December 30, 2025 • 29 mins
In the second hour, Dick Fain and Hugh Millen discuss turnovers by Sam Darnold and the criticism of Seattle’s quarterback this season, then Grant Cohn joins the show to talk about Saturday night’s game between the 49ers and Seahawks, including their injuries.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The four o'clock hour, I asked, hey, Jackson, I asked
you to do a little homework assignment for Friday, and
he agreed. I'm very very excited. So you know, Hugh
has got all these stats in his nerd machine and
and how much they contribute to winning.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Right.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
He talked about the interceptions, how they're, how they're They
do not contribute to losing games as much as we
might think. So I asked them, are, well, let's come
up with the Well, let's come up with the stats
that most contribute to winning, they're most correlated to winning,
and find out how the Seahawks match up with the
other big time teams that we may be facing in
(00:40):
the Super Bowl. So he was going to do that
on on on Friday for us. So I'm excited about that.
But the one glaring thing about Seattle and the and
the one glaring stat guys, is that no team has
ever won the Super Bowl. Bottom three and turnovers in
the NFL. It has never happened. The Seattle Seahawks are
(01:04):
second to last in turnovers with twenty eight. The other
ten teams that have twenty one or more turnovers are
a combined forty games under five hundred, and the Seattle
Seahawks sit there at thirteen and three, with the second
most turnovers in the league with twenty eight. Now, Hugh,
(01:25):
I heard your conversation with Mark yesterday. I heard his
conversation about Sam Donald the day before. Excuse me, your
conversation with Mark today. I heard his conversation about Sam Donald.
And I'm trying to be I'm trying to play the
mitigator here, right, I'm trying to play I'm trying to
appeal to both sides of the argument, and it's going
(01:47):
to be very, very tough to do because honestly, I
am more on Hughes side. I think ninety nine percent
of us are here that I am on Mark's side
on the Sam Donald thing. But I do think that
there is a turnover ish you, And I'm wondering, can
we come up with the porridge being not too hot
and the porridge being not too cold, so can we
(02:10):
find a way for Sam Darnald to still have a
let it rip mentality? And yet when the pocket collapses,
when the porridge starts getting really really hot, can Sam
just decide to dirt the porridge instead of take a
huge gulp of the porridge and burn a esophagus.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Can we can we do that and happen? And how and.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
How how much do we need to cool the porridge
down to where? You know, So we're still taking shots,
but we're we're eliminating some of those turnover worthy plays.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Yeah, I think that there's really two topics. Number one,
there's the legitimate discussion. Hey, Sam Donald's his performance has
declined in the last six weeks. The interceptions are too high.
But you know, the turnover worthy plays I almost look
at more because it, you know, that takes away the
(03:10):
luck that's involved with turnovers. And and Sam Donald, I'll
have this for Friday as well. Ninety five percent of
his turnover worthy plays resulted in turnovers. I know for
a fact because I remember on the spreadsheet that that
Geno Smith had one year where he was under fifty
(03:30):
percent of his turnover worthy plays. And if you calculated,
had he had the average, because the average was eighty
one percent that year. I remember vividly might not be
for this year, but for that year the Geno was
under fifty percent. The other guys in the turnovers, the
average was eighty one percent of your turnover worthy plays
result in turnovers. Had Gino just been the average, he
(03:53):
would have led the NFL and turnovers. Now, Sam Donald
at ninety five percent is you know, is possibly the
most unlucky quarterback in the league. And a lot of
those you know now twenty twenty Turmos, but fourteen interceptions,
that's six fumbles and so and you look at the fumbles,
(04:13):
the vast majority of them and may maybe all I
think five or six when he's throwing. When he's throwing
and and he's looking, you know, like on Sunday against Caroline,
he's gonna throw a seam route to Jake Bobo to
his left side against a single high so his his shoulders'
vision are to his left and a lucas uh, he
(04:38):
gets beat like a drum and boom, you know, beat
gap penetration in here. All of a sudden, a hand
comes in where Darnold is looking to his left and
from his right he gets his hand hit. Now you know,
you know, I'll just say, from having been in quarterback brooms,
you know there's a point where you say, Okay, what
could have I done with that? You know, the quarterback
(05:00):
coach say, hey, is there anything you could have done?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Well?
Speaker 4 (05:03):
If if you feel it, but you're not going to
feel it if you're looking the opposite direction. Like you
could break it down into your your field of vision
in degrees, right, Like you know one hundred and eighty
degree view of a mountain, right like, okay, well we
know one hundred and eighty degrees is sideways to sideways right.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Well, okay, you.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Could break it down, Well, what's reasonable to expect If
if the pressure is coming in on you and it's
only ten percent removed in your field of vision from
your target, then you'd say, well you should feel that, dude.
You know, how did you not sense that there was
a guy right on top of you? But if it's
if it's coming like more than ninety degrees off of
your peripheral and now all of a sudden, you say, well,
(05:42):
it's a lot less reasonable. But these are the nuances
that actually matter. This is how you're going to get
graded in an NFL quarterback meeting room. You know, not
all turnovers are the same, right, But beyond the turnovers,
to me, I think a different issue that probably have
me more viscerally responsive is just, uh, the big topic
(06:06):
of of how do we criticize our athletes what's the
role of sports radio, what's the role of fans. I
certainly understand that there's a place to get after pro athletes.
And my my view of Seattle has always been, you
gotta when we really go after somebody, it's because there's
(06:28):
two boxes that are checked. You're not playing well and
generally there's something else about your personality that you know,
Vin Baker, dogging it up the up, the up the court,
you know, overweight, you know, just got paid, overpaid, overweight,
not performing. People let him have it. Jamal Adams, Jamal Adams,
(06:49):
Jamal Adams. You know, yeah, it wasn't his fault that
he got traded for two number ones. But he's a
jack jack wagon on the field. He's a jackwagon off
the field. He's not performing, you know what. The gatling
guns are coming like, I get that. That's that's that's
just part of being in a major market city. And
and so I look and I go, there is no
(07:12):
part I can't even conceive of how you would how
any fan would want to eviscerate Sam Donald. If you
want to have a disagreement and say, hey, I'm concerned
about Sam Donald over the last six weeks, I don't
think he's gonna I don't think he's gonna be clutch
against the forty nine ers. I'm concerned about, Like, there's
a lot of fair question for fair responses, but to just.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Meet hook the guy like he's freaking.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Stan Gelbaugh or or he's Dan McGuire, you know, like
like I don't get it. And oh, by the way,
here's another thing. If you either of you guys, let's
say you guys, you know did something. You know, he
went eighty and a fifty and you got and now
all of a sudden you're up against a judge said, uh,
(08:05):
I just said, you know what I'm gonna do. I'm
gonna have a little fun here. I'm going to uh sorry,
the dogs agree, they don't. For dogs love slinging Sammy.
