Best of Chuck & Buck 12-18

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I mentioned at the beginning of the show about tonight's
Thursday night matchup between the Seahawks and Rams, that it's
not just local buzz, the national buzz is intense. Mike Florio,
who you affectionately know as Butthole in the afternoons with
Softy and Fame, actually I think it's he that calls
them that. Yes, right, yes, but he wrote for PFT

(00:24):
that this he's basically saying Rams Seahawks both eleven and three.
The Winter controls its path not just to the NFC
West title, but to the number one seed in the conference.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
It's that simple, and it will be more simple for
the Rams since they finished with the Falcons and Cardinals.
It will be tougher for the Seahawks, who finished with
the Panthers and forty nine Ers. He also mentions, and
don't forget the forty nine Ers who beat the Seahawks
earlier this year. They also control their own path. So
even with a Seahawks win tonight, the forty nine Ers

(00:55):
can still spoil things down the stretch here and end
up winning the division. So, just to crystallize the point, uh,
he finishes with it's the biggest game of the regular
season so far with the promise of potentially bigger games
to come. So that's how the nation has approaching tonight's game.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Lil usiatle, Yeah, but I think san Fran basically be
cheering for the Seahawks tonight, right because they of course, yeah,
they're gonna They're gonna want them to jump up into
first so they can sniper them in the final week
of See there's it's crazy to have as good of
a season win loss wise as all three of these
teams have had. I mean, san Fran, You've said it
multiple times. I mean, Kyle Shannan should be in the

(01:37):
running for Coach of the Year considering all the huge
injuries they've had. I mean, most of the time, you
don't lose your quarterback for a significant chunk of the
season and still be sitting at ten and four with
a chance of getting the number one overall seed.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Plus they've lost.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
I mean, their biggest playmaker on defense to the biggest
playmakers on defense.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Two. They got so much, and I didn't think they
were very good to begin with.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
So I'm a little tainted when it comes to like
my appreciation for Shannan this year. I think I would
vote him Coach of the Year this year, even over
our own guys. Impressive because I just don't think they're
very good. But they're ten and four.

Speaker 4 (02:12):
Doing something right, and they've.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Lost probably more significant pieces to well, I know they
have than anybody else in the National Football League. I
mean they've even played without Brandon Ayuk all season long,
which was not the expectation. So I think he's done
a better job of coaching than anyone. But I have
a bias because I didn't think they were all that
good to begin with.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
I thought they were good, but not great. Yeah, I
wasn't in the thought that they were over the hill.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
I still thought they were contenders, but I didn't after
they started. You lose Nick Bosa, that's a huge one,
and the linebackers Fred Warner, Yeah, and then whatever's going
on without you can then they lose their quarterback.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
I was like, they're going to fall off.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Nope, they're just kind of sitting there lurking in the
bushes right now, one game behind. They know they're going
to be tied for second at the end of tonight's
game no matter what, and yeah, Seattle wins. The thinking
they are they going to be licking their chops thinking
that they can come up and sniper this number one
seed when everybody had maybe written them off weeks and
weeks ago.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
We're going to beat them by fifty. I'm more worried
about the Rams. Yeah, one game, right, right, That's that's
my mindset, always just one game at a time. So
I'm not even going to even think about when we
beat the forty nine ers by fifty.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, no, okay, cool, good to know. Can't wait to
beat them fifty six to five. God, that's my prediction. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (03:30):
I don't love that they're going to get a safety,
but I guess.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Nixon's going to run out of the back of the end,
so just to avoid injury.

Speaker 4 (03:35):
Okay, that's fair.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
All right, Well, let's talk a little bit of college football.
Like I said, I mean tonight, today's show is like
ninety five ninety eight percent talking about Seahawks Rams tonight.
But there are a couple of other things I think
worth mentioning. And certainly there was a little bit of
panic at the disco last night. I'm trying to do
some writing over there at the old Barnes and Noble
last night. Thought it was a good night the head

(03:57):
to the bookstore. You know, not many sports events going
on last night, really right, And I get over there
and it's just like text after text of like, what's
going on at Washington? Why are we losing all of
these players? I don't know, and nobody really does. Adam
Mohammad obviously entered the transfer portal, and that doesn't mean

(04:18):
that he won't come back, by the way, probably leaving,
but that doesn't mean that he won't like maybe I
do want to stay at Washington.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
But he did enter the transfer portal.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Raident vines Bright, who of course stole a lot of
conversation at the beginning of the year, the freshman that
people thought might emerge as our second best receiver this
past season behind Boston for the Dogs. He also entered
the transfer portal yesterday. So did Zach Henning offensive lineman.
And of course you can't help but think with all

(04:50):
of the Jetfish rumors and the Michigan vacancy and Fish's
connection to Michigan. And I'm sorry, coach if this is unfair,
but it's just I mean, there's no way not to think.
Oh gosh, there's been a meeting. Jetfish has told them
that you know, boys, if you have a chance to
find a better home, I might not be here. I mean,

(05:11):
that's that's kind of where your mind went last night.
And if your mind certainly where mine went. And I
can't imagine that no one was, you know, unless you
had inside information. I would imagine most Husky fans were
thinking the exact same thing.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Well, definitely is gonna pop in your head. I mean,
is it. Josh Pate there wrote an article or head.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
We'd had a video out where he was saying yesterday
right there, Yeah, he was saying that it had cooled
down for some reason that them I think they had
been talking to Jetfish. I think there has been conversations.
So the speculation or the concern if you're a Husky
fan is legit. And then the fallout or the way

(05:53):
in which your mind would go when you hear a
couple guys are into the transfer portal, My mind immediately
went to that same spot. And then you start hearing
from some people that he's hearing from sources that the
Wolverines are no longer, that that is cooled to some
degree whatever the conversations with Jed Fisher.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
So that's what I heard those yesterday that's what I
heard yesterday from you dub people. And then last night
driving last night when I woke up from my short
little nap, I was hearing national people saying, oh, no,
he's very much a contender.

Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah, that's what I heard too.

Speaker 5 (06:24):
I mean there was a big swell kind of no,
he's out of the running.

Speaker 4 (06:27):
He's out of the running.

Speaker 5 (06:28):
But by yesterday afternoon it was like, no, I don't
know where anyone's getting this information.

Speaker 4 (06:32):
He's still very much being mentioned.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
I would just say this though about yesterday's players that
entered the transfer portal, and I think this is very
important to point out. Number one, this is going to
happen to every program in the country every year until
we change the rules, and maybe they ever will get changed,
but everybody, I mean, it's going to happen. Ohio State,

(06:55):
They're going to have three to five guys every year
that are going to seek greener pastures, are more playing
time or more nil money, whatever the case may be.
This is going to happen to every program every single year,
whether your coach is a no matter or not. The
second thing I think you need to mention is we're
very early in the bowl season process, and the Huskies

(07:18):
have already played Theirs, their season is over, so other
teams are getting ready to still prepare for their final
game of the year. Otherwise we would hear more about this.
But the Huskies have already finished cleared out their locker rooms,
so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that they're
going to have a few more names at this point

(07:39):
December eighteenth, twenty twenty five that are announcing their intentions
for the future than a program that hasn't played its
final game of the year. So I think those are
two really important distinctions to make. Maybe this has nothing
to do uh with Jedfish. Probably does. There's probably some

(08:00):
uncertainty as to who our coach is gonna be. But
I think that I think this very well could be
that this is just the natural order of things.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
Now, yeah, well, definitely the natural order of things is
playing into it. Where it's just I mean, now you
know that they're without all the rules or any rules
that are in place with people leaving and whatnot, that
they can have people contacting them and saying.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
Hey, you know, you'd get more money if you can
come over here.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
You go over there, and or it could be as
simple as you know, he maybe Mohammad thinks that they're
going to be looking at Jordan Washington as the starting
running back to take takeover for Joonah Coleman. You know,
he looked crazy fast when he was out there.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
Oh, he's crazy fast, but that's out there.

Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah, I mean, so you end up looking up in
their bowl game. He it's Boise State. He only had
two carries and Jordan had four. Oh yeah, I'm out
of here.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
I mean, yes, I mean, you're making a good tongue
in cheek. Yeah, but you're making a good point a chance. Yeah,
I mean I wrote down on my notes Jordan Washington
next to Adam Muhammad. Yeah, I think there's that. Absolutely.
Maybe there was an honest conversation behind the scenes of
you know what, we're gonna give Jordan every opportunity to
take this job, right, and Adam's like, Okay, I thought

(09:18):
I played really well against Oregon. There might be some
interest in me. So he enters the transfer portal.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
So who knows.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
There's gonna be a million different reasons for why this
happened yesterday, but it's very natural considering the last three
years of a Husky fan's life. That their immediate speculation
seeing three guys in one day enter the transfer portal is.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
They must have found out news about Fish.

Speaker 1 (09:41):
He's leaving, isn't he?

Speaker 2 (09:43):
But we shall see.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
We shall see if it turns out to be an
arbor Fischigan or not. Coming up next, no cliche Keys
to victory for tonight's Thursday Night Affairs Sports Radio ninety
three point three kh A r f M.

Speaker 6 (09:56):
These guys want to be These guys are lawyers and
they want to be on TV too.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Brother like the game. You don't think he's texting his
friends in the group shot? Like, Yo, you guys just
saw any Saturday football.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
Like that way?

Speaker 1 (10:09):
That wasn't p I like, but I called it?

Speaker 7 (10:11):
Seriously?

Speaker 1 (10:12):
Did you do that that?

Speaker 6 (10:13):
I mean?

Speaker 8 (10:13):
These guys are noble human beings too.

