Seahawks vs Rams Week 11 | Gruden’s Preview

Seahawks vs Rams Week 11 | Gruden’s Preview

Okay, Bar Stools game of the week presented by DraftKings. It’s the Seattle Seahawks 7-2 heading to Los Angeles to play the Rams who are also 7-2. And both of these teams are redot fourame winning streaks. We have an offensive head coach, Shawn McVey, going against a defensive coach, Mike McDonald of the Seahawks. This has everything I’ve been waiting for. I’ve teamed up with DraftKings Sportsbook. DraftKings Sportsbook delivers the unmatched intensity of the NFL right to your doorstep. From firsttime touchdown scores to anytime TD props or the thrill of live in-game betting, every snap is loaded with opportunity. New customers turn five bucks into 300 bucks if your bet wins. It’s paid instantly in bonus bets. The crown is yours. Sign up using promo code grooted. This top of mind is brought to you by Chevrolet. Football season’s in full swing. 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. The Seattle Seahawks are 11-1 as a road team under head coach Mike McDonald. and they are going to have their biggest challenge yet as Shawn McVey and the Rams who are coming off an impressive victory at San Francisco are waiting for their rivals. Both of these teams I think have great general managers. The Seahawks, Josh Schneider, he’s been around a long time. Some of the players he finds, it’s amazing. I look out there and I see Taio playing safety. He’s an undrafted safety out of Montana playing his ass off while Julian Love is hurt. Then I look out there and I see Drake Thomas, number 42 playing linebacker. He’s all over the field. He’s undrafted out of NC State. And then they got a guy, Brandon Peely. He comes in there on short yardage, makes an unbelievable stop. They’re finding players from obscure places. And these coaches have done a great job developing them. It’s a credit to him. And Lesne of the Los Angeles Rams, he also has done a hell of a job getting Nate Landman, linebacker. I mean, this guy’s playing his ass off. You’ll see number 53 with four great punchouts that have caused fumbles. He brings in Devonte Adams. They bring in Emanuel Forbes, a former Washington commander, corner, first round pick, and he’s reinvented himself. So, Sch Snider and Sneed deserve a hell of a lot of credit just like these two coaches do. The Rams since losing to the 49ers at home on that Thursday night game 26-23, they’ve won four in a row. They’ve outscored their opponents 128- 46. They have been whooping people’s ass. And the last couple weeks, the Seattle Seahawks have destroyed the Washington Commanders. They went to the locker room up 31 to7 in Washington. And then Arizona comes to town. They’re ahead 35 to nothing at halftime. Both of these teams playing really good football in all three phases. These are two of the best teams in the NFC West. These are two of the best teams in the NFC and two of the best teams in the NFL. Right now in the NFC West, Seattle and the Rams are 7 and2. And right now, Seattle has just a little bit of an edge over the Rams because they’re two- one in the division where the Rams are just one and one. So, this game could impact homefield advantage. And the last time the Rams won the Super Bowl, they had three home games in the playoffs. I think it’s really important in the NFC. The Philadelphia Eagles 7 and two. These three teams, the Rams, Seahawks, and Eagles are at the top of the NFC right now. There’s a few other teams with just three losses, Detroit, Chicago, Green Bay, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So, it’s just now starting to get clear who the best teams are, and these are two of them. A lot of similarity between these two teams. The Seahawks and the Rams are the only two teams in football to have a top five scoring offense and a top five scoring defense. Both of these teams have a hell of a quarterback. Both Sam Darnold and Matt Stafford having great years. Both of them MVP candidates. Stafford’s the favorite to win it right now. Both of these teams have star receivers. Man, if you love receivers, wouldn’t you love to go see a game with Devonte Adams, Puka Nua, and how about Jackson Smith and Jigba and Cooper Cup? Woo! It’s got me feeling nicy. I want to play that song. Shred. You like that song, J? I knew you did. They also have quiet balance. I call it quiet balance. You want to talk about the receivers and the quarterbacks? Hold on. The Rams can run the ball, man. and so can Seattle. Hell, the Seahawks run it more than anybody, 53% of the time. This has everything I’ve been waiting for. Finally, these two teams meet twice a year, obviously. Last year in week nine, the Rams went up to Seattle, beat the Seahawks 26-20 in overtime. It was Stafford on a bootleg to his left, throwing the perfect catch to Demarcus Robinson who makes that one-handed catch. a lot of drama at the end of regulation. There was a penalty called against Kobe Bryant. Anyways, Rams won a fist fight 2620. And then in week 18 in Los Angeles, Seattle won that game 35-30, but the Rams rested all their starters. Stafford didn’t even play. So, I don’t put a lot of stock in that. I will say this, McVey is 11 and6 as the head coach of the Rams against Seattle. Obviously, Mike McDonald’s one and one against the Rams. Let’s talk about these two quarterbacks real quick. A lot of questions about these guys. And I remember all the doubters out there questioning Matt Stafford. He’s too old. He’s in his 17th year. He’s got a bad back. He’s done. And some of you guys that were questioning say Darnold, he had nine sacks in a 41-10 loss against the Rams in the playoffs. He ain’t good enough. So Minnesota let him go. He had a lot of doubters as well. Wrong. Both of these guys are kicking ass. Stafford, he’s had Pro Bowls. He’s thrown for 5,000 yards. He has a Super Bowl in his closet. He’s done it all in pro football. But the one thing he hasn’t done is win an MVP. And that’s just what he’s doing this year. How about 25 touchdown passes and two picks. Since the Indianapolis game, he’s thrown 20 touchdowns with no picks. That’s hard to do, man. Hard. Some of the best ways to evaluate quarterbacks. If you’re interested in it, let’s evaluate him under pressure. How does he handle the blitzes? Well, last week, you know what he did to the 49ers? Kapow. Four touchdown passes against the blitz. What about red zone situations? You know, Mass Stafford 39 out of 57 in the red zone, 20 touchdown passes, no picks. You know how tight the windows are down there. The guy’s having a phenomenal year. He’s had a career year. He’s only been sacked 4.3% of the time. So, he’s getting better protection and he’s got two great receivers. And they’ve added a new personnel package called 13. One back, three tight ends, one wide out we’ll talk about. But Stafford still one of the top vertical passers. He can still make every single throw fun to watch. Stafford is a combination of knowledge, experience. He has unbelievable confidence. He’s got a great supporting cast. He has one hell of a system from Coach McVey. We all know that Stafford has all the arm talent. Plus, he is a premier competitor. If you get a chance, go on YouTube, see if you can find him wired for sound. Hell, several years ago, he separates his freaking arm against the Cleveland Browns when he’s with the Lions. He takes his team down the field and wins a game. This is a badass having his greatest year ever. How about Sam Darnold? In the history of pro football, how many guys in their first nine games have over a 100 QBR in six out of nine games? Sam Darnold did it this year. He also did it last year with the Minnesota Vikings. He’s the only guy in the history of football to do this. And right now he’s third in the league completing 71%. First in the league in yards per attempt, 9.9. Ninth in yards, 251 a game, seventh in touchdowns, he’s thrown 17. He is having a lot of fun in this Clint Kubak offense. He is the number one vertical downfield passer in pro football. The average flight time of every one of his passes is 9.6 yards in the air. For some teams, it’s like negative one. They throw bubble screens. This guy’s pushing the rock, man. And on those downfield throws, 14 touchdown passes, a 137 QBR. Hell, he’s got nine completions of over 40 yards. And he has without a doubt right now, if you ask me, the best wide receiver in football. This Jackson Smith and Jigba, I love saying that name. I just call him JSN, man, because I say it all the time. He can run all kind of routes. Has the X, the slot, and the flanker. He comes out of the back field. He is a great receiver. Let’s talk real quickly about the receivers that are in this game. How about Cooper Cup? You know, in 2021, he had over 1,900 yards and he won the triple crown. Catches, yards, touchdowns. He’s in this game playing for the Seahawks. Jackson Smith and Jigba. He’s on course to take down Calvin Johnson. The all-time yardage record in the NFL. That’s what kind of year we’re talking about. How about Devonte Adams? 