SPLATTERING | 49ers - Seahawks PLAYOFF POSTGAME

[00:00:07] Speaker A: All right. Dieter and Hutch, me and Gray's able. Are not allowed to be in a room together. It would break the space time continuum. So did the Seahawks today. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Yeah, they broke. They broke everything. They broke all of the things. They broke Christian McCaffrey. They broke the 49ers spirit. Yeah, it was. Well, listen, it was the most logical way for this to go. [00:00:33] Speaker A: We absolutely. I think about every five minutes when we were trying to break this game down yesterday, which felt like a month ago, we reminded people, like, just remember that there is a very real circumstance that is perhaps even the most likely possibility that this game just goes way off the rails in favor of Seattle. And boy, did it ever. Opening kickoff for a touchdown and off to the races from there. [00:01:00] Speaker B: And it's funny because you can come back for that. Kyle made like, this sort of fairly obvious point that it's like. Well, it's realistically like they could have just scored on their opening drive and it would have been the same thing. But I think the main difference is that there's no Sam Darnold jitters. There's no opportunity for a turnover. There's no ability for the business to tighten up for the. Not the business. For the. For the building tighten up for the fans to get stressed. Right. There's no. [00:01:30] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a front running team, right, Jake? Like, and they were front running literally from the first play of the game. And yeah, I think that that's a great point with the fans because Cam Inman and I were sitting next to each other. I love coming up here. I think they do a great job for us. It's always a cool atmosphere, but we did feel it was a little subdued going in. And we're like, huh? You know, we've been up here for some big games before. This doesn't feel commensurate to those games. And that didn't mean anything. You were just kind of wondering if that was a feeling that might turn into something. And then I thought there was an earthquake after that opening touchdown because it was literally rattling the stadium. [00:02:14] Speaker B: It's rare when you can hear it on the broadcast. And I went, God damn. [00:02:19] Speaker A: Yes. And to be fair to the 49ers, there was a moment where I thought, oh, it might be on now. It might be on now. 17 to 6, they get that third down stop. It's a third and one run. They get no gain. And our favorite defensive tackle, Jordan Elliott, who was nowhere near the play, decides to hold. Decides to hold. Sundell. What was Sundell going to do? And they keep going. They then, you know, convert another third down later in that drive on a third and 10. And I don't know, we don't need to. In a weird way, it was exactly as we called it, like time of position or time, you know, field position, special teams, time of possession. Who can stop the. Who wins on first down? All those kind of trite, obvious statements. And at the same time, it was like, oh, these guys are really broken. Like they were so dead. [00:03:21] Speaker B: I found it particularly enjoyable that this game, particularly once McCaffrey went out, like the entire. The entire. Not that this was the game plan, but the only way that the Niners could move the ball was Brock running for his life. And the offensive line was like kind of holding up. [00:03:41] Speaker A: But they gave him the clean. They gave him the clean windows, right? What did I say I wanted? Predictable collapses. [00:03:46] Speaker B: Yeah. And then he'd run around and find stuff. And Juwan Jennings had that one ball strip, but Brock made. And also, I gotta say, I. I know we shouldn't start here. Luke Farrell just not even trying, not even in iota just going, he can have it to Ernest Jones. Just. It's a. It's a bad ball from Brock. Like he should have done it. It's behind Feral. [00:04:11] Speaker A: That's a. Know your personnel situation. [00:04:13] Speaker B: But Luke Farrell throws like. Throws like a little sashay hand at it, brother. [00:04:20] Speaker A: Brutal. [00:04:20] Speaker B: What are we doing? [00:04:22] Speaker A: He also, he also earlier in the game was. He was awful in run blocking. And I had written it down twice where it's just like, dude, you're here to set the edge. And he would engage in the block and then after half a second would be like, my work here is done. And those guys would jump off and go make the tackle. And ironically, I thought the Niners actually were doing a pretty good job for most of this game. Not that it mattered because it was 17 to nothing at one point pretty early, but they were doing a pretty good job in this game. Like turning what was in the prior game in Week 18, like minus one, minus two into two or three. Like, I thought McCaffrey looked bouncy and good. And then it's like, here's Brian Robinson, who won't do that for you. [00:05:08] Speaker B: How about that two yard game? That was a very well blocked run. That could easily be 4, 5, and then turns into a stall drive, which I saw as soon as he didn't get it. I went, that's going to be a. Because now the Seahawks. Had to get. They couldn't sneak it, which understand you could. You probably Could. And you might get it if you do it twice. But I also get like, you don't want to get Brock hurt. You don't want to just funnel it into a nightmare situation against a big front. The other thing I, I want to mention is the Renardo Green thing. I wonder from your perspective where he sort of gets pulled for that one play and then Siegel sort of doing nothing back there, and then Luder gets beat real good. Siegel had like some good moments and some God awful moments in this game. [00:05:57] Speaker A: Yes. I kind of felt bad for him. [00:06:01] Speaker B: It's. It's a rookie that, you know, he made mistakes. Well, I'm not going to defend those. [00:06:06] Speaker A: It's the same way he got burned a couple times in that he was like, in phase in position. He just didn't make the play, which you have to do. I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, no, no, like, it wasn't good. It was his first start since October. I know that we forgot that because. [00:06:23] Speaker B: He came at a few more reps, but. [00:06:26] Speaker A: Right, but. And you can see the potential there. And you talk to people in the locker room and they're like, oh, yeah, he's gonna be a stud. And it's like, so why was he just sitting on the bench? [00:06:36] Speaker B: Even the one tackle that, like, was resulted in touchdown, you go, oh, that's. He missed the tackle. It's like, yeah. He was also the only person on the team with enough speed to actually be in a position where he could theoretically make the tackle when the entire contain failed. And he was the last chance. What I wanted to say is, do you think Kyle was extremely pissed at Ronaldo Green because he thought he was baiting for an interception? Is my question. [00:07:00] Speaker A: Oh. [00:07:02] Speaker B: Or because he just. He didn't know the play correctly. [00:07:05] Speaker A: Yeah. To answer that question specifically, no and yes. So it was funny. Grant Cohn asked me as soon as that play was over, like, what was that coverage? And I'm like, that's the clearest cover 2 I've ever seen in my life. And then Kyle pulls Renardo Green off the field. And I go, oh, I guess it wasn't supposed to be cover two, because he is reaming into him right now, just absolutely going full Sirianni on his ass about that. And this is something I. I've had a lot of these conversations. I'm sorry, it's all a blur. I've been up since 4, but, like, I've been talking about Ronaldo Green a lot this week with people, presumably you in that process and how you feel really Optimistic about Renardo Green, the football player, as, like, his physical skill set, his ability to cover all this stuff. And the knucklehead of it all, I mean, he just. They had to stop running cover 6 a quarter of the way through the season because he couldn't do it. Even though he was physically capable, he just wouldn't remember it's cover six. It might be the reason why Jair Brown started is because they thought, oh, well, maybe Siegel wasn't communicating the play well enough. And so we need somebody with a clearer voice. And it's like, no, he just. He just doesn't get it. He just doesn't get it. And it's his second year, and that's not to say that he maybe doesn't get it next year, but, like, yeah, he just doesn't know the plays a lot. And in fact, that was a big issue for this Niners team today. There were so many, like, Dee Winters did not know the plays most of the time. The amount of times where you see D. Winters standing there, like, early on. [00:08:56] Speaker B: Pretty clearly where he was asked, he. [00:08:58] Speaker A: Was asking, yeah, Second half, he was doing the same thing. And it's like, dude, why are you playing? [00:09:03] Speaker B: I got it. [00:09:05] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, I get Eric Hendricks has been in the league for 10 years, but, like, didn't you just play like 18 games? Like, what are you. I know that you guys are being a little bit more aggressive than you've been at any point this season, but how do you not know the plays? How do you know. How do you not know the terminology by now? I get it. When you're dealing with guys who were signed off the street, guys who, you know, we're delivering Uber eats, and they gave him a jersey. Like, I get all that. But Dee Winters not knowing the plays, the offense, Brian Robinson not knowing the play, which. Can we just talk about that for a second? So that they. Robinson comes in. Yeah, well, that's the great question of the day. I'm talking about the most incredible 1 yard double reverse flea flicker I've ever seen in that they called the timeout right before that play. Didn't change the play, at least to my knowledge, seeing as it was set up the exact same way. But Robinson gets bumped out and Kyle just got timeout. Timeout. And he's leaning into Robinson and it's like, so he didn't. I guess he went to the wrong split or something. They run it again. He's in the right spot. The play doesn't work at all. Maybe don't throw screens to DeMarcus Robinson, like, that ain't his bag, baby. But it's. It's stuff like that where it's like, you can't. Of all the. Of all the challenges that you had in this game, you can't also have a bunch of guys who don't know the plays. And if I had to levy one criticism on the coaching staff in this game, it's that their guys