Speaker 9 (10:15):
Bro Like.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
You hear somebody else say that sounds silly. It's Chuck
bucking Ashley with you here game day on a Thursday.
That's right. We're getting you set for Seahawks rams tonight
right here in Seattle. Is it gonna be windy? Is
it gonna be rainy? Is it gonna be neither? Is
it gonna be both we're gonna talk a little bit.
We're gonna talk to a weatherman. That's right, ye know, grandall, Hey,

(10:42):
turn on the weather man, So Grandpa, you kill me, Dorthy,
turn on the weather man.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
That's funny.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah. And so we'll be turning on the weather man
a little bit later on this hour to find out
exactly what we can expect and how it could impact
the game.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
A little bit later on this hour.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
Also our twelve man Roundtable Today Game Day Roundtable with
Hugh Millen and Greg Bell, starting at eight o'clock. What
a special special evening. We've got a plan for Seahawks
versus Rams.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
Let's first though, talk about your frost brewed Corslight choose
chill headlines. Of course, it does start with that game
five point fifteen kickoff, and it will be aired locally.
It won't just be the Prime video broadcast. They will
air it locally, so you don't have to worry about that.
Charles Cross is out for the Seahawks, our starting left tackle,

(11:32):
and Mike McDonald didn't beat around the bush Josh Jones.
They feel okay with Josh Jones. He's been on the
roster all season long, hasn't played that much, but this
is why he's here to be that guy that will
step in for either Abe Lucas or Charles Cross or
Josh Jones will get to start tonight at left tackle
in the biggest game of the year. Davante Adams is

(11:53):
being listed as doubtful. Most people reading into it believe
there's really no shot that the Ram, the wide receiver
and possible future Hall of Famer, is going to play tonight,
but that Sean mcvayh wanted to keep hope alive, either
lying to himself or forcing Mike McDonald to have to
strategize for something that's not even going to participate. But

(12:14):
it's looking very doubtful that DeVante Adams will play for
the Rams. We'll bring a professional on to talk about
this later this hour. But there is a chance there
won't be much rain tonight, it's looking like and yet
there could be high winds tonight, So again, we'll get
into that at seven point thirty with somebody that does this.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
For a lidding.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
Thank goodness, because yeah, we don't.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
This is the week where NFL Saturday games start, so
you're gonna have college football playoff games, three of them
with two NFL games on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
That's in prime watching right up there. Oh, I love it.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
Philadelphia at Washington, Green Bay at Chicago. That second game
is a monster, which we'll discuss here in a little
bit as we look at the playoff picture for the
Seahawks in the NFC. But those are the two games
on Saturday, and then of course a full slate on
Sunday as well. You doub losing talent yesterday entering the

(13:10):
transfer portal who was running back Adam Muhammad and wide
receiver Raydon Vines Bright also offensive lineman Zach Henning had
a few Husky fans wondering what the heck is going on?
Is Fish really leaving? The Michigan rumors will not die,
And when you lose three prominent young players like that

(13:31):
in a short period of time, it certainly gets the
mind to whirlindbrows.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
I don't know what to tell you. I don't have
any inside information. I would say that there's enough smoke
there that I wouldn't rule it out. That's true that
Jedfish is leaving, and that these moves yesterday had something
to do with that. Maybe he's leaked a little information,
but there's also a really good story to tell in
regards to I think every program is gonna lose players

(13:59):
every That's just where we are. Number two, The Huskies
have already finished their bowl game, where most bowl games
have not been played, They've already cleaned out their lockers,
so it shouldn't be surprising to people that a few
players have moved on earlier than other programs have had
to confront. And then look, I mean, Adam Mohammad might

(14:22):
be replaced by Jordan Wasshed.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
He's been waiting to be the RB.

Speaker 1 (14:25):
One through the entire Jonah Coleman era, and now he
might not get the chance because of how good and
how fast and how talented Jordan Washington is. So maybe
he sees the riding on the wall and wants to
get to a place where he's guaranteed more carries. And
then with Rayden Vines Bright, I mean, he had a
really scary injury, really scary to the point where you know,

(14:46):
it's one of those type of injuries where he goes
to the hospital and mom and dad spend all night
worrying about you. He's from Tempe, Arizona. This could be
a case of mom saying you are coming home.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
I am not going to go through I mean, who knows.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
There could be a million different why these things happened yesterday.
But obviously when your head coach at your local football
program as a nomad, our minds naturally go to, oh my.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
Gosh, you might be leaving after all, right, right, and
I think just about everybody probably had their mind jumped
to that conclusion. And yet, I mean, I'll just say,
at the end of every season in college, you would
end up having a conversation with your coach, right, And
I know I had a few buddies that would go
in and talk to ed chef and what do I
need to work on, coach?

Speaker 2 (15:29):
And you go, you got a lot to work on.

Speaker 3 (15:32):
The first thing is I'd find somewhere else to play
because You're not going to play here.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
That happened to you every year, not to me. Oh okay,
but I have.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
Some buddies that that happened to He just told me
you got to work on pretty much everything.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, mainly your attitude and your fashion. That well, my
fashion was garbage, but that was part for the course.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
This was the nineteen nineties, remember, and so no, it
was an attitude was fine, It was just his way
of being like, your hitting still.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
Garbage, defense sucks really bad.

Speaker 3 (16:04):
Your mentality is the worst I've ever let anyone wear
a warrior uniform. So take that into account as you
go into the off season. I would just basically work
on everything because you're horrible and get some breath mints. Yea,
you probably Maybe you did as I was leaving, and
I just was. I couldn't hear it through my tears.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
I don't know, but I do.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
I mean, the idea of a post season, a postseason
conversation with your coach happens. It could be that simple now,
and you add the murkiness of money. If they're like, hey,
we're right now, we don't have to pay Jordan as much,
and you know we need that money that we have
set aside for you to go here.

Speaker 2 (16:47):
Who knows, man to me, it's just one of those
we can speculate.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
It's it's a topic for us to discuss on sports
talk radio, but we don't know what the heck the
situation is.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
Could be a thousand different reasons for it. But one
of those reasons is as Jedfish is leading right, yep,
could be one of my so I think we're I
think we're kind of prepared for anything.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
That's what you have to be as a college.

Speaker 1 (17:08):
Football fan right now.

Speaker 4 (17:09):
I think so.

Speaker 5 (17:10):
And if you're not, then you're you got your head
in the sand and you're pretending things haven't changed.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
And they have changed.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
They have changed a lot.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
They have changed dramatically. College football playoff will start on Friday.
Alabama at Oklahoma will be the matchup, and then three
games on Saturday. Kurt Signetti named National Coach of the
Year for a second consecutive season. There at Indiana and
the Kraken will be in action tonight in Calgary to
take on the Flames. They have lost nine of their

(17:37):
last ten games. They've got to get it right and
right now. Lane Lambert in the program, struggling, no question
about that. Those are your frost brewed cors like choose
Chill headlines again twelve man round table today at eight.
Mike Sander will join us DELP preview the game tonight
at nine to thirty. And yes, there is a playoff

(17:58):
picture to consider here. So let me paint this for you,
let me bob ross it for you here. Maybe we'll
put a little bush down here. Sometimes mistakes can turn
into something wonderfully on a canvas. But yeah, Bush exactly,
But game day tonight, and yes, the Seahawks can clinch
a playoff spot tonight where they win. It's just as

(18:19):
simple as that. A win and they are in the postseason.
But they're certainly more at stake than that. You got
your eye fixed on finishing first place in the NFC West,
which almost certainly is going to lead to you finishing
with the number one seed in the entire NFC playoffs,

(18:40):
and there's a lot of good that comes from that.
That's home field advantage throughout your NFC playoffs. That's also
a bye. Now we have seven teams in the playoffs,
only one team gets a bye. It's the team with
that one seed. So there is certainly a lot to
gain from this victory tonight. It doesn't guarantee you anything.
You still have to play care Carolina, You still have

(19:01):
to play San Francisco. San Francisco, believe it or not,
controls its own destiny as well. All three of these
teams do. Rams Seahawks forty nine ers.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
All three of.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Them control their own destiny. If they went out, they're
going to be the number one seed, because the Seahawks
have to turn around in a couple of weeks and
take on the forty nine ers and not ignore Carolina,
and they're push they're a better team with a lot
at stake next week. So there is a lot still
left to do, but there's no doubt that a win

(19:31):
tonight at home against the Rams. Thanks to that Rams
loss a couple of weeks ago that was so unexpected,
we are in a position to take stranglehold of the
NFC West and that number one seed with a victory tonight.
That's why this thing is so damn huge.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
It's huge.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
I mean it feels like, I mean they're going to
make the playoffs. The Seahorks are going to make the playoffs.
So there would have to be like a month. They'd
have to lose all of them and then somebody else
come up there. Try has to win them all, very simple.

Speaker 1 (20:00):
If they lost them all in Detroit, won them all
then Detroit, and there's still a chance the Seahawks get
in by percentage points because we did not face.

Speaker 3 (20:08):
Detroita right right, It basically is a greater than ninety
nine percent chance that they're gonna make the playoffs. But
how you make the playoffs is a different story. And
to me, when I look at, Okay, what you have
going forward, and you can't look past tonight's game. Obviously
that's the first thing, but it's if you don't win
this game, the idea of you getting that number one spot,

(20:28):
winning the division, when when the Rams get to play
Atlanta and Arizona, it seems futile. It seems like you
basically that is gone. The division is gone, the number
one seed is gone. So then you're going on the
road and playing somebody and making it a little bit
tougher path. Not that they can't play on the road,
but it's just tougher. You'd much rather have a buy.
So yeah, it's a It's a big one, There's no

(20:50):
doubt about it. I mean, then you move on to
the next game and you got to try to take
care of business against Carolina, who at this point still
has something to play for. They're in a big division
game this weekend against the Buccaneers. So and then you
get the Niners at the end of it, who are
just trying to kind of wait in the grass and
sneak up and bite somebody.

Speaker 5 (21:07):
I think the great thing is though, that it is
all in your own control, right, you control your destiny.
You're not saying, Okay, well we've got to win out
and we need these other things to happen for us
to be in the position we want to be in.
All you have to do, not that it's easy, but
you just have to win your games, So focus on you.
You don't have to worry about what other people are doing.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
They do of the three of the toughest remaining schedule, yes,
I mean the Rams lost at Carolina just a couple
of weeks ago, so they can get you, and then
they still have to play San Francisco.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
But yes, that's the exact position.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
After fourteen games that you want to be in, right,
be able to control your own destiny. Have a home
game against the team that has already beaten you once
here tonight, and to take them out and look, I
mean as much value goes with this win and finishing
out winning the division and most likely taking the well,

(22:01):
you would end up with the one seed. If you
want out, you even control that. I don't think that
the road I mean is as daunting as it normally is.
I mean, if you don't end up with the one seed,
I think there's still a very good chance that you
could be champs of the NFC. Number one, you're a

(22:22):
better road team right now than you are a home
team for whatever reason. I mean as just factual, you know,
just record wise. And Number two, I mean, I don't
know if there is a great team in the National
Football League this year, The Rams I think have been
the closest to it, most consistently in the neighborhood of

(22:42):
greatness all season long. Certainly the Seahawks have spent some
time at club greatness this year, but I don't think
they've been as consistently great as what the Rams have been,
and so particularly in the NFC. I mean, the Philadelphi
Eagles are coming off a Super Bowl and they look
absolutely damaged. I mean, they are very fortunate to be

(23:03):
in a division with Dallas, Washington and the Giants, because
I think that they really be panicking right now because
their season seems to be slipping away from them in Philadelphia.
But statistically they're in the right division. But so I
don't think that's a great team to have to go through.
I certainly think they're a team that could get their
stuff together in three weeks time, and at home in

(23:25):
the Northeast might be a really difficult place to win,
but I don't see Los Angeles being some daunting home
field advantage. The scary part about them is that they're
really good, yes, and they're really well coached. That's the
scary part about facing them in the playoffs. It's not
because you have to play it in Los Angeles, and

(23:46):
I don't think there's any chance you're going to be
the seventh seed. So and I don't think Tampa as
the four seed is any intimidating place to play or
an intimidating team to face. So I don't think there's
a really a scenario. I don't think there's a gauntlet
that you're facing, even if you do miss being the

(24:07):
one seed. I think it's just that type of year.
Whoever plays the best in the NFC playoffs is going
to win. I don't think it's gonna come down to
home field advantage or.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
You know what road that you're on.

