October 8, 2024 • 25 mins
The Seahawks get their first NFC West test of the season when the 49ers come to town for Thursday Night Football. Jen Mueller and John Boyle preview Week 6 at Lumen Field. Today’s show: Geno Smith’s performance through five games (03:12), Seahawks run game (04:38), Defensive improvement (07:51), 49ers offensive scheme (11:18), Fantasy Insider (17:05), and two things we need to see (23:27).
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Seahawks insiders.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Gino, look go way up over the top. Got a
man out there.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
It is fucker, he's got a touchdown. Shay Hawks getting
you ready for Seahawks football every Sunday.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Hurts drops back, hastime, loads up, throws, AJ Brown the defense.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Dougie, keep it sweet him he does, stay off ball.
Present it by Delta, the official airline of the Seahawks.
Now here's your host, Jen Mueller.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I don't usually enjoy a short week. That's because it's
truncated for all of us. But John Boyle I think
that I am looking forward to this Thursday night game
in particular because it gives the Seahawks a chance to
get right back to work and hopefully wipe the slate
clean after the last couple of games.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
It's you know, it's kind of a cliche in football,
but sometimes you just want to get back on the
field quickly. You know, we've heard players talk about it.
Get that bad taste out of your mouth because you
know that was not a very fun one on Sunday
against the Giant, So try to get it right.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
In a hurry.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Well, and it is tough, right, I don't want to
minimize what's happening with their bodies. With the schedule, you're
playing three games in a really short amount of time.
And I know that it's not an excuse, it is
just the reality of the situation.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
My body doesn't feel great coming out of.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
This week's game, and I'm not the one that was
getting hit on the sidelines the entire time. And I
do think you could tell some of that fatigue factor,
whether that was mental fatigue or physical fatigue, that was
starting to show up Sunday against the Giants.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Yeah, you know, especially defensively, just they didn't come out
looking like themselves. It just didn't you know, it was sloppier,
They're missing some tackles and you know, look, it's long season.
Teams are going to have bad games. It's how do
you respond to that and how do you fix those
issues so they don't become a long term problem.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Well, and before we ask how to do that, I
will point out that because the league has added that
second Thursday game, this is going to happen to more
and more teams. In fact, ten teams this year is
going are going to face a similar turnaround. Seven teams
we'll play four games in the span of seventeen days.
(02:06):
Right now, Seattle's just three and eleven. But you benefit
from that little mini buy, which I think is just
gonna feel like a much needed break by the time
they get there. But that is what the Seahawks are facing,
and Mike McDonald pointed out this week. Look, if you
want to be a good team, you are going to
play primetime games. So figure it out and figure out
how to deal with it. I think what you're also
(02:26):
seeing though, in addition to just funky scheduling and trying
to figure out what works with practice, I think you're
also figuring out how you want to communicate things on
both sides of the ball. You're still trying to figure
out what your identity is. As Mike McDonald said before
Week one, we don't know what our fastball is yet.
We're still looking for that, and I think five games
in John, we're still trying to figure out what that is.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Yeah, I mean they have ideas of what they want
to be, but they've not yet really consistently found it.
I mean, they look great on defense for a few games,
they've had a few setbacks. They've you know, I think
probably the most consistent thing they've done is Gino Smith
throwing the ball. They've been good at that, but it
has not been you know, They've They've shown the ability
to do just about everything well in spurts.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
It's putting it all together right now.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, how much have Seattle relied on Gino Smith in
the passing game? While he is averaging two hundred and
ninety three yards a game. That is the most he
has thrown for the most yards of any quarterback in
the NFL. And I'm not sure they wanted to continue
that way, but boy, Gino Smith has certainly made a
great first impression on this new coaching staff.
Speaker 6 (03:31):
Gino is a big bright spot on our football team
right now. He's gal galvanizing force. The guy's competing his
tail off, doing a lot of great things, doing a
lot of great things. So let's keep it going. I mean,
we're five games in. It's we got a long way
to go. But the good news is we got we
gotta We had another game here to make it right
and have Gino take a next step in his game,
(03:51):
and we expect him to do so. So we're gonna
we're gonna be leaning on him.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Yeah, Well, you just is doing right now. You know,
he's not maybe getting quite the attention he should. Maybe
it's because it's touchdowns haven't been there, and you know
they're three and two instead of four and one, they're
five and zero or something. But to lead the league
in attempts and yardage and still be completing seventy whatever
it is two percent of his passes like that is
very rare stuff he's doing. And he's doing it without
(04:15):
much of a run game.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Right now.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
You know he's getting pressured. The pressure rates are pretty high,
so there's a lot of things working against him, and
he's still been phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I will also say this week that might not be
your best strategy against the Niners given what their defense
can do. Right now, they have tally twenty five passes
defense this season, that is tied for third most.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
In the NFL.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Having said that, Mike McDonald knows that the Seahawks need
to run the ball more. John, this is the question
that everybody is trying to answer. Why is it so
difficult to get the run game going? And to be fair,
it's not just this year that we have.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Seen this challenge. No, I mean, it can depend so
much on how a team's defending you. I mean, look,
it's everyone says run the ball, but if there's a
heavy box and you go one yard run, two yard runs,
third and seven, like, that's a hard way to function.
So you know, both play caller and quarterback will look
at what the defense is giving you and make adjustments.
So sometimes you throw more than you planned based on
a defense. And then there's other just weird game situations.
(05:15):
Last week, the offense barely had the ball in the
first half just because of how well the Giants were
driving the ball, so you just didn't really have time.
You know, in the Detroit game week before, was like,
first half, why aren't they running?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Why are they running?