999 catches. One more. And he gets through 1,000 grabs. He just passed Tony Gonzalez last week, eighth all time with 112 touchdown catches. And we have Puka Nakua. He is the most vicious wide out in football. He’ll block defensive ends in the running game. He’ll come in motion, go through the line of scrimmage, kapow, he’ll block a linebacker. Try tackling this guy on one of these quick screens. He’s like tackling all knees and elbows, man. He is a rolling ball of butcher knives. I love him. You think I’m excited about this game? Hell, I wish I was coaching in this. I wouldn’t sleep at all. There’s some former Rams that are going up against the Seahawks to add a little drama to it. Imagine Cooper Cup coming out of the tunnel wearing a Seahawk gear seeing the Rams across the field. The guy had 634 catches, 7700 yards, 57 touchdowns, and he was a Super Bowl MVP. He’s going to go up against his old team. You don’t think he wants to win this now, do you? They also have Ernest Jones, leading tackler of the Seahawks if he plays. He was traded away by the Rams. I bet he’s got a little, I don’t know, can of whoop ass ready to go. Puna, forward, defensive tackle, played with the Rams. So did Darien Kendrick, a good little cornerback. So there are a lot of guys playing against the Rams as Seahawks. That’ll be cool. I think a big thing you got to think about in this game, there’s actually two of them that jump off the screen to me. One of them is the turnover battle and the Rams dominate this statistic and that’s a big statistic in winning. The Rams are plus seven, man. They take great care of the ball. They’ve only turned it over seven times and they’ve taken it away 14 times. The Seattle Seahawks are minus4. They’ve taken it away 12 times with their defense, but surprisingly they’ve given it away 16 times, man. Minus four is on the bottom seven or eight of the league. That’s a problem for them if they don’t get that taken care of in this game. Seattle has lost seven fumbles. Remember I told you this. And the Rams lead the league with seven fumble recoveries. And they got this guy named Nate Landman, number 53. He comes there and he has as good a punch out skills as Fred Werner has. And that’s saying something, man. This guy’s really good. Got to protect the ball if you are the Seattle Seahawks. And you can ask Zay Flowers, you can ask Jennings, you can ask Chimera, you can ask the little running back for Houston, number 33, if I’m bullshitting you or if I’m telling the truth. Watch out for Land Manow. The other statistic that jumps off the screen to me is the kickers. Now, the Seattle Seahawks have a big advantage here. Their kicker Josh Meyers just broke a team record last week with his 176th field goal. That’s pretty damn good. He’s had a good year, 17 out of 21. He’s 32 for 32 on Pats. The Rams have had a nightmare when it comes to kicking. They let their kicker Joshua Cardi go. He’s 8 for13. He missed three extra points. Hello. We could be 9 and0 if we didn’t get those two field goals blocked in Philadelphia. Hello. We would have beat the 49ers if we hit the extra point at the end of regulation. We could be 9 and0. That’s how important the kickers are. You see, they’re your leading scorer every year. So, the Rams have a new kicker. You’ll love this. His name is Harrison Meas. He’s out of Missouri. I had to look this guy up. He made 84% of his kicks. You know, they call him the thicker kicker. He’s like 248 lbs. The thicker kicker. He was 6 for six on Pats last week against the 49ers. Hasn’t attempted a field goal. But let’s be honest, the Rams also replaced their long snapper. So, they released Alex Ward and they brought in Jake McUade. Now, they got some problems in the kicking game. They’ve had block kicks. They’ve had bad snaps. And I was a former holder. I think they’ve had some questionable holds. They better get this straight here because this game could very well come down to a field goal. Lastly, the injuries, the concerns are with the Seahawks. Leading tackler Ernest Jones, number 13. He did not play last week against Arizona. He tweaked his knee against the Washington Commanders. He has been on the practice field. Will he or won’t he play? Tyrese Knight, the guy that filled in for him last week. Holy cow, what a game he had. Two sacks, eight tackles. Josh Job, very good corner, missed last week’s game with a concussion. Not sure of his status. And they lost their center last week. Jaylen Sundell. That’s a big deal now because the Seahawks run a lot of outside zone and the quarterback’s under the center. And when you snap that ball, you got to block some of these wide shades. The Seahawks backup center came in a game last week on their own one yardd line. They fumbled the snap. So keep an eye on that. And Giron Reed, defensive tackles, out for a few weeks. He has a fractured wrist. Lot to get into. What an exciting ball game we have. This offense defense matchup is brought to you by Fox 1. On Fox 1, you can stream your favorite live sports. So you never miss that. Did you see that moment? That means Fox NFL Sundays are now on Fox One. It’s NFL Sundays all streaming live the way it was meant to be watched. It’s also the best way to stay locked in on your action. Whether you’re sweating your fantasy matchup, tracking a parlay, or just riding the chaos live as it happens. I hate watching things on delay. I got to see it live. Start your 7-day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Okay, this Rams offense, Seattle Seahawk defense. You have a great matchup between play callers. Shawn McVey of the Rams, Mike McDonald of the Seahawks. I bet both of these guys have been in the laboratory late at night. McVey does a great job tweaking his offense every week. They win in the pre-nap. He and Matt Stafford, they have a great ability to communicate during the game and make adjustments. I love the way Mike McDonald coaches. There’s an old school mentality you just see in his players, the way they perform on Sunday. I’m sure his players are asking him, “Why are we working so hard sometimes? Why are you making me do all these different things?” He says, “That’s because we’re going to develop you. We’re going to need these things. we’re going to need you to do this at crunch time. But he pushes these guys. He challenges these guys and they bought into his style. And it’s obvious how hard they play and how much they love playing for each other. It’s refreshing. The Rams, look at them statistically, fifth in scoring, fifth in total, second in passing offense, 18th in running offense. But I call it quiet balance because if you want to double Nua, you want to try to double Devonte Adams. You know, Karen Williams, he’s got 657 yards and he has 39 touchdowns since the start of the 23 season. I mean, only Jir Gibbs has more than him. So, don’t ever forget about Williams, number 