SB Nation Seattle: All Posts by Luke Wehrheim

The Untold Story of Schneider's Greatest Gank

2013-03-15T03:59:32Z

"Charles!"

I jumped a little when I heard my name. This was my first audition, and although I'd stayed up late repeating my measly 8 lines over and over again, I felt far from prepared for the opportunity. The receptionist repeated herself, sounding a bit frustrated this time.

"Charles Schmitty! John's ready for you."

I'd waited what seemed like a lifetime for this day to come. Now that it was here however, I couldn't muster up the stones to walk into the room with him.

"He's so dreamy!" said the ladies. The men on the other hand noted a supreme confidence, while noting that he's "not physically imposing, but definitely good looking."

My heartbeat raged out of control, I couldn't do it. I'd sit here until she moved onto the next candidate then leave quietly.

She was looking right at me! SHIT! That's right, I sent in a face shot. I had no choice, I'd have to meet the man. Would he think I looked too grungy? Should I have worn my slacks? Shaved even? Oh gawd so nervous!

As she led me through the door all sorts of fears swept over me, most of them too embarrassing to share with you here, then... it happened. He shook my hand.

"John Schneider, nice to meet you brother."

His smile was so disarming. He was confident, I could feel it, but there was not a hint of cocky in there. I could have married him just then, but I have a wife and polygamy is illegal. I'd have to get this part! I began asking him questions, attempting to sound as engaged as I could. As time passed I found myself enamored with the story, more so even than the man.

It was a story of a time in his own life. He'd taken control of a professional football team, the Seattle Seahawks.

"See when we first came in, there wasn't much on the roster. Poor decisions and chances taken in all the wrong spots left the team downtrodden, reeling, and desperate for leadership. A big name coach out of USC had just taken the reins, and he'd chosen me to come in and help him setup a program that rewarded those that really busted their tails, figuring it'd really help turn the ship around. Do you feel me dawg?"

I nodded, not wanting to slow his roll one bit.

"Anyways Charlie, so we went into our first draft feeling like we really needed to get the most out of every pick. Luckily we were blessed a couple of good picks on account of the team being so bad. With so many holes we were also able to really go HAM on the whole 'best player available' thing."

"What's HAM mean?" I was confused.

"You dummy! H, A, M... Hard as a m*therf*cker. Duh. So like I was saying, the team was crap. No heart. We brought in a couple good guys in year one. Big name guys like Earl Thomas and Russell Okung. But the late rounds were where we really killed it. In our first two years we snagged Kam Chancellor, KJ Wright, and Richard Sherman in the middle rounds. All those guys made multiple pro bowls in their careers, Sherman actually ended up in the Hall of Fame. In layman's terms Charlie, we effing killed it. There were young studs all over the defensive backfield on that team."

"Wait is Sherman the guy who-"

He interrupted me, "does games on Fox with Tim Ryan? Yeah."

"Shit man are they ever gonna get rid of Tim Ryan?"

"I hope not, love the way Richard calls him out when he's way off base. You're getting us off track man. I'm trying to get to the climax."

"Okay okay, go ahead man." I'd become completely calm at this point.

"So in our third year we'd gotten lucky as hell with the Russell Wilson pick, he really kind of took off and we ended up winning eleven that year. It was a year earlier than either Pete or I imagined we'd get to that level, but we could feel it. You could see it on the field really, the team was Superbowl ready.

"So... we just f*ckin' went for it. Trading for Harvin was a no brainer; when he told us he didn't mind going a little under market to play with his old coach we decided the trade compensation was well worth it. I mean shit, what were we going to do? Draft another SEC offensive tackle?

"See what's so funny is that at the time, we were all getting asked about how big Percy was going to be for us. We both knew though, that the real key was going to be what came next. Now listen close because this is where the story gets good, and I know your page of the script really only covers the beginning of the story.

"While we were waiting for Percy to fly in for his physical, we had Cliff Avril on speaker phone. He said he had a couple offers from teams, he didn't want to say whom, but the number to beat was 5 years at $8 million per. We'd watched tape on him and knew we would be so much better off with him in the rotation on defense.

"Now Pete was a charmer, a real players' coach. He knew how to make a man feel wanted, and I could see him putting together a pitch for the young defensive end. But I knew just what to do. I put my index finger firmly up against Pete's lips and said, 'whoa there boy, I've got this b*tch.' And worked my magic."

