Halford & Brough in the Morning - Does The US Olympic Team Stack Up to Canada's?

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

Guest hosts Josh Elliott-Wolfe and Israel Fehr jump into the show starting with the USA Men's Olympic hockey team roster being released this morning. How does it fare against the Canadians? Some major snubs surprise many. After, Nick Shook joins to break down the last week of the NFL regular season, with a glimpse at the playoff future. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to Halford and Bruff. There's the kick, and it's on his way, and it's got the distance, and it's through the upright. The rebels have taken the league. Played at the shine of the goal in front of the next door. Holy back on. Matthews with the hat-tracks on a horrible giveaway by Eric Havlin. That's terrible. Ladies and gentlemen.

The weekend. Welcome to Hufford and Brough. No Mike Halford, no Jason Brough. Israel Fair is back with me. Good morning, Izzy. How are you? Good morning, Josh. Good to be here.

Happy to have you. Zach filling in for A-Dog, who is also not here. Zach, good morning. Good morning. Laddie, you're here. You're holding down the fort. Good morning. I'm the only regular.

Hello, hello. You are. And I am Josh Elliott Wolf. Happy to be here. Happy New Year. Happy 2026. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Make 2026 your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech footwear and orthotics.

650, 650 is the Dunbar alarm. Text line you can text in there. Howford and Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to be indebted. free in just two weeks visit sands dash trustee.com and the duik auto group find out why nobody beats a duick deal since 1926 visit do it gm on marine drive downtown in richmond and at duick auto group dot com a lot to get into today on the show including breaking news which we don't generally get at six a m but it actually happened like half an hour ago

On the Today Show, the U.S. Olympic team announced their roster, so we'll get into that shortly. We'll also talk to a couple of guests about that. But at 6.30, Nick Shook from NFL.com will join us. We'll get into a huge game for the Seattle Seahawks tomorrow night and also the rest of week 18 around the NFL. At 7 o'clock, Tony Ferrari covers prospects and the NHL draft for the hockey news. We'll talk about the world juniors, Canada in the quarters today. And his thoughts on the tournament so far. 730, Scott Loughlin, Sirius XM, NHL Network Radio.

He will help us break down the American side of the Olympics because they announced their team. Some people are upset. Not a lot of changes from the four nations, but we'll get into what those changes are. 8 o'clock, Mike Kelly, analyst for the NHL Network, will continue to break down some of the Olympic storyline. but also go around the

NHL including the red hot buffalo sabers and the ice cold Winnipeg Jets so working in reverse 8 o'clock Mike Kelly 7.30 Scott Loughlin 7 o'clock Tony Ferrari 630 Nick Shook

that's what's happening on the show Laddie let's tell everybody what happened Hey did you guys see the game last night? No what happened? I missed all the action because I was We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that?

What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit BCCSA.ca.c, and we just mentioned it. Bill Garon and the Olympic squad, namely Jack Hughes, who was on the Today Show in his little, like, Hand cast

announcing the American roster for the Olympic team and here are the note we're not going to go through all the the whole roster but the notable changes from the Four Nations tournament four players in when you factor in the two extra spots

you get for the Olympics. So it's Quinn Hughes who would have been at Four Nations but was injured. Tage Thompson who was not at the Four Nations Clayton Keller wasn't there and Seth Jones is also in

so those four are in the two players out. Chris Kreider, not a surprise, Adam Fox, who is a surprise. And then there are a lot of notable players that were left off the list that weren't there or aren't going to be there at the Olympics and also weren't there at the Four Nations, namely players like Jason Robertson, Cole Caulfield, Lane Hudson. Those are some of the key names left off by the American. So when you hear the news as a Canadian, are you excited about that? Yeah, actually. Yeah, good call.

Interesting that the Americans doubled down on that roster. And, you know, the names, obviously there's, you got to have the flip side of the snubs. So someone like Brock Nelson still being on the U.S. team who is a good NHL player, obviously has had a really good career, but you look back at the Four Nations was, someone that didn't necessarily fit the style of play of like a really high level hockey at this at this point with the speed in particular and that they're doubling down on

that they're going to be big and tough and they've got the kichucks and that that's going to be their identity and the Canadian team is you know yeah they brought in Tom Wilson he clearly fits that mold but you feel I think pretty good about Canada's skill and in the conversation over the years about the Canadian

Canadian team having to be concerned about the American team long term, it was, well, the Americans finally are going to have the skill to compete with Canada and the Americans certainly still have a lot of top end skill. But going head to head, I'd feel pretty comfortable putting Canada's skill ahead of the U.S.'s skill. Yeah, it's tough because, I mean, we've talked about it so much with the Canadian roster. It's still going to come down to the goal tending and the defense. I think I think I do give the defense edge to the Americans. Especially with if Quinn Hughes is healthy. Yeah.