There's no question about it, exactly right, and so so
and the judge said, look, here's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna I'm gonna throw you in in the clink
(08:27):
and you get out when you can.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Find one person, one person that.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
Has a bad word to say about Sam Donald, a
human being, one person, guess what you're gonna rotten get around. Okay,
So there's some fair criticism, but the but it's the temperature,
it's the it's the venom. Like how like seriously, I
would just say, if you've got nasty venom and you
(08:54):
wanna like just forget the fact that Sam donald is
is the winningness quarterback in the last four years that
he is, He's doe. He's more than doubling the triple
digit passer rating games of Pat Mahomes, that the Seahawks
have a record for wins, at least tied record for
points already didn't take the seventeenth game. The guy's the
(09:17):
number two guy in the Pro Bowl, number one in
all of the deep passer metrics and what have you, which,
by the way, have a lot higher correlation as we've discussed,
like like if you're gonna ignore all that, at least,
where's the venom.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Well, he's compared him to Geno Smith. We didn't see
the venom towards Geno that we see towards Sam, and
Sam has been massively better than Geno has. Now Geno's
first year with this, I think Geno's first year with
the Seahawks. I think if you look at the numbers
across the board, they're comparable and maybe even slightly better
than Sam's first year with the Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
But I mean I would take Sam Donald over Gino's.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Second year with the Seahawks, and I would certainly take
Sam Donald over Gino's third year with the seas And
we never heard any of that type of victoriol that
you're talking.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Really and really quick. I think the vitriol is very limited.
I think like it's it's not coming from masses like
Gino Smith. When Gina Smith had his struggles, especially like
you know in the ladder stretch, you would see a
pretty heavy divide of I wouldn't say it's fully even,
but of geno haters versus geno lovers. Yes, this is
(10:24):
this is like ninety five five to that right point.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
That not what a man.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
The people who I'm to nobody likes Sam my friends,
my mom doesn't like Sam Donald.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Jackson, You're just talking the wrong people. My friends don't
like Sam Donald.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I'm on these text threads and all they do is
crush Sam Donald the whole game, and I get tired
of it.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I put my damn phone down.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
Maybe they're just doing it to rile you up, because
the reality, I mean, listen, I was I was I
mentioned yesterday. I was at Top Golf watching the game
of Sunday and everybody is talking highest Sam.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I didn't hear one, Dad.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I think I think that maybe that's a small group,
but I think maybe it's ninety ten.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
It's not nearly what Gino was.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
And the reality is like for that ten percent, whatever
that number is, there's a time in place to be
critical of Sam Donald and be you know, you can
go in on the turnovers. But guys, this Seahawk team
has tied for the most wins in team history.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
We have the most points scored in team history.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
Sam Donald is the winningest quarterback in the NFL since
what's the day.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Hugh nove twa.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Seven, Thank you, twenty twenty two, thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Like there's a time in place to be critical of him,
to ever to that ten percent, there's a time and place.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
This isn't that time.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Pamiliar to your ninety ten? I mean I did put
off the Twitter poll yesterday.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I told you about it.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
It's fifty to fifty whether the Seahawks are winning in
spite of Sam Donald or because of Sam Donald. So men, now,
maybe not all those people that are saying in spite
of hate Sam Donald. But I think it's more than
ten percent.
Speaker 5 (11:54):
I just think that I think this the number of
Donald critic is much smaller than the number of Geno
critics comparative to the whole.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Okay, all right, I mean, now there's no way to
there's no way to quantify it.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
But Q, let's get back to the task at hand.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
On Sam.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Now, we talked about the interceptions, and you're right.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
In the fumbles, you're right, I mean a lot of
those have nothing to do with Sam. How about let's
go back to Sunday first pass of the game was
batted down, had another one batted down in the second drive.
It seems like a lot of his balls are getting hit. Now,
maybe it's you know, maybe it's just because we're watching Sam.
We're not watching other quarterbacks as much as Sam. But
what can Sam do to limit and is there something
(12:39):
with his delivery? Is there something with his vision that
is causing these deflected passes because it seems like we're
holding our breath on a game by game basis one, two,
three times with balls fluttering in the air off of
dude's helmets and shoulder pads.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Yeah, a lot of these are are with the checkdown
right of the ball, And what happens is you got
five offensive I'm and generally the standard rush is four guys.
That means he's got five blocking four and so uh,
the center will be slide into one side looking for
a blitz off of that side. If there's not a blitz,
then he's going to double team with the guard to
(13:14):
that side. The defensive tackle that finds himself getting double teamed,
he will typically not try and rush. He'll kind of
back off and just look to bat the ball down.
So one of the things you can do is with
the checkdown with be it Knine or be it Sharbonne.
If he is going to uh check right over the ball,
(13:38):
now sometimes you can you can move his checkdown to
a different area instead of like right over the middle OTB.
You can put him in the C gap and you
have a check alley like that's right outside the tackle.
That way, the defensive tackles are less likely to bat
that down. If that's something that you're seeing, or you
can tell the running back, hey, hey have a sense
(13:59):
of I mean, if you can have a sense, I mean,
he's a smarter running back. Maybe have a sense of hey,
just slide away from the direction that the center's going. Okay,
because the centers the center is going to be going.
Let's say it goes the center as going to the right.
Now he's gonna help Anthony Bradford.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
So now he the running backs is going to know
the protection. He's going to know which way the center
is going. So if he still stays kind of in
the a ARB gap but on the opposite a ARB gap,
he can still fulfill.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
His function within the scheme of the offense.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Like, for example, if you've got a deep in route
that's going, let's go baseball terms, because the hook the
hooks owned defenders are the guys that the uh you
might you might be trying to influence. So you're gonna
be doing a deep in route between the second basement
and the shortstop. Got me, And so now you say, okay,
I want to influence both of those. So you sit
(14:56):
right in the in the middle, like right over second base.
But you it depending on where you are and the
and the formation and what have you. Can you can
tinker with that a little bit, you know, a few
feet to put him offline so you can still influence
the shortstop it's like, oh, here's a guy in front
of me, here's the cheese in front of me, and
(15:17):
we can still get the dagger in behind him.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Uh. You know.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
It's so it basically just has to do with where
do you choose to have your checkdowns, because that's where
the majority of this has been there. They're shorter passes
when you when you're throwing it farther down the field,
you're not gonna you're less likely to get it batted down. Right,
it's the trajectory of the ball, and so it's those
checkdowns that are getting knocked down.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
And then and then the one, you know, boot left. Uh.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
I've commented all year that I don't understand why Clint
Kubiak is so in love with boot left. I would
rather have about a three to one ratio right handed
boot rights for three maybe you know, three right to
the right as and for every one to the left.