Well by now I was far too curious to have him leave it at that! "What'd you say to him?"

"I says to him, 'Look Cliff, I'm going to level with you man. It's not that you're not worth it, but we can't afford 5 years and $8 million each. And honestly man, you can't afford it either.'

"There was a moment of silence, and I could tell he was confused. 'If you sign with some sh*t team in the AFC South you're going to end up cut in three years because they're a crap team and you're going to be their easiest way out of cap hell. I've got another option for you. Sign here, two years, seven... maybe eight million a year. You'll be 28 when your deal's up, and after two years in this machine of a defense my man Pete has put together here... You'll make Mario Williams look like Cat Stevens after he changed his name to Yusif Islam. You'll be like that kid in blank check. Name your price my man!"

I was honestly kind of shocked. Did that guy actually take less money to travel all the way to the northwest? Even knowing he ended up playing in Seattle, I was surprised that this was all he had to say to snag him.

"Now is where it's just comical Charlie. That next day, we started calling all the defensive ends and giving them that pitch. Next thing you know our defensive line was stacked with guys who knew how to put an offensive linemen on his rear!"

Now they'd only given me the first couple pages of the script, because that's the only place you'd find my charactor. So I really didn't know what the movie was about, so out of curiosity I asked, "What is this the story of? If you don't mind me asking."

"The time we smashed all the record books up in Seattle, and won 7 Superbowls in 11 years. Bringing joy to the entire region, and putting faith back into the hearts of all Northwest sports fans."

"That sounds like a boring movie man."

"Oh it'll be fine. We've got Charlie Sheen playing Pete. Wow, we need to get to the next actor man. Are you ready to read? I just want you to do this line right here."

Now nice and relaxed, I read loudly and with passion, "If you're going to be a good offensive lineman I think you gotta be a little bit of a... uh... can I say it? A dirt bag!"

In case you're wondering, I got the part.

I'm Luke. I tweet more than I write. Find me @MyHawkSoFly

Need your best DangeRuss Memes!

2013-01-06T05:56:46Z

Alright this is a quick one, I've been going back and forth for a few days with a Washington DC blogger about the game, and we've come to the conclusion that a bet was necessary.

Bet with @sportingparagon on the rec, Sea/Was loser rocks opponents avatar for a week! Already taking submissions! haha
— Luke Wehrheim (@MyHawkSoFly) January 6, 2013

Stipulations:

Seahawks win - I choose his twitter avatar for the week
Redskins win - He chooses mine for the week

I'm looking for something classy, clever, and funny to make this guy put on his twitter profile for the next week if the Seahawks win - which they totally should.

Do your worst people!

Alright this is a quick one, I've been going back and forth for a few days with a Washington DC blogger about the game, and we've come to the conclusion that a bet was necessary.

Bet with @sportingparagon on the rec, Sea/Was loser rocks opponents avatar for a week! Already taking submissions! haha
— Luke Wehrheim (@MyHawkSoFly) January 6, 2013

Stipulations:

Seahawks win - I choose his twitter avatar for the week
Redskins win - He chooses mine for the week

I'm looking for something classy, clever, and funny to make this guy put on his twitter profile for the next week if the Seahawks win - which they totally should.

Do your worst people!

Seahawks vs. Redskins: Keys to the Game on Sunday

2013-01-05T17:07:47Z

Our Seahawks are favorites this weekend, on the road, in Washington DC against a team that has won their last 7 games. Let that sink in for a moment... I'm one of the most optimistic people (I called 11-5 here) I know, and I can't even wrap my head around it.

This team is everything we hoped for, minus one Earl Thomas roughing call, and plus one Golden Tate hail mary. The defense did what it was supposed to do, and the offense became what we thought it might turn into sometime next season. Amongst my mostly confident thoughts though, I have a few concerns going into the game...

The Neverending Story of Seattle's slot woes continues

In this week's version of the timeless classic, Marcus Trufant is the little dweeb that's running around alleys trying not to get caught by the bullies, who are played by one guy, Santana Moss. I know this analogy seems stupid but hear me out.

Trufant is a ~~terrible~~ terribly old cornerback. He's allowed one of the best passer ratings in the league against while in slot coverage, and while he's not listed on an injury report, at that age you're never really "tip top" if you know what I mean. It's not really a stretch to say he's Bastian here.