Speaker 1 (24:18):
But certainly you would love to have the buye first
and foremost and make everybody come through loud ass Seattle
to try to take you down. So, yes, tonight is huge.
I just don't feel like it's make or break when
it comes to whether or not you can still achieve
all of your big, giant, lofty goals.

Speaker 3 (24:37):
The goal is to win the Super Bowl, obviously, and
I think that they have the right. They've played themselves
into that conversation and have the right to do it.
I see it as just drastically tougher if you just
have to not just play the extra game.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
That's a big one. Obviously.

Speaker 3 (24:52):
Everybody wants to win out and control your own destiny
and you get the buy everybody would say that right.
If you don't and you end up becoming the five
or possibly the six seed, depending on how the next
couple of games go. Buccaneers, I mean they they put
it on you here at home. Now they're not playing
the same as they would.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
Put it on us.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
I mean they barely won a game where we played
our only crap defensive game of the entire year.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
It felt like they did they did what they wanted
to do. That they came into your house and did
what they wanted to do. And that to me was
if if there's a game that would worry me, it
would be the Buccaneers because of the fact.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
That that's not the team nearly as well. Now as
what they were, I agree, but they can on any
good day. I just say this just I don't mean
to cut you off, but bring on the Buccaneers. I'll
face them any time anywhere.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
Well, okay, you might get that, and then I would.

Speaker 1 (25:42):
Say the same thing with the forty against them, And
there's no way that Mike McDonald's giving up thirty five
points to anybody.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
Well, I mean, they have to that exact team this season.
So I'm just saying it's just it's not I'm not
saying it's impossible. I don't think that if they lose
this game and they have to go on the road
during the playoffs so they don't get the number one
seed and they don't win the division, that they can't
do it. I'm agreeing with you. I feel like it's
much tougher, not just because of the one extra game.
I think the Buccaneers are a team that you got

(26:10):
to worry about, and if you if they've played each
other already this year and we've seen that outcome at
one point time, and I agree, they're not playing near
as well right now. Same thing though with the Eagles.
The Eagles to me have floundered their way to nine
and five. I mean, there's still nine and five. It's
not like they you know they're gonna win the division
at eight and nine, you know there's still nine and five.

(26:31):
I wouldn't be surprised if they get to ten or
eleven wins before this whole thing's done, and going and
playing at Philadelphia. That's a team most certainly that if
they get hot at the right time, you got to
worry about it, and you know it just everything just
seems a whole heck of a lot easier if you
get to stay home, sleep in your own bed, you get.

Speaker 1 (26:47):
Oh God, I'm acknowledging the muchness of getting the number
one seed. I just don't think this is a I
think that I don't mean to call them out by name,
but I think Greg's kind of painted this as you're
not gonna win if you don't get home fielded. I
don't feel that way. I think that this is not
the year where if you don't get the number one seed.
It just to me, there's just not this gauntlet of

(27:10):
teams great teams out there this year. I'm not even
sure if there's one in the entire National Football League
that I would call a great football team, and I
don't think that the home field advantages that you'd have
to manage. And I acknowledge I'll give Philadelphia and Green Bay,
but I don't think we end up in Green Bay.
I don't think that the math works that way. But

(27:31):
other than that, I don't think that there's some road
that you have to go on that is filled with
you know, spikes and peril and danger.

Speaker 4 (27:40):
Yeah, I will say too.

Speaker 5 (27:42):
Just to finish up the note on the Buccaneers, when
we played them, we didn't have Nick emn Warry out there,
which has made a huge difference.

Speaker 4 (27:48):
And I don't think the defense in general was the
same as I think.

Speaker 1 (27:52):
Mike McDonald has night terrors like waking up in the
middle of the night like, oh, are you dreaming about
the Buccaneers again?

Speaker 10 (27:57):
Honey?

Speaker 2 (27:58):
Yeah, how did that happen?

Speaker 5 (27:59):
Yea, yeah, because it was just an offensive game. But
it was a I mean, it was again a three
point game. It was they were trading touchdowns for touchdowns.
So I don't think it would be that same outcome.

Speaker 2 (28:10):
I don't either.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
I don't either, And frankly, Caroline is playing better than them.
I mean, they've got to still beat Carolina. I just
heard their head coach say that his team is basically
quit on the season last week.

Speaker 4 (28:21):
Oh and I guess they did have nicky Menmorrey at
that's when I was wrong.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
So you know, I mean, I think that I'm not
going to be worried about that, but I don't want
to make it about that. This conversation, obviously tonight is huge.
Love to have the number one seed. There's nothing else
that the focus is on for Mike McDonald and the
entire Seahawks organization. Then winning this game tonight, finishing it off,
not letting San Francisco steal their lunch money on the

(28:47):
last week of the regular season, having that first round,
by having everybody have to come through Seattle in order
to in your control. Yeah, keep things into control. I
just don't the only point I was making, I just
don't feel and I felt like that in the past.
You know that if you don't get that number one seed,
my gosh, what you have to do to get to
the Super Bowl. I don't think it's one of those years.

(29:08):
So but let's not worry about it. Let's just take
the number one seed and go from there.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
I like it all right.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
Coming up next, weather could play a major role in
tonight's game, but maybe not as major of a role
as we thought earlier in the week. Brian McMillan from
Fox thirteen's going to join us next Sports Radio ninety
three point three KJRFM Thursday Night Football. We are front
and center. We are the center of the football world
tonight as we get ready to take on the Los

(29:35):
Angeles Rams. Hopefully our football team puts its best foot
forward or city puts its best foot forward. I'm certain
that it will, But what kind of conditions are the
teams going to play in? It seems to be that
at the beginning of the week it felt pretty dire,
but maybe the forecast is changing a little bit. We're

(29:56):
so confused we wanted to check in with an expert,
and so joining us now here on the radio program
Chief Meteorologist at Fox thirteen, Right here in Seattle, Brian
McMillan b mack himself is with us on Chuck and Buck.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
What up? Chief?

Speaker 1 (30:14):
Hey, guys, how's.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
It calling this morning? It's game day? We're excited. Go Hawks?

Speaker 1 (30:19):
Do you make everybody call you Chief? Around the station? There?
I would if I were you.

Speaker 11 (30:24):
When I got the promotion, it was a little weird. Yeah,
like everybody started calling me that. It felt a little weird,
but I kind of like it now.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
To be honest, make every let everybody off the hook button, Levine,
Make Levine continue to call your chief. Yeah, but everybody
else can call you Brian or b mac or whatever.

Speaker 2 (30:42):
He has to call you chief for the rest.

Speaker 10 (30:44):
Of his cares, right exactly.

Speaker 11 (30:47):
You know, he's a massive dobby. Whenever I see Aaron Roand,
I just throw trivia questions at him.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
All the time and he always gets them right. It's
really frustrating. Has his head gotten big since he's become
Jeopardy champion over there?

Speaker 9 (31:00):
Little?

Speaker 2 (31:00):
Yeah, a little? Let's be honest, I mind.

Speaker 11 (31:02):
Would too?

Speaker 1 (31:02):
I mean, come on then?

Speaker 4 (31:04):
Never how many people can say that?

Speaker 2 (31:05):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (31:06):
All right, Well, we needed to check in with an
expert today. There's a lot of speculation as to what's
going on tonight, the best as you can tell, right now,
seven thirty in the morning here on game day.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
What kind of weather are we going to.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
Have this evening for the football game?

Speaker 2 (31:22):
Okay?

Speaker 11 (31:22):
Well, right now we have steady rain okay across the region.
I think by the time we get into game time,
So five p fifteen kickoffs here tonight at Luomenfield, We're
gonna be looking at kind of on and off showers
by the time we get to kickoff. But I think
the bigger story tonight is gonna be that wind because
it's gonna be kicking in again.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
We'll see guts.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
Around thirty to forty miles an hour.

Speaker 11 (31:42):
So I don't think you're gonna see Meyers kicking six
field goals tonight or you know, probably not those fifty
sixty yarders.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
So might have to get the.

Speaker 11 (31:51):
Run game going a little bit more this evening. It's
gonna be blustery, there will be showers at times, and
TIMPs are gonna be a little closer to fifty tore.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
We always get one of these games.

Speaker 11 (32:02):
I feel like every every year here in Seattle, for
these Seahawks games, we get one that's you know, it's
either dumping rain or it's a little bit windy or.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
Something like that.

Speaker 11 (32:11):
And tonight's going to be that in prime time under
the lights.

Speaker 3 (32:15):
B Mac, I don't have the same tools I would
imagine that you do when it comes to looking her.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
No, chief, No, I'm not a chief.

Speaker 3 (32:22):
I have an iPhone and that's that's it, But I
did look up the layers or one of the screens
that had the wind, and it looked like it was
coming straight from the south.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
So I'm wondering, does it is it still? Do you
think it'll be swirling in there?

Speaker 3 (32:38):
Or is this Could it just be one of those boy,
you're either throwing straight into the wind or kicking straight
into the wind, or you got it at your.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
Back one of the two.

Speaker 11 (32:45):
I think it's kind of interesting down there illumining because yeah,
the wind's gonna be coming in from the south or
kind of the southwest at that point.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
But yeah, when it.

Speaker 11 (32:54):
Gets when it gets in the stadium there, it can
kind of swirl around a little bit. I wonder if
you know, when we're usually, you know, on the coin toe,
you're thinking about, okay, am I going to kick or
am I going to defer? But they may be thinking about, okay,
which side of the field do we want to be
on instead? Because you probably want to in the game

(33:16):
kicking with the wind as opposed to into the wind.
That might be interesting tonight and you're gonna be want
to of course, want to be kicking towards the s
the north end zone there, so that'll be interesting this
evening because you know, we've had to rely on that
kicking game here for the past few weeks.

Speaker 1 (33:33):
Not every chief meteorologist can insert valid football strategy in
it was forecasts, but chief care they get it done
with Chief Meteorologist Brian McMillan over there.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
At Fox thirteen. All right, So, I mean, what's the
margin for air?

Speaker 1 (33:48):
I mean, you guys always are told you, you know,
that you got the forecast wrong, but you get it
right more often than you get it wrong. And so
what's the what's the margin for air? I mean, what
kind of send its chance? Do you give it to
Brian that the forecast changes between now and five point fifteen?
I don't think it's gonna change.

Speaker 11 (34:08):
But okay, you know people, it's funny people people remember
like the three to five percent so.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
That we're that we're wrong.

Speaker 1 (34:15):
Oh yeah, they hold on to it, and they hold
on to bath for good for years. For years.

Speaker 11 (34:23):
You I was repaving my driveway and you were ruined
that that one time back in twenty fourteen.

Speaker 2 (34:27):
You know, stuff like that.

Speaker 11 (34:28):
But uh no, this is this has been pretty consistent
in regards to our weather modeling and all that stuff.
Here over the past few days that we're gonna see
some win today. So yeah, it's not terrible. It's not
gonna be like what we have yesterday morning. I don't
know if you guys still have power at your house
or if you got.

Speaker 10 (34:46):
It knocked out during that.

Speaker 1 (34:47):
That's not gonna be that bad.

