In the famous words of Marshawn Lynch “HOLD MY …” ok I’m not gonna finish that quote but if you know, you know. And if you don’t, you're in for a special treat.
It’s January 8th, 2011. Were in Seattle, Washington for an NFC Wild Card Playoff showdown between the oddly visiting New Orleans Saints and the helpless hometown Seahawks. Seattle is tryna extend their 4-point lead late in the final quarter but I highly doubt it’ll happen on this run. Saints defenders have Marshawn Lynch dead to rights. He’s cooked! But before we move on, it’s important to understand these two teams' makeup. Why were here in Seattle. And how a new addition to the Seahawks could have a quaking effect on the franchise. To do all that, we need to rewind.
It’s January 8th, 2011. Were in Seattle, Washington for an NFC Wild Card Playoff showdown between the oddly visiting New Orleans Saints and the helpless hometown Seahawks. Seattle is tryna extend their 4-point lead late in the final quarter but I highly doubt it’ll happen on this run. Saints defenders have Marshawn Lynch dead to rights. He’s cooked! But before we move on, it’s important to understand these two teams' makeup. Why were here in Seattle. And how a new addition to the Seahawks could have a quaking effect on the franchise. To do all that, we need to rewind.
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00:00All right, this play is for sure dead.
00:03It's January 8th, 2011.
00:06We're in Seattle, Washington
00:07for an NFC wildcard playoff showdown
00:10between the oddly visiting New Orleans Saints
00:12and the helpless hometown Seahawks.
00:15Seattle is trying to extend their four-point lead
00:17late in the final quarter,
00:19but I highly doubt it'll happen here.
00:21Saints defenders are draped all over this run.
00:25It's over with.
00:26But before we move on,
00:27it's important to understand these two teams' makeup,
00:30why we're here in Seattle,
00:32and how a new addition to the Seahawks
00:35could have a quaking effect on the franchise.
00:37To do all that, we gotta rewind.
00:43If you're a subscriber to our Patreon,
00:45you've probably already did some rewinding
00:47and seen this episode.
00:48But if you haven't subscribed just yet, don't worry.
00:51You can get some new stuff every Monday,
00:53like episodes of Pretty Good, our podcast,
00:56and loads of other stuff.
00:58Now let's get back to the action.
01:00For a normally rocking crowd,
01:02god damn is it quiet here in Questfield.
01:06It's like someone died.
01:08Well, not like an actual human being,
01:10but Seattle's double-digit lead
01:12less than a quarter ago has expired,
01:15which isn't all that surprising
01:17coming from this New Orleans team.
01:18The astounding part is no one expected
01:20the Saints to be in this situation.
01:22New Orleans entered this season as reigning champs,
01:25looking to pull off a rare feat,
01:26repeat.
01:27Other than losing defensive captain Scott Vegeta,
01:30the Saints returned their championship chord,
01:32leading journalists to expect another deep postseason run.
01:35Yet, once the 2010 campaign kicked off,
01:39the Saints seemed to be drunk off their past success.
01:42Midway through the year,
01:43New Orleans looked far from a playoff team
01:45as their typical high-powered offense appeared pedestrian.
01:49In previous seasons,
01:50as long as QB Drew Brees stood behind center,
01:53the Saints either smoked teams out the gate
01:56or caught opponents lacking with late-game winning drives.
01:59The Saints built a reputation for forcing comebacks
02:02and grinding out games,
02:03which notably got them to the big dance last year
02:06with an overtime conference title victory
02:09over the Minnesota Vikings.
02:10However, early this season,
02:13New Orleans looked flat and dropped games
02:15to inferior teams.
02:17Maybe they needed time to adjust
02:19or drank a shit ton of Gatorade
02:21because after a while, the Saints kicked their hangover.
02:25In the backstretch of the season,
02:26New Orleans dialed in, rattling off six straight wins,
02:29including a Week 11 ass-whooping against the Seahawks.
02:33In typical resilient Saints fashion,
02:35they continued their role as the comeback kids
02:38and finished the season 11-5, snatching a wildcard spot.
02:42They entered the playoffs banged up
02:43after suffering some key injuries
02:45in the final game of the season,
02:47but journalists believe the Saints were still good enough
02:49to make a strong run.
02:51Unlike last year,
02:52they had to get it out the mud and hit the road,
02:55but in the eyes of media members and oddsmakers,
02:57a first-round matchup at Seattle was cake.
03:00Being a double-digit away favorite,
03:02especially in the postseason, seems absurd,
03:04but the Saints backed up those beliefs
03:06and jumped out to an early 10-point lead.
03:09Even when they found themselves down two touchdowns,
03:12Breeze masterfully executed back-to-back scoring drives,
03:15chopping Seattle's lead to four.