Santana Moss is the bully here. Like the kid in The Neverending Story, any average guy could kick his ass, but against Trufant he's potentially overpowering. Trufant will need to find a dumpster to hide in for the duration of this game as the princess, and the 12th man depend on it. Hopefully you've watched The Neverending Story.

Hey Pete, chew on this!

I hope Pete's chewing some Big Red this weekend, because he'll need to keep himself, and his team, true to the path this weekend. As the commercial says, "Stay close a little longer, hold tight a little longer, outlast the Redskins a little longer..."

Wait, what? It didn't say that last part, but if they'd known what kind of gum chewing maniac Pete Carroll is (he goes through TWO PACKS A GAME! KICK THE HABIT PETE!) they would have advertised more heavily to him I'm sure.

Seattle has gotten this far by following what has been a pattern of largely conservative decisions. There have been moments where Pete smacks his balls down on the table and screams "THEY'RE THE BIGGEST!" (paraphrasing - I think he sometimes yells "DOMINO M*THERF**KER!"), but by and large he's learned that his team is young, fast, and smart enough to outlast most other teams.

Leaving Russell Wilson and Steven Hauschka on the sideline in favor of Jon Ryan inside opponents territory has sometimes drawn the ire of Seattle fans and statistics-leaning analysts, but it has yielded good results in games where the talent on the Seahawk's sideline is simply greater than what the opposition has to offer. There's no doubt that Pete Carroll believes in his team, and believes that this is one of those weeks where that's the case; a steady eddy approach to this game should keep the Seahawks in the pole position throughout. Field position shall be key in this one, gentlemen.

Here's the thing: Pete can sometimes pull a crazy. Even last week, an onside kick (that I'll admit was well timed and hit St. Louis when they weren't expecting it) gave a struggling Rams' offense an opportunity to drive a short field and score, creating a tie that would last into the final minutes.

Mike Shanahan has been there and done that, and while I pretty much think he's a giant dick, he knows what he's doing. Pete will have to keep it in his pants, and if he does pull it out he damn well better make sure he doesn't end up in human resources on Monday.

This got graphic...and I think we're talking about me now... Moving on.

Old Spice should sponsor me, because I'm talking about the red zone

This is key everybody: the red zone.

When you're screaming and yelling at your screen Sunday afternoon, remember what I said: "The Seahawks will likely give up a ton of yardage, but don't expect the Redskins to be overly efficient in the red zone."

In their last three games the Seahawks are allowing touchdowns on only 42% of opponents red zone possessions, this is actually slightly lower the 44% they've been allowing for the year. Washington on the other hand is scoring touchdowns a ridiculous 82% of the time they get in close. Seattle is going to have to show them what it's like to feel the slow choking sensation that a shrinking field of play has to offer.

The Seahawks play more zone than I think any of us enjoy watching, but the style of zone they play, a kind of cover three where the corners basically fall as far back as a receiver takes them, becomes more effective in red zone situations.

As you can see by my uber fancy diagram here, as the field tightens up, spaces for that weaselly little Robert Griffin to run to get so much tighter that it was actually almost impossible for me to write "RGIII" in the spaces at all!

I know I'm overly simplifying the concept here, and you're all probably well aware of the ways in which it is more difficult to play offense in the tight confines of a 1605 sq yd box. I just really wanted to pretend I was John Madden for a second.

The Seahawks have the kind of elite team speed on defense that lets them cover nearly every one of those 1605 square yards the redzone offers an offense, and frankly, the Redskins haven't seen that up to this point. They're in for a rude awakening.

This, of course, is only part of the story on defense. The Hawks need to limit red zone opportunities. They must...

Find a way to shut down Alfred Morris

If not for some outstanding play by a young and athletic linebacking corps, we'd all likely have a lot more to worry about. As it stands however, the defensive line has been so-so against the run this year.

Allowing 4.5 yards per attempt isn't awful by NFL standards but it's not what you'd expect to see from a defense that has shown that stopping the run has been one of it's biggest strengths in recent years. Morris has played so incredibly well this year, breaking nearly as many tackles as our own Marshawn Lynch, that it's hard for me to imagine at this point that he won't get his yards.