23. And Blake Cororm has come into his own. He’s a real contributor. He has 307 yards, well over four yards of carry. Stafford has no ego at this point in the game. He’ll be more than happy to hand the ball off against a lot of split safety looks and trust these backs in his offensive line to get it done. You know, last year, last couple years when I watched McVey, I used to work with McVey, you know, way back in the day. He’s had 11 personnel play after play after play for the most part. one back, one tight end, three receivers, and it’s 11 personnel over and over and over. But I think in the off season, he made a decision. You know what? We’re going to become more diverse. We’re going to be harder to defend. We’re going to do more things, better things, and we’re going to really make things hard on the defense. We’re going to make a defense play a base defense and then a subdefense, and we’re going to add to their problems. They’re using a lot of 13 personnel, and I mean a lot, man. one back and three tight ends. So, only one receiver is on the field. And I think McVey looked at his team. He says, “Hey, Puka Neu is out. He missed a couple weeks. Devonte’s had some injuries. He’s been slowed a little bit.” Well, let’s just play one receiver at a time, then. Let’s bring in multiple tight ends. And when you watch them play, you’re going to see Terrence Ferguson number 18. You’re going to see Davis Allen number 87. You’re going to see Tyler Higgby, number 89. And you’re going to see my good friend Kobe Parkinson. That’s four different tight ends. Most teams only carry two. The Rams have four on their team and four that are active on Sunday and they can create all kind of formations. One of those tight ends could become a fullback. So now it looks like you have two backs in the game. There’s a lot of variables that the Rams are getting now because of these tight ends. I also love this game a lot. Both of these teams are under the center. The Rams lead the NFL. 57% of every snap is under the center. You know, not that you care, but when we won the Super Bowl number 37, we’ll be the last team to ever play a whole year with not one shotgun snap. Ha. 19 games, zero shotgun snaps. Anyways, the Rams 57% under the center. That leads the NFL. You’re going to see some old school playaction passes and you’re going to see some really good outside and inside zone runs from under the center. The Rams are awesome in the pre- snap. You’re going to see a receiver motion and then stop. Sometimes he comes in motion and returns and gets set. I call that counter motion. He might even look to his slot receiver. Give me some. The guy will go in counter motion using a snap count trying to recognize the blitz. Or are we good? You’ll hear Stafford during a game say we’re good. We’re good. That means the play McVey called. It’s ready to roll. But Stafford has all this knowledge, all this experience. If he sees something that doesn’t work against the play they’re trying to run, believe me, he’s going to change it and fix it. They kick your ass in the pre- snap. It’ll be interesting to see how coach McDonald disguises some of his blitzes against this 17-year veteran quarterback. It’s hard for everybody to do. It’ll be hard for Seattle. The Rams lead the NFL in play action passes. And I’m talking about bootlegs. They’re going to run the outside zone just enough so Stafford can fake it and come out on a bootleg to his right or to his left. Playaction passes, shot plays, and Shawn McVey is a master at devising these plays. They have a very creative insert offense. Write this word down, Jake. I ner insert. And when you see that word, you think of the Rams offense. You know the insert game of the Rams. You’ll see Puka Nua of all people come in motion on these one back running plays. They’re they’re going to have a hard time blocking the seventh guy. We we’ve only got a single back set. So, they’ll push it up to the weak backer. They’ll combination block up to the middle backer. Tight end’s got a key cut off. They bring in Nua into that C gap. He’ll go in there and block these safeties. And it’s an awesome thing, man. the will, the determination, the physicality of these receivers. Now, pretty soon, these linebackers and these safeties are like, “I ain’t letting this wide out block me. I’m going to knock the out of him.” Well, McVey knows that. They bring him in motion again. Now, it’s a playaction pass. Okay, it’s a playaction pass. And Noula comes in there, acts like he’s blocking. I’m not blocking. These two guys will clear out the backside. Nua runs a deep cross. Guess what? body’s wide open. They fake the back over here. He’s in the flat. It’s a three-level cut. Plays that look exactly the same that are different. All kind of different plays with insert blocking in the running game and play action passes. McVey does a great job with those. The Rams have great ball distribution. Nine different Rams have caught a touchdown pass, but don’t yourself. They’re looking for Devonte Adams number 17 and Puka Nakua number 12 and 23 Williams is the feature back. But Stafford has had no problem connecting with multiple targets in the red zone. He’s thrown 20 touchdowns in there. The Ram offense is very efficient. They lead the NFL with 24 first downs per game. So ball control, keeping it away from Sam Darnold could be a positive thing for this Rams offense as well. Last thing I love about the Rams, and you’ll see this several times in the game, is if they do get a lot of blitz, the Rams throw a ton of quick screens. I would show some to you, but it’s like a violation. It costs like $400,000 per clip, but they’re going to throw quick screens out here to these wide receivers, especially in the no back set. And when they throw the ball, you’ll see the receiver do a great job backing the corner off, creating a throw. And you’ll see guys like Higgby and Xavier Smith, they target their blocks and they deliver blocks. And then they’ll bring their tackle Havenstein who’s about 35 years old, maybe older. He’ll come out here on the perimeter and he’ll look for a perimeter safety. He’s athletic. So is the other tackle, Jackson. And then they’ll use their playside guard like Kevin Dodson. He’ll come out here and he’ll peel back looking for these defensive linemen who are coming out of the trash to make these tackles. And I mean to tell you, it’s awesome. And under center Coleman Shelton, he’ll snap the ball and he’ll come right down here looking for the free safety to throw the home run block. It’s a science, man. Great kickouts by the receivers. Nice job filling the alley by the playside tackle. Somebody’s got to trash and somebody like Coleman Shelton is the home run block down the field. They do a lot of these great quick screens. The Seattle Seahawks are fifth in scoring, ninth in total defense. They’re fourth against the run, 19th in pass defense. They’ve done a great job with this next man up theory. They’ve had a lot of guys hurt on defense. Trainer used to walk in my office and say, “Well, next man up.” I said, “Ah, Who’s hurt now?” They’ve done a masterful job without Ernest Jones. I mean, Josh Job goes down. Julian Love has been out five weeks. Geron Reed goes down. They’ve done a great job with the next man up theory. They make splash plays on defense, man. And if you just watch the game last week, you see two blitzes you haven’t seen all year. Kapow! Two sack strips by Tyrese Knight, a linebacker. Demarcus Lawrence picks them both up, runs them back for touchdowns. the first guy in NFL history on defense with two fumble returns of over 20 yards for a touchdown. That’s what I mean by splash, man. You know what else I love about Seattle is I can feel the hits. I can hear the hits. I mean, they are big time hitters, man. They got a leader in Demarcus Lawrence. He’s kind of a tempo setter. Number zero, the ex Dallas Cowboy. Better in presence than Ernest Jones. And all of these secondary