November 27, 2024 • 28 mins
The Seahawks go from the apple state to the big apple this week to take on the Jets at MetLife Stadium. Jen Mueller and John Boyle preview Week 13. Today’s Show: Seahawks defense (01:42), what the defense can improve on (05:38), confidence (09:01), parallels between Baltimore and Seattle (11:14), Jets preview (15:07), Quinnen Williams (19:50), and two things we need to see (26:08).
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Seahawks Insiders.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Gino, look gon lay it up over the top, count
of man out there. Pitter fucker, He's got it.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Touchdown. Sey Hawks getting you ready for Seahawks football every Sunday.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Ertz drops back, Hastime loads up, pros HEYJ Brown the defense?
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Does you keep your feet in be?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Does scheyowk ball?
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Presented by Delta, the official airline of the Seahawks. Now
here's your host, Jen Mueller.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
And we are broadcasting from the Seahawks Podcast Studio, presented
by Sony, the official headphones partner of the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
John Boyle, it is good to be back this week.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
It is we you know, we missed everyone last week
thanks to the power out edge, you know, podcasts. But
great to be back. And you know what else is
great to be in first place.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yes, it is really good to be in first place.
It's really kind of funny how quickly things have turned around.
And you knew that that was a possibility when you've
got the closest division in football as your division. But
it is shocking the turnaround that we have seen, not
just in the standings, but I think in the team
in general.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Oh for sure. I mean you just look at you know,
going into the by you've lost five or six. There
are some real questions about the defense. Granted, the Rams
game before the bye looked like the defense was starting
to turn things around, But all of a sudden, you
go beat two division arrivals and the defense just looks
phenomenal in both those games. And this season feels a
heck of a lot different than did a couple of
(01:27):
weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
The sidelines feel different. Yeah, it was the most energetic
I have seen the defense this entire season. And I
will say the twelves were really loud on Sunday and
that absolutely contributed. But there was just this energy that
was emanating from the defense like it's kind of old
school days, which is fitting because Jaron Reid was talking
(01:51):
about it last week how he was bringing back kind
of that lob style of practice, and I think that
that showed up. I'm sure part of that was the
opening series where you get two sacks on back to
back plays, but man, even in warm up, see even
when they came out into the field, that is a
different feel for this team.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, for sure, and I think again, I think it
starts back really before the bye, like this defense, as
you referenced, they had some meetings and Jared Rey talked
about kind of getting that lob level of energy and
you know, look he was first to say, Hey, we're
not trying to be that defense. It's not going to
be the same. It's not the same players, but just
that passion, that intensity, the focus on practice, all of
that stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
The accountability, yeah, the accountability of practice right, and having
guys in meeting rooms call each other out. I mean
the coaches, sure, the coaches are going to point things out,
but there isn't accountability with the players and the leadership
group who got together and said we can do better
and we need to do better. And it is. It's
showing up.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah, for sure. I mean it's night and day. Especially
the run defense. You look at what they're doing is
to run compared to what we're seeing in that mid
season stretch where everybody was rushing for one hundred and
fifty plus against Seahawks, like that just makes all the
difference in the world for this defense.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
It was forty nine rushing yards allowed last week to
the Cardinals. That is a Cardinals team that had rushed
for over one forty in six games. They had compiled
over three hundred yards of rushing offense in the two
games prior to facing Seattle, and Arizona was coming off
a bye, so everything should have been more to their favor.
(03:25):
But I mean from the first snap of the game,
it was clearly tilted towards Seattle. Yeah, it was really fun.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
It's fun to see.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
It's also fun to see that lob style and old
school Seahawks football coming back in another way. Kobe Bryant
in his celebration yes on the pick sex.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well homage to March and you know, it's funny. He's
already already where he's probably getting a fine for it
right shouting NOWT Marshall, maybe see if he wants to
help out. But it's funny that he was. You know,
he talked to his family about it. He kind of
planned it if he ever got the shot to do it,
and he took advantage of Good for him, and he
is your NFC Defensive Player of the Week for that
(04:04):
sixty nine yard pick six. So good for Kobe. I mean,
he's such a cool story this year of a guy
that loses his starting job last year, deals with injuries
and starts this year as a backup, and now he's
the starter and a real key part of this defense.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
You know, I was talking to him earlier this year
and he said, it really is a blessing in disguise,
not the losing the job and not maybe the ups
and downs, but he's also played three different positions since
he's been here, and he said, you know, when it
first happened, it was hard, right because you're trying to
learn all these things. He goes, Actually that helped me
learn this defense because I had a different process for
(04:39):
studying so I could dive in. I also have had
to communicate across the board, you know, to various teammates
depending on where I've been on the field, and it
was like all of that, not that it makes it
easy this year, but it was like, this is truly
the blessing and disguise of having to go through what
I've been through the.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Last couple yek. He's seen that with a couple other
defensive backs who he's told us he's leaned on through
this problem. Says with Quandary Diggs, He's a guy that
was a nickel in the cornerback early in his career
before becoming a full time safety. Deshaun Shed, who helped
coach Kobe Bryant when he was here, played everywhere in
the secondary Dierner's playing day, So he's had some guys
to help him get to this point and he has
taken full advantage of that opportunity.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I think he still corresponds with Shed he did.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
I think, yeah, yeah, Shed looks at his tape and
you know, sends him notes and then he and Quandary
are really closed, like they text all the time. Just
you know, ty Kelt talk a little trash to Quandary
for things and text him about that. So it's yeah,
both those guys are still very much in his life.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Well, the Seahawks defense looked really impressive on Sunday, but
there are still some things that they need to improve on.
I think that we're willing to let those slide, but
Mike McDonald is not. As he explains what he saw on.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
Film explosive wise, in the past, there's still some there.
I think we left some meat on the bone on
some situational stuff. But just this is the again, like
you go out there with the approach, the attitude, the intent,
the communication, the urgency. How he played the run, can
still apply some of the calls and like the spirit
of calls and what we're doing. I mean, there's still
there's significant room for improvement as much as you feel like, hey,
(06:07):
we played a really good game, which we did, but
you're leaving the game and hey, we're still hungry to
improve as well.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
To like, unless he's talking to you after a shutout
winning the Super Bowl, he's probably gonna tell you, like,
you know, we're still chasing it. We're still getting better,
like it's and that's a great attitude to have because
the day you think, oh, we just held the Cardinals
to two field goals, we figured it out, like that's
when somebody comes up and gets you in the next week.
