Phillip Rivers has never played against a Mike McDonald defense. He has no idea what he’s in for. You can look at tape all you want, but game speed is different.
I am just anxious to put the Colts behind us after worrying about this matchup with some trepidation until Danniel Jones went on IR. Rivers is like adding a joker to the deck. Who knows how it will affect the game? But I am betting the net effect will be a Seahawks victory by multiple TDs. Into the unknown.
My wonder ties up in how much drama was involved with the RB Coach's departure? Was he somehow holding back innovation and results? Is MM making a statement on his inflexibility concerning those results this far into the Season? No doubt he expected to see much more progress by now. Maybe we see a latent genius step up out of the junior coaching staff? Or is it truly personal or health reasons? Could be stress related. Irregardless, I expect we'll see a new intensity today, or lack of it.
The running game will be SO critical in this game, esp due to the weather. It’s a home game, we better not be the ones slipping bc we have the wrong cleats.
The good news is Colts are still highly ranked from the fumes of the 1st half of the year. As recently as W11 they were still #1 in total DVOA. Lately, not so much.
In their 8 wins, Danny Dimes average rush attempts was 4.5. In their losses his rush attempts were 1.8. I think his rushing ability kept the other a little off balance and helped them to win. When he couldn't/didn't they lost. Btw, his career attempts were 5.35 per game.
The last six years of his career, Grandpa Phil averaged a little over 1 attempt per game. He will basically be a sitting Colt when he drops back to pass.
If we can't beat Grandpa Phil and the Dolts, I say you can forget about going to the super bowl.
The key for the game, like most games, is to make them one dimensional. If we come out scoring like we have for our earlier games, it will be a long day for the Colts and a short day for the Hawks starters,
#1, I am so confident about beating the Colts (and covering) that I'm starting to worry that I'm being unrealistic. But Rivers looked cooked when he retired. I get that the rest and healing will go a long way. I get that he knows the offense in his sleep. I have a lot of respect for Rivers; but good luck playing the #1 defense in the rain, on the road in Seattle -where you had better have practiced your silent count.
#2, I feel like this team can beat anyone, but I gave a 3 on winning out the rest of our schedule. The D will always bring it, but this offense went from explosive to very streaky. I'm glad the run game is picking up steam, at least.
#3, I can't believe that over half the responses picked 3 or higher for Myers kicking a 61 yarder again. When he hit the 57, I'm pretty sure I heard it scrape the bottom of the goalpost. And his 61-yard attempt missed so badly that we all knew the Rams had won before it was halfway there.
#4 Jonathon Taylor is a beast. I have watched a handful of parts of Colts games, and highlights and condensed games, and all I could think was that the league was getting the Daniel Jones treatment we got last year, and that running back is special. We can't let up on stacked boxes against this guy. He will break tackles he shouldn't and pick up first downs that seem impossible at the point of contact.
#5, (not mentioned but touched on regarding defensive depth) I'm PISSED that we lost Quinten Bohanna by putting him on waivers. I can name 5 other guys JS could have put on waivers starting with a bunch of guys who haven't played a snap and ending with Shaq Griffin. Bohanna was a productive developmental depth piece who wanted to be here. And now we've lost Pili and Jarran Reed is playing with an injury.
And a bonus #6. You had two quotes that resonated. "Whatever you’ve put off doing in your life to this point, it’s never too late." This is my quote of the year. Outside of extremes where your dream was playing professional football and you're over 50; it really is true. When I was in my late 20's I had a roommate named John here in Asheville, NC. I was trying to learn guitar and gave up on it because I would be near 35 before I got really good. I didn't listen to him, but he dropped some wisdom. "You'll be 35 anyway, do you want to learn to rock out guitar by then or not?" I never put much energy into learning and can only play 3 chords, but in retrospect, I wanted to be a rock star more than actually a good guitar player. His reframing has stuck with me though.