Speaker 4 (05:25):
The second half they got it going and maybe that
was kind of the hope last week, and then they
fall behind and kind of have to banon it. So
it can be a game situation, opponent driven all sorts
of different things.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
But regardless as Mike.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Mcdonatt excuse me, as Mike McDonald said a couple of times,
they know they need to run it more.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Everyone does, and.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
There is this fine balance of taking what the defense
gives you, right, So if the defense is going to
give you some of those open shots, sure take advantage,
but then getting back to something that is more sustainable.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
The problem now is everybody knows Seattle needs to run
the ball more.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
And one of the things that Mike McDonald said was
our opponents know we need to run the ball more.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah. And that's part of it.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
And you know, one play I really liked it wasn't
a run play, was first play the second half. We're
all thinking they need to run the ball. They barely
ran it, and I'm sure that that's what the Giants
were playing. So the first play the second half was
play action. We saw the Giants bite on it and
Tyler Lockett was open downfield for a big game. So
you know, you don't necessarily need to run the ball
a ton this week, but you know, at least put
(06:24):
the thread.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
Of it out there, right.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
And what I would say is Gino Smith cannot be
your leading rusher. And that is what happened on Sunday, right,
Like that can't happen to be fair, Like thirty three
of those yards of his seventy five came on one play.
The other part of that is ken Walker.
Speaker 5 (06:38):
Was involved in that game.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
You did not have as many yards rushing, but he
was one of the top targets for some of those little,
you know, kind of dink and dunk passes, which I
get we've talked about that before. You use that just
a little bit to try to set something else up.
It is tough if you were not getting push up front,
and that Giants defensive line, yeah, is.
Speaker 5 (06:58):
Really tough, right.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
I think a lot a lot of people overlook the Giants.
I'm not saying the team did. I think you overlook
that team because we don't see them as much.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
M hmm.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
It's hard to get anything going right there, and if
you miss an assignment, that was your one chance for
the drive.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Right.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
No, we heard that from Ryan Grubb before the game
of like that might be the most complete defensive line
they've seen yet this year. So it was not going
to be easy to run the ball against them. And again,
like you can't just run into a wall if there's
nothing there. But yeah, so somewhere or another, they got
to take a little bit of heat off, you know smith.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Well and I would say they've got to find a
way to keep the offense off the field and the
defense has to get some of those stops. Look, when
you look at the last two games. There are definitely similarities.
This is across both sides of the ball. But I
do think that you look a little bit more on
defense for some of those explosive plays, and this is
what Mike McDonald has seen.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
Well, there's plays that we need to make that we're
not making, and.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
How do you fix that?
Speaker 6 (07:57):
I think you just got to keep chasing it and
keep working and keep putting yourself in positions in practice,
communicating and walk through and take advantage of all these
reps that we get throughout the week and maximize these reps.
There's no other way to do it. You can't just
throw the guys out there and put them in the
same situation without having practiced it and expect them to
(08:18):
do anything different. You know, that's going on the definition
of insanity there. So we're going to continue to look
at our process and keep trying and keep refining those
and making it better, and the players are going to
be bought in on it as well, and off we go.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
You know, in another comment the phrases you talk about
the run defense specifically, but he's like, it's all eleven guys,
And that's where you know this is true of anything
in football, but playing defense especially, you know, a scheme
like Mike McDonald's, like it's you know, it doesn't take
much for something really good to all of a sudden
have some holes come up in it.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So you know, it's tough and a short week.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
They only have a few days to do it, but
they just got to get you know, they're not as
far off as the numbers might indicate, but you just
got to you know, get those one or two plays
is where one thing goes wrong and a big play
gets out. You got to clean that up. And I
think we could see it start to look better in
a hurry.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yeah, And Mike McDonald actually said quick decisions have already
been made this week, right, like whether that is simplifying things,
whether that is making changes to whatever your game plan is.
They're not dinking around until game day. They've already made
some decisions to make sure that there's clear communication.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
I will say from the.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Sideline vantage point on Sunday, you could tell that they
were making in game adjustments and part of that was communication. Twelves,
you did a heck of a job on Sunday. I'm
gonna need that aget on Thursday. There is a sense
that this is still a feeling out process as compared
to in San Francisco, where the consternation level is really high.
(09:42):
But for a very different reason. Right after a three
and OHO start, Seattle fans expect it to keep rising.
We knew that there was going to be bumps in
the road. Meanwhile, San Francisco they boone double digit leads
in the fourth quarter twice in the last three weeks,
like they are frustrated for an entirely different reason.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Yeah, and I think there you have a team coming
off with Super Bowl appearance and all these NFC Championship
game appearances of like, you know, the standard there is.
You know, they're they're looking at, Okay, we got to
get over the hump and get that super Bowl and
not the sks don't also have I expectations, But it's
a little different when you're you know, feeling out a
new coaching staff, and as you said, you know, three
oh start kind of changes the way everyone looks at it.
(10:19):
But like there's no way to put entirely new schemes
in on both sides of the ball without there being
some growing pains. Now you hope you can win through
some of those growing pains and still have a good season.
But it you know, this is not the finished product
by any means.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
No, And when you talk about that run defense, it
has to get better in a hurry. They've allowed more
than one hundred yards rushing in three of five games,
and in two of those games it's been one seventy
five or more and that just can't happen. You look
at the Niners. No Christian McCaffrey. They do, however, have
Jordan Mason who is averaging over one hundred yards a game.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Yeah, and probably the best running scheme in football with
what with what Shanahan's put in there that you know,
it's evolved over the years, but what they do is,
you know a lot of guys have run well in
that scheme, and not to diminish what each individual accomplishes,
but it's it's a tough scheme no matter who's back there.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
And my question is, actually, do we know what to
expect with this forty nine ers team? And I don't
just mean scheme wise, I mean in general. But here's
what Mike McDonald can expect from Kyle Shanahan.
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Well continues to evolve, so you're you know, you can't
just play the plays that you've seen, and they do
a great job of utilizing their personnel. The quarterback operates
really quickly. He's been he's extending play a little bit
more this year. But it's a physical unit, it's a
precise unit, and they do a great job.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
We've seen that offense thrive with different quarterbacks, different runners,
different pass catchers. Obviously they're at their best when they
have all their weapons, and right now they are beat
up a little bit, and you know, as are the
Seahawks in some spots. But yeah, I mean that there's
a reason there's so many teams around them. The NFL
running some version of a Shanahan scheme right now, like
(12:04):
it works really well.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
But he started to change that scheme a little bit,
oh for sure, last year.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
Right It's it's the same conversation we used to have
about the Seahawks defensive scheme. Like, once you have success
with something and it prolfrates around the league, that means
all these other teams are learning the rules of that scheme,
how to practice against it, how to beat it, and
so if you don't adjust, then there's gonna be all
these coaches around the league like, oh yeah, we brought
that with us. We know how to defend it now,
so you've got to adjust and they've done a pretty
(12:31):
good job of that.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
For as good as that run game is. Did you
realize that brock Purty has the third most passing yards
in the NFL?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I didn't know third, but I knew he was up there.
