Super Bowl LX Recap with Sam Darnold, Mike Macdonald and More!

15:01Jourdan Rodrigue:Drake May, we were talking about it with Ross, like, is this great offense or is it bad? I mean, great defense or is it bad offense? And the answer is a lot of both, on both sides. The Seahawks offensive line couldn't identify anything. There was like a two-play sequence where Will Campbell, you know, they try to take a play-action shot late, and Will Campbell just gets beat so fast that Drake May can't get rid of the ball fast enough, and he gets hit while he tries to throw it late. But the play before, Drake May holds onto the ball forever and just doesn't scramble. He was absolutely frozen.

15:39Jourdan Rodrigue:And there was many, you know, plays in the game where Drake May was so hesitant to scramble or even while he was scrambling, he couldn't get away from the guy because he didn't do it with authority. And he also just like missed wide open throws that the the sack that you're mentioning earlier where the rookie, you know, just walks, walks the center back, Jared Wilson, and ends up sacking Drake May for a negative. I mean, that was 100 percent on Drake May.

16:04Nick Shook:He's just his guys eyes down the field. He has no feeling of the pressure. in front of him at all.

16:08Jourdan Rodrigue:He has so much space on both sides, and he has no feel, and he's so locked into his own head. He could have gone either way and just moved in the pocket. The first turnover after what was, I think, eight or nine straight punts that Derek Hall played, that was 90 % on Drake May. He just stepped right into pressure. There was some pressure on the outside coming in, but then he just kind of gets his eyes down, and he runs forward right into Derek Hall. So it's a game and a postseason. that does change what Drake May's season was. Because if you put this four-game stretch in the middle of the season, think how differently you feel about his regular season.

16:47Jourdan Rodrigue:And it happened. There's no weather excuse here, and there's just misthrows, and there was not being able to get out of bad plays that we've seen from him. You give a lot of credit to Seattle, of course, but it was the combination of like a quarterback who was pretty lost and a defense that was firing on.

17:09Nick Shook:And I think it actually all goes back to how Seattle approached it from the very beginning, because there's a sequence where the Patriots actually moved the ball into the edge of Seattle territory. And you have the Witherspoon pressure off the left side that forces me to immediately bail out of the pocket and just chuck it away on third down. They have to punt. They have a sack in a similar situation where Witherspoon comes off the edge, gets his sack, and it backs him out of Seahawks territory again. And I think from that point on, they were always that step behind because, like I said, his head was in a blender because he had no idea where this pressure was coming from.

17:37Nick Shook:And I think that affected his entire process. We talked this week about how his clock's been a little bit slow. It wasn't slow tonight. It was broken because of what Seattle's defense did to him. And then by the fourth, by the second half, you kind of don't see him really become himself again until there is no tomorrow. There's nothing to lose. And they just start chucking it down.

17:54Gregg Rosenthal:You could you could see there. And let's be clear, too. Dude, the Seahawks are only up 6-0 at the time I'm about to talk about here. 6-0 at this point. We're in the second quarter, and Drake May is running sort of a long boot, and Boye Mafe is chasing him down. And Boye Mafe is so quick off the boot that he just knows. He cuts it off immediately, and you see Drake May looking at him like, you are here right now. And it rattles a quarterback when they – you see they know what you're going to do before you actually do it. And your solution, again, to mitigate pressure, those long boot actions and the nakeds and stuff, like that is – he's right there.

18:38Gregg Rosenthal:He's in your face immediately. And then it rattles the entire rest of the group. Will Campbell has a false start right after that. So you get two negative plays and then a deep shot to Matt Collins. It's incomplete, but it was a desperation heave. let's try to draw a person, a PI. Like it just was so, um, we think we might have an answer. Oh crap. We don't. Oh gosh. Okay. Let's just try to, you know, sling it like down the field.

19:03Jourdan Rodrigue:And it just Patriots, uh, all pro 2026 guard, Will Campbell at left guard. I mean, I'm telling you, it was, I'm telling you, it was on one hand disappointing to, you know, see them get waxed in the Superbowl on the other hand, like it was there to see history. His last game as a star. Yeah.

19:18Nick Shook:What have I said since Indianapolis could be a very great guard. and just a very average tackle.

19:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Look, I give more credit, obviously, to the Seahawks than I do just saying it's a bad Patriots performance. And what you give the most credit to is McDonald and his not just game plan of this game, but kind of like a season plan and a multi-season plan and how he's added all the layers to this defense and with John Schneider added the right rookies and the right free agents and everyone playing their role. And it all came together tonight. And I don't mean on the field. I mean, after the game, when he got to talk to us. And most importantly, I think there's at least a chance that Jordan Rodrigue is responsible for this Super Bowl championship for the Seahawks.

20:07Jourdan Rodrigue:After we get done with the interview you're about to hear, really should have led the show with this. Mike McDonald tells Jordan that he listened to the Play Caller series about Sean McVay and Kyle Shannon and that tree. And what did he say to you?

20:25Gregg Rosenthal:I said, no way. Did you really? He goes, yeah, I took some notes. And it was I immediately started crying, first of all. But I also was like, my heart stopped. That's the coolest thing. That dude just won a Super Bowl. He took the time. Greg, he pulled me aside to say that.

20:46Jourdan Rodrigue:Right, but you also cost the team you were covering the Rams the Super Bowl.

20:49Gregg Rosenthal:We're going to gloss past that.

20:50Jourdan Rodrigue:Because Mike McDonald's taking notes and he's figuring out. I'm going to cry again. He arrived here to be the McVay and the Shanahan stopper, and that's how he got to this Super Bowl was getting through those two men by cribbing the notes that Jordan was taking. My only problem with it was he didn't say it on the show. I said that to him. I don't know if he heard me. I was like, I wish you said this on the show.

21:12Gregg Rosenthal:But here is that was that was Greg's takeaway from the entire thing. Always thinking about content.

21:17Jourdan Rodrigue:Here here is what Mike McDonald did say on the field just a little while after winning the Super Bowl. We are here with the newest Super Bowl winning head coach, Mike McDonald. Mike, you obviously come up with this plan. You practice it for a couple of weeks. What about what they did tonight? Were you most proud of in terms of how they executed?

21:39Mike Macdonald:We came out and we were us. In games and stages like this, it's easy to try to be extra or maybe try to do something that you haven't done all year. But our guys really believed that their very best was going to be good enough. It was very evident early in the game that they were playing that way. At that point, we made some adjustments, but the guys just kept playing. I'm really proud of them. They made it happen. It was really incredible.

22:02Gregg Rosenthal:One thing I really appreciate and have appreciated about how you call games and how you sort of feel that game flow is you clearly feel so connected with them quickly, and they you. And today you're dialing up those corner blitzes early. And what about what they were showing you and what you felt from your guys made it clear to you that this was the A-plus plan ready to go?

22:21Mike Macdonald:Well, they always have my back. They always say, hey, look, dial it up. We got your back. And I'll tell you what, it's not just me saying the words. It's our coaches from down in, down out, from series to series, understand what we're going to do next, prepping the guys. It's really a team effort. and makes it, hey, look, when they play the way they did tonight, you know, you pretty much call anything, and they're going to make it come to life.