And while talking about the same guy: "The Colts are like that friend you invite to parties because they’re crazy. You don’t know what insane thing they’re going to do next but as long as nobody gets hurt it's that wild quality that gets them in the door." John was that guy. He and I were like oil and water in some ways. He would say yes to almost anything. I was (am) quite risk adverse. He once did a nude cannonball off of a high dive when several friends (men and women) snuck into a public pool after hours and he couldn't believe that I wouldn't even consider it. He would talk to anyone. He didn't want anything from strangers he would meet and they saw that. He could talk to super wealthy people or the homeless while I was worried that I was being judged or about to get stabbed with a needle; respectively. But John didn't care. People were fun to interact with, and that trumped everything. We once went to a Cuban restaurant and when I got back from the bathroom our table was pulled up with a bunch of Cuban dudes who barely spoke English (and neither of us had much command of Spanish). But even though we relied on one younger guy to translate both ways for us, we had a fun time and made a memory! We went to NYC and he wanted an English breakfast. There was a Tottenham Hotspurs game on and lots of fans. He was chanting along with them even though he had never watched soccer in his life and people were buying us beers even though it was breakfast time. John passed away from cancer a week ago today. I will be at his funeral in his hometown of Charlotte on Friday. One of the last things he said to me was that life was about experiences, and he hopes his friends dive into that mindset. I'm going to try. As long as it's not a naked cannonball.
- #2: Agree the offense is too streaky to have voted we’ll run the table here forward. I’m awestruck with our defense, but even the 2013 team shot some maddening blanks.
- #3: also agree the Myers votes felt wildly optimistic. Maybe they give him another shot at it based on him hitting some 60+ in practice, but the chances he’ll hit it have to be >20%
- #4: Taylor plus Nelson and Raiman make me very anxious, especially bc they’re going to force the run given the QB situation. Lawrence is normally on the RT side but I’d sure feel better if he and Nwosu could swap sides
- #5: 100,000%. Cannot BELIEVE we risked Bohanna with all the other options we had. Esp w/Pili and Reed fighting injuries. Bohanna won’t be coming back off waivers, Packers got a good one
4 out of 5 isn't bad! I'm guessing that your feeling on Rivers differ from mine because he had a nice final season statistically and the team did well. Fair enough. I just remember him being a bit of a statue and not making downfield throws. Add 5 years of rust to that and playing against this defense and I truly am worried for his well-being.
Update, Rivers survived! I don't see him leading the Colts to the playoffs, but he just needs to stack a couple of wins. I wonder how sore he is today.
Regarding your #2, I agree whole-heartedly. With Rams game, I felt the offense, but mainly Darnold, made some poor choices on three of those INTs, but he shrugged it off and played with confidence as the game wore on. Especially in the 4th quarter. Since then and until halftime of the Falcon’s game he played timid and less sure of himself. As if he was listening to the narrative of the brainless talking heads. His accuracy was off, and he missed throws he use to hit like a bullseye. Just before the Rams game he had that game he didn’t throw an incompletion until the 2nd half. I get the idea of taking a sack sometimes vs throwing it into a bad situation, but he lost some of his mojo. Funny, because he still had it in the 4th quarter of the Rams game. I don’t know why, perhaps it wasn’t until he had a chance to think about it. He should remember how well he played against the Texans, who are every bit as good on D as the Rams. I wanted the Falcons game to be the Darnold get right game. It wasn’t quite the get right game, but he did have a get right 2nd half. Given the CB situation with the Colts, this needs to be the whole 9 yards get right game for him. If his confidence and accuracy return today, winning out will not be that difficult with the way the defense and special teams are holding up.
If you were able to ask him, Chuck, I suspect he would dismissively deflect any praise. He was probably wired that way and I bet he thought his approach was "normal" and not noteworthy. Apologies if I am mistaken and am hijacking a memory of yours, but reading your eulogy to him made me think about something wise I heard from my grandad long ago: compliments often say as much, if not more, about the person giving the compliment.
Kudos to you sir. Connections like that require two people. I'm sorry for your loss.
I have an old buddy a bit like that. He was orphaned at 10 or 12, raised by a newly married older brother. We used to drink a lot of gin & tonic in the kitchen and talk about life. (He didn't buy the gin, or pay rent. But.) Smartest thing I remember him saying, "There are leisure classes at both ends of the social scale. Either you're broke and have all the time in the world, or you're rich. Everything else is just work." He was somewhat averse to working, an artist/outdoorsman who now supports himself, last I heard, as a medical test subject. He'd have gone off the diving board. Every single time. (Not me.) My condolences on the loss of your friend. I should call mine, over Christmas.
Thank you, Don. The phrase "never met a stranger" never hit truer with anyone I ever met. I can almost guarantee that if you met him; you would like him. I wish I had that quality about myself, but self-preservation is pretty ingrained for me. But keeping that *and* being super interested in what other people have to say is a happy medium I think I can pull off.
The poll reflects to me a fan base that is cautiously optimistic, which is reasonable.
Here are some comparisons of the offenses for our last 2 SB teams and this year's squad.
