January 15, 2026 • 14 mins
Former coach Steve Mariucci from the NFL Network joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the Hawks-49ers game, Sam Darnold’s injury, Brock Purdy, and more.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
From the R 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 2 (00:14):
All right, boys and girls, back here at the five
twenty bar and Grill in Bellevue. Mike Holmgren gonna join
us coming up three forty five cracking hockey against the
Bruins face off at five pm pre game four thirty
from Boston, right here on ninety three three KJRFM. But
speaking of Mike Hombern, the guy that knows what it's
like to work with and for the coach now with
(00:35):
the NFL Network, obviously a guy that coached the forty
nine ers back in the day, so I'm assuming he's
pulling for the Niners on Saturday. Steve Merryucchi from the
NFL Network joins us right now on the radio show Coach,
how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I'm doing good, Softy, But listen, So you got Mike
Holmgren who coached for both the Niners and the Seahawks,
and you'd ask him who he's pulling for? All right,
guarantek you thankes. Sure, you say a load of Mike
for I saw him at his induction here into the
Hall of Fame in the Bay Area here not too
long ago. But anyway, Yes, what a weekend. What a season?
I mean, it's it's I don't remember.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
I'm old. I don't remember a.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Season quite like this, with all the close games and
nail biers, and you know, some of the great teams
that you thought might be in playoff didn't even make it.
And and here we are, and every game seems pretty
much every game seems to be a barn burner, and
it's been fantastic. And we got another one coming up
in front of the twelves here on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Well, no doubt, and we will tell Mike that you
said alone for sure. And by the way, Mooch, I
guarantee you who he's rooting for, and that's the Seahawks
because he lives and works in Seattle. Okay, so absolutely
pulling for the.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
No doubt.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
But you you just mentioned kind of the parody, right,
and we've been talking about that all year long, and
I'm just wondering if there's a little more room for
maybe a little more parody in the NFL playoffs, maybe
a few more upsets and some lower seated teams get
into the Super Bowl. Or as you sit right now,
do you feel like, hey man, this is Denver's thing
(02:05):
to lose and Seattle's thing to lose in the NFC?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Oh, I don't. And you're exactly right. The parody that
the NFL has created. And it's not an overnight thing.
I mean, it's the way we draft and the way
we are allowed to sign free agents, and the scheduling.
Now with uh, you know, with with seventeen games, you know,
those three extra games, or if your last place in
(02:30):
your division, if you had three other games outside of those,
you know, those divisions that you all have to play
against last place teams, your schedule is favorable compared to
the first place team. And so I mean, the NFL
works hard to keep all the cities alive and well
for as long as possible, and they really accomplish that.
And then and there are some teams now that we
(02:51):
all expected. We all expected the Chiefs to be in
the playoffs, didn't we before the season. We all expected
the fifteen win bet to be in the playoffs. They
were to the championship game in the NFC last year,
And and and healthy Fie BURROWO. What I've been here
and you know and all our act I mean, there
are so many good teams that didn't even get in
(03:12):
well because there's other good team. That's why when you
have when you have parody and you have sixteen or
eighteen teams that are capable of making the playoffs, that's
an awesome thing for all these cities for excitement purposes.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
Well, coach, we appreciate you joining us and our hearts
kind of skipped the beat a couple of hours ago,
and we found out that Sam Darnold tweaked his oblique
throwing against air in practice. It sounds like he's gonna
be fine. He thinks he's gonna be fine. But from
a coaching standpoint, talk about how you'd handle preparation for
a big playoff game when your quarterback forty eight hours
for the game tells you, I'm a little bit hurt.
(03:46):
So how do you how do you go about preparation
and getting your team ready?
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Yeah? I just, I just I was.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
I just did a radio show with Mad Dog Russo
right and and the as I was waiting, I heard
on the New that he pulled an oblique and he's
fifty to fifty to play in this game, And I
what what And so I don't I don't even know
what an obleak is, and I and I and I
don't know if you give him some massage or rub
(04:13):
it down or whatever it takes. But that can't happen,
and so and it's just strange. And they're playing against
the Seahawks. They're playing against the team that are so
darned banged up yet still have found a way to
win a lot of games in this National Football League.
The Niners Courts lost Kittle right in the in the
last game, and and they've been banged up all season long.
(04:35):
But when you lose a quarterback, that's a whole different deal.
