January 5, 2026 • 42 mins
It’s MMQB time and we start things off with HUGH MILLEN for the first hour. - Hugh says the Seahawks out 49erd the 49ers- what does that mean? - The Seahawks dominated the 49ers in every aspect, but they only put 13 points on the board, is Hugh concerned? - How does Hugh feel about Sam Darnold’s performance? :30- We are back with more MMQB- and Hugh’s thoughts on what Mike MacDonald and his defense did to stifle Brock Purdy. :45- We wrap up the first hour of MMQB with Hugh and we have to talk about the run-game. Did the Hawks just get lucky with that throw-away play?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Monday Morning Quarterback on your Home for
the NFL, brought to you by Muckleshute Bingo. No one
does bingo like Muckleshute. Bigger sessions, bigger payoffs, and NonStop
action every day. Muckleshute Bingo and ubburn your home from
Machineo by North Creek Roffine. Just like the twelves know
how to raise the roof, so it is North Creek
(00:22):
Roofinge if your roof springs elite called North Creek North
Creek Rooffing dot Com by the Washington Center for Sleep,
Sleep Better, Feel Better, transforming lives through better sleep by
treating snoring and obstructive sleep at Inia with seatbat alternatives,
and by Core Construction Remodel Restore Remember Core Core Contractors
(00:44):
LLC dot com. Now the Monday Morning Quarterback with Mike
hom Grin and Hugh Millin.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Here's Chuck and Buck.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Oh, good morning and happy New Year. Great to have
you with us here. So many cool things to discuss
here on this some Monday morning, and our Monday morning
quarterback experts are here. Mike Hombrin at nine o'clock, Hugh
Millon joining us here. In a matter of seconds, I
told you. I made nine hundred and forty six New
Year's resolutions this year, some of them achievable and some
(01:13):
really far fetched. But I can check another one off
my list. I resolved this year that I was only
going to talk about one seeds o locally.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Yeah, it's a really good New Year's resolution.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Only really going to cover the Seahawks if they're a
one seed and if they've earned the one seed.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So yeah, so checking off the box. All right, Wow,
look at you with all these resolutions coming. Yeah, I
feel fulfilled, good, definitely, even the whole week into the
new year. You know what, I'm going to do the
same thing.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
I don't know if I can make a news resolution
at this point because we're already a couple few days
into this bad boy, but I'm gonna do the same thing.
I'm just going to cheer for one seeds.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Okay, okay, very good.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Joining us now is our QB one to talk about
the Seahawks thirteen to three went over the forty nine
or their division championship, their home field advantage they'll carry
throughout the playoffs. Oh, we got a wonderful session ahead
of you, Hi, Hugh.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
What's happening? Boys? Happy New Year with you. Good morning,
happy new Ye're very happy New Year. Yeah, all right,
well they did it.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
They got it done Saturday night and the rather dominant fashion,
even if the score doesn't indicate that, what is it
about Saturday and you've had forty eight hours now to
think about it?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That leaps out to Hugh milling about this, Well, I
usually reserve it for quarterbacks. But the defense was just
football porn. Didn't even need Biagar. That was just that
was just so simil it was. It was fun to watch,
obviously live thrilling them to watch the tape, and and
I just you know, they say, well against forty nine ers,
(02:49):
it's going to be a rock fight. But I think
Seahawks they brought their rock and they brought bats with
nails on the end of them, like they came to
bloody the four forty nine ers, And really, you know,
in my view, they out forty nine ered the forty
nine ers. What do you mean by that? Well, I mean,
(03:11):
let's see who are the forty nine ers. So you
have Kyle Shanahan got the job in twenty seventeen. The
forty nine ers had been a two win team the
year before. It took him a couple of years, but
in his thirty year twenty nineteen, they went to the
Super Bowl thirteen and three. They since twenty nineteen, the
forty nine ers have the most wins in the NFC.
(03:32):
Against Seattle at home they have under Kyle Shanahan since
twenty nineteen. They rush for one hundred and fifty one
yards on thirty one attempts, and hell, they rush for
one hundred and thirty four yards in Seattle they got
a six and three record. And who they are is
when you consider twenty one personnel. They play with the fullback,
(03:52):
they play with the tight end, and you know some
of the best that we've ever seen in Yu Chef
and in George Kittle, how they block. To give you
an idea on that they since twenty nineteen, they have
run two thousand and four and forty nine plays out
of twenty one personnel. The next closest is fourteen seventy
(04:13):
nine and they averages five sixteen. Right, so they're almost
one thousand plays more than second place. And so Seattle
again against Seattle, they come up. They have two running
backs in the game nineteen times. That's that's Yusteff. But
he was only in the backfield one time, one freaking time,
(04:37):
like they were trying to do these bells and was
they were splitting him out, you know, motion around, trying
to create this magic show that is just not like them.
And Seattle had seventeen plays where they had Robbie Utz
on the on the field, second most of Oots's career,
and he was in the backfield sixteen out of seventeen.
(04:57):
They ran in those situations eleven runs sixty six yards
six yards average. That's forty nine aer like and the
forty nine ers of they had ten runs to their
running backs, they had thirty two yards. Christian McCaffrey. We
know it wasn't just the running that he was under
(05:18):
three yards per attempt, but you know, yes, here's a
guy that he had six catches fifteen yards after catch.
This is a guy that for his career averages seven
point seven yards after the catch. He had two and
a half. So I think just what they did to
Christian McCaffrey, what they did to that running game. They
you know, only three running plays from under center first
(05:43):
for the forty nine ers, the Seahawks had thirty three.
They ten xed them at what is their brand and
then and by the way, when Seattle shut down their
defense of there was only one play. Like when you
(06:03):
say there's a binary nature to offensive football, got me
either you're it's either a runner or a pass. Correct,
there's a binary nature if you want to just strip
it down to defense in the same regard, one high
is a run defense, two eyes of pass def that's
a general rule. Uh. We had Howard Mudd, the famous
(06:27):
offensive line coach, was the offensive line coach for for
the Seahawks once and for all of Peyton Manning's career
at Indianapolis. He was on our mount side staff.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
You know, spend a lot of time with him. We've
spent time at his house watching tape. He told me
how simple that cole offense was. It was just Peyton
man at the line. Hey, you got too high run
the ball, you got one high throw it. And Seattle
what they did against the forty nine ers running they
only had one defensive play where they play aid with
(07:00):
one high. They played with a two high sal a
pass defense, and they were able to stop the run
with the front seven. And oh, by the way, a
nickel front seven em and warrior doesn't come off the field,
so they they were able to play with a light
box in Nickel not base against all those plays with
(07:21):
a heavy personnel by San Francisco and everywhere you turn,
you just go, wait a minute. The forty nine ers.
You guys have been doing shows with me a long time.
You know, I've expressed you know, and it's not a
hot take. Everybody who watches football, you say that forty
nine team is really physical on both sides of the ball.
You know, they got guys like Deebo Samuel, you know,
(07:42):
the receivers block like tight ends, the tight ends block
like linemen. They got a full back, the whole thing.
They're physical on both sides of the ball. Well, Seattle
took it to them in that way, and oh man,
there's so much to talk about, but that would be
where I would start.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Yeah, well, I mean there is a hun to talk
about it. I mean, I don't even know where you
want to start. Where it's they took it to them.
Obviously on the defense side of it, there's you know,
some folks I think will maybe look at well you
dominated them, and yet you only did you only scored
thirteen points. Is there anything critical? Because I don't really
want to go critical they not locked up the number
one seed. Is there anything that that is disappointing about
(08:20):
the way in which the scoreboard read considering how much
they kind of bent them over their knee?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Well, I don't have a lot of bandwidth in my
my brain for criticizing this football team. But but obviously
you know the red zone, the red zone fringe, you know,
I think you know I saw a text string, or
not text string, but a fan site with a lot
about six pages that just wanted to break down that
(08:47):
that first down sack when they when Seattle had that
beautiful drive down to the one yard line in the
first quarter, right, yeah, remember the sack? Yeah? And and
I'll just say we haven't. There's an analyst in town
here said it's Spider two. Why Banana, It's it's it
was not Spider too. That the Seahawks they got down
to first and goal at the one, they go play action. Now,
(09:11):
the the concept that they have with the corner to
the tight end of the corner and the back in
the flat, that is ubiquitous. I guarantee you that, uh
that Sam Darnold has been running that since Sant Clementi
High School and certainly at USC everybody has that, but
there was a little bit of a wrinkle that Seattle had.