Speaker 11 (34:49):
But tonight it will be annoying, and it will be blustering,
and you're gonna want to bundle up and you're gonna
want to wear your rain gear just in case.

Speaker 2 (34:57):
Uh, that's gonna be the.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
Story down there at lumin But it should be fun.

Speaker 11 (35:00):
Its gonna be fun.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
This is the game of the season so far.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yeah, you're right right.

Speaker 3 (35:02):
I've always wondered this, if you guys have the ability
to figure out which kind of rain it is, because
we all know we've got enough rain up here. You
get that soaking rain, you know, big drops and just
torrential downpour. You get that seattle mist that is just
more annoying, but it doesn't need You have ended up
getting drenched in the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
But it's not all that bad.

Speaker 3 (35:21):
Do you guys have information where you can tell the
difference between what kind of rain it's going to be.

Speaker 11 (35:27):
It's like Forrest Gump, right, you know, upside down rain
and you got all the heavy rain day rain. Yeah,
you know, we can see you know the level of
precip so like, yeah, how how intense it's gonna be.
Sometimes it's like small pockets where it's gonna be really
heavy for about five minutes and then it kind of

(35:48):
moves on. What we're seeing this morning is really light,
kind of misty light, showery rain. It's really annoying for
people with glasses like myself. You know, you need like
little windshel wipers.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
On your glasses.

Speaker 11 (35:59):
But to night it's going to be more just on
and off normal Pacific northwest showery rain. Most of the
heavier stuff's going to move its way south into Portland.

Speaker 1 (36:07):
They're gonna be dealing with that here later on tonight.
All right, be mac Thank you very much, sir. We
appreciate it, Chief, and enjoy the game tonight. I know
you'll be watching, and this was some really valuable data
for us, So thank you. Thanks boys. I'll be there.
I can't wait. We gotta yell loud tonight, Go Hawks.

Speaker 2 (36:25):
All right.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
Brian McMillan from Fox thirteen. Chief meteorologist.

Speaker 2 (36:29):
He's not just some foot soldier. Oh no, No, he's
the chief over there. Yeah, And I love it.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
I love that he's just like, now, this is going
to be the weather tonight, Like it's not going to
change what I'm telling you.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
That's the weather tonight.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
And I guess I can live with that. I know that, Hugh,
we'll talk about weather in the roundtable. He'll tell you
what you don't want. It is across the field. So
if it's at back or you're throwing against it, that's
a lot better than it going across the field because
it's a little more unpredictable. But I do believe it
just hammers home. And maybe I'm reading into it because
it's my cliche key to victory. I just don't want

(37:04):
this team diging a hole to try to prove that
they're good at something that over fourteen games that.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
They haven't been.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
If we can run the football tonight, great, take the weather,
take the win completely out of our chances. I mean,
we can just eliminate that element. Ken Walker finally goes
off for one hundred and seventy five yards and we
win by thirteen over the Los Angeles Rams, and we
dance in the damp streets. Okay, that's great, but I
don't want to dig a hole because based off of

(37:33):
that forecast, I don't think we're gonna be able to
come back against this quality of a team, And because
of the weather, I don't think we're gonna be able
to Jason Myers our way to a victory tonight. We
got to score touchdowns, and I don't want to just
spend an entire half trying to figure out if we

(37:54):
can run against this team tonight.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
I hear what you're saying, and I understand it. I
would be willing to bet that they're gonna do it, though,
I would be willing to bet that because of it. Yes,
if it's just a straight, you know, north south wind, yeah,
I think it is not as difficult as this crosswind
that he always explains that said.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
You still you just throw it into the wind and all.

Speaker 3 (38:16):
Of a sudden, the gus catches it and it's underthrown,
and you know, maybe it works out in your favor,
maybe it's the other way around, and now their receiver
stops and you get a long PI call. I just
think that there's both teams are going to be like
we want to take that risk out of the equation
a little bit and see if the run game works.
Because I'm with you if if you do try it
and all of a sudden he snaps off a couple

(38:37):
of big runs or consistent runs and moving chains.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
Now all of a sudden, you might you might win
the thing running away.

Speaker 1 (38:43):
Yeah, i'le maybe you run against the wind like they
worked for Bob Seob Seger would tell you, or and
throw with the wind. I mean, would you make it
that obvious to the opponent? I don't know, but we
will certainly get some analysis from Greg and Hugh. Game
Day twelfth Man Round Table coming up at eight o'clock,

(39:03):
Mike Sando at nine thirty. Pretty much from eight to ten,
nothing but Seahawks and Rams, which gives me this one
little crack in the show to ask Ashley and Bucky
for their hot stove Christmas Wish of twenty twenty five
Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM. And there are
a lot of things to discuss Backay, it's a good thing.

(39:25):
We got two guys that are pretty sharp when it
comes to covering the Seahawks. Me and that's right, you
and Ashley and yeah, Yeah, goodness, I'm here.

Speaker 2 (39:36):
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I'm sure the listeners agree.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
It's time for the twelfth Man Round Table. Our QB
one one Hugh Millan is here, our Seahawks insider Greg
Bell is here, and we welcome them to the radio program. Hello, gentlemen,
Happy game day.

Speaker 8 (39:51):
Good morning, good morning. Yes it is a happy game day.

Speaker 2 (39:54):
Good morning, LFG. How much let's go, come on, not it?

Speaker 10 (40:07):
Come?

Speaker 8 (40:10):
Let's get him out there?

Speaker 2 (40:14):
You?

Speaker 9 (40:14):
Uh?

Speaker 11 (40:15):
This?

Speaker 1 (40:16):
This stadium better sound like the Boston Garden beat l A,
come on the old I mean, I mean, does it
get any more full tilt regular season fired up.

Speaker 10 (40:29):
For this than this?

Speaker 2 (40:31):
Hugh?

Speaker 1 (40:31):
I mean, put this one in perspective in terms of
hout excited you are to watch a Seahawk football game. Oh,
I think it's been I can't years for sure. I
don't know. I just I really like this team. I
love Mike McDonald, uh, Sam Donald.

Speaker 6 (40:46):
I think the principals, you know, Devin Witherspoon, I just
can't stop thinking about that, dude. Just you know, I
just I just love the makeup of the team. I
think they're on the incline.

Speaker 1 (40:57):
But it's go time.

Speaker 6 (40:58):
This is this is all gas, no breaks tonight. You
got a chance to go put yourself in the pole
position for the number one seed in the NFC. You know,
Pat Mahomes is out like there is a path to
the Lombardi Trophy. Those guys know it.

Speaker 1 (41:15):
All the storylines. I'm eating up every single one of them.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
Greg.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
I remember when they lost to the Rams and the
Seahawks are already talking about we can't wait to face
them again.

Speaker 2 (41:25):
Well, here we go.

Speaker 1 (41:26):
And they didn't cost themselves with some trap loss in
the meantime, so they understand what's at stake here this evening.
What's the vibe over there in Renting right now?

Speaker 12 (41:38):
Well, I think this may benefit that this is a
short week. The vibe is that they're tired from having
played the Colts and they are aware of the stakes obviously.
And Julian Love talked to me the other day on
Monday and he says, like some guys will say, oh,
this is a December game and this is just another
game or a championship opportunity, like a former coacher he

(42:01):
used to say.

Speaker 8 (42:02):
But Jorian Love saying, nah, we know what the stake here.

Speaker 2 (42:05):
Yeah, we got a chance.

Speaker 9 (42:06):
At the number one seed and home field and playing
all games in Seattle and getting a buy the only
buying the conference. They're well aware that the vibe is
that they're excited for being able to put themselves in
this opportunity, that they've earned the opportunity. But you know what,
they also know they haven't beaten the Rams in forty
nine ers, and they understand themselves that they have to

(42:27):
prove to themselves that they can do that.

Speaker 8 (42:30):
This is why they hired Mike McDonald.

Speaker 9 (42:32):
This is why to beat Sean McVay and beat Kyle
Shanahan inside the NFC West, and he hasn't done it.
He did it in the JV game at the end
of last season. But as she and I have talked about,
let's just throw that out. But this is why Mike
McDonald's here, So let's see what happens. We're going to
talk about factors and a bunch of stuff this hour.
I want to bring up right off the top that

(42:53):
I think the biggest factor as far as the conditions
tonight are, is going to be the wind. There's forecast
to be twenty million hour wins gusting up to forty
as the game begins and then tapering off and not
being quite as strong as the game continues. They can
deal with rain, he will tell you that, especially at
the NFL level, but now even at college, at a

(43:13):
high school level, they swap the ball out every time.
The referees allowed to bring in a new, fresh, dry
ball every single snap.

Speaker 8 (43:20):
It's the wind that you have to count.

Speaker 9 (43:23):
I would talk tonight show when I was filling in
for Ian yesterday afternoon to Mike Holgrim, and the coach said, Yeah,
of all the things you deal with and figure out
and put into your game plan of factors that could
affect you, the wind is the one that you actually
have to really pay attention to. He says. It'll make
you throw the ball shorter, It'll make you run the
ball more, It'll make you tell your punter he's got
a line drive kicks instead of boot him as far

(43:44):
as hard as he can. And of course it'll affect
the field goal kickers, especially into the open end downtown,
right the left. As you're watching on TV tonight, all
of that adds to the preparation and the intrigue of
his game. And I mentioned this to you already, Chuck,
there are going to be things tonight. None of us
have seen Mike McDonald do on defense to Sean McVay,

(44:06):
all kinds of combinations, and Nick even worry.

Speaker 10 (44:09):
Use.

Speaker 9 (44:10):
The only thing we haven't seen Nick Eman worry do
is play nose tackle, and we may see that tonight too.
We're going to see a bunch of stuff that McVay
hasn't seen, and mcvay's gonna have a few things for McDonald.
The thing about the short week and only three days
in between games, though, is you can't do too much
of that or else the players will play slow and
think too much this week in Rent and they've really

(44:31):
tried to emphasize what they do well, and they're going
to simplify to what they do best with a couple
of new things, and they want those guys not thinking
and just playing fast.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
All right, Well, let's separate those two because those are
two pretty big topics. So Hugh, first, let's deal with
the weather. How's it going to affect Sam, How's it
gonna affect Myers? How's it going to affect the game tonight?

Speaker 6 (44:50):
Well, you know, I've i designed a football that for
ten years that ultimately became an Adida's ball.

Speaker 1 (44:58):
I've put footballs and win tunnels. I've started in Buffalo.

Speaker 6 (45:01):
The windiest game I've ever played in my life was
playing against the Bills. And and here's my takeaway. You
can throw down wind if you drive the ball. You
can throw into the wind if you drive the ball.
But if you go the wind is going across the

(45:23):
ball and hits the fat part of the ball.

Speaker 2 (45:25):
There's no there's no.

Speaker 6 (45:26):
Quarter John, not John Elway, not Josh Allen, there's nobody's
not who's going to be not affected by a ball
across the wind across the ball. And and I remember,
you know, in Buffalo, in the first quarter, I throw
out to the flat to the running back John Steve,
and the.

Speaker 1 (45:45):
Ball just was like a frisbee.

