WEBVTT - Special Teams: The Blair Walsh Game 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.520 Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:24.360 Greetings and Welcome inside the Special Teams podcast with Jason 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:27.320 Smith and Mike Harmon, where every week we look back 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.280 at some special team specific year in sports in the 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:33.280 middle of our run right now, as we look back 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:36.120 at some special teams who took place and took part 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:41.000 in some of the biggest games the NFL, major League Baseball, 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:45.720 college football, the NBA have seen in the past few years. 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:48.360 And today we're gonna look back at a game that 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:51.760 changed the fortunes of two teams following it. And it's 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.160 so good. It has a name, because look, when any 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.360 time a playoff game has a name, you know it's good. 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:59.240 Sometimes it's fourth and six, which is the title of 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.600 a previous podcast has Sometimes the Music City Miracle. Sometimes 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:04.679 it's named after a player because you say the name 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:08.440 and everybody understands. So today we're gonna break down the 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:12.080 Blair Walsh game. Oh you say that and everybody knows. Yep, 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.479 Blair Walsh missing the field goal. Oh boy ten nine, Yep, 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:17.880 I get it, I get it. So the Blair Walsh 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:22.400 game from January two thousand and sixteen, the most recent 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:25.280 NFL game I think we've broke down, but still so 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:27.760 much has changed for both of these teams as a 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.240 result of that game. That's why we're doing it here today. 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.039 Our bosses aren't gonna scrub it though, right based on 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.600 their own personal fandom. Well, let's see our boss, Scott 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.440 Shapiro at Fox is a huge Minnesota Vikings fan. But look, 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:41.280 the Vikings have never won a Super Bowl, So I 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:43.520 think anytime we talk about the Vikings he'll be okay 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.039 with it. Yeah, they had their shots. Maybe we'll go 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.520 back in the long illustrious history of Near Mrs from 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.240 fran Tarkington. Well, it would give us an excuse to 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:55.120 do twenty minutes on That's Incredible. Sure, Well I met 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:59.520 Kathy Lee Crosby John John. Remember that was on the 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:03.400 same time as Real People. It was like the same show. Yeah, 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:05.800 but it was great. About the That's incredible is about 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.359 every month they'd have a random dude on with a cobra. 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:11.079 It's like he gets ratings, people get excited. Yeah, it's 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:13.840 a guy with a sneak let's have him sneak ahead. 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:17.400 Who was the guy that was in the box right 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:19.520 to breathe in the box for an hour? And that 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:22.000 was the big one for that's incredible. He he folded 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:25.760 himself up into this tiny you know. Uh and and 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:27.200 and he was he was able to be in a 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:30.120 box where he breathed for an hour that was completely closed. 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:32.320 Oh I still remember that. And that was like forty 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.240 years ago. I remember watching that well, I mean, I 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:37.640 know it was the amazing Yen in Notions eleven. Yeah, 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.240 this guy was on the Reunion special too. You know, 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:45.480 I actually saw Yen at the l A County Fair 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:48.440 last year because he performs with with a group that 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:51.960 does incredible acrobatics. And we're watching this group and it's 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:54.239 amazing to see l A County Fair. This is where 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:55.760 you could just walk right up to the stage and 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:58.959 just you know, sit down. And he's with a group 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.960 of of acrobat performers and I'm going, oh my god. 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.120 And I go, Pam, that looks like the dude from 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:06.720 Oceans eleven. She was, no, no, it's not a but 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:08.480 it doesn't it look just like you, ye know where 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:12.519 the you And so we looked it up and we said, 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.640 oh my god, it is and and he was performing 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.720 on stage County Fair. It was fantastic. I was like, 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.120 and he told Zoe Zoe, this is the guy, and 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:24.840 now she's just watched The Ocean's eleven movies. My daughter 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:28.040 in the past, coup loves that. Yeah, she just like me, 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:32.760 loves eleven, loves thirteen, hates twelve. Well, twelve was clearly 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:36.000 just a cash grab. They enjoyed playing and hanging out together. 