Normally spider two white banana. If you're if you're into football,
(09:32):
and John Gruden gets all excited, there's teaching too. Yeah
you got it. Yeah right, yeah, that's what the that's
what the full back bluffing and the full backs in
the flat. What Seattle did here is they they had
Robbie Utes blocking and they had the tailback in in
(09:53):
charbon Ey in the flat. That that just takes longer
to get there. And I went in the NFL stat
port and I looked up twenty three play action passes
by teams on the one yard line, and Tennessee, Houston
and Cincinnati did that same thing on one play where
(10:16):
they block with the fullback and they have the tailback
in the flat. But most teams it's the other way around.
It's the full back in the flat. He gets there quicker.
And by the way, for those who question, I thought
that they should have run the ball. I was saying,
run the ball. But the NFL this year first first
and goal with the one yard line, three hundred and
(10:38):
fifty two plays, there's been eighty five passes. That's a
little over twenty five percent, and there's only been two
sacks and Sam Donald took one of them. So I
think as a general I wanted them to run the ball.
But there is there is a rule or excuse me,
every offensive coach will say, well, if we never throw
the ball on the goal line, it's gonna be a
(11:01):
lot tougher to run. So I just gave you the numbers.
One out of four times teams are gonna throw on
first and goal at the one. Now, what happened because
it's a little late. You know, you watch the tape,
it's really easy to see on the TV that the
back is as wide open charbonnay. But if you look
(11:21):
at at the block where you've got Robby ots on
the end man on line of scrimmage, it's it's it's
right in line with where he wants to throw. So
you know what it is. I'm just certain Sam Donald
didn't see it. Hey, he might have seen the back,
but there was a portion of his vision he didn't
know if there was a defender, because remember there's a
(11:41):
play action. He turns his back to the defense, then
he looks out to the flat. At any rate, spider
two white banana also involves a crossing route from the
backside and usually a front side crosser as well, So
it wasn't exactly spider two banana, but it has elements
of that. But there's a critical difference that running back
the tailback in the flat, you know, just it jams
(12:02):
up the quarterbacks time and you're like, where's that backwards
back and you get off of it quicker because it
takes longer for the back to get there. So at
any rate, but you know what, they played the field
position game. When Seattle scored on the next ride, they
forced the punt and they got the ball. I got
to look it up, but they great at where thirty five? Yeah, yeah,
(12:22):
I thought, well that that really is like we got
the touchdown. We got the touchdown that you didn't get
on the opening drive.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
So any rate, yeah, I think that's one of the
under reported, under discussed aspects of being aggressive on fourth down.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
And look, I would have taken the points.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
I didn't go through all of that on that beautiful
first drive and then have the sack and not come
away with points. I would have taken the points in
that situation. And you know how much I like going
for it on fourth down. But this is one thing
that people don't discuss enough is when you have a
great defensive team and you can pin the other team
inside their own five. The advantage that you get from
(13:05):
the from the field position if you stop them there,
if you have faith that you can stop them there,
it does pretty much give you two bytes at that
touchdown apple. And they ended up eating the apple. Now
it took them two drives to do it, you, but
they ended up getting the seven points.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah. And you know with the kickoffs, now, the starting
and field position is you know, pushing up over the
thirty yard lines. So the field goal has less value.
It just flat out does. It has less value because
of the field position you turn around after you kick off.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Hugh Melinis with us Monday morning quarterback session brought to
you by Muckle Shoot beingo North Creek Roofing, Washington Center
for Sleep and Core Construction. I know we have a
lot more things to discuss on the defensive side of
the ball, but since we're on the offensive side of
the ball. Sam Darnold and his performance, what did you
think about it? Only put thirteen points on the board,
(14:01):
but got himself a running game yesterday or Saturday night.
And uh, and certainly I thought he played well even
if you didn't score more than thirteen.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, I think you look in you say, okay, that
was the context of that game, and and it was
important for him. I bet internally, I'm not in his head.
But you know, he's talked about, hey, I I want
to limit the turnovers. And everybody has been putting spotlights
on him. You know, it seems like no matter how
many big games he wins, you know, you know, people
(14:35):
who don't really want to peel the next layer of
the onion. They want to say, well, he's never won
a big game, which is just absurd and nonsense. But
but I think he he realized what he needed to do.
He made He made a few big time throws. He played,
made some plays off script. Uh, he got to his
fourth receiver on on on some third down conversions that uh,
(14:56):
you know in the fourth quarter when he scrambled out
and hit Cup on that crosser, that was a huge play.
You know. I think that that there. You know, there
wasn't a lot he had to do, so it was
probably more just you know, run the offense. So I
I I commend what he did. And and as you said,
(15:18):
when you lean on when you have that glaring of
a of a discrepancy in the running game, you know,
how you're running the football, how they're they're not running
the football, and how they're banging around the passing game
for the forty nine as well, I think he just
took the temperature of the game and and executed. I
think I think what Bob Candota game a B plus.
(15:39):
I would agree with that. All right, well, that's good.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
I mean when it comes to the run game, maybe
him not having to do as much, I mean, no touchdowns,
but obviously that who cares. You just go out and
win the ball game. And in large part is because
of the run game. I mean, what did you see.
Is that a depleted defensive front or was that just
where the Ken Walker and Jack Sarburney and the blocking
(16:03):
was as good as we've seen.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Well, I think they started off the first play of
the game with a stretch and they were particularly going
off that right side and getting the flow of This
is what we talked about last summer. Okay, the wide zone.
When you run that wide zone and you get that
thing working, then the defense flows and then then you
(16:28):
get those cutbacks up in the middle, and I just
the middle of that field was just really great, great
movement inside. I think certainly the forty nine ers are
hurting inside. They don't have the d tackles they used
to have. They don't have Fred Warner inside. I mean,
there was a play we talked about robbi Uts and
(16:48):
how he had the second most plays on a twenty
yard run by Knine. D Winters was the linebacker who
had to taken on Robbie Oots and he just allayed
like a matador, like like he wanted no part of
(17:10):
that Robbie Oots smoke whatsoever, right at the point of attack,
just completely running around a block like I can't tell
you how uncommon that is for a linebacker in the
NFL to try and handle a block in that situation. Yeah,
maybe in a you know, a wide play where you think, okay,
I got to slip a guy. No, not at the
(17:30):
point of the attack. Dee Winners said, no, thanks, And
that is not the forty nine you know, that's that's
not NFL is certainly not the forty nine ers. I
mean I think that they just uh, they played they
they only ran power what's called gap scheme where you're
pulling from the backside. They ran a power left and
they got shut down with Anthony Bradford. I don't know
(17:51):
why they don't know power right with Grey's Abel that
that didn't work, and so they they didn't run one
more gap scheme. I don't believe the rest of the game.
They did have one trap where Gray's Abel was going
to go left to right on a trap, which is
different than power, but other than that, it was all
zone blocking lead zone blocking, as I said with Robbie Utz.
(18:13):
And another a play called duo where it's when you
look at where the running back looks like he's just
blasting it straight up in the middle. Chances are it's
a play called duo where you got heavy double teams.
It's always a strong side play. And they were just
moving guys, and I thought there was a great you know,
tandem with Charbonne and ca nine. Obviously, I know you're
(18:36):
gonna ask me about the third and seventeen and the
nineteen yard run there, but yeah, I would say schematically
relatively simple. Not They didn't try a lot of stuff,
not a lot of bells and whistles, whereas the forty
nine ers were trying to do all this misdirection. As
I said, you know the idea that I know that
wasn't your question, but I just want to make the
(18:56):
contrast Seattle's running game versus San Francisco. The idea that
you'd have usteff on the field for nineteen plays, but
you'd only put him in the backfield once. That ain't
forty nine of ball. What is this? And so so yeah,
you're just all over Seattle just you know, they said
rock fight my ass. You know, here, here's a freaking
(19:16):
Louisville slugger to your freaking cranium. I mean it just
that's the mentality, Like like the two things that you
hear coaches talk about the most in my in my
experience is execution and physicality. Execution can be everything, right,
offensive line have to execute the you know, obviously quarterbacks
and receivers execute, but but that's a part that you
(19:40):
don't have to appeal to a player viscerally. Uh. But
but the physicality, you gotta freaking dig deep. You gotta
appeal to these guys like you go out there and
you dominate, and and that's where the motivation all the
you know, the you know, the Danzel Washington movies and
the I mean, if you've ever heard a really fiery speech,
(20:06):
either a pregame speech, it has it's appealing to physicality.
How determined are you to be physical? And the Seahawks
just they just they took a team that has had
the reputation, as they said, winning his team in the
NFC since twenty nineteen, with a reputation of being the
most physical, and Seattle said, no, it's over. It's over.