I imagine now that the Seahawks will try to turn it into something like the Vikings game, where Peterson was really the only opposing player that hurt them. Even by the standards of the hard-to-impress Danny Kelly, AP is a stud. The Redskins rookie is no AP, no one is, but it doesn't seem impossible that he won't end up looking like him here or there as he breaks a big run or two up the seam.

Brandon Mebane is the guy to watch, as he's been by far our best defender against the run up front.

Bottom Line

I believe the Seahawks are the better team, and I believe they will win.

But you best be believin' there will be moments where you have your doubts. It's the Playoffs, nothing is easy now.

Playground bully, Pete Carroll, steals the Buffalo Bills' lollipop

2012-12-17T02:00:07Z

Deep Thoughts

First thought, Russell Wilson is going to win the rookie of the year award.

Second thought, the Seahawks are playing an amazing brand of football right now; one in which a previously unheralded offense is making a pretty good defense look like "the problem" at times, despite allowing the second fewest points per game in the league.

Russell Wilson looked great; he made guys miss both in the pocket and in the open field, took advantage of gaping holes on designed runs, and found receivers down-field for large gains.

Meet ROY

Talking about Russell week after week will eventually get boring, but it's just so hard to stop when he continues to shine like this. He made generally good decisions in the passing game and continued to take advantage of opportunities for chunk plays, most notably a uniquely designed flea flicker, in which he had to leap up to catch a pitch back from Marshawn Lynch.

The real story today though is what he did on the ground. Nine rushes for 92 yards and three touchdowns doesn't even tell the entire story. Wilson shifted, shook, and shimmied his way through an unimpressive Bills defense over and over again, and will likely find himself on his fair share of sports talk shows this week as a result.

It looked early in this game like the Seahawks were advertising Russell Wilson; putting his obvious, yet always understated (nationally) physical skills on display early and often. The national line on the 'young guns' this last month has been: Andrew Luck is the stud, Robert Griffin is the physical freak, and Russell Wilson is the little urban achiever.

News flash national media: Russell is both a stud and a physical freak. Literally. He is the height of Doug Floutie, has hands larger than Andrew Luck, and athleticism comparable to RG3... FREAKY! Playcalling early in this game did a lot to put our young loverboy's skills in the spotlight, as well as take advantage of a defense that obviously has issues with gap and edge containment.

No Browner and Thurmond and Trufant OH MY!

The defense continues to appear less than dominant but solid all around. The defensive backfield looked great considering the team was playing without Browner, who is on suspension, as well as Walter Thurmond, who played well last week in Browner's absence. Earl Thomas showed up with an interception return that was one of the most brilliant things I've seen all year, and the rookie, Jeremy Lane, looked great in coverage for most of the day.

The front seven had some trouble containing CJ Spiller early, but with the help of some scoreboard separation created by the Hawks offensive consistency, the Bills turned away from using the electric back late... and ultimately found their doom because of it.

If this offense continues to play as well as it is right now, averaging more points that anyone but New England since the midpoint of the season, the defense will continue to play from an elevated position that will make it hard for opponents to overcome.

I'll show you running up the score!

A fake punt run late in the game while up 30 points is sure to draw plenty of criticism from the rest of the world, but fans of the Seahawks should take solace in the kind of killer instinct it shows. Letting off the accelerator is the worst thing anyone can do in a competition of any sort, just ask Chris Ault.

From what I can tell, Pete had two goals going into this ball game, aside from winning, which is the case every week. Show off what is probably the biggest steal in an NFL draft in the last two generations, and remind people that he will run up a score whenever the hell he wants to run up the score.

Check, and check.

On Deck

Depending on what happens tonight in New England, the Seahawks may very well be playing for control of the NFC West next Sunday, and a chance of a home game in the playoffs.

We can all look forward to a long week of trash talking with the 49ers, and confidently so, coming off what was a very sound win today in Toronto.

I like-uh you. Do you like-uh me?? I'm on twitter @MyHawkSoFly

12th man locker room speech

2012-12-02T23:05:27Z

Triumph.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Triumph as "A great victory or acheivement."

But friends, a word cannot encapsulate what happened today. Words didn't lose close game after close game on the road. Words didn't make play after play today, carrying our hometown team to victory. Words themselves don't carry tears down your cheeks; they don't toss your kids joyfully into the air. Words are just sounds you make with your mouth.