Speaker 5 (12:39):
He's Yeah, he's right up there with Gino. Like it's
it's not that far off.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I mean, Gino's far and away the leader, but he's
he is right there on that one. You know what
else they don't do. They do not go three and out.
This stat is gonna blow your mind.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
John Waite.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Yeah, just four three and outs this year for the
forty nine ers offense. They've had forty eight drives. That
to me is pretty amazing, especially when you consider there's
no Christian McCaffrey. Kittle has been hurt for part of it.
They haven't had all their weapons. Deebo hasn't found the
end zone. I you, hasn't found the end zone yet.
(13:14):
Like they're dealing with a number of injuries and they
still have managed to stay on the field and move
the ball.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Mind blown, Jen.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Well, here's the other mind blowing stats. Thank you for acknowledging.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
So they can move the ball or great at that,
they're not great at scoring in the red zone.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, this has been a huge problem touchdowns in the red.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Zone, which you would think that's where Christian McCaffrey would
have come in.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
Yeah, you're definitely missing him there, probably more than anywhere.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Are we seeing the I'm not even gonna say scheme
from the Seahawks in the red zone? Are we seeing
what we need to see from the Hawks in the
red zone? And I do think Sunday skewed it just
a little bit because of fatigue.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yeah, you know, they statistic they're still pretty good. That
the Detroit game bumped them down. The first three games,
they were really get in their red zone.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
We saw those, you.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Know, multiple times they had turnovers where they're you know,
defense is put in a bad spot, and they got
quick stops. So overall, I really like, you know, what
we've seen from that group, both in terms of like
schematic stuff they've done and then just also the fight,
Like when you do what they did in the goal
line last week, that's that's a lot, that's just effort.
It's just that will you know, we always hear the
term like every defend, every blade of grass, and that's
(14:25):
you know, when you're getting a third and one, stuff
at the one and then you're knocking the ball out
right as he's going into the end zone. That's just
good effort and you know that can carry a long way,
especially in the red zone.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, so last week the Niners just one touchdown on
six drives inside Arizona's ten, which highlights their goal to go.
Goal to go situations have been terrible last year. I mean,
they were money, they were best in the league and
being able to punch it in. This year they are
thirty first in the league. They have scored touchdowns on
(14:56):
just six of their twelve opportunities. Yes, I know that
goes hand in hand with right zone, but again, you're
getting inside the ten and you can't punch it in.
And oh, by the way, you just signed a kicker
off the street this week because you're missing the kicker.
And we rarely talk about kickers, and probably for a
good reason, because if you're talking about them, they're probably
not excelling at something that they should be excelling at.
Speaker 5 (15:22):
I do think that might change the strategy just a.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Little bit this week for them there.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Yeah, they you know, it's it's a little easier when
they'll sign they sign a kicker this week and they'll
have someone, you know, presumably healthy. It's a little tougher
when that happens you in game like it did, and
you're debating between you know, is our punter going to
kick or we're going to go for it every time?
Speaker 5 (15:38):
I think it was the point with Shnowski.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Yeah, I think at one point you check their fullback
was kicked. Yes, I think kicks into the net. So
you know, obviously, if you're signing a guy off the
street versus your regular kicker, you might have a little
less confidence, but you would help somebody you bring in
can get the job done to where you're not for
some bad decisions. But yeah, I mean we we sort of, don't.
You kind take for grant. Oh, you know, you got
(16:00):
a good kicker, you're gonna make these kicks, and when
that guy goes down, it MUCKs things up pretty badly.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Well, and I would say this, it is not just
about your accuracy on your own. This is a unit
and the Seahawks have certainly seen that in the last week. Right,
It's not just about plug and play another kicker. There
is a timing mechanism involved, there is familiarity that needs
to get built up. And in case you guys are
following this kicker news coming out of San Francisco, they
(16:27):
have in fact signed Matthew Wright, who has been with
four teams over his what is it five year? Five
year career because he came in twenty nineteen. Yep, I
did a deep dive on this.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
He's been five Going to go with what you're saying,
you could be completely making this now, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
It's written on my notepad. I know exactly what I'm
talking about. Yeah, spent five days with the forty nine
ers last year, so they know him a little bit. Career,
he has forty of forty seven on field goals. He
is thirty five of thirty seven for extra points. Just
in case that affects anybody's fantasy all speaking, you're doing
Jen speak, John Boyle. We don't have Scott today. We
(17:07):
do have notes from Scott Ele for our fantasy football place.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I need to make it very clear that I am
not giving you fantasy.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
Everybody, email John fantasy.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
This is this is me reading to you.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
Are you reading that verbatim? Are you taking some liberties?
Speaker 4 (17:22):
I am taking no liberties. Because Scott is the expert
here and me taking liberties, things will get lost.
Speaker 5 (17:27):
Are going to get back?
Speaker 4 (17:29):
So all right, from Scott? From Scott, what do we got?
Keep Kenneth Walker the third in your lineups?
Speaker 2 (17:35):
He says.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
The forty nine ers rank fourteenth in Fantasy points allowed
per game to running backs.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Maybe it'll bounce.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Back for Kenneth Walker like this. I like that, all right,
he says. Start Green Bay's Dontavian Wicks. He has twenty
targets over the past two games. All right, we'll go
with that. I like Scott there, all right, he says.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Start.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
Dak Prescott Dallas Cowboys quarterback is second in the league
and past attempts and yardage behind.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Come on, we just talked about Genis Smith. Thank you.
All right.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
It was a dramatic pause.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Lastly, we need to remind you you can find more
of Scott's work at Rodoballer dot com and also on
the Athletic.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
That is high quality script reading right there.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I you know, sign you up for teleprompters for script
reading for veos.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
You've got this down, all right.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
If you say so, you're the experts.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Okay, so if we are talking about ken Walker staying
in the lineup for the Seahawks, here's another kind of
interesting thing from the forty nine ers.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
They are blitzing sixty Well, I take that back.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
They are blitzing a decent amount and opponents are completing
sixty seven percent of their passes when the Niners blitz,
their allowed passer rating is one fifty point two. That
is the worst in the league. Okay, that surprises me
from a Niners defense, Yeah, does it surprise you?