Speaker 6 (45:48):
And and and I went on to uh, I went
on the headset and I said, look, I can throw
it between the numbers, but either way, I can throw
it between then, but I can't don't.

Speaker 1 (46:01):
I can't throw it outside the numbers because of this win.

Speaker 6 (46:04):
Yeah, And and so that that's going to be a
factor is knowing which direction it goes, because because Sam
Doron can spin that ball, he can pierce it. But
but here here's here's schematically how it's likely to be
effect if you play the Seahawks may play more press
coverage in the wind for the following reason. A lot

(46:25):
of the quick game that is in an NFL playbook,
a hitch, a five yard out, a twelve yard out,
a skinny post. There are a number of routes that
what's called convert to a fade, and so you basically
tell a receiver, hey, you get press. You know, oh
that that route return turns into a fade. And now

(46:47):
throwing the ball up the sideline and trying to throw
a touch that that's the ball that gets tossed around
the most so you could see, you know, and you
don't need to have a safety on that half of
the field. You can play single safety press, whether it's
cover three deep zone or whether it's what's called cover
one man and man and do that against doing that

(47:09):
against the Rams now they may have it done against them,
but that would be a schematic factor and something that
you should look for tonight.

Speaker 1 (47:18):
But I g ask Greg another reason to try to
establish the run tonight.

Speaker 9 (47:22):
Yes, I think in any weather condition, this team needs
to do more of that and better. They ran from
just forty nine yards to Seahawks did against the Colts,
yet they ran twenty two times. Most teams, if you're
getting forty nine yards, you just stop running. And we've
learned time and again that Klint Kobiek will not just
stop running. He's going to continue to do it. He's

(47:44):
going to do it tonight to help out Josh Jones,
who has to start up left tackle, because I've mentioned
this was the wrong week for Charles Cross to come
back from a hamstring injury, playing in only four days
after the last time. So it's gonna be Josh Jones
making his first Seattle start, in fact, his first start
since twenty twenty three in September of twenty three when
he made his last start for Houston and then hasn't
started for the Texans or Baltimore since then. So they're

(48:09):
probably going to start by running the ball. And when
I was a coach Holmgern yesterday he said that they
need to run it with Kenneth Walker in a game
like this, with his athletic and as as strong as
the Rams defensive front, they need a guy who makes
those guys miss and him that's Walker over sharpening, and
we've talked about that. The question, and of course is
the remains. Are they going to be effective running? Because

(48:31):
that's the key. The Rams can spit on the running
game with their front. They don't have to do anything extra,
They don't have to bring another safety down in the box.
They can control Seattle's running game with what they have
up front. So can Kubiak force any change in the
front for the Rams that would allow them to open
up the pass game down the field? And it's going

(48:53):
to be the same against the forty nine ers in
the last week of the season. They got to run
the ball to win the division.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
Hey, maybe that's the case here and maybe weather changes this.
I just I've been stating this and I'll get your
reaction to it all week long. I just don't want
to lose this game, just constantly trying to establish something
they haven't been good at all year. If I'm going
to lose this game, I want to lose it with
Sam Donald throwing the football. What's your reaction to that? Yeah,
I tend to agree with you.

Speaker 6 (49:19):
Of course, the win may play a factor in that,
but when may change that completely. I mean to stay
ahead of the of the sticks, you know. I think
that you you you pass first and then you mix
it up with run, particularly in the red zone. The
Seahawks on first down in the red zone for the
entire season average two point two yards on first down

(49:39):
running the ball. They are constantly getting behind the sticks.
It's like it's it's like a hitter Bucky right there.
They're constantly one in every at bat when they get
into the red zone. And so the percentage has changed.
So that's a factor for them.

Speaker 1 (50:01):
Now.

Speaker 6 (50:01):
They didn't have Sundell in the last meeting. That Olua
Timmy making his first start. That was pivotal in Donald's
first interception. The issue with Josh Jones, you know, it's
it's something that Seattle's gonna have to work around. And
and I'll give you just here, here's a factor that

(50:21):
Mike McDonald is is just gonna have to and Clint
Kubik have are going to have to work around. These
are the rankings of the Seahawks offensive line per Pro
Football Focus.

Speaker 1 (50:33):
Left to right.

Speaker 6 (50:35):
Now, I'm gonna say Charles Cross and I'll come back
to Josh Jones. Charles Cross twenty six, Tackle Zabel sixty six,
Sundell twenty six. This is rankings at your position, then
sixty one, and then twenty three. Here's the RAMS ranking
left to right, left tackle eight, then five, nine to
two and ten. Not one lineman outside of the top ten,

(50:56):
not one Sea Hawk inside the top twenty. And Josh Jones,
for what it's worth, is at a level that would
be fifty thirds. So so there's a decided advantage at
least by that metric for the Rams. And and and
yet there's some advantages for Seattle. But when you're talking
about the running game, Chuck, and you're you're, you're, you're

(51:17):
leaning on that disadvantage, I would tend agree, don't knock
your head against the wall, you know, try and get
some big plays down the field.

Speaker 9 (51:25):
Could I say something about pro football references, football focuses
rankings for a minute. It had Byron Murphy as one
of the worst defensive interior defensive linemen in the league
last week, and Mike McDonald said it was the best
game he's ever seen a defensive tackle play. He said,
he was unbelievable. And I was watching Byron Murphy split
defensive tackles and make tackles that the line of scrimmager

(51:46):
behind while two guys were trying to block them within
the circles. We've talked about Pro Football Focused, but just
for fans, you know, within the circles, it's the team
inside the buildings. In general, this is in generalation. They
think offensive and defensive line rankings for Pro Football Focus
are useless. They do believe that their tackle, outside, linebacker,

(52:09):
defensive backs, skill position player. There are some truth in
the rankings and they in fact, agents and teams do
use them, especially come contract time.

Speaker 8 (52:19):
But it is almost just close your eyes and throw
dart board.

Speaker 9 (52:24):
Sometimes to the rankings for offensive and defensive line because
they don't know what assignments are. They don't know where
guys are supposed to be, what gaps they're supposed to have,
what the stunts are. But I can tell you that
Byron Murphy inside the building is a hero. They think
that he has I mean he's earned. He was at
forty nine percent of snaps last year and we talked
about how that had to change. It's up now damn

(52:45):
near seventy plus percent every game because he's earned the
pass rush reps too. The defensive front for Seattle is
the key to this game. If they can continue to
cover with seven mcpaigh. Offense is not built for that.
That's that is you wouldn't we asked why is McDonald
having success against McVeigh. That is why if four guys

(53:09):
can affect the quarterback or at least make Stafford get
it out even if he doesn't get sacked, mcvayh doesn't
have an answer for seven men in coverage and a
couple of them being all pro coverber like even Worry
and Witherspoon. So I just when I heard Pro Football Focused,
I know if a lot of fans have been asking
why the hell Gray's abel was ranked solo? For instance,
why the hell Anthony Bradford is ranked so high all

(53:29):
the time? We think he's just standing around watching guys,
And especially the Byron Murphy was there was a disconnect
this week for sure.

Speaker 1 (53:37):
Well, yeah, let me respond to that.

Speaker 2 (53:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (53:41):
First of all, I've said many times, I'm not saying
you haven't right that PFF is not perfect. I think
they get more right than they get wrong. Secondly, they
every single team in the NFL subscribes to their to
their services, and on the aggregate, what was the number

(54:01):
one ranked offensive line in football last year per Pro
Football Focus. The Eagles like they get more right than
they get wrong. I mean they get stuff wrong in
the secondary. I can remember in Week one against the Bengals,
uh where uh Sek gave up a touchdown and they
assigned it to the cornerback and and I'm like, no,

(54:26):
that that that was That's covered too. That's the safety.
Like I've had my my shake the head moments. But
I would say that again, as a general rule, you
can follow them. There's a reason why every team in
the NFL subscribes to them. And as for you know,
Anthony Bradford is ranked sixty first, UH guard does that

(54:51):
strike anybody is out of line?

Speaker 1 (54:53):
But they event we're not. We're here to talk about
the Seahawks and the Rams. But yeah, well let's talk
about the de and I do In our next ever,
we want to get into Greg's point about what tricks
Mike McDonald might have up his sleeve. But here, what
is it in game number one that they were so effective?
I mean, they just shut down Matt Stafford. What do
you have one hundred and thirty passing yards in that game.

(55:15):
It's a guy that's played like an MVP every single
game except against Mike McDonald's defense. So what is it
that they were doing so effectively against the rams offense
in the previous game, and then of course, what do
you think they'll do to adjust to mcveigh's adjustments. Well,
there's a.

Speaker 6 (55:31):
Big talk about the thirteen personnel and three tight ends,
and they had come in for four weeks in a row.

Speaker 1 (55:37):
They were hot.

Speaker 6 (55:37):
They had like eight touchdown passes out of thirteen in
the couple weeks leading up to it, and Seattle played
mostly nickel against thirteen personnel.

Speaker 1 (55:49):
You would think that would be a big weight disadvantage.

Speaker 6 (55:53):
Now down on the goal line, there's a couple of
times where they went they remained in nickel, but they
went with an extra defensive line and took out a linebacker.
But they they had the athleticism to cover the field,
but they also had the physicality. And then they they
as as they often do. They they have simulated pressures

(56:15):
where they have they make you think just a split second.
Even Stafford, a veteran, you know, they got guys up
the line of scrimmage. You don't know who's coming, but
they covered well, and you know they they they had
a couple of gap breakdowns Ernest Jones was actually a culprit,
and a couple of big runs where they weren't in

(56:36):
the right gap in the first quarter. They button that up,
and and and for the game, they held the Rams
to their fewest yards for the season, that at four
hundred and fourteen yards for the Seahawk offense, they put
up the most yards of the Rams defensive surrendered.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
And you go back even to a year ago when.

Speaker 6 (56:59):
Not that we eighteen game, because that we all say
that's a JV game, but the one in lumen Field
the Seattle lost in overtime. There were seven three and
outs that the Seahawks defense forced against that Ram offense.
They only scored thirteen points offensively for the four quarters.

(57:19):
So McDonald has been able to put a lid on
that McVeigh offense.

Speaker 2 (57:26):
Yeah, no question.

Speaker 9 (57:28):
Chilcapatti is a friend of mine who used to cover
the beat with me and the Seahawks, and now he's
with the Ringer. He's with the Athletic at times based
in Philadelphia. He wrote yesterday that that was the worst
game of Matthew Stafford's career and he's been playing for
him in it. If you go by the basic metric
that the newly analytic metric that he was mentioned EPA
expected points at it, he said that was the lowest

(57:50):
expected points at the game of Matthew Stafford's career. Why
is that, well, we mentioned two of the three touchdown
drives the Rams had last month against the Seahawks and
Englewood were four and twenty five yards because of Sam
Darnold's interceptions. Their three touchdowns drives are four, seventy four
and twenty five in two complete games eight quarters in

(58:12):
regulation play. Sean mcvay's offense has driven the field more
than half the field to score against Mike McDonald's defense
just twice. Two touchdowns and eight quarters. It's more than luck.
And Hugh mentioned the three tight ends. The Rams do
it twenty five percent of the time. The rest of
the league averages five percent. Thirteen personnel. The Rams do

(58:33):
it five times more than anybody else five times. And
tonight DeVante Adams isn't player. Wow, he's doubtful because of
the hamstring, which means they're probably gonna go even thirteen
y even thirteen ish more than they are already. Kobe
Parkinson's a big part of that. They have a backup
tight end Pergison who's six six in a matchup problem,
and the third string tight end is three touchdowns. The

(58:54):
reason why they go nickel against thirteen is because of
Nicky mun Worried, because nobody else in the league has
with the Seahawks nick Emon Worry. And that is the
reason that the Seahawks have an advantage. If they go
thirteen to night, they're gonna put Emon Worry, probably wolln
and Witherspoon all on the field. A't the same time,
it gets three tight ends and they can cover and
play the run with those guys. I think McDonald thinks

(59:16):
he's got McVeigh guys.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
I really yeah, I know, and real quick.