But he's been more left, slightly more left and half
(16:00):
and so now as a quarterback, it just it's going
to take longer to release the football, period, end of story.
Nothing you can do if you're running to your left
as a right handed quarterback and you want to throw
that crossing route from the backside, when by the time
you twist your hips, your shoulders and what have you,
a defender that's beateing in on you is going to
see that you're winding up to throw and that's always
(16:22):
going to take longer.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
The left. There's nothing you can do about that.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
You mentioned, you know, he can be aware that that
guy's there, maybe and you know, maybe try and pump
fakem or what have you. I mean, there's always some answer,
but you know, and then you say, well, is it
a realistic Is that really what you want to be
focused on?
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Well, you mentioned the role of the offensive line there
and particularly the center, and it was something that I
was talking thinking about the other day. Is that the
other times that the Seahawks have had the number one seed.
I mean, you're talking about two thousand and five, you
had a Pro Bowl and Robbie Tobeck at center. Twenty thirteen,
twenty fourteen, you had Max Hunger at center. He was
(17:00):
a Pro Bowler in twenty thirteen, coming off a first
team All Pro season in twenty twelve. So these are
the guys at the top of their game at their position.
You now have Jalen Sundell on this thirteen and three team.
You got olu Ola, a Timmy, you got other guys
that have played that position. Is how much of a
(17:20):
how much of a drop off is that? And is
that potentially going to cost you down the road because
the center is one of the you know, one of
the you know, not the quarterback of the offense, but
one of the quarterbacks of the offense, setting of blocking schemes.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
I think Sundale is a smart guy. I think that
he's been working alongside Grey's abel for a long time.
I think as a general rule, they communicate pretty well together.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
And you know, he's a very good athlete.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
I mean when when he tries to get you know,
on ThEC casions where he's out in space, he's trying
to reach on us stretch where he's he's doing a
pinn and poll or if he's doing a screen or
what have you, you know, sometimes almost looks like a
tight end. You know, he's very athletic, great feet, but
he is below the median for centers in the NFL
(18:10):
in strength, and he can get overpowered at the point
of attacking the running game and in a bull rush
in the passing game, and so that's why he's not
an elite center. But you know, he's pretty good, and
you know he's relatively young. You know, Jeff Saturday was
a undrafted free agent, was a multiple Pro Bowl guy. Right,
(18:30):
So the fact that he's not not drafted, I understand
why he's not drafted because of the things I'm talking about,
But you know, he's still got a chance. I'm I'm
watching his development as we all are.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Grant Cone will join us from sid down in the
Bay Area. Come up in the next segment. The author
of the article he just posted why the forty nine
ers will lose to the Seahawks in week number eighteen.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
So he's in agreement with Seahawks fans.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
We'll talk to him next the ninety three point three
KJFM from the R.
Speaker 6 (18:59):
And R Foundation Specialist Broadcast Studio. Now back to Softie
and Dick on your home for the Huskies, Kraken and
the twelfth Man Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ
r FM.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
So, Hugh Jackson and I have been in a discussion
about what type of forty nine or media member do
we want to come on to the show this week?
Do we want Banta Hill to come on and blow
smoke up the Niners ass for fifteen minutes on the
radio show. As much as we love Banta great, but
(19:37):
we know what we're gonna get from Manta, right? Or
do we want somebody that I don't know might throw
some barbes at Kyle Shanahan and brock Pertial. Right, we do,
and we decided to go that route with our friend
Grant Cone from si at. Grant Cone Cohn on Twitter
joins us, the author of the article why the forty
nine ers will lose to the Seahawks in week eighteen,
(19:58):
and we welcome him on see radio.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
How you doing, man?
Speaker 7 (20:03):
Man, it's the strangest thing. You guys keep inviting me
back on the radio here and meanwhile in the Bay,
no one ever invites me on the radio. It's the
strangest thing. I can't make heads or tails of that.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
It does have anything to do with the fact that
you write articles entitled why the forty nineers will lose
in the Seahawks in week eighteen? They might have something
to do with it.
Speaker 7 (20:22):
I guess I try to keep people on their toes
that throw curveballs, But I don't know. Maybe I'm seen
as negative.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Well, what is tell us?
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Why you think that that your hometown forty nine ers
are going to lose this Saturday.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
Well, the thing is that the Seahawks have this thing
called a good defense, and the Niners really don't. They
have a very bad defense. They have the worst pass
rush in the league. They have eighteen facts this season,
that's by.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Far the least.
Speaker 7 (20:51):
And they won Week one against the Seahawks because their
defense played so well. It wasn't because Brock Purty played
so well. He threw two picks. They scored seventeen points.
The Niners the victory with Nick Bosa, who's on IR
and they also had Fred Warner. So it seems to
me that every team can score twenty four to twenty
seven at least against this defense right now, why should
the Seahawks be any different?
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Tell us about the injuries.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Now we know obviously Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, those guys,
But what about Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams. I understand
Christian did not practice today, and then Trent Williams got
a hamstring and who know, how long do you think
he's gonna be out?
Speaker 7 (21:27):
Well, Trent Williams is three hundred and thirty pounds He's
thirty seven years old and a hamstring injury usually takes
multiple weeks. I wouldn't expect him to play. Christian McCaffrey
spoke at his locker today. He said the injuries minor.
He always says that, but I would expect him to play.
He's about a few yards away from getting a thousand
receiving yards and he'll be damned if he's not going
to get that. They need him, so I would expect Yes, Kittle, Yes,
(21:48):
McCaffrey probably know on Trent.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Well, explain to us how the forty nine ers have
kind of kept pace in the manner that they have.
I mean, I think a casual fan could look and say,
maybe not a casual fan, but a somewhat interested fan
would say, what Fred Warner, I know he's going to
the Hall of Fame. Nick Bosa might go to the
Hall of Fame. Trent Williams is for sure going to
(22:11):
the Hall of Fame. George Kittle, you know, I mean
that's not out of the question that he'd be a
Hall of Famer. Like, you're not just losing these guys,
Brandon Ayuk, you know you're not just losing Not that
he's a Hall of Famer. But you're losing some of
the not only core players, but guys that are gonna
be wearing yellow jackets.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
And yet the forty nine ers keep winning, Like, how
is that happening?
Speaker 7 (22:33):
Well, I think that's why Kyle San's in the running
for Coach of the Year, Like this is probably the
best job he's ever done, better than the years that
he went to the Super Bowl, because he, I mean,
rock Perry went down. Usually when your quarterback is making
fifty million a year goes down, you just lose. And
the Niners were five and three without him, and so
they weathered the storm. And now he's healthy and pretty
much the entire offense is healthy minus Trent Williams. Brandon
(22:55):
Ayuk isn't coming back. And this something very interesting. Last
year you could argue on paper the Niners were better
than they are now, but they were six and eleven.