So yeah, they're you know, they've been really incrementally getting
(06:33):
better these last three games, and they feel like they're
they're not there yet. You know, he's talked about they
can still turn the ball over more. They know there's
things they can do to get better. So as good
as it's been, you know, let's just keep building on it.
And as Mike would say, keep stacking.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah, And the number one thing when he was asked
a week ago what he wants to see from his defense.
It was more takeaways. You get one from Kobe Bryant
on Sunday almost oh my gosh. Oh there was a
couple ones.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
As I say, if Leonard hits the arm, oh yeah,
he hits Kyler's arm a split second sooner there's another
one as well. But yeah, Julian, the play Julian made.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
That was incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
It's funny. In the moment, I was like, man, that
was almost Earl Thomas as like I can't say that,
Like you can't, and then Mina times from me a
spen she tweets. I'm like, okay, well, if Mina is
going to re all go with it, because yeah, he
covered so much grounds flying in there and even caught
it but just couldn't quite get in most.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
It was really fun to watch, and I know that
coach is probably looking at a lot of those plays
from Trey McBride, right, the tight ends that had, you know,
all the yards and all the offense and talking to
those guys after the game, Look, there's going to be
some give and take. Yeah, if you allow fewer than
fifty rushing yards, they're going to move the ball somehow.
(07:47):
But you could tell when Seattle went on that eight
minute drive to essentially close things out. If you can't
run the ball, you're not going to be able to
stay on the field. So I understand what Mike is
saying about the explosives. He would like to limit those.
And also that was kind of the trade off in
that game, is how I would.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Look at it. And even the explosives, we're not talking
forty fifty yard rights, yeah, bombing over you. It was
he was getting between layers of coverage and getting fifteen
to twenty yard which you don't want. But Mike McDonald's
not going to say this, but like, I can live
with Trey McBride doing that to you if you're not
getting run on at all, and if the receivers aren't
killing yet. I mean, if that's.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Exactly against a top tier running back, exact right, Like, yeah,
it wasn't the backup or the backup to the backup.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, James Connor is a heck of over. That was
his fewest yards since his rookie season when he was
barely getting carries.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Ooh good notes.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, way did do some deep die on seven carries. Wow. Yeah,
they shut that down.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
There you go, And it is why I think that
there should be a lot of confidence for this defense,
not just for the one game, but to stack them
back to back against division opponents and teams that had
been playing really well coming into the matchups against Seattle,
and in fact, coach does see a place where confidence
can grow.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
We're confident in our process and you have to go
through all the steps to have confidence stepping out there
on Sunday. So you can't skip steps, you can't go
around stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
You got to go through it.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
And the guys know that. But and this we've been
doing it the whole time, but trying to get better
our process. Look, we're still we're still We're always gonna
have the mentality of you know, how do you find
an edge here? How do you find an edge of
their process wise? But I think it's coming into focus
on what it takes to know to play at a
high level.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
We're broadcasting from the Seahawks Podcast Studio, presented by Sony,
the official headphones partner of the Seattle Seahawks. I know
that Mike McDonald talks about process a lot, and I
think that that is I think sometimes it sounds boring.
It is so cool to see at work. Yeah, because
they've had a good process. They have talked about it
the entire time, the scouts have talked about it, the
(09:59):
GM has talked about right, everybody in the building has
talked about the process. It's really hard to stick with
that process when you don't see the results they have
the results are coming. I think that's maybe the best
part of these last two months.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yeah, and this is before they won these past two games,
when it's you know, it's a lot easier to talk
about the process when it's going well. But coming out
of the buy, before these two wins, one of the
things he talked about is that process of like how
do we get from Monday what we do Monday through Saturday,
of how we teach it, how we coach it, how
the players do it on the practic field, and build that.
I think he called it an assembly line to the
(10:34):
final product, which is what you do on the field Sunday.
And Man, it's been really good.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
And he's taken player input on that one. He's taken
coaches input on that one. I mean, he had an
idea of what he wanted to do when he came
in here, and he has shown that he has a
growth mindset and that he is willing to take feedback
into make.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Jump, which is great for a first time head coach
because you can have everything in your head of how
it should be and you can be Okay, maybe this
is how we did the last place I was, but
in the first time doing it, you got to have
a flexibilion. He's done that. He's listened to players, He's
tweaked their schedules a little different than it was going
into the by They've tweaked a few things here and there.
So I like that he's you know, he obviously has
his core principles. He's gonna stick to you, but he's
(11:10):
willing to tweak things around to maximize what they're getting.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
And when you talk about the last place he was at,
there's some early similar comparisons to Baltimore and when their
defense started to turn around in Mike's first year as
a defensive coordinator, and where Seattle is and where the
defense is turning around, and so you.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Start to go, oh, is this kind of what you expect?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
No, it is not at all the same, which was
a little bit surprising to me.
Speaker 5 (11:37):
I think the learning curve in Baltimore was very much
my responsibility of having I didn't have a clear enough
vision of what we were trying to do early enough,
and when we traded for Rokuon and we decided to
play a certain way, it kind of forced our hand.
So I realized there's parallels and like when they when
it's happening in the season, but it was just center
(12:00):
a little bit different circumstance. I think here it's we
have a vision, we have a very clear vision of
what we're trying to achieve, and we're just hammered away
at it until in trying to make incremental improvements until
it's kind of coming to life.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah, it's impossible not to look at the timing of
the turnaround and the fact that you went out and
acquired a really good middle linebacker in the middle of
the season, kind of right as this turnaround has happened.
It's really easy to look at that and say, oh,
it's the same thing. But as he said, it's a
different scenario obviously different players, And I think he alluded
to this on his radio show Monday. A lot of
it is just you have a whole new coaching staff.
(12:36):
They're all new working ticket. It's not just that they're
new to Seattle and these players, they're new working together.
Very few of these guys have ever spent time working together.
And so as much as you're not going to come
in week one and say, oh boy, there's gonna be
growing pains. This is all new, like it's kind of
inevitable and you can't it's probably, as he said, it's
probably better for the long term to get the right staff,
even if it's gonna have some of that. But you
(12:57):
can't just come in week one with all those new
guys and just be perfect for seventeen weeks. And so
I think what we're seeing this turnaround is, yes, getting
Ernest Jones really helps. Adding some of the guys I have,
making some of the changes they have has really helped.
But more than anything, I think it's just you're giving
these players and coaches week after week to build together
and grow this defense.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
And he was asked this week, you know, in hindsight,
would he do it differently and hire more coaches that
he knows now side note, when you were a young
coach in the NFL, your network of coaches is.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Not that large to choose, and he was late building
the staff because of the timing of the playoff run.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
So even in hindsight, there's not a whole lot that
you could do differently on that one. And I loved
his answer. He said, well, that's the easy way out.