Speaker 4 (19:04):
It does, because they've been so good at just about
everything on defense. I mean, I know I haven't done
the deep dive into them, but I just know from
what you read and what you hear that their defense
has not been up to the high standard that's been
set there in recent years.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
So well, they have a new defensive coordinator and they've
had to.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
I mean, because you know, two years ago they lose
Ryan's to a head coaching job, they change coordinators, and
they decided to make a change against us. That's tough
when you're changing over coordinators three times in three years.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Well, and we know that defensive coordinator he was with
us for a bit he'd also been in San Francisco
for a couple of years. I do think it's different
when you call a defense yourself. Yeah, we also know
one of their coaches over there, kJ Wright, another one
of ours.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, it's still weird to see him.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
I want to see him, and I would like for
him to have a different sweatshirt on. And something tells
me he's not allowed to wear anything other than.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
And him a nice Seahawks throw back.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Right, Oh gosh, that would be so great. Yes, just say, kJ,
I got a little something for your hair. What do
you think would happen to that sweatshirt? I think you
would wear it very politely. Have to hand it back
to you.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
No, he couldn't. He couldn't be seen on the field
taking it. I would get him in trouble.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
He wouldn't unbox it on the field.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
It up and keep it right right. He'll wear it
at home when the.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Right who when there's zero people watching. Never out of
the house when there's zero people watching.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
kJ. We miss you.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
I will look forward to seeing you on the sidelines.
But I don't I think that you're Your color is blue. Yeah,
just gonna say, I think your color.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Decade in blue is color.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
I keep coming back to this, but John, do we
actually know what to expect from this Niners team? And
I say that because I don't know that history matters
right now. Shanahan said history doesn't matter at all when
they've gotten off to slow starts and have to figure
out a way to redbound. Mike McDonald looks totally different,
even though with the Ravens he managed to beat Shanahan
face him a number of times. Yeah, I don't know
(20:58):
that I have a clear expectation for Thursday.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Night because for the longest time, we'd look at, you know,
Shanahan versus Carrol and these schemes and how they matched up,
and for a long time, the Seahawks dominated that series,
and then the tide obviously shifted in recent years. You
can kind of look at how he's done against the
Mike McDonald's scheme, but totally different players, different teams. So yeah,
I mean there's so much change for both these teams,
both roster wise. You know, we just talked about a
(21:22):
new coordinator for the forty nine ers. So yeah, I
don't have a great feel for how this games will
play out, other than I'd be pretty shocked if it
isn't a pretty exciting down to the wire type deal.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Yeah, and if we go back to some of those
numbers for the Ravens last year, they did come away
with a win. It was on Monday Night football. The
final score was thirty three to nineteen.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
But San Francisco posted over four hundred yards of offense.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Well, so that's kind of interesting, and I think some
of that came late in the game.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
When they were rallied.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Yeah, you're coming back, but I think a win in
this game. And I know this sounds stupid, right, it's
it's the final score, But I don't think you look
at some of those other categories. For example, if the
if the run game gets going for the Niners, that's fine.
Just take brock Purty out of the equation, right, I'm okay.
If there's one column that's skewed, you just can't give
(22:14):
up big plays in the middle of the field, as
we've seen far too often, right, are we in agreement
with us?
Speaker 4 (22:20):
I am and also helped to do with the Ravens
did last year and get a bunch of takeaways.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And it is possible because San Francisco has turned the
ball over eight times already.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
This year.
Speaker 5 (22:29):
I like that. I think that's going to play into
the things that I need to see from you.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
But right now we've got to take a break and
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Speaker 3 (23:09):
Okay, John, I gave you a little extra time. I
also have one correction. I said brock Perty had the
third most yards in the league. He's actually got the
fourth most yards in the league, two hundred and seventy
five passing yards a game.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
I know, I just wanted to correct that before somebody
said you were right, You're right. I was wrong. I
was wrong on that one. I'm not going to be
wrong on what I want to see though. Okay, do
you want to go first or do you want me?
Speaker 4 (23:32):
I want to let you go first, because I usually
get to him. That's you know, it's not fair to you, Jen.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I think that's because he's still thinking about what he
wants to know.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
I already got one of them.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I just want okay, all right, Well, here's what I'm
going to say. That defense. I want to see them
force of three and out. We brought up that stat.
I think it's amazing they've only had four. But I
think for them from the defensive standpoint, it has nothing
to do with the Niners have done already this year.
They need that as a confidence boost. They need that
to get off the field. They need that to show
that all of those like reps that they've taken, whether
(24:01):
it be and walk through a practice this week, have
been intentional and exactly what Mike McDonald wants. So I
need to see a three and out from the defense.
You're probably gonna have this one too. Over one hundred
yards rushing, you've got to get that. In fact, I'm
gonna say as a team, you probably need one twenty five.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
See, I'm gonna differ from you a little bit there
I need I more need the threat of the run, oh,
to kind of keep that defense hotnest. So like, yeah,
run the ball and get it going, that'd be great.
But like, even if the yards aren't there, get a
few carries early, and then I want to see like
some more play action, some more geno under center, just
to really keep them a little off balance maybe.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
And then on the other side of the ball.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
We talked about last week too, but I want the
takeaways we saw for Mike McDonald that was a big
difference against four niners last year. We saw that was
an early game changing moment for this defense. Unfortunately it
didn't really sustain it. But you know, get some of
those takeaways. As good as perty is, he's a gutsy quarterback,
which you know has served him very well, but it
also leads to him, you know, taking some risks sometimes,
(25:02):
so capitalize on some of those.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Yeah, And when you talk about the threat of the
run game, we didn't even mention their defensive players. Fred
Warner leads the team in tackles Nick Bosa with three
sacks fills like the entire stats stat sheet.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Yeah, and Kevin Gibbons actually leads.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
The team with three and a half sacks, so I
think balance is probably what we're looking for. If we
had to distill that down to one word, how about
balance on offense? How about a win on Thursday so
that we can enjoy a few extra days off. And
I promise after that shortbreak, we will be back with
you for another edition of the Seahawks Insiders podcast
You're listening to the Seahawks insiders.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Gino, look go way up over the top. Got a
man out there.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
It is fucker, he's got a touchdown. Shay Hawks getting
you ready for Seahawks football every Sunday.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Hurts drops back, hastime, loads up, throws, AJ Brown the defense.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Dougie, keep it sweet him he does, stay off ball.