03:17Like the regular season showed,
03:19this team thrived under adversity.
03:21You could feel the momentum shift,
03:23and as Seattle got the ball back late in the final quarter,
03:26the matchup appeared to be headed
03:27toward another classic New Orleans resurgence.
03:30But with possession of the Rock,
03:32the Seahawks can fend off a furious comeback.
03:35This doesn't look like the play that'll get them there,
03:38but if Seattle can put together a strong drive,
03:40they can make history.
03:42It won't be the prettiest, but historic nonetheless.
03:46No one knew what to expect from this team in 2010.
03:48After a disastrous 0-9 season,
03:51the franchise cleaned house
03:53and brought in acclaimed University of Southern California
03:56head coach Pete Carroll.
03:57As a former NFL skipper,
03:59Carroll was ecstatic about the opportunity
04:01to return to the pros,
04:03downplaying the NCAA dark cloud
04:05hanging over his former school.
04:07But no matter his reasoning,
04:09experts were skeptical he would be successful in the NFL.
04:13For one, Carroll's first few stints in the league
04:16were kinda eh.
04:18He led USC to glory,
04:19but there wasn't a great track record of college coaches
04:22that jumped to the NFL.
04:23Media members labeled him an overhyped
04:25and overpriced candidate.
04:27No matter their beliefs, Carroll got to work immediately.
04:30Alongside new GM John Schneider,
04:33Carroll revamped the roster
04:34with hundreds of transactions in the offseason
04:37to build a new look Seahawks team.
04:39Journalists called Carroll a madman,
04:41but when Seattle came out hot,
04:43nearly matching their win total from last season
04:45through just six games,
04:47experts gave Pete his props.
04:49However, things fell apart drastically
04:52as Seattle's dropped seven of their following nine.
04:55All the blame couldn't fall on Carroll.
04:57The team had several flaws across the board
05:00and faced a quarterback controversy late in the season
05:03after veteran starter Matt Hasselbeck got benched
05:06in favor of Charlie Whitehurst.
05:08A week after being forced to ride the pine,
05:11it didn't help that Hasselbeck also suffered a hip injury
05:13that jeopardized the remainder of his season.
05:16Yet, the Seahawks entered week 17
05:18with their playoff hopes still alive.
05:21Yes, a 6-9 squad had a shot at the postseason.
05:26For most of the year,
05:27Seattle and the St. Louis Rams
05:29were jockeying for best of the worst
05:31in the laughingstock NFC West division.
05:33It perfectly came down to a season finale mid-off
05:37to decide the champs.
05:39With Hasselbeck unable to suit up,
05:41Whitehurst led Seattle to their first division title
05:43since 07.
05:45In the win, the Seahawks became the only team
05:48in NFL history to play a full season
05:51and make the playoffs with a losing record.
05:53On the flip side,
05:55experts believe Seattle's postseason entrance
05:58stained the league.
05:59Journalists furiously debated
06:01over the NFL's playoff system
06:03and whether division champs should be granted home games.
06:06It's been a conversation for years,
06:08but Seattle backpedaling into the playoffs
06:11while other NFC squads with double-digit wins
06:14had to miss out seemed ridiculous.
06:16But that's how it works.
06:19And while we found ourselves in Seattle,
06:20no matter how stinky the Seahawks had been,
06:23come game time,
06:24Seattle proved their worth.
06:26After falling behind early
06:28with an unlucky interception deep in their territory,
06:31Hasselbeck, who got the start
06:32after missing last week's contest,
06:34lit up the Saints' D with three first-half touchdowns
06:38to give the Seahawks a slim lead going into the half.
06:41It's wild to think this was the same dude
06:44who Carroll benched just a few weeks ago,
06:46and he wasn't finished.
06:47On their first drive out the break,
06:49Hasselbeck again found the end zone
06:51with a beautiful 38-yard strike to extend Seattle's lead.
06:56After a successful field goal
06:57on their following possession,
06:59a squad that journalists believe
07:00had no business being in the playoffs
07:03was nearly a quarter away from advancing.
07:06We were reaching unprecedented territory.
07:09Then, Breeze and the Saints woke up.
07:11As the home crowd fell silent with the game slipping away,
07:14the Seahawks started this drive with a measly run.
07:18It doesn't look like this play is going anywhere either.
07:21New Orleans has Seattle running back
07:22Marshawn Lynch dead to rights.
07:24Like many others, Lynch is a new addition to the Seahawks,
07:28but this season especially marks a new era for his career.
07:32The Buffalo Bills picked Lynch 12th overall
07:35in the 2007 draft.