I mean, that's the easy answer and the easy way out.
The thing that you should be doing is putting together
the best staff you possibly can, whether I knew them
before or not.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, and maybe maybe you're better in week four if
you have a staff full of Baltimore guys, But are
you better in twenty twenty six? Yeah, probably not. And
that's his point, is like he's not trying to win
every you know, obviously trying to win every game, but
he's not focused on what's the best thing for the
first half of this season. It's what's the best thing
for the long term future of this organization. And he
(14:07):
felt like he went out and found the best coaches,
regardless of background, to build a staff. And side note,
even if you felt like, oh, I should have done differently,
are you gonna say.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
That, No, that is right, I know, but I but.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
You know you're right, I really botched it building this
coaching staff. Let's reset and start over in week twelve.
Of course he wasn't gonna say that, but I think
he made a good point. Okay, well, thank you for
conceding that one.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Either way, Lumenfield was rocket On Sunday, I could hardly
hear myself think, which is why you might need some
Sony headphones this NFL season.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Feel every play, every hit, every.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Moment with a Sony one thousand XM five noise canceling headphones,
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talk about the Seahawks offense, yes, and we can talk
(15:08):
about the Jets, which I can't believe were this far
and we have not talked about the Jets. I gotta
be honest, I'm not that intrigued about the Jets. After
they decided that they're going to start Aaron Rodgers this
week and that he's not going to be cut, and
now he's saying that if he plays in twenty twenty five,
as if this is his decision anymore, he would like
to stay in New York. I'm kind of over the
whole Jets thing. I gotta be honest, there's a bit
(15:29):
of drama there, a bit a bit.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
You know, they fire their coach and GM this season,
their quarterbacks in the news all the time. It's interesting.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Well, their quarterback has also lost seven of their last
eight games and is completing just sixty three percent of
his passes during that stretch with seven interceptions.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Let's make it eight or nine.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Let's sure.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Sure, yeah, let's do that.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I do.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
I say all of that, and you still can't overlook
Aeron Rodgers. And they are coming off a bye, so
whatever injuries he has had, which there have been a
number of them this year, he has an extra week
and he is still one of the greatest quarterbacks I
have ever seen it.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
And their production was better offensively in their last game
before the buye and he said in his podcast appearance
he does every week. He said that he was starting
to feel better in that Colts game, So yeah, I don't.
You know, Look, we've seen it both for the Seahawks
and every other team. Like in this league. You can't think, oh,
well we have the better record or the mortal team
(16:31):
and just assume a win in any week. So it's
you know, it's never easy and got to you gotta
take every game just as seriously.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Here's what we do know about that offense. They are
averaging just under three hundred yards of offense, and they
are really doing it through the air. I mean, if
you look at the numbers, whatever they're getting is coming
through the air. Because they've got just about eighty seven
rushing yards a game. They are one of the few
teams that are below Seattle in those rush totals.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I tell you what, though, I still that's run game
because of Breese Hall. Yes still gives. He's averaging five
yards of carry his last four games, so the carries
aren't there.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
But you know, in some ways, it's a little bit
like ken Walker because when you look at this, yeah,
he might not be getting yards on the ground. He is, however,
getting explosive plays, and he's getting yards from scrimmage. He's
got twenty explosive plays on his own that is tied
for eighth most among all running backs. And when you
start looking at yards from scrimmage, I mean you're up
(17:28):
there at eighty to ninety a game.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yeah, because it was he have four hundred seven receiving
yards on top of the rust yard so again, like
he's he's not putting up the Gaudi, Like he's not
stats where he's among the lead leaders in anything. But
he's still a heck of a pack he is.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
And I know you can't take him for granted. Or
how about Garrett Wilson. Garrett Wilson, Like, yes, yards, he's
going to be their leading receiver. Forty seven percent of
his yards come after the catch. You know who else
is in that range across the NFL.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
I'm gonna guess maybe Jackson Smith and Jigba.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Jackson Smith and hey, all right, Jackson is about forty
five percent of his yards come after.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Catch, forty five yard screens help that.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
I do like that play call.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
That's a really that's a really good play call.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
On that one. When you, hey, when this team starts
getting screenplays to work, that's something that's been all that is.
It's been a long time starting.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Yes, it's like, but it's different when it's an inside
screen versus an outside screen. They can't set up the
outside screen.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Fairy well, I don't care how you get it done,
because this isn't just it's fascinating. I'm getting off top
of it, Like this was not a single coordinator or quarterback.
This goes back to like Home Grean era, like multiple
head coaches, coordinators, quarterbacks. It's wild. It's been like a
curse of this franchise.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Now, what I will say is every analyst or everybody
who's ever played football will tell you if you don't
practice it to the same level that you practice everything else,
you're not going to have that success. When you have
marshaw on, you don't need a big screen game.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I guess that's true. So if I I'm just saying.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
I know, I agree, I agree because I used to
cringe and I'm like.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Oh, you see it working, Like, oh, this is fun
when you do it to others.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Good. I like this.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
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Seahawks offense and the Jets defense in just a second.
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Speaker 3 (19:50):
The strength of this Jets team is absolutely their defense.
Top ten defense. Quinn Williams, he's good an interior defense
of lineman. With six sacks and thirty six pressures. That's
the second most sacks for an interior d lignement. Also
second most pressures from an interior delignement.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Yeah, and going back to the conversation, if you can't
look at a teams record and just say, oh, we've
got this when one of their strengths is an area
where quite frankly, you've probably struggled the most on offenses.
Your interior line pass rush. That's been an issue at
times for the Seahawks. And you're probably missing one of
your starting guards with Anthony Bradford with ankle injury. That's
(20:33):
I mean, that kind of player right there, can change
a game quite a bit. Sucks are going to need
to have a good plan for Quinn Williams well.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
And when you talk about being without a guard. Apparently
there's a little bit of a competition this week in practice,
which I thought was a little surprising. Not that they
shouldn't look at all options, but Anthony Bradford plays what
five snaps on Sunday he lives with an ankle injury.
Christian Haynes comes in and I think maybe first half
felt like he was holding his own maybe a little
(20:59):
bit better than the second half. And here is how
Mike McDonald kind of evaluates how he performed.
Speaker 5 (21:04):
You know, Satala is someone that we're going to take
a long look at as well.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
So but Christian played.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
Winning football for us. But want him to grow, keep growing, man,
you know, like you got to go prove it every
week on the on the practice field and in preparation.