They can't lose them. Sam's got to figure out how
to play and play well.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah, no, no doubt. Steve Maryushi, NFL Network Analyst, NFL
Game Day Morning air Saturday at nine am, Sunday at
eight am on the NFL Network. By the way, so
check them out on the on the on the tube
over the weekend. But Steve, I guess I'm just trying
to think about this game in terms of the Week
eighteen contest. And you know, if that was a game
where you know, one quarterback through four picks and a
(05:04):
couple of guys had some you know, fumbles, wacky stuff whatever.
I could see maybe throwing it out, But that was
such a dominant performance coach by the Hawks. In week eighteen,
they had the ball for thirty eight minutes, for God's sake,
Steve in that game. And now there's no Kittle by
the way, We'll see if Pierce all plays. But why
should things be different than they were in Week eighteen
(05:26):
when it was such a dominant physical performance by the Seahawks.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
It sure was.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And to hold the forty nine ers, who had over
the last three games averaged over forty points a game
and hold him to three is incredible. And daddle Fiacht
have pretty salty defense. And then when they start running
the football with Kenth Walker and the boys and charming,
they they they're.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
A heck of a team.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
And so coach McDonald has done a nice job. They'd
come a long way. They've gotten better since the beginning
of the season when they lost to the San Francisco
forty nine ers at home. I mean, that was dam
Darnold's first game, right, playing with that new bunch of guys,
and and they're starting to get the kinks out. So
you know, they're just a better team right now with
(06:14):
Seattle and uh understandably the number one seed. It's uh,
it's gonna be it's gonna be a heck of a game.
Throw out the records because it's a rival game. We
all know that, right, and uh, it's gonna come down
to who probably who can run the ball the best
and make a couple of big plays in.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
The passing game.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Uh, this brock Curty kid had not lost in Seattle.
He's four and oh up there all right. I just
hate to tell you that, but but brock Curty, mister
irrelevant is really playing well.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Now.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
You guys held them down. Seahawks held them down in
that last game, uh at Levi Stadium. But uh, you know,
even without George Kittle, that was a huge loss because
Kittle was not just a good receiving tight end and
a good blocking tight end. He's he's the he's the
heartbeat of that football team and he's the.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
He's the pulse.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
He's the chemistry guy that keeps it light and keeps
it tough and keeps it everything.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
He's he's my favorite player. In the league, I believe,
and so.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
But they got this kid named Jake Tungus who's going
to play some tight end and he's from cal and
he's from Mysore right here, right here, North Los Gadows,
where I live. And it's quite a story and he's
going to have to make up some of that black.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
But it's gonna be a heck of a game.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
So from a psychological standpoint, how do you try to
get your team to believe that the opponent is dangerous
when you just completely neutered them two weeks ago?
Speaker 4 (07:37):
You know this is this is perfect?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
You know, just looking at the record. I mean the
Niners have had their share of wins against the Seahawks, right,
and so they know, they know about the team, they
know about the rival, they know what kind of players
are still available. Yeah, there's no Bosa and Fred Warner
in that bunch. But Brent Williams is back healthy, that
left tackled. He's as good as there is in the league.
And then the offensive weapons on offense, Christian McCaffrey. He's
(08:05):
not been running the football as productively as he was
in the first half of the season. I'm sure they're
going to try to get that going too, and he's
such a hard guy to defend because he's in the backfield,
he's at the squat, he's playing wide receiver, he's selling popcorn.
I mean, the guy does everything for him and so
they got to find a way to keep his production
to a minimum. He's got the most touches in the
in the league, have four hundred and thirteen touches. It's
(08:26):
hard to believe he's still walking around without a limp.
I mean, the guy has made a steal. And so
I think if it was a team that maybe you're
unfamiliar with and you just beat up a little bit,
but they know each other. These teams, these players and
coaches know each other well. They know how good they are,
how good they can be, and they're preparing for their
a game. They're preparing for the very best effort they're
(08:49):
ever going to see against that opponent. And that's why
it's such a good rivalry right now.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, Well, Steve mary Yucci, again, an NFL network is
with us, and you know, Dick just brought up, you know,
how do you take the opponent seriously? I mean, obviously,
as you said, it's the playoffs, and there's there's real
hate right between these two teams, and Juwan Jennings, you know,
said after the game with the Eagles that this is
who they wanted, they wanted to rematch with the Seahawks.
How much mooch? If you're in that Niner locker room
(09:13):
and you're Kyle Shanahan, can you play up that card?
And how much does that really tangibly mean on game day?
If there is a talent gap, if there is a
physical difference between them and you, how much do you
really think from a tangible perspective the motivation of being
embarrassed in the previous game can really mean on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, a coach will try to use most anything he
can to motivate his team, whether it's disrespect or being
the underdog, or being the wounded or being the whatever.