They had this devit drauma with Deebo, Samuel and Brenn
and Iyuk. Those guys are gone and they're like really
a team again for the first time since they lost
the Super Bowl, And I think that's a big reason
why they've won six in a row.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Well, you mentioned when when mac Jones came in.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
I know what the national narrative was the national narrative
as wow, I'd you pay brock Purty all that money
when mac Jones can play as well as he well
as he has?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Was was that also the narrative in the Bay Area
as well?
Speaker 7 (23:26):
Well? It was my narrative. I was pushing it hard.
Other people didn't want to hear it. Veryone loves brock
Purty in the Bay Area. They think he's a combination
of Joe Montana and Steve Young with a little Jesus
Christ sprinkled in. I don't know. I think he's a
good quarterback. But I mean again, if Justin Herbert goes down,
the Chargers are gonna loose. And you can't necessarily say
that about the Niners because as good as brock Purty is,
the office is all about Kyle Sanahan.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Yeah, and so what is the film just kind of
amplify your thoughts about brock Purty because it's it's a
pretty intriguing story there that you mentioned the fifty millillion
here Shanahan. He had Trey Lance, a guy who had
as many skill set, you know, traits as a guy
could ever want, and at the top of the first round,
(24:10):
and yet he didn't have to see him for long
to say, no, he's not my guy.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Mister irrelevant is my guy?
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Maybe he just kind of peel back the the onion
a little bit for us on why he sees Brock
Purdy as his guy, because he's he's acknowledged to be
one of the best offensive minds. The idea that that
he sees in Purdy the guy that he wants must
mean something.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
What does it mean?
Speaker 7 (24:35):
Well, he may not be the perfect quarterback, but he's
by far the best quarterback Kyle Sanahan had in a
decade here. I mean, he's way better than Jimmy Garoppolo.
He's not Josh Allen necessarily, but they work really well together.
He's very sincere, and he worked and and smart and
start working. I mean they're a good marriage. On top
of that, when rot when Kyle Sanahan's play doesn't work
(24:58):
out the way it's drawn up to, Brock Purty can
go off script and make things happen, and they don't
really need him to throw forty fifty yards down the field.
So it's a good marriage. But it doesn't necessarily mean
that Rock Purty's like gonna beat you if you take
away Christian McCaffrey, and that's what the Seahawks did Week one.
Christian McCaffrey had no impact. The last two games, He's
run for about two hundred and fifty yards and coincidentally
(25:20):
or not, rock Purty had accounted for ten touchdowns. So
it still comes back to stopping the run and making
the Niners one dimensional and proving that he's really worth
what they pay him.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Grant you mentioned there that brock Purty is by far
the best quarterback Kyle Shanahan has had in the last decade.
The winningest quarterback in the last three years in the
NFL was on Kyle Shanahan's roster three year two years ago.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
His name is Sam Darnold.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
What happens to forty nine or nation If brock Purty's
backup comes in, outplays him, beats the guy that the
Niners paid twenty million more a year four and steals
the one seed.
Speaker 7 (26:00):
That would be pretty devastating. From an emotional standpoint. I
don't see how the Niners could really overcome. I mean,
the way you put it, it was his backup. You
never really took him seriously, You never gave him a Look,
you paid brock Party. This guy's way cheaper. And if
he beats brock Party and your team that everyone expects
to win. I mean, what did I say about you?
And the thing is he really could win because he's
(26:22):
just gonna be standing there. There's gonna be no pass rush.
He's got a hell of an arm. We got a
better on than Rock Party, and he's gonna have a
much easier assignment because he's not gonna be fair. He's
gonna be playing seven on seven football.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Well, what about Robert Sola and his ability to manufacture
sacks and the absence of Bosa and the ability to
get after the quarterback. There's got to be something there.
What has been the discussion of in that regard about
Sall and trying to manufacture with scheme, Well.
Speaker 7 (26:52):
Sala was great, and really what he's decided to do
is not to manufacture pass rush. He's trying his best
to not give up big plays and to force you
to get into the red zone where he can maybe
you know, make a call that surprises you. I Mean,
as bad as the Niners defense was against the Bears,
we all saw it.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
It was terrible.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
The final player of the game. He had the call
that won it and Ben Jonson did so he's great.
He can he can trick you, he can surprise you.
But they're not trying to really rush the quarterback and
not bringing five and six. They're content to sort of
let you check it down and hope that you make mistakes.
And with Sam Donald, I mean, he does lead the
league in turnovers, so you know that's what they're going
to try to do again. They're going to try to
(27:30):
prevent Jackson, Smith and Jigl from getting deep and scoring
from far out and make Sam Donald x choot in
the red zone. That's what they did the first time.
That's what they're going to tuck to do again.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Last couple of minutes, the Grant Cone from S Side
down in the area, Grant Cone on Twitter coh and grants,
what's the vibe now from Niners fans? Obviously it's probably
different than it was two months ago when they were
scuffling a little bit. But now you're at twelve and four,
you have an opportunity to get the number one seed
with a with a victory. Do they feel like it's
all fixed now or do they still say, yeah, we're
(27:59):
just too bang up yeah, we can beat the Seahawks maybe,
but we're not going to the super Bowl because we
just don't have enough pieces healthy.
Speaker 7 (28:06):
It's funny that was the attitude with Niner fans when
they lost to the Rams. They got trounced by the
Rams about a month and a half ago at home,
and Niner fans were like, see, that's why we didn't
make any trades at the trade deadline because it's pointless
because this hopeless. We're not going anywhere. And now they've
won six in a row, and Niner fans are talking
like seriously, like Brock Curry's the best quarterback in football,
and that their offense is unstoppable, and that Kyle Sanahan
(28:28):
doesn't choke and that he's a Hall of Fame coach.
I don't know. I mean, it's like none of that
stuff happened, and all of a sudden they can do
no wrong. So it's gonna I mean, that's why this
game against the Seahawks is so interesting. You lose at
home to Sam Donold, it's very sobering.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Oh God, you are painting such an awesome picture. Thanks
for coming on, Gran, We appreciate your time.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
Man.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
My question, Thanks for having me, oh.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Man, See that that's the narrative view that we aren't
talking about here. That's a San Francisco narrative. The you
had Sam darnled and you even hear heard Grant say
brock Purty is the best quarterback by far that Kyle
Sanahan's ever had. Well, he didn't allow Sam Darnald Eve
an opportunity to be a better quarterback than brock Purty.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
No, he only had one start as a forty nine er.
And I think that, uh, you, we'll obviously never know.