And but right now, I mean just happy that, like, look,
there's a lot of credit for having a guy that
was rotating in and ab kind of took over, still prepared,
knew all knew all the things that we you know,
(21:33):
no mentals on the day, but some technic stuff we've
got to get cleaned up.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
But overall enough, you know, good enough to.
Speaker 5 (21:38):
Win the game. So happy with this ability to step
in and help us win.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
The football game. And I found that particularly interesting because
the question was not like, oh, if Anthony Bradford can't play,
what's the plan or is there competition? The question was
very pointedly about Christian Haynes getting an opportunity, and he
sort of corrected that notion of well, let's wait, we're
gonna give gives us to allow me a chance and
give him a look there. So yeah, I mean, I
think we're going to see all the competition this week.
(22:03):
May who knows, maybe they let both guys play to
get some game tape on both of them. But yeah,
I think we all just assume Christian Haynes he's the
guy that was rotating earlier in the season. He's a
guy that came in that game. But they want to
get a look and make it a competitive situation. So
it be a fun week to see how that plays out.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
And you know, I think it's going to be way different.
It's hard to come in a game five snaps in
when you weren't expecting to play. I'm not saying that
they're not ready or that they haven't prepared, it's just
a different level. Well, yeah, if you're not getting first
team reps, if you know that Anthony Bradford is starting.
They get a couple, but it's not It is not
(22:40):
like having a full week of this, So I think
that makes a difference. I talked to Abe Lucas after
last week's game. He's like, yeah, I played all all
of the snaps on offense. He's like, yeah, I've got
some stuff I need to correct on that one. But
you get him back for a second game at essentially
full strength. That helps the guy alongside of him. And
maybe this is the week that run game breaks out
(23:02):
John because for as good as this Jets team is,
did you see how many rushing yards they're allowing per game?
I did not, but I have about one hundred and thirty.
I'll go with that, about one hundred and thirty. So
maybe this is the breakout game we get from Ken
Walker and Zach Sharpine. I know the numbers haven't been there,
(23:22):
but that doesn't mean it's not working.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
According to coach, you're looking through it of from hey,
like how we're coming up with our plan, how we're
implementing it, how we're practicing it, how it's coming to
life on the field. There's some good stuff out there.
It's just not as much as we want it or
as consistent as we want it. But there's some good
stuff and our guys are working really hard at it.
Our coaches are dividing some really good plans in my opinion,
(23:47):
that we're still going to still try and improve on,
but we're on the right track.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
And the thing that I really like, like, look, the
yards haven't been there, that it hasn't been as productive
as they need to be, but they're not giving up
on it at this point. Like there was that stretch
earlier in the year where whether it was just game
plan or you're playing from behind, where they just weren't
running the ball. Whereas you'll get Kenneth Walker the last
three games, sixteen carries last week, fourteen the week before
twenty five against the Rams, It's like they're they're making
(24:14):
a real effort to get it done, and I think
that's how you You know, you've got to commit to
it a little bit to get it going, and you
don't want to live with all the negative plays and
the short yardage runs. But I do feel like if
they keep hammering at it, there's going to be an
opportunity for to pop. And as you said, the set's
defense has given up some yards. Maybe maybe this is
a chance for ken Walker to really get going.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Yeah, in his postgame interview, he said, look, I don't
really care how I get yards as long as we're
getting yards. But of course they want to be able
to run the ball. He is also the one I
really I love the leadership role that he's taking on. Yeah,
he's he is mostly quiet, but he is becoming more vocal.
He is the one that told the team on that
eight minute drive, we are going to run the ball
(24:55):
and we're going to like close this out. He was
actually a little bit upset that they couldn't take more
time off the clock on that one. But he's the
one that said, yeah, let's go, let's get it done, Like,
let's let's keep pounding away at this one. So the
mentality is there. Yeah, the play calls are there. I
think sometimes that Yeah, it's moving bodies in front. I
don't know, there's a lot. Yeah, when it when it
(25:19):
is going, well, it looks so easy.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
It does.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
You're like.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
When teams are humming in the wrong game, like, wow,
you do this all the time.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
Time, just keep calling this play all the time.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Fortunately, it's not that easy in this League, No it
is not.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
The Seahawks Insiders Podcast is broadcasting from the Seahawks Podcast Studio,
presented by Sony, the official headphones partner of the Seattle Seahawks,
who are a perfect eight and no at my life's
six and six and I was trying to give him
two extra way and sorry, there's too many numbers in
my head right now.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Four and against the Giants, they are one and o
against the Jets and Seahawks fans might remember the sixth
game there they played the Broncos.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
That's a pretty fun one.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Yeah, that's pretty good. It's a fun one.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Okay. Well, if we wanted to get another win, yes,
at that stadium, what would we need to do? Give
me your two things.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Well, we just talked about the run game. I want
to see it get going. Doesn't need to be some
dominant you know, we don't need sake one Barley rush,
Barkley rushing for two hundred and fifty five yards. I'll
take it. Yeah, they do that, it'd be great. I
want to just see, you know, let's get the average up.
So it's those first down negative one yard like zero
negative plays. Get rid of those, like just get the
(26:32):
four or five yards on first down, So let's let's
call it like an eighty plus yard game for ken Walker.
I think that's that's more than enough to get you
going where you want. And then defensively, I want to
see more of these turnovers, which I know comes from
you know, stopping them on first down, the pass rush,
getting going all that. But however, the formulas I want
to see because that's kind of the one thing Mike
McDonald's point too, is like this defense is doing a
(26:54):
lot well, but what's the next step. Let's have like
a three turnover game.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
I was gonna go with getting to Aaron.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Rodgers, I think I can.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Go, well, you know, you've got a couple of Seahawks
defenders who have played a lot of games in the stadium,
so maybe it all starts coming.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Back to them and they just got some memories there.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Julian would have a few good memories on that one. Yeah,
Hank would have God, yeah, yeah, there's there's make it
a special kind of homecoming, how about that?
Speaker 5 (27:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
And I'm going to echo your part on the run game,
but I want to see as a team over one
hundred rushing yards.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
That's what I got.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
We're not going to overcomplicate things this week. We're just
gonna We're just gonna let that roll because the Seahawks
are going to play four of their remaining six regular
season games on the road. You just need to come
away with a win in this one. Any way you
can do it. That's generally our philosophy here on the podcast.
Is exactly what we're gonna do next week, because that
(27:56):
is the next time we will join you on the center.