And Quinn Hughes could have, like the way he was playing last year could have made the difference at Four Nations. Yeah. It went to overtime, right? It was a one goal game. It was a very tight game. And yeah, he definitely could have been that guy. But again, it comes down to,

it comes down to goaltending and the Americans, while we can question some of their decisions, they do still, like, clearly have the edge in that unless Logan Thompson just continues kind of what he's been doing throughout the NHL regular season but even then it's like

they have Connor Helibuck they have Jake Onger like even if one of those guys has a bad game they have the other guy yeah

and you feel pretty confident in either of those goalies plus Jeremy Swayman as their third option like they have they have a lot of depth in that they have a decent amount on the back end

but again the forward group is where the questions come in and you mentioned someone like Brock Nelson I see Vinnie Trocheck getting some heat online too for for being named to the roster and the U.S.

maybe being too committed to like him being part of the team. J.T. Miller. Also getting some heat. But I think it's mainly just because of the guys they left off. And Cole Cawfield is one of them, but the big one is Jason Robertson, who

the stars tweeted out a graphic a few days ago. And if you're just looking at points and goals and like just production, he's tied for first in points for American skaters this season. Goals, he's second for American skaters. He's putting up points on the power play too so he could factor him in there.

And then he also leads all American skaters in scoring since the start of the 22, 23 season. And so you look at all that and you're like, why, what did he do to not make the team? And I know he kind of has a reputation of not being a playoff performer. And so that that probably plays a part. But to me, it's just, I feel like the U.S., they always find ways to overthink things. And they always find ways to be like, okay, we got to craft the perfect roster to beat Canada specifically. And every time it has not worked out for them. Yeah.

Which it's good for us. Bad for them, though. Well, especially now that it does feel like those decisions on the American side are coming down to kind of one or two players that you could flip. And if you flip those players, you'd feel a lot better about Team USA skill overall, whereas you look, back at those teams in the 2000s and it was a pretty heavy split between high-end skill at the top and then you start you start getting into like the Patrick Kane era of Team USA and that skill really jumping off since then whereas in Canada like obviously there are you know the memes of you know Chris Draper and so on getting picked for Canada but it feels

like with the Canadian team it was like one or two specialists and the US is closer to that The difference I guess now, and obviously you look back at the 2010 team, the 2014 team, the 2002 team, those teams were stacked with Hall of Famers for Canada. Those teams had incredible high-end skill. The way that Canada's top players are playing right now, so you look at McKinnon and McDavid, you still look at Sidney Crosby, you look at one of the young players added to the roster, Macklin Celebrini, as a 19-year-old who's been unbelievable this year. You build out that top six, that top nine for Canada, and it's absolutely loaded. Yeah, but Brough had kind of been talking about this earlier in the week. There's a pretty good argument to be made that this is the best Canadian forward group put together. Yeah, ever. The depth is unbelievable. Yeah.

And the Americans up front, especially, I mean, Matthews put up a hat trick over the weekend or over the past couple days. That feels like a weekend, but it wasn't a weekend. So maybe you feel better about his form right now. but as of late he'd been hurt too and he had, he's not had a great season and that was supposed to be one of their key pieces, right? So there is some concern about the forward group for the U.S. What I will say though is that, like,

especially again, when you factor in the defense and the goaltending, the gap isn't huge. No. And so it's going to be, it's going to be fun to watch. We'll see how tight this tournament is compared to the Four Nations one again because it should be less physical. It's not going to be the same type of hockey,

but I don't know. I think that lends itself more to favoring Canada, but we'll see if that actually comes through. So of note, because his name had kind of come up and especially here in Vancouver as a potential to be named to the team. Thatcher Demko does not make Team USA.

It's going to be, again, Connor Hallibuck, Jake Ottinger, Jeremy Swayman as the three goalies. One Kodok's goalie did make a team, though. Team Finland just announced their roster. Kevin Lankinen, one of the three goalies for Team Finland. Uka Pekka Lukinen, also making the squad and UC Soros, who I would expect to be the starter for them, but, hey, if there's a shootout,

call him in. Kevin Lankan, 17 for 17, bring him in. He's got a specialty role for the tournament. he's obviously been incredible in the shootout of late but his overall play has been a little bit better for the Canucks too so maybe he's put himself in a conversation to play if Soros isn't there but yeah I totally expect Soros to be the main guy for them to at least start the tournament

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I already see a few, but we'll welcome a lot more as well. Okay, so that's the US notes. Finland again also announced their roster, Sweden will be soon. Canada announced theirs post show on Wednesday, so we haven't really had a chance to talk about it. I'm sure you've heard a lot of takes, so we won't get into it too much, but Macklin-Celebrini, Bo Horvatt, Nick Suzuki, and Tom Wilson are the skaters that will be there

that were not at the Four Nations tournament. Seth Jarvis, Travis Kineckney, and Sam Bennett, the surprising one left off. So three not going that were there at the Four Nations, four new additions in the forward group. There's no change on the fence. And then in between the pipes, Jordan Pennington making his return.