I wonder in his heart of hearts he probably would
say he'll still keep Purty knowing what he knows. But
it's possible that he he looks and says, well, there's
a mistake. I let him get out the door. It's
(29:34):
happened many many times before in the NFL. Hugh Millen's
with us until us seven o'clock tonight. We've got John
Wilner at five
The four o'clock hour, I asked, hey, Jackson, I asked
you to do a little homework assignment for Friday, and
he agreed. I'm very very excited. So you know, Hugh
has got all these stats in his nerd machine and
and how much they contribute to winning.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Right.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
He talked about the interceptions, how they're, how they're They
do not contribute to losing games as much as we
might think. So I asked them, are, well, let's come
up with the Well, let's come up with the stats
that most contribute to winning, they're most correlated to winning,
and find out how the Seahawks match up with the
other big time teams that we may be facing in
(00:40):
the Super Bowl. So he was going to do that
on on on Friday for us. So I'm excited about that.
But the one glaring thing about Seattle and the and
the one glaring stat guys, is that no team has
ever won the Super Bowl. Bottom three and turnovers in
the NFL. It has never happened. The Seattle Seahawks are
(01:04):
second to last in turnovers with twenty eight. The other
ten teams that have twenty one or more turnovers are
a combined forty games under five hundred, and the Seattle
Seahawks sit there at thirteen and three, with the second
most turnovers in the league with twenty eight. Now, Hugh,
(01:25):
I heard your conversation with Mark yesterday. I heard his
conversation about Sam Donald the day before. Excuse me, your
conversation with Mark today. I heard his conversation about Sam Donald.
And I'm trying to be I'm trying to play the
mitigator here, right, I'm trying to play I'm trying to
appeal to both sides of the argument, and it's going
(01:47):
to be very, very tough to do because honestly, I
am more on Hughes side. I think ninety nine percent
of us are here that I am on Mark's side
on the Sam Donald thing. But I do think that
there is a turnover ish you, And I'm wondering, can
we come up with the porridge being not too hot
and the porridge being not too cold, so can we
(02:10):
find a way for Sam Darnald to still have a
let it rip mentality? And yet when the pocket collapses,
when the porridge starts getting really really hot, can Sam
just decide to dirt the porridge instead of take a
huge gulp of the porridge and burn a esophagus.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Can we can we do that and happen? And how and.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
How how much do we need to cool the porridge
down to where? You know, So we're still taking shots,
but we're we're eliminating some of those turnover worthy plays.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Yeah, I think that there's really two topics. Number one,
there's the legitimate discussion. Hey, Sam Donald's his performance has
declined in the last six weeks. The interceptions are too high.
But you know, the turnover worthy plays I almost look
at more because it, you know, that takes away the
(03:10):
luck that's involved with turnovers. And and Sam Donald, I'll
have this for Friday as well. Ninety five percent of
his turnover worthy plays resulted in turnovers. I know for
a fact because I remember on the spreadsheet that that
Geno Smith had one year where he was under fifty
(03:30):
percent of his turnover worthy plays. And if you calculated,
had he had the average, because the average was eighty
one percent that year. I remember vividly might not be
for this year, but for that year the Geno was
under fifty percent. The other guys in the turnovers, the
average was eighty one percent of your turnover worthy plays
result in turnovers. Had Gino just been the average, he
(03:53):
would have led the NFL and turnovers. Now, Sam Donald
at ninety five percent is you know, is possibly the
most unlucky quarterback in the league. And a lot of
those you know now twenty twenty Turmos, but fourteen interceptions,
that's six fumbles and so and you look at the fumbles,
(04:13):
the vast majority of them and may maybe all I
think five or six when he's throwing. When he's throwing
and and he's looking, you know, like on Sunday against Caroline,
he's gonna throw a seam route to Jake Bobo to
his left side against a single high so his his shoulders'
vision are to his left and a lucas uh, he
(04:38):
gets beat like a drum and boom, you know, beat
gap penetration in here. All of a sudden, a hand
comes in where Darnold is looking to his left and
from his right he gets his hand hit. Now you know,
you know, I'll just say, from having been in quarterback brooms,
you know there's a point where you say, Okay, what
could have I done with that? You know, the quarterback
(05:00):
coach say, hey, is there anything you could have done?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Well?
Speaker 4 (05:03):
If if you feel it, but you're not going to
feel it if you're looking the opposite direction. Like you
could break it down into your your field of vision
in degrees, right, Like you know one hundred and eighty
degree view of a mountain, right like, okay, well we
know one hundred and eighty degrees is sideways to sideways right.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Well, okay, you.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Could break it down, Well, what's reasonable to expect If
if the pressure is coming in on you and it's
only ten percent removed in your field of vision from
your target, then you'd say, well you should feel that, dude.
You know, how did you not sense that there was
a guy right on top of you? But if it's
if it's coming like more than ninety degrees off of
your peripheral and now all of a sudden, you say, well,
(05:42):
it's a lot less reasonable. But these are the nuances
that actually matter. This is how you're going to get
graded in an NFL quarterback meeting room. You know, not
all turnovers are the same, right, But beyond the turnovers,
to me, I think a different issue that probably have
me more viscerally responsive is just, uh, the big topic
(06:06):
of of how do we criticize our athletes what's the
role of sports radio, what's the role of fans. I
certainly understand that there's a place to get after pro athletes.
And my my view of Seattle has always been, you
gotta when we really go after somebody, it's because there's
(06:28):
two boxes that are checked. You're not playing well and
generally there's something else about your personality that you know,
Vin Baker, dogging it up the up, the up the court,
you know, overweight, you know, just got paid, overpaid, overweight,
not performing. People let him have it. Jamal Adams, Jamal Adams,
(06:49):
Jamal Adams. You know, yeah, it wasn't his fault that
he got traded for two number ones. But he's a
jack jack wagon on the field. He's a jackwagon off
the field. He's not performing, you know what. The gatling
guns are coming like, I get that. That's that's that's
just part of being in a major market city. And
and so I look and I go, there is no
(07:12):
part I can't even conceive of how you would how
any fan would want to eviscerate Sam Donald. If you
want to have a disagreement and say, hey, I'm concerned
about Sam Donald over the last six weeks, I don't
think he's gonna I don't think he's gonna be clutch
against the forty nine ers. I'm concerned about, Like, there's
a lot of fair question for fair responses, but to just.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Meet hook the guy like he's freaking.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Stan Gelbaugh or or he's Dan McGuire, you know, like
like I don't get it. And oh, by the way,
here's another thing. If you either of you guys, let's
say you guys, you know did something. You know, he
went eighty and a fifty and you got and now
all of a sudden you're up against a judge said, uh,
(08:05):
I just said, you know what I'm gonna do. I'm
gonna have a little fun here. I'm going to uh sorry,
the dogs agree, they don't. For dogs love slinging Sammy.
There's no question about it, exactly right, and so so
and the judge said, look, here's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna I'm gonna throw you in in the clink
(08:27):
and you get out when you can.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Find one person, one person that.