(20:28):
Those days are gone. And oh, just I mean, damn,
you gotta you don't love. I don't care if it's
thirteen to three, you missed two field goals. I don't
care thirteen to three. You know what, I liked that
it was only thirteen to three, because that just rubs
their freaking nose in it. More.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Here Mellen with us Monday morning quarterback session. We do
have a little bit of breaking news. I think we
should mention here and I'll get just a quick reaction
from you, Hugh on it as Pete Carroll has in
fact been fired this morning by the Las Vegas So
Pete Carroll got another shot in the National Football League.
He lasted just one season, posted the worst record in
(21:07):
the NFL this year. He got thirty seconds for me
on Pete Carroll's demise there in Vegas.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
No schudenfreud from me or whatever however you pronounce it.
You know, I just kind of look at he's probably
done coaching, may you know, probably in the Hall of
Fame at the college level, maybe at the Hall of
Fame at the NFL level. And you know, he's the
coach this is a franchise that has been around fifty years.
He's the coach that brought the one Lombardi trophies. So
(21:36):
and an innervator in terms of bringing a college mentality
of hey, how do we support the players? He was
a cover two guys shell guy at USC. He was
totally different at Seattle with a single high cover three.
(21:56):
Very influential for for you know, the better part of
a decade in terms of the schematics around the NFL.
And you know, and won a lot of games. So
I think that you can have two truths. John Schneider
did the right thing at the right time relative to
Pete Carroll, and we can we can stop for a
(22:18):
minute and tip our hat and be appreciative of what
he brought. That would be my thought. Yeah, absolutely all right.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
We continue a lot more to discuss about Saturday night,
the path moving forward, the season at large as a whole.
We'll discuss at all with our top analyst, Hugh Millineck
Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ RFM, Niners.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
Half second out and go with a six yard lot
of Seattle.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Two receivers left and one right. Shot gun staph Party.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
He looks right, he throws short, caught by McCaffrey.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
No, he juggle it and it's picked off. What let's
pulled away? Trake Thomas picks it up. Man, Drake Thomas
has turned out to be a solid player.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
It's Chuck Buck, It's Ashley, Yes, it's chucking Back in
the mornings, Monday morning quarterback session, we're talking about the
seahawks thirteen to three win over San Francisco that locked
up the division, the number one seed, home field advantage,
the bye, everything, everything in the world all at once,
and we've got our QB one with us Hugh millen
to discuss it. We wanted to dive further into the
(23:21):
defense and just to kind of set the backdrop for
this question here. I mean, rock Perty had been just
absolutely on fire coming into this game over nine hundred
yards passing over the course of the last three games combined.
He was responsible for thirteen touchdowns over those last three
games combined. I mean, he was doing no wrong really
(23:41):
for San Francisco, and Hugh he runs into Mike McDonald,
felt like he didn't get a clean pocket the entire game,
throughout the contest, all the way up to the very
last snap of the game. So what did Mike McDonald
and the defense do so well to confuse him?
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, and he had been averaging two hundred ninety seven yards,
as you said, and one hundred and forty three passer
rating over the last three eight weeks, and he gets
one hundred and twenty seven yards and a sixty four
point nine passer rating, just literally more than halved what
his performance had been. And you know what what impresses
me is just how Seattle was so on point on
(24:25):
eleven guys when they wanted to play cover four Mike
McDonald with which is a forty three under zone, six
plays nineteen yards, three point two yard average for the
forty nin ers when they want to play a two
deep cover of a two deep five under, they had
four plays fifteen yards. That's three point seven yards the
(24:46):
three deep that Pete Carroll had four plays nineteen yards
under five yards. These were talking past he's not running
stats these you know, these are passed under five yards
the uh. But what probably I when when they rush
five they had eight plays forty nine ers had thirty
(25:07):
two yards exactly four yards, so they were sound. They
only brought six guys one time. It was the fourth
down and Seattle played a two deep three under zone.
Now let me just try and to express to you
what that means. If you're the usually if you rush
you have four guys, you have seven guys playing zero.
If you're gonna play a two deep, you gotta have
(25:28):
five under. Seattle played two deep, three under, and yet
they still were able to glove up the uh. The
route combination where they're trying to get George Kittle on
a sale, the safety in the corner in the position
to squeeze on it. The pressure came fast. Like there
if you played, if you played a grease board argument
(25:50):
with an offensive coordinator a defensive coordinator, and a defensive
coordinator goes up and says, well here's a two dep
three under. The offensive coordinator laugh, and it just start
drawing up left you all, you can't come for this,
you can't cover this, look at these holes, like, what
are you talking about? Two deep three hunderd And yet
they did that on the fourth down. The probably what
I like the best when they played Mando Many. They
(26:12):
played nine plays of man a man. The forty nine
ers had eighteen yards two yards per play in Mando Man.
And every single time they kept us a post safety
in the middle. They didn't They didn't play any cover zero.
They didn't get crazy casino and leave the middle exposed.
(26:32):
But a couple of plays I loved the play where
they they ran a bunch of misdirection. We got we
got us Jeff going in motion. We're gonna fake fly sweep.
There was there was all these things buzzing around, and
I know that Kyle Shanan was going, oh, I love this,
I love this because he's gonna put Juwan Jennings running
(26:56):
behind the line of script. Some people called a submarine
round and and he Sanahan was looking go oh yeah, yeah, man,
we got cover one, great, great great, Andrek Wolan went
from one slot and he sprinted across and they had
and Drake Thomas didn't pick him. I know Kyle Sander
was hoping Drake Thomas they had it. They had it
(27:18):
scattered out and Rik Wollen when you see a coat
when the players watch the all twenty two, the zoom
lens is pulled back, and so all the players like
you got twenty two little ants. I mean that's an exaggeration.
But when you see like real speed, it just you
just go whoa because the camera lens is so far.
And Rik Wollan sprinted all the way across and took
(27:41):
Juwan Jennings and he grabbed him and he freaking threw
him on the ground for a one yard loss. And
Kyle Sanadan is going, what whiskey tango foxtrot is going
on around here? Other plays and Man and Man a
throwback screen all this misdirection. They wanted to put on
a magic show every damn play with with all the
different things going, and Seattle just said, do your little
(28:04):
magic show. At some point you got advanced the football, pass,
the line scrimmage. They were just so disciplined in their eyes.
They have a throwback screen to uh to uh. George
Kittle in Man and Man and Nicky Man worry he
sniffs this thing out. There's three linemen to block him.
Uh uh, Emon Worry just sniffed, you know, I went
(28:24):
around those guys dropped him for six yard loss. Uh.
Misdirection in some sense, a little whip route where you
start the shallow cross and then snap back out. You
try and take an advantage of a over aggressive corner.
Witherspoon is out there, he follows the shallow cross with
that beautiful athleticism. He sprints back. Uh party, throws it
(28:46):
out on the flat, throws it high and and Witherspoon
just buries the receiver in the chest minus one yard,
like like, these are the things. These are so crushing
when they're just their reaction the uh uh? What are
what are some other ones that I love? The uh uh?
(29:08):
How about the uh there's okay, here's another part of
their their pass defense that I love. So coaches, when
you play every team in the NFL has a drill
called the seven on seven. It's a pass only drill.
So if the quarterback, so they're oftentimes the linebackers are
getting deep and sometimes you have to throw a check
down that you want don't want to and then the
(29:29):
defensive coaches always woof, they go yeah, five yards plus
a headache. Five yards plus a headache. You know you
want to check down in zone, We're gonna come and
wrap your ass. Well, guess what fourteen times that rock
party through where the air yards are one to six,
those are in that that's generally where you go with
a checkdown. What does that mean? That means brock Perty
(29:51):
has been given a play he wants to throw the
ball down the field. This the Seahawks are defending the
play and he and he's got to go to his checkdown.
He gets ten completions out of it because they forced
some incompletions, and twenty three yards after the catch. Twenty
three yards after the catch on ten completions, that's two
point three. Well two point three. Wait a minute, if
(30:15):
you're six feet tall, that's two yards already. That means
if you just stopped and you just fell forward with
your with the football above your helmet, that's that's the
yards after the catch that see it they're tackling was
crazy five yards aheadache. How about the time, Oh, let
me do all this, you know, bells and whistles, and
let me go a flea flicker, and we're gonna try
(30:37):
and go post wheel. So we're gonna post. Nope, Riek
Wols got the post. We're gonna go a wheel route.
We're gonna kind of stutter and stutter try and get
George Kittle on a wheel route up the sideline which
has burned the sea X. By the way, I mentioned
that this forty nine ers since twenty nineteen rushed for
what I say, one one hundred and fifty one yards
(30:58):
per game. They throw for two hundred and fifty six.
Like I've seen him hit these wheels. Guess what Julian
love is Just like it's like he was in the huddle.