He's gonna pull at every part string that he can.
But this is a very experienced, prideful bunch. They don't
have a lot of rookies playing over there in San Francisco,
(09:58):
and so they know they're getting into They know that
they have good players and that they are good enough
to win thirteen games this season. Are you kidding me
with this? With this banged up roster. It's unbelievable how
many games they've won. So those backup players are saying, hey,
I matter too, I'm a good player too, I belong
you know. I know I'm replacing Nick Bosa or Bred Warner.
(10:21):
Eric Kendricks made the big play last week on fourth down.
He's their third inside linebacker, and and they just keep
plugging and playing, and you know, it drives me a
little nuts sometimes, like next man up philosophy, you know
what that is.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
That's coach speak, next man up.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
You know, you say that so your team doesn't lose
confidence or feels good about who's playing. But really, uh,
when you have a lot of next man up, you're
not as good as the varsity. Okay, you're you're playing
with backups and they're not as good as the other
guy they're replacing. But so other people have to make
up for that difference. But they just have so much
(10:58):
damp pride over there that they're fine, need a way.
And that's that's why I say Coach of the Year
discussion for Kyle because he's doing it with with with
so many I don't want to say mears, but he's
got a lot of guys that they weren't supposed to
count on that. Are they're they're they're contributing to their
wins this year. So hey, this game's going right down
to the wire. Man, I'm just telling you, I don't
(11:19):
care who the favorite is, who's playing, who's hurt. This
game's going down to the wire because it's too well
coach teams against very prideful organizations, and it is the playoffs.
It's loser go home, And so yeah, I can't wait
for this one.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
Coach the Seahawks and that thirteen to three win use
a very very conservative game plan. Do you anticipate you'll
see that again this week? And and is that the
game plan you'd take into this game or would you
open it up and say, you know, let's let's open
it up, let's throw down field a little bit and
see if we can get this game over early, early,
and score twenty four points.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I think it's both. I think you're going to you're
going to say, all right, we feel good about running
the football. We like our matchups with our big guys
against their big guys, so we think we can make
some first downs on the ground and choose some clock. Yes,
but then it's but then they say, hey, we've got
some weapons too that We've got a veteran quarterback and
Jack Jackson Smith and Jigbell that can make big plays
(12:21):
from anywhere, anytime. So we've got to have some of
the some new plays, new wrinkles that they have not
prepared for just yet to take our shots. You can't
score enough points by just bunting. You can't just run
the whole game. You got to have chunk plays. You
got to have shot plays and some big plays if
you want to score twenty four plus points. And so
I'm sure they've got that up their sleeve too. You know,
(12:43):
it's not going to be a completely new game plan.
These are two good teams that part of their their
build is, hey, we're going to do what we do best,
and so if we can change up formations or personnel
groups and a wrinkle here and a wrinkle.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
There, yes we'll do that.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
But it's whoever blocks and tackle the best, and who
throws and catches the best and take care of the football.
I don't think it's gonna rain.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Is it? No? No, it should be good.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Yeah, if I stay with fifty degrees, it should be
Whether should not be a factor the crowd is always
a factor up there. We know that they're going They're
counting on the twelves to screw up a snap counter
or a motion or a formation once in a while.
So anyway, let's tee it up. It's gonna be a
good one.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Guys, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Hey mooch, before you go quickly, we got about thirty
seconds Rams, Bears. What do you see happening in Chicago?
Speaker 4 (13:32):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (13:32):
I think the Rams have the better roster, the better
team obviously, the more experienced quarterback, and the best receiving duo.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
In the league with Kuka the Coup and demonte Adams.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
If it's windy over there in Chicago, that'll be a
factor because the Rams are a past kind of first
offense and that could be now Matthew Stafford has played
over there many times as a Ram and a Detroit Lion,
right so, and this Bears team, it's just kind of
the Cinderella story of the of the league. I mean,
they come from behind, usually in the last two minutes
(14:06):
of the game to pull off a miracle and it's
been like, are you kidding me?
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Here we go again.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
So obviously I think the Rams are the better team.
But there's there's just the stars seem to be aligned
for the Chicago Bears and they just are having a
They're having a heck of a season. Miraculous by the way,
for our first year Ben Johnson, head coach.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Steve, you're the man. Great stuff. We'll tell Mike you
said alone, so luck Yeah, enjoy the weekend and we'll
talk down the road.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Man, all right, let's do that.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Thanks for having me on, guys, I appreciate it.