22:42Jourdan Rodrigue:Second year head coach, and here you are kind of at the forefront of the league. Like, what about connecting to your players did you learn this week? Because I think fans that are just learning about you saw you on the stage after the NFC Championship, see you on the sideline enjoying yourself after this. What has that been like for you as a young coach?

23:01Mike Macdonald:Well, you know, we always use this example, but it's not like I came in with a big head coaching book to say this is what we're going to do. Anytime we go into a new experience, we're doing it together, and I think they feel that for me, and it's real, and it is real. That's how we roll, and now we have some experience to draw on, so it's pretty cool.

23:19Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, just like how you call a game, it seems like you go off what you feel, and I think for a guy we know is sort of a scheme wizard, right? That's a cool thing too. You have that connectivity, that emotion with it too.

23:29Mike Macdonald:Yeah, sometimes you just got to trust it, and that's easier said than done.

23:33Jourdan Rodrigue:So you did a great job adjusting during the game. Any adjustments you need to make as you go out into the night here and celebrate your first Super Bowl championship?

23:41Mike Macdonald:Right now I'm going to hydrate, so make sure we have a good night.

23:44Jourdan Rodrigue:All right, thank you, Mike McDonald. Very cool that we are in the position to talk to McDonald, who does give off great energy.

23:54Gregg Rosenthal:I'm in for life now, obviously. Yes, yes. That was, first of all, great that we got to hear from him, right? But who does that? Just takes a moment to say something incredibly kind to a complete stranger. Like, that's – like, come on.

24:08Nick Shook:Somebody who just won a Super Bowl and did it on his own volition,

24:11Gregg Rosenthal:on his own way. Oh, man.

24:13Jourdan Rodrigue:And look, he is the vanguard right now of defensive coaching in the NFL. Like, he is that dude. And if you look in the history of the NFL, most of guys who become that dude, like Ashawn McVay, like, most of them aren't like McVay. They don't – it doesn't take them a while to win it. They win it pretty early. Like usually if you're going to win a Super Bowl with your quarterback, in this case, it's Sam Darnold. You win it early because everybody catches up. Exactly. And I and I stopped myself from asking that question, like just saying, like, you know, everyone's just going to be watching and everyone's going to be copying.

24:45Jourdan Rodrigue:Everyone's looking for their Nicky Manwari. Everyone's looking for their Mike McDonald stopper now, whereas he was the stopper before. And he has this system, but he's going to have great continuity. He's going to have his quarterback. Let's talk Sam Darnold's moment. wasn't his best game wasn't his worst game it was a sam darnold game and and what he did what i mean by that is like he is part like it's not all about the quarterback in the nfl sometimes it is like in the nfc championship game but this team can win games in different types of ways and in many games this season darnold hasn't had to be at his very best and you'll hear in a second He was even hard on himself for missing his some throws in this game.

25:28Jourdan Rodrigue:He was part of this game plan. And yet, like he the substation just hit us, by the way.

25:36Nick Shook:No, just me losing my footing.

25:40Jourdan Rodrigue:Like Darnold was just making sure he didn't make any big mistakes. There was a couple of plays early where he was close to it. But what stands out to me most is one of the most turnover prone players in the NFL. I think he finished second, right? In the regular season. Didn't turn the ball over once in the postseason. And they were more or less unstoppable this season if Darnold didn't make a big mistake and if they could run the ball. And, like, check, check. Even if it wasn't an explosive offensive performance, it was more than effective enough to win this game going on.

26:11Nick Shook:Yeah, and that was the key. And that's kind of what I was alluding to earlier is that, like, Sam missed some throws early. He also made a couple of really nice throws very early in the game. But it was very clear to me and I think to everybody else there that, okay, we're not going to put this game necessarily win or loss on Sam. We're going to use Sam to compliment what else we're going to do because we know our defense is going to play very well. And if we can run the ball effectively, then we don't need him to go out there and throw the ball all over the yard to win. We don't need him to play like they did against the Rams in the NFC Championship game.

26:36Nick Shook:We need him to play like they played the week prior against the 49ers. We need him to play like he did down the stretch of the regular season.

26:42Jourdan Rodrigue:They ran twice on third and long. Exactly.

26:44Nick Shook:Avoid mistakes, which, by the way, that's the team that runs on third and 16 against the first down. It's the Seahawks. That's the team. They avoid mistakes by sticking to the run, being able to balance it out enough, accepting that, hey, we're taking field goals right now. Because as we talked about in the preview show, I remember you just harping on this repeatedly. You give him an edge. You give him a three-point edge. He can now play his A-plus plan. He played his A-plus plan the entire game. And it wasn't until they kind of, like, they admitted afterward, I think it was Devin Witherspoon who admitted afterward, that, like, yeah, we kind of took our foot off the gas in the fourth quarter because we had that lead.

27:14Nick Shook:And we were still mad that we gave up those two touchdowns. But they were in control on that side of the ball, and it allowed them to just kind of balance things out offensively. Don't ask Sam to do much, because at one point, Sam was 12 for 27. I looked at Sam's line, I looked at Drake May's line, and I looked to our editor at NFL.com, Brooks Rosasmo, and I said, well, both of them are playing pretty poorly, but the Seahawks are clearly dominating this game.

27:34Jourdan Rodrigue:Darnold is winning the game by two scores, and he was 5 of 16 at the time through. I think it was their eight drives, something like that, for the Seahawks. They had 12 points, which is 1.5 points per drive. That's what, like, the 2025 Jets offense would have. But, again, they weren't turning it over. And, in the end, they did capitalize on that Derek Hall turnover and then scored a quick touchdown to the Barnyard Dog. Heck, let's listen to the call on TalkSport.

28:03Sam Darnold:Gets Barner to join the backfield and hands it off to Helani. No, it's a fake. He's going to look for a shot to end zone. It's a Barner. Barner holds it in. Touchdown, Seahawks. the biggest man on the field for seattle breaks out of the formation into the back corner of the end zone and on the play action fake sam darnell finds his man and maybe brings a second title

28:29Jourdan Rodrigue:to seattle aj barner is a walking mismatch he gets right past jack gibbons the patriots linebacker and into the red zone so much of their offense is around that man and i don't know if anyone can cover that man in the Patriots one-on-one.

28:44Gregg Rosenthal:That would be play-by-play, Greg.

28:46Nick Shook:I almost couldn't tell that was you for a second.

28:48Gregg Rosenthal:Did your voice change a little bit?

28:50Jourdan Rodrigue:Might just be the sound there. I don't know.

28:52Gregg Rosenthal:And also, kudos to our really good friend, Will Gavin, because when we were at the Green Day concert earlier this week, I was worried that he had lost his voice. We were screaming the lyrics to all the songs.

29:03Jourdan Rodrigue:That's a pro. You know what?

29:03Gregg Rosenthal:I love that call. I know you had a blast doing that. Eric Roberts and I were sitting next to each other in the auxiliary press box, and we went and found you. we sort of scoped you guys out in the booth and we're just really proud of you, Greg. And like that, that touchdown was so cool to me because it was the defense setting up the offense, which is exactly how this team has played so well, setting them up, especially with a short field, right? Not making Sam Darnold have to do too much, not making this offense have to do too much, but then right at the exact perfect moment, have Clint Kubiak dial up something so simple and so effective that they'd been setting up all game.