men, Kobe Bryant, they’re all bad asses. They all tackle witherspoon at corners healthy again. They are fun to watch. They don’t blitz a lot. Only 20% of the time, which is very, very low by NFL standards. Mike McDonald doesn’t have to blitz number one because his front four, they get 35% pressure rate just with four or less rushers. Plus, by not blitzing, he helps his injured secondary. Remember, they’ve had multiple injuries at corner, nickel, and free safety. So, it’s really helped them, I think, be more sound and eliminate big plays. The thing you got to remember though about Mike McDonald, only 20% blitz, you might fall asleep like Arizona did because they brought an overload blitz last week that Arizona obviously had no clue how to pick up. They got him twice and the result was, “See you later, get them out of here.” They ripped Arizona apart. You got to beware of these designer dogs, I call them. Arizona wasn’t ready last week. He’s going to have something that the Rams haven’t seen. Even the veteran 17-year quarterback Matt Stafford might see a couple looks where he says, “Time out. I want to go figure this out for a minute. It’ll be fun to see.” Seattle, somebody has to be the most physical defense, the hardest hitting defense, the highest effort defense, and the best tackling defense. And if you ask yourself in football right now through the first nine games, who has all of those things? Who’s the best? I would say the Seattle Seahawks, man. They will really knock your ass off. And I feel real strong about that statement. They’re high in all the key statistical areas. Yards per pass, they’re fifth in the league. Yards per carry, 3.7 is third. Yards per pass, only 6.4. That’s fourth in the league. The run defense in Seattle is where it all starts. And they’ve got to zero in on Kairen Williams, Blake Cororm, eliminate the run. Seattle’s given up 97 yards a game, only 3.7 yards a carry. Nobody’s getting big runs. Just two runs of over 20 yards and just 14 runs of over 10 yards. That’s at the top of the NFL. Hence, great effort, great tackling, and physicality. Nobody has run for over 70 yards. So if they can get Stafford in second and nine, second and 10, they got a chance to unleash this rush, which has been very effective. And when you look at the rush, I want you to zoom in on the Dline. Jake, these four guys. Nuosu, number seven, he’s got five and a half sacks. He’s having a career year. Byron Murphy on the nose at defensive tackle, five sacks in his second year. He wears 91. We’ll talk about him in a second. Badass. 99. Leonard Williams. The ex New York Giant. He is a great player. Five sacks. And that man I talked about earlier. Demarcus Lawrence has four. The ex Dallas Cowboy I think is one of the ring leaders in Seattle. When you look at this Ram offensive line are finally healthy. Remember they’ve had a couple injuries this year. Havenstein the veteran right tackle looks like he’s healthy now. and Aila the left guard he was hurt earlier they have been on the field on the grass playing together and it shows man Stafford has not been hit a lot he hasn’t been sacked a lot it’s been impressive by this group Jackson at left tackle good player Aila very good player out of TCU Coleman Shelton returns home from the Bears and right guard Kevin Dodson the ex- Pittsburgh Steeler a fine player Havenstein he just won’t go away. He seems like a hell of a right tackle every single year. He is huge, man. But they will have their hands full. I love Nuosu, number seven. He plays defensive end, outside linebacker, the excharger, can really rock the tight end, separate and make tackles. He sets the edge great in the running game, and he’s also got five and a half sacks. On the other side, Demarcus Lawrence has been a huge addition. Three-year, $32 million deal coming over from Dallas. He is very physical. He’ll go inside over the guard sometimes in nickel, but he will get after Jackson and Jackson will get after him. It’ll be fun to just ISO on those two fighting all night inside. I love Leonard Williams. You know, some of Leonard Williams greatest plays are effort plays. If you throw a quick screen out there, trust me, he’s going to be on the screen. He’ll be making tackles out by the sideline. This guy has incredible stamina and playing range. Hell, I saw him against the Jets last year intercept a pass and run it back for 90 yards. He has track speed, man. I love Leonard Williams. And the kid that’s really come into his own is Byron Murphy, number 91. He has brute strength. He can really use his hands to shed blockers. He can take on double teams and his pass rush has been shocking to me. He’s got five sacks. there’s a couple get offs. I’m like, that’s how Warren Sap used to do it, man. This guy really has come on in his second year. They lose Giron Reed, a veteran defensive tackle. And as I said earlier about general manager John Schneider, they go out and find Brandon Peely, the exUSC Trojan, number 95. And on third and one last week, he shoots a gap. I’m like, who the hell is this guy? It’s 95 Brandon Peely. I mean, they got some guys now up front that are the key to this Seattle Seahawk defense. It’ll be the toughest challenge for the Rams all year. Stopping this Ram running game, I think, is priority number one. They run a lot of outside zones. They’re using multiple tight ends, so their running game has expanded. It’s not just the wide zone to the weak side and the wide zone to the strong side. They’re running two back sets because they’re creating that with this 13 personnel. Lot of different run fits for this Seahawk linebacking core. And if Ernest Jones, number 13, doesn’t play. I know Tyrese Knight had a great game last week, but Ernest Jones is a badass man. He’s their leading tackler with 63. He’s got three interceptions, so he’s been a real factor against the pass and the run. And I know they need Jones big time to realize their true potential. But if he can’t play, it’ll be Tyrese Knight. And Tyrese Knight, number 48, comes out of UTIP. Had a good rookie year. Got off to a tough start. He had a heart issue. He had some physical problems in training camp. Didn’t look as fast. Didn’t react as quick early. I think he’s pretty good now. He kicked some ass last week. Knight 48 has a playing speed that’s really picked up. His recognition looks good and his familiarity in Mike McDonald’s defense in year two is obvious. The unsung hero. There are a couple unsung heroes of this Seahawk defense. You got to ask yourself, who is number 42 for the Seahawks? Jake, go ahead. Who is it? Who is it, Clay? I don’t know. Well, nobody knows out there because Drake Thomas hasn’t got the attention that he deserves. He has done a hell of a job in the sub package and as an every down linebacker. 