From the R 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 2 (00:14):
All right, boys and girls, back here at the five
twenty bar and Grill in Bellevue. Mike Holmgren gonna join
us coming up three forty five cracking hockey against the
Bruins face off at five pm pre game four thirty
from Boston, right here on ninety three three KJRFM. But
speaking of Mike Hombern, the guy that knows what it's
like to work with and for the coach now with
(00:35):
the NFL Network, obviously a guy that coached the forty
nine ers back in the day, so I'm assuming he's
pulling for the Niners on Saturday. Steve Merryucchi from the
NFL Network joins us right now on the radio show Coach,
how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I'm doing good, Softy, But listen, So you got Mike
Holmgren who coached for both the Niners and the Seahawks,
and you'd ask him who he's pulling for? All right,
guarantek you thankes. Sure, you say a load of Mike
for I saw him at his induction here into the
Hall of Fame in the Bay Area here not too
long ago. But anyway, Yes, what a weekend. What a season?
I mean, it's it's I don't remember.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
I'm old. I don't remember a.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Season quite like this, with all the close games and
nail biers, and you know, some of the great teams
that you thought might be in playoff didn't even make it.
And and here we are, and every game seems pretty
much every game seems to be a barn burner, and
it's been fantastic. And we got another one coming up
in front of the twelves here on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Well, no doubt, and we will tell Mike that you
said alone for sure. And by the way, Mooch, I
guarantee you who he's rooting for, and that's the Seahawks
because he lives and works in Seattle. Okay, so absolutely
pulling for the.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
No doubt.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
But you you just mentioned kind of the parody, right,
and we've been talking about that all year long, and
I'm just wondering if there's a little more room for
maybe a little more parody in the NFL playoffs, maybe
a few more upsets and some lower seated teams get
into the Super Bowl. Or as you sit right now,
do you feel like, hey man, this is Denver's thing
(02:05):
to lose and Seattle's thing to lose in the NFC?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Oh, I don't. And you're exactly right. The parody that
the NFL has created. And it's not an overnight thing.
I mean, it's the way we draft and the way
we are allowed to sign free agents, and the scheduling.
Now with uh, you know, with with seventeen games, you know,
those three extra games, or if your last place in
(02:30):
your division, if you had three other games outside of those,
you know, those divisions that you all have to play
against last place teams, your schedule is favorable compared to
the first place team. And so I mean, the NFL
works hard to keep all the cities alive and well
for as long as possible, and they really accomplish that.
And then and there are some teams now that we
(02:51):
all expected. We all expected the Chiefs to be in
the playoffs, didn't we before the season. We all expected
the fifteen win bet to be in the playoffs. They
were to the championship game in the NFC last year,
And and and healthy Fie BURROWO. What I've been here
and you know and all our act I mean, there
are so many good teams that didn't even get in
(03:12):
well because there's other good team. That's why when you
have when you have parody and you have sixteen or
eighteen teams that are capable of making the playoffs, that's
an awesome thing for all these cities for excitement purposes.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
Well, coach, we appreciate you joining us and our hearts
kind of skipped the beat a couple of hours ago,
and we found out that Sam Darnold tweaked his oblique
throwing against air in practice. It sounds like he's gonna
be fine. He thinks he's gonna be fine. But from
a coaching standpoint, talk about how you'd handle preparation for
a big playoff game when your quarterback forty eight hours
for the game tells you, I'm a little bit hurt.
(03:46):
So how do you how do you go about preparation
and getting your team ready?
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Yeah? I just, I just I was.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
I just did a radio show with Mad Dog Russo
right and and the as I was waiting, I heard
on the New that he pulled an oblique and he's
fifty to fifty to play in this game, And I
what what And so I don't I don't even know
what an obleak is, and I and I and I
don't know if you give him some massage or rub
(04:13):
it down or whatever it takes. But that can't happen,
and so and it's just strange. And they're playing against
the Seahawks. They're playing against the team that are so
darned banged up yet still have found a way to
win a lot of games in this National Football League.
The Niners Courts lost Kittle right in the in the
last game, and and they've been banged up all season long.
(04:35):
But when you lose a quarterback, that's a whole different deal.
They can't lose them. Sam's got to figure out how
to play and play well.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah, no, no doubt. Steve Maryushi, NFL Network Analyst, NFL
Game Day Morning air Saturday at nine am, Sunday at
eight am on the NFL Network. By the way, so
check them out on the on the on the tube
over the weekend. But Steve, I guess I'm just trying
to think about this game in terms of the Week
eighteen contest. And you know, if that was a game
where you know, one quarterback through four picks and a
(05:04):
couple of guys had some you know, fumbles, wacky stuff whatever.