No no, no posts, no wheel. Let's check it down
to Christian McCaffrey. Well, there's Emn Worri and Ernest Jones
to just smack the hell out of the three yards
and and Kyle Shannan's going We practiced that, we got
(31:19):
a fleet flicker, we got post wheel, We didn't practice
getting three yards and a headache like like. So it's
just it's just all over this damn tape. It's just
they're so tied together. They only played man and man
as I said, uh, when I say nine times eighteen
yards the rest of the time their zone. And they're
so and different zones. As I describe, they are so
(31:43):
tied together they have an awareness of where everybody is
and where their help is. Drake Thomas had a hell
of a game. Oh man, just my eyes get watery
just thinking about what a freaking bootstomp that was against
your arts rival.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Well, yeah, I mean you mentioned Drake Thomas. I mean,
this defense doesn't need a lot of luck. They create
some of it. And then just like you said, we're
just smothering and their tackling was unbelievable. But all of
a sudden, you do get some with that. I mean
kind of the drive that they're getting ready to go
down there and possibly turn it into a one score game.
And I think the ball was tipped a little bit.
(32:22):
Then it makes him go behind Christian McCaffrey and it
goes off his hands right into Drake Thomas's belly. I mean,
you can't help but get a little bit lucky in
a situation like that, right.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, I would say. So, you know, it's a second
and six and the forty nine ers have a bunch
left and Seattle's playing what's called a cover four with
a component to what's called poachs. What that means it's
a fourty three under Well, if you only have three
guys underneath, you have to play what's called man concepts
(32:56):
within a zone, and that's really critical. Yeah, Drake Thomas
against Christian McCaffrey, it's like manned man because the safety
to his side is the term poach is. Let's say
I'm brock here Rock party, and i am sitting there
and I'm looking at I got three receivers to my left.
Three man concept. Originally I thought it was an option
(33:20):
route to Christian McCaffrey on the right, but you got
an inbreaking route coming from the opposite place. So McCaffrey
was only going to break to the flat. He was
not going to break inside. He did not have that option.
But Drake Thomas doesn't know that, so he plays inside out.
He's got a guard what's called the Texas route, the
(33:42):
angle route inside, he's got a block. He's got to
cover that first. Kittle had been on that side to
clear out the corner, so you got a one on one.
If you're San Francisco, you like that matchup. The safety
to that side was poaching, meaning he's looking even though
he's on the side away from the bunch. He's looking
over to any crossing route to that side, and so, uh.
(34:06):
But I thought Drake Thomas had pretty good coverage. He was,
you know, in a position where you're right a perfect throw,
it's gonna be a touchdown. But boy, Mafy gets his
hand up. And that's one of the things that's another
part of this past defense. I thought the edge rushers,
they were converting speed to power all night. What do
(34:28):
I mean? They were getting a what what's called a
wide nine technique wide and then they were bursting up.
But they weren't trying to go around the tackles they
were they were they were running and then they would
convert that speed and then bullrush them late. So they
were squeezing the brock purty all night. And then I
thought there was good pressure from the inside. Maybe not elite,
(34:51):
but there was just constant pressure. And there was a
few times you saw it. Purdy got whipsawed. And but
but I thought the ends, you know, a Hall was
just you know, he got suspended. He came back like
a man who was suspended and pissed the hell off.
He he had a hell of a game and and
Mafey got his hand up, and yeah, there's a little
(35:12):
bit of luck. But you know what, Drake Thomas, that
was a that was an unbelievable athletic play. You know,
if JSN caught a tipball like that, you'd go, WHOA.
That just shows the type of hands hand eye coordination
that JSN had for Thomas to make that interception. Yeah,
that was that was That was a hell of a play.
But you know what, he he uh diagnosed in the
(35:35):
running game and in the passing game. He was part
of those five yards and a headache crowd. Uh wow.
Uh so, so yeah, they got fortunate there play the game.
But but just credit his athleticism to be able to
have the hands and somehow uh turn that into his interception.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
Beautiful Monday morning Quarterback brought to you by Muckle Shoot
Bingo North Creek Roofing, Washington Center for Sleep and Core Construction.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
We got one more segment with Hugh and then joining.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
A conversation at nine o'clock will be Mike Holmgren a
little homework during the break.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Look up rock party, all.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Of you during the break and tell me that that
isn't a spitting image of a young John Harbaugh. By
the way, somebody might want to find out if John
Harball was in Gilbert, Arizona in nineteen ninety six, because
I think that's his son. We'll talk about things other
than brock Perty's birth rights. Next, Sports Radio ninety three
point three KJRFM.
Speaker 5 (36:28):
Big hold a run throw and still growling rock down
from behind as he crossed the thirty five and the
Seahawks are averaging about eight yards of carry.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Pau Joe Buck he has been on the call there.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
Seahawks win over the forty nine ers Saturday night, thirteen
to three, and there was much joy here.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
We are on Chuck It Back in the Morning.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM, breaking it all
down for you Monday morning quarterback session. Mike Holmgren joins
us at nine o'clock.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
We've got Hugh millin right now.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Ken Walker Zach Charbonay, both effective in the game Saturday.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
We've been waiting for that all season long, Hugh.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
And I got to ask you though, because Troyigman said
it was the play of the game the third and seventeen,
the handoff to Walker, which for the second time in
what three weeks, it's felt to me like it was
just a throwaway play.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
That ends up going for a first down.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
He gets nineteen yards out of it, moves the sticks,
keeps the drive alive, and you got points I believe
on that drive.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
So talk about how they're.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Executing this throwaway player they just getting lucky.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Well I think they're getting a little bit lucky, but
they're getting incredible execution by a ton of people on that.
So the ball's on the left hash and one of
the components is if you're going to try and one
run wide right, which they did, you can have one
of three plays is generally speaking, where the running back
(38:03):
can align at the snap of the ball. Generally you'd say, okay,
if the quarterback's under center, that that running backs can
be like a tailback or what's called the dot position
right behind the quarterback. And then you sometimes if you're
in shotgun, you try and go wide zone. The running
back is on the quarterbacks left. He's aligned up like
(38:24):
in the B gap between the guard and the tackle
on the left side, but he's trying to get wide right.
In this case, you've got the running The first part
that helps make it is it's what's called a quick
pitch because he's aligned to the side like a sidecar
and a motorcycle like he right, so he's aligned to
the right side, and so you quick pitch it to him,
(38:45):
and you had a bunch of great blocks. First of all,
that there's one who's sits number twenty seven for San Francisco.
He's the unblocked safety. He you got Canine who's running
it wide, and and yet he cuts it up on
the numbers. So he starts to go wide. The numbers.
The bottom of the numbers are twelve yards from the
(39:09):
sideline and the top of fourteen. So so there was
a lot of space that San Francisco still had to
defend outside of the numbers, but Canine cuts it up.
Here's Bobo. First of all, he was in the slot.
He takes on a protocol block with who's forty eight
the linebacker for I should have this damn roster. But
(39:32):
but he takes on an inside linebacker.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
Whoever's gonna go around was the first guy that you
were talking about, Yeah, then Tatum Bethune is the other guy.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Yeah, he's a middle linebacker, so he is. Uh so
Bobo's got to take on a big Bobo six foot four,
big receiver. But but Bethune is coming full speed and
I call it a protocol block because somebody's going into
concussion protocol. That was a big hit. But then you've
got We've talked about how Sundell. He's not gonna win
(40:01):
a lot of power contests, but he's a great athlete
by center standards. He gets he is all the way
outside the numbers and he gets really good wood on
a on a dB Gray Zabel from left guard. Remember
this is a quick pitch to the right. Gray Zabel,
He's gonna block the inside backer on away from the
(40:22):
point of attack. He's got a sprint over there. He's
got to run diagonal. You can't run to the guy.
