00:00Wow. What a game. What a win. It wasn't perfect, you know, throughout the day. Both teams made plenty of
00:11mistakes and the opportunities that were there, courtesy of the other team, were numerous.
00:18Washington took advantage of more of them. Washington made more plays than Seattle did, and in a week-to-week
00:27league, week three produced one of the bigger upsets of the season. Point spread-wise, Washington went off as an
00:35eight-and-a-half point dog.
00:38When you least expect it in the NFL, expect it. It is one crazy, unpredictable reality show. This one, to
00:47me, comes down to two things. One, you're not going to like. The other, you're going to love.
00:54And when I say you're not going to like, some of you aren't going to like it. The thing that
00:58we can all agree on is that they had to take the ball away, eventually, from the other team.
01:06Even just a lucky break, like a deflection off a helmet that pops up into the air and gets picked
01:13off. Yeah, there was some good pressure and settles a big dude, and Darnold threw it right into his helmet.
01:17But they haven't gotten any of those in a couple of years. Second to last last year in takeaways at
01:2410. Only the Jets had fewer. And one of three teams threw two weeks of this NFL season without a
01:32takeaway.
01:32This really seemed like heading into the game. Darnold or Locke, it really didn't matter. Washington was going to need
01:40some takeaways, and they were going to need to be plus in the turnover margin.
01:45And I said on Friday, a minimum of plus two. Well, that wouldn't have done it. They needed all three,
01:52and they turned the three into 21 points.
01:57Starting field position after the first one, the Seattle 21-yard line. That's called a short field when you get
02:04to start in the red zone.
02:05The second one, starting in Seattle territory at their 43-yard line. The third one, hey, the defense scored.
02:13And it was an absolute beauty. You know, that's what Cain Medrano did at UCLA. That's why they took him.
02:20Because he was one of those instinctual, anticipatory kind of a player. He was one of those kinds of players
02:28in college.
02:29And yes, there were limitations. And was he a linebacker, or was he a safety, or was he a hybrid?
02:34What he was in college was that kind of playmaker. You know, anticipating, jumping, sometimes getting beat badly, and sometimes
02:43making a big play.
02:44Well, yesterday, you could see it. He sniffed it out. He jumped it. Good pressure from Owe off the edge.
02:50It wasn't, you know, it was a contain rush, actually. And then when Darnold got back there and looked, Owe
02:56was almost in his face.
02:57He forced one. Medrano jumped it. And the third of three takeaways gave them a nine-point lead.
03:05Not a ten-point lead. A nine-point lead. We'll get into why it wasn't a ten-point lead when
03:11we get to the game take.
03:13But ultimately, that gave them 33 points on the day, 21 via turnovers, and they needed all three.
03:21That's number one. The number one reason they won the football game is they were plus three in the turnover
03:28margin.
03:28We all know as NFL fans, as football fans, if you want to look at one stat at the end
03:35of a football game that will help you guess more often than not correctly
03:40as to who won the football game, turnover margin is the place to look.
03:46Because if there is a disparity, if somebody ends up with more takeaways than giveaways, they likely won the game.
03:53And when you're plus three, the percentages are very high that you won the game.
03:59But they needed all three because they won by two and they were hanging on at the end with two
04:05phenomenal plays on that final drive.
04:09Won a check to Rashad White on a third and nine that ended up being a 19-yard run.
04:15How often do you see a 19-yard run on third and nine when the other team is half expecting
04:21you to run it because they want you to burn a timeout?
04:24And the other, you know, there is a chance that you throw it and Mariota checks to a run.
04:29Rashad White goes 19 yards and then the pull on the read option on third and seven to ice the
04:35game at the end.
04:36They didn't run the football at all, all day, until those final two runs, although there was a big run
04:42in the first half that got overturned.
04:45But the bottom line is, without the plus three, they're 0-3.
04:49The second reason, and this is the one where I know some of you are going to eye roll, have
04:55at it.
04:56But in many ways, yesterday was a bit of an organizational win.
05:03For so many years, we would come in here on a Monday after a loss, and you could identify a
05:11number of things that happened in the game.
05:13But ultimately, it was organizational at its core, you know, for 24 and a half years, the Snyder years.
05:20You just didn't have a chance to be the most prepared team, the smarter of the two teams, the team
05:30that had a better culture and a better locker room and a better vibe.
05:35But that's what this particular organization does have.
05:40I know that there are plenty of you that are counting down the days until Adam Peters and Dan Quinn
05:47are gone.
05:48I don't get that. We've discussed that ad nauseum.
05:52Last year was one of those seasons that NFL teams have that you can't do anything about.
06:00The three biggest determinants in the NFL are health, one, two is quarterback, and three is overall coaching, culture, etc.
06:12Everything else is pretty much a wash in terms of how they impact win probability.
06:21Health, quarterback, coaching, slash, organization.
06:26Those three.
06:29And yesterday, like in many ways last year, was a reflection that organizationally, whether you think he's a good coach
06:40or whether you think AP is a good general manager,
06:43there is a culture of we're together, we can be resilient, we can withstand all of this, and we're going
06:53to play hard.
06:53You know, there's one football game in the two years and three games that Quinn's been here that I can
07:00point to and say that was not a professional performance.
07:04And it was the Minnesota game last year specifically on defense.
07:09It was really awful, and it looked like for a moment that it was much more than the lack of
07:19starters on the field.
07:21And we talked about it in the moment, but then they came back and won two of the next four
07:25games with nothing to play for but played hard.
07:28And every single person you hear from about our team that is on the beat, the Ben's, the John's, the
07:35Nicky's, etc.,
07:37they said they've been in a lot of locker rooms for a lot of losing teams, and this one didn't
07:42feel like any of the previous ones.