29:42Gregg Rosenthal:And that is those escort motions with the tight end that make it look like they're going to run the ball because, or because of the way that he's coming across the stack from the left side, moving over to the right, pausing for just a second to where he's legally set again, which makes you think it is going to be a run play, which means the running back one right behind where AJ Barner was just blocking open a gap, but instead having him sift instead of escort the runner sift into the opposite side of the field wide open behind three different defenders who clearly were loaded inside the box thinking that it was in fact going to be a run play so simple so effective that is how the biggest man on the field gets behind the entire

30:26Nick Shook:defense and what's the beauty of the sift it's the sneaking through yes don't be noticeable i'm the biggest man on the field but nobody look at me because i'm just going to happen to go get open in the corner of the end zone. So it's so wide open that all I have to do is catch this ball that's not perfect, but it's good enough for me to catch for a touchdown. And then it makes me text Jordan. AJ Barner, because I was like on the preview show. Sneaky AJ Barner MVP moment, baby, baby. He was the first one in the end zone for the Seahawks today.

30:50Jourdan Rodrigue:I don't know. I don't think he deserved MVP. I know I'm going to say, I don't know if he won MVP. No, he did not win MVP. But it is fun to watch him in person. He reminds me a little bit of Darnell Washington for the Steelers and just that so much of the foundation of the offense is built around his movement and his versatility. The type of guy that I know it doesn't light up the box score when he had 500, 600 yards. Yeah, but he's also the type of guy that on. But you can just see if you didn't have him, they would not be the Seahawks.

31:19Nick Shook:Yeah, I mean, even earlier, it didn't even amount to anything I think in the long run, but there was a third down where Sam Darnold's under a little bit of pressure and he's under duress and feels it, and he looks for A.J. Barnard, hits him. Barnard makes the catch, spins around a defender, breaks a tackle, gets the first down. It's the small things like that that then open up the ability to make a big play.

31:36Jourdan Rodrigue:And I don't know if I found it like I was hard on Darnold because I think he played a good enough game. And I think it's kind of like May in their performances where they won in the AFC playoffs early. There actually were a number of plays where Sam Darnold's evasiveness to the pass rush got them a first down. Milton Williams won clean like four times in this game against Anthony Bradford. He got one sack, but on a couple others, Bradford makes a miss, makes a completion to get a first down. They get three points on that drive. Another one where he makes Milton Williams miss. He scrambles, gets a first down.

32:12Jourdan Rodrigue:They get three points on those drives. Now, he was the reason in part that they didn't get seven. Like he misses the throw. It's a cup pretty wide open.

32:20Nick Shook:Misses JSN just before half.

32:21Jourdan Rodrigue:Right. In the red zone. Like there was a couple of throws that he didn't miss, But I thought he played loose for what it's worth for the whole night and like played his normal game. Let's listen to Sam Darnold on the field. Colleen's guy. I mean, every a lot of people's guy, but a man that we've had a sound drop for a long time on this show that I got to try to say live to the man himself. We are here with Super Bowl champion Sam Darnold. unreal run. How does that feel to hear that Super Bowl champion Sam Darnold?

32:56Mike Macdonald:Yeah, it's pretty special, man. You know, just the crazy ride that it has been for myself. You know, I can talk forever about my teammates in that locker room, but yeah, I mean, it feels pretty good.

33:10Jourdan Rodrigue:People want to hear about yourself, though. You talk about yourself because I feel like people, whether it was with the Jets throughout your career, like Minnesota certainly, like they feel invested in you because I think they like you as a person and that your teammates like you as a person. So give yourself maybe a little bit to talk just about, like, maybe what that means for all of them to get to watch you do this too. Yeah, it's, you know, I think hopefully it just inspires them,

33:35Mike Macdonald:not only them but other people, you know, in the NFL, in the world, just to be able to keep your head down and go to work. And, you know, as long as you work hard, you know, good things will happen. And even if they don't, just continue to put your head down and go to work.

33:47Gregg Rosenthal:Sam, I think speaking as someone who just watches on the outside, you have been the guy who has taken some adversity and just kept on showing up. At what point did you realize in your career not only you were going to be that guy and continue to be that guy, but also to be here right now when at a certain point maybe it felt like it might never happen for you?

34:09Mike Macdonald:Yeah, again, like I said, I just kept my head down. And, you know, even this whole season, you know, it's a long season. um you know we had the bye going into the playoffs that felt like forever and then you know this two these two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl that felt like forever so it was just like as a team like we just stuck with our process and and we did what we do um throughout the week and um we looked up we were okay we're here we're playing the game now we can focus on the game and everything because there's a lot that comes with this game obviously with media obligations and things like that but um it was just a once we got to the game and we were able to kick the ball off it just felt like we were doing exactly what we were supposed to do and you know that's uh

34:49Jourdan Rodrigue:that's why we do it the first couple of throws that you had that that throw to cup even the first down that you had before that I was thinking early on we're gonna get to see like how you're feeling how did those particular throws feel on that first drive yeah it felt pretty good I think

35:06Mike Macdonald:there were definitely some nerves but that's like any any other game um but yeah the throw felt pretty good I think Coop made a heck of a play on that to come down with it um but yeah I think also I missed a few throws that I'd like to have back but again every single every single time we feel like we needed a you know a jolt our defense was able to step up and make a big play for us

35:26Gregg Rosenthal:yeah I was gonna say it's nice to say I know you mean it when you say it too but you'd like to have some of those back but you're the one you're wearing the hat right now my friend so you Maybe not this game back overall. I want to know, what did you learn about your teammates, getting to know them this year? I know you want to talk about them. What is the thing that resonates with you, the first thing you think of when you think of them?

35:46Mike Macdonald:Shoot, that's a great question. I think just resilient. Like, we've all been here. You know, our coach put up a slide last night getting ready for this game, and it was actually AI. it was uh all these different roads going to seattle and seattle was like surrounded by a lake which it is um but it was just it like clicked for me it was like all all these people in this room these defensive guys everyone in the building has had different paths to to get them to this moment and you know that's just it's special to be able to play with a lot of guys where you know this this means something to guys i feel like sometimes you can come to work and it's just another day at work and you know you get to go home and be at home after that but it's like no we give 100 % effort every single day for our teammates and you know I think that's why it means so much to be able to play with guys like that.

36:40Jourdan Rodrigue:I have the best question for you all night because it's the last one. I have it on good authority you're getting out of here right now so what's next? What's Sam Darnold doing right now?

36:48Mike Macdonald:Are they yelling at you to get out of here?

36:49Jourdan Rodrigue:No I mean they said this is it this is the last one and we're getting him out of here.

36:52Mike Macdonald:I don't know man I'm gonna drink some beers.

36:55Gregg Rosenthal:Watching The Office a little bit?

36:56Mike Macdonald:Drink some tequila. Oh, is this supposed to be PG?

36:59Gregg Rosenthal:No, no, no.

37:00Jourdan Rodrigue:I said tonight. You better not be watching the office tonight.