were clearly not ready. I'm not. It goes on the players because there were plenty of guys who did get it, but the lessons that were being taught were not registering with, let's just say the. The players that needed the most attention from the teacher and that burned them. Amongst so many other things tonight. [00:11:00] Speaker B: Yeah, they had to be perfect. And there was just an amount of things not going right. And. And it's clearly like Pearsall wasn't right. And so they were just sort of having him run routes and try and open. Open up stuff. [00:11:13] Speaker A: And he was open a lot, actually, from my vantage point. But Brock couldn't see him because Brock was like, I'm gonna die. [00:11:20] Speaker B: Because. [00:11:20] Speaker A: Yes. [00:11:21] Speaker B: Show replays ever. And I'll. I mean, how about on. How about on the. The. That flea flicker attempt and they didn't show a single replay? [00:11:28] Speaker A: And I'm like, it's a double reverse flea flicker and you don't want to show how it failed. [00:11:34] Speaker B: No. No. And clearly Brady's not getting the replays either because he's wildly confused. My dad said he watched silently. [00:11:43] Speaker A: But it's. [00:11:43] Speaker B: It's something where it's like, immediately after this game. First of all, my first thought is, besides Luke Farrell and all that, immediately I started watching tight end tape because I go, like, I don't know how this offense is going to function unless they get a mean motherfucking tight end who can replace some of what George Kittle can do or at least be a competent, physical human being and be the right size. My immediate takeaway is there's a lot of, like, soft long boys playing tight end. [00:12:14] Speaker A: College. College tight end. [00:12:16] Speaker B: Yeah. That are just large wide receivers. [00:12:18] Speaker A: Just wise. [00:12:19] Speaker B: Some of those translate, some of those guys don't. It's hard to tell. I typically don't love them. There's a couple guys that are outliers. And then so I'm like, all right, I guess. I guess they're signing Chiga. Conqua is probably. [00:12:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Might as well get ready to learn. Johnny Smith, buddy. [00:12:36] Speaker B: But you immediately. I immediately go to like, how do you fix this team? And like we talked about last week, the defense, I think, is in a pretty good spot. I think you need one more murderer at defensive tackle. I think you need a guy who, like, wreaks havoc. [00:12:54] Speaker A: Yeah, they could have really used a. [00:12:55] Speaker B: Milton Williams or something, but a shout out CJ West. I mean, good Lord, what a beautiful. [00:13:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I didn't have him. He missed a couple tackles in the run game, so I didn't have him. I also was kind of operating on the premise of this would be a good game to pull for the first time in 10 years, a no studs. Studs and duds column. But, yeah, like West Jordan, James Purdy, probably not the beautiful, resplendent Eddie Pinero. [00:13:29] Speaker B: I mean, no one has ever kicked a football straighter. It's funny, though, because people are like, well, special teams is solved. It's like John Weeks and Thomas Morstead are 39 years old. [00:13:38] Speaker A: I talked to Thomas. I talked. I talked to Thomas Morestead after he says that he would like to come back if they'll bring back Weeks with him. [00:13:46] Speaker B: That's a beautiful answer. And that's what they need to do. They need. [00:13:49] Speaker A: I see no reason not to, because John Weeks was impeccable as a long snapper. Morstead was damn good. [00:13:56] Speaker B: Yeah, it's because he's shaped like the football. [00:14:00] Speaker A: I love him. I can't get enough of him. Never talk to him. But that was my big mistake of the year. I didn't just get, like, the full lowdown from John Weeks, but every time. [00:14:09] Speaker B: I saw his general vibe, absolute unit. [00:14:14] Speaker A: And every time I'd see him, this is so bad, because I don't know the guy at all, but every time I'd see him, he's in that corner in the locker. He's in the back left corner by Brock in the locker room. And every time I saw him, he was just chowing down, just going to town on a takeout box from the cafeteria. And I'm like, I don't want to interrupt him. It looks like he's feeding. No one ate harder in that locker room than John Weeks. And I'm sure it's just because he's an impeccable athletic machine that is efficient in all things that he does. And eating is a waste of time where he could be snapping. [00:14:53] Speaker B: Of course, there was a Warriors account that was like saying an unknown player got in trouble for taking home meals. And I went, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Of all the. Of all the things to get in trouble for, taking advantage of the free food at the facility is something I absolutely Would do. [00:15:10] Speaker A: Yeah. But enough about Gary Payton Jr. [00:15:12] Speaker B: I know. What were. What were your other takeaways? I mostly just got into personnel. I thought about where. Where they try and evolve the scheme because they're in this. This problem where if Salah leaves, then you're trying to figure out what the scheme is next year once again. [00:15:32] Speaker A: And there's. [00:15:33] Speaker B: There's just an element of, like, you need to find. And it's like they have Gus Bradley in the building. But that doesn't feel like the answer to me at all. [00:15:41] Speaker A: Oh, I sure hope it's not the answer because you saw that Indianapolis defense last year and. And it was. [00:15:47] Speaker B: He's certainly there. He's certainly. [00:15:49] Speaker A: Yikes. Yikes. A Roni. [00:15:53] Speaker B: Also, I will say coaching interviews, too. [00:15:57] Speaker A: Yeah, Kyle said that he expects both of those, but. Yeah, you legitimately don't know. I mean, it'd be kind of weird if Mike McDaniel doesn't get hired, but, you know, Clay Kubiak does. Can't both. Kubiak can't be head coaches. And I honestly think Clay probably has a better claim than Clint right now. Clint will get the job. Get a job somewhere. Sam Darnold threw for like 124 yards today. [00:16:21] Speaker B: Like, I know it was funny. I was looking at tweets that are like, Darnold was slinging it. I'm like, what. What the are we talking about? [00:16:26] Speaker A: He looked fine. Except on that deep ball on third and two. What the hell was that bad? [00:16:31] Speaker B: I was just like, of all the takeaways from this game that is not on the offense. Kenneth Walker was just every outside zone play that none of the linebackers could scrape and there and. Or like they were attacked on the edge. [00:16:48] Speaker A: That. That was my big takeaway in. As objectively awesome as the linebackers looked against the Eagles, turns out that was the Eagles. I made the joke. It was a joke, but it was also the truth. You know, like, my tweets during the Eagles game was like, oh, this is not the Seahawks defense. And this entire game was like, oh, this is not the Eagles offense. And Darnold, listen, it was a very weird pre game with Darnold. He's clearly, you know, shot up on all sorts of cool stuff that is, you know, totally controlled subs. [00:17:24] Speaker B: Like, well, we knew the tour at all would kick in. [00:17:26] Speaker A: And yeah, like, we are. We are. So because of that Broncos game, by the way, what goes to overtime, they delayed the start of this one, which everyone knows, because you're all Niners fans and you were watching the Game and you're like, where's my football, by the way? They should have delayed it a little longer, given the. The outcome. But like, we're legitimately being like, does this fuck up Sam Darnold with the tour at all? Like, like, I don't know because, like they can get them before the game. It takes like 20 minutes to kick in. And then how long has it kicked in? And then at the end of the first half, does you know he's got to get the other shot Also, let's not forget, like, this is how Justin Herbert got his first NFL start. Just tore it all to the ribs, Punctured my lung. Shout out Tyrod Taylor and Dr. David Chow. But I just love that the guy who is familiar. [00:18:23] Speaker B: This is all accurate. This is all exactly what happened. Our Taylor just took a syringe to the lung. [00:18:29] Speaker A: Took a syringe to the lung and collapsed his lung. [00:18:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:33] Speaker A: Right before our game. Week one. [00:18:35] Speaker B: I think maybe three doctors just winging it. [00:18:40] Speaker A: You know, people. People are constantly saying that the Niners need to get like a new health and whatever. It's like I couldn't even tell you. Probably. Sure, let's go with that. You know, we're operating on power substation conspiracy theories now, so we've broken contained there. But I remember when there was a time in this beautiful National Football League where we all knew who the worst team doctor was. And it was Dr. David Chow of the San Diego Chargers. And there was no question about it, it was like, who's your worst ref? And it's like, oh, Ron Torbert. It's like, oh, okay. Like we all just know that. By the way, I knew that there was weird voodoo in this game. And I'm like, I can't put my finger on it. And then somewhere in the first quarter, I see a cut to the sidelines. It was probably like the Renardo Green thing. And there's Ron Torbert just like on the sidelines, like as like the extra referee or basically. Actually, you know what I think he was doing is I think he was like the emissary from the Manhattan office which basically refereed the entire game. So this is a weird playoff thing. [00:19:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:44] Speaker A: Where you don't really know it. [00:19:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:46] Speaker A: Where they just get replay assist on everything. So the refs do a lot of just standing around. Now Fox probably broadcast that because they don't do replays for some reason. So they just. It's like an extra long period of time of unnecessary close ups to players, heads and coaches and like, hey, let's show the other team's quarterback on the sideline five more times. But there was so much just standing around not making a call. And then, forgive me, I forget, I forget the ref's name for this game because he really didn't ref it being like, the call on the field is this now. And it's like, okay, so you threw a flag, then they told you to pick it up and you had to