Speaker 6 (59:19):
The Rams had not played that personnel group through the
first five weeks and then leading up to the sea
Hog game. Before they were at forty six percent and
forty five percent in the two weeks before Seattle. Then
they went thirty six percent. Then they seem to have said, well,
that didn't work very well. They dropped down to eleven
percent after the Seahog game, eighteen percent. Now they've cranked

(59:41):
it back up fifty eight percent two weeks ago and
then a season high sixty two percent this most recent Sunday.
So you know, it seemed like McVeigh might be ramping
that back up, and Greg's exactly right. Emon Worry's ability
to cover ground in space but also to be physical
at the point of attack when they run at him

(01:00:03):
like he.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
Was against the Ram big part of that. All right,
Hu mellon Greg Bell with us. It is a game
day twelve man round table getting a set for Seahawks
Rams tonight right here in Seattle. First place in the
division on the line for both teams who sit at
eleven to three on the year. What a huge game.
And we still haven't talked about DeVante Adams not playing
in this game. And also, I know you're all wondering

(01:00:25):
what tricks Mike McDonald has up his sleeve. So we'll
pin Greg down with that coming up in our next segment.
Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM. Most Duck fans
are Hawk fans, Yeah, but most most Seahawks fans are
not Duck fans.

Speaker 2 (01:00:38):
Don't want ducky. That's not true.

Speaker 4 (01:00:40):
Most Seahawks fans are not Duck fans.

Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
Seattle fans are bigger than Seattle.

Speaker 5 (01:00:45):
Right, No, I understand that, but I'm saying most Seahawks
fans are not Duck fans.

Speaker 4 (01:00:50):
It's not the majority of a Duck.

Speaker 2 (01:00:53):
Fans, but like most of most of them are not
Husky fans either.

Speaker 5 (01:00:57):
Yeah, I'm not saying they are, but if they uniforms
that look like Huskies.

Speaker 4 (01:01:01):
That would be weird too.

Speaker 3 (01:01:03):
Yeah, I'm just saying that the hate for the Duck
connection is that's just kind of here. That's a husky thing. Yeah,
it's a husky problem.

Speaker 1 (01:01:11):
I don't think anybody's gonna like these uniforms tonight.

Speaker 5 (01:01:14):
I just I just think they it's it's one thing
to look like Duck uniforms, but they look like college uniforms.

Speaker 4 (01:01:20):
That's what I don't like.

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
I like that either.

Speaker 2 (01:01:21):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (01:01:22):
I don't think I want my NFL team even looking
like any college game. I don't want them to have
Penn State uniforms.

Speaker 4 (01:01:27):
Where are your glorious throwbacks and call it a day?

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
Yeah, exactly, got the best uniforms on the sport right now,
and we're gonna wear Duck UNI literally like a carbon
copy of the uniform. I picture Bo Nick's wearing correct
at Oregon. That's the one I picture him many.

Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
They're going to look good.

Speaker 1 (01:01:43):
When I think of, you know, picture bow Nicks at Oregon.
It's in that uniform.

Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
Yeah, yeah, and that's what.

Speaker 4 (01:01:49):
We're wearing, the poop splatter.

Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
I'll get over it. It's a great game. Not gonna
dwell on it, not going to fixate on it. As
a matter of fact, I keep smelling the aroma of
pipe smoke. Bucky can't smell any right now? Are you
smelling that?

Speaker 4 (01:02:02):
Are you're not smelling?

Speaker 1 (01:02:03):
And I'm sure no one's smoking a pipe. I'm sure
there's a perfectly good explanation. But I keep smoking, hearing,
smelling this smell of a pipe, which I don't like
the smell of a cigar, and I don't certainly don't
like the smell of a cigarette, but I really do
love this story.

Speaker 4 (01:02:17):
Now I think I'm making myself think I can smell
the smell of a pipe, and.

Speaker 1 (01:02:21):
I'm thinking, here's what I'm thinking. They've already got the
victory cigar. Everybody under the age of thirty thinks Joe
Burrow invented it. Everyone under the age of forty thinks,
Michael Jordan invented the victory cigar. Anyone over forty knows.
Red Hour Boch did it long before either one of those,
and did it every single game. But the victory cigar

(01:02:42):
has been played out now in like four different generations.
Nobody does the victory pipe. Oh yeah, what do you
think about it? I've never smoked anything in my entire life. Literally,
I've never smoked anything in my entire life. Should I
get a Should I start smoking a victory pipe? After
big wins here and seeat what do you think?

Speaker 2 (01:03:00):
I know what your Christmas gift is now?

Speaker 4 (01:03:03):
You should at least have to do it in the
linter like Frosty the Snowman.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
Just football's Yeah, I don't know. Maybe maybe it's one
of those big giant ones, you know, like the big
massive ones. I don't even know what they're called. Well,
it looks like a saxophone and then it comes up there.
Maybe I get one of those and.

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
You know, walk around your talk with it. It's just
stuck between your teeth. You're kind to talk a little different.
Nobody does the victory pipe.

Speaker 4 (01:03:27):
You got to hear the little click as it like
hits your teeth back in your mouth.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
That's essential. Yeah, that's great idea.

Speaker 1 (01:03:33):
One of my best friends growing up, Gary Boker, his
dad Gary Boker, Uh, he had a pipe, and man,
that was part of the joy of going over there.
He's watching mister Boker crack out his pipe while he's
watching the Cubs game.

Speaker 2 (01:03:46):
Talking to you. Yep, I like that.

Speaker 5 (01:03:49):
I get everybody who had one kind of has to
sound like Humphrey Bogart when they talk.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
Really, I don't remember Humphrey Bogart smoking pipe, but like
you kind of have that.

Speaker 2 (01:04:00):
Just got to have that twain to you.

Speaker 4 (01:04:01):
You got to like, you've got to think a lot.

Speaker 5 (01:04:04):
You got to put it in your mouth to think,
and then you got to take it out to speak,
and then you got to think again.

Speaker 2 (01:04:08):
Yeah, I do you think the way you hold it
and then click it back in your teeth. I don't know.
I just don't see a lot of people lighting a
victory pipe.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
And if somebody wants to steal this idea, because I
don't know if I'm gonna.

Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
Do it, run with it.

Speaker 4 (01:04:20):
I think you have to do it.

Speaker 2 (01:04:20):
I would love to see on.

Speaker 1 (01:04:22):
Social media tonight fifty different people smoking a victory I don't.

Speaker 3 (01:04:27):
Have any pipe tobacco, but I mean I could make
you a pipe out of a can soda can out there.

Speaker 4 (01:04:32):
I can make you a tinfoil.

Speaker 1 (01:04:34):
I'm going to run a classy operation around here. Even
if it's a corn cob pipe pepper.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
You've never smoked out of a doctor pepper? Can I've
never smoked anything? Well, I knock until you try it. Yeah,
I didn't even smoke meats. I mean I've never done that.

Speaker 4 (01:04:46):
I've had them delicious.

Speaker 1 (01:04:48):
Oh I know, I've eaten them, eat the hell out
of them. But anyway, maybe a victory pipe something to
put it on the list for this year. Uh well, look,
we just had our round table come conversation. I mean
we've had We've talked about this game all day long.
I think that there is room in that hour long
conversation for two rights on a different level. Number one,

(01:05:14):
like Donald's number of interceptions. What Greg was saying, I
think was you just can't have minus two or more
in the turnover ratio tonight. You can't be solely responsible
for that on your statistics line. I think that's probably true.
I think that you know, you certainly can't turn the

(01:05:35):
ball over four times like you did the last time.
But I also think huge, right, we have fourteen games
of Sam Donald in a Seahawk uniform, and he's really
just had one of those games and it just came
at the wrong time against the wrong team. I don't
want to change anything the way Sam Donald plays. As

(01:05:56):
Mike McDonald has said numerous times, let it rip. We
want him to let it rip. I can live perfectly
fine with minus one on Sam Donald's turnover ratio compared
to Matt Stafford. I could even live with minus two,
I think, because I don't want it to affect how
aggressive he's been. He's played so confidently all year long. Man,

(01:06:17):
when this team is struggling, all of a sudden, Sam
Donald just like enters his own I want him dropping
back and letting that sucker fly. And if I gotta,
I can't go on. I can't go minus three. We're
not gonna win against the Rams with a minus three
turnover ratio tonight. But I certainly can live with minus one.
I don't have any problem with that. As long as

(01:06:38):
Sam's playing confidently and playing the brand of football we've
watched him play for fourteen games in a Seahawk uniform.
I think we might even be able to get away
with a minus two. And I would much rather have
a minus two than I would watch Sam Donald come
out here and play conservatively because he's thinking about the
four turnovers.

Speaker 2 (01:06:55):
He made the previous time they played.

Speaker 3 (01:06:57):
Yeah, well you can go play scared, period, can't. You
can't do any sport and do it playing scared and
being quarterback in a big game like this. I mean,
there's a lot that goes into all of the variables outside, right,
I mean him, He's had a good year this year.

Speaker 2 (01:07:12):
They have a good team, the record.

Speaker 3 (01:07:13):
Has been well, and yet you have a hard time
so far overcoming this hump with Rams.

Speaker 2 (01:07:18):
Even if you out played him in the.

Speaker 3 (01:07:19):
First time, or you know them and the Niners, there
still is that kind of there. They're the ones that
have given you wedgies more so over the last few
years than vice versa, and you have to kind of
reverse that trend to some degree. I think that there's
just something too big games. We got to see him
rise to the occasion, and that is going to come

(01:07:39):
from ripping it. I don't know for sure if I
feel as strongly about whether or not it's multiple turnovers.
Obviously four turnovers does not help your chances, but they
still almost won, right, and they still come down to it.
I would just say it's the opportunity, and so if
the elements are part of it, wind is a part
of it, and so you're gonna let it rip. There's

(01:08:00):
the idea of I'm going to fit it in that window.
And if I miss, I'm missing to the away from
danger side of things. Right If I if I don't
know what the win's going to do to the ball,
maybe I am taking a couple more checkdowns. Maybe I
am audible into some more runs. In certain situations, it's
just when you're backed up against your own goal line,
or when you already feel that you're close enough that
you have points on.