You got to run to the spot where the collision's
gonna take. He rides him for about eight yards. Uh
Sour was also took a dB A. Are you so
you got guys from the backside, the backside, tight end,
the backside guard the center. Those guys were way behind
(40:47):
the play because what do we say, Canine was was
in the B gap on the on the play side,
meaning on the right B gap between between Bradford and
uh and.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
Lucas seventy two Lucas damn yeah, Lucas, Yeah, between seventy
I'm looking at so many notes, so he was those
backside linemen had to get all the way over. They
rode wrote it out, and then Canine did a great
job of of just seeing a lane right up the
numbers where everybody had the perimeter defense and tried to
(41:24):
flow towards the sideline. But an event, just beautiful blocking
by a number of people. I mean, I just said,
you know, I just said you know. And even JSN
had a little bit of a block on the overhang
defender the the nickel dB. So uh, that's all I
can tell you. Just great blocking and very difficult blocking,
(41:46):
very very any one of those you don't make, San
Francisco gets the tackle money.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
YEP. Monday Morning Quarterback brought to you by Muckle Shoot
being Go North Creek Roofing, Washington Center for Sleep and
Core Construction. Our final hour today's show, we'll have Mike
homer In joining this conversation right here on Sports Radio
ninety three point three kJ R f M
This is the Monday Morning Quarterback on your Home for
the NFL, brought to you by Muckleshute Bingo. No one
does bingo like Muckleshute. Bigger sessions, bigger payoffs, and NonStop
action every day. Muckleshute Bingo and ubburn your home from
Machineo by North Creek Roffine. Just like the twelves know
how to raise the roof, so it is North Creek
(00:22):
Roofinge if your roof springs elite called North Creek North
Creek Rooffing dot Com by the Washington Center for Sleep,
Sleep Better, Feel Better, transforming lives through better sleep by
treating snoring and obstructive sleep at Inia with seatbat alternatives,
and by Core Construction Remodel Restore Remember Core Core Contractors
(00:44):
LLC dot com. Now the Monday Morning Quarterback with Mike
hom Grin and Hugh Millin.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Here's Chuck and Buck.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Oh, good morning and happy New Year. Great to have
you with us here. So many cool things to discuss
here on this some Monday morning, and our Monday morning
quarterback experts are here. Mike Hombrin at nine o'clock, Hugh
Millon joining us here. In a matter of seconds, I
told you. I made nine hundred and forty six New
Year's resolutions this year, some of them achievable and some
(01:13):
really far fetched. But I can check another one off
my list. I resolved this year that I was only
going to talk about one seeds o locally.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Yeah, it's a really good New Year's resolution.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Only really going to cover the Seahawks if they're a
one seed and if they've earned the one seed.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So yeah, so checking off the box. All right, Wow,
look at you with all these resolutions coming. Yeah, I
feel fulfilled, good, definitely, even the whole week into the
new year. You know what, I'm going to do the
same thing.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
I don't know if I can make a news resolution
at this point because we're already a couple few days
into this bad boy, but I'm gonna do the same thing.
I'm just going to cheer for one seeds.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Okay, okay, very good.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Joining us now is our QB one to talk about
the Seahawks thirteen to three went over the forty nine
or their division championship, their home field advantage they'll carry
throughout the playoffs. Oh, we got a wonderful session ahead
of you, Hi, Hugh.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
What's happening? Boys? Happy New Year with you. Good morning,
happy new Ye're very happy New Year. Yeah, all right,
well they did it.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
They got it done Saturday night and the rather dominant fashion,
even if the score doesn't indicate that, what is it
about Saturday and you've had forty eight hours now to
think about it?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That leaps out to Hugh milling about this, Well, I
usually reserve it for quarterbacks. But the defense was just
football porn. Didn't even need Biagar. That was just that
was just so simil it was. It was fun to watch,
obviously live thrilling them to watch the tape, and and
I just you know, they say, well against forty nine ers,
(02:49):
it's going to be a rock fight. But I think
Seahawks they brought their rock and they brought bats with
nails on the end of them, like they came to
bloody the four forty nine ers, And really, you know,
in my view, they out forty nine ered the forty
nine ers. What do you mean by that? Well, I mean,
(03:11):
let's see who are the forty nine ers. So you
have Kyle Shanahan got the job in twenty seventeen. The
forty nine ers had been a two win team the
year before. It took him a couple of years, but
in his thirty year twenty nineteen, they went to the
Super Bowl thirteen and three. They since twenty nineteen, the
forty nine ers have the most wins in the NFC.
(03:32):
Against Seattle at home they have under Kyle Shanahan since
twenty nineteen. They rush for one hundred and fifty one
yards on thirty one attempts, and hell, they rush for
one hundred and thirty four yards in Seattle they got
a six and three record. And who they are is
when you consider twenty one personnel. They play with the fullback,
(03:52):
they play with the tight end, and you know some
of the best that we've ever seen in Yu Chef
and in George Kittle, how they block. To give you
an idea on that they since twenty nineteen, they have
run two thousand and four and forty nine plays out
of twenty one personnel. The next closest is fourteen seventy
(04:13):
nine and they averages five sixteen. Right, so they're almost
one thousand plays more than second place. And so Seattle
again against Seattle, they come up. They have two running
backs in the game nineteen times. That's that's Yusteff. But
he was only in the backfield one time, one freaking time,
(04:37):
like they were trying to do these bells and was
they were splitting him out, you know, motion around, trying
to create this magic show that is just not like them.
And Seattle had seventeen plays where they had Robbie Utz
on the on the field, second most of Oots's career,
and he was in the backfield sixteen out of seventeen.
(04:57):
They ran in those situations eleven runs sixty six yards
six yards average. That's forty nine aer like and the
forty nine ers of they had ten runs to their
running backs, they had thirty two yards. Christian McCaffrey. We
know it wasn't just the running that he was under
(05:18):
three yards per attempt, but you know, yes, here's a
guy that he had six catches fifteen yards after catch.
This is a guy that for his career averages seven
point seven yards after the catch. He had two and
a half. So I think just what they did to
Christian McCaffrey, what they did to that running game. They
you know, only three running plays from under center first
(05:43):
for the forty nine ers, the Seahawks had thirty three.
They ten xed them at what is their brand and
then and by the way, when Seattle shut down their
defense of there was only one play. Like when you
(06:03):
say there's a binary nature to offensive football, got me
either you're it's either a runner or a pass. Correct,
there's a binary nature if you want to just strip
it down to defense in the same regard, one high
is a run defense, two eyes of pass def that's
a general rule. Uh. We had Howard Mudd, the famous
(06:27):
offensive line coach, was the offensive line coach for for
the Seahawks once and for all of Peyton Manning's career
at Indianapolis. He was on our mount side staff.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
You know, spend a lot of time with him. We've
spent time at his house watching tape. He told me
how simple that cole offense was. It was just Peyton
man at the line. Hey, you got too high run
the ball, you got one high throw it. And Seattle
what they did against the forty nine ers running they
only had one defensive play where they play aid with
(07:00):
one high. They played with a two high sal a
pass defense, and they were able to stop the run
with the front seven. And oh, by the way, a
nickel front seven em and warrior doesn't come off the field,
so they they were able to play with a light
box in Nickel not base against all those plays with
(07:21):
a heavy personnel by San Francisco and everywhere you turn,
you just go, wait a minute. The forty nine ers.
You guys have been doing shows with me a long time.
You know, I've expressed you know, and it's not a
hot take. Everybody who watches football, you say that forty
nine team is really physical on both sides of the ball.
You know, they got guys like Deebo Samuel, you know,
(07:42):
the receivers block like tight ends, the tight ends block
like linemen. They got a full back, the whole thing.
They're physical on both sides of the ball. Well, Seattle
took it to them in that way, and oh man,
there's so much to talk about, but that would be
where I would start.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Yeah, well, I mean there is a hun to talk
about it. I mean, I don't even know where you
want to start. Where it's they took it to them.
Obviously on the defense side of it, there's you know,
some folks I think will maybe look at well you
dominated them, and yet you only did you only scored
thirteen points. Is there anything critical? Because I don't really
want to go critical they not locked up the number
one seed. Is there anything that that is disappointing about
(08:20):
the way in which the scoreboard read considering how much
they kind of bent them over their knee?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Well, I don't have a lot of bandwidth in my
my brain for criticizing this football team. But but obviously
you know the red zone, the red zone fringe, you know,
I think you know I saw a text string, or
not text string, but a fan site with a lot
about six pages that just wanted to break down that
(08:47):
that first down sack when they when Seattle had that
beautiful drive down to the one yard line in the
first quarter, right, yeah, remember the sack? Yeah? And and
I'll just say we haven't. There's an analyst in town
here said it's Spider two. Why Banana, It's it's it
was not Spider too. That the Seahawks they got down
to first and goal at the one, they go play action. Now,
(09:11):
the the concept that they have with the corner to
the tight end of the corner and the back in
the flat, that is ubiquitous. I guarantee you that, uh
that Sam Darnold has been running that since Sant Clementi
High School and certainly at USC everybody has that, but
there was a little bit of a wrinkle that Seattle had.
Normally spider two white banana. If you're if you're into football,
(09:32):
and John Gruden gets all excited, there's teaching too. Yeah
you got it. Yeah right, yeah, that's what the that's
what the full back bluffing and the full backs in
the flat. What Seattle did here is they they had
Robbie Utes blocking and they had the tailback in in
(09:53):
charbon Ey in the flat. That that just takes longer
to get there. And I went in the NFL stat
port and I looked up twenty three play action passes
by teams on the one yard line, and Tennessee, Houston
and Cincinnati did that same thing on one play where
(10:16):
they block with the fullback and they have the tailback
in the flat. But most teams it's the other way around.