Logan Thompson, who I hope is the starter, especially with Jordan Bennington's play this season. And Darcy Kemper are the three goalies for team Canada. You talked a bit about Celebrini, and it's just like he got to the point where it was just undeniable for him to be on the team and he's completely deserving of a spot Nick Suzuki I think is in that category as well

there was some relative surprise about Tom Wilson for some people to me I like I know his reputation is like oh is he's this physical guy and maybe that style doesn't translate as well to an Olympic tournament I just think based on merit as well based on production

I think he deserves to be there and Bo Harvat But, like, one thing to note, he was injured yesterday. He left the game early. So we'll see, I think they're supposed to give an update today. But those two are kind of the surprising ones. But if you look at their production and what they've done, I think they're pretty deserving of a spot. Yeah, I mean, Wilson has produced.

I mean, even going back to last year, some of the debate about Four Nations, he was in the discussion. So it's not like he's completely come out of nowhere. it's not like his game is entirely predicated on just being a headhunter, being a really physical player. There has been that production there. And with Bo Horvatt, you've got the goal scoring. And so if you're looking at that kind of player to be lower down in the lineup, he can be a one-shot scorer and he's been very strong as a face-off guy.

And so when those teams are, when you're looking at, hey, he's not going to be the first line center or the second line center, going to have a role at the bottom of the lineup. If you have a couple of those standout traits and Bo Horvatt does for this team, and he was even kind of, he's been in conversations about Team Canada's before, even dating back to his time with the Canucks people were talking about him as, hey, if he really takes a step or if he's playing the, if he's playing in, you know, playing well, then he's going to have a chance to play for a team Canada.

And so he's been on, you know, a pretty good role and gets, gets on to this. this team. And when you look at the players coming off the roster from Four Nations, Seth Jarvis, Travis Keneckney, and Sam Bennett, I think you can look at those players and Kinekenegne and Bennett in particular as bringing maybe more of that skill set that you were talking about, Josh, that was maybe more suited for Four Nations than it would be for an Olympics. Yeah, I am still so I'm very surprised Sam Bennett didn't make it just because I, to me, I don't know if I would have brought him, to be fair, but I, he just, felt like a guy that if I were a GM and I looked at what he did at the Four Nations,

I looked at what he did in the playoffs, wins the cons might, I'd be like, I just don't want to be the one to leave him off. And so while I appreciate the boldness from Doug Armstrong, I also, I wonder how quickly like an injury happens if he's going to be the one immediately that gets back onto the team. That feels right. I know he had this long explanation. Armstrong did about how they're not just having an ordered list for player replacements. It's going to depend on which player. So obviously, if Tom Wilson is out, then you'd have to imagine the Bennett comes in. If Sidney Crosby is out, maybe it's a different conversation.

At least that's the way that he laid it out. But I think what you're saying makes sense that he has to be pretty high up on the list because while, yeah, he's not a like-for-like replacement with any of the really top-end players on the team, I don't think the Canadian team would feel too bad about itself if it added him even at the expense of one of the top players being unavailable for the tournament. And the big notable player left off that wasn't at Four Nations either. Connor Bedard, who Doug Armstrong did talk about after was asked about him

and he was asked if the injury played a part and he said no, I still can't help but feel that at least it would have been a much more difficult decision if he wasn't it he would have had a few more games and he was on such a role to really make it undeniable for him for him to go the injury gives them

a little bit of an out it's interesting in that going into the year it felt like oh he's got very little chance and then he did play about as well as you could expect to put himself in that conversation yeah but that celebrini has been at such an

equal level and also I think probably went into the year with more juice because of the versatility, because there's a feeling about his two-way game that maybe isn't quite there with Bader just yet. But I think he would have made it really, really, really tight if he had still been healthy. I'm glad you bring up the two-way game part of that

because Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blasheel was asked about Cunner Bader not making the team and he brought up the two-way side of things. here's what he had to say. You know, first off, I have a ton of respect for how hard these decisions are. And whether, honestly, Canada, the U.S., Sweden, like, you have a lot of really good players that you're going to ultimately leave off these teams. The one thing I would say is I don't think the rest of the league knows

how good of a two-way winning hockey player Connor has become. And that's the one thing probably, and I don't know why, you know, Maybe it's based on previous years, but I don't think they have a full understanding of how good a winning hockey player he is today. As we sit here today, you know, I've read some things about defensive metrics and things like that. I would tell you, I have studied those things tons. I've never seen a defensive metrics that I trust to say to me whether or not a guy's a good defensive player. I don't think they judge what they're supposed to judge yet. I don't think we're there yet.