40 tackles, three sacks, six passes broken up. He ain’t the biggest guy. He’s only 5’11. He doesn’t have the prototype size. But John Snyder said, “Make him a Seahawk. He hits like a Seahawk. He has a instinct like a Seahawk. And he’s going to be hard to get off the field.” I don’t know what Mike McDonald’s going to do. If Jones is healthy, who do you sit down? Those three linebackers will have their hands full, not only against the running game and the versatility of McVeyy’s offense, but against all these bootlegs and play action passes. If you’re a young linebacker out there, the best thing you got to do sometimes is play out of recovery. You bite on the fake, man. It looks like a run, but now what do you do? You got to recover and get to your responsibility and limit the damage. That’ll be a challenge. The matchups on the outside should be interesting. I’m assuming right now, and remember it’s early in the week. I’m assuming Josh Job doesn’t play. If he doesn’t play, it’ll be Devon Witherspoon, my man. I interviewed Spoon at the Super Bowl. He’s one of my top five favorite players. He’s a hell of a nickel in the slot. But if he has to play outside, the former top five pick from Illinois is just fine. He missed several games. He was hurt. He’s healthy now. He’s a differencemaker for the Seahawks. If you watch the Commander game, he comes on a corner blitz right in Jaden Daniels’s face, man. Causes an interception. He is a dog that bites. That’s how I try to use an analogy to summarize him. And I would love to see Witherspoon against Puka Nua on the outside. Nua was going to break an NFL record for catches in the first five games. He had 52 catches in his first five games. He misses a couple games, but he still is like a savage man with the ball in his hands. He’s one of those insert blockers. The guy has no fear, none. He’s physical. He’s a beast. And on fourth and three last week against the 49ers, who’ you think Stafford was going to throw it to? Who’d you think, Jake? Puka. In every critical situation, they’re going to throw the ball to Puka Nakua. And if it’s a noback set and you’re gonna throw a quick screen to somebody, who do you think he’s gonna throw it to? Jake Puka Nakua. And if he’s out there against Devon Witherspoon, sign me up. I’ll be there all night. I won’t leave my seat. On the other side, if Joshes doesn’t play, they’re going to turn to Reek Woolen again. What a luxury that must be. Woollen’s about 63. He has coverage ability. fell out of favor a little bit there for a while, but he is still one talented catman. And who else would you want covering out here against Devonte Adams? Devonte Adams, say what you want. 999 career catches. What else can you say? He is a rare talent and he puts the ball in the end zone. He’s got nine touchdowns. He leads the NFL six in the last three weeks. And when you get in the red zone, Jake Adams is going to be out here and the ball’s in here. They’re going to call a running play and they’re going to have Adams run a one-step bullet slant. And you better line up inside technique or he’s going to score. And then if you line up inside, he’s going to take that step and he’s going to run a fly route. You’re like, “Holy how do you cover that?” And then he’s going to fake the bullet, run to the fly, and they’re going to throw the fly stop. It’s like three routes that look exactly the same. And if you have perfect coverage like Jacksonville did, he’ll catch the ball with one hand like this and get two feet in. He’s unbelievable. Great clutch red zone performer. He has an oblique strain. Keep an eye on that. And in the slot for the LA Rams right now, I’m seeing a lot of Xavier Smith. Florida&M. Jordan Whittington. He has 12 catches for 100 yards. Xavier Smith has just six for 77. But these guys do a lot more, okay, than catch passes. These are the guys, man, that should wear neck rolls because these are the guys that are paid insert guys that are going to have to go in there and block some of these heavy artillery Seahawks. Somebody has to come in motion and insert in the C gap to block, I don’t know, you going to block Drake Thomas. Good luck. I can’t wait to see some of these inserts against these linebackers. I think the big story with the Ram offense is the tight end usage. You know, McVeyy’s a friend of mine. He’s been the head coach of the Rams for 137 games. I’ve watched them all, made cutups of every single one of them. In 137 games, he’s used 13 personnel, 83 plays. That’s not much, you know, but in the last four games, he’s used 13 personnel more than that. McVey ran 13 personnel 35 times against the New Orleans Saints. That had been done in 25 years. And he ran 30 snaps at 13 personnel last week. And I want you to remember these guys. We all know Tyler Higgby. He’s a veteran LA Ram and they use him most of the time. But you’re going to see these other guys now. They got this guy number 87, Davis Allen. He’ll start as a tight end, but they’ll shift him into the back field. he’ll become a fullback and he’ll run kick out blocks, isolation blocks. He’ll kick your ass, man. And Davis Allen has 13 catches for 104 yards. It’s not like he’s a blocking sled and he’s been in the end zone. They’ll use Colby Parkinson. He’s got 13 catches for 109. He is a guy that can pass protect on the line of scrimmage in the C gap. He is critical in making these play action passes go. And you know, Higgby, hell, he’s got 19 catches, 170 yards. But make a note here, Malisac. It’s Terrence Ferguson, number 18. He’s a rookie second round pick. He has five catches for 138 yards, but they’re developing joker routes for him where guess what? He’ll run a sail takeoff. He He’ll run all kind of down the field routes. Watch out for Ferguson number 18. They’re going to try to get a couple deep ball shots to him in this game. And that brings us to the safeties of these Seahawks. Tai Okada, number 39. What a revelation he has been. I mean, you lose Julian Love for five games. Hell, I bet Julian Love is thinking, I better get my ass back out there cuz Okata is playing his ass off. You see that tip tap interception he had against the Washington Commanders? He has a lot of production tackling PBUS. He looks like a natural safety in this defense. And the other guy is Kobe Bryant. He might be my favorite Seahawk. He wears number eight. He can really hit, man. He’s a great one-on-one tackler. He’s got 44 tackles, second on the team. And I don’t know what his QBR stats would be, but if you throw the ball against Kobe Bryant, you’re going to get your ass knocked off or bad things are going to happen. He is a really good safety man for the Seahawks. We got a lot of great matchups in this one. I can’t wait. Okay, this Seahawk offense against this Ram defense equally as exciting. Clint Kubak, offensive coordinator of the Seahawks. He deserves a lot of credit. Should be interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs. I think he’s done as good a job as anybody in the league. The Seahawks are averaging almost 31 points a game. And man, do they start fast. They have a great way to open football games. They jump on Arizona. Great play design and play calling. 35 nothing at halftime. 31 in the first half against Washington and 38 in the first half against the Saints. They are balanced. 53% of the time the Seahawks run the ball. Number one in the NFL. Mike McDonald wanted to run the ball more. He brought in Kubiaak and Kubak has listened to the head coach and that’s what’s happened. They aren’t killing you with the running game. Only 114 yards a game which is 17th. They don’t make a lot of long runs averaging just 3.8 yards per carry which is 29th. But they’re effective. They’re getting better and they’re controlling the clock. They’re able to convert in short yardage. They’re able to run the clock out at the end of the game. Seattle is third in the league in scoring, ninth in the league in total offense. I just love the way Clint Kubak uses his personnel. You’re going to see multiple tight ends on the field, two or three tight ends on 49% of the time. That’s a high stat in pro football. You’re going to see two backs on the field 27% of the time. That’s fourth in the NFL. So, you’re going to see some old school formations and the quarterback is under the center 55% of the time. That’s second in the league. They use 11 personnel, one back, one tight end, and three wide outs just 38% of the time. That’s the third fewest. This is an offense that takes advantage of their commitment to the running game. They have an outstanding playaction offense. Bootlegs, bombs away, man. They will throw the ball down the field very similar to the Rams under the center committed to the run setting up run action, boots and play passes and they do an extraordinary job of that. When I was coaching the Raiders, we went up against Gary Kubak, his dad and Mike Shanahan in Denver. They had a fullback named Howard Griffith used to piss me off with Terrell Davis. They run that ball, run that ball, run these bootlegs. There’s a lot of the same plays I saw then that I’m seeing now with a lot of Clint Kubak twists. It’s a real cool Smores board of offense. One thing about Seattle’s offense is they have to eliminate the negative yardage running plays. They’re number one in the league in stuffs. 