Seattle Sports Fill-In Episode 2 (Segment 1)

The host discusses the recent football games and focuses on two quarterbacks, Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes. He mentions Wilson's contract situation and the possibility of him being benched by the Broncos. The host suggests that the Broncos should move on from Wilson and save money. He also talks about the performance of Mahomes and criticizes his reaction to a mistake in the game. The host expresses concern about Mahomes' lack of leadership and the team's performance. This is the Weekend Show on Seattle Sports hosted by myself, Warren, filling in for the show as always. Hope you're having a good weekend so far, and let me just say, Christmas is now officially over. You are free from gift-giving. No more of that for a while, which I am very, very excited about. But you know what? The holidays are not done. We still have New Year's coming up. Thankfully, you can just kind of show up for that holiday, which is something that I can always do reliably. So I am in luck. That's my favorite kind of day to celebrate right there. And of course, we have the winter classic on the way, Seattle Kraken in the winter classic this year. It's going to be so much fun. I do have some thoughts on that later. We're going to get to that, of course. But I want to start off the show today by talking about football, because your holiday season is just around the corner, and it's NFL playoff season. And we've got to talk about our good friend, Russell Wilson. So Russell Wilson, probably not making it to the playoffs anytime soon, but the Broncos game against the Patriots, one of my favorite games I watched over the weekend. So I watched this game on TV, and I admit I'm not really a Russell Wilson fan anymore, but the effort in that game really was incredible. So in the end, the Patriots do win that game with a field goal, but you felt like the comeback victory was, at least, if nothing else, possible. So you might be wondering right now why we're talking about Russell Wilson in the first place, thinking that there's really no point in doing so if he's not going to be in the playoffs. Well, let's just be fair right now for one second. We don't know the Seahawks are going to make it either. So let's just go ahead and say that right off the bat, because we don't know. But there is a reason for that, because Russell Wilson's kind of in a weird spot with the Broncos right now. So the Broncos are going to have Russell Wilson sit out the next couple of games. And if you did not know this, he's got a huge and complicated contract situation going on right now, and it seems like they really don't want to take any risks right now on the Broncos' management side. So there's a few ways you could look at the situation. So number one, a lot of people think that he should actually get the start anyway and try to win at least a few of these games, because there is a slim chance that you could conceivably make the playoffs. And by slim, I mean extremely slim, a 1.4% chance of actually making the playoffs this season. So you're telling me there's a chance. Yeah! So that's option number one. Now option number two is, you don't want Russell Wilson to get the start, and that's because you don't want to take any chances, since the Denver Broncos could conceivably release Russell Wilson from the team at the end of the season. Now that's as long as he doesn't get injured. Now I'm not really sure what would happen if he injures himself in this case, or if he happened to be on an airplane somewhere, was doing some high knees. The first two hours I was watching the film, watching all the cut-ups and everything else. And then for the next four hours, I was doing treatment on the plane. I was walking up and down the aisles. Everybody was knocked out. I was doing high knees and working on my legs and everything else, you know, making sure I'm ready to rock. So that was good. And then the last two hours, the last hour of that, I fell asleep for one hour, and I watched the film the rest. So I think it's safe to say that's the option that makes the most sense. In this case, you probably just want to find a way to move on from Russell Wilson at this point. So some might consider this a hot take, but this is sports radio. I'm filling in for the show, so I'm going to give you whatever hot take I want. And I'm just going to say that I think that they really should just bench Russell Wilson now, even after an incredible game like that. It was fun to watch, but I don't think it's a good idea to let him play again. I really do think the Denver Broncos might have done Russell Wilson a huge favor by showing he could still play, while at the same time keeping him from playing again. Because as we know, he's not consistent. You never know what you're going to get week after week. In this case, the world knows he can play when it counts, but at the same time, all that could be dashed and ruined by having him go back out there and not play well once again. So in this case, maybe you end on a high note, recency-biased, of course, psychologically, so that way everyone thinks that he's a great player and you don't have to worry about anything coming back to the team, and you keep your options open just in case. Mr. Mr. Mr. Unlimited. So let's dig into the financial aspect of this real quick. So the Broncos stand to save millions upon millions of dollars if they release him from the team after June 1st. Now it would cost the team $35.4 million, and there would be no repercussions to the 2024 salary cap, which is good in this case, because