy wide receiver three. He
has an excellent wide receiver quarterback matchup grade against Buffalo
(16:43):
on Pro Football Focus for this week. Also, you've got
to go back to Darnell Moony. He's got a great
matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders coming off a career
a high one hundred and forty two receiving yards, and
he has over eighty five as in four of his
last six games. At quarterback, you want to go with
(17:04):
Tua Tongue of Viola. The Houston Texans have allowed the
most passing touchdowns to opposing quarterbacks with twenty six. Go
to Seahawks dot Com News Fantasy Insiders, we have more
recommended starters for you. Your top twelve fantasy insurance running
backs that you need to pick up for the fantasy
(17:25):
playoffs defensive streamers for Week fifteen and sixteen a lot more,
and also check out my lineup rankings at rotoballer dot com.
Back to you, Jen and John for Week fifteen Packers
versus Seahawks.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
All right, thank you, Scott. Okay, I know everybody has
their own measures of what makes a good playoff team
or a good team down the stretch. Again, in reading
about this matchup and you go strength on strength, there's
a lot of people that are saying, look at what
Jordan Love is doing for the second straight year late
in the year, it's the quarterback who makes the biggest
difference during this point of the year and in the playoffs.
(18:01):
And I say, I don't know about that, Like, you
need a good quarterback. But back to what you were
saying about the defensive line, John, wouldn't you rank a
solid defense or solid run game ahead of the quarterback?
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Yeah, I mean depends on degrees of how good is
this defensive line? Where's the quarterback at? Still, no matter
how good you are in a run game and defense,
you still need good quarterback play to be successful because
that position, just the nature of it, you're controlling so much.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
The quarterback's got to do his job.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
But yes, if you can run the game like run
the ball like the Seawks did last game, if you
have a defense playing like the way the s X is,
you sure can ease that burden on the quarterback and
you're not asking him to do nearly as much, which
we saw that Gino Smith played great against Arizona, but
there is way less on his plate of Like you
don't have to throw forty times throw for three hund
and fifty yards.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Well, I would also say, especially in the case of
the Packers, I just want my quarterback to have good
decision making skills, right because you're playing in crappy weather
for most of the time in that conference. At this time,
I don't need you to be the superstar. What I
need is for my run game to be going and
my defense to be right where the Seahawks defense.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Yes, I mean, it's what every coach will tell you
when they talk about complimentary football, like it is really
hard to win consistently when you have to lean incredibly
hard on one aspect of your game, whether it's the
quarterback playing out of his mind or the defense just
completely shutting the team out. Like that's you can't win
consistently that way, or you rarely can win consistently that
way in the NFL. So it's when you're getting all
(19:28):
those things working together, that's how you'd be a really good,
dangerous football team.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Speaking of complimentary football, that's the way I always thought
the Ravens looked right the last couple of years. There's
no let up, and I think we saw a great
example of that in Arizona. Defense forces the turnover, offense comes,
it's quick change, you score, defense forces another turnover, and
then the offense gets points off of that too. It's
one of those where the opponent doesn't have any room
(19:53):
to catch their breath like it is going back and forth,
and we saw that with Baltimore, and now I think
that's kind of where we are. And to me, like
that's part of complimentary football. It shows up in time
of possession, but it's also what's that overall feeling and
intensity during the course of the game.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Yeah, for sure, I'm greeting. I really wanted to just
bury him there. Last week when had that.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Position at the end of the half and then they
got the ball to start the second half, was like, man,
they could have really blown that up. But Hey, they
did more than enough to win that game. I know,
you beat a good team by double digits on the road,
that's a great win.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Well, look, here's the other thing. It is a division opponent.
These teams know each other very well. It was very fluky.
I think with the Packers, you have some idea of
what to expect, and we know that there have been
some I'm just going to say, fluky games and plays
against the Packers at bloomen Field.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
I know, totally normal football.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
It's just totally normal. It's just some of the best
highlights in Seahawks history that you are ever going to see.
I kind of hope that we're not leaning that direction.
I do know though, it's not just the Packers, but
upcoming on the schedule, it's the Packers, the Vikings, the Bears.
There's a very similar style of football that gets played
and it's going to be on display with the pack
They play a.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
Great brand of football. They play winning football. They've been
doing it throughout their entire franchise history and especially since
since Matt's got there and doing his things. So we
got a lot of respect for them and how they play.
They're a physical football team. They play really hard. They
attack the football, they take care of it on offense.
They do all the things necessary that you need to
do to be a to be a really good football team.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
They do those things.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Mike McDonald talking about the Packers. We are broadcasting from
the Seahawks Podcast Studio presented by Sony, the official headphones
partner of the Seattle Seahawks. Okay, so the Packers, they
can clinch a playoff spot this weekend. Yes, there's a
lot of talk about how they've had no bad losses. Yeah,
why does it matter, because I'm going to tell you this,
(21:45):
they haven't necessarily had great wins either, if we're going
to count it that way.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
But yeah, people want to look at here's the teams
they've lost to the record. I think the teams they've
lost to have a combined five losses. So the thought
is they've only lost to the best teams in the
league and otherwise they're right up there, which you can
make argument, but I don't think that makes them unbeatable.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Well, I'm going to say this. They beat Chicago by
one point. They beat Jacksonville by three points, and that
was a high scoring game for a Jacksonville team that
hasn't been able to do a whole lot, and against Indy,
granted it was early in the year, they scored just
sixteen points. I would say they have some wins that
are not good. Also, I'm not interested in going like
down the row like it doesn't work in the NFL.