24% of their runs are for zero or negative yardage. And a lot of that has to do with a new system. They’re emphasizing the track scheme, the wide zone. They’ve had some negative runs and when you use multiple tight ends, when you use two backs, you get a base defense and you get some loaded boxes and I think that has contributed to a lot of the negative yardage runs. Hello. Perhaps that’s why they went out and traded for Rashid Shahed of the New Orleans Saints. You want to gang up on us? You want to come in here and stop the run? we will throw it over your freaking head. Because Rashid Shahed, if you know anything about him, he has a 15.0 career yards per catch. He has 10 of his 12 touchdowns that have gone for over 30 yards. We all know he’s a great returner, but what a serious threat he is on the field. You better be careful because Darnold’s a great deep ball passer and he just acquired one of the top deep ball receivers. Much like Matt Stafford, you’re going to see Sam Darnold heavily involved at the line of scrimmage. You’re going to hear him saying, “Kill, kill, kill, kill, or alert, alert, alert.” They’ll call two plays at a time. The first play, if it’s good, they’re going to say, “We’re good. We’re running that play.” If it’s not a good look, kill, kill, kill. will run the other way away from the overload or the pressure. They do a great job of not wasting plays, but Darnold slowly but surely is becoming a master of Clint Kubak’s world of offense. Sam has had to react to a lot of different systems. You’re just now starting to see him settle in under Kubak and it has been awesome to watch. This is an excellent red zone offense. They continue to run the ball inside the 20 and they have some great passes where their great receiver Jackson Smith and Jigba can really hurt you with post patterns and double moves. The cool thing about this game is seeing this red zone offense with some specialized plays that only exist in the red area on a weekly basis. Kubak comes up with plays the defense hasn’t seen that attack the specific coverage that they’re going against. and they’re going up against this Ram defense who’s second in the league in red zone defense. They’ve only allowed a touchdown on 39% of the appearances. So, it’s strength versus strength. When you get down into the red area, don’t forget that when they get into third and one, even on the goal line, they’ll put AJ Barner, their tight end, in at quarterback, and run what play? The tush. What? Tush. They had a false start on the goal line the other day. I was kind of happy because now maybe we’ll get rid of that freaking play cuz everybody seems to be going off sides on it anyhow. But anyways, in short yardage and goal line, remember you’re going to be seeing 88 Barner who plays tight end getting underneath the center to run the tush push. You’ll see several no back sets. Kubak and his dad Gary Kubak have always had a great package of plays with no backs. And as I said earlier, the deep ball is a strength of Sam Darnold’s and the deep ball design is a strength of Kubak. And they really work well together trying to get Jackson Smith and Jigba down the field on double moves. And with the addition of Shahed, that’ll only be a little bit more dangerous and exciting. Lastly, the thing that most excites me is Jackson Smith and Jigba, his route tree. You know, a lot of guys route tree is a bubble screen or it’s a quick screen or it’s a one-step slant. This guy in Jigba, he runs every route you can possibly dream up. It’s awesome to see him as the ex receiver away from trips. I see him in the slot. I see him on the strong side. They even put him in the back field to run routes as if he’s a halfback. He’s incredibly gifted as a route runner. He has great stamina. his ability against press coverage to get some releases. Some of his best work, he didn’t even get the ball thrown to him. He had a release against the Washington Commanders, I’m still speechless. I can’t believe what he did. I mean, when he’s an outside receiver, I see him run what I call a shake route. He runs a sevenstep route. He breaks off his outside foot. He takes it three to the post, breaks off his inside foot, and he breaks it to the corner route. He runs two shake routes against Jacksonville that are textbook. Then against Jacksonville, he runs straight down the corner. He steps on his toes. He sticks them to the outside. He runs a post. Touchdown Seahawks. He’ll come off the ball and he’ll run a speed out at 10 to 12 yards. And then he’ll come off the ball and he’ll show the speed out and he runs the double move for another big payday. But routes that start off looking exactly the same that are different. If you press him in man coverage, Darnold will hand signal him and he’ll just run a simple fly route and the ball will be thrown perfectly three yards from the sideline and he has 5050 ability to go get it. I’ve seen him run hook routes, 12 yard hook routes. He might spray his release a little bit to the outside, push it up to 12, burst and turn, and after about three or four weeks, he runs that same exact vertical stem. burst turn and now he’ll run the double move for a big payday. He’s a great double move man off of the hook or off of the out. When they put him on the weak side, they cut his split and they run a lot of bootlegs. They fake it right at him and the quarterback comes out the other way and he runs what I call an over route 10 to 12 yards deep on top of linebackers. He’s caught a few of those. And then against Washington, he makes it look exactly like it’s an over route, but he takes it to the near hash and he runs a pylon. I call this a stash route. He runs as fast as he can to the near hash and he takes it to the back pylon. A huge, beautiful route to watch. And then he’ll run several deep crosses. He’ll catch these between 18 to 20 between the numbers and the far sideline. lot of deep crosses with Shahed clearing it out. That’s Those are three big routes coming from the weak side. When they put him in a tight split, he loves to come up and run corner routes. He’ll push this up to 10 to 12 yards, break off his inside foot, and he’ll set that thing nice and high. And then against Arizona last week, he pushes it up. He acts like he’s running to the corner, but he runs back to the post. It’s another touchdown for the Seattle Seahawks. Lastly, believe it or not, they’ll put him in here as a running back. They might motion him in here to an offset position. He’ll arc his release and he’ll run a choice route. He can sit versus zone. He can break in or out versus man. And then after he’s run a couple of those, he’ll fake the choice route and take off down the far sideline for another double move. big payday. Lot of routes that start off looking the same that are completely different from the weak side, the strong side in the slot and in the back field. Hey, when you want to try to stop Jackson Smith and Jigba, well, it all starts with where the hell is he? Okay, let’s get to know this Rams defense. Everybody around out there, I think, needs to know one thing. Lesne Sneed, the general manager, Chris Schula, the defensive coordinator, have done as good a job as anybody in football. This is the lowest paid salary cap defense in the league. And they’re playing their ass off. They’re only giving up 17 points a game. They’re second in the league in scoring defense. 11th in total, ninth against the run. This is a physical crowd, man, that can do a lot of things. Well, they limit the big plays. This is another higheffort, very physical defense. Very similar to Seattle. I just said Seattle’s defense is great first. These guys have only given up 5.9 yards per play, that’s sixth. 