We're all working to try to get there. We're not there. The metric that I trust is your impact. on winning. And the reason why I know he's a big time winning hockey player, when he was in our lineup, we were one point out of the wild card. And since then, we're one, six, and one. That's the impact he said. That's the type of two-way player. You don't have that impact if you're just a point getter. You only have that impact if you're a true two-way kind of winning player. And that's what he's become. So there's Jeff Blasheel talking to media about Connor Bedard, not making the team. And

I think it's a very fair defense that we, I think I would include myself and you kind of mentioned that he had this reputation before the season that he wasn't a two-way player and that Sellebrini was kind of ahead of him. And I still think that's true. Like Sellebrini has shown that he is. He's in a special class. He's in a very, very, yeah, it's exceeded expectations that were already very high. But Cunard, like, I think if he hadn't been injured, again, it would be a bigger discussion. Yeah. And the big thing that Blasheel mentions, too, is like, look at the Blackhawks with

him without Conner Bedoux. And they are a mess without him. And I'm sure the sharks would be too, without Celebrini. In my eyes, both of them should have been there. Like, I think Bedard should be at the Olympics. I think when we're just talking about trying to take as much talent as possible, I think Padard fits in that. and especially when we're talking about the 14th forward

that might just make it into a game or two, I don't mind bringing a young player that's going to get some experience. And I know that maybe doesn't factor into their decisions too much, but to me, if you plan on this guy being part of your program for the next 10, 15 years on the international stage, why not give them some experience while you still have Sydney Crosby going to these things?

and try to get as much experience at the Olympic level as possible. Yeah, I would have loved to see it and his play through the first half of the season was at that level. It wasn't just, oh, projecting this guy's super hype, let's bring him in. Like, his numbers speak for themselves.

But what tends to happen when they're picking the bottom of the rosters, they are looking for those couple of things. And so in their mind, probably Bo Horvatt is a more experienced center. He also has the one-shot scoring ability. Now you would say Bedard's is more special, but Horvatt has that tool, and that is probably what tilts the scales in his favor. And they do have a weird thing overall about not wanting to take young players. Now, obviously, this is a different management team than 2006, but the Sydney Crosby one gets brought up. The difference between this with Bidard and Crosby was that that 06 team was low on talent, right?

That was like an ebb in talent across the NHL at the time. and he was clearly an ascending player and the decision not to put him on that team led to a disaster for Team Canada at the Olympics so I don't think we're going to look back at whatever happens at this tournament and go if only the Canadians had picked Connor Bedard he would have been the difference

but to your point Josh about just overall could you put this guy on as the 14th forward we know that what he can do at a high level see what that looks like if he gets the opportunity otherwise he's he's along for the ride yeah i totally buy that they obviously have gone in a different direction okay so that's the uh olympic notes we'll talk more to scott lofflin and my kelly later in the show about everything going on with these roster decisions before we hit the break i did want to pass along some canucks notes marco rossi connor garland both miss practice yesterday

Adam Foote says they will both miss at least a week, which is hopefully accurate because we've seen a maintenance day turned into a almost potentially season ending injury for Derek Forbert. So hopefully it's not to that extent. Hopefully it is just around a week for those two. The Canucks take on the Cracken tonight. Note the start time, a later start time, 7.30 at Rogers Arena against the Seattle Crackin.

first of a back-to-back tomorrow. The Bruins are in town. That one is at a normal time. 7 o'clock. 6.50 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. Keep the text coming in there. Get your ask-us-anythings in. We'll hit them as the show goes on. It is a Canucks game day.

And Canucks Game Day is brought to you by Panago. Game Day, the Panago way. Get any large pizza plus cheesy bread for only 2499. Use code Canucks at Panago.com. Panaggo for it. restrictions may apply. It is Halford and Brough. Josh Elliott Wolf is real fair filling in.

Talking to Nick Shook next on SportsNet 650. Welcome back to Howford and Brough. No, Mike Halford, no Jason Brough. It's Josh Elliott Wolf and Israel Fair. filling in and howford and brough is brought to you by sands and associates get out of the penalty box of debt and back in the game with financial fresh start visit sands dash trustee dot com you can text in 650 650 is the dumb bar lumber text line we are coming to you live from the kintech studio and it is time for the nfl preview brought to you by the clayton public house pregame to post game

the clayton public house is your home of football catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors, the Clayton Pub.com. We go to the phone lines now. It's Nick Shook, writer for NFL.com. Appreciate you taking the time, Nick. How are you? Fantastic. Thanks for having me on, guys.