07:45They were together. They got a culture here. It doesn't mean that they're going to win Super Bowls or even
07:52be in the playoffs every year.
07:54But it does mean that on a day like yesterday, in which they were missing their starting quarterback,
08:01they were missing other key starters, they shuffled the offensive line before the game, they shuffled it during the game.
08:08There was a very serious injury, and it does look like Leo Chanel is done for the year with a
08:14neck injury.
08:14And prayers up for him. It does not appear, at least it didn't as of last night,
08:19as if there was any serious long-term issues with respect to mobility, etc.
08:26You know, he was moving all extremities on his way to the hospital, and the news seemed to be good.
08:32This morning, though, we know that he is likely out for the season.
08:37But to have what they had going into the game, and then during the game,
08:42all the while an 0-2 start with everybody burying this team.
08:47There was a funeral held for this team after the loss in Dallas and the loss of its starting quarterback.
08:54They were eight-and-a-half-point dogs at home against a team that was the defending champion Super Bowl
09:04Seahawks,
09:05and through two games, even though it's early, looked the part again, even without their starting quarterback.
09:12And then they were getting their starting quarterback back.
09:14This really was for people who don't pay attention to the NFL or barely pay attention to it,
09:21and certainly for people who don't bet the sport, this was a no-chancer going in.
09:29Credit to Dan Quinn. Credit to the front office, because you know Marcus Mariota wasn't a lock to come back.
09:38Some of you were okay if he didn't come back.
09:40Some of you thought when they signed him in 2024, it was a horrific signing.
09:45They can absolutely do better than Marcus Mariota as a backup quarterback to Jaden Daniels.
09:52Marcus Mariota was phenomenal, and he was phenomenal in the most important part of where you needed to be phenomenal
10:00yesterday.
10:00His brain, his poise, he was outstanding.
10:06But, with all that said, with all that said, man, this league, you cannot say,
10:14whew, okay, we're ready to go on a roll here.
10:17Indy, the Giants, 3-2.
10:20Got a chance to be 3-2.
10:22You don't even have to bring Jaden back for the next two.
10:25Marcus can beat Indianapolis.
10:27He can beat the Giants.
10:29Yes, we are fired up here on Monday, and I'm not here to dampen that at all, because I'm fired
10:35up, too.
10:36That was a thrilling game, a memorable game.
10:40Not the most memorable of this regime, because they did play in three playoff games and win two of them
10:46on the road.
10:46Not to mention all of those thrilling regular season wins in 2024.
10:51It's clearly the best and most memorable win since 2024.
10:55They had nothing like this last year, of course.
10:59So, everybody, 180-degree difference from last week, fired up, ready to start the season.
11:071-2 feels totally different than 0-3.
11:09It's true.
11:10All of that is true.
11:12A week after burying this team, you just have to remember, just like we talk about over the summer,
11:21don't take anything that happens over the summer that seriously, unless it's a serious injury, because health matters, or a
11:29serious acquisition.
11:31Two things mattered over the summer.
11:33Tunsil's injury and the acquisition of Diggs.
11:36The doomsday about an offensive line and three snaps and a couple of joint practices when you're not game planning
11:42is absurd.
11:44It doesn't mean the people were going to be wrong.
11:47It's just not because of what you saw then, because you didn't see anything.
11:53Game planning matters.
11:54You know, this offensive line is top 10 in the league right now in pass block win rate.
11:59They've allowed three sacks in three games.
12:01You don't think scheming matters?
12:03You don't think play calling matters?
12:06You don't think having, you know, better players on the field for the whole game versus three plays matters?
12:13Of course it does.
12:15Now, they didn't have their best players on the field, and they still got it done.
12:20But as pumped as most of you are right now, and I am too, just a completely different feeling than
12:27a week ago today.
12:29This league is up and down and all over the blanking place.
12:36Each week seems to be completely a new entity, and nothing you saw the week before in the NFL.
12:44Your team, the opponent, it doesn't predict what will happen the following week.
12:51Especially, especially early in seasons, in which players are really playing football for the first time in nine to ten
12:59months.
13:00You know, eight to nine months.
13:02We were as low as you could get a week ago.
13:05And now, I mean, glass is more than half full.
13:09But again, be aware, you know, the emotional swings of the NFL from a week ago to this week to
13:18the next week, it can swing right back.
13:21You know, all you can do as an NFL fan, really, all you can do is talk about the game
13:30you just saw as a total standalone.
13:33It doesn't mean much to what you're going to see the following week in London against the Colts, where the
13:41Colts are favored.
13:42They just won yesterday to avoid an 0-3 start.
13:46And the team they beat, Houston, a Super Bowl contending favorite when the season began,
13:51like, by the way, Green Bay was and several other teams that have started off slowly,
13:56because you can't predict this league year to year.
13:59Uh, they're a three-point favorite Sunday, the Colts are, against our team that just beat the defending champs.
14:07The team that just stopped a 12-game win streak.
14:11Seattle had not lost a football game since November 16th of last year to the Rams.
14:19So, this is so great to feel this way.
14:25And, by the way, 0-3 would have felt like it would have been over.
14:30It wouldn't have been with 14 games left.
14:33It certainly would not have been over.
14:35But it certainly would have felt even more over than a week ago.
14:41And the fact that they were able to hold on and win that game, it is a great in-the
14:46-moment feeling.
14:47But it is just that, in-the-moment.
14:49And just, again, we could be right back a week from today feeling the exact same way we felt a
14:56week ago.
14:57But, enjoy it, man.
15:00Because that was a memorable NFL regular season game.
Comments