Are asterisk always on the Seahawks Insiders Podcast.
You're listening to the Seahawks Insiders.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Gino, look gon lay it up over the top, count
of man out there. Pitter fucker, He's got it.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Touchdown. Sey Hawks getting you ready for Seahawks football every Sunday.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Ertz drops back, Hastime loads up, pros HEYJ Brown the defense?
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Does you keep your feet in be?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Does scheyowk ball?
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Presented by Delta, the official airline of the Seahawks. Now
here's your host, Jen Mueller.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
And we are broadcasting from the Seahawks Podcast Studio, presented
by Sony, the official headphones partner of the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
John Boyle, it is good to be back this week.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
It is we you know, we missed everyone last week
thanks to the power out edge, you know, podcasts. But
great to be back. And you know what else is
great to be in first place.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yes, it is really good to be in first place.
It's really kind of funny how quickly things have turned around.
And you knew that that was a possibility when you've
got the closest division in football as your division. But
it is shocking the turnaround that we have seen, not
just in the standings, but I think in the team
in general.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Oh for sure. I mean you just look at you know,
going into the by you've lost five or six. There
are some real questions about the defense. Granted, the Rams
game before the bye looked like the defense was starting
to turn things around, But all of a sudden, you
go beat two division arrivals and the defense just looks
phenomenal in both those games. And this season feels a
heck of a lot different than did a couple of
(01:27):
weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
The sidelines feel different. Yeah, it was the most energetic
I have seen the defense this entire season. And I
will say the twelves were really loud on Sunday and
that absolutely contributed. But there was just this energy that
was emanating from the defense like it's kind of old
school days, which is fitting because Jaron Reid was talking
(01:51):
about it last week how he was bringing back kind
of that lob style of practice, and I think that
that showed up. I'm sure part of that was the
opening series where you get two sacks on back to
back plays, but man, even in warm up, see even
when they came out into the field, that is a
different feel for this team.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, for sure, and I think again, I think it
starts back really before the bye, like this defense, as
you referenced, they had some meetings and Jared Rey talked
about kind of getting that lob level of energy and
you know, look he was first to say, Hey, we're
not trying to be that defense. It's not going to
be the same. It's not the same players, but just
that passion, that intensity, the focus on practice, all of
that stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
The accountability, yeah, the accountability of practice right, and having
guys in meeting rooms call each other out. I mean
the coaches, sure, the coaches are going to point things out,
but there isn't accountability with the players and the leadership
group who got together and said we can do better
and we need to do better. And it is. It's
showing up.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah, for sure. I mean it's night and day. Especially
the run defense. You look at what they're doing is
to run compared to what we're seeing in that mid
season stretch where everybody was rushing for one hundred and
fifty plus against Seahawks, like that just makes all the
difference in the world for this defense.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
It was forty nine rushing yards allowed last week to
the Cardinals. That is a Cardinals team that had rushed
for over one forty in six games. They had compiled
over three hundred yards of rushing offense in the two
games prior to facing Seattle, and Arizona was coming off
a bye, so everything should have been more to their favor.
(03:25):
But I mean from the first snap of the game,
it was clearly tilted towards Seattle. Yeah, it was really fun.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
It's fun to see.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
It's also fun to see that lob style and old
school Seahawks football coming back in another way. Kobe Bryant
in his celebration yes on the pick sex.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well homage to March and you know, it's funny. He's
already already where he's probably getting a fine for it
right shouting NOWT Marshall, maybe see if he wants to
help out. But it's funny that he was. You know,
he talked to his family about it. He kind of
planned it if he ever got the shot to do it,
and he took advantage of Good for him, and he
is your NFC Defensive Player of the Week for that
(04:04):
sixty nine yard pick six. So good for Kobe. I mean,
he's such a cool story this year of a guy
that loses his starting job last year, deals with injuries
and starts this year as a backup, and now he's
the starter and a real key part of this defense.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
You know, I was talking to him earlier this year
and he said, it really is a blessing in disguise,
not the losing the job and not maybe the ups
and downs, but he's also played three different positions since
he's been here, and he said, you know, when it
first happened, it was hard, right because you're trying to
learn all these things. He goes, Actually that helped me
learn this defense because I had a different process for
(04:39):
studying so I could dive in. I also have had
to communicate across the board, you know, to various teammates
depending on where I've been on the field, and it
was like all of that, not that it makes it
easy this year, but it was like, this is truly
the blessing and disguise of having to go through what
I've been through the.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Last couple yek. He's seen that with a couple other
defensive backs who he's told us he's leaned on through
this problem. Says with Quandary Diggs, He's a guy that
was a nickel in the cornerback early in his career
before becoming a full time safety. Deshaun Shed, who helped
coach Kobe Bryant when he was here, played everywhere in
the secondary Dierner's playing day, So he's had some guys
to help him get to this point and he has
taken full advantage of that opportunity.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I think he still corresponds with Shed he did.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
I think, yeah, yeah, Shed looks at his tape and
you know, sends him notes and then he and Quandary
are really closed, like they text all the time. Just
you know, ty Kelt talk a little trash to Quandary
for things and text him about that. So it's yeah,
both those guys are still very much in his life.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Well, the Seahawks defense looked really impressive on Sunday, but
there are still some things that they need to improve on.
I think that we're willing to let those slide, but
Mike McDonald is not. As he explains what he saw on.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
Film explosive wise, in the past, there's still some there.
I think we left some meat on the bone on
some situational stuff. But just this is the again, like
you go out there with the approach, the attitude, the intent,
the communication, the urgency. How he played the run, can
still apply some of the calls and like the spirit
of calls and what we're doing. I mean, there's still
there's significant room for improvement as much as you feel like, hey,
(06:07):
we played a really good game, which we did, but
you're leaving the game and hey, we're still hungry to
improve as well.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
To like, unless he's talking to you after a shutout
winning the Super Bowl, he's probably gonna tell you, like,
you know, we're still chasing it. We're still getting better,
like it's and that's a great attitude to have because
the day you think, oh, we just held the Cardinals
to two field goals, we figured it out, like that's
when somebody comes up and gets you in the next week.
So yeah, they're you know, they've been really incrementally getting
(06:33):
better these last three games, and they feel like they're
they're not there yet. You know, he's talked about they
can still turn the ball over more. They know there's
things they can do to get better. So as good
as it's been, you know, let's just keep building on it.
And as Mike would say, keep stacking.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah, And the number one thing when he was asked
a week ago what he wants to see from his defense.