37:03Mike Macdonald:Yeah, I'm probably just going to go home after this and watch the office. No. I'm going to celebrate with my teammates and my family and friends that were able to come to the game. Enjoy. Thanks, Sam. Easy to feel just happy for a guy that, like,

37:19Jourdan Rodrigue:everyone that's played with him probably loves him for a reason. Like, they're not all lying, you know. They love this dude, and he's a Seahawks legend forever. He's a Super Bowl-winning quarterback forever, and they're thrilled to have him. He's got to be the guy that leads their team for a while. So shout out to Sam Darnold. I doubted you. You did. I did not think that he could get to this moment necessarily, and he did it. And I believed in this team all year, which the head of their press department, their PR department, reminded me on the field right before giving us McDonald and Darnold that, hey, man, you've been picking us all year.

38:02Jourdan Rodrigue:You've known since October. You've been with us. I've really appreciated that. Why did you pick us against us tonight? Yeah.

38:09Gregg Rosenthal:Dave Pearson, kind of a big deal, was standing a good 15 feet away from Greg and pointed at him. It was incredible.

38:17Jourdan Rodrigue:He's like, I watch you. I watch you on game debut in the picture. You knew. You knew we were good. You actually got us. And then you don't pick us now. And I'm like.

38:24Nick Shook:Did you look at him and say, I'm sorry, I'm a mass ****?

38:26Jourdan Rodrigue:I said, I grew up there. I had to go there. I had to go with the heart. But look, it wasn't the head. The Seahawks deserved champions. Let's take a quick break. And we'll come back with more after. Yes.

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42:29Sam Darnold:Lowe's knows Sundays are for football. So tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances, select Bounty and Swiffer cleaning products, and more. Then once your to-do list is done, get ready to kick back, relax, and enjoy the game. Shop in-store or online now and earn your Sunday with help from Lowe's, official partner of the NFL. Second down and three. Steps up in the pocket. Going to let one fly down the seam, and it's intercepted. Coming back near side, 40, 45. Midfield, Julian Love, 40. Steps out of bounds. On the near sideline in front of the Patriots bench, Julian Love.

43:19Jourdan Rodrigue:So that interception by Julian Love really is what ended the game. with eight minutes and 49 seconds to go. The Patriots did force a punt and score a touchdown in the fourth quarter. There were so many points in the fourth quarter of this game. We entered it at, what, 12 to nothing, and then the 17 to 13 score in the fourth quarter. May throws probably the best two balls that either quarterback threw all night back-to-back out of nowhere, like a pass over the middle that was what to Diggs over the middle. This was like a C &I hole shot. It was like, oh, there's the Drake May. And then a bomb to Matt Collins for the touchdown.

44:04Jourdan Rodrigue:You're like, okay, they cut it to two scores. They get a stop. They get the ball back. In another world where the Patriots offense was actually playing well, down two scores, 10 minutes to go, isn't that crazy? That Julian Love thing puts it away. And one of the reasons why the game was out of reach at that point is because the Seahawks were able to get explosives on offense, and they did it with Super Bowl MVP Ken Walker. How about that man making some money tonight and one of the most fun running backs in the league to watch, kind of having his moment in the biggest of stage. At one point, he had more yards than the rest of his team combined and the Patriots combined.

44:43Gregg Rosenthal:It's so crazy. And Greg, we were talking about this, and we were kind of waiting to go on to the field in the fourth quarter and in the bowels of the stadium. their success rate was pretty bad like he was pretty bad success rate wise it was uh just a 29.6 success rate running the ball per next gen stats but the thing that really differentiated ken walker tonight was the explosive runs which really set sam darnold and the rest of the offense up to get those field goals um and to put it go ahead 12 nothing in the first place and then also the way that he moves it's so crucial to like the ethos of what this offense wants to do because he will be patient he'll almost wait and almost just like hold the ball in one hand and then he'll stretch you to the side or he'll stretch you to the other perimeter he can run between the tackles we know that but the way he just like sort of flows side to side and back and forth when he's trying to hit these perimeter runs in particular really sets the stage for those play-action shots over the seam that Sam Darnold came out swinging later in the game after a couple possessions, tried to hit that one to Rashid Shahid that Christian Gonzalez broke up by like a fingertip.

45:57Gregg Rosenthal:And all of that was set up by the fact that they had been flowing the Patriots' defense from side to side because of the way that Kenneth Walker was running. And when he would hit those explosives, it immediately set them up for success, at least for a field goal.

46:13Nick Shook:Yeah, it was so funny how they came out with that intent offensively from the beginning. It was getting the run action going early, whether it was handing off to Kenneth Walker, having the fake on the reverse, somebody coming around in motion and still going through that. In fact, they essentially did that type of pre-snap motion and post-snap motion as well, where they're handing it off to him, but that guy's still coming around the backside multiple times. They're never really tossing it to him. Then they toss it to him once. But before they toss it to him, they run a play action where they fake it to Ken Walker and the toss.

46:40Nick Shook:And then Darnold drops back and tries to throw a pass there. They had so many avenues that they could travel with this offense. And it all starts with Ken Walker. And the thing about this that took me again back to our preview show where we thought about, all right, what's the real difference between these teams? Because they're both very sound and they both have, you know, pretty solid schemes. But there was a talent difference. And I felt like the Patriots, sound tacklers, felt like they were just this close and couldn't close the deal defensively all night. And it was because of Ken Walker's running style where he's sneaky elusive.

47:11Nick Shook:He's able to go one way, bend it back the other. He's able to take a handoff that's a designed misdirection or it's a designed situation which he's running inside and he's got to read which way he's going. And Kyrus Tonga tries to shed this way. And as soon as Kyrus Tonga tries to shed this way, Ken Walker goes the other way and rips off a nice little chunk up the middle. No matter whether it was wide, it was inside. But his ability as a runner, his vision, his explosiveness, elevated that offense and really powered him to that MVP performance.

47:36Jourdan Rodrigue:Look, the first play of the game was a 10-yard run by Walker. Yeah, to the perimeter. I just felt like, oh, that's a bad sign.

47:43Gregg Rosenthal:I turned to Eric and I go, perimeter run.

47:45Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, like that was an omen. And there was a drive where he hits a 30-yard run and then a 29-yard run back-to-back, the one where he goes up the sideline and keeps his feet.

47:55Nick Shook:And on that play there, I thought Barmore was going to cut it off in the backfield. He's this close. He misses. You think he's going to get cut at the edge. He gets around the edge.

48:03Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, he so often goes against the grain of what's blocked and doesn't do what's called that it cracked me up that there was a play in the second half where he did exactly that, except the Patriots didn't even go where the play was going to go because they were waiting for him to go where the play wasn't supposed to go, and he ran into a three-yard loss. They were all waiting for it. It's like, we're on to you, but by then it was too late. He had made too many big plays. I do think we should give the Patriots defense some credit because, look, Christian Gonzalez had an awesome game.

48:35Gregg Rosenthal:Saved two touchdowns.

48:35Jourdan Rodrigue:You know, three passes defense, some of the most beautiful, like, diving passes defense that you ever want to see. He traveled with Jackson Smith and Jigba for much of the game. JSN had 27 yards on 10 targets. So one of the least effective things that the Seahawks did tonight was throw the ball to Jackson Smith and Jigba.

48:56Nick Shook:Legacy Patriots defense, going back to the Belichick days, sometimes he would go into these matchups and just eliminate the best receiver from the game. Although it wasn't that complicated.

49:04Jourdan Rodrigue:For the most part, it wasn't always Gonzalez, but that play at the end of the half, which maybe that was one of the throws Sam Darnold was talking about, but I actually think it was just a better defensive play than it was a bad throw by Darnold. Oh, it was a fantastic play. He's got a third of the field to cover, and no one else is over there. He's in phase the whole time.

