Seahawks vs Cardinals Week 4 | Gruden’s Preview

Seahawks vs Cardinals Week 4 | Gruden’s Preview

Okay, we have a big NFC West divisional game between the Seattle Seahawks who are two and one going on the road to play the Arizona Cardinals. Two defensive head coaches, two quarterbacks that are finding their way. This is a big one. Top of Mind is brought to you by Chevrolet. Football season is here and whether you’re grinding through the week or gearing up for kickoff, there’s one ride that’s always game ready. The Chevy Silverado. Built for the hustle, ready for the game. Silverado is America’s most dependable full-size truck. Head to chevy.com to learn more and build your own Chevy Silverado. Okay, we have a big NFC West game in Arizona between the Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals. Both defensive head coaches. What an excellent job Mike McDonald is doing in his second year. the defensive coach calling the shots. He has the Seahawks playing really good football against the Arizona Cardinals, Jonathan Ganon, who are coming off a very tough loss to the San Francisco 49ers at the buzzer. Let’s take a look at this. This is going to be very difficult. Two teams that have a lot of familiarity with one another. They know each other. They have a strong respect for one another. both defensive head coaches, short week, injuries, sore bodies. This game looks like it’s going to be a defensive tussle. I mean, every point is going to be valuable. Think about Seattle, number two in the NFL right now, just giving up 15.7 points per game. And Arizona, they’re fifth in the league, giving up 17 points a game. So, you already have two good defenses, Jake, and they’re coming off a short week, and they know each other inside and out. No preparation. What do you think’s going to happen? I think it’s going to be a slugfest. The Seattle Seahawks at 2 and one had a tough opening day loss to the 49ers. San Francisco came to Seattle and won 17-13. And then in week two, the Seattle Seahawks went on the road and got a big win against the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-7. And they really looked great at home last week against the New Orleans Saints. 44-13 win. and they were up 38-6 at the half. And the Arizona Cardinals, they opened the season with a grinding 20-13 win at the New Orleans Saints. They hung on at the very end. And then against Carolina, they won their home opener 2722. They jumped out to a 27-3 lead and barely hung on. And then last week, a very disappointing loss to the 49ers. San Francisco’s missing their starting quarterback, Brock Pury. They’re missing George KD. They’re missing Brandon Aayuk and they failed to get this win even though they were leading 1513 with three minutes left and they lost their feature back team captain James Connor to a foot injury. So I don’t know how Arizona’s feeling. I’m sure they’re not feeling great. The Seahawks were down 14-7 to the Pittsburgh Steelers at halftime. Think about this. It’s 0 and one. You’re in the visitors locker room and I’ve been there. That visitor’s locker room in Pittsburgh. It’s not a great place to be when you’re losing. They come out and they stick it to Pittsburgh, man. I mean, they look great. And then they bomb New Orleans. In the last six quarters, Seattle has outscored their opponents 62 to9. I think we’re dealing with a really mentally tough football team that has a lot of talent. That shows me a lot coming from behind on the road in Pittsburgh and revving it up in the last six quarters. Meanwhile, as I said, Arizona struggled in the second half against Carolina and they struggled the whole game last week, especially offensively against the 49ers. So, what gives in this game? The Seattle Seahawks are a very good road team under Mike McDonald. They’re eight- one on the road. That’s impressive. and head coach Jonathan Ganon. He is nine and n as the home field coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Last year, these two teams met twice. Seattle won both games. They won 16-6 in Seattle in week 12. Kobe Bryant intercepted a pass on fourth and one. Took it to the house, man. 69 yards and it was impressive. That was Leonard Williams coming out party for the Seattle Seahawks. I mean, he had two and a half sacks, at least five pressures, and a partridge in a pear tree. He kicked Arizona’s ass. Number 99 was awesome in that game. In the second game, week 14, Seattle went to Arizona, won the game 30-8. Kobe Bryant had another interception right before the half. Matter of fact, they picked off Kyler Murray twice right before the half. And Zack Charbanet shredded the Arizona defense. 134 yards, two touchdowns, and it was a convincing double-digit win for Seattle. Matter of fact, Seattle has won seven straight games against Arizona. So, if you’re betting on a game, I don’t know if you are or not, you might want to consider that. Seattle’s great on the road. They’re eight- one. They’ve beaten this team seven straight times. Five out of the seven times, they’ve won by double digits. The Seahawks, however, are 1 and5 on their last six Thursday night games. Arizona’s 1 and5 on their last Thursday night games. Don’t you hate Thursday night football? Hey, I’ll tell you this about Seattle, though. That one win was under Mike McDonald last year. They went to Chicago and they won on Thursday Night Football 6 to3 in one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen. Smack me, will you? I like the job both of these general managers have done. I mean, if you look at Arizona, this man doesn’t get enough credit. Monty Asenfort, he’s done an excellent job with Arizona. And John Schneider, the GM of the Seattle Seahawks, every year does an excellent job. They’re not putting together 53man rosters, these two guys. They’re putting together 70man rosters because that’s what you need in today’s NFL. I mean, the amount of injuries already that both of these teams have suffered, it would paralyze a lot of teams, but these guys have put together a ready list. I mean, guys on the practice squad that are ready to go on short notice. And here’s the lesson for you young players that are sitting out there, your role is never defined early in the season. It’s up to you to define your role. You got to be ready. Luck is when preparation meets with opportunity. And that’s what some of these young Cardinals and young Seahawks have done. When you watch the film, you will see guys playing excellent football, playing their ass off, and we don’t know who they are. That’s why this is a very important episode. You might meet some of your new favorite players right here today as we prepare for this game. I think this game is very big for Kyler Murray, the quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals. He’s 8 and2 all time against his NFC West opponents. Both of these teams are two and one. You got to lean on your veteran quarterback in