cover it for tv, where it's just. [00:20:27] Speaker B: There, they've made the decision and. All right, well, now, well, now we have to go and pretend to review it, even though New York has already reviewed it and they've decided and it is the, the correct call, right? [00:20:39] Speaker A: No, yeah, Like, I appreciate that it's the correct call, but, like, are you gonna say, why even bother having the ref. [00:20:46] Speaker B: There's an element to slow motion replay where I think Chuck Klosterman was giving this take where it's like, yeah, you kind of just like, if someone seems like they came down with the ball live. Yeah, shouldn't we just give it to him? Shouldn't that just be a catch? Rather than being like, it's, it's, it's. [00:21:01] Speaker A: Spirit of the law, letter of the law. And last time I checked, sports should be about the spirit of the law and fairness. Right In. The perceived concept of fairness in sports is not literal fairness. It's. It's competitive fairness. And we can even get into some go full Cloisterman on this. We can even get into the animal kingdom aspect of things, which is like. So I did make the analogy that this game was like the Seahawks just looking like an apex predator playing with their prey, because they kind of did. But there is like a rule of three I've heard in nature where if, like two dogs are playing, the big dog will let the little dog win one out of every four times to create this semblance of fairness. And it's like that spirit of the game, like that it's so that we're having fun. Whereas if you're just calling everything by the book, like, you couldn't have a football game. So I don't like all this instant replay. In fact, I think we should get rid of instant replay and just let everyone be mad about missed calls, because I think it's better for the spirit of the game. [00:22:03] Speaker B: I, I genuinely agree. Where I come to at the end of this is there's a lot of fans that are understandably just feel whatever you want to feel after a game. It's the playoffs, they're upset I guess I. But. But my point. Let me finish. Is that, like, there's like, a level of logic that I think a lot of fans reject in the pursuit of rooting for the team. And if. And that's fair, you root for the team however you want to. But, like, logically, this team is. Team is dead. Oh, Parity of the season. And just died more and more and more. And the fact that they got to this point is quite literally a herculean effort. They had no business being. They had no business even competing in this game. And I think there's an optimistic and pessimistic view. And I think where I'm at is, like, you try and assess, okay, they did all this great. You look towards next year. And I think most people want to say, all right, well, this puts us in a better position next year. Like, we've been through this. And I. And I'm just trying to go through the roster and think logically, will they be in a more advantageous position next year? And yes, because you should theoretically get Nick Bosa back and Mikel Williams and you'll get Fred Warner back. You'll be healthier. But you're also like, Christian McCaffrey just had 400 touches. Trent Williams is a year older. You need a wide receiver. You need at least one tight end. You need a lot of pieces on offense. Defense could use some. And Seattle's defense is going to stay young and is going to look pretty much the same. [00:23:38] Speaker A: They're all the third youngest team in the NFL. [00:23:41] Speaker B: They'll replace Anthony Bradford. Like JSN is sticking around. They've got young tight ends. They didn't even have Elijah Arroyo who might like. And I'm just seeing. [00:23:50] Speaker A: Or Tory Horton. [00:23:51] Speaker B: The NFC West. Right. In the context of the NFC West. Oh, yeah. I didn't even think about my boy, my favorite wide receiver that they don't have. Right. Like, in the context of the NFC West, 49ers have to take, like, a leap in terms of personnel if they. And they can win without that because of coaching or just like getting an edge a different way. But logically speaking, logically speaking, they need to make a leap in terms of personnel, particularly on offense and adding depth and key positions on defense. And I think they're in a disadvantaged spot relative to Seattle and probably even the Rams. [00:24:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:31] Speaker B: But you can make a case for the Rams that they're in a better spot. [00:24:34] Speaker A: The Rams window, though, is as long as Matt Stafford's career, so you can at least take some solace in that. Like, so much of what they are really, really good at doesn't matter if they're in quarterback purgatory. Like, this Seahawks team was up until this year and might still even be in. But they're so good. It just doesn't matter because, like, I think I said it earlier. I'm sorry if I did. Like, Darnold's Garoppolo, and so hard right now. He's just along for the ride, baby. And you know what? More power to him. Because at least, unlike. Unlike number 10, he can rip it every now and again. And this offense is predicated on, okay, hey, if we're going to take the deep shot, we need you to nail it. And he does that most of the time, as opposed to Garoppolo, who did it very infrequently. And there would be games where it's like, okay, we need you to rip it. And he's like, what if I do that once in New Orleans and then never again? [00:25:37] Speaker B: He's like, what if I. What if I convince everybody I'm a good quarterback? And then I air mail it over Emmanuel Sanders by about 15 yards. [00:25:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And by the way, this. It feels so inevitable that the Seahawks, like, get to a Super bowl. And then it's like, hey, Sam Darnold, you need to complete the greatest throw of your life, which isn't that complicated, like, but you need to make the play for us to win the Super Bowl. And he's like, see you guys later. We had a good time. There is, like, it feels like that's inevitable for them. [00:26:13] Speaker B: No question. It feels like. And because of the Broncos thing, it gets weird, but there's, like, such a world where the super bowl is just 13 to 10 at the most, where it's just. [00:26:26] Speaker A: You're telling me that this Texans. This Texan Seahawks super bowl might not be great television. [00:26:32] Speaker B: I kind of think that's where we're headed. I think that that's the most logical route. I think that's where we're headed. Where to? Miko doesn't call a single blitz the entire game. [00:26:43] Speaker A: Doesn't. [00:26:44] Speaker B: They don't even. They don't even call a single other coverage. They just. They say, we're gonna run cover three. Yeah. Just run cover three every play. [00:26:53] Speaker A: Both teams agree before the game. Like, what if we didn't do offense today? And it was just like a special teams and defense battle? Like, that would. That would make them the most happy. Woody Hayes is smiling from hell on this one right now. It's. Yeah, I think that is a point of frustration that I will accept from Niners fans after this because, like, they've been playing with house money for so long, and just I won't be able to get through all of it. But, like, very quickly, let's not forget that after week one, we're like, jesus Christ. You lost Kittle and Purdy, and then Kittle didn't come back. And then you got Mac Jones for. [00:27:37] Speaker B: Two games who, like Trent and Puni, injured. Just, like, playing on bad knees the whole season. [00:27:44] Speaker A: Puni's knee is the size of a melon after that. It was disgusting. And he's like, oh, I'll tough it out. And he did. He toughed it out for the entire season. You lose your starting quarterback in week one, he comes back too early, you lose him again in week four. You are just, like, getting by on guile and the power of friendship with Mac Jones at quarterback. You lose Bosa. Week three, you lose Warner. Week six, you lose Mikel Williams, and Ergo, your run defense in week nine, you get Kittle for. Maybe you get kittle for, like, 40% of the season. You get Piersall for, like, 33% of the season. By the way, no playoff catches for Ricky Pearsall. Still, Juwan Jennings has five broken ribs and two twisted ankles. You're starting Connor Colby. [00:28:37] Speaker B: Kendrick. Bourne's out there fucking dancing. [00:28:40] Speaker A: Kendrick, listen. So you usually vacillate a good deal right before the game in terms of, like, I had this prediction, but, like, I'm reneging on it, and I'm gonna just get this on the record right now. And then you change it three more times. And, like, we all do that, right? Like, you get closer and you're like, oh, the vibes in the air are different. [00:28:59] Speaker B: I just want to say something and see how it feels. [00:29:03] Speaker A: And you said, well, we won't get into why you said this, but you're like, oh, I've never been more convinced the Niners would lose. And I'm like, is it because Kendrick Bourne was the guy who just broke the team down in the field right now? And you're like, no, another reason. Again, we won't get into it. But when, like, when they're like, hey, who's going to break down the 49ers before this? A divisional round playoff game against their rival? And it's all just like, Kendrick Bourne is like, let's go get that money. Like, it's like, what does he say before the game to get everyone in the right headspace on, like, yo, I love you. Dogs. I'll see you guys after the game. I'll be out there just running against air for a while like that. It was. It was. It was unserious in. I know they tried their best, but, like, it was unserious in the sense of, like, how could anyone think against this defense, against this defense, that this game would have been deeply competitive. [00:30:02] Speaker B: They were in serious lack of, like a Quan Alexander level, passionate meathead. [00:30:08] Speaker A: Yeah, just. [00:30:09] Speaker B: Just a. Dre Greenlaw, Quan Alexander, a type of person who you can talk to off the field. And they are one individual. And then you see them off the field and. And you're. And you're like, oh, you're. Yeah, you're. You're. You would. You would. You would commit a war crime if I told you to in this space? And you. [00:30:28] Speaker A: We talk about this all the time. We need. You need guys with the crazy. You want high character guys, except when they play football, in which case you want people who should be tried at the Hague. And there's just not a lot of that. [00:30:42] Speaker B: Like. [00:30:42] Speaker A: Like, no, it's very