49:21Gregg Rosenthal:And he took a hit while he threw it, too. Yeah. Like he, you mean, are you talking about the pass breakup that Christian Gonzalez? Yes.

49:29Jourdan Rodrigue:But also just like the fact that, you know, he has a third of the field to cover with JSN who tries to put the move that he's going to go to the outside. Gonzalez never bites on it. And it's just, there aren't many cornerbacks in the league that could do that.

49:39Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah. It just, it was really cool watching him play. And then really the Patriots defense, you said at the very top of the show, Greg, I do think that they showed up like a championship caliber team would show up. It was clear from the beginning that, and you mentioned the perimeter run with Kenneth Walker, and we were kind of laughing about it because it's like, yeah, of course you're going to run away from where Milton Williams is, right? And where that great defensive interior is, right? And they were getting pressure on Sam Darnold. They were blitzing a ton, which they've been doing at about a 40 % rate since week 14 anyway.

50:14Gregg Rosenthal:They were up to like 70 % at one point during the game, dipped a little bit back down. Sam Darnold really – Finished at 56. Sam Darnold was really struggling against the blitz in the first half. He was blitzed on 12 of his 22 dropbacks per next gen, pressured six times total, completed just five of those blitz dropbacks, and there were nine – he was pressured nine total times in half with six of those coming off the blitz. So, yeah, it got to him, and it hassled him. Now, he wasn't sacked during that time, but it did hassle him. It did get to him, and you could tell that this was something that the Patriots were just going to be as aggressive as they possibly could, knowing that they had guys like Christian Gonzalez who could cover so well on the backside.

50:55Jourdan Rodrigue:It's a team game. Like, when the Patriots' defense was on the field and the Seahawks' defense was on the field, if this was a boxing match, like, there was no knockout. But in the end, like, the judges scored it 2-1 for the Patriots. The Patriots won that battle ultimately. They gave up one touchdown in, what, 13 drives. And that one touchdown was a 37-yard drive. Like they just gave up field goals and most of them weren't even long drives. But ultimately, like, yeah, it's all four units and including special teams, which wasn't a huge factor today that matters. And on the other side of the ball, it was a second round knockout.

51:31Jourdan Rodrigue:I maybe not even second round. It was Mike Tyson versus Michael Spinks. And they just wanted to get out of the ring as soon as possible. And, you know, if it was a boxing match, collect their paycheck. Let's talk to some of the defenders that were knocking the Patriots out. We got to talk to one of the best young defensive players in the league in Byron Murphy. And we also talked to Jaron Reed. I really enjoyed both of these interviews. Let's listen to the Reed one first. So you're going to hear these back to back. Jordan and I talking to Reed and Murphy on the field after the game. What's up, Jaron?

52:06Gregg Rosenthal:Congratulations. Congrats.

52:08Jourdan Rodrigue:Here you go. I got a mic for you.

52:09Gregg Rosenthal:I will hold it a little higher because it's a little quiet. Here we go.

52:12Jourdan Rodrigue:A little further so we're not. All right. We are here with Jaron Reed of the Seattle Seahawks, a big part of tonight's dominant defensive line performance. At what point in the game did you realize that you had the number of the men across from you?

52:33Sam Darnold:I mean, look, we respect them, but we knew from the beginning, if we just go out there and be us, then we could dominate this game.

52:39Gregg Rosenthal:What's that feeling like collectively? You guys rushed with violence, with purpose, with a little joy too, I like to think. When that all connects, what does that feel like?

52:48Sam Darnold:Man, it feels good. It's just a testament to how we work every day. You know, we're well connected off the field, and we talk with each other every day. All we got to do is be us, rush together, talk, communicate. We'll have a great game.

52:58Jourdan Rodrigue:You've been a longtime Seahawk. You've been there, you've been elsewhere, and now you're back. What does it mean to you to win this title as a guy who stayed with the Seahawks all this time?

53:07Sam Darnold:Hey, man, it means everything, man. Being drafted here in 2016, you know, I was gone for two years, but this is where my heart at, man. This is my home. You know, I belong here. And to bring the Super Bowl back here means everything. Like, I got so many emotions. I don't know what to feel right now.

53:21Gregg Rosenthal:Well, we can see it in your eyes now how powerful this feeling is. Absolutely. Because there must have been a time where you wondered if it would ever come, right? And now you're standing here. I mean, look behind you right now.

53:32Sam Darnold:Oh, yeah. That's a beautiful feeling, man. That's a beautiful feeling. Everything we work for, man, we work so hard. People don't understand how hard we work. And we deserve this, man, every bit.

53:41Jourdan Rodrigue:You put a defensive performance, really a season that everyone's going to remember. What are you going to remember most about this group of players? Man, just our togetherness.

53:51Sam Darnold:Believe it or not, the way we shadow box, our lingo, how we talk, everything is different. Believe it or not, it's crazy. Give us some of the lingo. I can't, man. I can't. You know what I'm saying? It's just an inside thing. You got to be inside the walls. But, you know, it's a special team, man. We're connected on all levels, from the quarterback to the D-line, to the offensive line, to the receivers, as the DBs, man, we are a true family.

54:11Gregg Rosenthal:When did you guys turn from this is a really great defense to the dark side and that happened?

54:18Sam Darnold:Man, I think we knew it all alone. Like I told everybody all week, you know, we had a group chat called the dark side, but we had an identity. We just had to put a name to it. And now you see why.

54:27Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, John Schneider drafted him in 2016, brought him back, and now forever he is a Super Bowl champion. Jaron Reed. Tell us about what it is like to be a Super Bowl champion?

54:39Sam Darnold:Man, I can't even put it into words. It's the best feeling in the world, though. I'll tell you that much. And I just want to give all the glory to God. You know, without him, it's not possible. So I just want to give a shout out to God, my family for, you know, to support me, you know, being on this journey with me. And man, it feel good to be a Super Bowl champion. You're too. It's a blessing.

55:00Gregg Rosenthal:This team felt so connected all year. And obviously the defense has led the way and been such a, like, backbone for this entire group, but the connectedness in every phase. What's that been like for you? And seeing it, I mean, look behind you right now,

55:16Sam Darnold:like seeing it manifest like that.

55:19Gregg Rosenthal:What is it like right now?

55:20Sam Darnold:Oh, man, it's a great feeling, especially when you know you put in the work, you know, to be in this moment. You know, since throughout all season, throughout OTA, it's trying to count, you know, this is what we trained for. And, you know, when the opportunity presented us, we took it. Now we Super Bowl champs, man. And all the guys, you know, I feel like everybody had one goal. We all bought in. We all bought into the program. You know, everybody wanted to win the Super Bowl. Everybody put all their eggs in one basket. We just rolled, man.

55:52Jourdan Rodrigue:You're like a connoisseur's defensive lineman. Everyone knows Byron Murphy. He's better even than the numbers show. But tonight you got to have some numbers. Go get the quarterback. How did that feel on the biggest game?

56:04Sam Darnold:It felt good, you know, getting two sacks. And the biggest, you know, the biggest game in the world, that's something I'll never forget, man. So, and also, too, I just want to give a shout-out to my teammates and the guys that I was rushing with, man. So, if it went for them, I wouldn't be able to get them two sacks. So, just rushing is one.