3.9 yards per rush, that’s sixth. And only 6.6 yards per passing attempt, that is seventh. So, they’re really flourishing in all areas. This is the number two overall third down defense. They have an excellent pass rush. They have a very good disguise package on the back end and a lot of athleticism and they bring you down when you catch the ball. They limit the yards after the catch. They got jam fronts. They have the overload with the double trouble double A’s. They sprinkle in just enough blitz to drive us offensive guys crazy and to get one-on ones for their best rushers. One of the things that’s really interesting is the Rams play one linebacker off the ball more than any team in the league. Almost like a sawdog look where you got your two tackles over the guards, your two defensive ends are over the tackle, they got a Sam linebacker on the strong side, a willbacker or a nickel guy on the weak side. And you’ll see one linebacker off the ball. Most of the time it’s the land man, Nate Landman. He’s the guy off the ball. It’s an old school 43 appearance. The Rams are exclusively running this more than everybody else. Against the Ravens, they played a base defense almost the whole game with four DBs. Then when they go nickel, Quentyn Lake, number 37, he becomes that slot corner. Not many guys are better than Quenton Lake. They play a base defense. They play a nickel defense with Quentin Lake. And then they have a nice dime package with six DBs. They bring in number two Jaylen McCulla as a linebacker type that can really help against tight ends and good receiving backs. I think the pass rush of the Rams has been really good, but I think it has to wake up. They were awful quiet in San Francisco last week. I think they only hit the quarterback one time and that was Quinton Lake. So, I’m hoping Byron Young and Jared Verse and all my friends up front, Turner and Fisk, are hearing me. They got to rev up the rush now against this Seahawk passing game. They have 28 sacks and a lot of those sacks come from the front verse, last year’s rook of the year, has four. And Byron Young, former volunteer, he’s got nine sacks. He has a hell of a motor. Young wears number zero. Verse wears number eight. they can ruin this game for Seattle. Very good at stopping the run. We know Kubak of the Seahawks wants to establish the run. Very important that the Rams continue to knock it out. They had one difficult showing at Baltimore. Henry and the Ravens ran for 179, but in their other six games prior to that, it’s been 94 yards or less. This is a good run defense. got to play great and rev up the rush against Sam Bradford and company. Let’s take a look at the matchups. The offensive line for the Seahawks, make a big note here. The center is out 61. Jaylen Sundell is out of the ball game. That’s a significant loss. They’re going to replace him with number 55. He came in last week. It’s Ulu Olo. He’s playing center number 55. They had a bad exchange last week on their own one yardd line. Who’s at fault? The center or the quarterback? Well, Hell’s Bells. You fumble on your own one against the Rams. It’s over. So, keep an eye on that new center starting with Sam Darnold. Now, he started the last eight games last year when Connor Williams retired. He does have experience, but not a lot of game experience with Sam Darnold. So, keep an eye on that new center. The left tackle, Charles Cross, is a very good player. He’s athletic. He can get out on screens. He can pull in the running game. Very athletic on the backside cut off blocks. And that’s what really makes this outside zone go. Left guard gray Zable. You know why he’s wearing number 76, Clay? Why? Because Steve Hutchinson wore that Hall of Fame guard, former Seahawk, they gave him Steve Hutchinson’s jersey number. That tells you how much they love him. First round pick out of North Dakota State. You look at all the stats for Pro Football Focus. He’s the best guard pass protector, arguably the best run blocker. He’s a badass. Why do you think they gave him that number, Jake? He’s a hell of a player. This left side of the Seahawks, very good. Brand new center. Right guard Anthony Bradford, he’s been a polarizing guy. He’s had some struggles. I think he had his best game against Arizona. He passed protected. He shot his hands. He finished blocks. I like the way he played. Abraham Lucas at right tackle. He got edged by Josh Sweat on the sack strip fumble. You remember Bosa running over him in the red zone a few weeks ago. He will have his hands full, no doubt, but I expect Kubak to get him some help. The Dline of this LA Ram outfit, Byron Young, he’s the guy that gets all the ink, rightfully so. 45 tackles, nine sacks. He can rush on either side. Some of his sack production is just sheer effort, chasing guys down. He’s a hell of a player. I love Jared Verse, the old seminal. I miss him down here in Tallahassee. When he hits you, he knocks the right out of you. I mean, he is a punishing football player. He’s forced three fumbles this year. He has 34 pressures. That leads the LA Rams. He is a wrecking machine, man. And Kobe Turner, number 91. I think he’s about to have a coming out party. I look for Kobe Turner to get matchups with Anthony Bradford. He is a hellraiser inside. And Puna Ford, he plays a lot of critical rundown snaps for the Rams. They do have some good backups. They got this guy Merchesen 52. He comes in, gets a couple sacks. It helps when the Ravens blow a protection one time, but they also have Davis number 90. You’re like, who the hell’s that guy? It seems like since Aaron Donald left, you would think there would be a huge drop off of their interior play. But when you watch Braden Fisk, number 55, you watch Davis, you watch Turner, they have some guys that have really taken the torch from the Hall of Famer, soon to be, and taken it personal. They play their ass off. Running back for the Seahawks, Kenneth Walker is their leading rusher, but they use two backs. Walker has 539 yards, four and a half yards a carry. He gets a lot of the single back stuff. He gets some better looks than Zack Charbanet. Charbanet is the goal line short yardage guy, only averaging 3.3 yards a carry, but he does lead the team with six rushing touchdowns. I think Charbanet and Walker are just now getting a feel for this outside zone. I mean, you’re running this outside zone. Everybody wants to bounce it outside. Sometimes you got to cram it up in there. Sometimes you got to cut it back. But it’s never the same way twice. It takes a little patience. It takes a lot of trust, man. A lot of guys, hell, I cut it back. You miss a backside cut off block, you get your ass knocked off. You tell yourself, “I ain’t cutting it back again. I’ll get my my freaking head kicked in here.” You got to trust the backside. See the play side, trust the backside. You like that, Jake? Yeah. True. True. Very true. Anyways, the Seahawks are committed to running it. They need somebody to break a long run. Finally, Charbanet got a 30-yard bust out last week against the Arizona Cardinals. Fun to watch. I can feel it coming on. You see the offensive line, they’re like piranhas, man. Shooting their feet in their hands. They stay on tracks. They’re finishing blocks better. It’s coming on. I can feel a breakout coming. these linebackers for the LA Rams. We all know, I’ve talked a lot about the land man already, Nate Landman. You know why I love him, Jake? Why? He signs a one-year contract for 1 million bucks. No one talks about him. I’m watching these shows. No one’s talking about the land man until today because the land man has 83 freaking tackles, man. Four forced fumbles, a sack and a half, two fumble recoveries. He’s like Zack Bond of the Philadelphia Eagles last year. He signs up from nowhere and becomes a high paid badass. I love number 53 land man. I think he’ll have a lot of respect for him too if you watch him carefully. 