Present it by Delta, the official airline of the Seahawks.
Now here's your host, Jen Mueller.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
I don't usually enjoy a short week. That's because it's
truncated for all of us. But John Boyle I think
that I am looking forward to this Thursday night game
in particular because it gives the Seahawks a chance to
get right back to work and hopefully wipe the slate
clean after the last couple of games.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
It's you know, it's kind of a cliche in football,
but sometimes you just want to get back on the
field quickly. You know, we've heard players talk about it.
Get that bad taste out of your mouth because you
know that was not a very fun one on Sunday
against the Giant, So try to get it right.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
In a hurry.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Well, and it is tough, right, I don't want to
minimize what's happening with their bodies. With the schedule, you're
playing three games in a really short amount of time.
And I know that it's not an excuse, it is
just the reality of the situation.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
My body doesn't feel great coming out of.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
This week's game, and I'm not the one that was
getting hit on the sidelines the entire time. And I
do think you could tell some of that fatigue factor,
whether that was mental fatigue or physical fatigue, that was
starting to show up Sunday against the Giants.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Yeah, you know, especially defensively, just they didn't come out
looking like themselves. It just didn't you know, it was sloppier,
They're missing some tackles and you know, look, it's long season.
Teams are going to have bad games. It's how do
you respond to that and how do you fix those
issues so they don't become a long term problem.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Well, and before we ask how to do that, I
will point out that because the league has added that
second Thursday game, this is going to happen to more
and more teams. In fact, ten teams this year is
going are going to face a similar turnaround. Seven teams
we'll play four games in the span of seventeen days.
(02:06):
Right now, Seattle's just three and eleven. But you benefit
from that little mini buy, which I think is just
gonna feel like a much needed break by the time
they get there. But that is what the Seahawks are facing,
and Mike McDonald pointed out this week. Look, if you
want to be a good team, you are going to
play primetime games. So figure it out and figure out
how to deal with it. I think what you're also
(02:26):
seeing though, in addition to just funky scheduling and trying
to figure out what works with practice, I think you're
also figuring out how you want to communicate things on
both sides of the ball. You're still trying to figure
out what your identity is. As Mike McDonald said before
Week one, we don't know what our fastball is yet.
We're still looking for that, and I think five games
in John, we're still trying to figure out what that is.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
Yeah, I mean they have ideas of what they want
to be, but they've not yet really consistently found it.
I mean, they look great on defense for a few games,
they've had a few setbacks. They've you know, I think
probably the most consistent thing they've done is Gino Smith
throwing the ball. They've been good at that, but it
has not been you know, They've They've shown the ability
to do just about everything well in spurts.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
It's putting it all together right now.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, how much have Seattle relied on Gino Smith in
the passing game? While he is averaging two hundred and
ninety three yards a game. That is the most he
has thrown for the most yards of any quarterback in
the NFL. And I'm not sure they wanted to continue
that way, but boy, Gino Smith has certainly made a
great first impression on this new coaching staff.
Speaker 6 (03:31):
Gino is a big bright spot on our football team
right now. He's gal galvanizing force. The guy's competing his
tail off, doing a lot of great things, doing a
lot of great things. So let's keep it going. I mean,
we're five games in. It's we got a long way
to go. But the good news is we got we
gotta We had another game here to make it right
and have Gino take a next step in his game,
(03:51):
and we expect him to do so. So we're gonna
we're gonna be leaning on him.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Yeah, Well, you just is doing right now. You know,
he's not maybe getting quite the attention he should. Maybe
it's because it's touchdowns haven't been there, and you know
they're three and two instead of four and one, they're
five and zero or something. But to lead the league
in attempts and yardage and still be completing seventy whatever
it is two percent of his passes like that is
very rare stuff he's doing. And he's doing it without
(04:15):
much of a run game.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Right now.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
You know he's getting pressured. The pressure rates are pretty high,
so there's a lot of things working against him, and
he's still been phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I will also say this week that might not be
your best strategy against the Niners given what their defense
can do. Right now, they have tally twenty five passes
defense this season, that is tied for third most.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
In the NFL.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Having said that, Mike McDonald knows that the Seahawks need
to run the ball more. John, this is the question
that everybody is trying to answer. Why is it so
difficult to get the run game going? And to be fair,
it's not just this year that we have.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Seen this challenge. No, I mean, it can depend so
much on how a team's defending you. I mean, look,
it's everyone says run the ball, but if there's a
heavy box and you go one yard run, two yard runs,
third and seven, like, that's a hard way to function.
So you know, both play caller and quarterback will look
at what the defense is giving you and make adjustments.
So sometimes you throw more than you planned based on
a defense. And then there's other just weird game situations.
(05:15):
Last week, the offense barely had the ball in the
first half just because of how well the Giants were
driving the ball, so you just didn't really have time.
You know, in the Detroit game week before, was like,
first half, why aren't they running?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Why are they running?
Speaker 4 (05:25):
The second half they got it going and maybe that
was kind of the hope last week, and then they
fall behind and kind of have to banon it. So
it can be a game situation, opponent driven all sorts
of different things.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
But regardless as Mike.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Mcdonatt excuse me, as Mike McDonald said a couple of times,
they know they need to run it more.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Everyone does, and.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
There is this fine balance of taking what the defense
gives you, right, So if the defense is going to
give you some of those open shots, sure take advantage,
but then getting back to something that is more sustainable.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
The problem now is everybody knows Seattle needs to run
the ball more.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
And one of the things that Mike McDonald said was
our opponents know we need to run the ball more.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah. And that's part of it.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
And you know, one play I really liked it wasn't
a run play, was first play the second half. We're
all thinking they need to run the ball. They barely
ran it, and I'm sure that that's what the Giants
were playing. So the first play the second half was
play action. We saw the Giants bite on it and
Tyler Lockett was open downfield for a big game. So
you know, you don't necessarily need to run the ball
a ton this week, but you know, at least put
(06:24):
the thread.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
Of it out there, right.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
And what I would say is Gino Smith cannot be
your leading rusher. And that is what happened on Sunday, right,
Like that can't happen to be fair, Like thirty three
of those yards of his seventy five came on one play.