56:20Gregg Rosenthal:Hey, I want to ask you about some of these, like, really funky, cool pressures that you guys have been drawing up all year. There was one tonight that got spoon-free off the edge for a pressure, and it was two defensive linemen. And you guys looking like you're going to go in and penetrate up the middle and then popping back. The athleticism that you guys collectively have to be able to do something like that, kind of everybody eats, even if it's a corner who's, you know, finally getting his time to do it too. What are those designs like for you and really thriving with that athleticism Mike McDonough loves to build for you guys?

56:55Sam Darnold:Hey, I call Mike the wizard. You know, I feel like he put us in the best position to make plays. And also, too, I just feel like he be knowing the play before it happened. So, man, when Spoon came free and, you know, and got the sack, I wasn't even surprised. Like, I knew when he dialed it up, it's going to work 100%. You know, I'll never have no doubt, you know, in his play calls or anything. So, you know, when the play call came in, I knew something was going to happen.

57:25Jourdan Rodrigue:What did it feel like tonight in the huddle, on the sideline? You know, I know they got a couple scores late, but you have them with no points on the board through three quarters. What was that feeling amongst you guys as you're trying to pull off history?

57:37Sam Darnold:It just felt good. We just kept telling each other the defense. We're not going to allow them to piss a drop. We want to come out here. Obviously, we didn't get the shutout, but that's what we wanted. But, man, just playing great defense and playing great team ball, man. That's all we wanted to come out here and do is just prove to the world we're the best defense in the world, man.

57:58Gregg Rosenthal:And you're so young. Yeah. to contribute the way that you did tonight? I mean, we talked about stats, but even the unseen things, you know, the pressures and getting other guys free, building as a team, to contribute like this at such a young age, does it feel like the rest of the world is open to you now at this point? What does this feel like?

58:18Sam Darnold:It feels amazing. Just being able to contribute to the team and help my team win, you know, that's all I care about. You know, I don't care about none of the personal stats or anything like that. I know that's going to come. I just care about my team and helping my team win. That's all I care about. That's all that matters to me.

58:34Jourdan Rodrigue:We had you on our pro team. Yes, we did. Appreciate you. Yes, we did. Byron Murphy, you wanted to be with the best in the world. They are the best in the world tonight.

58:42Sam Darnold:Yes, sir.

58:43Jourdan Rodrigue:Just an awesome performance by that defense on the field and in front of the microphone.

58:50Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, and for the listeners, Greg does often remind me that this is, for many of you, an audio medium. uh we they these guys are understandable they're they're really emotional when they when they come talk to us they just won the freaking super bowl so of course we have this massive graphic banner behind us on the jumbotron that says super bowl 60 champions seattle seahawks so i'm like man look can you look at that for a second as you're talking and then realizing after the fact that our listeners are not aware of what's happening and they're just i'm just telling guys to turn around and look at something behind them so you're being too hard on yourself go watch the youtube Fear of the mind.

59:26Gregg Rosenthal:But it was a really cool thing, and I really like talking to Jaron Reed because it was like he didn't think that this would ever be possible for him at a certain point, and you could see it all over his face as he kind of processed it. Yeah, he's a guy, too, that has been a role player.

59:44Jourdan Rodrigue:He's kind of one of those guys that Seahawks fans know that will always hold him in a special place, a role player for a long time, that they gave like a smart, short, pretty sizable term contract to keep him around kind of as like a seventh defensive lineman. And that's why you give John Schneider so much credit for building this team. You know, Demarcus Lawrence leads them in pressures tonight as a free agent pickup. And just all the moves that came up big. And in the end, when you look back at like how this season played out, how we were kind of like, man, was that NFC Championship, the Super Bowl?

1:00:19Jourdan Rodrigue:I was like, yeah. Yeah, it was.

1:00:21Nick Shook:And we knew it in the moment. But I got to give a shout-out to Demarcus Lawrence. Well, you're right. We'll move past that. Demarcus Lawrence, who leaves the Cowboys and leaves with the parting shot of, yeah, Dallas is my home. I love everybody there. But I knew I was never going to win a Super Bowl with them. Immediately goes and wins the Super Bowl with the Seahawks. Congrats to you, sir, for dunking on the Cowboys.

1:00:43Gregg Rosenthal:We love good manifestation right there.

1:00:45Nick Shook:Big victory. Yes, yes. That's on his vision board.

1:00:47Jourdan Rodrigue:And it's true. If people are going to give titles so much weight when doing quarter, hell, let's make defensive end wins a thing. Yeah, why not? Demarcus Lawrence's Hall of Fame candidacy should go up quite a bit after this. I got to give another shout out, too, in a losing performance.

1:01:04Nick Shook:Because I'm sitting there up in our press seats that are getting roasted by the sun for the first quarter and a half. It's a miracle as a bald man that I don't look like a tomato right now. For those of you watching on YouTube, for those of you listening, just imagine it. But I'm sitting there thinking, you know, Craig Woodson's having a pretty good first half. And I think Ken Walker might have had a Russian touchdown or two if it wasn't for Craig Woodson. And so even in a losing performance, a hell of a rookie season by that guy, somebody who one of his teammates said on opening night, if there's one household name that becomes a household name during the Super Bowl from that defense, it would be Craig Woodson.

1:01:39Nick Shook:We'll forget about it. It'll be in the footnotes. But his performance was deserving of that, much like a lot of this Patriots defense that we just covered already. They deserved better. But unfortunately for them, football is a three phases game.

1:01:50Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. And it's a it's a huge missed opportunity. They got to this point. There a lot came together for them to get to this point. They were not a complete team. Like if if they are going to be a great team under Mike Rabel, it might look a little more like the Sean McDermott Bills build where like you had that first year, but you still had a lot of pieces that you needed to add to that. because a lot of these guys are short-term players, and they got to this point, and they're going to still have to really build a nucleus that gets better. So this is not their final form. But they also had an incredible opportunity to just go win one game, and they learned they really weren't in the class of where the Seahawks were at.

1:02:35And to me, those are, you know, as a fan,

1:02:39Jourdan Rodrigue:and I don't know if that works as a player, maybe easier to swallow just because I think you looked at them tonight, and you just kind of accepted like, yeah, they're not that good. They had a great season, but they weren't like a Super Bowl champion in waiting. The Seahawks have much more of that look.

1:02:57Gregg Rosenthal:Well, I think it's time for them to be honest about all of that, right? And it'll sting for a while, but as they go into the offseason, be really honest about where the deficiencies actually were, the difference between luck and schedule and explosive moments that worked in their favor because they all executed at the same time very, very well, or all of these little things, these little moments that happen in infinite fashion over the course of a season to look at those things and say, okay, this is actually a legitimate problem. I would point to the offensive line here, the run game. These are legitimate problems.

1:03:33Gregg Rosenthal:Okay. Maybe the defense is beyond expectations or above expectations. Certainly the quarterback is who he is, as long as he doesn't have more repeat performances of what happened to him tonight. It's one of those things where the Seahawks were really honest with themselves last year. The Seahawks were really honest with themselves when Mike McDonald decided that he was going to fire Ryan Grubb and bring in Clint Kubiak as his new offensive coordinator to piece together little additions or cuts to the roster. They cut one of their long-time – not long-time, but had been there for a couple years, tight ends.

