00:00This is the one where everyone's just penciling in the Rams to win the division. Rightfully so. I think everybody
00:05knows that the Rams are probably going to win that division. But would you say that this division could have
00:11three playoff teams in it? The Niners, Seahawks, and Rams? That would be pretty interesting. But again, I think all
00:18three of those teams are going to be pretty decent, right?
00:21No, yeah. I think that people are underrating the Seahawks. Yes, they lost Kenneth Walker, but they were able to
00:29draft a running back in the first round to replace him, which is going to be a solid piece. You
00:35still got Sam Darnold, who is as confident as ever. They may have the best receiver in the game in
00:41JSN, and they still have a defense that is top notch.
00:46I think that, yes, we love what the Rams have done. I wrote an article for TST saying, is this
00:52the greatest offseason we have seen in sports? But you can't just give this team a championship, right? They're going
01:00to have to earn it. And the Seahawks is a team that you're going to have to take serious. If
01:04not, just like last season, they can catch the Rams slipping once or twice, and that can lead the Seahawks
01:10to winning this division again.
01:12But it's going to be fun, because the Niners always coach well, right? I know they had an injury overhauls,
01:18a lot of pieces that they moved around. Debo Samuels is back. What is George Kittle going to look like?
01:24But they're just so well coached. They always play even keel. It's going to be a more open division than
01:30what a lot of people think.
01:32Okay, John. John, you are shaking your head.
01:36I couldn't disagree more. Here's why. Clint Kubiak is no longer calling the plays.
01:43Yeah.
01:45That's your problem. It's not that Kenneth Walker is gone. It's the person calling the plays. He is gone. And
01:51he figured out a rhythm with Sam Darnold.
01:55And that rhythm rode them to the Super Bowl, specifically in the playoffs, because the couple of games where he
02:02struggled, they were able to coach them out of that.
02:05He knew where not to go and where to go with Sam Darnold, and that's why the Seahawks were able
02:10to prevail.
02:11And when he got hot against the Rams, he knew how to keep him hot.
02:16That massive piece being unplugged is why I'm worried about them. It's not that they lost guys in the secondary.
02:21It's not that they lost Kenneth Walker. It's that they lost the offensive coordinator.
02:25These defensive head coaches don't necessarily can't get off the mat when it comes to replacing the offensive coordinator once
02:34they leave when they've had good productive offenses.
02:37The Lions are going through this right now. I don't expect any different to happen in Seattle.
02:44It's pretty interesting. It's like Seattle. Like you said, John, I think the biggest loss for them is Clint Kubiak
02:51because like we said about Kevin O'Connell, right?
02:54And you mentioned this too about the Vikings. We think Kyler Murray is going to be good simply because of
02:59a great offensive mind.
03:00Correct. Like the Rams are awesome. Sure. They have a lot of talent on the offensive end, but Sean McVay
03:06and that brain trust on that offensive side, they make that thing click.
03:10They make that thing go. Kyle Shanahan, they could have the third stringers in there.
03:14They got a Mac Jones in there, and I trust Kyle Shanahan to get the job done.
03:18It is yet to be seen with whoever is taking over the Seahawks play calling duties, whoever is taking over
03:24the offensive coordinator duties.
03:25It is yet to be seen. Now, we know that Clint Kubiak was really good. We'll see if it translates
03:31to a head coaching spot in Las Vegas, right? But Mikel, go ahead.
03:35No, if I'm able to say one thing, we have to remember Sam Darnold played with two different coordinators the
03:41last two years, and he won a lot of games with both of them.
03:43But two really good ones, though.
03:45Right. No, yeah, really good ones. But I'm like, after winning this Super Bowl, I just see his confidence being
03:52at an all-time high.
03:53And then once you play with a receiver, right, you go from Jettas to now JSN, these two guys who
04:00I can probably find them out there throwing a pass because they're just that open, right?
04:05And that's why I believe that you can have confidence in this team. Do I believe that they're going to
04:10win the division?
04:11I don't think so. I just think the Rams are that talented. And if it wasn't for some fluky plays,
04:16they would have won the division.
04:17But I do think that the Seahawks are going to be right there. They're going to be a tough team
04:22to beat.
04:23And that if a team like the Rams has some fluky plays happen against them again, that the Seahawks can
04:30end up stealing the division like they did last year.
04:34Mikel, do you believe that this is the year the injuries catch up with the 49ers record-wise?
04:38No, I believe so. I just think that CMC, like, eventually we're going to see this guy go downhill when
04:46it comes to a game.
04:47He's a running back. He's been dealing with the injuries, right? Kittle gets hurt.
04:52You lose Ricky personally already, right, where he's out for the season.
04:56Now you're depending on an old guy like Mike Evans. It's crazy to call him that, but that's what he
05:01is.
05:02So it's like eventually, right, something is going to fall apart from them.
05:07They can't keep doing this, especially with the injuries.
05:10And just the division is so tough for what's ahead of them.
05:14I know the Cardinals may be a cupcake, right, but they do have some young talent that they're going to
05:19try to compete.
05:20But it's just I just think that it's too much.
05:23And last year when you saw the Niners, everything went right for them, even though things didn't all go right
05:28for them.
05:28I just can't see that happening. Yeah, they won a playoff game, which nobody expected, right?
05:34And I just don't know if they're going to be able to compete because the NFC is stacked.
