Seahawks DOMINATE Falcons: Defense Takes Over & Shahid’s 100-Yard Return | Richard Sherman Reacts

Seahawks DOMINATE Falcons: Defense Takes Over & Shahid’s 100-Yard Return | Richard Sherman Reacts

Hey everybody, I appreciate you joining us as always. You guys are phenomenal. You’re the best in the world. You’re watching the Richard Sherman podcast, but if you could do me a huge favor and hit that sub button, it would be greatly appreciated. You would do a a service for your boy Sherm. And I tell you what, I got your back. You got my back. All love. What a game for the Seattle Seahawks in Atlanta. It started off a bit slow. It was tied six-6 at the half. just a little bit uh uh sluggish offensively. The defense looked fine. They looked great. Nick MM Wori swarming all over the place. Devin Witherspoon playing a great game. Leonard Williams and Demarcus Lawrence, all the culprits playing well for that defense. But offensively, just a little bit of a struggle. Atlanta has done well against the pass this season despite their record and and they did a good job against Seattle Seahawks, against Jackson Smith and Jigba, against Sam Darnold. They brought pressure on Sam Darnold. uh he struggled a little bit with his accuracy in the first half, but the start of the second half and overall the second half was an entirely different story. Mitchell, it started with Rasheed Shahed making his biggest play as a Seattle Seahawk the first 100yard play of the season. 100 yard return, kickoff return. um coming into the game, the Atlanta Falcons were the worst kickoff return and kickoff unit a and and kickoff coverage unit in the National Football League. And the Seahawks exploited that. That that’s just something that another component of what makes this Seattle Seahawks team so complete is that every phase is a strength. Every phase. And I know we can we can talk about how the offense has struggled the last few weeks and Sam has struggled. No question about it. But for a team to go on the road and continue to play like the Seattle Seahawks have, and I mean they’re road warriors. I think they’ve only lost one road game this season. And I I mean I it’s it’s something insane. Like 15 or 16- one over their last 17 games. They just have a way of going on the road, walking in in your trap and taking over your trap. Mitchell, you hear it every time in the locker room when they when they play the song. They walk in your trap and take over your trap. And that’s what they did in Atlanta. They walked in their trap, took over their trap. The defense started to dominate right after that Shah Shahid touchdown. The defense forces a fumble. Um, recovers it. The offense wakes up. They all of a sudden wake up, find Jackson Smith and Jigba. He gets his his most productive drive of the game. Uh and and it ended with a Jackson Smith and Jigba 28 yard touchdown. That’s when things started to to to really really snowball for the Seattle Seahawks and the Atlanta Falcons. They they could not stop him. Kurt Cousins threw two interceptions in this game. One to Nick Aman who was probably honestly the player of the game. I would likely be up for player of the week this week. He had an interception, a sack, a blocked field goal. He The guy was everywhere. He was He was uh milking the cow. Mitchell mowing the lawn, fixing the roof. Mitchell fixing the plumbing. He was everywhere you needed him to be. You talk about do it all. Swiss Army knife. And that’s a guy Mike McDonald was really, really excited about before the season even started. And before, you know, he got injured a little banged up before the season started or or during the first game of the season. So, he missed a few weeks and all Mike McDonald was saying was like, “Wait until this kid gets into the fold. Wait until he comes back, then this defense will be unleashed.” And this is the first time the entire season, the entire starting unit of the defense has been healthy. Uh they got Jiren Reed back, they got um Julian Love back, and that was huge to get a Pro Bowl safety back this point in the season. Obviously, they’ve been playing like one of the best defenses in the National Football League before they got him back, but this was a great game for them. Uh Sam Darnold recovers from a from a start slow start, goes 20 of 30 for 249, three touchdowns, and in an interception off a tip pass to a Royo. Um it was a good game. It was a good game. Again, the concerns about the running game continue. Um it seemed like Atlanta had them figured out uh a lot of that first half and and kind of felt had a good feel for what they were doing on the ground game and through the air. Uh so hopefully uh Clint and those guys can get it get it figured out and and and start moving forward and start to get that run game consistently going. But overall, if you’re a Seattle Seahawks fan, you have to be excited and proud about proud with the with the product that was put on the field this week on the road uh in Atlanta. It’s it was fantastic. This team looked really good. And again, that’s why they’re number two in my power rankings. Yeah, they looked the part today. At least in the second half, Richard, that that first half, they looked like they were on autopilot. I know the Seahawks have had some trouble in Atlanta in the past. And uh Richard, it’s six to six. it could have been, you know, 10 to six. Uh Darnell Mooney looks like he caught a touchdown, stepped out of bounds. Uh did not reestablish himself. Um so that was a huge turning point going into halftime and then obviously you you see the benefit of having a guy like Rasheed Shahed on the roster. Uh 100yard kickoff return to start that half and ultimately it swung the game. But I too am looking at these running stats and I watch the game and it just seems like it’s it’s week after week and every once in a while they’ll have a good running game, but Richard, is this a personnel issue? Is this a scheme issue? What’s going on? Why have we not seen a consistent runner establish himself in the back backfield? Because it looks like they got some two two good ones and and K9 and Zack Charbanet. What what’s the issue there, Rich? Well, some of it’s a little bit of both. Um, I think both of the running backs can get the job done, but uh, every play it’s one guy, you know, to get a run game being successful, to get a consistent run game, everybody has to do their job. Everybody has to stay on their blocks and and execute. And it seems like every single week there’s one guy that gets beat, one guy who falls off his block, one guy who who can’t sustain uh, long enough for the play to develop the way it has. And and some of it is Kenneth Walker just bouncing everything outside. Not every play is is is designed for it to to get to the edge. And it seems like that’s the reason that they’re they’re running Sharpet on different runs um inside and mid zones because it’s it because it doesn’t seem like K9 right now, at least at this point in the season, is going to be patient and wait for