(22:24):
It it doesn't, and I'm not interested in doing that
on either side. I just I'm really curious to see
how this matchup plays out.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Can I take us on a slight detour from something
I heard from Mike McDonald, Yes, he talked about they've
done it forever in their history. I'm going to use
that as a moment to plug Mike Holmgren's Hall of
Fame candiasy because he was just named the finalists.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yes, the Packers have a rich history.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Go look at their history between the sixties and when
Mike Holmgren got there, it was not very good. He
turned them around. I mean they were like a super Bowl.
You know, the early NFL champions in the sixties didn't
do much of anything till Home Ring got there. Over
a twenty plus your span, it was really came to
Seattle turned that franchise around.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
So I'm just saying for the Hall of Fame voters, Yep,
get him in.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
He deserves it.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
He does. Indeed, he was around the practice facility.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Saw locker room watching everyone kind of flock to him
as Gino Smith comes up to him.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah, and I was going to say, and he has
a presence when he walks into the room, like you
know that coach Holmgren is in the room. Let me
also say this kind of on that same vein. We
have heard references to the Seahawks past so many times
in the last four or five weeks. Whether it's bringing
(23:36):
back the Legion of Boom style of practices and accountability,
whether it's the run game and what they did for
with Marshawn who also was at the practice facility this week,
or kind of the lessons learned. I do want to
point out that culture is still ingrained, right. It hasn't
gone away because there was a fear, I think, or
maybe a concern or questions about what happens to the
(23:59):
Seahawks history and do they still care about what happened
under previous coaches. Yeah, it hasn't gone away, whether it
was Kobe Bryant Payne tribute to Marshaan or like any
number of things, like it is still very much ingrained
what Seahawks football looks like.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Yeah, I mean you can go back to the introductory
press commerce for Mike McDonald and he and John Schneider
talked about that, like, this is not a coaching change
where you need to come in and make a culture change,
Like the culture was great here. You still have the
same front office, You have a lot of the same
business office people like the building. The culture in the
building is a lot like what Pete Carroll and John
Schneider and through them Paul Allen as well built here.
(24:38):
And I mean, really you can go back to the
Homegrren now too. It could start with him, but it's Yeah,
this was Mike McDonald came in to help get some
football things cleaned up, but this was not a total
overhaul of the program, and you can feel that connection
to it. Mike, Mike McDonald's still embraces that because he
understands like that's important. These guys are a big part
of this team's history. So yeah, we're gonna see marshaull
nch out there. We saw Cam, we saw sum out
(25:00):
there during training camp. So's that's still going to be
there for this organization.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Well, Mike McDonald's also a football junkie. Yeah, and he
appreciates good football. And I'm sure he's chancer was here.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
And was training out the way he talked about like
he was just like a fan, like, oh man, that's
Cam Chancellor.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, Oh gosh, it is cool to have all of that.
And again, some of the greatest moments in Seahawks history
have come against the Packers. We need to talk about JSN,
We need to talk about what the Seahawks need to
do for a win. But first let's pause for a
word from our presenting sponsor.
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Speaker 2 (25:57):
Of the Seattle Seahawks' broadcasting from the Seahawks podcast Studio
presented by Sony, the official headphones partner of the Seattle Seahawks.
And we probably waited too long to talk to about JSN,
but I'm gonna say this is another strength on strength John,
the way that Jackson Smith and Jigba has been playing
the leading receiver for six straight games for the Seahawks.
(26:20):
But when you look at the Packers, while they are
giving up a fair amount of yards in the air,
that secondary is really good at taking the ball away.
Their turnover differential is among the best in the league.
Second most interceptions and most points off of takeovers. Takeovers,
I'd like to take over. That's really what I would
(26:41):
like for being called takeaways and or turnovers or the
new stat that I just takeovers.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Yead is taking to put that in a story this week.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Well, you can take over a game, John, So I
don't think I'm that far off. Yes, And we have
seen Jasen essentially take over a game with some of
these jaw dropping plays.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Well, I think it starts with just his competitiveness. And
the guy's really, you know, just a great competitor, so
he's kind of relentless in that matter. But like skill set, well,
I was we talked about in the offseason. He's got
great hands and then like the lower body, like power
and flexibility of getting in and out of breaks. It's
tough to stick with him. And then, like I said earlier,
as he's starting to get Mike more catches and stuff,
(27:22):
you know, I think he's generating a chemistry with with
with Geno, like lay and downs and stuff, finding open
windows and zones, and Gino's finding them.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
As you mentioned, six straight games leading the team in receiving,
He's got five hundred and ninety two yards four touchdowns
over that span. He's up to six in the entire
NFL and receiving. You he's he's crazy because DK was
like DK was like top three before he is injured. Yeah,
and it's good segue mentioned DK. One thing that Mike
McDonald talked about a little bit, and Jays I would
be the first says too, like the way teams defend
(27:52):
DK Metcalf very much plays into what Jasn is doing.