Speaker 2 (01:08:19):
The board, don't get too terribly crazy.

Speaker 3 (01:08:21):
Try to rip one in there, or try to you know,
find you know you can go ahead and squeeze into
a tight spot. But let's not have those big turnovers.
I mean last year against the Rams, there was a
game that Gino that they basically out played. I mean
McDonald had out schemed McVeigh that chess match, which is
the most intriguing part of it. He had done his part,
and then Gino threw like a pick six and threw

(01:08:43):
another interception down when they were getting ready to score
a touchdown or put points on the board. You just
got to have you can't miss opportunities. And yet you
have to take advantage of certain opportunities, and if that
means from time to time putting the ball at risk
when you're somewhere in the middle of the field, that's
so be it to.

Speaker 5 (01:09:01):
A difference is that now our defense has started to
get more turnovers, So you know, if you do see
some turnovers from Sam, you're gonna have to also rely
on the defense to step up and enforce those turnovers themselves.
Because we had one right in our favor when we
played the Rams last time, and our turnover differential I
think was like minus eight or something just six weeks ago,

(01:09:22):
and now we're minus one. So our defense has really
been stepping up and getting the ball, and I think
if you can do that. Coming out of that Rams game,
we kept talking about how the positive thing despite all
those turnovers was that Sam never.

Speaker 4 (01:09:35):
Changed what he was doing.

Speaker 5 (01:09:36):
Yeah, and so I don't think he's gonna come out
and play scared or be worried or anything, because it
just doesn't seem to be his style.

Speaker 1 (01:09:43):
Yeah, And I think that's what I'm emphasizing. In Sure,
you might have to adjust to the weather. I mean,
I guess we'll know later on tonight how that's going
to impact the game. If there's a crosswind at all,
that certainly is going to affect the passing game, as
you pointed out, as long as it's at your back,
or you can drive the ball through a wind, and
you can certainly use it at your back, even though

(01:10:06):
that can be dangerous at times as well. So I'm
just I'm just not going to speak to how the
wind is going to impact tonight's throws. If it's terrible,
then you do have to adjust, and you probably do
have to get a little bit more conservative. But I
certainly want the mindset and I would have wanted it
all week and Sam's head. If I'm Mike McDonald, I'm

(01:10:26):
making sure that it's like we have complete faith in you,
Like you know, there's no talk about, hey, Sam, we
can't have four turnovers.

Speaker 2 (01:10:33):
It is right, let it rip. So go out there
and play the way you've played all season long.

Speaker 1 (01:10:38):
Because we've benefited it from it a hell of a
lot more than it's cost us throughout fourteen games this
football season.

Speaker 3 (01:10:45):
Yeah, and Hughes documented that, I mean basically all season long,
of even when people want to bring up the easiest
stat the turnovers, and it came up huge after the
four turnover, the four interception game against these guys last
time that Hugh, it was like, yeah, but they're explosive
and the big throws and all these things that come
from the chance that you put the ball in the air,

(01:11:08):
and that there is an inherent danger that comes with that.

Speaker 2 (01:11:12):
You just can't make the crucial ones.

Speaker 3 (01:11:14):
And obviously you can't let them accumulate over a game
because then you're losing possessions which you're not gonna score
any points and giving them short fields like they did
in the first matchup.

Speaker 2 (01:11:23):
So I mean, I'm with you.

Speaker 3 (01:11:25):
I think the idea if if just weather is a
moot point, which I don't think it's going to be,
but if it is, the idea should be. We believe
in you.

Speaker 2 (01:11:34):
We're not worried about you not rising to the occasion
in a big game.

Speaker 3 (01:11:38):
That was a big game against them the first time
you played, and you threw the ball to them, But
we don't think that's who you are. We don't think
you just can't do anything but throat it to the
wrong team against the Rams.

Speaker 2 (01:11:48):
We think you are.

Speaker 3 (01:11:49):
We more so to take the amount of data that
we have on the other what would it be thirteen
games that you've played that have been really good for
the most part. We're gonna take that that is, that's
who you are, and that was just that one was
kind of an outlier. So go out there and do
what you gotta do and take the team where they
need to go.

Speaker 1 (01:12:06):
And for the last hour. I think there's two rights
about this as well. I mean, it sounds like Hugh
and I are on the same page of like, I
don't want to spend the whole game, Ashley's on this
page trying.

Speaker 2 (01:12:16):
To establish the run.

Speaker 1 (01:12:17):
We don't do it well, right, but whether could dictate
that you might have to adjust to that. And I
think Greg is right. I think huge right because he
and I see the same I think huge I think
his analysis is right, and I think Greg's probably right
with his intimate knowledge of Mike McDonald, which is greater
than ours, they probably are going to spend two plus

(01:12:39):
quarters trying to establish the run. They won eleven games
out of fourteen. You know, maybe part of Sam Darnold's
effectiveness has been because defenses have to focus so much
on how often this team tries to run the football.
My guess is Clint Kubiak is going to bang his
head against the wall tonight trying to establish the run,

(01:13:01):
and if there's weather, they're even going to be more
convicted to it. I just don't want to see it now. Again,
weather changes that potentially, but I don't want to get
to the game of the year and just be hell
bent on proving to the arguably the best team in
the National Football League.

Speaker 2 (01:13:20):
We could run against you.

Speaker 1 (01:13:21):
No, if I'm gonna lose, I'm gonna lose doing what
we do best. That's how that would be my mentality.

Speaker 3 (01:13:27):
And I like that mentality because it's at this point
we've you know, we've talked about the entire season what
they are here.

Speaker 2 (01:13:33):
At this point, you kind of know what you are
and they struggle can't run the football. It's not that
you can't, you're just not very efficient at it.

Speaker 3 (01:13:40):
You don't You try it as much, if not more,
than everybody else, and your efficiency at it is worse
than just about everybody else.

Speaker 2 (01:13:48):
So don't pound your head against the wall.

Speaker 3 (01:13:50):
It doesn't mean don't keep doing it, because somehow that
recipe has turned into eleven victories.

Speaker 2 (01:13:55):
So I'm not saying abandon it.

Speaker 3 (01:13:57):
Just don't marry yourself solely to it, and don't think
that it has to be some fifty to fifty split.
But I do think that, you know, there's going to
be times. I mean the idea of regardless of how
the wind's blowing. When Hughes starts talking about I couldn't
throw outside the numbers because even if the wind is
blown directly from the south to the north, it affects it.

Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
When you throw to the.

Speaker 3 (01:14:17):
Sideline, it's just it's hitting the side of the ball, right,
I mean, the only time that you're basically thrown right
with the wind is it's going to be rare.

Speaker 2 (01:14:24):
So to me, I think it is going to affect it.
And yet even with the wind it is bad. Is
at your back. That's prime recipe for overthrows. Yeah, well
then you got it.

Speaker 1 (01:14:32):
That's an interception. The overthrows lead the interceptions. That's safeties
who aren't even who aren't even playing the ball will
end up with picks that way. So it's going to
be it's going to impact. I just I'm hoping that
we're around, you know, twelve to fifteen and not eighteen
to twenty five.

Speaker 2 (01:14:49):
Yeah, for winds.

Speaker 4 (01:14:51):
For winds, yeah, that makes a big difference.

Speaker 1 (01:14:54):
Yeah, yeah, and so yeah, so, and then the other
thing is the Adams cross effect. It looks like both
of these teams are going to be without valuable players tonight.
And I'm with Hugh on this one as well, Like
I don't we haven't seen a lot of Josh Jones,
But for whatever reason, I got faith they Rams don't

(01:15:14):
have anybody that can be DeVante Adams. Well there's no
there's nobody Like two to two at Well cannot be
Davante Adams. A third tight end on the field can't
be Davante Adams. I mean they can be effective in
their own way. I mean that's pretty obvious. They're a
very good football team, maybe even a great football team.
But I think we got a better chance of you know,

(01:15:37):
not feeling the effect of Cross being out than they.

Speaker 3 (01:15:42):
Have of Adams being out. Maybe that's just wishful thinking
on my point. Well, no, I there's a chance that
that's the case. I mean, one is a playmaker. One
is things somebody that breaks the game open. The other
one is where it's like, I need consistency for you
to not just get run over and let people be
free runners at our quarterback because that can turn into
allowing someone on their team to be a game wrecker

(01:16:02):
or a game changer. I do think that if the
wind is an issue, I do think that Kobe Parkinson
has been kind of showing out now. He's got like
six touchdowns last six games. His biggest game he's had
so far was last week. The worst game that he's
had in that little stretch was against Seattle and he
had two catches. He was only thrown two twice, and
one of them was a touchdown. But I will be

(01:16:24):
curious to see if that's an emon worry project it
was to some degree in the first matchup. If it's,
you shut that guy down, because six seven two sixty
five is a thing that you can box people out right.
If they do end up going with some thirteen personnel
to run and then they pass off of that, you
don't have to make real long throws and you can
still end up moving the change. I think there's the
chess match between McDonald and McVeigh that I mean the

(01:16:47):
other side of the ball. Obviously, Clint Kubiak against their
defensive scheme is just as important, but the one between
McVeigh and McDonald.

Speaker 2 (01:16:56):
Boyle boy, is that going to be crazy? He's going
to be MC fantastic can make delicious it's and we're
gonna make win it.

Speaker 1 (01:17:04):
Victory and we're gonna make cover. We went from a
point and a half dog to a point and a
half favorite for this game. So really, who knows how
that gets adjusted between last night now and the start
of the game, because the smart money always usually comes
into the very end. But yeah, it seems there'd be

(01:17:26):
a ground swell. What it is ground swell.

Speaker 5 (01:17:29):
When the swells mcground swell behind the that and some fries,
maybe a couple nuggets.

Speaker 1 (01:17:36):
Mcground swell was the worst sandwich ideas came up with.

Speaker 2 (01:17:41):
Yeah, no, it tastes like dirt.

Speaker 1 (01:17:43):
Yeah, mcground swell didn't. People didn't really get it too earthy.

Speaker 2 (01:17:46):
Yeah, I wouldn't get it what they were doing.

Speaker 1 (01:17:48):
I'll tell you this though. There are a lot of
things we don't know about this matchup. We don't know
how the weather's going to affect it. There are a
lot of things we cannot control. What we can control
is the birth of the victory pipe. So let's go.

Speaker 4 (01:18:02):
Let's go. Holiday season. We're ready for a victory.

Speaker 1 (01:18:07):
No more I think about it. I want one of
them Sherlock Home, suckers, you know that you got to
put your hand inside the mouth just to light the
you know, the weed.

Speaker 2 (01:18:15):
What is it called tobacco? Tobacco, Yeah, just tobacco.

Speaker 4 (01:18:21):
Okay, you're thinking.

Speaker 1 (01:18:23):
Of Mike Sando. Next, we'll get his thoughts on this matchup.
Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ R F M.
Mike Sando of the Athletic and brought to you by
Hunt Services. Get on the horn and call Hunts Now
with Mike. Here's Chuck and Buck. Fo can you not
talk to your NFL insider on game day, the game

(01:18:47):
of the year. Mike Sando now joins us here on
Chuck and Buck. How fired up are you and the
Sando household for this one, sir?