No worries. We're looking forward to what should be an exciting week 18 starts tomorrow, and I want to get right into it with the Seahawks and the Niners. What are your thoughts going into this? I've talked a bit about this week

because I'm a Vikings fan and I'm just, I'm still hurt from last year about the stakes for Sam Darnold. How much pressure do you think is on him specifically this week? And you got a double whammy. You're a Vikings fan and they are working in Vancouver near Seattle and Sam Darnold. It matters again in week 18 for Sam Darnold's team. It's like you can't get away from it. It hurts. Yeah, it's, you know, the Seahawks are part of a group of three NFC West teams that I think, you know, carry the most potential. in the NFC to make the Super Bowl. And that's no disrespect to the Chicago Bears or the Green Bay Packers,

the Philadelphia Eagles, or, you know, whatever we get out of the NFC South. It just feels like, you know, especially the Seahawks and the Rams have been two of the best teams in the NFL, in my opinion, this year. But they arrive to this point in the season now, and Week 18 with different stories or different feelings about, you know, each of these clubs. The Niners are on fire. The Seahawks are kind of maintaining right now, and the Rams, of course, have lost their last two games and have inspired some concerns.

So, you know, as we go into this game this weekend, obviously we know what's on the line for the way the NOS shakes out. But if I'm telling you how I feel about each of these teams, I know the Niners don't have a defense to speak of. I know that they've had a bunch of injuries. They lost a ton in their, you know, the past rushing unit. and we've seen that they can't get after the quarterback and they basically have to be an offensive team. That clashes when it comes to facing the Seahawks. But I haven't seen all that much from Sam Darnold,

as you just spoke of, and this offense in a while. And I think against a good defense, that could be troublesome, especially on the road here in week 18. So I kind of foresee a scenario in what the miners do to them, what they've done to the last couple of opponents they've faced, which is they outscore them. They hope for the best, and we're in, you know, for a shootout.

But I don't think that it's necessarily going to be as high scoring as we've seen in the last couple of weeks because of Mike McDonald's defense, which just continues to play very good football. So I think it's a good contrast in styles and should make for a very entertaining game, which is why it's the Saturday night 8 p.m. game in the East Coast. But it's interesting because I think that while this is going to determine seating, both of these teams are going to be tough out in the playoffs. with those stakes and there's the you know the broader like the sam darnold narrative but there are real stakes there's there's home field advantage there's the buy how much of projecting what you feel about specifically san francisco in seattle will hinge on the results being getting that buy getting home field advantage versus what you see from the game itself and how the matchup plays out Yeah, I mean, getting the buy, getting home field advantage would obviously be one less game to play. And it also positions you in a much more advantageous spot with the home crowd and avoiding some things. And the NFC, you know, especially with some of these teams that are in the playoffs right now, that's avoiding, you know, maybe going to Chicago, maybe going to Philadelphia, maybe going to Green Bay, maybe having to play in the snow in any of those games. So I think it's vitally important for these teams.

And it would be better for Seattle because, you know, you're dealing with, you know, some printed temperatures at the time of year. But it's not entirely the same, you know, as like we saw, but, you know, the blizzard in Philly last year when the Rams had to go there, that sort of thing. But I think it's more about, you know, playing into friendly confines versus, you know, and having the home field advantage as opposed to having to go on the road and figure it out. We saw, you know, as it pertains specifically to Sam Donald, what he did in a road game that was really a road game because it was, you know, it was a site that wasn't home to either team in the playoffs last year. And still, the moment kind of was too big for him. So I think that's very important. I think having the 12th man at your disposal from Seahawks would be very important as well. And if you're the Niners, you know, you're looking at an opportunity where, hey, if everything goes perfect, perfectly well, and everything goes right for us, we could play our entire playoff slate at home,

including the Super Bowl, you know, since it's hosted in Santa Clara this year. So it's also important. I think it's important to each of these teams, too, that we speak of, just for, you know, like the Niners, they have been here before, but they've taken steps back intermittently, usually because of injury-riddled seasons. That was the story for them last year. The Seahawks, you know, it's been a little bit since the Seahawks have been who they were the last time they were, you know, on top of the NFC.

So, you know, anytime you can kind of put yourself in a more advantageous situation by not having to go on the road, I think it benefits you. But especially for, you know, some of these teams that are in the S&FC field, I think it would help them just a little bit more because of their limitations or lack thereof. You mentioned last year was an injury-riddled season for the Niners. It kind of feels like everyone is because it happened again. This year, what do you make of the job Kyle Shanahan has been able to do, considering the injuries they have had?

Yeah, I think that he should be a front-runner for coach of the year. I don't think he's going to win it because we've had, you know, some phenomenal turnarounds in the NFL this year. year, you know, Mike Vrable's Patriots being won. You get to throw Liam Cohen in the mix with the Jaguars. I think Sean Payton probably is an outside shot, but the legacy of his name might keep him from doing that. And obviously, Ben Johnson with the Bears, like, you know, we usually have, what is it?