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:38.720 They knew it would make money, so why not do 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.800 it again on the whole, Like if you didn't know, 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.839 it was part of a trilogy that was really really good. Otherwise, uh, 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:50.120 twelve twelves okay standalone. You you have to compartmentalize your brain, right, 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.080 you gotta do a little meditation and remember that the 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:56.080 first one wasn't so great. Yeah, well, and it's also 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.440 you gotta get Oh, Julia Roberts is gonna play herself, 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:00.880 but she's not Julia Roberts since ye uh you know, okay, 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:02.880 you know what X, I'm out, I'm out of that. Well, 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.000 that's when you have an extra drink and you forget 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:06.920 any of it. Well, she also liked the bad guy. 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:09.440 Al Pacino was a much better bad guy in Oceans thirteen, 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:12.200 so that's true. She likes him. And what is this 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:15.080 a Billy Martin I get a chance to make amends, 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:19.760 I'm not gonna do it, but anyway, today's podcast is 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:22.960 the Blair Walsh game before we get to the NFL 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.599 Wildcard Game, the NFC game that took place in the 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:29.320 second week of two thousand and sixteen. How did these 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.560 teams get to a game that has become identifiable with 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:36.400 both franchises. Well, for the Seahawks, you gotta remember, they're 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.039 coming off that big Super Bowl lost New England in 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:41.240 which they could have given the ball to Marshawn Lynch 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.760 on the goal line. They didn't, and they were living 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:46.000 with that. So now they've been playing that game over 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:49.920 and over in their head all off season into this season, 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:52.919 in which they decide, we're gonna make our team better. 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.200 So going into this year, Pete Carroll decides, we gotta 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:57.520 do better and we need more offense. They trade for 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:00.400 Jimmy Graham, they have a couple of great draft picks 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:03.880 and Frank Clark and Tyler Lockett. Cam Chancellor held out 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.680 didn't report until Week three. Turns out they didn't need him, 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:08.839 and during the season they make the big trade of 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:11.360 Percy Harvin to the Jets when the Jets had won 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:13.240 two games, and it's like, what are you doing. We're 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.320 not We're not going anywhere with person. Why are making 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.040 a trade for Percy Harvin? John is sick? What are 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:21.120 you doing? You are insane? But this is the ups 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.520 and downs that the Seahawks had to deal with during 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.120 the regular season, and you think that would be enough. Look, 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.159 you bring in a couple of impact players and Graham 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:30.560 and lock it. You draft Frank Clark, who turns into 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:34.040 a star. You trade Percy Harvin and for this season. 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:38.159 The most famous play that the Seahawks had was the 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:41.719 bat play. It was on Monday Night football against the Lions. 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:44.039 You probably remember this, uh you and I were on 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.720 air knowing about it on Fox Sports or any Calvin 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:50.040 Johnson is trying to stretch what would be the game 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:53.800 winning touchdown on Monday Night, except he gets stripped by 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:56.920 Cam Chancellor. K J. Wright bats the ball out of 0:05:56.960 --> 0:05:58.800 the end zone and after the game we find out 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:00.839 it should have been ruled in a lead eagle bat 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.360 and Detroit keeping the football at the one yard line. 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:05.880 Very famous play, one of the many plays the Seahawks 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:07.760 have had in that core of the end zone which 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:11.160 has gone their way. Full of much controversy. It's like 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.320 a sacred burial ground or something. Man, there's some strange 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.400 stuff happening now, so you want to stay away from 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:19.840 that part of the end zone in big games against 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:24.120 Fred Gwyn at look Out, a boy needs a father. Um. 