Coming into today's game against the favored Bears, there were few outside of Seattle that gave the Hawks better than an outside chance at winning a division after the loss last week. Playing in Chicago? So tough. There was little chance the Seahawks would win this game; our corners are both off their meds, and there's just no way to tell how Russell Wilson will play against a defense that is so adept at causing turnovers.

"NO!" We said.

We will bitch and moan via twitter and text to each other at every bad call! No one will tell us what to do! No one will tell our team what they can do either!

Did we turn off our TV's when Braylon's would be touchdown was overturned despite some fairly inconclusive evidence? HELL NO!

Did we boot up our video game systems for a redemptive game of Madden when Breno Giacomini was called for a holding penalty that negated a first down on what we knew would likely be the game winning drive? HELL NO!

We taped our eye balls open and watched Wilson toss a conversion on fourth down, then follow it up with a flashy touchdown pass to Golden Tate. We jumped for joy as Seattle took a lead with only 24 seconds left, we wept together as Jay Cutler promptly drove Chicago down the field for a tying field goal as time expired.

We all waited silently, waiting not just to find out if one of the most important plays this year would stand as a game winning touchdown, but also to find out if one of our most important players would be able to get up from a brutal hit to his helmet.

And lastly, we all rejoiced as everything turned out okay. This was a fantastic win, and after all the close losses on the road this year, a much needed one for us, the fans.

I want to thank everyone that came out on Twitter, Facebook, the game threads, and even those that texted or called each other during the game. Cosmically speaking, there must be some small way in which our collective energy helps the team on the road.

It was a great game, with some real bogus calls by what looked like some terribly inconsistent referees, but our team came out on top.

With that being said I want to hand out a game ball to a very special little guy, I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about... Get up here Russell! You little son of a bitch!

The Seahawks used Russell Wilson's arm today as much as they have in any game this season; he threw the ball 37 times. As he has done all season long, Russ showed the world that he was up to the task, completing 23 of those for almost 300 yards. No interceptions, the fifth time he's thrown zero picks in his last seven contests. This guy can take a game over, and looks poised to lead this team to great heights, if not this year, next year and beyond.

I want to close with a few words here.

"Victory. Success. Prevail."

These are words. Words are dumb. Let the emotion run through you friends, do not hold back.

GO HAWKS!

I am Luke, share your next Seahawks game with me on Twitter @MyHawkSoFly

Warren Moon talks "Hometown Hall of Famers," his career at UW, in Canada, & in the NFL

2012-11-13T15:01:31Z

Friday morning I was checking my email, in a completely normal fashion, assuming there was no way I'd be offered an interview with a Hall of Fame quarterback.

BOY WAS I WRONG!

A nice woman going by the name "Samantha" said that Warren was taking part in a program called Hometown Hall of Famer down at his old stomping grounds in Los Angeles. The deal was that I'd get to ask him some questions about whatever I wanted as long as I made sure to ask him about the program. My first thought...

"Wait, I get to ask Warren Moon questions... And all I have to do is plug this super awesome thing you guys are doing for kids in his home town?!?" SWEET DEAL MAN!

Basically, what Allstate is doing, alongside the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is sending pro players back to their home towns to speak to the youth currently working their way through young adulthood. They're trying to show them that if you persevere and work your tail off you can do pretty much anything. Warren is probably the best example of that fact; he overcame stereotypes at pretty much every level and became one of the best quarterbacks in the history of pro football.

At the high school level, coming out to find a college to play for, he had trouble finding any good offers; everyone wanted him to swap around to different positions. He ended up at West Los Angeles, which turned out to be just the right choice, as it ended up leading him to a major college program in an interesting way.

Moon spoke to me about ending up at the University of Washington. "My high school coach happened to be going over to West LA," he said, "so I followed him there, and had a lot of success there in that one year. A wide receiver I had on my team at West LA was gonna go to the University of Washington. He had been recruited by several teams around the country because he had an outstanding season. That's where I first got noticed; they were watching him on film, so of course they were watching at the same time because I was the one throwing him the football, so (that) created an interest in me."

He wasn't sure whether or not he'd be able to leave junior college after only one season, but he wanted to badly, as he was only there as a means to find a home as quarterback of a larger more prominent school. He ended up staying for a second succesful season, at which point Don James, the Dawgfather, came knocking.