I think the turnover rate between playoff teams every year is like 70%. Like, I think it's a little bit higher this year. And we've gotten, you know, we've gotten some great stories from some of these teams that are, you know, at the top or near the top of their conference. it's going to be tough for Shanahan to win the award. But the job that he's done this year has only reinforced, you know, his value to the 49ers franchise and really to football in general, that he is an elite coach that can get the most out of nothing.

I mean, the idea that, you know, he had Mack Jones, you know, for basically half of the season, steady the ship and basically never lose in the game. And, yeah, in a few games he didn't necessarily win either, but he did the job to keep the, you know, everything afloat. And that reflects really well on him, as well as the idea that, yeah, their defense isn't great right now, but they played good enough football over the course of this season, thanks to Robert Sala, a hire that was made by, you know, Kyle Shane, and after Sala was fired in New York, to be a competitive team and to be a team that, you know, could win some rock fights early this season

and can, you know, get out to 12 and 4 with one game left to play. So he's done a fantastic job. I mean, they've cycled through receivers. They've had to really figure it out offensively in a number of different areas. as well outside of quarterback. Chris McCaffrey's health has actually been the only consistent thing for them this year, surprisingly, given his injury history. But it all reflects really well in Shanahan, who, you know, continues to prove to the rest of the NFL

that he's one of the best coaches in the league, regardless of whether they, you know, go six and 11 one year or they're, you know, have an inside track on getting the one or two seed in the NFC here. You know, it's just, it's really impressive. It really is impressive. I think the only thing missing on his resume overall is that Super Bowl win that he's had a few shots at. The third team in the NFC West, the Rams, you know, heading into December through a lot of

December, the conversation was, is this the team to beat? Are they the number one team, not just in the conference, but in the league? They lose that game to Seattle, the crazy Thursday nighter. Then now all of a sudden we're poking holes in the Rams. They can't win the division, so they can't get the buy. They can't get that home field. What is the true level of concern with Los Angeles? You know, it's funny because I think a lot of this is also tied into the MVP award, which is unfair, because I think the Rams are the most complete team in football as they stand right now.

And the reason that we have seen a lesser version of them over the last couple of weeks is injury. And look, in order to be, you know, the most complete team or have the most momentum going to the playoffs, usually a lot of it has to do with health. Most of it has to do with health. And they had been generally healthy for most of this year until the last couple of weeks when they, you know, lose Devante Adams. to an injury, and they lose Allerick Jackson, the left tackle, who wasn't able to play in the most recent game against the Falcons.

That is really what matters to me more than anything is that they're going to get both of them back before long. Adams looks fine on his pre-game warm-up, and probably I think would have played if it was a playoff game before that week 17 game against Atlanta. He's an X-factor this offense, not because they necessarily need him

with football on a down-by-down basis, but he just brings such a threat to this offense and has just been masterful in the red zone, especially for the Rams this year, that he's an element that they've really missed offensively. But what matters to me the most was on full display in prime time against the Falcons, which is that if you don't have your left tackle and you replace him with a veteran who probably, you know, should have hung it up a few years ago, but it's the only option you have left than DJ Humphreys, you're going to find

yourself in a world of trouble because Matthew Stafford is not a guy who's going to, you know, extend the play like a Lamar Jackson necessarily. He's got some, you know, he can move around, but he's not the same. and he was under constant fire because they had a back-up left tackle in there that entire game. And that just undercut this entire offense. Now, that's not to take anything away from Matthew Stavre because he made some great throws in that game. But with the scrutiny of the MVP race on and everything else, I think the two ended up being tied together when it comes to, you know, how we perceive the Rams at this point.

And, yeah, they lost the Falcons. But they also lost a wild game against the Seahawks the week earlier that they had fought to, they looked like the better team in for, I don't know, about 52 of the 60 minutes in regulation. and it felt vindicating at the time to watch them, you know, take a double-digit lead in Seattle before it all fell apart. The question is, how can you get off the mat? You know, how do you bounce back from losses like this? I think the first step for them is getting healthier, which they're going to, especially offensively. And then, you know, just getting back on the right track before the regular season ends,

which obviously you have one game left before you get in the playoffs. But I'm not entirely concerned because I think that if you look at them from an outside, just the roster overall, and what I've seen from that from the majority of, this season, save for the last two weeks. Yes, they've not tended to get in the right direction in terms of momentum right now, but they are a team that I think if you put it all together, which they very much can, are still the toughest out of the NFL. So I'm still a believer.

I know that Rams fans need to see, you know, some more positive signs that don't they see over the last two weeks to feel better about their team. And I suggest that I caution them, don't worry too much. I think you guys will be fine. Do you have any concern about them going on the road, whether it be Chicago or Philly into a colder climate or do we make too much of that? No, I think that that's very real.