they definitely need to bring in some new guys and find a way to make this work financially from a salary cap standpoint. And they could also look into some other options here. This one is probably the best option, obviously, trying to release him from the team. But they could potentially look into trading him instead. Again, they would have to trade him after June 1st, but they would end up saving $17 million in this case. Broncos country, let's ride. Broncos country, let's ride. Broncos country, let's ride. Broncos country, let's ride. So I think I know what you're thinking. I want to get to it before you say it. You're wondering why anybody would want to trade for Russell Wilson at this point, and that is a very good question. Well, he did put on a show for national television, and I do want to say that crazier things have indeed happened over the years. But I think looking at it this way, I don't really see any team out there right now that could conceivably want a quarterback like this. It's going to cost quite a bit of money, number one. I think most teams out there are at least satisfied enough with the quarterbacks that they have. They really don't feel the need to pull the trigger on anybody else who's going to cost that much money and put them that deep in debt. So in this case, I really don't think it's realistic. Who brings your motivation, Russell? Mr. Unlimited. Who's your role model, Russell? Unlimited. Who's your go-to person for advice, Russell? They think Pete Carroll. They think this person. They think that person. Love you, Pete. But it's Mr. Unlimited. So this Russell Wilson saga really does remind me of a story that my uncle once told me about a car he used to have back in the 1970s. And I really do think this relates, so I'm going to tell it to you right now. This car never ran. It sat in the driveway broken down all the time. One day, he finally got fed up with it, took it to the dealership, tried to pawn it off on them, saying, please, just take this car. I don't want to look at it anymore. I don't want to drive it. Will you please just take it? So of course, they waffle about it for a bit. They take it for a test drive, and he thinks, okay, I'm screwed. They're not going to take this car. I'm taking it back home. And they show up and say, hey, this car is fantastic. It worked great on the freeway. It drove just like we hoped it would. We will be happy to pay you for it and take it off your hands. And that's exactly how I think the Russell Wilson saga is going to play out. I am 99% sure the Broncos just want him gone at this point. They're happy he's doing well. They're happy he's actually playing to his caliber. But they don't see a future in Russell Wilson, and they really just want to move on and find somebody who can actually be the future of this legacy team. So where Russell Wilson goes next, we will find out. If he's going to go anywhere, I have a feeling he's not going to be going anywhere. But maybe the CFL. We will see about that. Mr. Mr. Mr. Unlimited. Okay. So we have to talk about a team that I really don't like right now, and that is the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, I really used to dislike Travis Kelsey, but I have to say, he doesn't seem that bad at all anymore. Actually, he seems like a pretty nice guy compared to his teammate, Patrick Mahomes. I would say Patrick Mahomes is a very different story. So in the second quarter, right before halftime in the game between the Chiefs and the Raiders, some confusion at the snap results in the ball being dropped right at the Chiefs' own 10-yard line, and then being picked up by the Raiders and basically walked into the end zone. And let me just say right now, not every play is going to be perfect. Even the best players in the world do have a misstep once in a while. So I'm not going to hold that against Pat Mahomes or the Chiefs in general, but the reaction afterward really does set the tone for what this game turned into later on. Literally one second later in the game, Mahomes throws a pick six, and of course, the Raiders score once more. And after that, the game really just kind of unraveled, it seemed like, and Mahomes himself really unraveled as well. And I think the ridiculous part here is all about Mahomes and how he was caught on camera ripping his own teammates apart on the sidelines for this play that really was more or less his own fault. I mean, you can fault some of these drops here and there. I mean, things were not clicking as well as they should be in that game, obviously. But at the end of the day, the quarterback really is leading this team. And the fact that he can't provide that leadership is really quite concerning at this point in the game, because this is a championship-caliber team that seems to be falling apart by the wayside, if you ask me. And as far as I can tell, this guy took no accountability whatsoever for a couple of bad plays. And if you know anything about football, a couple of bad plays happen sometimes, and you can really turn that around. You don't have to let a couple of bad plays decide the fate of your team and the fate of any certain game. You can change that. You can change anything you want. You have all the power in your hands, literally, in a game to win that game if you have the will to do it. So why not use these mistakes as a way to energize your team, find a way to get back in the game somehow? I mean, you're facing a 6-8 team. It's not insurmountable that you could possibly win this game if you turn this thing around instead of yelling at your teammates. And I do want