"The University of Washington was giving me an opportunity to compete for the starting job right away," Moon recollected, "and I kind of wanted to go away from home anyway, just to go somewhere else and be outside of Los Angeles, but still stay on the West Coast where my family could still see me play and be close to home. Don James presented that opportunity to me and I went ahead and signed at the University of Washington."

Much like the college programs before them, NFL scouts and general managers took one quick look at Moon and told him to pack it in; he traveled north of the border, shattering all that was holy while leading the Edmonton Eskimos to five consecutive championships, and in the process forcing everyone in the NFL to take notice.

He ended up in a bidding war between a dozen teams in all three major North American football leagues, and ultimately signed with the Houston Oilers; it was the largest contract in the history of the league. Moon thought that was ironic, "it was just six years earlier that people thought I couldn't play the position, and now all of a sudden I'm the highest paid player in the league."

I suppose that's the message he's looking to send to the kids today at his hometown high school, "It just goes to show that if you stick to your guns, if you have confidence in your ability and you continue to work hard good things will happen for you... there's gonna be adversity in your life all along the way, and it's how you handle that adversity. I'm a perfect example of a guy that didn't give up, didn't let people tell me that I couldn't achieve what I wanted to achieve."

That you are Warren, that you are.

----------------

I was able to get in a couple Seahawks questions as well, and I'll simply transcribe to the best of my abilities the answers for you. Warren's been around the block a time or two so it's always cool to get some insight when you can.

LW: Russell Wilson has been so great, better than even his supporters likely imagined he would be. Is a sophomore slump likely, or will he keep on growing and keep on showing?

Moon: "I think he's only gonna grow and get better, just because he'll be more familiar with what their offense is. I think their offensive coordinator will be more familiar with what Wilson does, as opposed to trying to find their way through the first six or seven games to really figure out what he does best and what the offense does best.

I think they're going to get probably one more playmaker too... maybe another wide receiver that's big and real fast that gives him one more weapon over there. So you add a couple of weapons to go along with his experience from this year, to go along with the fact that his offensive coordinator will know what he does best next year, I think they're only going to grow. This is a very young football team; all those guys on that offensive side of the ball, I think they have the second youngest offensive line in the league. They're all just going to grow together and get better."

This front office has come out of the last couple drafts under a lot of scrutiny, but rookies continue to perform well right away. What are Schneider and Carroll on to that other draftniks just don't get yet?

"There's a 'draft system' where you're rated by whatever the draft experts say you are. All of that is based on measurables; the Seahawks try to find guys who fit their system. They don't care about a guy who might be more highly rated, who doesn't fit what they do, which is a mistake a lot of people make. Just because he had a great college career, or maybe he has all these great measurables, but he doesn't fit the system or the scheme he's going to, and a lot of people draft that way. Well, the Seahawks don't draft that way. They draft guys that fit their system of what they want to do defensively and what they want to do offensively."

"Sometimes that goes off the norm, it (strays from) what a guy might be rated at the time they're drafting, but they don't care about that... That's why they take a Bruce Irvin, who's probably a second or third round pick in most people's eyes but he fits perfectly (with) what they're doing and here he is with 7 sacks at the halfway point of the season."

"Russell WIlson being the same thing, a third rounder; All he had going against him was his height, but here he is a starting quarterback in the National Football League... They thought everything else he could do and could bring to the table fit their system... That's kind of their philosiphy, they're going to go after guys who fit what they do best, they don't really care where everybody else has them rated."

How did you get into broadcasting Seahawks games?

"Broadcasting was something I wanted to do when I retired just to stay around the game, and it was something I majored in at college, so it was very natural for me. I went to the Seahawks mainly because Dave Pearson, their VP of communications, was my PR guy with I was with the Houston Oilers, years ago. He offered me the opportunity to come and be the color analyst there... I like Seattle a lot as a city, and I had lived there a lot of the time when I was (playing) in Canada, I also played there a couple of years so I had a lot of relationships there."

"It was a place where I could, be in a place I was familiar... It was just a good situation, a good time for me to go there, and I've enjoyed my time up there for the last 8 years."

I'm Luke, I'm on twitter @MyHawkSoFly

Quick note: I REALLY wanted to throw in some rapid fire random questions at the end but ran out of time. If I ever get to interview the man again I'll be sure to throw some quick ones at him.

Another quick note: If you listen to the interview you'll hear me try to squeeze three questions into one for my last question, it didn't work... but I'd like credit for trying.