It was more takeaways. You get one from Kobe Bryant
on Sunday almost oh my gosh. Oh there was a
couple ones.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
As I say, if Leonard hits the arm, oh yeah,
he hits Kyler's arm a split second sooner there's another
one as well. But yeah, Julian, the play Julian made.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
That was incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
It's funny. In the moment, I was like, man, that
was almost Earl Thomas as like I can't say that,
Like you can't, and then Mina times from me a
spen she tweets. I'm like, okay, well, if Mina is
going to re all go with it, because yeah, he
covered so much grounds flying in there and even caught
it but just couldn't quite get in most.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
It was really fun to watch, and I know that
coach is probably looking at a lot of those plays
from Trey McBride, right, the tight ends that had, you know,
all the yards and all the offense and talking to
those guys after the game, Look, there's going to be
some give and take. Yeah, if you allow fewer than
fifty rushing yards, they're going to move the ball somehow.
(07:47):
But you could tell when Seattle went on that eight
minute drive to essentially close things out. If you can't
run the ball, you're not going to be able to
stay on the field. So I understand what Mike is
saying about the explosives. He would like to limit those.
And also that was kind of the trade off in
that game, is how I would.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Look at it. And even the explosives, we're not talking
forty fifty yard rights, yeah, bombing over you. It was
he was getting between layers of coverage and getting fifteen
to twenty yard which you don't want. But Mike McDonald's
not going to say this, but like, I can live
with Trey McBride doing that to you if you're not
getting run on at all, and if the receivers aren't
killing yet. I mean, if that's.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Exactly against a top tier running back, exact right, Like, yeah,
it wasn't the backup or the backup to the backup.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, James Connor is a heck of over. That was
his fewest yards since his rookie season when he was
barely getting carries.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Ooh good notes.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, way did do some deep die on seven carries. Wow. Yeah,
they shut that down.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
There you go, And it is why I think that
there should be a lot of confidence for this defense,
not just for the one game, but to stack them
back to back against division opponents and teams that had
been playing really well coming into the matchups against Seattle,
and in fact, coach does see a place where confidence
can grow.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
We're confident in our process and you have to go
through all the steps to have confidence stepping out there
on Sunday. So you can't skip steps, you can't go
around stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
You got to go through it.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
And the guys know that. But and this we've been
doing it the whole time, but trying to get better
our process. Look, we're still we're still We're always gonna
have the mentality of you know, how do you find
an edge here? How do you find an edge of
their process wise? But I think it's coming into focus
on what it takes to know to play at a
high level.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
We're broadcasting from the Seahawks Podcast Studio, presented by Sony,
the official headphones partner of the Seattle Seahawks. I know
that Mike McDonald talks about process a lot, and I
think that that is I think sometimes it sounds boring.
It is so cool to see at work. Yeah, because
they've had a good process. They have talked about it
the entire time, the scouts have talked about it, the
(09:59):
GM has talked about right, everybody in the building has
talked about the process. It's really hard to stick with
that process when you don't see the results they have
the results are coming. I think that's maybe the best
part of these last two months.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yeah, and this is before they won these past two games,
when it's you know, it's a lot easier to talk
about the process when it's going well. But coming out
of the buy, before these two wins, one of the
things he talked about is that process of like how
do we get from Monday what we do Monday through Saturday,
of how we teach it, how we coach it, how
the players do it on the practic field, and build that.
I think he called it an assembly line to the
(10:34):
final product, which is what you do on the field Sunday.
And Man, it's been really good.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
And he's taken player input on that one. He's taken
coaches input on that one. I mean, he had an
idea of what he wanted to do when he came
in here, and he has shown that he has a
growth mindset and that he is willing to take feedback
into make.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Jump, which is great for a first time head coach
because you can have everything in your head of how
it should be and you can be Okay, maybe this
is how we did the last place I was, but
in the first time doing it, you got to have
a flexibilion. He's done that. He's listened to players, He's
tweaked their schedules a little different than it was going
into the by They've tweaked a few things here and there.
So I like that he's you know, he obviously has
his core principles. He's gonna stick to you, but he's
(11:10):
willing to tweak things around to maximize what they're getting.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
And when you talk about the last place he was at,
there's some early similar comparisons to Baltimore and when their
defense started to turn around in Mike's first year as
a defensive coordinator, and where Seattle is and where the
defense is turning around, and so you.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Start to go, oh, is this kind of what you expect?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
No, it is not at all the same, which was
a little bit surprising to me.
Speaker 5 (11:37):
I think the learning curve in Baltimore was very much
my responsibility of having I didn't have a clear enough
vision of what we were trying to do early enough,
and when we traded for Rokuon and we decided to
play a certain way, it kind of forced our hand.
So I realized there's parallels and like when they when
it's happening in the season, but it was just center
(12:00):
a little bit different circumstance. I think here it's we
have a vision, we have a very clear vision of
what we're trying to achieve, and we're just hammered away
at it until in trying to make incremental improvements until
it's kind of coming to life.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah, it's impossible not to look at the timing of
the turnaround and the fact that you went out and
acquired a really good middle linebacker in the middle of
the season, kind of right as this turnaround has happened.
It's really easy to look at that and say, oh,
it's the same thing. But as he said, it's a
different scenario obviously different players, And I think he alluded
to this on his radio show Monday. A lot of
it is just you have a whole new coaching staff.
(12:36):
They're all new working ticket. It's not just that they're
new to Seattle and these players, they're new working together.
Very few of these guys have ever spent time working together.
And so as much as you're not going to come
in week one and say, oh boy, there's gonna be
growing pains. This is all new, like it's kind of
inevitable and you can't it's probably, as he said, it's
probably better for the long term to get the right staff,
even if it's gonna have some of that. But you
(12:57):
can't just come in week one with all those new
guys and just be perfect for seventeen weeks. And so
I think what we're seeing this turnaround is, yes, getting
Ernest Jones really helps. Adding some of the guys I have,
making some of the changes they have has really helped.
But more than anything, I think it's just you're giving
these players and coaches week after week to build together
and grow this defense.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
And he was asked this week, you know, in hindsight,
would he do it differently and hire more coaches that
he knows now side note, when you were a young
coach in the NFL, your network of coaches is.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Not that large to choose, and he was late building
the staff because of the timing of the playoff run.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
So even in hindsight, there's not a whole lot that
you could do differently on that one. And I loved
his answer. He said, well, that's the easy way out.
I mean, that's the easy answer and the easy way out.