those holes to develop. And sometimes that’s what you got to do um with with the zone scheme is wait for the wave. Wait for the wave. Wait for guys to commit then then find the gap. And sometimes it seems like K9’s getting there, reading it quick, and then bouncing it to the outside and trusting his speed. And this is the National Football League and and he’s made some huge plays and and and has incredible speed, but there are fast guys out there. You’re not going to consistently have success that way. And not every play is designed for you to have success that way. Sure. And I think that’s one of the biggest frustrations for him and I’m sure offensive coordinator Clint Kubak is you got to trust the scheme. You got to trust where the ball’s supposed to hit. And if you if you don’t do that, it’s it’s not ever going to going to click for everybody. And maybe they need to maybe they need to switch it up. You know, the the just like the San Francisco 49ers, they went to a gap scheme eventually in a couple games just to switch the mojo up, just to switch it up to to to to switch the uh tendencies some. And sometimes you have to do that is to to change the and it’s hard. It’s hard. Let’s not let’s not think that is easy. A team has been running a scheme for the entire season. you installed that in training camp, but when you see things aren’t aren’t working the way you want them to, you got to adjust. No question about it. Richard, this team looks special. I mean, frankly, I I always knew they were good, but they’re starting to trend towards that. Hey, they might be pretty damn damn good. Uh I’m starting to think that, Richard, they got their eyes on the number one seed in the NFC. I think it’s within reach 100%. They got some big games coming up against the Colts who may or may not be without their starting quarterback Daniel Jones and then the Rams. I mean, what in your eyes makes this team so special? It’s the complete It’s the completeness of this team. every phase having a being a strength and Sam Darnold just just became the the just just had the most wins for a quarterback that has changed teams over over two seasons. So he had the most wins of a quarterback and that’s every quarterback that’s ever switched teams. That’s the Tom Brady’s included the the Pton Mannings. Who would have thought Sam Darnold would switch teams and have the most wins over that period? Who would have known? But that’s a huge stat. Um, and I think the the chemistry he has with Jackson Smith and Jigba. Um, uh, the the development, I mean, continued development of this offense. And I wish they would give guys like Cody White more opportunities if I’m being honest. But, um, AJ Barner uh, getting more opportunities, Aoyo trying to get more opportunities. And then Shahit. Shahit finding his space and and and especially in an intermediate game. He he caught a few digs and overs today. It’s great to see that. That’s going to continue to open this offense up and continue to open this offense up down the field and and give him more opportunities. The more you can can sprinkle it in and keep the defense guessing, the better off they will be. But the hu the biggest strength of this team is the defense and and and how consistent they are, how deep they are at the defensive line, how deep they are in the secondary. Ernest Jones comes back and is is is the heartbeat of this defense. Then you got Nick Ammon. We talked about the huge game that he had. Devin Witherspoon flying all over the place. Got an interception in this game as well. It it just Tariq Woolen finding his rhythm, his swagger, looking like his old self, looking like the guy um they had high hopes he could continue to be. And he’s he’s continued to be be he’s making himself a lot of money. No question about that. Whether it’s here or somewhere else, he’s going to he’s going to be playing in in the National Football League for a long time. And he’s going to make a lot of money doing it, playing the position. But this is this is honestly one of the most complete defenses in the National League league football league. And the only reason I don’t say the most complete is because the Houston Texans are out there really just mauling people over the last 10 games. So the Seattle Seahawks just have such a bright future. They’re so young. I think they’re the second youngest team in the National Football League. They got a lot of young guys really, really thriving right now and that’s why you give hope. But then they got veterans. They got Demarcus Lawrence playing football. looks like he’s having the most fun he’s had playing football in a long time. You got Leonard Williams, a guy who’s who’s having a blast playing football, the veteran presence. Um Jiren Reed is coming back. Byron Murphy, Byron Murphy is is blossoming into the player they always hoped he would be. A guy that, you know, some people was call were calling bust and a lot of different things. His rookie year has really really had a quietly dominant season. um has started some game, has rotated some games, but has been incredibly impactful all season long. Uh and then you’re not even mentioning guys like Derek Hall and Boyet Maf and and Ucha Nuosu. And I mean, you can go on and on and on about all these guys they have on the defensive line. They’re going in waves. And when it gets into the playoffs and you start wearing teams down, that’s when you start to see the strength of this team is is they’re never tired on defense. They’re always swarming. And it’s first quarter swarming, second quarter swarming, third quarter swarming, fourth quarter turnovers. Turnovers because they’ve been swarming the whole game. It’s relentless. And you can see this relentless attitude, this relentless behavior, this relentlessness every single play from every single guy. And when you have that, tough team to beat. No question. And you got to tip your hat to John Schneider. He’s he’s put on a masterclass these last couple years, drafting well, evaluating talent and free agency very well. the trade market. Obviously, Rasheed Shahed as we mentioned, it’s all starting to add up and form perfectly for the Seattle Seahawks. We’ll see how they handle these next couple games.

The Seattle Seahawks outplayed the Atlanta Falcons in the second half with a powerful surge, fueled by Rashid Shaheed’s impressive 100-yard kickoff return, Nick Emmanwori’s dominant all-around performance, and Sam Darnold’s strong comeback after a slow start. Richard Sherman analyzes how the defense — anchored by Devin Witherspoon, Leonard Williams, and a completely healthy squad — overwhelmed the Falcons, created turnovers, and demonstrated why this might be the NFC’s most complete team. He also discusses Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s clutch 28-yard touchdown, ongoing issues in the run game, Sam Darnold’s new NFL record for QB wins after switching teams, and Seattle’s road success, showing they’re built for January.

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