Speaker 4 (08:34):
Has a bad word to say about Sam Donald, a
human being, one person, guess what you're gonna rotten get around. Okay,
So there's some fair criticism, but the but it's the temperature,
it's the it's the venom. Like how like seriously, I
would just say, if you've got nasty venom and you
(08:54):
wanna like just forget the fact that Sam donald is
is the winningness quarterback in the last four years that
he is, He's doe. He's more than doubling the triple
digit passer rating games of Pat Mahomes, that the Seahawks
have a record for wins, at least tied record for
points already didn't take the seventeenth game. The guy's the
(09:17):
number two guy in the Pro Bowl, number one in
all of the deep passer metrics and what have you, which,
by the way, have a lot higher correlation as we've discussed,
like like if you're gonna ignore all that, at least,
where's the venom.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Well, he's compared him to Geno Smith. We didn't see
the venom towards Geno that we see towards Sam, and
Sam has been massively better than Geno has. Now Geno's
first year with this, I think Geno's first year with
the Seahawks. I think if you look at the numbers
across the board, they're comparable and maybe even slightly better
than Sam's first year with the Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
But I mean I would take Sam Donald over Gino's.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Second year with the Seahawks, and I would certainly take
Sam Donald over Gino's third year with the seas And
we never heard any of that type of victoriol that
you're talking.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Really and really quick. I think the vitriol is very limited.
I think like it's it's not coming from masses like
Gino Smith. When Gina Smith had his struggles, especially like
you know in the ladder stretch, you would see a
pretty heavy divide of I wouldn't say it's fully even,
but of geno haters versus geno lovers. Yes, this is
(10:24):
this is like ninety five five to that right point.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
That not what a man.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
The people who I'm to nobody likes Sam my friends,
my mom doesn't like Sam Donald.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Jackson, You're just talking the wrong people. My friends don't
like Sam Donald.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I'm on these text threads and all they do is
crush Sam Donald the whole game, and I get tired
of it.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I put my damn phone down.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
Maybe they're just doing it to rile you up, because
the reality, I mean, listen, I was I was I
mentioned yesterday. I was at Top Golf watching the game
of Sunday and everybody is talking highest Sam.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I didn't hear one, Dad.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I think I think that maybe that's a small group,
but I think maybe it's ninety ten.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
It's not nearly what Gino was.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
And the reality is like for that ten percent, whatever
that number is, there's a time in place to be
critical of Sam Donald and be you know, you can
go in on the turnovers. But guys, this Seahawk team
has tied for the most wins in team history.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
We have the most points scored in team history.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
Sam Donald is the winningest quarterback in the NFL since
what's the day.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Hugh nove twa.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Seven, Thank you, twenty twenty two, thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Like there's a time in place to be critical of him,
to ever to that ten percent, there's a time and place.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
This isn't that time.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Pamiliar to your ninety ten? I mean I did put
off the Twitter poll yesterday.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I told you about it.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
It's fifty to fifty whether the Seahawks are winning in
spite of Sam Donald or because of Sam Donald. So men, now,
maybe not all those people that are saying in spite
of hate Sam Donald. But I think it's more than
ten percent.
Speaker 5 (11:54):
I just think that I think this the number of
Donald critic is much smaller than the number of Geno
critics comparative to the whole.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Okay, all right, I mean, now there's no way to
there's no way to quantify it.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
But Q, let's get back to the task at hand.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
On Sam.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Now, we talked about the interceptions, and you're right.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
In the fumbles, you're right, I mean a lot of
those have nothing to do with Sam. How about let's
go back to Sunday first pass of the game was
batted down, had another one batted down in the second drive.
It seems like a lot of his balls are getting hit. Now,
maybe it's you know, maybe it's just because we're watching Sam.
We're not watching other quarterbacks as much as Sam. But
what can Sam do to limit and is there something
(12:39):
with his delivery? Is there something with his vision that
is causing these deflected passes because it seems like we're
holding our breath on a game by game basis one, two,
three times with balls fluttering in the air off of
dude's helmets and shoulder pads.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Yeah, a lot of these are are with the checkdown
right of the ball, And what happens is you got
five offensive I'm and generally the standard rush is four guys.
That means he's got five blocking four and so uh,
the center will be slide into one side looking for
a blitz off of that side. If there's not a blitz,
then he's going to double team with the guard to
(13:14):
that side. The defensive tackle that finds himself getting double teamed,
he will typically not try and rush. He'll kind of
back off and just look to bat the ball down.
So one of the things you can do is with
the checkdown with be it Knine or be it Sharbonne.
If he is going to uh check right over the ball,
(13:38):
now sometimes you can you can move his checkdown to
a different area instead of like right over the middle OTB.
You can put him in the C gap and you
have a check alley like that's right outside the tackle.
That way, the defensive tackles are less likely to bat
that down. If that's something that you're seeing, or you
can tell the running back, hey, hey have a sense
(13:59):
of I mean, if you can have a sense, I mean,
he's a smarter running back. Maybe have a sense of hey,
just slide away from the direction that the center's going. Okay,
because the centers the center is going to be going.
Let's say it goes the center as going to the right.
Now he's gonna help Anthony Bradford.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
So now he the running backs is going to know
the protection. He's going to know which way the center
is going. So if he still stays kind of in
the a ARB gap but on the opposite a ARB gap,
he can still fulfill.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
His function within the scheme of the offense.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Like, for example, if you've got a deep in route
that's going, let's go baseball terms, because the hook the
hooks owned defenders are the guys that the uh you
might you might be trying to influence. So you're gonna
be doing a deep in route between the second basement
and the shortstop. Got me, And so now you say, okay,
I want to influence both of those. So you sit
(14:56):
right in the in the middle, like right over second base.
But you it depending on where you are and the
and the formation and what have you. Can you can
tinker with that a little bit, you know, a few
feet to put him offline so you can still influence
the shortstop it's like, oh, here's a guy in front
of me, here's the cheese in front of me, and
(15:17):
we can still get the dagger in behind him.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Uh. You know.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
It's so it basically just has to do with where
do you choose to have your checkdowns, because that's where
the majority of this has been there. They're shorter passes
when you when you're throwing it farther down the field,
you're not gonna you're less likely to get it batted down. Right,
it's the trajectory of the ball, and so it's those
checkdowns that are getting knocked down.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
And then and then the one, you know, boot left. Uh.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
I've commented all year that I don't understand why Clint
Kubiak is so in love with boot left. I would
rather have about a three to one ratio right handed
boot rights for three maybe you know, three right to
the right as and for every one to the left.
But he's been more left, slightly more left and half
(16:00):
and so now as a quarterback, it just it's going
to take longer to release the football, period, end of story.