I actually think that that was much even more real for the Detroit Lions who were obviously not in the playoffs this year because when they went to Philly in late November or early December this year, they looked like a dome team. They looked like they had very little interest in playing in, you know,

fridge temperatures in the city of Brotherly Love. And so I think it's very real for certain teams. When it comes to the Rams, Not as much. And it's crazy because if you think about the comparison between those two teams, the Lions had this reputation for being a two-headed monster of a rushing attack that was a rugged operation that they could then build out of the play auction and torch you through the air.

And then they obviously didn't end up being that team by the end of the second half of this season. And I don't think I necessarily would see the Rams in quite the same fashion, but I believe that they're multiple enough that weather could, you know, has a lower chance of affecting what they're going to do offensively. also saw what they can do, you know, in the snow and the game they played against the Eagles last year, and they were competitive throughout that game. I think they're built to be able to play in different conditions, but ultimately, you don't want to have to do that if you're a team that plays, you know, it's games in a dome and you're, you know, an offensive first team, even though

they're pretty well balanced, but you're still an offense first team, you would ideally like to play, you know, in ideal conditions in order to maximize your chances. So I'm not super concerned, but if you have control of that, at least, you know, they had better. control of that prior to losing to the falcons on Monday night, you know, you choose, I mean, it's like anybody else, what are you doing? You choose in 72 and sunny, you choose in air conditioning or you choose in living, you know, surrounded by snow right now. As mentioned, that Seattle, San Francisco game is Saturday night because on Sunday night, it's a win-in-in between the Ravens and the Steelers. Lamar Jackson expected to play for

Baltimore. I remember talking to you a couple of weeks ago when they played each other, and your response to the question of what to expect from both of these teams was tepid at best. Now we've got it as like the absolute finale on the regular season here with a ton at stake. Has your position changed on either one of these teams? What do you expect to see from Pittsburgh and Baltimore? No, you know, the AFC North for years had this reputation as being one of the best divisions in football, if not the best. I think back to when we had, you know, the Browns and the Steelers and the Ravens all pushing toward the playoffs in 2020 and then you had the Bengals, you know, make a Super Bowl run in 2021. I mean, it's been a very good division.

It is not a good division this year. This, where we are right now, they held the rest of the NFL an apology that they could even allow it to get to this point where their division winner very well could be nine and eight. But I think it's perfectly fitting for where this division stands. You know, it's been one that's been affected largely by injury. You can tell that's been the story of the Rams. It was the story of the Bengals this year. The Steelers, you know, yeah, they've had some injuries. They've missed T.J. Watt over the last few weeks.

But, I mean, they've had their quarterback the whole year. They did lose Darnal, Washington last week, which I think really hurt them. D.K. McCaff got himself suspended. So they're still missing him for one more game. But, like, this is a team that has generally been mostly healthy. And yet they're still, you know, flirting with the idea. finishing with the Mike Tomlin special of 9 and 8, which I hate to say that because that used to be the Jeff Fisher thing,

which was 7 and 9 every year. And I think Tomlin's a better coach than that, but it's just this is who they've been over the last five years or so. And it all traces back to really quarterback. And, you know, Aaron Rodgings, I think, has played some of the, some good football this year. He's some of the best football he's played over the last three years, and he's done in, like, the last month and a half,

but he's still 42 years old. So it's just, it's fitting for this entire situation. There's these weird vibes with the Ravens, where people are looking at the future of John Harbaugh and also Lamar Jackson and whether those two are intertwined. There was the discourse coming from the Ravens' loss to the Patriots two weeks ago,

which they just didn't give Derek Henry the ball, especially late when they were trying to hang on to a lead, which that was my immediate takeaway, and then Harbaugh addresses it right after the game, and then the next week they give Derek Henry 30-plus carries and he goes nuts against the Packers. It's a team that doesn't know what they want to be or can't quite commit to an identity versus a team

that just has been trying to pass things together offensively with different quarterbacks over the years and a highly paid defense that has largely underachieved and now you don't know if you're going to get a good game out of them or a bad game. So I guess it's fitting that there's a chance that the winner of this game is either a 10-and-7 division champion or a 9-on-8 division champion.

It seems like maybe that's just how this should go. But between these two teams, I felt better about the Steelers over the last three weeks. I thought they were playing better football. I thought Aaron Rogers looked good. And then he lost D.K., and they lost that game to the Browns. And I was like, and they lost Washington to injury.

and I'm just like, oh, this might not end how I thought it was going to end. And that's the beauty of the NFL that's very unpredictable. The X factor for me is the Ravens. Lamar Jackson was getting closer to being 100% in the last couple of weeks. Then he suffered that back injury against the Patriots. Tyler Huntley did a great job as a backup. But Jackson, you know, if he was closer to where he was elusiveness-wise, you know, low-ability-wise, then he presents a real threat to the Steelers.