games like this. Very little time to prepare. But I think it’s time for Murray to either jump over the hurdle or not. This is the proving ground for him. I think he’s got to play great and win this game and overcome the dominance that Seattle has had over him. They got a new quarterback in Sam Darnold. They got a new offensive coordinator with Clint Kubak. There’s been a lot more continuity on Arizona’s side of the ball offensively. They should take advantage of that. This quarterback battle features two former very high picks. Sam Darnold, number three overall pick by the New York Jets. Think of this. He’s on his fifth team in six years. I mean, he’s had nine different offensive coordinators. Let’s think about this. Jeremy Bates, Adam Gase, Dow Loggers, Joe Brady, Jeff Nixon, Ben Mcadoo, Kyle Shanahan, Kevin O’Connell, and now he’s got Clint Kubia. Nine offensive coordinators. I mean, how the hell do you get good at anything? But it’s a credit to Sam Darnold because this man is on the rise. He’s a big, strong pocket passer with better than you think athletic ability. He’s 16 and4 in his last 20 games. That’s pretty damn good. Matter of fact, last year he threw for 4,300 yards and 35 touchdowns and took the Vikings to the playoffs. Very important for this man, I think, right now to take off. He has the right system. He’s with the right team at the right time. I love the trajectory of Sam Darnold leading the Seahawks. And for Kyler Murray, he’s not a flatliner like Sam Darnold is. Sam Darnold is like an iceman. Kyler Murray’s an emotional guy kind of like I am. He wears his emotions on his sleeve. You just got to watch his body language sometimes, but there have been times where I watch Kyler Murray. It is brilliance, man. Woo! Wow! Nicey. And then there’s other times you just feel despair. You just feel sad. We got to make sure this is not one of those days. He needs his supporting cast to pick it up. Marvin Harrison has had some drops. They got to get another receiver to emerge other than Trey McBride. They got to find some more inventory of offense. But this is important. This is his third year in this system. He’s 38 and 46 as a starting quarterback. And I go back to this Jake. He is not doing well against the NFC West. He’s 8 and 21. So this has huge implications for him. It’s been a dink and dunk offense. They’ve struggled to run the football and other than some scrambled drill plays, we’re all waiting for this offense to take off. This game also features two Ohio State first ground wide receivers. How about Jackson Smith and Jigba of the Seattle Seahawks? I mean, what a job he’s done. He’s on pace for 1,800 yards. He was the 20th overall pick. And Marvin Harrison picked at number four. hasn’t realized those lofty expectations, but there’s nothing like a prime time launching pad. Maybe tonight is the night. You know what’s funny is those guys played together at Ohio State. They had Chris Oli and Garrett Wilson on the same team. You know, we just went to Ohio State and watched them practice. You know what’s really funny? The guy they got at Ohio State now, I think, is better than all of them. I want to be the receiver coach at Ohio State. Anyhow, let’s get back to the injuries. We have some significant injuries to unpack here for the Seattle Seahawks. They missed two Pro Bowl defensive backs last week. Matter of fact, Devin Witherspoon, he’s been out the last two games. Don’t know if he’s going to play. He has been trying. I’m sure he’s going to try hard to be in this, but I wouldn’t do anything till I know what his status is. Julian Love, Pro Bowl safety, out with a hamstring. Don’t know if he’s going to play this week. He didn’t last week. Nick Emanuri, second round pick out of South Carolina, a guy they have huge, huge plans for. He hasn’t played the last two weeks either. Zack Charbanet, you could say he’s running back 1A or 1B. He didn’t play last week, but he did return to practice this week. Robbie OS, their fullback. This guy’s a big dude. He gives him some pop in the hole. He hurt his ankle last week. that could inhibit their two back offense, which is important to them. And Josh Jones, their swing tackle, he’s out or appears to be out. But those are some significant injuries. Did Mike McDonald hold out Weatherspoon, Love, Eman Worry, Charbanet last week because it was the Saints who were all so beat up and maybe they thought they could win without those players and get them ready for this big NFC West battle. What do you think, Jake? We’re going to find out. And for Arizona, man, they got a lot of injuries, big injuries in their secondary as well. Their second round pick, Will Johnson out of Michigan. Man, I love watching him play. He’s wearing number zero. He looks like a natural. He’s not going to play. He’s got a groin injury. Garrett Williams, perhaps the best corner on their team. He’s been out with a knee. He can’t return until week seven. So, two of your top corners are out. Backup corner Darren Hall. Looks like he’s out. And remember, they lost Shawn Murphy punting in the preeason with an injury for he’s on IR. That’s four corners, man. How do you figure that, Jake? And then they’re missing Walter Nolan, their first round draft choice. I mean, hell, we go to draft day. We’re giving all these hugs up on the stage when we get our pick. Walter Nolan, he hasn’t played yet. He’s on IR. We don’t know when we’re going to see him. Another defensive end, LJ Collier, is on IR. He played a lot of good football. Left tackle, Paris Johnson. He didn’t play last week. We had to play the 36-y old Kelvin Beach against the 49ers. Not sure what his status is. Brown, Evan Brown, the left guard, he was on the injury report, questionable with an ankle. Z Jones, the number two receiver after Marvin Harrison has a concussion. Doesn’t look like he’s going to play. and your feature back James Connor. He’s got an injury to his foot. He looks like he’s out for the year. Good god, that’s a lot of guys that are hurt. We got to look into that. Two solid kickers. Jason Meyers of the Seahawks, 6 for seven on field goals, 10 for 10 on Pats. He drilled a 56 yder with ease last week against the Saints. And Chad Ryland, he kicks for the Arizona Cardinals. He missed the 57 yder against the 49ers, but you know what? He was six for six on 50 plus last year. Right now, Ryland, he’s 6 for8 on field goals, six for six on pats. There’s a lot of good stuff in this game. Watch out for the Seahawks special teams. I’ll leave you with this. Anytime you pick up the paper and Jay Harbaugh, the special teams coach, pictures on the newspaper or he’s on the front page, I should say, or he’s getting a game ball, what do you do? Well, Tory Horton, their rookie, returned a punt, 95 yards against the Saints, and then shortly after that, DeAnthony Bell, set up another touchdown. So, the Seattle Seahawks, they are coming on as a football team in all