I could see maybe throwing it out, But that was
such a dominant performance coach by the Hawks. In week eighteen,
they had the ball for thirty eight minutes, for God's sake,
Steve in that game. And now there's no Kittle by
the way, We'll see if Pierce all plays. But why
should things be different than they were in Week eighteen
(05:26):
when it was such a dominant physical performance by the Seahawks.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
It sure was.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And to hold the forty nine ers, who had over
the last three games averaged over forty points a game
and hold him to three is incredible. And daddle Fiacht
have pretty salty defense. And then when they start running
the football with Kenth Walker and the boys and charming,
they they they're.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
A heck of a team.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
And so coach McDonald has done a nice job. They'd
come a long way. They've gotten better since the beginning
of the season when they lost to the San Francisco
forty nine ers at home. I mean, that was dam
Darnold's first game, right, playing with that new bunch of guys,
and and they're starting to get the kinks out. So
you know, they're just a better team right now with
(06:14):
Seattle and uh understandably the number one seed. It's uh,
it's gonna be it's gonna be a heck of a game.
Throw out the records because it's a rival game. We
all know that, right, and uh, it's gonna come down
to who probably who can run the ball the best
and make a couple of big plays in.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
The passing game.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Uh, this brock Curty kid had not lost in Seattle.
He's four and oh up there all right. I just
hate to tell you that, but but brock Curty, mister
irrelevant is really playing well.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Now.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
You guys held them down. Seahawks held them down in
that last game, uh at Levi Stadium. But uh, you know,
even without George Kittle, that was a huge loss because
Kittle was not just a good receiving tight end and
a good blocking tight end. He's he's the he's the
heartbeat of that football team and he's the.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
He's the pulse.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
He's the chemistry guy that keeps it light and keeps
it tough and keeps it everything.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
He's he's my favorite player. In the league, I believe,
and so.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
But they got this kid named Jake Tungus who's going
to play some tight end and he's from cal and
he's from Mysore right here, right here, North Los Gadows,
where I live. And it's quite a story and he's
going to have to make up some of that black.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
But it's gonna be a heck of a game.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
So from a psychological standpoint, how do you try to
get your team to believe that the opponent is dangerous
when you just completely neutered them two weeks ago?
Speaker 4 (07:37):
You know this is this is perfect?
Speaker 3 (07:39):
You know, just looking at the record. I mean the
Niners have had their share of wins against the Seahawks, right,
and so they know, they know about the team, they
know about the rival, they know what kind of players
are still available. Yeah, there's no Bosa and Fred Warner
in that bunch. But Brent Williams is back healthy, that
left tackled. He's as good as there is in the league.
And then the offensive weapons on offense, Christian McCaffrey. He's
(08:05):
not been running the football as productively as he was
in the first half of the season. I'm sure they're
going to try to get that going too, and he's
such a hard guy to defend because he's in the backfield,
he's at the squat, he's playing wide receiver, he's selling popcorn.
I mean, the guy does everything for him and so
they got to find a way to keep his production
to a minimum. He's got the most touches in the
in the league, have four hundred and thirteen touches. It's
(08:26):
hard to believe he's still walking around without a limp.
I mean, the guy has made a steal. And so
I think if it was a team that maybe you're
unfamiliar with and you just beat up a little bit,
but they know each other. These teams, these players and
coaches know each other well. They know how good they are,
how good they can be, and they're preparing for their
a game. They're preparing for the very best effort they're
(08:49):
ever going to see against that opponent. And that's why
it's such a good rivalry right now.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, Well, Steve mary Yucci, again, an NFL network is
with us, and you know, Dick just brought up, you know,
how do you take the opponent seriously? I mean, obviously,
as you said, it's the playoffs, and there's there's real
hate right between these two teams, and Juwan Jennings, you know,
said after the game with the Eagles that this is
who they wanted, they wanted to rematch with the Seahawks.
How much mooch? If you're in that Niner locker room
(09:13):
and you're Kyle Shanahan, can you play up that card?
And how much does that really tangibly mean on game day?
If there is a talent gap, if there is a
physical difference between them and you, how much do you
really think from a tangible perspective the motivation of being
embarrassed in the previous game can really mean on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, a coach will try to use most anything he
can to motivate his team, whether it's disrespect or being
the underdog, or being the wounded or being the whatever.