hard. [00:30:44] Speaker B: But he's kind of, like, pissy. And he's. [00:30:46] Speaker A: He's always a shit stir. That's the thing. That's his. He. He ain't changing on the field. He's always just kind of a flag. [00:30:54] Speaker B: Him for headbutting Jackson Smith and Jigba in the head. [00:30:58] Speaker A: And, you know, he comes out after the game and it's like, oh, well, if we were healthy, we would have beat him. And it's like, you know, pick your spots. [00:31:05] Speaker B: And then he says. He's like. He's like, well, we. We would have beat him. But also, like, we don't make excuses. It's like, you literally made an excuse. Take the excuse. It's a valid excuse. But then don't say, oh, we don't. The. The platitude of it. [00:31:19] Speaker A: My big takeaway on this game was that, like, it was. Jovial's the wrong word. It was an upbeat locker room. They had just gotten the absolute piss kicked out of them on national television. And they were like, yeah. [00:31:39] Speaker B: They're like, yeah. I mean, Trent. Trent almost. I love Trent. And he's almost like. He's like, we. He literally said we were playing with house money. He's like, we had no. We had no fucking business being here. [00:31:49] Speaker A: Do you expect? That was kind of the general tone, but they're like, we like, listen, like, there was a path in which we could have won this game, and that would have been cool. But also, we're like, not going to pretend as if we weren't showing up. Like, imagine if they had, like, Eric Kendricks breaking this team down before the game. How would he have started that? Like, first off, my name's Eric, guys. Nice to meet you. Let's go. Let's go beat him. [00:32:12] Speaker B: Follow. I do like cutesy food content. I was just having fun saw the other day. [00:32:17] Speaker A: Really, really exc. Really excited to be with you guys. Now let's go play a playoff football game. Like, and that's where you're at. Like, who's breaking that team down? [00:32:26] Speaker B: I would agree with his. His food takes. He looks like he's well, and I think. [00:32:32] Speaker A: I think he's. I think he's a winning dude. But they did not win today. They got absolutely steamrolled. And again, I thought that maybe there would be a little bit more of a punch early when they go down by seven. Seattle's like, oh, cool, we can just do that thing we were always going to do in the second half and we'll just start doing this to you now. And they. It's. I got a big honker of a one year old at home and like, just an absolute horse, like a left guard of a one year old. And when I put her to sleep, it's like, first off, you have to like, pin her down and be like, okay, it's time to go to sleep. And she's like, what if I fought you for like 45 minutes straight and like, punch you right in the jaw because I don't want to sleep. And it's like, no, you're very tired. You need to go to sleep. And then when you, like, put her down, you have to kind of like, it's almost like closing a mousetrap or opening one where it's got like, kind of like go to sleep. And then she's like, oh, fine. That's what the Seahawks did the whole game. They just had this horse of a baby and they're just like, it's time to go to sleep. And they just sort of. Maybe a better analogy was they took the pillow over the Niners face and they just sort of held it there for a while, and there was nothing the Niners could do about it. [00:33:50] Speaker B: That reminds me of the last flight I was on where there's a screaming child and the woman just started throwing her to the grandmother and fed her milk, fed her a ton of milk, and she vomited all over the seat and all over the woman next to me. And on. On my things. [00:34:06] Speaker A: My. My parents were Like, I don't know why we went to go see my parents at Christmas. And they're like, I don't know why your kids are so, like, antsy and fussy all the time. Like, just give them the crossbuck. And I'm like, I'm sorry, what? And she's like, oh, no, you just give them the crossbuck. You were the most docile baby ever dieter. Because we would feed you like, riced milk out of a bottle, which you're not supposed to give babies rice, but that's fine. I didn't turn out totally fucked up at all. And they would cut the nipple of the bottle so that it could get, like riced milk through. And apparently I was so fat and docile that they never heard from me. And then that really backfired. Cause now I'm very loud. Still fat, but very loud. [00:34:47] Speaker B: I'm glad we've gotten to that point of the podcast. [00:34:50] Speaker A: These were the things that you think about when the score is 41 to 6. Know you're working through some deep analogies. [00:34:56] Speaker B: Here it is. It is something where I. Once that kickoff happened. You go, there's just. There's just no way. I. I just think, yeah. I mean, and. And no, there was a path because. Because it. You. We felt that. And you go, all right. And then they're sort of like clobbering them and they. The Niners put a few good drives together and sort of claw their way back in. And they did have paths, but it was like, I think getting the building that active immediately does matter where you're like, you want Darnold to feel jittery from the start, and he never had to feel that. You want him doubting whether his, like, oblique is okay. And that was just never part of the picture. [00:35:38] Speaker A: You want. You want him having to throw the football on first and second down. And they never forced him to do that. They never put the game in Sam Darnold's hands. [00:35:47] Speaker B: He. [00:35:47] Speaker A: He was just a caretaker. [00:35:49] Speaker B: Are you going to take your victory lap on the speed option? You haven't done that yet. Incredible prediction. [00:35:56] Speaker A: I know all their trick plays. They don't have that many. And they. So the way that it was described and how it went wrong was because Seattle keeps everything in tight formation. Defensively, they thought that they could get a one on one on the edge and they could run read option with a fullback, which is how you would run it. Right? [00:36:18] Speaker B: Right. [00:36:19] Speaker A: Turns out they left two unblocked on the edge. Starting to think that maybe your wide receivers aren't that good at blockers. And, well, two versus two is not a great play to run speed option with, so. And they ran it to the. They ran it to the. To the boundary side. [00:36:36] Speaker B: I know that didn't make any sense. [00:36:38] Speaker A: They. They. That's not unique. They did that in Chicago. [00:36:42] Speaker B: It's also like, you see that with the defense sometimes, too, where you're like, oh, the Seahawks are going to run left here, and the defense is, like, standing there and you're like, they're. They're gonna go that way and then. [00:36:53] Speaker A: What you guys gonna do nine yards. [00:36:55] Speaker B: And it's like, ah, shucks. [00:36:57] Speaker A: There's also. There's also this element, and I. I don't see it. When you watch the all 22 of Kenneth Walker, you have one impression. When you watch him in person, you get a different impression. That dude's just making it up every time he touches the ball. He's awesome. Don't get me wrong. This is not a knock. [00:37:13] Speaker B: Waiting. He's just waiting and waiting, and he's like, no one's gonna tackle me. I guess I'll keep going this way. [00:37:18] Speaker A: And see if he's just. He is just running his own play every set. He's just coming up the floor and he's like, I'm a rover, coach. I'm going rover because everyone's blocking to the right. And he's like, what if I take this hand off and immediately go left? There's no, like, foot in the ground or anything. I'm just going left because I don't see any people over there, so I'm going to go that way. [00:37:40] Speaker B: It's. [00:37:40] Speaker A: It's crazy. [00:37:41] Speaker B: It's pretty fascinating to watch. Like, it just happened again and again and again. You went, all right, I guess this will keep happening. Speaking of running, then he started. Yeah, go ahead. How about Jordan James debuting for the season? [00:37:54] Speaker A: I mean, that's a good tell. That was a good tell. When we're like, is that Jordan J. First off, I had looked up Jordan James because he came around. Jordan James was on the very peripheral on the kick. Touchdown. And I'm like, who. Who missed on the outside? And then you're like, oh, it was Jordan James. And then you're like, oh, boy. Chase Lucas also missed that one. That was fun. But it is. Yeah, that. That was. He looked pretty good. He looked pretty spry. I mean, not sure what it's worth, but yeah, I mean, it's not like they were going to. You think Isaac Garendo sitting there, like, it could have been Me. It should have been me. [00:38:32] Speaker B: No, they can't. No, it won't. [00:38:34] Speaker A: How fast did they come? [00:38:37] Speaker B: Desperate. Desperate need of just drafting a bunch of offensive players. I think on defense you say, let's get one defensive tackle and one player in the secondary, and then we just draft as many phys, as many dudes as we possibly can to get more athletic on offense. Because outside of Pearsall, who hasn't been healthy and most of his career, you don't have really any speed. And McCaffrey, like, are we really going to count on him? Like, he just had 400 touches this year. [00:39:10] Speaker A: No. Yeah, he's. It's. It's not going to go good for him next year. Like, sorry. Like, it'd be incredible if it was. But like, as Kyle described, like, he emptied the tank every week and you're like, that doesn't feel good for your engine if you're constantly running out of gas consistently. [00:39:26] Speaker B: And he has that pattern of like having like a crazy high touch year the fall. [00:39:30] Speaker A: He's an old running back. That's how it goes. You're lucky if you get the upswings down. No, he's not a big dude. He's an absolute horse, but he is not a big dude. Listen, they have to have a productive off season. They can't just rest on their laurels. I mean, this goes without saying, but, like, let's say it right, like, they need to be aggressive, sharp and effective this off season or they're going to finish in third place again. Because I'm with you. I'm with you with the whole, like, okay, you can say, oh, well, we're going to be really good in the nfc. And I do think, like, a sneaky positive for this team is that they have a third place schedule next year because the Patriots are going to find out the hard way probably tomorrow. And then next year when they get this number