The other part of that is ken Walker.
Speaker 5 (06:38):
Was involved in that game.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
You did not have as many yards rushing, but he
was one of the top targets for some of those little,
you know, kind of dink and dunk passes, which I
get we've talked about that before. You use that just
a little bit to try to set something else up.
It is tough if you were not getting push up front,
and that Giants defensive line, yeah, is.
Speaker 5 (06:58):
Really tough, right.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
I think a lot a lot of people overlook the Giants.
I'm not saying the team did. I think you overlook
that team because we don't see them as much.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
M hmm.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
It's hard to get anything going right there, and if
you miss an assignment, that was your one chance for
the drive.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Right.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
No, we heard that from Ryan Grubb before the game
of like that might be the most complete defensive line
they've seen yet this year. So it was not going
to be easy to run the ball against them. And again,
like you can't just run into a wall if there's
nothing there. But yeah, so somewhere or another, they got
to take a little bit of heat off, you know smith.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Well and I would say they've got to find a
way to keep the offense off the field and the
defense has to get some of those stops. Look, when
you look at the last two games. There are definitely similarities.
This is across both sides of the ball. But I
do think that you look a little bit more on
defense for some of those explosive plays, and this is
what Mike McDonald has seen.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
Well, there's plays that we need to make that we're
not making, and.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
How do you fix that?
Speaker 6 (07:57):
I think you just got to keep chasing it and
keep working and keep putting yourself in positions in practice,
communicating and walk through and take advantage of all these
reps that we get throughout the week and maximize these reps.
There's no other way to do it. You can't just
throw the guys out there and put them in the
same situation without having practiced it and expect them to
(08:18):
do anything different. You know, that's going on the definition
of insanity there. So we're going to continue to look
at our process and keep trying and keep refining those
and making it better, and the players are going to
be bought in on it as well, and off we go.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
You know, in another comment the phrases you talk about
the run defense specifically, but he's like, it's all eleven guys,
And that's where you know this is true of anything
in football, but playing defense especially, you know, a scheme
like Mike McDonald's, like it's you know, it doesn't take
much for something really good to all of a sudden
have some holes come up in it.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So you know, it's tough and a short week.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
They only have a few days to do it, but
they just got to get you know, they're not as
far off as the numbers might indicate, but you just
got to you know, get those one or two plays
is where one thing goes wrong and a big play
gets out. You got to clean that up. And I
think we could see it start to look better in
a hurry.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yeah, And Mike McDonald actually said quick decisions have already
been made this week, right, like whether that is simplifying things,
whether that is making changes to whatever your game plan is.
They're not dinking around until game day. They've already made
some decisions to make sure that there's clear communication.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
I will say from the.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Sideline vantage point on Sunday, you could tell that they
were making in game adjustments and part of that was communication. Twelves,
you did a heck of a job on Sunday. I'm
gonna need that aget on Thursday. There is a sense
that this is still a feeling out process as compared
to in San Francisco, where the consternation level is really high.
(09:42):
But for a very different reason. Right after a three
and OHO start, Seattle fans expect it to keep rising.
We knew that there was going to be bumps in
the road. Meanwhile, San Francisco they boone double digit leads
in the fourth quarter twice in the last three weeks,
like they are frustrated for an entirely different reason.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Yeah, and I think there you have a team coming
off with Super Bowl appearance and all these NFC Championship
game appearances of like, you know, the standard there is.
You know, they're they're looking at, Okay, we got to
get over the hump and get that super Bowl and
not the sks don't also have I expectations, But it's
a little different when you're you know, feeling out a
new coaching staff, and as you said, you know, three
oh start kind of changes the way everyone looks at it.
(10:19):
But like there's no way to put entirely new schemes
in on both sides of the ball without there being
some growing pains. Now you hope you can win through
some of those growing pains and still have a good season.
But it you know, this is not the finished product
by any means.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
No, And when you talk about that run defense, it
has to get better in a hurry. They've allowed more
than one hundred yards rushing in three of five games,
and in two of those games it's been one seventy
five or more and that just can't happen. You look
at the Niners. No Christian McCaffrey. They do, however, have
Jordan Mason who is averaging over one hundred yards a game.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Yeah, and probably the best running scheme in football with
what with what Shanahan's put in there that you know,
it's evolved over the years, but what they do is,
you know a lot of guys have run well in
that scheme, and not to diminish what each individual accomplishes,
but it's it's a tough scheme no matter who's back there.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
And my question is, actually, do we know what to
expect with this forty nine ers team? And I don't
just mean scheme wise, I mean in general. But here's
what Mike McDonald can expect from Kyle Shanahan.
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Well continues to evolve, so you're you know, you can't
just play the plays that you've seen, and they do
a great job of utilizing their personnel. The quarterback operates
really quickly. He's been he's extending play a little bit
more this year. But it's a physical unit, it's a
precise unit, and they do a great job.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
We've seen that offense thrive with different quarterbacks, different runners,
different pass catchers. Obviously they're at their best when they
have all their weapons, and right now they are beat
up a little bit, and you know, as are the
Seahawks in some spots. But yeah, I mean that there's
a reason there's so many teams around them. The NFL
running some version of a Shanahan scheme right now, like
(12:04):
it works really well.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
But he started to change that scheme a little bit,
oh for sure, last year.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
Right It's it's the same conversation we used to have
about the Seahawks defensive scheme. Like, once you have success
with something and it prolfrates around the league, that means
all these other teams are learning the rules of that scheme,
how to practice against it, how to beat it, and
so if you don't adjust, then there's gonna be all
these coaches around the league like, oh yeah, we brought
that with us. We know how to defend it now,
so you've got to adjust and they've done a pretty
(12:31):
good job of that.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
For as good as that run game is. Did you
realize that brock Purty has the third most passing yards
in the NFL?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I didn't know third, but I knew he was up there.