to say, I think that attitude really makes all the difference in this case. Having this kind of poor attitude is not going to help anybody. And one thing it's definitely not going to do, it's not going to bring another championship to Kansas City. I'll say that right now. So if you're another team in the AFC Conference watching this right now, you are probably feeling a lot better at this particular moment because you're seeing these personality issues come out. And you know that that can be the downfall of a great team. I mean, personality issues, I just want to say that that could be more powerful than skill in this case. Because when you can't play as a team, you're going to falter every single time. And I think there are far scarier teams out there compared to the Chiefs in the AFC Conference. I mean, the Ravens look great right now. The Bills are really starting to turn things around as well. These two teams really could go somewhere if they meet the Chiefs somewhere in the playoffs. I just have to say, I don't think the Chiefs are going to get by either of those teams. I think that the Bills are going to crush them, and I would bet money that the Ravens would crush them as well. So in this case, I don't think it makes any sense to put all your money on Kansas City right now. A lot of people were doing that before the start of the season. It's not looking that way. Let me put it to you that way. And I really hate to do this, but I have to use my favorite player as an example right now. So Tom Brady. I mean, he is a measuring stick for what quarterbacks should aspire to be in the NFL. And I think we all know that by now. But I'm going to say it for you one more time, just in case you didn't know it. As we know, Tom Brady was not perfect. There were cases where sometimes he would have a bad game, but he never let it stop him. I mean, he would internalize these moments that didn't go well. He would find a way to use that to energize himself to do better in the next game or do better in that game. And he never let it get the best of him. Even in a game where he was at a huge deficit, like the 2017 Super Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons. I mean, no one thought he was going to come back and win that game. You could tell he was mad at himself for having a couple of bad plays. And he comes back and he finds a way to dig deep and finds a way to win that game. And I just think that really does showcase the kind of person, the kind of player that he is. He internalizes these mistakes. He knows he's screwed up. He's not mad at anybody but himself. And he finds a way to get through this and finds a way to win the game in the end, which I think is really the most important part in this case. Finding a way to just get through this and not letting it dictate the entire game. Because one mistake should not put you in this kind of situation where you're just having failure after failure. It should energize you to do better. And I want to say that Mahomes actions are what you do when you want to make all your teammates hate you and not want to play well for you. And clearly we know that losing is not the goal here at Seattle Sports. We're not stupid. But that's sometimes what happens when teammates aren't playing well together. These personality issues creep in. I'm going back to our good friend Russell Wilson one more time. Mr. Mr. Mr. Unlimited. We saw in Seattle what happens when you've got someone like Russell Wilson who frustrates other players in the team. They don't really get along as well. And the team suffers because of that. You know, maybe it starts out OK when they first start playing together. After a while, those personality issues start to clash. And then all of a sudden you've got a mess on your hands. And I think that Kansas City can still fix this. I don't think it's over for them by any stretch of the imagination. But they really have to find a way to get back to the winning ways they had before. Get these personality issues solved right away. Patrick Mahomes, you've got to stop yelling at your teammates, number one. And I think that what they really need to do is focus on just playing a very basic game. They need to play a bad team, a worse team than the team they just played, the Raiders. And find a way to just kind of do what they used to do. Nothing fancy. No trick plays. Just try to win a game the old-fashioned way. Just to prove to themselves they can do it. On January 7th, you've got the Chargers coming to town. I mean, maybe use that game right there to kind of build some confidence, build some inspiration. Make sure that your team doesn't feel like they're just not going to be able to win these key games. When you play a bad team like this, you can just kind of work on the basics of football and kind of what you were doing in the past that worked so well. That might be the ticket to finding a way just to kind of get that vibe back that you can win all these games and not struggle like you've been struggling in the past. So let's see what happens with that. I'm going to make a bold prediction right this very second. I think that the first game the Chiefs play in the playoffs will be a loss, and I think we will see the defending champions out in the first round, but we will see what happens with that. Still looking at the clock. We've got to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to discuss the Seattle crack-in and the upcoming winter classic, why it's bad and why it's good at the same time. So stick around. We'll be right back here on Seattle Sports Weekend. We'll be right back.