one schedule and are in primetime all the time, it's like, oh, our team, which just drafted in the top five, like, why? Wasn't ready yet and yeah, and so like, you get that now. It's like, oh, great, now I get to play all of the one seeds or the, you know, the division winners all year long, as opposed to this absolute cupcake of a schedule the Patriots had this year. Now, the Niners did have an easier schedule that played off well for them unquestionably, but it wasn't that easy. And they are in the division that had, I think, the three best teams in the nfc. But the Niners were Clearly the third. So, you know, this is my frustration with, like, the Giants in baseball. And it's like, who are you comparing yourselves to? The Cincinnati Reds and, you know, the Milwaukee Brewers? Or are you comparing yourself to the Dodgers? Because last time I checked, if you can win the NL west, you can win a World Series. And if you're trying to just get a wild card and maybe get lucky, that's not a good plan. That's like playing the lottery to make sure that you can pay off your mortgage. So the Niners need to think about, okay, specifically, how do we win the NFC west next year? Because if you can win the NFC west next year, the rest of it should be easy. And right now they are. There's some. There's some. I mean, I did a little bit of pre research on it. Like, there are some. There are some aspects of the Rams that I think the Niners can get when they're right. And I actually think that the Niners, like, the Rams, have a really hard time against tight formations. They got some real questions in their secondary, all these things. Like their defensive line didn't take that step forward this year. You're still over reliant on Stafford and Puka Nukua. They can run the ball like a motherfucker. But we'll see. We'll see. I feel like the Rams are gettable. [00:42:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Right. [00:42:03] Speaker A: But they also have the best coach in the division. And then the Seahawks, like, their susceptibility is that they have a quarterback who is a passenger. That's it. Because you're right. Like, what are they going to do this off season? We'll see what they do with Shahid. [00:42:20] Speaker B: Or they're going to send Anthony Bradford, I would imagine, into the sun. [00:42:24] Speaker A: Yeah, he'll get gulag. [00:42:26] Speaker B: I don't know how. I don't know how. [00:42:27] Speaker A: Well, actually, he'll probably sign, like, he'll probably send like, he'll sign an $18 million contract with like the Panthers or something. Because it's like, oh, he's an offensive lineman on a good team. We should take him. By the way, before we get too far off track, or let me take us further off track. I talked to Brendel about the guys and he's like, I really like Burford. I think he's going to get paid like banks this off season. And I'm like, see a Spencer. [00:42:52] Speaker B: I had that thought. I was looking at that and I was like, yeah, someone will throw him like 12 million, 15 million for I don't know what position, but he's 26. And so, yeah, people don't know what. [00:43:04] Speaker A: They'Re doing when they evaluate offensive line. They just don't. [00:43:07] Speaker B: No. [00:43:07] Speaker A: And so they just throw money at the problem. And that's how you end up with the packers offensive line. [00:43:13] Speaker B: By the way, going back to the schedule thing, I think there's like a sneaky element to like third place teams where you don't get the benefit of like bottoming out and you go, all right, we have to overhaul and like really get premium picks and all that where some of those teams do the Ben Johnson thing and fully turn around. Whereas third place teams, you're kind of like in this weird Merk and Meyer and there's an element where they're. [00:43:36] Speaker A: Well, it's different when you're a third place team that had a shot at the 1 seed in the NFC in week 18. [00:43:42] Speaker B: Correct. [00:43:43] Speaker A: Right. Like, they were. They were this far and yet when you compare them to the team that got it, they're so far, they didn't score a touchdown in this game. [00:43:53] Speaker B: Like, or they haven't scored a touchdown against the Seahawks in two games. [00:43:57] Speaker A: So since week one, they haven't scored a touchdown against the Seahawks. So it is. They have to figure out how they can beat it. And what did you make of their offensive game plan in this contest? [00:44:10] Speaker B: Whatever that was worth getting dominated at the point of attack trying to run the ball so often. It did seem like they went to 11 personnel quite a bit more. But really it was tough to see like how past concepts were developing because one, again, there were no replays, but just felt like a lot of. [00:44:33] Speaker A: That's the reason I'm here, by the way. My editor's like, do you want to go to Seattle? And I'm like, not particularly, but if it's a Fox game, I think I have to go so I could understand what happens on the field. [00:44:46] Speaker B: There was a lot of tundras. There was. Which, you know, I think is actually mostly good until he got stripped because he does feel like he's able to find space and sit down in it and Rock finds an outlet. But conceptually it was hard to understand like what they were trying to attack and how much Pier Saw really helped. I don't know what you saw from the booth, but it was tough. [00:45:09] Speaker A: Listen, Pierce. Pierce Saw was definitely slower out of his breaks today, but he was still getting open. He was just always on the wrong side of the field as Brock is. [00:45:19] Speaker B: Get to the second side of the field really ever. [00:45:23] Speaker A: He did. He did that one time where he is Scrambling to a right, and he's like, 500 to fucking time. Just in the middle of the field, which you're like, There was. He was so open that you're like, okay, that's fine. But also, it was like a Michael Dixon putt, by the way. What a weapon. It does not reflect on television. It is a spectacular, spectacular punt. That guy's incredible. [00:45:48] Speaker B: The Niners having, like, a decent special teams unit. Just completely false. They got. Every kick return for the last, like, three weeks has looked like dog. It's like Brian Robinson is running in slow motion. You watch every single person blocking go like this. Go. Just get sunk back, back five feet. And then I, I. [00:46:09] Speaker A: It's a legitimate thing where it's like, okay, at what point do you watch Brian Robinson just get the ball kicked to him again and again and again and not be able to get anything off of it? And you just, you don't think to yourself, I don't know, maybe someone else. Maybe some Daryl Luder. I don't know. Anybody. Anyone. James. Right. Any other person. Can we just put any other person back there? [00:46:32] Speaker B: All I saw of Dereal Udo on special teams and defense was just turned around going, oh, no. [00:46:37] Speaker A: Oh, it was. It was a. It's the kind of game that if you actually wanted to break it down in a true sense, would be very disheartening. But if you view it in any sort of a macro level, you're like, yeah, that's how it goes. Like, they had one path to win and they immediately got knocked off the road. [00:47:01] Speaker B: I think the reality is that, like, this defense is actually set up fairly well. You're going to have some scheme and conceptual issues when it comes to just stick around. What can they push on that? Yeah, go for it. [00:47:15] Speaker A: Like, what is their scheme? [00:47:21] Speaker B: It's mostly zone, and it was, it was a little bit of COVID six. And then it became really, mostly they, they ran some single high. They ran a decent. Yeah, but they ran. It was the COVID three, Cover four, I feel like, was. [00:47:36] Speaker A: They were pretty dynamic this year, both on purpose and then because guys didn't know the play. And so it became this whole new thing. And then also because at the end, they're just like, I don't know, we're going to make up a cover 12, and we're just going to see what that does. I thought that Salah, and this isn't to say that he did a great job with this. I think that he's probably getting more credit than he deserves because they're like, well you know they're just down to bare bones and it's like I don't know, like shouldn't a great defensive coordinator kind of always elevate where feels like it's just Upton Stout out there most games. Is that, is that good coordination that you're like really good at getting the nickel back to where he needs to go and everyone. So that's neither here nor there. Like I don't think, I think Robert Sala stock as a head coach goes down off of this game full stop. I think it's a harder sell and if there's some narrative element to this other than like he's good looking and charming which might get him a job straight up but like he's a failed head coach of the jets and his defense was not good at the end of the year and it now is pretty obvious as to how they had their good game which was Eagles offense be bad and Jalen hurts be a joke. But like he got carved up Rivers. [00:49:00] Speaker B: Coordinator who got fired. Yeah he was immediately they were barbecue chicken down the stretch of the season. [00:49:08] Speaker A: While still having by the way their, their theoretical starting secondary. Right. Also. So yeah you were down on linebackers. [00:49:16] Speaker B: Defensive coordinator in the league. He might just. [00:49:19] Speaker A: Like I don't know. Well, I, I, I do get the sense and we talked to him a little bit today. I do get the sense that if he gets a head coaching opportunity he'd take it. I, I think he's peeved. Well no, I mean there's been the suggestion that he'll like wait for the exact right spot. I think that he knows that you. [00:49:42] Speaker B: Don'T get that many. [00:49:43] Speaker A: Okay. This 30% of the league needs a coach right now. There's no obviously good candidate if he waits a year that gives more opportunity for you know the, the defensive coordinator in Carolina and the offensive coordinator for the Jaguars and Clint Kubiak and Clay Kubiak and like all these guys who feel like they're probably a year too early and a bunch of guys we don't know about yet and you know some vase 2 year old son to like get a shot at this thing like where that he gets passed over because well he didn't do a great job with the jets and like a year from now is like Jeff Ulbrich look like a better because this is the other aspect of it. Like when you watch the jets post Salah you're like oh this