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.040 So this was the backdrop of the Seahawks, who had 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:30.760 a very interesting season looking with with the new additions, 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:33.960 with this big play, Uh, they lose Jimmy Graham for 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.719 the season in Week twelve he tears Pateller tendon and really, 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:40.880 Jimmy Graham was It's such a missed opportunity because his 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:44.440 entire time he spent with the Seahawks, they never figured 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:45.880 out how to use and they never figured out how 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:47.880 to turn him into the weapon he was in New 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:51.200 Orleans and it was one of those times where you say, boy, 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.360 this should have been a lot better for the Seahawks, 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.600 and it just wasn't. Let me do eleven games during 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.440 the years he said, so seventy four targets. You know, 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:02.760 he was on track to get to at least the 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:06.280 target number that we've seen in the years prior working 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:10.040 with Breeze and Company. But the red zone opportunities certainly 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:12.880 weren't there, and you know. You look at the way 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:17.000 the Seahawks operated Dunk Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, some of the 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.960 smaller receivers, Percy Harvin before he became a jet and 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:23.560 well had nowhere to go. Um look, I gotta call it. 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:25.440 What is uh? Those guys knew how to do the 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:29.080 little scrape route and find just enough space in the 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:32.320 end zone. Here. For Graham, he didn't become the same 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:35.200 level of performer. He ended up being more a decoy, 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:39.400 except for his final year, when then he was grossly 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:44.240 overpaid by the Packers. Seattle actually beats Minnesota in the 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:47.840 regular season. In Week thirteen, they crushed them thirty eight 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:52.320 seven without Jimmy Graham, without Marshawn Lynch. Thomas Rawls played well, 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.840 but he got hurt the following week. He was out 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:57.440 for the season. So the Seahawks were a banged up 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.520 team all year. They started out slow. They make the 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:03.480 playoffs by winning eight out of their last ten. Russell 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.360 Wilson becomes the focal point of the offense. And remember 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:09.000 you mentioned him. This was the Doug Baldwin year. I mean, 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:10.760 this is the year where Doug Baldwin something was catching 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:13.080 three touchdowns a week and you're going, oh my god, 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.560 look at Doug bald and he had fourteen for the season. 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:18.480 That's like what Calvin Johnson and Julio Jones having their 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:20.680 best years. Yeah, and he wasn't the guy that was 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:24.400 generally a deep ball guy, right, you had some of that, 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:28.360 That's why Lockett came on board. But Doug Baldwin was 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:32.760 a guy that would create space right and find openings, 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.079 and Russell Wilson just knew to put it in the 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:38.080 general vicinity. And certainly over the course of this game 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:41.000 he he got qued a couple of times, but I 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:44.480 had the opportunity, and you you recognize just what an 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:48.480 impactful player Baldwin was for a stretch. I don't know 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.240 that he gets his just due on the NFL as 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:54.640 a whole for how reliable he'd been. But you know, 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:56.960 not to gloss over. You know how they got on 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:59.160 a roll that second half That became kind of a 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.360 hallmark of this team, right because the offensive line was 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:05.240 always in shambles, or so it would seem. So about 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:07.000 mid season they're like, all right, are we ready? You 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.200 guys got it together? Okay, let's go on a run. 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:12.800 Because they were four and four at the midpoint, right 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.439 and they and they on this crazy run. They they 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:18.079 you know, Marshawn Lynch got hurt at the end of November. 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:20.600 He had abdominal surgery and he was done. You know, 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:22.720 Rawls comes in and plays well, but now he's done. 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:27.040 This is a team Dune durn Don durn done. And 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.160 this is a team that has always as as good 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.959 as Russell Wilson is shown to be, he's always been 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:34.040 part of He was basically the head of the snake 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:37.000 up until this year. It was well, Russell Wilson's good, 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.640 but it's the running game that's carrying us through. And 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.959 of course, coming off such a highly publicized interception, when 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:45.160 had you given the ball to Marshawn Lynch, you would 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:47.840 have won the Super Bowl. It's a it's a different 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:51.400 world for the Seahawks coming into this playoff going, Okay, 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:55.559 we're now Russell Wilson driven, Doug Baldwin's turning in. I mean, 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:58.120 like I said, it's the Doug Baldwin year. So this 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:00.600 is where we're at as they finished and in six 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:03.800 and head into the playoffs against the Minnesota Vikings. Now 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:07.640 for the Vikings, things are much different in the off season. 