Nothing you can do if you're running to your left
as a right handed quarterback and you want to throw
that crossing route from the backside, when by the time
you twist your hips, your shoulders and what have you,
a defender that's beateing in on you is going to
see that you're winding up to throw and that's always
(16:22):
going to take longer.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
The left. There's nothing you can do about that.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
You mentioned, you know, he can be aware that that
guy's there, maybe and you know, maybe try and pump
fakem or what have you. I mean, there's always some answer,
but you know, and then you say, well, is it
a realistic Is that really what you want to be
focused on?
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Well, you mentioned the role of the offensive line there
and particularly the center, and it was something that I
was talking thinking about the other day. Is that the
other times that the Seahawks have had the number one seed.
I mean, you're talking about two thousand and five, you
had a Pro Bowl and Robbie Tobeck at center. Twenty thirteen,
twenty fourteen, you had Max Hunger at center. He was
(17:00):
a Pro Bowler in twenty thirteen, coming off a first
team All Pro season in twenty twelve. So these are
the guys at the top of their game at their position.
You now have Jalen Sundell on this thirteen and three team.
You got olu Ola, a Timmy, you got other guys
that have played that position. Is how much of a
(17:20):
how much of a drop off is that? And is
that potentially going to cost you down the road because
the center is one of the you know, one of
the you know, not the quarterback of the offense, but
one of the quarterbacks of the offense, setting of blocking schemes.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
I think Sundale is a smart guy. I think that
he's been working alongside Grey's abel for a long time.
I think as a general rule, they communicate pretty well together.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
And you know, he's a very good athlete.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
I mean when when he tries to get you know,
on ThEC casions where he's out in space, he's trying
to reach on us stretch where he's he's doing a
pinn and poll or if he's doing a screen or
what have you, you know, sometimes almost looks like a
tight end. You know, he's very athletic, great feet, but
he is below the median for centers in the NFL
(18:10):
in strength, and he can get overpowered at the point
of attacking the running game and in a bull rush
in the passing game, and so that's why he's not
an elite center. But you know, he's pretty good, and
you know he's relatively young. You know, Jeff Saturday was
a undrafted free agent, was a multiple Pro Bowl guy. Right,
(18:30):
So the fact that he's not not drafted, I understand
why he's not drafted because of the things I'm talking about,
But you know, he's still got a chance. I'm I'm
watching his development as we all are.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Grant Cone will join us from sid down in the
Bay Area. Come up in the next segment. The author
of the article he just posted why the forty nine
ers will lose to the Seahawks in week number eighteen.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
So he's in agreement with Seahawks fans.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
We'll talk to him next the ninety three point three
KJFM from the R.
Speaker 6 (18:59):
And R Foundation Specialist Broadcast Studio. Now back to Softie
and Dick on your home for the Huskies, Kraken and
the twelfth Man Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ
r FM.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
So, Hugh Jackson and I have been in a discussion
about what type of forty nine or media member do
we want to come on to the show this week?
Do we want Banta Hill to come on and blow
smoke up the Niners ass for fifteen minutes on the
radio show. As much as we love Banta great, but
(19:37):
we know what we're gonna get from Manta, right? Or
do we want somebody that I don't know might throw
some barbes at Kyle Shanahan and brock Pertial. Right, we do,
and we decided to go that route with our friend
Grant Cone from si at. Grant Cone Cohn on Twitter
joins us, the author of the article why the forty
nine ers will lose to the Seahawks in week eighteen,
(19:58):
and we welcome him on see radio.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
How you doing, man?
Speaker 7 (20:03):
Man, it's the strangest thing. You guys keep inviting me
back on the radio here and meanwhile in the Bay,
no one ever invites me on the radio. It's the
strangest thing. I can't make heads or tails of that.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
It does have anything to do with the fact that
you write articles entitled why the forty nineers will lose
in the Seahawks in week eighteen? They might have something
to do with it.
Speaker 7 (20:22):
I guess I try to keep people on their toes
that throw curveballs, But I don't know. Maybe I'm seen
as negative.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Well, what is tell us?
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Why you think that that your hometown forty nine ers
are going to lose this Saturday.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
Well, the thing is that the Seahawks have this thing
called a good defense, and the Niners really don't. They
have a very bad defense. They have the worst pass
rush in the league. They have eighteen facts this season,
that's by.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Far the least.
Speaker 7 (20:51):
And they won Week one against the Seahawks because their
defense played so well. It wasn't because Brock Purty played
so well. He threw two picks. They scored seventeen points.
The Niners the victory with Nick Bosa, who's on IR
and they also had Fred Warner. So it seems to
me that every team can score twenty four to twenty
seven at least against this defense right now, why should
the Seahawks be any different?
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Tell us about the injuries.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Now we know obviously Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, those guys,
But what about Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams. I understand
Christian did not practice today, and then Trent Williams got
a hamstring and who know, how long do you think
he's gonna be out?
Speaker 7 (21:27):
Well, Trent Williams is three hundred and thirty pounds He's
thirty seven years old and a hamstring injury usually takes
multiple weeks. I wouldn't expect him to play. Christian McCaffrey
spoke at his locker today. He said the injuries minor.
He always says that, but I would expect him to play.
He's about a few yards away from getting a thousand
receiving yards and he'll be damned if he's not going
to get that. They need him, so I would expect Yes, Kittle, Yes,
(21:48):
McCaffrey probably know on Trent.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Well, explain to us how the forty nine ers have
kind of kept pace in the manner that they have.
I mean, I think a casual fan could look and say,
maybe not a casual fan, but a somewhat interested fan
would say, what Fred Warner, I know he's going to
the Hall of Fame. Nick Bosa might go to the
Hall of Fame. Trent Williams is for sure going to
(22:11):
the Hall of Fame. George Kittle, you know, I mean
that's not out of the question that he'd be a
Hall of Famer. Like, you're not just losing these guys,
Brandon Ayuk, you know you're not just losing Not that
he's a Hall of Famer. But you're losing some of
the not only core players, but guys that are gonna
be wearing yellow jackets.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
And yet the forty nine ers keep winning, Like, how
is that happening?
Speaker 7 (22:33):
Well, I think that's why Kyle San's in the running
for Coach of the Year, Like this is probably the
best job he's ever done, better than the years that
he went to the Super Bowl, because he, I mean,
rock Perry went down. Usually when your quarterback is making
fifty million a year goes down, you just lose. And
the Niners were five and three without him, and so
they weathered the storm. And now he's healthy and pretty
much the entire offense is healthy minus Trent Williams. Brandon
(22:55):
Ayuk isn't coming back. And this something very interesting. Last
year you could argue on paper the Niners were better
than they are now, but they were six and eleven.