three phases. Let’s get into this. Let’s go. Okay, the Seattle Seahawks Arizona Cardinal defense. A brand new offensive coordinator for the Seahawks. It’s Clint Kubak. Clint Kubak was the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings in 2021. He was the OC of the New Orleans Saints in 2024. That name Kubiaak, big football name. His dad is Gary Kubak, former world champion, head coach of the Denver Broncos. his brother Klay Kubak, the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. So what you say, Gruden? What’s that got to do with anything? I’m just giving you a little background. You see, the Kubiaak family, they believe in the underneath the center old school wide zone offense. Man, there’s a lot of similarities to how the Seattle Seahawks will play offense that the San Francisco 49ers play with and what Gary Kubak used to do back in the day with Denver. This is a balanced offense. Right now, they’re fifth in the league in scoring, 18th in the league in total, 21st in rushing the football, and 12th in passing. But I think this run game is a work in progress as they establish the run tracks and the execution of this wide zone system. They are under the center a lot more than they were last year. And remember last year they had Ryan Grubs, the offensive coordinator at the University of Washington who did a great job there. But after one year, head coach Mike McDonald switched gears. Not only do they run the ball, they throw the ball vertical and they have a quarterback that can really rip it. Matter of fact, last year Sam Darnold led the NFL in passes that were complete of over 20 yards. He completed 28 vertical shots of more than 20 yards of air time. And he had 47% complete, which was number one in the league. He led the league with,00 yards and he led the league with nine touchdown passes. So that’s evidence he can rip it down the field with some of these creative Clint Kubiaak playaction passes. And speaking of playaction passes, that’s another thing Sam Darnold was great at for the Minnesota Vikings. Statistically, second in QB rating, 125.0 on playaction passes. He threw 13 touchdown passes, averaged 10.3 yards per pass. That’s third in the league. So, you have a guy that fits the Kubak system with the playaction passes, the vertical game accuracy. That’s exciting for Seattle. They are committed to running the ball, man. But I ask you, where’s the dividends? I mean, so far, it’s been kind of boring to watch the Seattle running game, which is kind of disappointing. They’re only averaging about three yards a carry, and they have two good backs. Zack Charbanet, okay, he’s hurt. missed last week’s game. We’re hoping to see him tonight, but Charbanet’s only got 57 yards rushing and he’s averaging just two yards a carry. Kenneth Walker had some flash runs against the Steelers. He’s averaging 4.2 yards a carry, 163 yards in his first three games. Both of these guys, I feel like, are getting close. It’s a block here, it’s a block there. It might be a misread there. or perhaps they rush a decision once in a while. It just hasn’t paid big dividends. But what I do like about Seattle is unlike last year, they are committed to running it. They’ve run the ball 52% of the time. That’s third in the NFL. Last year they were 29th in the league in rushing the football. They only ran it 37% of the time. That’s not very good. Plus, they’re underneath the center right now 42% of the time. That’s one of the big deals to help your back read his cuts on these outside zones. Last year, they were under the center only 21% of the time. I think that’s why they struggled in pass protection. You see, they gave up 50 sacks. They threw it a lot and they ran it just a little bit. Does that make sense to you, Jake? I know you went to Virginia. It does. Okay. Thank you. Another change is how they use their great receiver, number 11, Jackson Smith and Jigba. When I look at Jackson Smith and Jigba, he was in the slot last year almost all the time. A matter of fact, they threw him 110 targets in the slot. 79 of his catches came in the slot for 489 yards. Well, with the addition of Cooper Cup, guess what? We put him in his slot and now we can put our friend in Jigba on the outside. So, there’s a lot more versatility in how they’re using him. And so far the results have been outstanding. He beat the Steelers to the post. He got on top of New Orleans and you can still put him in a slot and he can cut you up with his quickness. I love the way Jigma Smith is playing. You’re going to see a lot more 21 and 22 personnel. 21 means how many backs, Clay? Two. How many tight ends in 21? One. How many tight ends in 22? Two. Bottom line is with the addition of Robbie Us, a rookie fullback from Alabama, they’re getting in two back sets and they’re giving you some ground and pound runs, which I love. Now, OOTS, he may not play in this game. So, keep an eye on number 38, Brady Russell. He played in a game last week against the Saints. I still think they have this two back offense, which gives them two back runs and two back playaction passes. They’re changing the launching spot a lot. Darnell’s not just standing back here in the pocket. He’s booting to his left, booting to his right. It’s hard for defensive linemen to zero in on where he is. I love the deep ball design of Clint Kubak. He’ll sit somebody down on one hash mark and he’ll bring speed to the back pylon. He’s always done a great job. He and his dad and his brother diagramming deep shots. Boy, he used to piss me off when he was in Denver. He’d send McCaffrey over there and Rod Smith over there and Shannon Sharp over there. That’s for another day. But a nice design. They have a young offensive line in Seattle. Keep an eye on this tonight. They got a rookie left guard named Zable, but their left tackle’s 24, Zable’s 23, their center’s 25, their right guard’s 24, and their right tackle’s 26. But they’re playing better, but they have to continue to grow together. And tonight will be a big challenge because Arizona is coming to town with their young defensive coordinator, Nick Rowless. I love this guy. He becomes the coordinator when Jonathan Ganon gets a head job. He brings this young guy with him from Philly named Ris. He was 29 years old. Now he’s 32. He’s in his third year. This guy’s smart. This guy loves football and he might lead the league in hours in the office. He’s a grinder. I love him. And they put together a defense that’s improving. I mean, in 2023 when Rowless took over with Jonathan Ganon, they gave up almost 27 points a game. They were 31st in the league. Everybody said, “He’s too young. I don’t know about this guy. I don’t know.” Well, the next year, guess what? They went to 15th in scoring defense. They gave up 22.3. And guess what? Right now, they’re in the top five, giving up just 17 points a game. It’s Jonathan Ganon, his vision. He was an excellent defensive coordinator