That's not to take away from and Jig, but like
he had one hundred and eight yards with DK Metcalf injured,
So that's saying that's the only reason.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
But if you watch the way teams.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
Even when DK Metcalf is not getting the most targets currently,
it's teams are putting so much effort into taking the
deep ball away from him because he's such a downfield
threat that it's creating other opportunities and Gino Smith and
Jackson Smith and Jigbar are really taking advantage well.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
And DK is not just like taking on the double
teams and just letting them take him out of the game.
He's he's making guys pay like he is a physical,
physical wide receiver. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
I tweeted this during the game. I was like, I
don't know if I've ever seen a like Pro Bowl
caliber receiver who just seems to really enjoy run blocking
quite like, like he gets into it.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
He does well.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
His dad was an offensive line so that's part like.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Where does that come from? Well, my dad was an
NFL lineman. Yeah, I kind of inherit that mentality a
little bit.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Well.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
And he loved Sean Merriman, like he wanted to be
able to hit like Sean Merriman. That's one of the
things that he said before the season started. And I'm like, well,
that is different for a wide receiver. They're usually trying
to avoid those sorts of things. He's looking for that contact.
And I also want to go back to the point
we made. DK's fine with Jason getting the touches. Yeah,
(29:03):
Tyler Lockett. I would love to see Lockett get a
little bit more involved, but you know he's there as
a threats.
Speaker 4 (29:09):
Yeah and yeah, I mean he hasn't been getting the
targets lately, but teams still have to respect him. And
it's still you know, when those three guys are on
the field together, that's really hard for defenses to decide
how they want to do it well.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
And if you're going to like scoop the ball up
off the turf with like a grass blade, like a
blade of grass in between. I was like, oh my gosh. Yeah,
he's gotten some not quite circus catches, but like degree
of difficult.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
Many receivers just go to the ground there to make
sure they catch it, but he's like, no, I can
scoop it and go I can do that, yeah, and
go run ten more yards after the catches.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
He's a complete package. He is a great receiver.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
He has been really fun to watch and the Seahawks
are going to need all of that playmaking this week
against the Packers. They're probably going to need a few
more things. John Woody got what are the two things
you need to see from the Seahawks.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
I want to end Jordan Love's interceptionless streak. The Sacks
have been taking the ball away at a pretty high
rate seven straight games.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I think.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
I think so sounds about right. I'll go with that.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Yeah, let's get another interception or two. Okay, get the
takeaways and then I just want to see their un game.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Keep doing with so. And you gave me a hard
time for being greedy when I said that about it.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
I actually thought about that on the side side joke.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Like, let's make it one hundred and forty and you're laughing. No,
one seventy six. No, but we don't need one hundred
and seventy six. I'll take it if we can get it.
But just have that that threat of a run game
that you know, help the offensive line out, help Geno out,
and just be able to move.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
The ball on the ground. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
I would say this, and this might sound really basic,
but I want the Seahawks to score first because Green
Bay has been really good at jumping out to an
early lead, not just in the game, but scoring on
the opening drive of the second half. When they do that,
they are in control. They're seven and one when they
get out to an early lead, I think, is that number.
I shouldn't have said that because now you're gonna quote
(30:49):
me on it, and I actually need to go back
and look that one up. But I want the early
lead against the Packers. Do not let them get comfortable.
And I could say I want red zone defense, keep
like maintaining the level they're at, because during this five
game stretch they are twelve at converting touchdowns in the
red zone. But I'm actually gonna say, Jalen Darden, yeah,
(31:13):
let's get some good return yards.
Speaker 6 (31:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
He's a fun, little like kind of quiet, kind of understated.
Was literally meeting teammates and coaches on the sidelines during
the game.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
We asked him yesterday, like, yeah, could you have named
everybody who blocked for you on Sunday? He's like no, No,
He's like, I'm working on that, but yeah, yeah, he
got here late Friday, din't even practice Friday. He got
here after practice Friday, got I'm playing with the team Saturday,
and go return punts and kicks the next day.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
So yeah, and he's like, yeah, it's just fuck, just
tell me what you want me to do. And also
I was like, I love doing it. Not everybody can
do it. There's a lot of pressure and a lot
of stress. Good with it. It's like, okay, well how
about if we break a return in front of the twelves?
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Love it?
Speaker 2 (31:48):
That's what I got, another big play. I am sure
that this is gonna be another one for the highlight reel,
maybe even record books. It is a primetime matchup on Sunday.
There'll be plenty to talk about next week, which is
when we will be back with a brand new episode
of the Seahawks Insiders podcast.
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