They had this devit drauma with Deebo, Samuel and Brenn
and Iyuk. Those guys are gone and they're like really
a team again for the first time since they lost
the Super Bowl, And I think that's a big reason
why they've won six in a row.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Well, you mentioned when when mac Jones came in.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
I know what the national narrative was the national narrative
as wow, I'd you pay brock Purty all that money
when mac Jones can play as well as he well
as he has?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Was was that also the narrative in the Bay Area
as well?
Speaker 7 (23:26):
Well? It was my narrative. I was pushing it hard.
Other people didn't want to hear it. Veryone loves brock
Purty in the Bay Area. They think he's a combination
of Joe Montana and Steve Young with a little Jesus
Christ sprinkled in. I don't know. I think he's a
good quarterback. But I mean again, if Justin Herbert goes down,
the Chargers are gonna loose. And you can't necessarily say
that about the Niners because as good as brock Purty is,
the office is all about Kyle Sanahan.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Yeah, and so what is the film just kind of
amplify your thoughts about brock Purty because it's it's a
pretty intriguing story there that you mentioned the fifty millillion
here Shanahan. He had Trey Lance, a guy who had
as many skill set, you know, traits as a guy
could ever want, and at the top of the first round,
(24:10):
and yet he didn't have to see him for long
to say, no, he's not my guy.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Mister irrelevant is my guy?
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Maybe he just kind of peel back the the onion
a little bit for us on why he sees Brock
Purdy as his guy, because he's he's acknowledged to be
one of the best offensive minds. The idea that that
he sees in Purdy the guy that he wants must
mean something.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
What does it mean?
Speaker 7 (24:35):
Well, he may not be the perfect quarterback, but he's
by far the best quarterback Kyle Sanahan had in a
decade here. I mean, he's way better than Jimmy Garoppolo.
He's not Josh Allen necessarily, but they work really well together.
He's very sincere, and he worked and and smart and
start working. I mean they're a good marriage. On top
of that, when rot when Kyle Sanahan's play doesn't work
(24:58):
out the way it's drawn up to, Brock Purty can
go off script and make things happen, and they don't
really need him to throw forty fifty yards down the field.
So it's a good marriage. But it doesn't necessarily mean
that Rock Purty's like gonna beat you if you take
away Christian McCaffrey, and that's what the Seahawks did Week one.
Christian McCaffrey had no impact. The last two games, He's
run for about two hundred and fifty yards and coincidentally
(25:20):
or not, rock Purty had accounted for ten touchdowns. So
it still comes back to stopping the run and making
the Niners one dimensional and proving that he's really worth
what they pay him.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Grant you mentioned there that brock Purty is by far
the best quarterback Kyle Shanahan has had in the last decade.
The winningest quarterback in the last three years in the
NFL was on Kyle Shanahan's roster three year two years ago.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
His name is Sam Darnold.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
What happens to forty nine or nation If brock Purty's
backup comes in, outplays him, beats the guy that the
Niners paid twenty million more a year four and steals
the one seed.
Speaker 7 (26:00):
That would be pretty devastating. From an emotional standpoint. I
don't see how the Niners could really overcome. I mean,
the way you put it, it was his backup. You
never really took him seriously, You never gave him a Look,
you paid brock Party. This guy's way cheaper. And if
he beats brock Party and your team that everyone expects
to win. I mean, what did I say about you?
And the thing is he really could win because he's
(26:22):
just gonna be standing there. There's gonna be no pass rush.
He's got a hell of an arm. We got a
better on than Rock Party, and he's gonna have a
much easier assignment because he's not gonna be fair. He's
gonna be playing seven on seven football.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
Well, what about Robert Sola and his ability to manufacture
sacks and the absence of Bosa and the ability to
get after the quarterback. There's got to be something there.
What has been the discussion of in that regard about
Sall and trying to manufacture with scheme, Well.
Speaker 7 (26:52):
Sala was great, and really what he's decided to do
is not to manufacture pass rush. He's trying his best
to not give up big plays and to force you
to get into the red zone where he can maybe
you know, make a call that surprises you. I Mean,
as bad as the Niners defense was against the Bears,
we all saw it.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
It was terrible.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
The final player of the game. He had the call
that won it and Ben Jonson did so he's great.
He can he can trick you, he can surprise you.
But they're not trying to really rush the quarterback and
not bringing five and six. They're content to sort of
let you check it down and hope that you make mistakes.
And with Sam Donald, I mean, he does lead the
league in turnovers, so you know that's what they're going
to try to do again. They're going to try to
(27:30):
prevent Jackson, Smith and Jigl from getting deep and scoring
from far out and make Sam Donald x choot in
the red zone. That's what they did the first time.
That's what they're going to tuck to do again.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Last couple of minutes, the Grant Cone from S Side
down in the area, Grant Cone on Twitter coh and grants,
what's the vibe now from Niners fans? Obviously it's probably
different than it was two months ago when they were
scuffling a little bit. But now you're at twelve and four,
you have an opportunity to get the number one seed
with a with a victory. Do they feel like it's
all fixed now or do they still say, yeah, we're
(27:59):
just too bang up yeah, we can beat the Seahawks maybe,
but we're not going to the super Bowl because we
just don't have enough pieces healthy.
Speaker 7 (28:06):
It's funny that was the attitude with Niner fans when
they lost to the Rams. They got trounced by the
Rams about a month and a half ago at home,
and Niner fans were like, see, that's why we didn't
make any trades at the trade deadline because it's pointless
because this hopeless. We're not going anywhere. And now they've
won six in a row, and Niner fans are talking
like seriously, like Brock Curry's the best quarterback in football,
and that their offense is unstoppable, and that Kyle Sanahan
(28:28):
doesn't choke and that he's a Hall of Fame coach.
I don't know. I mean, it's like none of that
stuff happened, and all of a sudden they can do
no wrong. So it's gonna I mean, that's why this
game against the Seahawks is so interesting. You lose at
home to Sam Donold, it's very sobering.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Oh God, you are painting such an awesome picture. Thanks
for coming on, Gran, We appreciate your time.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
Man.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
My question, Thanks for having me, oh.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Man, See that that's the narrative view that we aren't
talking about here. That's a San Francisco narrative. The you
had Sam darnled and you even hear heard Grant say
brock Purty is the best quarterback by far that Kyle
Sanahan's ever had. Well, he didn't allow Sam Darnald Eve
an opportunity to be a better quarterback than brock Purty.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
No, he only had one start as a forty nine er.
And I think that, uh, you, we'll obviously never know.
I wonder in his heart of hearts he probably would
say he'll still keep Purty knowing what he knows. But
it's possible that he he looks and says, well, there's
a mistake. I let him get out the door. It's
(29:34):
happened many many times before in the NFL. Hugh Millen's
with us until us seven o'clock tonight. We've got John
Wilner at five
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