For anyone interested in checking out the entire interview, the audio file is right here:
Warren Moon "Hometown Hall of Famer" Interview

Seahawks win? Psh, let's talk about Tebow! Not really though.

2012-11-12T03:39:10Z

The Jets came into Centurylink Field as one of two or three teams that make headlines for seemingly anything. I've never liked them, and watching them fall to my favorite team was great. 28-7, and it could have been even worse, everything is peachy right now!

I'll give you all a chance to shout out questions and things, and do my best to answer. Go!

"What did you like?"

The Seahawks defense looked back in top form, holding the Jets to just 185 total yards. New York ran 50 plays on the day and all but a handful were covered by the Hawks' defense. Three turnovers forced helped Seattle win the turnover battle; one of those, a Richard Sherman interception at the goal line, helped the defensive unit keep its shutout entact.

"What surprised you?"

Russell Wilson finding success throwing the ball. Rex Ryan coached defenses had previously held rookie quarterbacks to a 1:8 touchdown to interception ratio; on Sunday Wilson was 12/19 for 188 with 2 touchdowns thrown to no picks. Their were moments in the game were the young quarterback actually looked pretty flustered for the first time since week 1 at Arizona, getting stripped two times - one for the Jets only touchdown - was unusual for Wilson, but he was able to pick it up in the second half, helping the Seahawks pull away in the fourth quarter.

"Tebow is unstoppable!"

Tim Tebow completed all his throws, for an incredible total of 8 yards. Jets opponents will surely need to keep spending valuable time preparing for this guy.

"THERE he is! Sidney!"

Much has been made of Sidney Rice's talent, injury issues, and contract; he has now caught 4 touchdowns in the last three football games, and is reminding everyone exactly how good he can be at beating a defense deep. Moving forward this will be something to watch, as the Hawks run game should continue to create opportunities over the top.

"And him TOO?!"

You mean Golden Tate? He continued his increased production, catching and throwing for one more touchdown than opposing QB Mark Sanchez. (Side note: Does anyone think Pete chuckles now about that whole "Pete says you're not ready to go pro" "Oh well I'm in the championship game, HAH!" thing these days? He looks like a terrible quarterback).

"One thing you didn't like so much?"

The Seahawks continue to let teams hang around a bit longer than they really should. A terribly over-rated Jets team was left to enter the locker room down only 7 points, instead of what probably should have been 14, maybe even 21.

Tough teams will take advantage of continued opportunities, especially on the road, where the Seahawks will likely be, should they make the playoffs. This team will have to continue to work on clamping down earlier in games when given the chance.

"Anything else you want to say about the game?"

Yeah one thing; I want to give some props to Darrell Bevell. He has been a hot topic for weeks at a time here and there during this season, but has come up smelling like a bag of roses lately. Between working in a few gimmicky wide receiver throwing plays, and some solid read options for Russell, this offense has seemed much more lively as of late.

I get as frustrated as anyone when this team is struggling, but we must throw the guy a bone (hurry, before he's in the doghouse again!) for mixing it up and keeping the offense fresh to death.

"Is it true you still sleep with stuffed animals??"

What?! WHERE'D YOU HEAR THAT?!? Alright that's it, this press conference is over!!

I'm on twitter @MyHawkSoFly

The NFL Playoff push: Week 10

2012-11-07T15:42:15Z

The playoffs are coming! The playoffs are coming!

I don't know why but that line reminds me of something... I tried googling it, turns out "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming" is an American comedy film from 1966.

Basically, I have no idea what "The playoffs are coming!" makes me think of; because I sure as shit have not seen any comedies from the year my dad realized lotion wasn't just for girls.

That's all pointless anyway, we're here to talk about football! Playoffs more specifically! WHY ALL THE EXCLAMATION POINTS?!?! SO EXCITED!!!

Why am I excited?

Allow me to itemize...

1. We're over halfway through the year, the playoff picture is clearing up.

2. The Seahawks are right in the middle of that picture, for the first time in five years (not including the time Seattle made it in with a losing record - that doesn't count).

3. Both of America's annual favorites are already just a couple short weeks away from being eliminated!!!

4. Number three is referencing the Cowboys and Jets, I get so damn tired of hearing about them.

I'm going to try to do a few things for you every week: Talk about each teams remaining schedule in an attempt to guess who I think makes it in, as well as list some reputable websites predictions on how everything will shake out. I'll also give you insider tips on who to root for this weekend, and who to send all your bad juju to.