And I think that what we're in for is a classic showdown of Raven Steelers. But it's not because both of these teams, either of these teams, are, you know, excellent elite football teams. They're just both kind of, like I said before, mid, and we're going to have a division championship deciding mid-off between two teams here. Exciting. You mentioned Mike Tomlin, and there's been some questions about his future, I guess, regardless of what happens, barring a miracle run in the playoffs. Do you have any concerns about Mike Tomlin's future in Pittsburgh? Yeah, because I don't know if it's concerns as much as it's frustration with Steelers fans. And as somebody went to college with some Steelers fans and so my closest friends are Steelers fans and I don't live that far away from Pittsburgh, maybe it's just a little bit of my personal

experience with them over the years in a level of entitlement that usually comes with being a Steelers fan. But the way they bounce back and forth about, you know, whether they want to keep Mike Tomlin or not. It just, it truly depends on the week, not even the season, change the season, but by the week. And I understand, you know, this is a fan base that expects more. They expect to be pursuing Super Bowls. But this is not really entirely Mike Tomlin's fault that the Steelers are still this kind of, you know,

middling average or slightly better than that, good enough to win, you know, post a winning record and make the playoffs not good enough to do anything more than that. It's not really the coach. I think the coach deserves credit for even keeping you there because you haven't had stability at the quarterback position in five years. Even the final year or two of Ben Rathesberger, you could tell they were over the hill and they were headed toward, you know, needing a replacement. And they tried, and Kenny Pickett didn't work out,

which I think they probably drank too much the local Kool-Aid in that department to hope that that was going to work out. And they just haven't had a quality option since then to fix the position. It's a tough position to fix. You know, you don't get franchise quarterbacks every day or every year or every 10 years.

Look at the Pleas and Browns. And yet I think that that is really why they're in this position that they're in. Now, you could have looked back at it a couple years ago and say, well, he's an defensive-minded coach. They got this highly paid defense are not performing. And you'd be right. And there are, there were examples at times where it felt like maybe the game was starting to pass Tomlin by. But I caution against getting greedy and looking at other teams and make, you know, rapid turnarounds and think and then deciding, oh, well, I want our team to do that too. Let's go hire a new coach. Those coaches don't grow on trees. They are not, you know, you can't just find them. They're not a dime a dozen. It takes, you know, a special type like a Ben Johnson to pair with that young quarterback in Caleb Williams. for example to make that type of turnaround happen to make that, make that leap.

The Steelers don't have that quarterback until they do. They're going to continue to find themselves in a similar situation, regardless of who the coach is. So I understand that this happens. Marty Schottenheimer once went 14 and 2 with the Chargers and got fired after losing the AFC championship game. I understand that sometimes changes are made just because people in power decide that changes need to be made.

I just, I caution against it with the Steelers. right now. Hey Nick, really appreciate you taking the time and enjoy all the week 18 action here. All right. Thanks, guys. Thanks for me on. Thanks, Nick. No problem. There's Nick Shook writer for NFL.com previewing all the action in week 18 two very, very big games and then whatever is happening in the NFC South as well. But if mainly the Seahawks 49ers. If Steelers Ravens is a mid-off, what's a box panthers? It's a bad off. I don't know what else to call it. it, they are just, it's a trash pole. So you're a Seahawks fan.

Yes. Seahawks Niners. How nervous are you going into this weekend? Because regardless, you're like making the play. Yes. Yeah, that part is nice. I mean, I would adore getting the buy, getting the one seed, and more than anything beating the 49ers.

Yes. But that creates the flip side that I am nervous because losing to the 49ers as a Seahawks fan sucks. It's awful When Brock Purdy is doing Dance moves against the Chicago Bears He's full of swagger right now too He's confident

I had to turn the TV on And so I don't want to see that against Seattle Yeah Yeah that would be worse That would be worse I do feel really confident in this defense Yes And I'm not equating it

Even though it has come up in conversation This defense versus the Legion of Boom But going into the Broncos Super Bowl I remember a friend of mine asked me who was not a Seahawks fan how nervous or confident I was and I think it was nervous and I was like I'm like a four out of ten

he was like your team's playing for the Super Bowl and you're a four out of ten I said this defense is unbelievable I don't care what Peyton Manning is done I'm not quite there with this group but I'm pretty close yeah that's fair I think it's we talk about like

I bring up the Sam Darnold aspect of things a lot but also there is a level of like the defense might just make up for whatever happens and they're capable of making up for some of Sam Donald's missteps. Even if he's fine in a game, that

can be enough. And I think he's fully capable of doing that. He might even have a great game. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Should be very exciting. It is the Saturday night game and then the Sunday night game. Steelers Ravens to decide which team wins that division and

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