for the Eagles when they went to the Super Bowl. And it’s this Nick Row’s creativity and hard work that has put together a defense that’s what the hell is it? It’s not one of these defenses you just write the front and the coverage down. You got to rewind it like seven times. And you got to give some of these defenses a name that doesn’t exist. Like let’s call this uh over Wink G. Let’s call this under Sally Smith. I don’t know. They got so many different defenses. I don’t even know what they are. Fronts, coverages, disguises, stems, weekly game plan specific looks that you haven’t prepared for. They use three safeties at a time and they all line up like three deep and on the snap of the ball they rotate into multiple coverages. It creates a lot of confusion and you know how Clay gets confused on just basics basic stuff. Are you with me Jake? Y they don’t blitz a lot. They’re only blitzing about 18% of the time. But that could change. You never know what this guy Nick Ris is going to do. You never know, especially on a short week. But I want you to think about it. They’re a base 34 defense. See if you can zoom in on this for the people at home. They’ll put Tomlinson in their new noseguard over the center. He can kick your ass. They got Kaus Campbell. They got number 56 Darius Robinson. They got Josh Sweat. And they got Browning as outside linebackers. They present the 34 defense, which we went over on Gruden’s glossery. But what are the shades on the 34? Is the end in a four, a four eye? Is he in a wide three? What the hell? What stances are they in? They’re doing some weird things with the shades of the defensive lineman all the time. So, it’s a different blocking angle for the offensive lineman. Then they leave the center uncovered and they create a pure 43 saw look with Sam and Will on the ball and the middle linebacker standing there like 1975. And they confused the 49ers last week. They jam the front. They cover the center in both guards. They get into the sub and they play nickel, big nickel, dime, every front known to man. They give you sub fronts, sub blitzes, double A’s. They bluff it, they load it, they give you everything. Point is, on a short week, what the hell do you practice against? Do you understand what I’m saying, Jake? You might practice for a couple days in a little walkth through session because you have no time to get ready, but you’re going to go out on national TV and play against this. That is a real challenge for coach Kubiaak and his Seattle young offensive line. The one thing that’s interesting is ask yourself this question. Would you build a scheme around your players or would you bring in players to fit your scheme? What Arizona does is they’re building around their players. Think about this. Their best player is Buddha Baker, number three. I don’t know what the hell he is. He’s my favorite defensive player in the entire freaking league. Has been for a while. Not that you care, but this guy is running the show here in Arizona. The whole defense, I think, is set up around Buddha Baker. He’s their best player. We’re going to get into that in just a second. They’ve also remodeled their front seven. And their front seven, their down lineman and linebackers are better than they were a year ago. They still have M. Wilson at linebacker, but they brought in a Davis Gaither from the Bengals and they brought in a draft pick, Cody Simon, in the fourth round. They’re different at inside linebacker. They brought in Josh Sweat from the Philadelphia Eagles to play on the edge. He had eight sacks, 15 QB hits for the world champions last year. He’s a badass. He’s wearing number 10. They brought in Kus freaking Campbell. 18th season. Okay. Yeah, he’s old. He’s 39. Well, he had a sack at the end of the game to finish the Carolina Panthers. Then he caused a holding call in the end zone to give Arizona a 1513 lead. A safety. He’s playing his ass off. Kas Campbell’s here. They brought in Dalvin Tomlinson, a veteran nose tackle. He can two gap the center. They’ve gotten better up front and they’re only giving up 76 yards rushing per game. 3.8 yards per carry. So, let’s see this running game, Seattle. Let’s see this running game against this Arizona front seven. It’s not that easy. But let’s get back to Buddha Baker. Buddha Baker learned the defense and the defense has evolved with how it’s called. I mean, they’re trying to get Buddha Baker around the ball as much as possible. Certainly, he’ll be a deep safety uh uh multiple times in the football game playing against the pass using his range and speed on the back end, but they will put him in the box and he will smash you. Whether it’s a blitz or whether he just chooses to run through a gap or whether he’s threatening the blitz, you better know where he is at all times. 39% of the time he’s deep. 37% of the time he’s in the box. Over 20% of the time he’s on the line of scrimmage or in the slot. And four or five% of the time I swear he’s up in the booth announcing a game or selling cracker jacks. This guy is my favorite. I love his playing style. You better find out where he is. And if you want to do yourself a favor sitting at home, just watch number three when the Cardinals are on defense two or three times. You’ll be glad you did. Let’s get into the matchups real quick. Up front, we talked about the Seahawks youth. They have an excellent new offensive line coach, John Benton. That is a very important position. When some of you guys become head coaches, you got to hire a great offensive line coach. Seattle has John Benton. He’s been with Kubak. He’s been with Kubak’s dad. 19th season in the NFL. They have one new starter, first round draft pick, Gray Zable, out of North Dakota State. He’s steady. He’s tough as hell. And he’s playing next to a great young left tackle, Charles Cross. So that left side is young, very talented. One of the sleepers on the Seahawks is their new center, Jaylen Sundell. I mean, this guy’s from North Dakota State. Imagine that. You got a starting left guard and starting center for North Dakota State. I’ve been to North Dakota State. If you ever go out there and see, you’ll see why. Because they coach the out of these guys and they’re tough. But the one thing I’ve noticed, even though Sundell had a bad holding penalty last week a lot of times that nose tackle, he lines up offset on the center. You got to reach him. Very few centers can reach and Sundell can do that. And that’s the key block you got to make in these wide zones. I’m impressed. Bradford at right guard is in his third year, number 75. I think he’s had some struggles in his play. and right tackle Abraham Lucas. He’s had some ups and downs in pass protection. I think this is the side, the right side of the Seahawks that Arizona’s got to get after. Now for Arizona, they play a multitude of guys. Remember Walter Nolan, their first round pick, is out. LJ Kier, a good defensive