It's the full back in the flat. He gets there quicker.
And by the way, for those who question, I thought
that they should have run the ball. I was saying,
run the ball. But the NFL this year first first
and goal with the one yard line, three hundred and
(10:38):
fifty two plays, there's been eighty five passes. That's a
little over twenty five percent, and there's only been two
sacks and Sam Donald took one of them. So I
think as a general I wanted them to run the ball.
But there is there is a rule or excuse me,
every offensive coach will say, well, if we never throw
the ball on the goal line, it's gonna be a
(11:01):
lot tougher to run. So I just gave you the numbers.
One out of four times teams are gonna throw on
first and goal at the one. Now, what happened because
it's a little late. You know, you watch the tape,
it's really easy to see on the TV that the
back is as wide open charbonnay. But if you look
(11:21):
at at the block where you've got Robby ots on
the end man on line of scrimmage, it's it's it's
right in line with where he wants to throw. So
you know what it is. I'm just certain Sam Donald
didn't see it. Hey, he might have seen the back,
but there was a portion of his vision he didn't
know if there was a defender, because remember there's a
(11:41):
play action. He turns his back to the defense, then
he looks out to the flat. At any rate, spider
two white banana also involves a crossing route from the
backside and usually a front side crosser as well, So
it wasn't exactly spider two banana, but it has elements
of that. But there's a critical difference that running back
the tailback in the flat, you know, just it jams
(12:02):
up the quarterbacks time and you're like, where's that backwards
back and you get off of it quicker because it
takes longer for the back to get there. So at
any rate, but you know what, they played the field
position game. When Seattle scored on the next ride, they
forced the punt and they got the ball. I got
to look it up, but they great at where thirty five? Yeah, yeah,
(12:22):
I thought, well that that really is like we got
the touchdown. We got the touchdown that you didn't get
on the opening drive.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
So any rate, yeah, I think that's one of the
under reported, under discussed aspects of being aggressive on fourth down.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
And look, I would have taken the points.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
I didn't go through all of that on that beautiful
first drive and then have the sack and not come
away with points. I would have taken the points in
that situation. And you know how much I like going
for it on fourth down. But this is one thing
that people don't discuss enough is when you have a
great defensive team and you can pin the other team
inside their own five. The advantage that you get from
(13:05):
the from the field position if you stop them there,
if you have faith that you can stop them there,
it does pretty much give you two bytes at that
touchdown apple. And they ended up eating the apple. Now
it took them two drives to do it, you, but
they ended up getting the seven points.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah. And you know with the kickoffs, now, the starting
and field position is you know, pushing up over the
thirty yard lines. So the field goal has less value.
It just flat out does. It has less value because
of the field position you turn around after you kick off.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Hugh Melinis with us Monday morning quarterback session brought to
you by Muckle Shoot beingo North Creek Roofing, Washington Center
for Sleep and Core Construction. I know we have a
lot more things to discuss on the defensive side of
the ball, but since we're on the offensive side of
the ball. Sam Darnold and his performance, what did you
think about it? Only put thirteen points on the board,
(14:01):
but got himself a running game yesterday or Saturday night.
And uh, and certainly I thought he played well even
if you didn't score more than thirteen.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, I think you look in you say, okay, that
was the context of that game, and and it was
important for him. I bet internally, I'm not in his head.
But you know, he's talked about, hey, I I want
to limit the turnovers. And everybody has been putting spotlights
on him. You know, it seems like no matter how
many big games he wins, you know, you know, people
(14:35):
who don't really want to peel the next layer of
the onion. They want to say, well, he's never won
a big game, which is just absurd and nonsense. But
but I think he he realized what he needed to do.
He made He made a few big time throws. He played,
made some plays off script. Uh, he got to his
fourth receiver on on on some third down conversions that uh,
(14:56):
you know in the fourth quarter when he scrambled out
and hit Cup on that crosser, that was a huge play.
You know. I think that that there. You know, there
wasn't a lot he had to do, so it was
probably more just you know, run the offense. So I
I I commend what he did. And and as you said,
(15:18):
when you lean on when you have that glaring of
a of a discrepancy in the running game, you know,
how you're running the football, how they're they're not running
the football, and how they're banging around the passing game
for the forty nine as well, I think he just
took the temperature of the game and and executed. I
think I think what Bob Candota game a B plus.
(15:39):
I would agree with that. All right, well, that's good.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
I mean when it comes to the run game, maybe
him not having to do as much, I mean, no touchdowns,
but obviously that who cares. You just go out and
win the ball game. And in large part is because
of the run game. I mean, what did you see.
Is that a depleted defensive front or was that just
where the Ken Walker and Jack Sarburney and the blocking
(16:03):
was as good as we've seen.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Well, I think they started off the first play of
the game with a stretch and they were particularly going
off that right side and getting the flow of This
is what we talked about last summer. Okay, the wide zone.
When you run that wide zone and you get that
thing working, then the defense flows and then then you
(16:28):
get those cutbacks up in the middle, and I just
the middle of that field was just really great, great
movement inside. I think certainly the forty nine ers are
hurting inside. They don't have the d tackles they used
to have. They don't have Fred Warner inside. I mean,
there was a play we talked about robbi Uts and
(16:48):
how he had the second most plays on a twenty
yard run by Knine. D Winters was the linebacker who
had to taken on Robbie Oots and he just allayed
like a matador, like like he wanted no part of
(17:10):
that Robbie Oots smoke whatsoever, right at the point of attack,
just completely running around a block like I can't tell
you how uncommon that is for a linebacker in the
NFL to try and handle a block in that situation. Yeah,
maybe in a you know, a wide play where you think, okay,
I got to slip a guy. No, not at the
(17:30):
point of the attack. Dee Winners said, no, thanks, And
that is not the forty nine you know, that's that's
not NFL is certainly not the forty nine ers. I
mean I think that they just uh, they played they
they only ran power what's called gap scheme where you're
pulling from the backside. They ran a power left and
they got shut down with Anthony Bradford. I don't know
(17:51):
why they don't know power right with Grey's Abel that
that didn't work, and so they they didn't run one
more gap scheme. I don't believe the rest of the game.
They did have one trap where Gray's Abel was going
to go left to right on a trap, which is
different than power, but other than that, it was all
zone blocking lead zone blocking, as I said with Robbie Utz.
(18:13):
And another a play called duo where it's when you
look at where the running back looks like he's just
blasting it straight up in the middle. Chances are it's
a play called duo where you got heavy double teams.
It's always a strong side play. And they were just
moving guys, and I thought there was a great you know,
tandem with Charbonne and ca nine. Obviously, I know you're
(18:36):
gonna ask me about the third and seventeen and the
nineteen yard run there, but yeah, I would say schematically
relatively simple. Not They didn't try a lot of stuff,
not a lot of bells and whistles, whereas the forty
nine ers were trying to do all this misdirection. As
I said, you know the idea that I know that
wasn't your question, but I just want to make the
(18:56):
contrast Seattle's running game versus San Francisco. The idea that
you'd have usteff on the field for nineteen plays, but
you'd only put him in the backfield once. That ain't
forty nine of ball. What is this? And so so yeah,
you're just all over Seattle just you know, they said
rock fight my ass. You know, here, here's a freaking
(19:16):
Louisville slugger to your freaking cranium. I mean it just
that's the mentality, Like like the two things that you
hear coaches talk about the most in my in my
experience is execution and physicality. Execution can be everything, right,
offensive line have to execute the you know, obviously quarterbacks
and receivers execute, but but that's a part that you
(19:40):
don't have to appeal to a player viscerally. Uh. But
but the physicality, you gotta freaking dig deep. You gotta
appeal to these guys like you go out there and
you dominate, and and that's where the motivation all the
you know, the you know, the Danzel Washington movies and
the I mean, if you've ever heard a really fiery speech,
(20:06):
either a pregame speech, it has it's appealing to physicality.
How determined are you to be physical? And the Seahawks
just they just they took a team that has had
the reputation, as they said, winning his team in the
NFC since twenty nineteen, with a reputation of being the
most physical, and Seattle said, no, it's over. It's over.
(20:28):
Those days are gone. And oh, just I mean, damn,
you gotta you don't love. I don't care if it's
thirteen to three, you missed two field goals. I don't
care thirteen to three. You know what, I liked that
it was only thirteen to three, because that just rubs
their freaking nose in it. More.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Here Mellen with us Monday morning quarterback session. We do
have a little bit of breaking news. I think we
should mention here and I'll get just a quick reaction
from you, Hugh on it as Pete Carroll has in
fact been fired this morning by the Las Vegas So
Pete Carroll got another shot in the National Football League.