2013
- Net yards per passing attempt: 7.0
- Yards per rushing attempts: 4.3
- Points per drive: 2.12
- Number games won by 14 points or more: 7
- Points per game: 26.1
- Point differential: +186 (team record)
2014
- Net yards per passing attempt: 6.6
- Yards per rushing attempts: 5.3
- Points per drive: 2.13
- Number games won by 14 points or more: 5
- Points per game: 24.6
- Point differential: +140
2025
- Net yards per passing attempt: 8.2
- Yards per rushing attempts: 4.0
- Points per drive: 2.43
- Number games won by 14 points or more: 6
- Points per game: 29.8
- Point differential: +161 (tops in the NFL)
When I compare the offenses, I see for the team this year the offense is more explosive and is scoring more than the SB teams. We have a great chance of setting a new team record for the points differential. The rushing offense is the only area the two SB teams edge today's team.
The defense is the strength of the team but I think the offense is pretty good as well.
Seahawks win! YES!
Can I please take the confidence survey over again?
I can’t root for the Seahawks today. It’s tantamount to rooting for elder abuse.
Phillip Rivers has never played against a Mike McDonald defense. He has no idea what he’s in for. You can look at tape all you want, but game speed is different.
Three great John S stories:
His is down in the middle:
https://t.co/pNkezawHvY
Hawk Blogger
https://www.hawkblogger.com/2025/12/the-quiet-genius-of-john-schneider-how-the-most-doubted-nfl-offseason-became-a-masterpiece.html
Seahawks Draft Blog
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/the-argument-for-seahawks-gm-john-schneider-winning-nfl-executive-of-the-year
Read all three, thanks! The Hawk Blogger one in particular is very well written and covers multiple aspects — highly recommend you guys click on these
Hawk Blogger has a podcast as well that I highly recommend.
He does but it's too long. Needs to cut it down to 15 minutes or less. 😁
Hawk Blogger is my number 1 Seahawk football source outside of SSJ of course.
Thanks Fred!
I am just anxious to put the Colts behind us after worrying about this matchup with some trepidation until Danniel Jones went on IR. Rivers is like adding a joker to the deck. Who knows how it will affect the game? But I am betting the net effect will be a Seahawks victory by multiple TDs. Into the unknown.
Much to be said in our Running Game tomorrow.
Buckner being out should help.
Yeah he’s really a big piece of their sudden fall-off. Would be like us losing Williams and not having a Murphy.
My wonder ties up in how much drama was involved with the RB Coach's departure? Was he somehow holding back innovation and results? Is MM making a statement on his inflexibility concerning those results this far into the Season? No doubt he expected to see much more progress by now. Maybe we see a latent genius step up out of the junior coaching staff? Or is it truly personal or health reasons? Could be stress related. Irregardless, I expect we'll see a new intensity today, or lack of it.
Of 3 of Indy's four recent losses, three were on the road, outdoors on grass.
In all their losses, Indy was held below 100 yards rushing. In four of the losses, they allowed over 100 yards rushing.
The running game will be SO critical in this game, esp due to the weather. It’s a home game, we better not be the ones slipping bc we have the wrong cleats.
I think it will be our d-line stopping their o-line. All great rushers run behind good lines.
I was wrong.
Wait a minute… The top four teams in DVOA are
1) Seahawks
2) Rams
3) Lions
4) Colts
Wild.
Now I appreciate why the Colts were still fourth in DVOA.
Today’s referees, however, were not the top DVOA crew. The calls in the secondary were awful.
The good news is Colts are still highly ranked from the fumes of the 1st half of the year. As recently as W11 they were still #1 in total DVOA. Lately, not so much.
May the #3 DVOA team beat the #2 DVOA team today. 😀
Something to consider.
In their 8 wins, Danny Dimes average rush attempts was 4.5. In their losses his rush attempts were 1.8. I think his rushing ability kept the other a little off balance and helped them to win. When he couldn't/didn't they lost. Btw, his career attempts were 5.35 per game.
The last six years of his career, Grandpa Phil averaged a little over 1 attempt per game. He will basically be a sitting Colt when he drops back to pass.
If we can't beat Grandpa Phil and the Dolts, I say you can forget about going to the super bowl.
The key for the game, like most games, is to make them one dimensional. If we come out scoring like we have for our earlier games, it will be a long day for the Colts and a short day for the Hawks starters,
And a little bigger/surprising news, Saubert signed to a one year extension.