lineman, is out. But you’re going to see Dvin Tomlinson on the nose. He’s a very good early down run defender. You’re going to see number 79 PJ Mustapher come in. Mustaper has been around, you know, coming out of Penn State. He’ll back up Tomlinson. He’ll swat some passes down. He’s a pretty interesting guy as well. The ends are Kus Campbell, which we’ve talked about. He played nine years in Arizona, went to Jacksonville, went to the Ravens, went to Miami, went to Atlanta. Now he’s back. He’s still a pain in the ass to block. He’s 6’8. He won the Walter Payton man of the year award. He’s got two sacks and two big time stops in the fourth quarter. The sack against Carolina and the safety he caused against the 49ers. I love watching him play. He’s backed up by a couple guys that are interesting. Number 55, Dante Stills out of West Virginia. He’s active. He gives him some inside rush and I still think there’s a big upside with him. Darius Robinson, number 56, was a first round pick from Missouri last year. He got hurt, missed most of the season. They need Robinson to get a case of whoop ass and use it. They need more from Robinson. I’m waiting for number 56 to make his presence felt because when Walter Nolan comes back, that gives Arizona two young guys with a lot of talent that can raise hell up front. But I do expect them to come after this right side of the Seahawks. Keep an eye on Bradford. Keep an eye on Lucas, the right guard and right tackle. Expect to see some action over there. The tight end for the Seahawks is AJ Barner out of Michigan, number 88. He’s not going to have the glorious statistics. They’re not going to line him up and throw him the pass on every other play. He’s going to line up in a natural tight end position. He’s going to block the C gap. He’s going to pass protect. He has a lot more athleticism than you think. I think Barner is one of the truly great stories that’s going to happen in this Seahawk season. He had a big catch last week for 23 yards. He’s only got four for 49 this year. But don’t kid yourself. When the Jigba starts getting coverage rotations, when they start collapsing on cup, this guy can really hurt you. I think he’s going to be a good receiver. And they also drafted Elijah Aoyo in the second round out of the Miami Hurricanes. He had a big catch on a blown coverage against the Steelers. They’re working him in creatively to be a joker, a guy that can line up away from trips, a guy that they can put in motion, line up in the slot. A Royo is wearing number 18. And Eric Cybert, I mean, he played for me for a short period with the Raiders. He had a big catch and run last week against the Saints. Almost scored a touchdown. He does a lot of dirty work. The beautiful thing about Seattle is they got three tight ends they can use in different ways and they’re all unselfish good players. Again, the safeties of the Arizona Cardinals, Buddha Baker, 24 tackles. He’s a badass. He is the Gruden Grinder. He has 16 t-shirts. I think I send him a t-shirt every week. I love the way he plays. He’ll teach you how to play if you’re a young football player. Watch him. His energy and effort is unmatched. The other safety, Drien Taylor Demerson, had an interception last week. Number 42. It’s a lot to say. I’ve never said that. Drien Taylor Demerson. So, I call him DTD. DTD number 42 had an interception on a bad throw last week by M. Jones, but he’s taking advantage of his playing time. and they can use him in multiple ways. Usually he plays deep and that allows Buddha Baker to come up near the line of scrimmage, but he’s an improving Red Raider from Texas Tech. And how about them Red Raiders, man? Undefeated. You know that, Jake? They play a lot of nickel defense. And right now, their nickel is number 34, Jaylen Thompson. And Thompson is solid. He’s a guy I think that it can really tackle in the Brier patch. He has some coverage ability. And they’ll use number 36, Katan Crawford, a rookie out of Nevada. They’ll play him in their dime package. You got to know these names. You got to go back to DTD. Get to know Jaylen Thompson, the nickel. They’re going to play critical roles in determining who goes three and one in this game. And then on the outside for Arizona, who’s going to cover these receivers of the Seahawks? Over here is Jackson Smith and Jigba. He is the clear number one receiver of the Seahawks. 22 catches, 323 yards. He’s averaging 14.7. He’s on track for 1,800 yards. Man, that would shatter the all-time Seahawk record. Last week, he was sick. A lot of people didn’t think he was going to play. He had the flu. He goes out there, catches 96 yards worth of passes, five catches in a touchdown. That really shows you how tough he is and how much he cares about his teammates. He’s lining up on the outside against the Saints last week 89% of the time. I kept looking in the slat form. He was out there. So, they’re doing a great job of moving him around. So, who’s going to cover Jackson Smith and Jigba? Well, Will Johnson is out and so is Garrett Williams. So, who’s it going to be? The game is not going to get cancelled. Last week I saw number 29 Denzel Burke, rookie from Ohio State out there. That’s a tall order. Second half Burke came out. They used number 13 Krelll Clark, former Louisville Cardinal. So I don’t know who is going to go out here. But if I’m coaching for Seattle, I’m going to find out and I’m going to give these guys a lot of work because on fourth and two last week, the 49ers went over here for a big play to help them win the game. The other corner is Max Melton out of Ruters, number 16. Get to know the matchups. He’s a young corner. He’s got good transition. I think he’s a tough guy around the pile, but he’s going to have his hands full if Jigba comes on this side. Be ready for that. They also have a rookie receiver in Seattle, fifth round pick, Tory Horton, out of Colorado State. You know, this guy was hurt a little bit his senior year and people were questioning ah blah blah blah. Well, Tory Horton comes to training camp. He wins the number three job. He’s got three touchdowns in three weeks and he has an opening drive touchdown catch last week. He’s got great speed and they use him creatively. Don’t go to sleep on Horton. But these three receivers against backup corners could be an issue for this Arizona defense. Arizona is led by their green dot linebacker M. Wilson. M Wilson comes out of Alabama, goes to Cleveland, has two quiet years in New England. He signs with Arizona and he takes off. Last year he became a real big part of this defense and right now he leads the team in tackles. He wears number two and he’s going to be a big part of setting this front, playing off these blocks and making tackles. I love the way he’s playing and it’s going to be a Keem Davis Gaither or Cody Simon, the rookie from Ohio State at the other linebacker. I think the easy thing to do on a short