1:04:07Gregg Rosenthal:At the beginning of the season, everyone lost their minds. Well, they were moving in a new direction with Clint Kubiak because of the vision that they had and what they were not the previous year. And so that's where the Patriots now have to go. They have to look at the way that they got here. And it's great. And I think they can feel really good about that. But similar to exactly what this Super Bowl winning Seahawks team did last year, really look at their flaws or where they're at or below average. And I don't think they're that far away from getting back. Got to get more.

1:04:37Jourdan Rodrigue:Even though the defense played great. They need to find more core young pieces, get more athletic on defense. They need to get the offensive line. And they still need to upgrade the people around Drake May. The best thing that they're going to have to feel about Drake May, and this is going to be a big thing for him to overcome, is that he's 23 years old, that he's two years younger than, you know, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix and all these other compatriots. And he got to this place a little ahead of schedule. but what is he going to be like as a player when he is 25, 26, when he has more experience at the pro level?

1:05:12Jourdan Rodrigue:And it's a lot to come back from because he was not good in these, these playoffs. And I think he'll own that. Yeah.

1:05:17Nick Shook:I think he will. The beauty of life and the beauty of losses is that you can learn a lot from them. And the two beauties in this is that Drake may is on a rookie contract and you just had the most cap space in the league that you spent like crazy because you had to last year. And it's also that you're all going to learn from this experience. Drake may especially in how overwhelmed he was by the defense that he faced, which we may look back five, 10 years from now and be like, that was an all time great defense. And it, it obviously, you know, he drowned in it tonight, but look, he's in, I don't need to look back.

1:05:48Jourdan Rodrigue:Like I, the DVOA had them going into this game as a top 10, top, like six overall team of the last 30 years. I do think it's a historic defense.

1:05:57Gregg Rosenthal:They went and spent and they spent and they spent. And one of the positions that they went and spent on was at center. and Garrett Bradbury was not their first choice at center. They went after Coleman Shelton, who the Rams brought in to help take some of the pressure looks that Matthew Stafford was starting to see a lot of courtesy of what everyone had seen. Mike McDonald's defense due to him and the various pollinations of that defense due to him. They brought him back in because he needed actually, and he would say this to you, wanted just because you can see all of it and direct all of it It doesn't mean you should always have to.

1:06:34Gregg Rosenthal:Your center has to pick up a lot of that stuff. And you think about these little moments that happen when a team is being built over the course of months and months and months at a time. And I think that when you are looking at that decision, you're looking at a couple of other decisions here and there, drafting Will Campbell is one of them. If you're the Patriots, you're Mike Vrabel, you are putting your Mike McDonald hat on right now and looking at things multiple years in a row. And especially in a game like this where you can point out specifically where things went wrong. Oh, our quarterback's awesome.

1:07:03Gregg Rosenthal:Maybe we shouldn't ask him to handle those types of looks all by himself as often as we do. You know, these are the types of things to build off of.

1:07:12Jourdan Rodrigue:So we talked about the changes in Seattle, and Clint Kubiak was obviously one of the biggest ones. Both he and Rashid Jahid arrive in Seattle, you know, about, what, nine months apart? Yeah, different times. Jahid comes during the season. Clint Kubiak comes in January, and it ends up just one year for Clint Kubiak with the Seahawks. He did confirm to our Stacey Dales. Of course, he is becoming the Raiders head coach. And look, he's going to have a busy week ahead. I don't know if he's even going to find time to go to the parade because he's got a whole staff to hire. We talk to Clint Kubiak on the field after the game.

1:07:49Jourdan Rodrigue:We are here with Clint Kubiak, Super Bowl champion, offensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks. You've obviously been in football a long time. How did you just hear to hear the word Super Bowl champion, Clint Kubiak?

1:08:06Mike Macdonald:Yeah, really cool. It's a blessing. We're on a great team, great organization. So just really fortunate to be able to work here this year.

1:08:13Gregg Rosenthal:Clint, I want to start with Sam Darnold, where we must start, because what a journey for him. There was this radical positivity coming through your building all this time about Sam, about what he could accomplish, and the belief that you guys had in him. What does it mean for you to see him on stage like that after this Super Bowl win?

1:08:33Mike Macdonald:It's just good to see good things happen to good people. Sam's been working his tail off. He's been through adversity. He kept fighting through it, and he's a world champion now. So just really fortunate to work with him. He's a stud of a player. And, you know, for the moment that he got here in April, all he's done is elevate our team. So, you know, I'm proud of him. He's a stud.

1:08:54Gregg Rosenthal:Schematically, you guys won in so many different ways this year on offense. And we love watching your defense all year, of course. But you problem-solved a lot with your offense, whether it was first the explosive pass game off that play action, the run game really getting going. You guys found some creativity with the perimeter runs. What was it like to problem solve with this group, with these players, with Sam and Ken Walker?

1:09:15Mike Macdonald:Yeah, I mean, that's the name of the game. You know, every time you start doing something well, someone takes it away and you've got to find new ways to win. So we just have a really good roster. I mean, John Snyder has a deep roster here with a lot of great talent. And, you know, he allowed us to come here and coach, bring some coaches from New Orleans. And just really grateful for him and Mike bringing me here.

1:09:38Jourdan Rodrigue:your father obviously experienced so much as a head coach. How is it going to be to share this experience for you with him?

1:09:48Mike Macdonald:Yeah, I just saw him on the field 10 years ago. I got to give him a hug after they won it all. And so the only way to describe that is from God. It's a blessing. There's no other reason to describe all the great things that happened this year.

1:10:01Gregg Rosenthal:I mean, what kind of bragging rights do you have over your brothers, though, at this point?

1:10:07Mike Macdonald:You know what? I saw my brother a minute ago, too. He was here supporting us. We know how fortunate we are to get to grow up in this business, and now to get to experience this is a real blessing.

1:10:18Gregg Rosenthal:Clint, I know you're going to celebrate tonight, all of that. You know I have to ask, though. The rest of your life, the rest of your head coaching career comes after this. How are you feeling about it right now?

1:10:29Mike Macdonald:Yeah, I'm a Seahawk all night tonight. I'm going to celebrate with these guys because we deserve that. We worked our tail off. Whatever happens next will happen, but I want to celebrate with our guys tonight.

1:10:42Jourdan Rodrigue:Speaking of celebrating, you're running back. Kenneth Walker is going to be a Super Bowl MVP the rest of his life. He also has an uncertain future, but he gets to enjoy this. What's it like coaching him? Because sometimes watching him, he doesn't always run the same way it looks like the play is supposed to be called, but damned if it doesn't work a lot of the times like tonight.

1:11:01Mike Macdonald:Yeah, well, I would say K-9 is another great success story because he was hurt, you know, in training camp, and he really just played his best football toward the end of the season. So we don't make this run without him in the playoffs. And you're right, he has a crazy little running style, but he's a supreme athlete, really gifted, and he's got a heart as big as this stadium. So we all love him and we're all proud of him.

1:11:22Jourdan Rodrigue:Clint Kubiak, newly crowned champion. He's a Seahawk for tonight. Go enjoy it. Thank you all. Appreciate it. Okay, we are wrapping up our 2025 season in this wild little trailer. Bigger than last year. Next to the substation. Everyone did a great job setting up Bad Bunny. Thought that was great. Excellent. Not that I am overly familiar, but just the set design and everything just kind of looked amazing.