William Howard Taft was the POTUS (not that Kowalski cared). US Presidents in his lifetime:
Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Warren Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
John Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H W Bush
Bill Clinton
George W Bush
Barack Obama
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Also, the Chicago Cubs played the first 106 seasons of Kowalski’s life without winning a World Series (99 years for the White Sox).
Thinking about it, the White Sox did win the 1917 World Series. Kowalski was alive for the 1919 Black Sox scandal, though.
Thank you for linking the extended Jim Mora interview clip. I forgot how bad that game had been before they asked him about the playoffs
Five thoughts.
#1, I am so confident about beating the Colts (and covering) that I'm starting to worry that I'm being unrealistic. But Rivers looked cooked when he retired. I get that the rest and healing will go a long way. I get that he knows the offense in his sleep. I have a lot of respect for Rivers; but good luck playing the #1 defense in the rain, on the road in Seattle -where you had better have practiced your silent count.
#2, I feel like this team can beat anyone, but I gave a 3 on winning out the rest of our schedule. The D will always bring it, but this offense went from explosive to very streaky. I'm glad the run game is picking up steam, at least.
#3, I can't believe that over half the responses picked 3 or higher for Myers kicking a 61 yarder again. When he hit the 57, I'm pretty sure I heard it scrape the bottom of the goalpost. And his 61-yard attempt missed so badly that we all knew the Rams had won before it was halfway there.
#4 Jonathon Taylor is a beast. I have watched a handful of parts of Colts games, and highlights and condensed games, and all I could think was that the league was getting the Daniel Jones treatment we got last year, and that running back is special. We can't let up on stacked boxes against this guy. He will break tackles he shouldn't and pick up first downs that seem impossible at the point of contact.
#5, (not mentioned but touched on regarding defensive depth) I'm PISSED that we lost Quinten Bohanna by putting him on waivers. I can name 5 other guys JS could have put on waivers starting with a bunch of guys who haven't played a snap and ending with Shaq Griffin. Bohanna was a productive developmental depth piece who wanted to be here. And now we've lost Pili and Jarran Reed is playing with an injury.
And a bonus #6. You had two quotes that resonated. "Whatever you’ve put off doing in your life to this point, it’s never too late." This is my quote of the year. Outside of extremes where your dream was playing professional football and you're over 50; it really is true. When I was in my late 20's I had a roommate named John here in Asheville, NC. I was trying to learn guitar and gave up on it because I would be near 35 before I got really good. I didn't listen to him, but he dropped some wisdom. "You'll be 35 anyway, do you want to learn to rock out guitar by then or not?" I never put much energy into learning and can only play 3 chords, but in retrospect, I wanted to be a rock star more than actually a good guitar player. His reframing has stuck with me though.
And while talking about the same guy: "The Colts are like that friend you invite to parties because they’re crazy. You don’t know what insane thing they’re going to do next but as long as nobody gets hurt it's that wild quality that gets them in the door." John was that guy. He and I were like oil and water in some ways. He would say yes to almost anything. I was (am) quite risk adverse. He once did a nude cannonball off of a high dive when several friends (men and women) snuck into a public pool after hours and he couldn't believe that I wouldn't even consider it. He would talk to anyone. He didn't want anything from strangers he would meet and they saw that. He could talk to super wealthy people or the homeless while I was worried that I was being judged or about to get stabbed with a needle; respectively. But John didn't care. People were fun to interact with, and that trumped everything. We once went to a Cuban restaurant and when I got back from the bathroom our table was pulled up with a bunch of Cuban dudes who barely spoke English (and neither of us had much command of Spanish). But even though we relied on one younger guy to translate both ways for us, we had a fun time and made a memory! We went to NYC and he wanted an English breakfast. There was a Tottenham Hotspurs game on and lots of fans. He was chanting along with them even though he had never watched soccer in his life and people were buying us beers even though it was breakfast time. John passed away from cancer a week ago today. I will be at his funeral in his hometown of Charlotte on Friday. One of the last things he said to me was that life was about experiences, and he hopes his friends dive into that mindset. I'm going to try. As long as it's not a naked cannonball.
We coincide on several things Chuck:
- #2: Agree the offense is too streaky to have voted we’ll run the table here forward. I’m awestruck with our defense, but even the 2013 team shot some maddening blanks.