week is run the football. Just run the ball. Run the ball. I’ve heard that before driving to the stadium. Hey, just run it, Johnny. Just run the ball. Well, who’s the back? You got Kenneth Walker. We don’t know if Zack Charbanet is going to play, but they got to get this two-headed monster going. They’d like to be in a two-back set, but we don’t know if their fullback Robbie UTS is going to play. So, keep an eye on Brady Russell. But the most important thing for Seattle against all these different defenses is to establish that outside zone. They got to get some positive plays in the running game and set up some playaction passes and help this young offensive line settle down and be physical. Again, lot of different fronts, coverages, possible blitzes against a young offensive line and a quarterback that’s just in his fourth game in Clint Kubak system. This one will be interesting. Okay, the Arizona offense and the Seattle defense, the Cardinals have thirdyear offensive coordinator, Drew Petting. And I was waiting for this year for Arizona to come out of the locker room and start shredding people. Usually in year two of the system, you see improvement. Year three of the system, you see a lot of improvement. Arizona, you see, has all 11 starters back really from last year. I mean, right guard Isaiah Adams didn’t start the first several games, but he started the last several games. Other than that, everybody’s been back on this Arizona football team. But they’re struggling. They’re struggling to score. They’re struggling to move the ball, and they’re struggling in all areas really. What’s disappointing is how they started last week against the San Francisco 49ers. In the first 10 plays, they have two false starts, pre- snap penalties against the 49ers in a big game. That’s impossible. They get a ball batted down, they drop a bunch of passes. It’s just not good enough for Arizona to win. And their defense is playing better and playing really well to keep them in these games. They need this offense to do their part this week. They’re going to really miss James Conor, their feature back. thousand yards, I believe, back-to back seasons. Not only his physical presence and his receiving skills, his blitz pickups, but his daily leadership behind the scenes and on the practice field. They’re going to really miss him. So, who’s it going to be with no Connor? Fantasy football people, you better keep an eye on this Trey Benson. He’s a secondyear player out of Florida State, picked in the third round. He had almost 300 yards rushing. A lot of us have been asking for Benson. Where’s Benson? Where’s Benson? Kind of like the Steelers. Let’s play Jaylen Warren. Well, now you get Trey Benson the ball. He’s a young back, but he has a lot of explosiveness. This year, he’s ripped off two runs, one for 29, one for 52. You can see the acceleration. I don’t know what he’s going to be in short yardage and goal line four minute situations, but the guy obviously has running skills and he can catch the football. Kyler Murray. When you look at him last year, it’s a mixed bag. He threw for 3,800 yards, almost 70%, 21 touchdowns, 17 starts, was durable. We all know he can scramble and create. But where’s the explosive plays in this pass offense? They don’t even attempt a lot of vertical passes. Is it because the offensive line struggles to protect and we don’t want to hold the ball an extra tick? Is it because our receivers aren’t separating? Do we need a little better deep ball design? I don’t know. But Arizona’s got to get some chunk plays. It just looks too hard to score touchdowns. They got to convert too many drives. Right now, Arizona’s averaging 4.8 yards per play. I don’t think that’s going to cut it and help you win the NFC West title. They got to play better in crunch time. Two-minute situations. Last week it was a fourminute situation. We have the lead. We have the ball at midfield with three minutes left. We make two first downs. The game is over. We don’t get it done. We punt the football. We lose by one point. Crunchtime execution has to be there in this game because I think it’s going to come down to a late second field goal or possession. What is Arizona? Last year they led the league in 13 personnel. One back. How many tight ends, Clay? Three. Three. One receivers’s in a game at a time. Not a lot of running vertical threats on the field, but they did average six yards a play in 13 personnel. We still see some 13 personnel this year, but are they going to have any emergence of a number two receiver other than Marvin Harrison, you’re going to see a lot of trap pass. They do a lot of this trap pass. You’re going to see it in a game where they block back with the center and they pull the guard while they fake it to a running back to try to get these linebackers to step up. Arizona does a lot of pulling with their guards on their playaction passes. Can they do that tonight against this Seattle front? Keep an eye on that. We’ve talked about Marvin Harrison. Let’s talk about Trey McBride. Trey McBride since the start of the 2023 season. And a lot of people don’t know this. Trey McBride plays for Arizona. He wears number 85. He’s one of the best kept secrets in football. No tight end has more catches and more catches for first downs than Trey McBride of the Arizona Cardinals since the start of the 2023 season. Matter of fact, only George KD has more yards than Trey McBride. But other than Harrison and McBride, where the hell’s the ball going, Jake? Look at these other receivers. Michael Wilson, Zay Jones, Greg Dorch, 21 yards receiving, 29 receiving, and 12 receiving. We don’t have another receiver on the team with over 30 yards receiving other than McBride and Harrison. So, that becomes an issue. People start trying to stop these two guys, you could be playing left-handed and be in trouble. The Seattle Seahawk defense, this is a group that’s on the rise, and you can feel them. I mean, I can feel some of these hits in my dark room here. I’m like, “God damn, that hurt.” They fly around and smash your ass. I love it. And they’re getting better. In 2023, before McDonald got to Seattle, the Seahawks were 25th in scoring defense. In 2024 with McDonald, they went to number 11 in scoring defense. And right now, in 2025, they’re second in scoring defense. And they might be first in asskickings because they smash you, man. I love it. I freaking love it. They’re the only team in the league that has allowed fewer than 17 points in all three games. 