He's gonna pull at every part string that he can.
But this is a very experienced, prideful bunch. They don't
have a lot of rookies playing over there in San Francisco,
(09:58):
and so they know they're getting into They know that
they have good players and that they are good enough
to win thirteen games this season. Are you kidding me
with this? With this banged up roster. It's unbelievable how
many games they've won. So those backup players are saying, hey,
I matter too, I'm a good player too, I belong
you know. I know I'm replacing Nick Bosa or Bred Warner.
(10:21):
Eric Kendricks made the big play last week on fourth down.
He's their third inside linebacker, and and they just keep
plugging and playing, and you know, it drives me a
little nuts sometimes, like next man up philosophy, you know
what that is.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
That's coach speak, next man up.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
You know, you say that so your team doesn't lose
confidence or feels good about who's playing. But really, uh,
when you have a lot of next man up, you're
not as good as the varsity. Okay, you're you're playing
with backups and they're not as good as the other
guy they're replacing. But so other people have to make
up for that difference. But they just have so much
(10:58):
damp pride over there that they're fine, need a way.
And that's that's why I say Coach of the Year
discussion for Kyle because he's doing it with with with
so many I don't want to say mears, but he's
got a lot of guys that they weren't supposed to
count on that. Are they're they're they're contributing to their
wins this year. So hey, this game's going right down
to the wire. Man, I'm just telling you, I don't
(11:19):
care who the favorite is, who's playing, who's hurt. This
game's going down to the wire because it's too well
coach teams against very prideful organizations, and it is the playoffs.
It's loser go home, And so yeah, I can't wait
for this one.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
Coach the Seahawks and that thirteen to three win use
a very very conservative game plan. Do you anticipate you'll
see that again this week? And and is that the
game plan you'd take into this game or would you
open it up and say, you know, let's let's open
it up, let's throw down field a little bit and
see if we can get this game over early, early,
and score twenty four points.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I think it's both. I think you're going to you're
going to say, all right, we feel good about running
the football. We like our matchups with our big guys
against their big guys, so we think we can make
some first downs on the ground and choose some clock. Yes,
but then it's but then they say, hey, we've got
some weapons too that We've got a veteran quarterback and
Jack Jackson Smith and Jigbell that can make big plays
(12:21):
from anywhere, anytime. So we've got to have some of
the some new plays, new wrinkles that they have not
prepared for just yet to take our shots. You can't
score enough points by just bunting. You can't just run
the whole game. You got to have chunk plays. You
got to have shot plays and some big plays if
you want to score twenty four plus points. And so
I'm sure they've got that up their sleeve too. You know,
(12:43):
it's not going to be a completely new game plan.
These are two good teams that part of their their
build is, hey, we're going to do what we do best,
and so if we can change up formations or personnel
groups and a wrinkle here and a wrinkle.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
There, yes we'll do that.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
But it's whoever blocks and tackle the best, and who
throws and catches the best and take care of the football.
I don't think it's gonna rain.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Is it? No? No, it should be good.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Yeah, if I stay with fifty degrees, it should be
Whether should not be a factor the crowd is always
a factor up there. We know that they're going They're
counting on the twelves to screw up a snap counter
or a motion or a formation once in a while.
So anyway, let's tee it up. It's gonna be a
good one.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Guys, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Hey mooch, before you go quickly, we got about thirty
seconds Rams, Bears. What do you see happening in Chicago?
Speaker 4 (13:32):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (13:32):
I think the Rams have the better roster, the better
team obviously, the more experienced quarterback, and the best receiving duo.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
In the league with Kuka the Coup and demonte Adams.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
If it's windy over there in Chicago, that'll be a
factor because the Rams are a past kind of first
offense and that could be now Matthew Stafford has played
over there many times as a Ram and a Detroit Lion,
right so, and this Bears team, it's just kind of
the Cinderella story of the of the league. I mean,
they come from behind, usually in the last two minutes
(14:06):
of the game to pull off a miracle and it's
been like, are you kidding me?
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Here we go again.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
So obviously I think the Rams are the better team.
But there's there's just the stars seem to be aligned
for the Chicago Bears and they just are having a
They're having a heck of a season. Miraculous by the way,
for our first year Ben Johnson, head coach.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Steve, you're the man. Great stuff. We'll tell Mike you
said alone, so luck Yeah, enjoy the weekend and we'll
talk down the road.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Man, all right, let's do that.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Thanks for having me on, guys, I appreciate it.
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