The thing that you should be doing is putting together
the best staff you possibly can, whether I knew them
before or not.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, and maybe maybe you're better in week four if
you have a staff full of Baltimore guys, But are
you better in twenty twenty six? Yeah, probably not. And
that's his point, is like he's not trying to win
every you know, obviously trying to win every game, but
he's not focused on what's the best thing for the
first half of this season. It's what's the best thing
for the long term future of this organization. And he
(14:07):
felt like he went out and found the best coaches,
regardless of background, to build a staff. And side note,
even if you felt like, oh, I should have done differently,
are you gonna say.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
That, No, that is right, I know, but I but.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
You know you're right, I really botched it building this
coaching staff. Let's reset and start over in week twelve.
Of course he wasn't gonna say that, but I think
he made a good point. Okay, well, thank you for
conceding that one.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Either way, Lumenfield was rocket On Sunday, I could hardly
hear myself think, which is why you might need some
Sony headphones this NFL season.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Feel every play, every hit, every.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Moment with a Sony one thousand XM five noise canceling headphones,
the official headphones of the Seattle Seahawks. With premium noise cancelation,
You're in the zone, no distractions, just pure football. Whether
you're in your living room or on the go, you
will never miss a beat with Sony headphones. We can
talk about the Seahawks offense, yes, and we can talk
(15:08):
about the Jets, which I can't believe were this far
and we have not talked about the Jets. I gotta
be honest, I'm not that intrigued about the Jets. After
they decided that they're going to start Aaron Rodgers this
week and that he's not going to be cut, and
now he's saying that if he plays in twenty twenty five,
as if this is his decision anymore, he would like
to stay in New York. I'm kind of over the
whole Jets thing. I gotta be honest, there's a bit
(15:29):
of drama there, a bit a bit.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
You know, they fire their coach and GM this season,
their quarterbacks in the news all the time. It's interesting.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Well, their quarterback has also lost seven of their last
eight games and is completing just sixty three percent of
his passes during that stretch with seven interceptions.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Let's make it eight or nine.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Let's sure.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Sure, yeah, let's do that.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I do.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
I say all of that, and you still can't overlook
Aeron Rodgers. And they are coming off a bye, so
whatever injuries he has had, which there have been a
number of them this year, he has an extra week
and he is still one of the greatest quarterbacks I
have ever seen it.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
And their production was better offensively in their last game
before the buye and he said in his podcast appearance
he does every week. He said that he was starting
to feel better in that Colts game, So yeah, I don't.
You know, Look, we've seen it both for the Seahawks
and every other team. Like in this league. You can't think, oh,
well we have the better record or the mortal team
(16:31):
and just assume a win in any week. So it's
you know, it's never easy and got to you gotta
take every game just as seriously.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Here's what we do know about that offense. They are
averaging just under three hundred yards of offense, and they
are really doing it through the air. I mean, if
you look at the numbers, whatever they're getting is coming
through the air. Because they've got just about eighty seven
rushing yards a game. They are one of the few
teams that are below Seattle in those rush totals.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I tell you what, though, I still that's run game
because of Breese Hall. Yes still gives. He's averaging five
yards of carry his last four games, so the carries
aren't there.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
But you know, in some ways, it's a little bit
like ken Walker because when you look at this, yeah,
he might not be getting yards on the ground. He is, however,
getting explosive plays, and he's getting yards from scrimmage. He's
got twenty explosive plays on his own that is tied
for eighth most among all running backs. And when you
start looking at yards from scrimmage, I mean you're up
(17:28):
there at eighty to ninety a game.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yeah, because it was he have four hundred seven receiving
yards on top of the rust yard so again, like
he's he's not putting up the Gaudi, Like he's not
stats where he's among the lead leaders in anything. But
he's still a heck of a pack he is.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
And I know you can't take him for granted. Or
how about Garrett Wilson. Garrett Wilson, Like, yes, yards, he's
going to be their leading receiver. Forty seven percent of
his yards come after the catch. You know who else
is in that range across the NFL.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
I'm gonna guess maybe Jackson Smith and Jigba.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Jackson Smith and hey, all right, Jackson is about forty
five percent of his yards come after.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Catch, forty five yard screens help that.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
I do like that play call.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
That's a really that's a really good play call.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
On that one. When you, hey, when this team starts
getting screenplays to work, that's something that's been all that is.
It's been a long time starting.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Yes, it's like, but it's different when it's an inside
screen versus an outside screen. They can't set up the
outside screen.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Fairy well, I don't care how you get it done,
because this isn't just it's fascinating. I'm getting off top
of it, Like this was not a single coordinator or quarterback.
This goes back to like Home Grean era, like multiple
head coaches, coordinators, quarterbacks. It's wild. It's been like a
curse of this franchise.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Now, what I will say is every analyst or everybody
who's ever played football will tell you if you don't
practice it to the same level that you practice everything else,
you're not going to have that success. When you have
marshaw on, you don't need a big screen game.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I guess that's true. So if I I'm just saying.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
I know, I agree, I agree because I used to
cringe and I'm like.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Oh, you see it working, Like, oh, this is fun
when you do it to others.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Good. I like this.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
I tell you what. We're going to dive into the
Seahawks offense and the Jets defense in just a second.
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Speaker 3 (19:50):
The strength of this Jets team is absolutely their defense.
Top ten defense. Quinn Williams, he's good an interior defense
of lineman. With six sacks and thirty six pressures. That's
the second most sacks for an interior d lignement. Also
second most pressures from an interior delignement.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Yeah, and going back to the conversation, if you can't
look at a teams record and just say, oh, we've
got this when one of their strengths is an area
where quite frankly, you've probably struggled the most on offenses.
Your interior line pass rush. That's been an issue at
times for the Seahawks. And you're probably missing one of
your starting guards with Anthony Bradford with ankle injury. That's
(20:33):
I mean, that kind of player right there, can change
a game quite a bit. Sucks are going to need
to have a good plan for Quinn Williams well.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
And when you talk about being without a guard. Apparently
there's a little bit of a competition this week in practice,
which I thought was a little surprising. Not that they
shouldn't look at all options, but Anthony Bradford plays what
five snaps on Sunday he lives with an ankle injury.
Christian Haynes comes in and I think maybe first half
felt like he was holding his own maybe a little
(20:59):
bit better than the second half. And here is how
Mike McDonald kind of evaluates how he performed.
Speaker 5 (21:04):
You know, Satala is someone that we're going to take
a long look at as well.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
So but Christian played.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
Winning football for us. But want him to grow, keep growing, man,
you know, like you got to go prove it every
week on the on the practice field and in preparation.