07:36For a guy who spent his life on the West Coast
07:39and played college ball at the University of California,
07:42arriving in Western New York was a shock for Lynch.
07:45He thought he would be kicking it
07:47with the likes of Jay-Z.
07:49Despite his confusion, Lynch embraced the city
07:51and proved to be a beast on the field
07:53with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons,
07:56except it was issues away from football
07:58that hindered his play.
08:00In 2009, Lynch pleaded guilty to a gun charge
08:03that cost him three games that season.
08:06Later that same year,
08:07he lost his starting job to Fred Jackson.
08:10When Buffalo drafted Clemson's standout running back
08:12C.J. Spiller 9th overall the following season,
08:15the writing was on the wall for Marshawn.
08:17A month into this 2010 campaign,
08:20Seattle swung a trade to land their new running back.
08:23Carroll became familiar with Lynch's bruising running style
08:26during his coaching days at USC
08:28and jumped at the chance to bring him to Seattle.
08:30Lynch hated Carroll's eccentric energy
08:32during their matchups in college,
08:34but looked forward to beginning a new chapter
08:36of his NFL career by having the trust of his coaches.
08:39Experts applauded the move.
08:41Before the trade, Seattle's run offense
08:44sat near the bottom of the league
08:45and journalists believed Marshawn
08:47could provide toughness on the ground
08:49that the franchise had been missing for years.
08:51During his first couple of games,
08:53Marshawn provided that bruising spark
08:55finding his way to the end zone,
08:57but as the year progressed, the trade didn't amount to much.
09:00Many pointed to Seattle's makeshift offensive line
09:03being the issue rather than Lynch,
09:05but the results couldn't be argued.
09:07Finally, in a must-win week 13 matchup
09:10against the Carolina Panthers,
09:12Lynch had his breakout point of the season
09:14with three touchdowns proving he still had the juice.
09:17Seattle dropped their next three,
09:19but grabbed the division title in the final game
09:22behind a solid Russian attack from Marshawn.
09:25If the Seahawks had any shot at beating the Saints,
09:27media members believed Seattle would need
09:29a balanced offensive effort from Hasselbeck
09:31through the air and Lynch on the ground.
09:34Hasselbeck held his end of that bargain,
09:36but Lynch hadn't found the end zone.
09:39The Seahawks still had faith in their guy.
09:41Lynch didn't find room to get free
09:43on first down of this drive,
09:45but Seattle was looking to him again right here.
09:47If the Saints can get a stop, which looks very likely,
09:51they'll be a down away from forcing Seattle to punt
09:54and have the chance to complete
09:55an epic comeback on the road.
09:58The energy is off at Questfield,
10:00but with the ball, Seattle can drain the clock
10:02or potentially extend their lead if they move the chains.
10:06With a team full of newcomers,
10:08Marshawn has a shot at a fresh start with the Seahawks.
10:11He's shown flashes of his brute force,
10:13but he needs an earth-shaking run
10:16for him to get out of this situation.
10:18Seattle initially got a great push up front,
10:20but New Orleans' defenders have him wrapped up.
10:22Even if Marshawn can shake free,
10:25these folks are still in great position to pounce.
10:28Elite-level blocking won't get him out of this.
10:31Ain't no shot.
10:33Third down is for sure on the way.
10:36Welcome to a moment in, well, it's just a moment, right?
10:42Oh, look at this run!
10:44What a run!
10:45Marshawn Lynch!
10:47Still on his feet!
10:50Has blockers now!
10:51He's dancing his way to the touchdown!
10:56Uh, what the fuck just happened?
10:59There were several times where this play looked done for.
11:02The missed tackles at the line of scrimmage,
11:04I guess can be excused,
11:06but when Marshawn reached the next level,
11:09all hell broke loose.
11:11The man fought off arm tackles with ease
11:13and gave Saints defenders piggyback rides
11:16as they held on to him like little children.
11:18At one point, he stiffed-armed a dude
11:20into another dimension before hitting the gas again
11:23and high-stepping over folks, diving at his legs,
11:27making his way into the end zone.
11:28The run sent the Seattle faithful into a frenzy.
11:34But there was still time left on the clock.
11:37With the ball, Breeze and the Saints marched down the field
11:41for an easy touchdown, barely draining any clock.
11:44They failed to convert their two-point conversion,
11:46which would have brought this game within three,
11:48but a clean on-site kick could keep them alive.
11:52Of all the times New Orleans pulled off a comeback,
11:54it just wasn't in the cards for them
11:56as Seattle cleanly recovered the attempt.
11:59After a few plays to run out the clock,
12:01all Seattle needs to do is kneel here.
12:04Again, welcome to a moment in history.
12:07It is a shocker, no other way to say it.