He lasted just one season, posted the worst record in
(21:07):
the NFL this year. He got thirty seconds for me
on Pete Carroll's demise there in Vegas.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
No schudenfreud from me or whatever however you pronounce it.
You know, I just kind of look at he's probably
done coaching, may you know, probably in the Hall of
Fame at the college level, maybe at the Hall of
Fame at the NFL level. And you know, he's the
coach this is a franchise that has been around fifty years.
He's the coach that brought the one Lombardi trophies. So
(21:36):
and an innervator in terms of bringing a college mentality
of hey, how do we support the players? He was
a cover two guys shell guy at USC. He was
totally different at Seattle with a single high cover three.
(21:56):
Very influential for for you know, the better part of
a decade in terms of the schematics around the NFL.
And you know, and won a lot of games. So
I think that you can have two truths. John Schneider
did the right thing at the right time relative to
Pete Carroll, and we can we can stop for a
(22:18):
minute and tip our hat and be appreciative of what
he brought. That would be my thought. Yeah, absolutely all right.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
We continue a lot more to discuss about Saturday night,
the path moving forward, the season at large as a whole.
We'll discuss at all with our top analyst, Hugh Millineck
Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ RFM, Niners.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
Half second out and go with a six yard lot
of Seattle.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Two receivers left and one right. Shot gun staph Party.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
He looks right, he throws short, caught by McCaffrey.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
No, he juggle it and it's picked off. What let's
pulled away? Trake Thomas picks it up. Man, Drake Thomas
has turned out to be a solid player.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
It's Chuck Buck, It's Ashley, Yes, it's chucking Back in
the mornings, Monday morning quarterback session, we're talking about the
seahawks thirteen to three win over San Francisco that locked
up the division, the number one seed, home field advantage,
the bye, everything, everything in the world all at once,
and we've got our QB one with us Hugh millen
to discuss it. We wanted to dive further into the
(23:21):
defense and just to kind of set the backdrop for
this question here. I mean, rock Perty had been just
absolutely on fire coming into this game over nine hundred
yards passing over the course of the last three games combined.
He was responsible for thirteen touchdowns over those last three
games combined. I mean, he was doing no wrong really
(23:41):
for San Francisco, and Hugh he runs into Mike McDonald,
felt like he didn't get a clean pocket the entire game,
throughout the contest, all the way up to the very
last snap of the game. So what did Mike McDonald
and the defense do so well to confuse him?
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, and he had been averaging two hundred ninety seven yards,
as you said, and one hundred and forty three passer
rating over the last three eight weeks, and he gets
one hundred and twenty seven yards and a sixty four
point nine passer rating, just literally more than halved what
his performance had been. And you know what what impresses
me is just how Seattle was so on point on
(24:25):
eleven guys when they wanted to play cover four Mike
McDonald with which is a forty three under zone, six
plays nineteen yards, three point two yard average for the
forty nin ers when they want to play a two
deep cover of a two deep five under, they had
four plays fifteen yards. That's three point seven yards the
(24:46):
three deep that Pete Carroll had four plays nineteen yards
under five yards. These were talking past he's not running
stats these you know, these are passed under five yards
the uh. But what probably I when when they rush
five they had eight plays forty nine ers had thirty
(25:07):
two yards exactly four yards, so they were sound. They
only brought six guys one time. It was the fourth
down and Seattle played a two deep three under zone.
Now let me just try and to express to you
what that means. If you're the usually if you rush
you have four guys, you have seven guys playing zero.
If you're gonna play a two deep, you gotta have
(25:28):
five under. Seattle played two deep, three under, and yet
they still were able to glove up the uh. The
route combination where they're trying to get George Kittle on
a sale, the safety in the corner in the position
to squeeze on it. The pressure came fast. Like there
if you played, if you played a grease board argument
(25:50):
with an offensive coordinator a defensive coordinator, and a defensive
coordinator goes up and says, well here's a two dep
three under. The offensive coordinator laugh, and it just start
drawing up left you all, you can't come for this,
you can't cover this, look at these holes, like, what
are you talking about? Two deep three hunderd And yet
they did that on the fourth down. The probably what
I like the best when they played Mando Many. They
(26:12):
played nine plays of man a man. The forty nine
ers had eighteen yards two yards per play in Mando Man.
And every single time they kept us a post safety
in the middle. They didn't They didn't play any cover zero.
They didn't get crazy casino and leave the middle exposed.
(26:32):
But a couple of plays I loved the play where
they they ran a bunch of misdirection. We got we
got us Jeff going in motion. We're gonna fake fly sweep.
There was there was all these things buzzing around, and
I know that Kyle Shanan was going, oh, I love this,
I love this because he's gonna put Juwan Jennings running
(26:56):
behind the line of script. Some people called a submarine
round and and he Sanahan was looking go oh yeah, yeah, man,
we got cover one, great, great great, Andrek Wolan went
from one slot and he sprinted across and they had
and Drake Thomas didn't pick him. I know Kyle Sander
was hoping Drake Thomas they had it. They had it
(27:18):
scattered out and Rik Wollen when you see a coat
when the players watch the all twenty two, the zoom
lens is pulled back, and so all the players like
you got twenty two little ants. I mean that's an exaggeration.
But when you see like real speed, it just you
just go whoa because the camera lens is so far.
And Rik Wollan sprinted all the way across and took
(27:41):
Juwan Jennings and he grabbed him and he freaking threw
him on the ground for a one yard loss. And
Kyle Sanadan is going, what whiskey tango foxtrot is going
on around here? Other plays and Man and Man a
throwback screen all this misdirection. They wanted to put on
a magic show every damn play with with all the
different things going, and Seattle just said, do your little
(28:04):
magic show. At some point you got advanced the football, pass,
the line scrimmage. They were just so disciplined in their eyes.
They have a throwback screen to uh to uh. George
Kittle in Man and Man and Nicky Man worry he
sniffs this thing out. There's three linemen to block him.
Uh uh, Emon Worry just sniffed, you know, I went
(28:24):
around those guys dropped him for six yard loss. Uh.
Misdirection in some sense, a little whip route where you
start the shallow cross and then snap back out. You
try and take an advantage of a over aggressive corner.
Witherspoon is out there, he follows the shallow cross with
that beautiful athleticism. He sprints back. Uh party, throws it
(28:46):
out on the flat, throws it high and and Witherspoon
just buries the receiver in the chest minus one yard,
like like, these are the things. These are so crushing
when they're just their reaction the uh uh? What are
what are some other ones that I love? The uh uh?
(29:08):
How about the uh there's okay, here's another part of
their their pass defense that I love. So coaches, when
you play every team in the NFL has a drill
called the seven on seven. It's a pass only drill.
So if the quarterback, so they're oftentimes the linebackers are
getting deep and sometimes you have to throw a check
down that you want don't want to and then the
(29:29):
defensive coaches always woof, they go yeah, five yards plus
a headache. Five yards plus a headache. You know you
want to check down in zone, We're gonna come and
wrap your ass. Well, guess what fourteen times that rock
party through where the air yards are one to six,
those are in that that's generally where you go with
a checkdown. What does that mean? That means brock Perty
(29:51):
has been given a play he wants to throw the
ball down the field. This the Seahawks are defending the
play and he and he's got to go to his checkdown.
He gets ten completions out of it because they forced
some incompletions, and twenty three yards after the catch. Twenty
three yards after the catch on ten completions, that's two
point three. Well two point three. Wait a minute, if
(30:15):
you're six feet tall, that's two yards already. That means
if you just stopped and you just fell forward with
your with the football above your helmet, that's that's the
yards after the catch that see it they're tackling was
crazy five yards aheadache. How about the time, Oh, let
me do all this, you know, bells and whistles, and
let me go a flea flicker, and we're gonna try
(30:37):
and go post wheel. So we're gonna post. Nope, Riek
Wols got the post. We're gonna go a wheel route.
We're gonna kind of stutter and stutter try and get
George Kittle on a wheel route up the sideline which
has burned the sea X. By the way, I mentioned
that this forty nine ers since twenty nineteen rushed for
what I say, one one hundred and fifty one yards
(30:58):
per game. They throw for two hundred and fifty six.
Like I've seen him hit these wheels. Guess what Julian
love is Just like it's like he was in the huddle.