Speaker 10 (01:18:56):
Extremely fouled up, fired up, filed up, fired up.

Speaker 2 (01:19:01):
Everybody.

Speaker 10 (01:19:02):
I mean everybody's fired up.

Speaker 2 (01:19:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (01:19:04):
Or you know our dog Joel whose neat appearances on
the show is fired up the other day. He was
so fired up the other day that he got he
met the FedEx driver and he ran into his truck. Okay,
he just wanted to get on his route.

Speaker 2 (01:19:15):
And like ran inside of it or ran into the
side of it.

Speaker 10 (01:19:18):
Into the No, he goes and hops in. You know,
he's like, hey, I'm ready to go, and so he's
ready to go. Everyone's ready to go.

Speaker 1 (01:19:29):
All right. What's your favorite part of this matchup? The
playoff puzzled, the Donald versus Stafford, the McDonald versus McVeigh,
what's the what's the favorite part of our favorite matchup
of the year.

Speaker 10 (01:19:42):
So the favorite part of it, big picture is definitely
McDonald against McVeigh and how Mike McDonald has sort of
turned the tables and he's got a He's doing better
against McVeigh than anybody, right, It's awesome. That's why one
of the reasons you hired him. I think though the
big storyline up like the week is Donald related, just
because a Seahawks are going to be in the playoffs.

(01:20:02):
You know, he didn't do well late last year. He
had the four pick game against him last time. I
think that's probably the bigger story of the day, right,
It's just what Donald does, can you you know, limit
the turnovers and if they lose? Is he not really
the reason why? I think that type of stuff is
going to get the headlines right, and then you know

(01:20:22):
the third thing will be, Hey, these guys are going
to play again, right, I think that's going to be
the third thing, especially if Seattle wins, will be Hey,
it's even these guys, this isn't over. They're going to
play again. So those are the three storylines in order,
probably for me.

Speaker 2 (01:20:38):
Yeah, where what kind of advantage?

Speaker 3 (01:20:41):
Who gets the advantage in the chess match, that is
the McVeigh versus McDonald situation.

Speaker 2 (01:20:47):
If there's really heavy wins.

Speaker 10 (01:20:51):
Well McDonald, I mean, it just becomes harder to throw
the ball for both offenses.

Speaker 2 (01:20:55):
Right.

Speaker 10 (01:20:55):
It was already hard for the Rams offense without I
don't even think they turned it over, and it was
hard for them playing in the great conditions of their
home stadium, where any offense would want to play, you know.
So to me that that's a huge X factor with
the wind we've obviously had. I mean yesterday morning, I was, uh,
had a saw out in the backyard. We had tree

(01:21:16):
branches down on the fence. I mean it was like
it looked like a it looked like a you know,
if I tell you this, I was walking my dog yesterday,
you might have been I might have mentioned I had
a dog. I don't know to mention that, Joel, but
there was a there was a trampoline had blown out
of somebody's yard, like we're in Tennessee or something, and
it was like lying. It was across the street, like
lying over the path that I walk on. I've never

(01:21:37):
ever seen a trampoline, yeah, I actually, yeah, I haven't
seen one fly around here. You know, I've never walked
into a trampoline. And so that type of wind stuff
definitely favors the defensive play.

Speaker 1 (01:21:48):
Color was Joel still effective at his out routes though,
and the Joel, yeah.

Speaker 10 (01:21:53):
Joel was I had to clean up for Joel on
the sidewalk. It was embarrassing.

Speaker 2 (01:21:59):
That kind of ute.

Speaker 10 (01:22:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's doing okay. He was a little
concerned though, having to walk around it was a new thing.

Speaker 1 (01:22:07):
Mike Sander was with us our NFL Insider, getting you
ready for Thursday night football. Seahawks versus Rams, bigger loss.
Davante Adams from the Rams offense, Charles Cross from the
Seahawks O line.

Speaker 10 (01:22:19):
I'm gonna say probably that's a tough one. I guess
I'll say Cross just because I'll say Cross. I'm torn
on it because I think the Seahawks style of play
may not put a lot of pressure on the tackles.
They threw the ball super short when they played the

(01:22:40):
Rams last time. In fact, their average air yards on
a pass was like two something. It was by far
the lowest of any of their games. So I think
they may be getting more conservative on offense anyway, and
sort of mitigating the turnover risks, which could diminish how
much the cross injury matters. I do think though, if
Seattle gets in a situation where they have to throw

(01:23:01):
the ball if they were behind or something, then I
think that really becomes the bigger injury of the two.

Speaker 3 (01:23:12):
There's been a lot of talk leading up to this
game about the McVeigh and how much he's using the
thirteen personnel. If all of a sudden Devontae Adams is out,
I would assume that they do that a little bit more.
They can run and pass off of it. I just
mentioned our last segment. Kobe Parkinson kind of had his
best game last week. Every round here knows him, but
he never did turn into anything. But the last five

(01:23:34):
or six games they've started using him more as a weapon.
Even when DeVante Adams was in. There is that something
that plays into the game plan against the Seahawks.

Speaker 2 (01:23:42):
Defense or no, no.

Speaker 10 (01:23:43):
Doubt, Yeah it doesn't. But Seattle's defense with Nicki man
Worry has the ability to be versatile enough to do
well against that three tight end package. And if you
look at the output for the Rams this season in
their three tight end package, the Seahawks defended it by
far of anyone in the league. I don't think it
was as many plays in that game as it may

(01:24:04):
be in this one. But that's kind of a nice
little sub part of the chess match. Does McVeigh deviate
from that little because Seattle does defend it well, do
they try to do it anyway? Do they have more
success with it? You mentioned Parkinson. We also have to
think of Julian Love as back at safety. I believe
he missed the first Grand Game, right, I believe so, Yes,
So you're gonna have Julian.

Speaker 2 (01:24:25):
Love in there.

Speaker 10 (01:24:26):
You've got probably just a healthier, fuller fledged, a more
mature Nicki min Worriy who's lining up all over the
place and really is on a short list of five
or six players in the league, with Kyle Hamilton a
couple of others who can really affect the game in
a lot of different ways. So I'm going to say
it's a good matchup for Seattle.

Speaker 2 (01:24:46):
Yeah, pretty for sure? Did he for sure did no
question about it. Mike Sando is with us, and you
are our NFL insider, and.

Speaker 1 (01:24:53):
Yet you used to cover the Seahawks and you still
live in the area, so you are our conduit to
this national You know narrative about the Seattle Seahawks.

Speaker 2 (01:25:05):
I think that you know better. But I just even if.

Speaker 1 (01:25:09):
Sam struggles, I just don't want to hear afterwards he
can't win the big game because I think the Seahawks
got a winner here in Sam Donald, and I know
that you know how well he's played all season long.
And just because he turns the ball over against the
Rams potentially for a couple of games, is that really
going to stain Sam Donald's season in your.

Speaker 10 (01:25:31):
Estimation, Yes, if it's the reason why they don't advance
in the playoffs. And I think this is a team
that you know, depending on where I think this team.
If this team doesn't win a playoff game, I think
then those narratives matter more and become part of the conversation. Legitimately,
I think if they were to win in the playoffs,

(01:25:51):
even just one playoff win. I think then there's some
of that is exercised, right, Hey, you want a playoff
game with Donald and yeah, yeah, he's had a couple
of bad games here there. And the turnover thing is real.
They've they've had more turnovers than they want, and I
think I have felt like recently they've sort of tried
to avoid them, maybe become a little bit more conservative
in some of their ways.

Speaker 11 (01:26:12):
You know.

Speaker 10 (01:26:12):
So we'll see if that holds up. But I do
think it's a legitimate narrative on the table if it's
a factor.

Speaker 1 (01:26:17):
All right, who finishes first, second, and third in the
NFC West.

Speaker 10 (01:26:23):
I'm going to go Ram Seahawks forty nine ers.

Speaker 2 (01:26:27):
What do you think?

Speaker 10 (01:26:28):
So you got a loss tonight, You got a Seahawk
loss tonight. But if they win the game, or do
you think they win the division?

Speaker 1 (01:26:34):
For sure?

Speaker 11 (01:26:34):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:26:34):
Not for sure? Not for sure? Okay, all right?

Speaker 10 (01:26:38):
And I think the Rams are a little bit of
the better team just because their offense is so much
better than Seattle's offense. I think that, you know, we
need to see more from the offense. And so if
they win tonight, hey maybe we we reassessed. But I
kind of want to see the offense do better.

Speaker 1 (01:26:53):
What a great time of the year from Mike Sandy
got this great Thursday night game is Saturday Football starts
this week. I mean, you're just living large right now.

Speaker 2 (01:27:02):
Saturday Football. Love it.

Speaker 10 (01:27:04):
You got Joel to hang out with, Joel to hang
out with. Yeah, it's great having an eighty pound dog,
ninety pound dog just jump up on you, like when
you're on the couch and just knock your glasses off
because he thinks he's a lapdog. It was really fun.

Speaker 1 (01:27:16):
Bucky and I are going to introduce the victory pipe.
Yeah here this week right now, something that you're in
a lot of people have done the victory cigar, but
Bucky and I are sold on the victory pipe idea.

Speaker 10 (01:27:26):
I've never been a smoker, but I've always loved the
smell of pipe smoke.

Speaker 2 (01:27:30):
Yeah, Like my dad had a pipe.

Speaker 10 (01:27:31):
You know, and my dad was like when when I
was born, like he was trying to quit smoking, but
then we'd catch him like sneaking, you know, you like
have his little stash on the side. But like, a
pipe to me always smelled a great like cigarettes smell
like crap. After the first puff. The first puff is
stice and sweet smelling, but then they smell crap. Yeah,
and to me the pipe, Yeah, if I was to

(01:27:52):
smoke anything, yeah, like I don't even think of cigar smells.
I think scar smells bad too. Pipe kind of smells
like it's like a special kind of tea or something
ataw or something. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:28:05):
So maybe I'll just have.

Speaker 10 (01:28:06):
Ask people to smoke pipes around me. You know, I
kind of like to smoke. I don't actually want to
do that.

Speaker 1 (01:28:11):
All right, Well, we're still were at the beginning stages
of this club.

Speaker 2 (01:28:13):
Yeah, we'll let you know.

Speaker 1 (01:28:14):
We'll send you a newsletter, all right, Mike, enjoy the
game tonight, Thanks as always, and can't wait to talk.

Speaker 2 (01:28:20):
To you next week.

Speaker 10 (01:28:21):
Sounds good man, I always love it, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:28:23):
Mike Sando. Ours segment with him brought to you by
Hunt Services. Get a plumber, electrician, heating or cooling expert
at your doorstep for only forty nine dollars. Get on
the horn.

Speaker 7 (01:28:33):
Actually we got to do this big times called.

Speaker 2 (01:28:44):
The game day horn. Right there, We're going to bring
in my actual horn, Viking horn

Speaker 1 (01:28:49):
Call Hunts all right, One last thing next Sports Radio
ninety three point three kJ RM