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:10.320 It was their last season at TCF Bank Stadium. They 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:13.280 drafted Stefon Diggs, who turned into a phenomenal player for 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:17.120 them until they trained him. Uh, this was Adrian Peterson 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:20.880 coming back to the team after he missed nearly all 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:24.839 of fourteen due to child abuse allegations. I mean, this 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:29.720 was the NFL. I mean, now, I can't believe that 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:31.560 he'd stay in the league. I mean, you're coming up. 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:35.240 This is team where all the allegations and and and 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:38.480 basically Adrian Peterson admitting that he would hit his child 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:42.040 for disciplining him. If that happened, now he'd be gone 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:44.280 and he'd not be coming back into the league. But 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.720 he was still playing at a high level. And I 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:49.959 am stunned at this point that he got back in 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:52.240 the league that easy. You know, In fact, it was 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:54.800 so it was it was. It was such a fatal 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.080 company that Minnesota restructured his deal prior to the season. 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:00.720 Can you imagine the flat that the Kings would get 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:03.040 now if they kept him? If this was two thousand 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.800 and twenty. Yeah, here's a guy who admitted to to 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.679 beating his kid that way. Oh my goodness, and you're 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.000 gonna keep me and not only that restructure is deal 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:15.280 going into this year, people would stop going to Vikings games. 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:17.800 It would be it would be the story of look 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:20.760 at an organization, how they're doing it? With this story 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.280 still so fresh in everybody's mind. Yeah, I mean, there's 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.240 there's so many of those moments for the NFL where 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:30.400 if you put it in the current climate, you eradicate 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.280 a lot of it. There's outraged Doune and certainly in 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:37.400 the NFL perhaps in a different state of listening to 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:41.960 the players, listening to fans, listening to where culture is. 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:47.920 And Goodell is always going to be crushed for the 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:52.720 early attempts in terms of conduct policy decisions because he 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:55.600 was going without a net right and there was nothing 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.480 from tag Liabou. Right, if as long as you were 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.080 available to play, you were good to go. And then 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:03.680 you try to institute policy, well, how do you do that? 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:05.480 Because no two cases are going to be the same. 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:09.200 And then you have the star power of an Adrian Peterson. 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:11.440 That's a whole other thing, because he's gone on to 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:15.960 have a couple of really nice seasons in Washington, still 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:19.400 playing as we get ready for the twenty campaign, and 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:21.840 you look what he did in, he comes back and 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:27.439 he rushes for almost fift yards. He's still a beast souls, 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:31.400 a pro again, star rules right. And the thing is 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.480 for Peterson is that he has this all pro year 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:36.880 and he carries the Vikings offense. And I don't think 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:38.720 there was any question after go well we need him 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.480 needed to come back. It's it's just it baffles you 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:43.160 and you shake your head and you go, man, this 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:45.679 was just you know, this is just four years ago. 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:48.120 This is not very longal but but things change in 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:50.880 an instant and put it in perspective as you go 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:55.120 into this playoff matchup. The Vikings were thirty first in 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:57.640 passing yards. Oh, they were terror And that's the thing 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.520 is that they needed every yard to be because Teddy 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:04.360 Bridgewater just wasn't very good. And I loved Teddy Bridgewater 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:06.800 coming out of school, and it looked like he was 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.080 gonna take the path of Okay, he's gonna be a 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.640 winning quarterback. He's not gonna throw a lot of touchdowns, 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:14.480 is not gonna win passing titles, but he's gonna win games. 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:17.840 But he struggled all year long. He had nine touchdown 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:21.440 passes through the first fourteen weeks. Nine he had four 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:26.199 touchdowns in against the Bear. Sorry buddy Week fifteen. Yet 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.640 I mean for a season to throw fourteen touchdowns and 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:33.400 throw for three thousand yards. Again, this is in the 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.440 era of the quarterback where four thousand yards seasons are 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:40.239 becoming the norm. Uh. It's amazing to think how Minnesota 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:42.840 went through this year playing as well as they have 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:46.559 getting into the playoffs. Besides getting nothing at quarterback. I mean, 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.000 like I said, I love Teddy Bridgewater, but the bottom 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:51.880 line is he was just never very good, you know, 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:54.360 I mean and and and they they got by with 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.840 him and got this far with getting basically nothing at quarterback. 