No no, no posts, no wheel. Let's check it down
to Christian McCaffrey. Well, there's Emn Worri and Ernest Jones
to just smack the hell out of the three yards
and and Kyle Shannan's going We practiced that, we got
(31:19):
a fleet flicker, we got post wheel, We didn't practice
getting three yards and a headache like like. So it's
just it's just all over this damn tape. It's just
they're so tied together. They only played man and man
as I said, uh, when I say nine times eighteen
yards the rest of the time their zone. And they're
so and different zones. As I describe, they are so
(31:43):
tied together they have an awareness of where everybody is
and where their help is. Drake Thomas had a hell
of a game. Oh man, just my eyes get watery
just thinking about what a freaking bootstomp that was against
your arts rival.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Well, yeah, I mean you mentioned Drake Thomas. I mean,
this defense doesn't need a lot of luck. They create
some of it. And then just like you said, we're
just smothering and their tackling was unbelievable. But all of
a sudden, you do get some with that. I mean
kind of the drive that they're getting ready to go
down there and possibly turn it into a one score game.
And I think the ball was tipped a little bit.
(32:22):
Then it makes him go behind Christian McCaffrey and it
goes off his hands right into Drake Thomas's belly. I mean,
you can't help but get a little bit lucky in
a situation like that, right.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, I would say. So, you know, it's a second
and six and the forty nine ers have a bunch
left and Seattle's playing what's called a cover four with
a component to what's called poachs. What that means it's
a fourty three under Well, if you only have three
guys underneath, you have to play what's called man concepts
(32:56):
within a zone, and that's really critical. Yeah, Drake Thomas
against Christian McCaffrey, it's like manned man because the safety
to his side is the term poach is. Let's say
I'm brock here Rock party, and i am sitting there
and I'm looking at I got three receivers to my left.
Three man concept. Originally I thought it was an option
(33:20):
route to Christian McCaffrey on the right, but you got
an inbreaking route coming from the opposite place. So McCaffrey
was only going to break to the flat. He was
not going to break inside. He did not have that option.
But Drake Thomas doesn't know that, so he plays inside out.
He's got a guard what's called the Texas route, the
(33:42):
angle route inside, he's got a block. He's got to
cover that first. Kittle had been on that side to
clear out the corner, so you got a one on one.
If you're San Francisco, you like that matchup. The safety
to that side was poaching, meaning he's looking even though
he's on the side away from the bunch. He's looking
over to any crossing route to that side, and so, uh.
(34:06):
But I thought Drake Thomas had pretty good coverage. He was,
you know, in a position where you're right a perfect throw,
it's gonna be a touchdown. But boy, Mafy gets his
hand up. And that's one of the things that's another
part of this past defense. I thought the edge rushers,
they were converting speed to power all night. What do
(34:28):
I mean? They were getting a what what's called a
wide nine technique wide and then they were bursting up.
But they weren't trying to go around the tackles they
were they were they were running and then they would
convert that speed and then bullrush them late. So they
were squeezing the brock purty all night. And then I
thought there was good pressure from the inside. Maybe not elite,
(34:51):
but there was just constant pressure. And there was a
few times you saw it. Purdy got whipsawed. And but
but I thought the ends, you know, a Hall was
just you know, he got suspended. He came back like
a man who was suspended and pissed the hell off.
He he had a hell of a game and and
Mafey got his hand up, and yeah, there's a little
(35:12):
bit of luck. But you know what, Drake Thomas, that
was a that was an unbelievable athletic play. You know,
if JSN caught a tipball like that, you'd go, WHOA.
That just shows the type of hands hand eye coordination
that JSN had for Thomas to make that interception. Yeah,
that was that was That was a hell of a play.
But you know what, he he uh diagnosed in the
(35:35):
running game and in the passing game. He was part
of those five yards and a headache crowd. Uh wow.
Uh so, so yeah, they got fortunate there play the game.
But but just credit his athleticism to be able to
have the hands and somehow uh turn that into his interception.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
Beautiful Monday morning Quarterback brought to you by Muckle Shoot
Bingo North Creek Roofing, Washington Center for Sleep and Core Construction.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
We got one more segment with Hugh and then joining.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
A conversation at nine o'clock will be Mike Holmgren a
little homework during the break.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Look up rock party, all.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Of you during the break and tell me that that
isn't a spitting image of a young John Harbaugh. By
the way, somebody might want to find out if John
Harball was in Gilbert, Arizona in nineteen ninety six, because
I think that's his son. We'll talk about things other
than brock Perty's birth rights. Next, Sports Radio ninety three
point three KJRFM.
Speaker 5 (36:28):
Big hold a run throw and still growling rock down
from behind as he crossed the thirty five and the
Seahawks are averaging about eight yards of carry.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Pau Joe Buck he has been on the call there.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
Seahawks win over the forty nine ers Saturday night, thirteen
to three, and there was much joy here.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
We are on Chuck It Back in the Morning.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
Sports Radio ninety three point three KJRFM, breaking it all
down for you Monday morning quarterback session. Mike Holmgren joins
us at nine o'clock.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
We've got Hugh millin right now.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Ken Walker Zach Charbonay, both effective in the game Saturday.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
We've been waiting for that all season long, Hugh.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
And I got to ask you though, because Troyigman said
it was the play of the game the third and seventeen,
the handoff to Walker, which for the second time in
what three weeks, it's felt to me like it was
just a throwaway play.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
That ends up going for a first down.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
He gets nineteen yards out of it, moves the sticks,
keeps the drive alive, and you got points I believe
on that drive.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
So talk about how they're.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Executing this throwaway player they just getting lucky.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Well I think they're getting a little bit lucky, but
they're getting incredible execution by a ton of people on that.
So the ball's on the left hash and one of
the components is if you're going to try and one
run wide right, which they did, you can have one
of three plays is generally speaking, where the running back
(38:03):
can align at the snap of the ball. Generally you'd say, okay,
if the quarterback's under center, that that running backs can
be like a tailback or what's called the dot position
right behind the quarterback. And then you sometimes if you're
in shotgun, you try and go wide zone. The running
back is on the quarterbacks left. He's aligned up like
(38:24):
in the B gap between the guard and the tackle
on the left side, but he's trying to get wide right.
In this case, you've got the running The first part
that helps make it is it's what's called a quick
pitch because he's aligned to the side like a sidecar
and a motorcycle like he right, so he's aligned to
the right side, and so you quick pitch it to him,
(38:45):
and you had a bunch of great blocks. First of all,
that there's one who's sits number twenty seven for San Francisco.
He's the unblocked safety. He you got Canine who's running
it wide, and and yet he cuts it up on
the numbers. So he starts to go wide. The numbers.
The bottom of the numbers are twelve yards from the
(39:09):
sideline and the top of fourteen. So so there was
a lot of space that San Francisco still had to
defend outside of the numbers, but Canine cuts it up.
Here's Bobo. First of all, he was in the slot.
He takes on a protocol block with who's forty eight
the linebacker for I should have this damn roster. But
(39:32):
but he takes on an inside linebacker.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
Whoever's gonna go around was the first guy that you
were talking about, Yeah, then Tatum Bethune is the other guy.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Yeah, he's a middle linebacker, so he is. Uh so
Bobo's got to take on a big Bobo six foot four,
big receiver. But but Bethune is coming full speed and
I call it a protocol block because somebody's going into
concussion protocol. That was a big hit. But then you've
got We've talked about how Sundell. He's not gonna win
(40:01):
a lot of power contests, but he's a great athlete
by center standards. He gets he is all the way
outside the numbers and he gets really good wood on
a on a dB Gray Zabel from left guard. Remember
this is a quick pitch to the right. Gray Zabel,
He's gonna block the inside backer on away from the
(40:22):
point of attack. He's got a sprint over there. He's
got to run diagonal. You can't run to the guy.
You got to run to the spot where the collision's
gonna take. He rides him for about eight yards. Uh
Sour was also took a dB A. Are you so
you got guys from the backside, the backside, tight end,
the backside guard the center. Those guys were way behind
(40:47):
the play because what do we say, Canine was was
in the B gap on the on the play side,
meaning on the right B gap between between Bradford and
uh and.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
Lucas seventy two Lucas damn yeah, Lucas, Yeah, between seventy
I'm looking at so many notes, so he was those
backside linemen had to get all the way over. They
rode wrote it out, and then Canine did a great
job of of just seeing a lane right up the
numbers where everybody had the perimeter defense and tried to
(41:24):
flow towards the sideline. But an event, just beautiful blocking
by a number of people. I mean, I just said,
you know, I just said you know. And even JSN
had a little bit of a block on the overhang
defender the the nickel dB. So uh, that's all I
can tell you. Just great blocking and very difficult blocking,
(41:46):
very very any one of those you don't make, San
Francisco gets the tackle money.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
YEP. Monday Morning Quarterback brought to you by Muckle Shoot
being Go North Creek Roofing, Washington Center for Sleep and
Core Construction. Our final hour today's show, we'll have Mike
homer In joining this conversation right here on Sports Radio
ninety three point three kJ R f M
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.