As it stands now

Right now the Seahawks (5-4) are sitting on the second wildcard spot behind Green Bay (6-3), one and one half games back of San Francisco (6-2) in the division.

On the outside looking in are:
Vikings (5-4, lose tiebreaker to Seahawks by virtue of loss in week 9)
Lions (4-4, own tiebreaker over Seahawks by virtue of win in week 8)
Buccaneers (4-4, 2-4 in conference)
Cardinals (4-5, own tiebreaker over Seahawks currently by virtue of week 1 win)

What do those other guys have going on right now?

Green Bay: With road games against the Lions and Giants following this week's bye, the Packers are in immediate danger of losing their grasp on that fifth playoff spot. They'll likely need to win at least one to keep ahead of the Seahawks, Vikings, & Lions.

Minnesota: A visit from the Lions awaits them this weekend, with Green Bay on a bye, this is a chance to pull to within a half game of the Pack.

Lions: Same goes for the Lions as goes for the Vikings. Keep up with the Packers.

Cardinals: Having lost five straight games, I want to say talking about the Cards is a waste of time; but they won four straight before that and there's always the chance they could run off a few straight wins with... nevermind. They are on a bye this week, and face an Atlanta team that hasn't lost yet in week 11. If they lose that game, you can pretty much call them cooked.

49ers: At home against the Rams this week, the Niners will likely hold serve going into their bye. A loss would open the door for Seattle, should they win this week against the Jets

What're the Odds?

By that I mean, what are the odds these guys end up in the playoffs?

Team	Playoffrace.com	MakeNFLplayoffs.com	Footballoutsiders.com	This Guy
49ers	80.37%	80.36%	93.2%	95%
Packers	64.25%	63.32%	86.5%	85%
Seahawks	36.44%	35.98%	75.7%	65%
Vikings	36.74%	36.72%	8.8%	25%
Lions	24.48%	24.13%	11.0%	35%
Buccaneers	21.49%	21.53%	14.8%	15%
Cardinals	14.26%	13.86%	0.8%	5%

I pulled these from the sites listed above; a few interesting things pop up to me at first glance, Football outsiders seems to have almost completely decided it knows who is going to make the playoffs. I'm guessing that's because they use their DVOA ratings to calculate odds, so teams that are rated highly will come out on top over the thousands and thousands of simulations they run.

MakeNFLplayoffs.com gives each team a 50% chance in each remaining game; Playoffrace.com doesn't state how it comes up with calculations, although I'd assume it's similar as the odds for the two seem to mirror each other.

I'm not a fan of giving everyone even odds in each remaining game personally; we're far enough into the season that we know the Rams won't beat the 49ers half the time, maybe one in three at best.

-Sidenote- Really PlayoffRace? Was this really necessary?

Who should we root for?

Besides the Seahawks obviously? These are the games that most impact Seattle's chances to make the playoffs, and who you'd hope to win.

Chargers @ Buccaneers: Chargers all the way. The Bucs have a tough schedule and I don't see them winning more than 9 anyways, but we may as well hope they get the first of their three required losses out of the way this week.

Texans @ Bears: Go Texans. There's no huge impact for the Seahawks here unless a Bears loss kicks off some sort of crazy slide for them, but when in doubt, root against other NFC opponents

Falcons @ Saints: Falcons all day. Saints look like they're out of it right now, let us all hope together that they stay that way.

Rams @ 49ers: DOWN WITH THE NINERS!!! I hate them, and the Seahawks are only a game and a half out.

Giants @ Bengals: Send your "bad juju" Eli Manning's way, down with the Giants.

Broncos @ Panthers: I'm rooting against the Broncos here, in hopes that it lights a fire under their asses and they use that to whoop the only NFC team remaining on their schedule, the Bucs, in a couple weeks.

Cowboys @ Eagles: Always root against the NFC East. In this case... just shoot your television, or hope a black hole opens up and sucks both teams into it, along with all those nasty Philly fans.

By the way, I figured it out... it was Paul Revere. The BRITISH are coming! And by the way, he didn't actually say that.

We won the war anyways, so now we vote and there is no queen. Good work Paul, voting is all thanks to you.