Speaker 5 (12:39):
He's Yeah, he's right up there with Gino. Like it's
it's not that far off.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I mean, Gino's far and away the leader, but he's
he is right there on that one. You know what
else they don't do. They do not go three and out.
This stat is gonna blow your mind.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
John Waite.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Yeah, just four three and outs this year for the
forty nine ers offense. They've had forty eight drives. That
to me is pretty amazing, especially when you consider there's
no Christian McCaffrey. Kittle has been hurt for part of it.
They haven't had all their weapons. Deebo hasn't found the
end zone. I you, hasn't found the end zone yet.
(13:14):
Like they're dealing with a number of injuries and they
still have managed to stay on the field and move
the ball.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Mind blown, Jen.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Well, here's the other mind blowing stats. Thank you for acknowledging.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
So they can move the ball or great at that,
they're not great at scoring in the red zone.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, this has been a huge problem touchdowns in the red.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Zone, which you would think that's where Christian McCaffrey would
have come in.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
Yeah, you're definitely missing him there, probably more than anywhere.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Are we seeing the I'm not even gonna say scheme
from the Seahawks in the red zone? Are we seeing
what we need to see from the Hawks in the
red zone? And I do think Sunday skewed it just
a little bit because of fatigue.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yeah, you know, they statistic they're still pretty good. That
the Detroit game bumped them down. The first three games,
they were really get in their red zone.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
We saw those, you.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Know, multiple times they had turnovers where they're you know,
defense is put in a bad spot, and they got
quick stops. So overall, I really like, you know, what
we've seen from that group, both in terms of like
schematic stuff they've done and then just also the fight,
Like when you do what they did in the goal
line last week, that's that's a lot, that's just effort.
It's just that will you know, we always hear the
term like every defend, every blade of grass, and that's
(14:25):
you know, when you're getting a third and one, stuff
at the one and then you're knocking the ball out
right as he's going into the end zone. That's just
good effort and you know that can carry a long way,
especially in the red zone.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, so last week the Niners just one touchdown on
six drives inside Arizona's ten, which highlights their goal to go.
Goal to go situations have been terrible last year. I mean,
they were money, they were best in the league and
being able to punch it in. This year they are
thirty first in the league. They have scored touchdowns on
(14:56):
just six of their twelve opportunities. Yes, I know that
goes hand in hand with right zone, but again, you're
getting inside the ten and you can't punch it in.
And oh, by the way, you just signed a kicker
off the street this week because you're missing the kicker.
And we rarely talk about kickers, and probably for a
good reason, because if you're talking about them, they're probably
not excelling at something that they should be excelling at.
Speaker 5 (15:22):
I do think that might change the strategy just a.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Little bit this week for them there.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Yeah, they you know, it's it's a little easier when
they'll sign they sign a kicker this week and they'll
have someone, you know, presumably healthy. It's a little tougher
when that happens you in game like it did, and
you're debating between you know, is our punter going to
kick or we're going to go for it every time?
Speaker 5 (15:38):
I think it was the point with Shnowski.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Yeah, I think at one point you check their fullback
was kicked. Yes, I think kicks into the net. So
you know, obviously, if you're signing a guy off the
street versus your regular kicker, you might have a little
less confidence, but you would help somebody you bring in
can get the job done to where you're not for
some bad decisions. But yeah, I mean we we sort of, don't.
You kind take for grant. Oh, you know, you got
(16:00):
a good kicker, you're gonna make these kicks, and when
that guy goes down, it MUCKs things up pretty badly.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Well, and I would say this, it is not just
about your accuracy on your own. This is a unit
and the Seahawks have certainly seen that in the last week. Right,
It's not just about plug and play another kicker. There
is a timing mechanism involved, there is familiarity that needs
to get built up. And in case you guys are
following this kicker news coming out of San Francisco, they
(16:27):
have in fact signed Matthew Wright, who has been with
four teams over his what is it five year? Five
year career because he came in twenty nineteen. Yep, I
did a deep dive on this.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
He's been five Going to go with what you're saying,
you could be completely making this now, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
It's written on my notepad. I know exactly what I'm
talking about. Yeah, spent five days with the forty nine
ers last year, so they know him a little bit. Career,
he has forty of forty seven on field goals. He
is thirty five of thirty seven for extra points. Just
in case that affects anybody's fantasy all speaking, you're doing
Jen speak, John Boyle. We don't have Scott today. We
(17:07):
do have notes from Scott Ele for our fantasy football place.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I need to make it very clear that I am
not giving you fantasy.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
Everybody, email John fantasy.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
This is this is me reading to you.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
Are you reading that verbatim? Are you taking some liberties?
Speaker 4 (17:22):
I am taking no liberties. Because Scott is the expert
here and me taking liberties, things will get lost.
Speaker 5 (17:27):
Are going to get back?
Speaker 4 (17:29):
So all right, from Scott? From Scott, what do we got?
Keep Kenneth Walker the third in your lineups?
Speaker 2 (17:35):
He says.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
The forty nine ers rank fourteenth in Fantasy points allowed
per game to running backs.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Maybe it'll bounce.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Back for Kenneth Walker like this. I like that, all right,
he says. Start Green Bay's Dontavian Wicks. He has twenty
targets over the past two games. All right, we'll go
with that. I like Scott there, all right, he says.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Start.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
Dak Prescott Dallas Cowboys quarterback is second in the league
and past attempts and yardage behind.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Come on, we just talked about Genis Smith. Thank you.
All right.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
It was a dramatic pause.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Lastly, we need to remind you you can find more
of Scott's work at Rodoballer dot com and also on
the Athletic.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
That is high quality script reading right there.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I you know, sign you up for teleprompters for script
reading for veos.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
You've got this down, all right.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
If you say so, you're the experts.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Okay, so if we are talking about ken Walker staying
in the lineup for the Seahawks, here's another kind of
interesting thing from the forty nine ers.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
They are blitzing sixty Well, I take that back.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
They are blitzing a decent amount and opponents are completing
sixty seven percent of their passes when the Niners blitz,
their allowed passer rating is one fifty point two. That
is the worst in the league. Okay, that surprises me
from a Niners defense, Yeah, does it surprise you?