defense, okay. And, and it's Jeff Ulbricht getting to call his own defense. You watch the Falcons at The beginning of this year with Ulbricht, and you're like, oh, okay, there's something there. Because, like, you can see at the end, they weren't talented at all, but they were, like, getting crazy numbers early in the year. And then you're starting to think, like, man, would you rather have Jeff Ulbricht as your head coach or Robert Sala? Because if we're talking defense, which automatically takes you out of the running for a lot of jobs, is he that great of a defensive coordinator? I mean, he's an unquestionably charismatic man. I think that if you're looking for sort of the leader of men thing, you could do a hell of a lot worse. But when you have this many vacancies and this few obvious candidates to the point where Mike McDaniel might get a promotion out of this whole damn thing and a better job, it might be a clear situation of striking when the iron's hot for him. And he just changed agencies. Like, I think that he would take the job if offered, and. And just given the game of musical chairs at hand, like, I think he'll get offered even though he probably shouldn't. [00:51:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I think you're right. There's what, the Cardinals job. He's interviewing for the Titans job. I think tomorrow. [00:51:36] Speaker A: He did two yesterday, and he'll do two tomorrow. [00:51:39] Speaker B: Right, right. [00:51:42] Speaker A: So, I mean, at a certain point, it's like, okay, so it's Halfley looks like he's getting the Dolphins job. Giants is off the table, but you got Steelers and Ravens sitting there. [00:51:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Where. Where did. [00:52:03] Speaker A: Stefanski. Did he go to Atlanta? [00:52:06] Speaker B: I believe so. Yeah. Like the new drop early before this. [00:52:12] Speaker A: Tennessee. I cannot believe I'm saying this, actually, you know, I'm gonna tell the story. Let me tell the story, and then we'll take questions. Unless you have, like, actual football. You want to talk? [00:52:22] Speaker B: No, no. Go for it. [00:52:24] Speaker A: Okay. We're at training camp. I'm exiting the facility. I'm walking up the stairs at Levi's Stadium to leave, go to my car. At the top of the stairs, they have, like, a security check in area. I get to the top of the stairs, and there's a man standing there quizzically trying to figure out what the hell's going on, what to do, where to go. It's Jason Garrett. And I go, this man looks deeply like. Like the. Kind of like, can I help you out? Confused. Right on the phone. He's not like, you know. You know, when. Like, you don't like, hey, you're supposed to meet Me here? Like, where are you? Like, on the phone, texting somebody, talking to the security guard. He's just standing there. And I. I'm like. And he, like, clearly looks like he needs help. By the way, there are several people that he could have asked standing right there. And I go, hi, Coach. Dieter Kernbach, San Jose Mercury News. Do you need any help at all in terms of, like, you know, getting around or, like, getting into the facility? I can help with a call or something. And he looks at me and he just goes like, no. And he turns and just stares into the half distance. And the only comparable I've ever had in my life, and it's obviously from a television. You remember the. The candidate in Washington, D.C. that April and Ben went to work for in Parks and Rec, where he just sort of stares at the wall until they tell him to go do a stump. [00:53:48] Speaker B: Speech until they activate him. [00:53:51] Speaker A: Jason Garrett. [00:53:52] Speaker B: It's funny because, you know, that was based off of a real person. [00:53:56] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, probably many. [00:53:57] Speaker B: I've seen that move before. [00:54:00] Speaker A: I've never been more like, what? Like, it was just such a weird interaction where it's just this clearly confused. Man has no baggage, nothing. He just sort of spawned out of thin air. And I'm like, hey, you know, can I help you get into the facility or anything? No. [00:54:17] Speaker B: No. [00:54:19] Speaker A: All right, Coach. Have a good day. [00:54:21] Speaker B: That's beautiful. [00:54:22] Speaker A: You know what, Know what someone might say, oh, no, I just talked to somebody. They're going to come and get me? Or, oh, yeah, yeah, no, but, you know, this guy's helping me. [00:54:30] Speaker B: No edge to be like, he was confused. [00:54:33] Speaker A: He was confused by my question on top of the situation that he was in. He was like a helpless puppy. [00:54:40] Speaker B: He's like, no one activated me yet. Can you please leave me alone? [00:54:44] Speaker A: And you run into people like this every now and again who haven't operated in, like, a real world in a long time. Alex Rodriguez was a lot like this. You're like, what on earth. What planet do you live on? Yep. That was the only other guy who I've gotten that kind of same level of energy from. When you're like, I'm sorry, what? [00:55:05] Speaker B: Like, what is your friend for life? [00:55:09] Speaker A: Which, you know, he might be the happiest man on the face of the Earth, but with him and his banal analysis, and it's like, well, if you're an owner that doesn't live anywhere near your team, even though it's, you know, Nashville, Tennessee, like, maybe you'd be interested in guy who talks on NBC and says, Nothing of interest. [00:55:24] Speaker B: Didn't A Rod leave a bunch of stuff in his car and get carjacked a few years ago? [00:55:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Outside of Marlowe. [00:55:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, that sounds right. [00:55:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't feel great about that one. For the city of San Francisco. I'll tell you the A Rod story some other time. Holy crap. [00:55:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Let's take some questions. [00:55:40] Speaker A: Let's do that. [00:55:40] Speaker B: Our lovely audience members who've stuck around Vice. I'm not upset about this loss at all. His team had a heck of a run for such a trimmed down roster. Looking forward to next year. That's an extraordinarily reasonable, reasonable, rational response. [00:55:51] Speaker A: And I think it's the right take. [00:55:54] Speaker B: I mean, it's the only, it's the only thing. Why aren't you screaming into the void? Why aren't you yelling at me? And dear for being Seahawks fans is one person I blocked on Twitter was. [00:56:07] Speaker A: Yes. Well, we are Seahawks fans in that we love well played football and one team did that today. [00:56:15] Speaker B: If you, if you get upset by someone saying, wow, that's a sick defense, you're gonna have a tough time going outside and just interacting with the entire. [00:56:27] Speaker A: As I said. And this is why we do, this is why we do the members only thing. Like luckily, and we're very fortunate, like more and more people are finding out about us and watching us and laughing at us or vibing with us, whatever. But then you do, you do get people. And I'm starting to understand now the levitard bit of, oh, you don't get the show. Now. We're not playing any sort of avant garde game. But like this show is not for people who need to have their handheld. This show's not for people who don't want. Listen, we're not going to pretend as if we're geniuses at this or anything, but we are trying to get to the whys and the hows, the what it all means. And I think we do a pretty good job of it. We can always do better. [00:57:12] Speaker B: Pretty good job. And sometimes we're wrong. And then we go, oh, that was a bad take. [00:57:16] Speaker A: That was interesting. But like, we understand, like we've gamed it out, we're coming with a take. You understand there's risk and reward on the takes. Just in the same way if I'm sure the Niners thought they had a good game plan today. And then I guess that game plan didn't work, did it? [00:57:28] Speaker B: Yep. [00:57:29] Speaker A: So it doesn't have to be for everybody. The people who get it, we love you and appreciate You. But we're going to be running into a lot of that. I imagine moving forward of people being like, I don't know these guys, especially. [00:57:41] Speaker B: As we get into draft season, which I'm. Honestly, I didn't. You know, it's funny, sometimes the season ends and you're like, I need some time off. And I was like, no, let's, let's. Because. Because there's an element of like, sometimes you're shocked when like a playoff run ends. Usually with the Niners, you're like, oh, this team's going to the super bowl, this one. You're like, when are they gonna die? [00:58:00] Speaker A: And when can I start looking at 6th round guards? [00:58:03] Speaker B: Move on with my life. When can I start sending Deeter clips of undrafted creation tackles like Frank, beautiful. [00:58:13] Speaker A: Son, you know, let him play quarterback. [00:58:18] Speaker B: Jason Buley asked, why does Kyle not use his rookies? Very high standard for what he expects and stubbornness, I think are the two. [00:58:29] Speaker A: I'm gonna give Kyle. I think I'm gonna give Kyle the benefit of the doubt on this in that this is the NFL and the college game does not prepare most players to play in the NFL where inches are stressed over by coaches who, you know, in the college game. And this is changing. And I do think that, you know, Kurt Signetti's success at Indiana is a pretty clear indication of this change. Now he is also the GM of the team and handles all the recruiting. But like, right, you could win. [00:59:03] Speaker B: And his one qualification is get me beef. [00:59:07] Speaker A: Right. Which has always been the correct answer. But he's like, what if I get full grown men to beat you up? It's like, that's a good, that's a good policy. And then. But like, he's a great coach on terms of technique and intricacies and detail. And most college coaches, and I know roughly 150 of them are just out here trying to court 17 year old boys. Sorry, that's what it is. [00:59:41] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. [00:59:42] Speaker A: That's all they're trying to do. [00:59:43] Speaker B: Football has archetype of what kind of coach you want to be exactly. Do you want to actually coach ball. [00:59:49] Speaker A: Or do you want to just give me them boys? Go get me them boys. And. And if you accrue a tremendous amount of talent, you can have a preponderance to the point where you don't actually need to coach