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.640 They had one player finished with more than five hundred 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:05.920 receiving yards that was Digs. Then you had three between 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.520 four hundred five hundred Jerry is right, Mike Wallace and 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:14.640 Kyle Rudolph Peterson. Then your fifth leading receiver two hundred 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.920 twenty two yards, but on the strength of his legs, 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:22.160 fourth most rushing yards as a unit uh in the league. 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.600 And somehow they scored at least twenty six points six 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:30.680 different times during the regular season, including the thirty eight 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:34.920 point barrage against the Bears. That is just the outlier. 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.400 Everything he had to as a team. They had two 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:44.040 multi touchdown throwing games. That's it. So the Vikings also 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.760 finished ten and six, and we get set for the 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:50.360 NFC wild Card Game, in which we have a big 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:54.240 broken nose catch every bit as good as Odell Beckham's 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:57.160 one of the most insane plays you'll see in the playoffs. 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:00.160 And oh, by the way, yes, Blair Walsh and his 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:02.600 missed twenty seven yard field goal. It's all coming up 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:05.320 next right here. Special teams Jason Smith and Mike Harmon. 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:25.880 So we arrive at the NFC wild Card playoff game 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:29.640 between the Seahawks and the Vikings, the third coldest game 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:34.440 in NFL history, with the windshill factor minus twenty five degrees. 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:36.760 And one of the best parts of this game is 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:41.440 that Bud Grant, long time Vikings head coach, legend Super Bowls, 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.360 he comes out for the coin toss in a hat 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:47.480 and a polo shirt and he's eighty eight years old 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:49.440 and he comes out going this is what it was 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:51.160 like in Minnesota because when he was the coach in 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:53.720 the seventies and the eighties, they played outdoors and they 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:57.080 used the snow and the and the elements to their advantage. 0:15:57.320 --> 0:15:59.280 He comes out, he's eighty eight and he's just kind 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:01.800 of hatting a polo shirt like, Hey, I just got 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:04.440 done playing golf. I'm here for the coin toss. All 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.920 the montages of all the shirtless people in the crowds, 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:11.080 and then as the captains go out, there's Bud Gray. 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:16.520 What a boss? What a boss? Bud Grant what I 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:20.320 want to move right? So here's the game, and obviously 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:22.600 with this weather, you know, scoring is gonna be at 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:25.800 a minimum. Again, no Marshawn Lynch for the Seahawks, who 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.880 hadn't played in a while after abdominal surgery. So this 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.880 was gonna be done on the strength of the Seahawks 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:35.800 defense and Russell Wilson. It's a zero zero first half. 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:39.200 Nobody is surprised at this. The first big play of 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:42.080 the game turns on a bobble snap on a punt. 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.560 John Ryan bobbles the snap, doesn't think he can get 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:48.080 the ball off the punt off, so he tries to 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.520 run for the first down. He kind of gets up 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:54.240 ended and because you know punters, they have face masks 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:57.240 that don't cover their whole face, he lands on his 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.680 face short of the first down. With the broken nose. 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:03.400 I mean that that's the big play of the first half, 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.600 is that he bobbles a snap, runs falls on his face, 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.399 breaks his nose. It turns into a field goal of 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.520 the three nothing lead from Minnesota, all because of a 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.160 bobble snap, and you know, John Ryan's going, man, wish 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:19.200 I had that better face mask. That so bad every 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:22.919 time I've watched that replay. Not only does he have 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:27.360 the opportunity to get the punt off right because the 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:30.159 the last man coming in gets knocked to the ground, 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:34.439 so Ryan's got plenty of time to reset. Then he 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.400 suddenly decides he's Superman. What does he think He's got 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:41.040 a somersault and still be land on his feet and 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:44.600 