48 Omar Spates. Solid player and they’ll use number two Jaylen McCulla in the dime package to get more athleticism against some of these open style passing attacks. Let’s take a look at the matchups on the outside. It all starts with Jackson Smith and Jigba. I love this guy. You know, he’s on pace to break Calvin Johnson’s single season record. 116 yards a game he’s averaging. He’s got 1,042 yards already in nine games. Hell of a player is route tree we’ve already discussed. But it’s his deep ball receiving skills and Sam Darnold’s deep ball passing that excite me the most. This man has six catches already of 40 yards or more. Nobody else has three. He’s got 18 catches of 20 yards or more. No one’s even close to him. He lines up everywhere. Highly conditioned. This cat can really roll. Fun to watch him. And it’s going to be Kobe Durant on this side, the left side of the Seattle offense, right side of the Ram defense. Durant’s number 14. He’s playing 73% of the plays. He’s got one pick. Remember the Rams had a big injury. Weatherspoon got hurt at corner, hurt that clavicle week two. He’s going to be back in a few weeks, but you’ll see Darius Williams number 31. He’ll also play in this game a little bit. He’s played 55% of the snaps. And Darius Williams has been solid too on the 25 targets, just 11 completions. So Durant and Williams will man this right side of the Rams. And if it’s Smith and Jigba, good luck. It’ll be fun. On the other side, recently acquired Rashid Shahid. Last week, he barely knew the offense. But remember, he’ll be a quick study because Clint Kubak was the offensive coordinator of the Saints last year. He coached Rashid Shahed. Last week, they handed it to him on a reverse. Hell, they lined him up at tailback and gave him the ball. Only caught one pass. But remember, this cat can fly. He’s a little bit like Deshawn Jackson, that undersized speed demon who raised hell in the NFL for a long time. I mean, Rashid Shahed, he’s got six touchdowns of over 50 yards. That’s saying something. And over here, it’s going to be Emanuel Forbes, the former number one pick out of Mississippi State. I bet Brandon Walker, he’s like, “It’s about time, Guden. This guy has two picks.” He had a beautiful tip pass to himself to end the 49ers last week. Beautiful interception. I love guys like this that can reinvent themselves. He was a wash out they say in Washington. He comes to LA, he gets a new attitude. He gets a new system. He gets a new sense of confidence. And he comes out here. If you watch this kid Forbes in the first four games, you’re going to say, “Man, he’s not very good.” He gave up a few touchdown passes. Gave up 200 yards receiving in the last five games. Man, he has played really good football. He’s got two picks, just seven catches for 93 yards, but he has not seen the beast number 11 of the Seahawks. Can’t wait for that. Seattle’s also missing, I think, their rookie Tory Horton. He came in as a mid round draft choice kick return touchdown against the Saints. They put him in a game. Touchdown against the Saints. Touchdown. Another one against Washington. This guy number 15 can run if he’s healthy. Rashid Shahed and Tory Horton give Seattle some firepower on the opposite side of Smith and Jigba. And in the slot, how about this? How about having Cooper Cup, the former Triple Crown winner? You know, Cooper Cup, the ex-Ram, he has had some issues with his hamstring and his heel, but he had a 67 yard catch and run last week. He made Buddha Baker miss, my favorite player in the league. He accelerated down the sideline. He showcased his quickness. He’s got 367 yards receiving. He can run choice routes, double moves. This guy’s got some real good Him and Smith and Jigba. Maybe I could get Coach Kubak to send me some training reels. They also have another beast. He’s number 82. His name is Cody White. You know, Cody White comes in here and blocks linebackers. He will knock you on your ass. And then he comes in here on a playaction pass against Washington. He runs a corner route. He runs over Quan Martin for a 60-yard touchdown. They have a lot of good receivers is what I’m saying. Cody White 82. He’s from Michigan State. He’s the real deal now. He’s a good player. But it’s Smith and Jigba that’s the star of this show. The nickel corner for the Rams is Quentyn Lake. Arguably the most versatile Ram. He has 58 tackles, 10 passes broken up. You see him intercept that two-point play last week. The guy can play nickel. He could play corner. He could play safety or dime linebacker. I guarantee if you put him at defensive end, he could rush the passer and get sacks. Hell of a player. I’ve been to the Great Lakes. I ain’t seen much like Quentyn Lake. I just thought of that. I think the two safeties in this game deserve a little pub as well. Particularly Cam Curl, number three. This guy does it all for the Rams. He’s never going to come off the field. He has two interceptions. He’s an eraser tackler in one-on-one situations. He can play man coverage. He’s got really good red lineto red line range. And he’s a leader, a great communicator. They don’t blow coverages. I think he’s really helped their young safety man Cameron Kitchens come into his own. Kinches is playing much more instinctively. He’s playing faster. I think his recognition is better. His angles have been outstanding. I think the two of these guys are becoming a very, very good tandem. And they’re going to have to deal with all the tight ends that Clint Kubak uses. You’ll see three at a time. You’re going to see AJ Barner, number 88. He’s their go-to guy. They got a rookie, A Royo, out of Miami, Florida. He had a fumble against Houston. He’s got to hang on to the ball better, but A Royo can run. And they devise some vertical shots for him. Barner’s more of the possession type receiver, C gap blocker, classic tight end. And they bring in this other guy, number 89 from Minnesota, Nick Calerup. He had a holding call last week against the Arizona Cardinals, but if he gets his hands inside and runs his feet, he is a freaking load. Last guy I want to talk about on Seattle is a guy they call a fullback, man. Robbie Us, number 40. He was a big factor early in the season. He got hurt. He’s back. But I’m telling you, he is a very good fullback. He gets to his target. He can change directions. They haven’t used him much handing it to him or throwing it to him yet, but Robbie UTS, he makes this playaction pass and this running game go. Good player. Seattle runs a lot of outside zone. 98 goes to the right, 99 goes to the left, but you’ll see the tight end reach and run on the Sam Backer. The right guard and the right tackle, they’re going to work combination up to the mic and they are running their feet. Running their feet. You’ll see Robbie OS, he’s reading that tight end’s block. Sometimes he’ll knock that Sam backer’s ass off on his way to the strong safety, but sometimes he’ll go right through that C gap and block the strong safety. But 98 Boss, fullback on strong safety, hence Boss. You like that, Malisk? You’ll see the center reach the shade. They work in concert for the backside linebacker. And then right out of this fake, Darnold will keep it and neutralize that in. Somebody’s got to take the quarterback on these boots. But this outside zone, they ran it five times last week against Arizona. All of them to the right because Cross can get that cut off block. The center made that reach block and our guy Robbie OS, he can seek and destroy these safeties. Man, you got to pick somebody. You know, I love the Rams. I love McVey. But the Seahawks were 65 to1 to win the Super Bowl the beginning of the year. A lot of people doubted them. Well, I don’t. I’m going with the Seattle Seahawks on the road again. They’re going to beat the Rams 2724. Josh Meyers tease one up late. Going to be a hell of a game.

Welcome to Coach Jon Gruden’s Barstool Youtube Channel!

Coach Gruden previews Sunday’s matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams.

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