15.7 points per game. They’ve got five interceptions, giving up 3.2 yards per rush, and they haven’t given up a rushing touchdown yet. They’re the only team that can say that. So, they’re feeling pretty good about themselves. You know, the 2013 World Champion Seahawks, they did it with defense, man. Don’t get me wrong. I know they had Marawn and Russ Wilson, all these guys. They did it with defense. Number one in scoring defense, number one in total defense. The Legion of Who? Boom. Boom. I kind of feel kind of feel like these guys are booming some guys, too. I love it. They got swagger. They got confidence. And they established this in the spring and during training camp behind closed doors. They established this confidence, this swag, and they’re going to have a chance to show it off this week on a short week. You know that 2013 team I was telling you about, Jake? They had some of the most incredible badasses of all time. I used to love it. I was broadcasting. I used to go to the game just to see the pain that they could inflict on the other team. But you know what they love? They love prime time. that legion of boom, they went off in prime time. And that’s what I want to see this group do. I want to see this group take all these great stats, all this swagger, all this confidence to Thursday Night Football. Keep me up late watching every snap of it. I want to see it. It’s a divisional opponent. It’s on the national stage and we got to stay within reach of the 49ers. This is really big, huge. So don’t compare this group to the Legion of Boom until they boom consistently on prime time games. Yes, the front. They can dominate you, man. They really can. They’ve got the horses to do it. They have the mentality and the physicality up front. What I love is their effort and their concentration. They don’t jump off sides. They don’t jump out of gaps. They don’t need to be reminded about their pad level or running to the ball. They get it. And I think you’ll feel it in this ball game. They have a great defensive coach and I think they have a great defensive staff obviously, but they are selling this system to these players. I can just hear McDonald and his coaches selling the system. Selling the system. Well, guess what? The players bought into it. And not only that, they’re selling how we prepare. This is how we practice. This is what we’re preaching every day. and the players bought that too. So, it’s a beautiful thing. That’s how you establish culture. You get people to buy into the system, buy into the preparation, and then they go out there and they showcase it with a great presentation. You love that or what, Jake? I also feel trust. You know, a lot of times I’d call a play and the players, they go, “Oh, God, we’re calling that play.” No. Seattle, you can tell they trust the coaches. They trust the plan and they trust the guy next to them. I got this gap. You take this gap. I’ll take this gap. You make sure you’re in that gap. It’s really impressive. And I don’t think there’s a lot of either. You know, ah bullshitting about this or bullshitting about why we blew a coverage or why we missed the run fit. These guys take accountability from what I’ve heard every indication. And that’s exciting. If you watch the plus4 run reel, this is what you do when you’re an NFL coach. The offensive line coach when he runs in the office on Monday, he picks up the plus4 run reel of your opponent. So, he’s looking at all the runs that went for four yards or more against the Seattle Seahawks. Guess what? The reel’s about that long. There’s not a lot of runs because they kick your ass. They’ve only given up one uh 13 yardd run, two runs of over 10 yards. It’s really been a hard living. So somehow someway they got to continue that and take it to another level against Arizona so they can cut this pass rush loose. They got to find McBride, the tight end of Arizona. Don’t give up any of these screens. Kyler Murray loves the trap pass and off of the trap pass they throw the slow screen to McBride and they’re really good at it. They got to bat some balls. Kyler Murray, we all know, is not the tallest quarterback. He’s had some balls batted this year. I think they got to get their hands up and bat some balls. Last thing I’ll say is this secondary of the Seahawks has had a ton of injuries to great players. I mean, Julian Love, their Pro Bowl safety, didn’t play last week. Nick Eman Wor, their second round pick, the the guy they have a great role for, hasn’t played in two weeks. Pro Bowl slot corner Devin Witherspoon, one of my favorite guys. He hadn’t played in two weeks. So, it’s a credit to Carl Scott, the secondary coach, and his assistant, Nico Thorp, because they get a guy over here like Darion Kendrick. They get him off waiverss from the Rams, and he comes in right after the end of the training camp, and these two coaches, you know what they do at night when everybody’s home? They’re meeting with this guy, teaching them the nuances of the defense. Miss Kendrick’s making notes. They go out there and they give them an extra five or six reps and they keep keep working with these kids. All of a sudden, guess who has two interceptions and five PBUs. Oh, Darian K. Everybody’s like, “What the hell?” That’s great coaching, man. It’s a great thing going in Seattle. I mean, hell. So, they lose Julian Love and they bring in Tai. He’s number 39. He’s out of Montana State. I don’t know who he is, but it’s the behind the scenes work that they have done to allow these players to come in and play. Great. I mean, hell, DeAnthony Bell, where’s number 23? He’s on the practice squad. They said, “Hey, Dean Anthony, we need you to play.” Guess what? He blocks a punt that really ignites this team last week against the Saints. I swear I saw him come out and force a strip. It’s impressive, man, how these coaches have got these young players to not just plug in, next guy up. I’m about plugging in and playing great. The matchups are very, very interesting. The offensive line of the Arizona Cardinals has had continuity, but who’s the left tackle going to be? Paris Johnson, high draft pick out of Ohio State, did not play against the 49ers. Is he going to play tonight? If he doesn’t, it’ll be Kelvin Beechum. But good luck blocking Boy Maf. Good good luck blocking Derek Hall because these guys are coming. And Demarcus Lawrence, number zero, the ex Dallas Cowboy. He may not have any sacks, but he still can separate, get off blocks. He can apply significant pressure inside or out. And whoever plays over here, they’re going to bring a physical beast to the left tackle of the Cardinals. Evan Brown is the left guard. He’s a journeyman. I think it’s his fifth or sixth different team. Froh Holt is the center, third year starting. Isaiah Adams, secondyear player out of Illinois, is the right guard. Jonah Williams at right tackle, he’s had injuries in the past. Remember, he only played six games. But this group up front has got to play much better than they did against the 49ers. They have issues over here at left tackle. But where the strength is right now for the Seattle Seahawks, it starts with Leonard Williams. Leonard Williams, 11 sacks, 50 pressures a year ago, he totally dominated Arizona last year. This guy’s a hell of a football player. They gave him a ton of money, which