- #3: also agree the Myers votes felt wildly optimistic. Maybe they give him another shot at it based on him hitting some 60+ in practice, but the chances he’ll hit it have to be >20%
- #4: Taylor plus Nelson and Raiman make me very anxious, especially bc they’re going to force the run given the QB situation. Lawrence is normally on the RT side but I’d sure feel better if he and Nwosu could swap sides
- #5: 100,000%. Cannot BELIEVE we risked Bohanna with all the other options we had. Esp w/Pili and Reed fighting injuries. Bohanna won’t be coming back off waivers, Packers got a good one
-
4 out of 5 isn't bad! I'm guessing that your feeling on Rivers differ from mine because he had a nice final season statistically and the team did well. Fair enough. I just remember him being a bit of a statue and not making downfield throws. Add 5 years of rust to that and playing against this defense and I truly am worried for his well-being.
Update, Rivers survived! I don't see him leading the Colts to the playoffs, but he just needs to stack a couple of wins. I wonder how sore he is today.
Regarding your #2, I agree whole-heartedly. With Rams game, I felt the offense, but mainly Darnold, made some poor choices on three of those INTs, but he shrugged it off and played with confidence as the game wore on. Especially in the 4th quarter. Since then and until halftime of the Falcon’s game he played timid and less sure of himself. As if he was listening to the narrative of the brainless talking heads. His accuracy was off, and he missed throws he use to hit like a bullseye. Just before the Rams game he had that game he didn’t throw an incompletion until the 2nd half. I get the idea of taking a sack sometimes vs throwing it into a bad situation, but he lost some of his mojo. Funny, because he still had it in the 4th quarter of the Rams game. I don’t know why, perhaps it wasn’t until he had a chance to think about it. He should remember how well he played against the Texans, who are every bit as good on D as the Rams. I wanted the Falcons game to be the Darnold get right game. It wasn’t quite the get right game, but he did have a get right 2nd half. Given the CB situation with the Colts, this needs to be the whole 9 yards get right game for him. If his confidence and accuracy return today, winning out will not be that difficult with the way the defense and special teams are holding up.
If you were able to ask him, Chuck, I suspect he would dismissively deflect any praise. He was probably wired that way and I bet he thought his approach was "normal" and not noteworthy. Apologies if I am mistaken and am hijacking a memory of yours, but reading your eulogy to him made me think about something wise I heard from my grandad long ago: compliments often say as much, if not more, about the person giving the compliment.
Kudos to you sir. Connections like that require two people. I'm sorry for your loss.
I have an old buddy a bit like that. He was orphaned at 10 or 12, raised by a newly married older brother. We used to drink a lot of gin & tonic in the kitchen and talk about life. (He didn't buy the gin, or pay rent. But.) Smartest thing I remember him saying, "There are leisure classes at both ends of the social scale. Either you're broke and have all the time in the world, or you're rich. Everything else is just work." He was somewhat averse to working, an artist/outdoorsman who now supports himself, last I heard, as a medical test subject. He'd have gone off the diving board. Every single time. (Not me.) My condolences on the loss of your friend. I should call mine, over Christmas.
Brandon Pili is good to go for this Sunday.
Your friend John sounds like a great guy and friend. My condolences for your loss.
Thank you, Don. The phrase "never met a stranger" never hit truer with anyone I ever met. I can almost guarantee that if you met him; you would like him. I wish I had that quality about myself, but self-preservation is pretty ingrained for me. But keeping that *and* being super interested in what other people have to say is a happy medium I think I can pull off.
There is no doubt, after reading your memories about him, I would like him.
The poll reflects to me a fan base that is cautiously optimistic, which is reasonable.
Here are some comparisons of the offenses for our last 2 SB teams and this year's squad.
2013
- Net yards per passing attempt: 7.0
- Yards per rushing attempts: 4.3
- Points per drive: 2.12
- Number games won by 14 points or more: 7
- Points per game: 26.1
- Point differential: +186 (team record)
2014
- Net yards per passing attempt: 6.6
- Yards per rushing attempts: 5.3
- Points per drive: 2.13
- Number games won by 14 points or more: 5
- Points per game: 24.6
- Point differential: +140
2025
- Net yards per passing attempt: 8.2
- Yards per rushing attempts: 4.0
- Points per drive: 2.43
- Number games won by 14 points or more: 6
- Points per game: 29.8
- Point differential: +161 (tops in the NFL)
When I compare the offenses, I see for the team this year the offense is more explosive and is scoring more than the SB teams. We have a great chance of setting a new team record for the points differential. The rushing offense is the only area the two SB teams edge today's team.
The defense is the strength of the team but I think the offense is pretty good as well.