him up all that much because you can just roll better players. And at a certain point in the season, you, you're going to run out of players that are athletic and high quality and the other team won't. And in the NFL, they, I know that this is not exactly true, but it does not matter where you got drafted, it does not matter how much money you make. Whereas in college it's, oh, you're a five star, we'll give you as much time as you need, baby. Oh, we just signed you to do a $4 million like you're our guy. And that's changing now. And you're starting to see how important tacticianship is to winning football games at the NFL level with Kyle Shanahan, the most stickler of all sticklers. Like, you better be really on your P's and Q's. And most guys are not prepared for it. And let's just use Jordan Watkins. They run a rinky dink asshole. Lane Kiffin, he gets them boys, but Lane Kiffin runs. They just sort of feel it out offense. And you know what? If I had to levy a serious claim on Kyle, they do a bad job of identifying the programs that can provide immediate help for them because they have well coached players. And so when you're going in your draft and a wide receiver from Ole Miss, it's like, so you don't have to teach him how to play wide receiver. Like, okay, if it's day three and it was like, that's fine. But you really could have used a wide receiver who knew what the fuck he was doing this year. [01:01:22] Speaker B: That's, that's why they bring Kendrick Bourne back. And even though he doesn't know the plays, they're still like, well, he knows this idea of the scheme. He's close enough, theoretically. Yeah, he knows some of the names of the things. And we know if he knows what he's supposed to do, he'll probably most likely do the right thing. [01:01:39] Speaker A: There's some sort of a floor there. [01:01:42] Speaker B: And it's also like Watkins isn't a big dude, so there's like a blocking element there. Jordan James, it's like also both those guys had injuries and there's a real rush. Once you get after the college season, their bodies tend to break down and they get injured in camp and stuff. Stuff. Because it's a very long process going through the draft, going through all those games, all the combine. They've been working nonstop. They haven't had a summer off they need. So they tend to come in, get some injuries, not quite be ready, be still learning as the season's going and then by that point someone else has been established. [01:02:15] Speaker A: They also all have to put on £25 or lose £25. So they have an entirely different body composition to what they played with at the college level because it's necessary. And stuff happens. You know, your body's different if you are taking and putting on that much weight as part of that process. So it's just a massive level of attrition. You don't. As you just said, you don't get an off season. And so these guys come in and then it's like. Also like, oh, I apparently haven't been playing football my entire life, and now I'm getting. I'm getting thrown right into a PhD. So that's fun. [01:02:48] Speaker B: Yep. We have one more paid question, which I'll just take it. Dr. Rockman asked. Is Grant really that. I'll just say obnoxious in real life. No, that's the thing. Grant's actually lovely. I love talking to Grant. [01:03:02] Speaker A: He might be a genius. [01:03:03] Speaker B: Yeah, he's. [01:03:04] Speaker A: He's got you all. He nailed it. [01:03:06] Speaker B: Grant. Grant's very sharp. He's. He's got his shtick and it works for him. And I love. And I love talking to grand person. He's. He. He doesn't really do the shtick in real life. [01:03:17] Speaker A: He's. [01:03:17] Speaker B: I don't know. I. I enjoy. [01:03:19] Speaker A: I want to be very clear about this. Me and Grant set two seats apart from each other. I am far more obnoxious in real life, unquestionably. [01:03:27] Speaker B: I think that's actually. That's. No, I don't even think that's. That is. [01:03:31] Speaker A: I think that's a factual statement. That said, that said, I really enjoyed about every 10 minutes being like, I think they should run the double reverse flea flicker for a yard again. It's good stuff. [01:03:46] Speaker B: All right, you wanna. [01:03:47] Speaker A: Let's run. You want to run through a couple more? Yeah. [01:03:50] Speaker B: This was another tough week for the Mikel Does Nothing crowd. I haven't heard much from that crowd because he's. I miss him. I miss watching Mikel Williams play football. And it would have been nice to see him side by side with C.J. west and Alfred Collins down the stretch of the season. [01:04:04] Speaker A: It would have been too beautiful for this world. [01:04:07] Speaker B: It's interesting. That's a very appropriate comment. But also this one, they pretty much had the full defense, but only missing Bosa, Warner and Williams. That's. I'm sorry, that's ridiculous. Nick Bose was the top five defensive end of the league. Fred Warner is the best linebacker in the league. Mike L. Williams is an elite rookie. Fight five Tech, four Tech. Whatever you want to call it, those are monumental. Pieces that you shape an entire scheme around. So just. [01:04:40] Speaker A: Just two all pros in your ninth overall pick. [01:04:42] Speaker B: Right cow Chipto. If Sal is gone, who becomes dc? So they have Gus Bradley in the building. I don't think it would be him, but it is. You get later in the cycle and the options become limited. [01:04:54] Speaker A: There's two names. Let me hear Jim Schwartz or Ricky Morris. [01:05:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I think they would go for Schwartz, and then Schwartz is still, like, tied up with Cleveland, and that might. [01:05:07] Speaker A: It's a whole weird thing. [01:05:08] Speaker B: I think Raheem would make a ton of sense. And he's not getting. [01:05:12] Speaker A: Kyle loves her. [01:05:14] Speaker B: Everyone loves Raheem. But isn't Raheem thinking about doing some media stuff? [01:05:19] Speaker A: I don't think that would work out for him. Okay, well, it'll be five defensive coordinators. Five defensive coordinators in five years. [01:05:27] Speaker B: Also, very quickly, Fox, I figured out their entire business model just for football. It's just people. It's just guys talking constantly. Enormous staffs of people yapping into the void. Incessantly speaking. Nothing close up zooms into the void where you don't get any context. You don't learn anything. You're just hearing sounds from guys who did it at one point and did a thing. Hey, I did the thing. Oh, reminds me of time. I did the thing. It's incredible. [01:05:59] Speaker A: This is a big third down. [01:06:00] Speaker B: KB content, and that's their entire model. [01:06:05] Speaker A: Anyway, I think the important part about third down is you don't get another chance out of kb. So you have to. You have to take advantage. You got to take advantage right here. [01:06:15] Speaker B: Oh, he did have pressure in his face. [01:06:18] Speaker A: That's. That's a. That's a big tone setter for the Seahawks. KB. Because now they're up seven to nothing. [01:06:25] Speaker B: You go up 24 to six. That's a big advantage there. KB. It's going to be. Oh, it's going to be tough to come back from this one. Kb. Kb. [01:06:34] Speaker A: Kb, Can I give you a Tom Brady take real fast? [01:06:38] Speaker B: Yeah. I love it. [01:06:38] Speaker A: He needs to eat something. [01:06:41] Speaker B: I agree. [01:06:43] Speaker A: It is jarring. [01:06:44] Speaker B: Very much like the. The LA Ozempic thing that everyone. [01:06:48] Speaker A: It's unbelievable. It's. He is so skinny, and I just felt like an Italian Nona being like, you need to eat something. [01:06:56] Speaker B: He needs to go back to. He needs to slowly revert to his. That infamous Michigan photo. And I watched a clip of him today being like, you know, I hung out with Peyton Manning. We. When. While we were both playing. And. And we hung out in the off season for, like, A week at his. [01:07:11] Speaker A: House, and Peyton pounding beers. [01:07:13] Speaker B: Breakfast. Well, no, no, his breakfast. And he's like, you know, I had two eggs, I had some oatmeal. And Peyton's like, I want four pancakes. I want six pieces of bacon. He's like, you're gonna eat all that? And Peyton's like, yeah, of course. [01:07:25] Speaker A: Yeah. I had a story, but I lost it. [01:07:31] Speaker B: That's okay. Let's rip through a couple more questions. Which niner would you ideally want to take leap on the defense? I will say Alfred Collins. I want to see what more Alfred Collins has. Because if he learns literally one move which is consistently get into the chest, it just learn from Trent Williams, like a snatch trap technique. Basically pull him in and and rip past. If he can learn that or some variation of a consistent rip move, he becomes real dangerous. And he started to anchor a lot better the season went. [01:08:10] Speaker A: This is an interesting philosophical discussion because you could go in three places. I think there are three clear answers here, maybe four. If you're Peter Kurtenbach and you believe that safety is our destiny. Collins is a really good pick because then that gives you a pass rushing interior guy who just has to be reckoned with. Jalen Carter style. The other option is Mitel. And now you have this absolute do it all unstoppable. Miles Garrett's a stretch, but something, you know, to this effect of like, I don't know what you do. [01:08:46] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't think he is anywhere near the end, but yeah, yeah, I. [01:08:50] Speaker A: Know what you're talking, but like just an absolute horse. Maybe Dexter Lawrence is a better example. [01:08:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:58] Speaker A: And then Seagull, you can make the argument because, you know, back end cleans everything up. [01:09:05] Speaker B: Yep. [01:09:06] Speaker A: Then you get into a question of how important to safety. I think the answer, though is Renardo Green in the argument on if you have one bona fide surefire lockdown corner in a division with Jackson Smith and Jigba and Puka Nakua, you can play defense in a functionally different manner because you have that and he has the ability to be that physically, I'm not sure mentally. But if you can get that leap from him, you take away half of a football field. And that feels more system, structurally, tactically important. But this is an argument that I know Ethan Strauss was having. I actually talked to him about it a little bit yesterday. Like, I think he wrote a thing today, like, is Derek Stingley the most important player in football? And I don't necessarily agree with that, but clearly I agree with it to some point because it feels Like Renard is the right answer. [01:10:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I like that. This is Avion Terrell talk. He won't. That won't be the Niners pick. I don't think they would go there. Whatever. He's available. I'm not sure he'd be available, but, my God, I watched him lock up Matthew golden all of last year. [01:10:17] Speaker A: What was he, a random NFL corner? [01:10:21] Speaker B: Oh. What is. What is he, the. The brother of an elite NFL corner? 