1:11:52Gregg Rosenthal:Lady Gaga came out, too?

1:11:54Jourdan Rodrigue:It's always a better TV show than it is a live production, But the TV, you know, we had the copy in front of us. Looked absolutely great. The TV did not get to see the streaker that my son Walker videotaped running onto the field. Maybe I'll put that one out on. Guerrilla journalist Walker. Social. Apparently that was like.

1:12:13Gregg Rosenthal:He's coming for our seats. Yeah.

1:12:14Jourdan Rodrigue:His favorite moment of the entire game was Kyle Williams, you know, tracking down that streaker. You can't really call him a streaker because he wasn't.

1:12:20Nick Shook:No, actually, he wasn't a streaker. He was a shirtless man running across the field with remarkable speed for a quote unquote streaker. and also understands better than some quarterbacks who will not be named how to protect himself because as soon as he saw Kyle Williams, he immediately slid to the ground.

1:12:35Gregg Rosenthal:Yes. It was so funny because he juked a security guard to the ground and started running and lifted his hands up in celebration. The crowd was going nuts for him after he pulled that move. And Kyle Williams turns around and he starts running after him. The guy sees Kyle Williams out of the corner of his eye and goes, it clearly goes, oh, F, and slides to the ground.

1:12:55Jourdan Rodrigue:Like it was it was an incredible sequence of events with an incredible just end of the season sequence for this Seattle Seahawks team, which, you know, as recently as that Thursday night game against the Rams, you know, entering the fourth quarter, it looked like they would probably be having to win three games on the road in a brutal NFC. and it all turns around with that Rashid Shahid punt return touchdown. And it's crazy. Shahid really only made a handful of plays since he got to the Seahawks. But weren't they big? And literally it feels like those plays were like the difference between maybe them winning the Super Bowl and not.

1:13:40Jourdan Rodrigue:And so he was just that last little lanyard added to this mix, and they will be Super Bowl champions. Rashid Shahid forever. He's a free agent. Ken Walker's a free agent. We're going to be diving into that in the offseason as they start to finally lose my voice. We did it, guys. We got to the end. Any final thoughts here from the season? Not that we're going away. It's in the title, NFL Daily. Shooky, appreciate you especially. Coming in off of, I'm just saying, on tonight, you're out there writing. and we don't usually have you in person. So I'm just saying like, it's nice that you're here. Come on out to LA a little more often.

1:14:26Nick Shook:I would love to and plan to, and it's been great to be here. And I can't wait to see how many commenters comment on my size. I'm a large man in a small chair, not that small this time, but I've been very happy to be here. It's been an absolute pleasure and couldn't do it with two better people than you guys.

1:14:42Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, I can't believe we get to do this, honestly. Like I have several moments every time over the last couple of years that we've done this, that I just am standing there and thinking how the heck did I get to be standing here right now? And a lot of it. So to you, Greg, really. And for you putting a team together and taking a shot on us and a lot of people sitting in this trailer right now, um, in production and, and Eric Roberts who had to listen to me, the entire game, um, and also freak out over bad bunny, Billy Joe Armstrong and lady Gaga in sequence. and just everybody

1:15:17Jourdan Rodrigue:the green day pop

1:15:19Gregg Rosenthal:the hair and makeup department really has taken care of us all year including tonight when just things were flying around chaotically and like just there's a lot of people

1:15:28Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean it didn't help Shook out that bald dome is just shining in the light you guys

1:15:36Gregg Rosenthal:there's just a lot of people who have taken care of us all season and continue to do so and we appreciate them very very much

1:15:44Jourdan Rodrigue:including getting us a great guest tonight on the field. So thanks to everyone who helped, especially with that match, neither and Jay and Kleinman. And we got Drake here along with Eric, of course, and Chris Pabona back in LA getting it done. And yeah, I was thinking about, I'm with you, the excitement and just feeling a lot of gratitude being able to do this. Maybe it's just me, but what, like the best part I think is right before it starts.

1:16:10Nick Shook:Oh, can I tell you a story? Yeah. So this was my sixth Superbowl. Miami Chiefs Niners 54 was my first. And I'm sitting in Hard Rock Stadium, and you feel the swell of energy before that game. And the national anthem plays. And it hits me like, oh, I'm at the Super Bowl. And I start to get choked up, and my eyes start to water. And I'm thinking, that's going to be like a one-time thing. It has happened to me every Super Bowl since, including today. Today was a little bit different because I lost my dad, and it's the first one without him and everything else. It was Nick Sirianni, big tears going down the face today.

1:16:42Nick Shook:But I cannot express enough how in that moment I am just so thankful for having the opportunity to be here and to do this with you guys. It's special and it's cool enough that I end up on Denzel Ward's story and my sister sends me a DM about it. And that's all because of you, Greg. That's great.

1:16:59Gregg Rosenthal:That's great. I love it. Yeah. There's nothing in the world like it. And open air press box, even though it burned our faces off. Open air press box, there's nothing in the world like it. It was incredible. Shout out to the fans who came out. You know, you worry that this is a corporate event every year.

1:17:16Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, the fans.

1:17:17Gregg Rosenthal:But it leaned very Seahawks, and it was loud. I know.

1:17:20Jourdan Rodrigue:I was so confused by the week because walking around San Francisco with so many Patriots fans. But it was like, oh, no. Seattle, they were all just flying down or driving down or coming down. Quick little jaunt. Coming down late because that thing was so loud when the Patriots had the ball. They were overwhelmed. I mean, frankly, they wanted it more. But, yes, your dad, right? Your dad would be really proud of you. He really would. Yeah, I appreciate that. Yeah, I was thinking that right as it was getting going. And part of it, yes, is the flyover and, you know, the anthem and all that. But it's more like we got here.

1:17:56Jourdan Rodrigue:Every year that we get to go do another one of these games is a victory, too. And I think it is a thing in life. It's kind of like why when you get off work, let's say you have a long weekend, like a three-day weekend, what's the best moment of that three-day weekend? It's like when you have the most in front of you. You know, it's Thursday afternoon, right when you get home. It's why week one is my favorite week of the year. I don't care. Like, the division on is great. Week one is great. And you get there, and it's just the anticipation. It's like we've been waiting all season. We've been waiting all week.

1:18:25Jourdan Rodrigue:And then you're just like right there in that moment. What is going to happen? And what happened is Sam freaking Darnold won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. An all-time team. Like, we'll see if they back it up and everything, but I don't need to see more. Like, this was a great Seahawks team, worthy champions with some of the best fans out there. And so this team is going to be celebrating, as Sam said tonight, drinking some beers, drinking some tequila, and I know all the Seahawks fans out there will be doing the same. That's it.

1:19:02Nick Shook:Shout out to the lady with the square root of 144 sign,

1:19:05Jourdan Rodrigue:12. She was a Seahawks fan. Shout out to the guy with the June minus one number 10 Patriots jersey.

1:19:12Gregg Rosenthal:Shout out to Mike McDonald for a new core memory.

1:19:15Jourdan Rodrigue:Yes. Thank you, Mike, for coming on the show. Thank you, everyone, for listening all season. That's it. NFL Daily.

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