Speaker 4 (19:04):
It does, because they've been so good at just about
everything on defense. I mean, I know I haven't done
the deep dive into them, but I just know from
what you read and what you hear that their defense
has not been up to the high standard that's been
set there in recent years.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
So well, they have a new defensive coordinator and they've
had to.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
I mean, because you know, two years ago they lose
Ryan's to a head coaching job, they change coordinators, and
they decided to make a change against us. That's tough
when you're changing over coordinators three times in three years.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Well, and we know that defensive coordinator he was with
us for a bit he'd also been in San Francisco
for a couple of years. I do think it's different
when you call a defense yourself. Yeah, we also know
one of their coaches over there, kJ Wright, another one
of ours.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, it's still weird to see him.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
I want to see him, and I would like for
him to have a different sweatshirt on. And something tells
me he's not allowed to wear anything other than.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
And him a nice Seahawks throw back.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Right, Oh gosh, that would be so great. Yes, just say, kJ,
I got a little something for your hair. What do
you think would happen to that sweatshirt? I think you
would wear it very politely. Have to hand it back
to you.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
No, he couldn't. He couldn't be seen on the field
taking it. I would get him in trouble.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
He wouldn't unbox it on the field.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
It up and keep it right right. He'll wear it
at home when the.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Right who when there's zero people watching. Never out of
the house when there's zero people watching.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
kJ. We miss you.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
I will look forward to seeing you on the sidelines.
But I don't I think that you're Your color is blue. Yeah,
just gonna say, I think your color.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Decade in blue is color.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
I keep coming back to this, but John, do we
actually know what to expect from this Niners team? And
I say that because I don't know that history matters
right now. Shanahan said history doesn't matter at all when
they've gotten off to slow starts and have to figure
out a way to redbound. Mike McDonald looks totally different,
even though with the Ravens he managed to beat Shanahan
face him a number of times. Yeah, I don't know
(20:58):
that I have a clear expectation for Thursday.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Night because for the longest time, we'd look at, you know,
Shanahan versus Carrol and these schemes and how they matched up,
and for a long time, the Seahawks dominated that series,
and then the tide obviously shifted in recent years. You
can kind of look at how he's done against the
Mike McDonald's scheme, but totally different players, different teams. So yeah,
I mean there's so much change for both these teams,
both roster wise. You know, we just talked about a
(21:22):
new coordinator for the forty nine ers. So yeah, I
don't have a great feel for how this games will
play out, other than I'd be pretty shocked if it
isn't a pretty exciting down to the wire type deal.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Yeah, and if we go back to some of those
numbers for the Ravens last year, they did come away
with a win. It was on Monday Night football. The
final score was thirty three to nineteen.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
But San Francisco posted over four hundred yards of offense.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Well, so that's kind of interesting, and I think some
of that came late in the game.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
When they were rallied.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Yeah, you're coming back, but I think a win in
this game. And I know this sounds stupid, right, it's
it's the final score, But I don't think you look
at some of those other categories. For example, if the
if the run game gets going for the Niners, that's fine.
Just take brock Purty out of the equation, right, I'm okay.
If there's one column that's skewed, you just can't give
(22:14):
up big plays in the middle of the field, as
we've seen far too often, right, are we in agreement
with us?
Speaker 4 (22:20):
I am and also helped to do with the Ravens
did last year and get a bunch of takeaways.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And it is possible because San Francisco has turned the
ball over eight times already.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
This year.
Speaker 5 (22:29):
I like that. I think that's going to play into
the things that I need to see from you.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
But right now we've got to take a break and
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Speaker 3 (23:09):
Okay, John, I gave you a little extra time. I
also have one correction. I said brock Perty had the
third most yards in the league. He's actually got the
fourth most yards in the league, two hundred and seventy
five passing yards a game.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
I know, I just wanted to correct that before somebody
said you were right, You're right. I was wrong. I
was wrong on that one. I'm not going to be
wrong on what I want to see though. Okay, do
you want to go first or do you want me?
Speaker 4 (23:32):
I want to let you go first, because I usually
get to him. That's you know, it's not fair to you, Jen.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I think that's because he's still thinking about what he
wants to know.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
I already got one of them.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I just want okay, all right, Well, here's what I'm
going to say. That defense. I want to see them
force of three and out. We brought up that stat.
I think it's amazing they've only had four. But I
think for them from the defensive standpoint, it has nothing
to do with the Niners have done already this year.
They need that as a confidence boost. They need that
to get off the field. They need that to show
that all of those like reps that they've taken, whether
(24:01):
it be and walk through a practice this week, have
been intentional and exactly what Mike McDonald wants. So I
need to see a three and out from the defense.
You're probably gonna have this one too. Over one hundred
yards rushing, you've got to get that. In fact, I'm
gonna say as a team, you probably need one twenty five.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
See, I'm gonna differ from you a little bit there
I need I more need the threat of the run, oh,
to kind of keep that defense hotnest. So like, yeah,
run the ball and get it going, that'd be great.
But like, even if the yards aren't there, get a
few carries early, and then I want to see like
some more play action, some more geno under center, just
to really keep them a little off balance maybe.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
And then on the other side of the ball.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
We talked about last week too, but I want the
takeaways we saw for Mike McDonald that was a big
difference against four niners last year. We saw that was
an early game changing moment for this defense. Unfortunately it
didn't really sustain it. But you know, get some of
those takeaways. As good as perty is, he's a gutsy quarterback,
which you know has served him very well, but it
also leads to him, you know, taking some risks sometimes,
(25:02):
so capitalize on some of those.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Yeah, And when you talk about the threat of the
run game, we didn't even mention their defensive players. Fred
Warner leads the team in tackles Nick Bosa with three
sacks fills like the entire stats stat sheet.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Yeah, and Kevin Gibbons actually leads.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
The team with three and a half sacks, so I
think balance is probably what we're looking for. If we
had to distill that down to one word, how about
balance on offense? How about a win on Thursday so
that we can enjoy a few extra days off. And
I promise after that shortbreak, we will be back with
you for another edition of the Seahawks Insiders podcast
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