808ner says. Do you think. Tell me Watkins couldn't line up in the wrong spot, not block like Bourne did all the time? Fair question. Fair question. [01:10:32] Speaker A: No, he could do that. But could he run. But could he run routes at the consistent depth with the right timing and be in the right spot? Probably not, because I actually saw today a couple plays where they had Pearsall in line and Pearsall got absolutely blown up off the line and the play was dead. [01:10:49] Speaker B: I saw them jam him. And then another guy, they passed him off. He also jammed where they just, like, shoved him into a box along the sideline. I went, jesus. Yeah. [01:10:58] Speaker A: Do you. Do you remember that game plan where it's like, hey, if Ricky Piersoll beats us, so be it in week 18? Yeah. That was not their game plan today. Their game plan is like, oh, Pierce, Hall's playing. We're going to make him feel us. [01:11:10] Speaker B: Yep. A hundred percent. Let's see. Matchtags wouldn't be a stream without Deater dropping the most diabolical, questionable phrase you've ever heard. That's accurate. [01:11:20] Speaker A: Which one was that exactly? [01:11:22] Speaker B: Which one was that? Banali. Should we be worried about Nick Martin still in the protocol, or is there just a way to have him on the roster? I think it is like worrying that he went on IR for a concussion, but I also think that was a way to just correct. I think that's what it is, but also kind of rare that you do that for a concussion. And kind of strange. [01:11:45] Speaker A: You take what you can get. [01:11:49] Speaker B: 4 unnecessary is an improvement at left guard. That's a good question. I think. I think they need more general, general athleticism and pop, and it doesn't necessarily need to come from left guard. It would help, I think, Puni not having a knee injury because I. I went back and I just regraded. Not regraded, but I graded wins and losses. In that Week 1 game against Seattle, I was like, puta actually looked pretty good for his knee expanded. Yeah. So could it come from him? Obviously, Brendel's not gonna get. I do think you need to take a swing on some sort of athleticism. Even if that's like fucking Ben Bartch again and saying, all right, he's going to play three games, but there's a little bit of pop there, I think. Yeah, I wouldn't say it's necessary, but I do think it would be. It's an undervalued element of. If they had an actual. They went in like the third round and got somebody who had some real serious athletic upside at left guard. There's a way for that to seriously raise the floor of this offense in the run game and have less of those just meat grinder plays, where it goes nowhere. [01:13:04] Speaker A: I do wonder if that's the best way to attack. If we're thinking about Seattle and la though, in the sense of don't you need to beat them physically? Like, yes, being athletic and being able to move space is part of physicality. But like, no, what I'm talking about punch. [01:13:24] Speaker B: That's what I mean. I'm not, I'm not talking about like the sort of like flowy, like, get out in space and. Okay, I'm talking. [01:13:32] Speaker A: You're talking more like Gray's able athleticism. [01:13:35] Speaker B: Right. I'm talking about they can move, but they also pack a wall, which is a rare breed. But like, you know, because like interior Tyler Booker, which honestly could. Could probably have helped them in this game just having somebody who's a large human with force. [01:13:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that they should probably. I don't think they're going to keep Burford unless he's coming to them for a song, which I doubt happens again, given the marketplace there. So there's. There's that they can't roll with Colby as the straight up guy next year. They shouldn't go out and sign anybody. Unless I'm missing somebody who's just like, so obvious and not expensive because they shouldn't invest big money at left guard in the system. So they should really do what they did with Puni and invest a day to pick into somebody who they can see the vision on and who might not be everybody's cup of tea because again, nobody really knows what they. They're doing on offensive line. At least the Niners have an ethos, dude. [01:14:43] Speaker B: Yeah, my. My ideal is somebody who has the prerequisite movement measurables, but who, like, is willing to turn their brain into a football for the sake of the glory of, of the running game. [01:15:00] Speaker A: It's pretty straightforward. Who's going to deliver a blow on a linebacker so big that the linebacker gets thrown 10 yards back. Because it's one thing to get to that second level. That's good enough. Are you going to displace people at the second level? [01:15:14] Speaker B: One thing that should be mentioned and it was, I'm trying to remember who did the report. Very tall man. The only tall national reporter from ESPN. Everyone else, Jake Glazer, 5 foot 4. Nope. That's a good one. Truly every, almost every national reporter is about 5 foot 4. [01:15:31] Speaker A: You talking Jeremy Fowler? [01:15:33] Speaker B: Yes, Jeremy Fowler, who always gives, leaves you like a breadcrumb about something that might happen. True. Williams said he's coming back. He's a 38 million dollar cap hit next year. Yep, he is 38 next year. Do they extend him? They probably don't want to face that 38 million dollar cap hit. But you also go, are we gonna extend him? Do we leave the money and avoid restructuring it? Because we've wanted to avoid dealing with some of that dead cap stuff. I wonder if there's a world where they just leave it. But their style typically has been that's too much money. We're gonna kick the can down the road in some form or fashion. I wonder if it's like a one plus one or one plus two situation. [01:16:24] Speaker A: This team just gave five void years to Luke Farrell. So I'm pretty confident that they'll figure out a way to kick that can down the road. I also think that having Kittle missing next season gives them, and this is such a fuck thing to say, but it gives them a very easy negotiation tactic with it which is, hey, you're not playing for us next year. So your cap hit for next year becomes zero and we're going to guarantee you a career on the back end of this injury and you should take that deal. And George Kittle is going to be smart enough to say yep, because he got a bottle of tequila. So I think that some of the smoothing that they would have had to do with both Kittle and Trent, they might be able to take care of exclusively with Kittle because they're, they'll extend him off of a catastrophic injury. [01:17:13] Speaker B: We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. I mean he's, he's got a bit left on that, on that money. I mean that's all, that's all brand new. So I, I, I think they smooth it over. I think they will roll over, they find ways to roll over money. But that's something to look for. And Fowler has mentioned the possibility of him, he of Trent hitting free agency. Just something to monitor. [01:17:37] Speaker A: Something to monitor that Won't happen. They won't. They'll take the cap hit before they. They let him hit the street. I don't think he's interested in playing anywhere else. Maybe Houston, but probably not. [01:17:48] Speaker B: Yeah, they let him spend as much time in Houston as he wants, right? [01:17:53] Speaker A: Yeah, he gets. He gets plenty of time in Houston. [01:17:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:17:55] Speaker A: Yeah. I would expect, expect Trent Williams to be your starting left tackle on day one. And he might show up on minus two of days. [01:18:04] Speaker B: That's right. [01:18:04] Speaker A: Like, like he might show up on Thursday of week one of next year and be like, all right, guys, play some football. [01:18:12] Speaker B: And then he goes, oh, I was not ready. [01:18:15] Speaker A: Everything hurts. [01:18:18] Speaker B: Yeah, that's exactly what it looked like when I went back and watched the tape. Yeah. Last question from Betty Fitzsimmons. Will next stream be talking free agency and draft? What are your initial takes on which positions? We need to film both. I think we are going to take a little bit of time before we get into some of that stuff. [01:18:33] Speaker A: Yeah. At least deep. [01:18:35] Speaker B: But. [01:18:35] Speaker A: But I. [01:18:36] Speaker B: You were going to have to do like a full season, finish the tape and rewind. But we will, I think, turn the page as quickly as is practical. [01:18:47] Speaker A: I think the page will be turned this week. [01:18:50] Speaker B: Turn the page we're on to and it. [01:18:52] Speaker A: It will be turned. It will be like the table of contents, but we will turn a page. [01:18:58] Speaker B: Yeah, we'd like to have some sort of framework of like, what we're looking for before we start firing off from. [01:19:05] Speaker A: The hip, but we're not. We're not gonna go watch a bunch of, you know, highlight videos that were posted on Twitter and present that as like, I think they should get this. [01:19:12] Speaker B: Guy Chris bombs production. [01:19:17] Speaker A: Yeah, just like four N bombs in the first 10 seconds. Don't worry, we'll play it on the channel and get copyright violations. [01:19:24] Speaker B: It's gonna be great. It's gonna be great. It's time for us to go find our black market film to go watch stuff. [01:19:31] Speaker A: And I've been paying the whole time, baby. I've been watching all year. [01:19:35] Speaker B: I love it. It's beautiful. [01:19:37] Speaker A: I need. I need to be on a plane in like six hours. [01:19:40] Speaker B: I know, I know. I think we're gonna let Dieter go, but appreciate you folks hanging around. [01:19:46] Speaker A: Love you guys. Thank you. It's. It's after midnight and you're. Some of you are still here. Bye. [01:19:53] Speaker B: You are still here. Not us. See ya. [01:19:56] Speaker A: Sa.