they should. And then a month later last year, they draft Byron Murphy out of Texas. And Murphy was quiet, a half a sack. He had some injuries. This Byron Murphy, he looks like Jiren Reed a couple years ago when Reed had like 11 sacks. Murphy’s got two and a half sacks. He’s like a human body snatcher. He can get rid of guards. He can really play stout with great pad level. He’s got surprising burst and rush ability. Murphy’s playing great. Williams is great. And Giron Reed is a great leader. I think he’s the ring leader of this outfit. Seems like he’s been around a long time. He’s one of the old members of the Legion of Doom wearing number 90. These are very big time badasses inside. Demarcus Lawrence, the Cowboys, I’m sure miss him terribly. He’s wearing number zero. He’s playing his ass off and he can play multiple spots across the front. So, this offensive line of the Arizona Cardinals is going to have their hands full with the Seahawks. the linebackers of the Seahawks. You ever heard that song, Seek and Destroy by Metallica? That’s what I feel like when I’m watching Ernest Jones. I feel like that when I’m watching Buddha Baker, you know, Seek and Destroy. Is that how you sing it? It’s a great song. Anyways, Ernest Jones gets traded from Tennessee to the Seahawks for Jerome Baker, who is not playing for the Titans. He’s playing for the Browns and a fourthround pick. I think the Titans got a tight a tight end from Texas. But anyways, this Ernest Jones is a seek and destroy linebacker. Sing it with me, Jake. Seek and destroy. Yeah, see you can destroy. This guy’s a hell of a player, man. 25 tackles, two tackles for loss, an interception. He’s wearing number 13. At first, I’m like, who the hell’s that? Then I realized it’s Ernest Jones. You know, last year he has like 148 tackling opportunities. I think he brought the guy on the ground 94% of the time. And you could say it’s 95%. But Ernest Jones is a great tackler. He’s a key to this defense. He can play zone coverage, key the quarterback. If Murray scrambles, he can flag him down. This guy’s a great player. And Tyrese Knight, the other linebacker, number 48, secondyear player out of UTP. He’s getting better and better. He can set the edge on the line of scrimmage. He can play off the ball solid in coverage. And they really do a great job using Drake Thomas, number 42, as a mix-in guy, particularly in passing situations. A excellent front seven. The nickel corner I feel is the best nickel corner in the league. Devin Weatherspoon. We did an interview with Spoon. Spoon talks a lot of trash. He’s got some original trash talk that is even better than mine and that’s saying something. But he’s out. It’s this Darien Kendrick who had the interception in the end zone against the Steelers. Got another one last week against the Saints who has really picked up and made a name for himself. But let’s hope we see Witherspoon back on Thursday night because he’s going to have to go in there and take advantage of some of these matchups that exist. I think it’s a real positive matchup because Arizona doesn’t use the slot receiver Greg Dorch very much. Maybe a jet sweep, four catches for four yards. Haven’t seen any route combinations that are really problematic yet for the nickel corner of the Seahawks. And outside Marvin Harrison. Where’s Marvin Harrison going to go? Well, he’s got to pick up his play. I know that he’s had some drops. We saw the signature drop last week where he’s wide open. Concentration wasn’t there. He had another opportunity in the end zone to make a catch we expect him to make. He dropped the comeback route against the Carolina Panthers. It’s not good enough yet. And they expect great things from number 18. I would expect coach Jonathan Ganon to make sure they call Harrison’s number quite a bit in this game. They’ve got to get him going, especially with the fact that they don’t have a number two option as viable on the outside. Is it Michael Wilson? Michael Wilson. Not much success. Just three catches for 21 yards. Hasn’t been targeted much, but the outside corners of the Seahawks. This is one of the best kept secrets in football. Reek Woolen gets a lot of ink, and he should. 6’4 out of UTSA. He looks the part. He got double moved against the 49ers late in the game. Other than that, he’s been extremely solid. I would expect him to relish the opportunity to go up against Harrison. But, you know, Josh Job has become a seek and destroy corner. Sing it, Jake. Seek and destroy. I love that song. This guy has been targeted 17 times. He’s only given up seven catches for 42 yards. You talk about a guy that’s undrafted, goes to Philly, gets released, put on the Seahawks practice squad. Finally, last year they activate him. He beats out Trey Brown, and he’s been arguably the best corner on the Seahawks since. His attitude, his approach is unbelievable. And when you challenge this guy, he responds. He loves to be challenged. And he will physically seek and destroy. Man, he is a excellent football player. Number 29, Josh Job. Man, he’s playing great. And I expect Wilson to have his hands full if that be the case. But when it comes to McBride, number 85, we got to have eyes on him at all times. Will it be Julian Love? Will it be Tai Okada, the Montana State youngster? What I do know is this. Kobe Bryant wearing number eight, has had a lot of success against Kyler Murray. Picked him off twice last year. one for a pick six. Number eight, Kobe Bryant in some coverage situations. Keep an eye on him. Very good free safety. Who’s the strong safety going to be? Are the Seahawks going to rest Witherspoon and Julian Love one more week? Are they going to bring back Nick Emani, their second round pick? If those three men return with the rest of these guys, they might become the next Legion of Boom. gotta shut down Trey Benson. And most importantly, I think you got to expect a lot of Kyler Murray designed runs, sprint outs, I think bootlegs certainly, but I mean read options, designed quarterback sweeps. You better keep an eye on Kyler Murray number one. And we got to make sure Trey Benson doesn’t take advantage of the feature back role. Going to be a hell of a fight. Seattle Seahawks have a great defense. Arizona hasn’t reached their potential yet, but the season is just getting started. Well, you got to make a tough pick sometimes. These division rivals can be tricky, especially on a short week. A lot of injuries, a lot of unknown. I’m going with the Seattle Seahawks, a team I think that is on the rise. Seattle 20, Arizona 13.

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Coach Gruden dives into the NFC WEST Matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals. Who ya got?

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 TOP OF MIND
15:06 SEA OFF vs ARZ DEF
39:04 ARZ OFF vs SEA DEF
01:00:06 PREDICTION

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