And but right now, I mean just happy that, like, look,
there's a lot of credit for having a guy that
was rotating in and ab kind of took over, still prepared,
knew all knew all the things that we you know,
(21:33):
no mentals on the day, but some technic stuff we've
got to get cleaned up.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
But overall enough, you know, good enough to.
Speaker 5 (21:38):
Win the game. So happy with this ability to step
in and help us win.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
The football game. And I found that particularly interesting because
the question was not like, oh, if Anthony Bradford can't play,
what's the plan or is there competition? The question was
very pointedly about Christian Haynes getting an opportunity, and he
sort of corrected that notion of well, let's wait, we're
gonna give gives us to allow me a chance and
give him a look there. So yeah, I mean, I
think we're going to see all the competition this week.
(22:03):
May who knows, maybe they let both guys play to
get some game tape on both of them. But yeah,
I think we all just assume Christian Haynes he's the
guy that was rotating earlier in the season. He's a
guy that came in that game. But they want to
get a look and make it a competitive situation. So
it be a fun week to see how that plays out.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
And you know, I think it's going to be way different.
It's hard to come in a game five snaps in
when you weren't expecting to play. I'm not saying that
they're not ready or that they haven't prepared, it's just
a different level. Well, yeah, if you're not getting first
team reps, if you know that Anthony Bradford is starting.
They get a couple, but it's not It is not
(22:40):
like having a full week of this, So I think
that makes a difference. I talked to Abe Lucas after
last week's game. He's like, yeah, I played all all
of the snaps on offense. He's like, yeah, I've got
some stuff I need to correct on that one. But
you get him back for a second game at essentially
full strength. That helps the guy alongside of him. And
maybe this is the week that run game breaks out
(23:02):
John because for as good as this Jets team is,
did you see how many rushing yards they're allowing per game?
I did not, but I have about one hundred and thirty.
I'll go with that, about one hundred and thirty. So
maybe this is the breakout game we get from Ken
Walker and Zach Sharpine. I know the numbers haven't been there,
(23:22):
but that doesn't mean it's not working.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
According to coach, you're looking through it of from hey,
like how we're coming up with our plan, how we're
implementing it, how we're practicing it, how it's coming to
life on the field. There's some good stuff out there.
It's just not as much as we want it or
as consistent as we want it. But there's some good
stuff and our guys are working really hard at it.
Our coaches are dividing some really good plans in my opinion,
(23:47):
that we're still going to still try and improve on,
but we're on the right track.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
And the thing that I really like, like, look, the
yards haven't been there, that it hasn't been as productive
as they need to be, but they're not giving up
on it at this point. Like there was that stretch
earlier in the year where whether it was just game
plan or you're playing from behind, where they just weren't
running the ball. Whereas you'll get Kenneth Walker the last
three games, sixteen carries last week, fourteen the week before
twenty five against the Rams, It's like they're they're making
(24:14):
a real effort to get it done, and I think
that's how you You know, you've got to commit to
it a little bit to get it going, and you
don't want to live with all the negative plays and
the short yardage runs. But I do feel like if
they keep hammering at it, there's going to be an
opportunity for to pop. And as you said, the set's
defense has given up some yards. Maybe maybe this is
a chance for ken Walker to really get going.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Yeah, in his postgame interview, he said, look, I don't
really care how I get yards as long as we're
getting yards. But of course they want to be able
to run the ball. He is also the one I
really I love the leadership role that he's taking on. Yeah,
he's he is mostly quiet, but he is becoming more vocal.
He is the one that told the team on that
eight minute drive, we are going to run the ball
(24:55):
and we're going to like close this out. He was
actually a little bit upset that they couldn't take more
time off the clock on that one. But he's the
one that said, yeah, let's go, let's get it done, Like,
let's let's keep pounding away at this one. So the
mentality is there. Yeah, the play calls are there. I
think sometimes that Yeah, it's moving bodies in front. I
don't know, there's a lot. Yeah, when it when it
(25:19):
is going, well, it looks so easy.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
It does.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
You're like.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
When teams are humming in the wrong game, like, wow,
you do this all the time.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
Time, just keep calling this play all the time.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Fortunately, it's not that easy in this League, No it
is not.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
The Seahawks Insiders Podcast is broadcasting from the Seahawks Podcast Studio,
presented by Sony, the official headphones partner of the Seattle Seahawks,
who are a perfect eight and no at my life's
six and six and I was trying to give him
two extra way and sorry, there's too many numbers in
my head right now.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Four and against the Giants, they are one and o
against the Jets and Seahawks fans might remember the sixth
game there they played the Broncos.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
That's a pretty fun one.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Yeah, that's pretty good. It's a fun one.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Okay. Well, if we wanted to get another win, yes,
at that stadium, what would we need to do? Give
me your two things.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Well, we just talked about the run game. I want
to see it get going. Doesn't need to be some
dominant you know, we don't need sake one Barley rush,
Barkley rushing for two hundred and fifty five yards. I'll
take it. Yeah, they do that, it'd be great. I
want to just see, you know, let's get the average up.
So it's those first down negative one yard like zero
negative plays. Get rid of those, like just get the
(26:32):
four or five yards on first down, So let's let's
call it like an eighty plus yard game for ken Walker.
I think that's that's more than enough to get you
going where you want. And then defensively, I want to
see more of these turnovers, which I know comes from
you know, stopping them on first down, the pass rush,
getting going all that. But however, the formulas I want
to see because that's kind of the one thing Mike
McDonald's point too, is like this defense is doing a
(26:54):
lot well, but what's the next step. Let's have like
a three turnover game.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
I was gonna go with getting to Aaron.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Rodgers, I think I can.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Go, well, you know, you've got a couple of Seahawks
defenders who have played a lot of games in the stadium,
so maybe it all starts coming.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Back to them and they just got some memories there.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Julian would have a few good memories on that one. Yeah,
Hank would have God, yeah, yeah, there's there's make it
a special kind of homecoming, how about that?
Speaker 5 (27:26):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
And I'm going to echo your part on the run game,
but I want to see as a team over one
hundred rushing yards.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
That's what I got.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
We're not going to overcomplicate things this week. We're just
gonna We're just gonna let that roll because the Seahawks
are going to play four of their remaining six regular
season games on the road. You just need to come
away with a win in this one. Any way you
can do it. That's generally our philosophy here on the podcast.
Is exactly what we're gonna do next week, because that
(27:56):
is the next time we will join you on the center.
Are asterisk always on the Seahawks Insiders Podcast.
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