finish off the first down run like it's it's one 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:47.119 of the worst decisions. This guy had a nice, long career, 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:50.240 a lot of a lot of positivity. As they always 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:52.680 say with an interception, man, he'd like to have that 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.560 one back, and if you want to, if you want 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.000 a great before he was a star moment. You know 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.160 who was rushing the punter on that play, him feeling yeah, 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:03.879 he's the guy that gets knocked down. It's like, okay, 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:06.040 you would never even think Adam. Why is Adam feeling 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:07.919 rushing the putter? The guys were the best receivers in 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:10.080 the NFL. But this is before he was a star. 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.680 He was on the punt team. He was rushing the punter. 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:18.080 But if you watch the like it's classic because well 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.439 he gets knocked down, which we would have been the 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:23.240 thing to give Ryan his edge to to actually get 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:25.640 a punted off, rushed, but at least get it out 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:29.040 of the territory and hope for a role. Instead, he's 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:31.520 the guy coming up behind and pumping his fist like 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:35.080 he made a huge play. It's like, no, No, trust 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.000 Nick trucked him. He tried to jump him, and he 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:41.080 gave him the w W E stound back body drop, 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.679 although he didn't complete the rotation and landed on his face. 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:49.879 Jason trust Nick from Ohio Northern University. There you go. 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:52.240 I say this because my cousin went to Ohio Northern 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:53.800 and was there at the same time he was. We 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:56.480 might hear some more about him a little later. Uh So, 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.560 it's a three nothing game at halftime. Again, it's the cold, 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:01.960 it's teams not being able to move to football. It's 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.960 a really good Seahawks defense. It's a really good Vikings defense, 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:08.720 and the big highlight of the third quarter, Doug Baldwin 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:12.760 makes a one handed catch every bit as good as 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:15.400 Odell Beckham Jr. And the famous catch that turned him 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:18.159 into a superstar. He did use his other hand at 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.320 the very end to hold on to the football, but 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:22.280 this was also in the middle of the field where 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:24.760 he's got to worry about getting killed if he goes 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:26.680 up for the ball like this. I mean, Odell Beckham 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:28.880 caught the ball on the sideline. He knew nobody else 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:30.919 is gonna hit him. Doug Baldwin is thinking, I go 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:33.240 up for this ball like this, I'm gonna get crunched. 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:35.840 So he does use his other hand. But this is 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:38.159 some kind of catch by Doug Baldwin. And you know, 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:41.280 if the Seahawks had a longer run in the playoffs 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:43.480 because of this, then you look back at this play 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:45.719 is almost like a fourth and twenty six type play 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:47.600 for the Eagles, you know, as we talked about in 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.200 podcast a few weeks ago. But you know, this play 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:52.040 gets lost history. But this is some kind of catch 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:54.840 by Doug Baldwin. Yeah, he goes up with one arm 0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:58.120 and he's trying to make sure he knows where Harrison 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:01.840 Smith is because he's coming over one more step and 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:05.360 he's blowing them up right, not only probably separating the ball, 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:08.800 but probably a shoulder or the face mask or many 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:12.639 other things. But this was also another play and indicative 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:14.520 of what happened over the course of the game, is 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:18.239 that Russell Wilson was high, right, there were there were 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:24.600 a couple other that throwing the throw said that throwing 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:26.520 the football. Make sure you say it that. I was 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:30.440 immediately waiting for a laugh from our normal technical producer 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:36.320 on the show going no. So that's that definitely, like 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:40.280 he was just high and overthrowing receivers and putting them 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:43.119 in harm's way. Right. One of the things for Russell 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:46.119 Wilson as his careers developed is, you know, he's a 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:50.640 guy that's operational efficiency at its finest, and on this 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:52.480 day there were just a number of balls where he 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:56.920 almost got Baldwin and the other receivers killed. So this 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.679 play right here is the first of what's going to 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:02.320