Halford & Brough in the Morning - Nick Shook talks NFL + Christmas Queries

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

In Hour 2, Josh Elliott-Wolfe and Thomas Drance answer your questions in an Ask Us Anything. Big sacks, when to wrap, and other Christmas quandaries, before getting to some Canucks queries. Then Nick Shook joins to chat NFL. The Packers domination of the Saints last night, playing reviving their careers this season, and which teams are legitimate Superbowl contenders. 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.

Welcome back to Howford & Brough. It's Big Band Tuesday, but Christmassy. This is a good one. Thank you, thank you. Wow. I had to dig deep to find this one. Josh, Ellie, Wolf, Thomas, Janice here with you. Coming to you live from the Kintec Studio, Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands

of five-star Google reviews. Sore feet. What are you waiting for? Kintec. You can text in on the 650-650 Dunar Lumber text line. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and reno warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations

to serve you or online at dumbarlumber.com. Halford & Brough brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawari difference today visit your nearest delari honda dealer today this hour of halpern and broth is for jason.mortgage if you love giving the banks more of your money then don't let jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you that's jason.mortgage not.com not.ca. dot mortgage. Do not go to jason.com. Don't get it twisted.

Don't go to jason.com. Jason.mortgage. Anyway, we made it in Ask Us Anything Christmas Eve because A, it's easier, and B, it's the final show of the week for Halpern and Brough. So it's not like they're here on Friday to do their regular Ask Us Anything.

So we'll dive into the text box now. Does he say text basket? Is that what he says? In basket. In basket. Yeah, I'm not going to say that. I'm sorry, guys. We got to keep the Halberd theme going.

So the thing that happens every time I do this show. You're also not going to say program? No, I'm not going to say that. That's just not part of my repertoire. You're not going to randomly talk about Leeds United? No. That's also not part of my repertoire. We're a young boys show now?

Yeah, I've heard. I love young boys. I like to bet against them. Clip in that. That's going right in the trance folder. Every time I see young boys you know what I do no don't say it

what do you what do you do I mash anytime goal scorer on the opposition in the Champions League yeah they're not doing well aren't they it rocks it rocks tooth guards swell up my bankroll so I can lose

money on football young boys poor young boys but for everyone listening they're a soccer team yeah soccer team not here they're a soccer team that had it coming all right sorry this is weird every time i do the show we get texts or tweets being like ah the when the administrative nonsense is is different, people get all riled up. And I'm sorry, but I just got to do my own thing, and that's okay. This one, unsigned, ask us anything.

When is it okay to go with the gift bag rather than wrapping the presents? Is this an age of receiver type thing? So I agree with Laddie's response in the text. Yeah, I wrote back. Which was essentially it depends on the size and kind of the weirdness shape-wise. The awkwardness of the shape. Yes. Depends on the size and the weirdness of the shape.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Putting that out there. That's what she said. Come on, Dredd. I'm sorry. This is a.

We already had one zinger this segment. We don't need two. This is a PG show. Come on, guys. Yeah. That's why I presented it in a PG way. I'm sorry. This is a... We already had one zinger this segment. We need two. This is a PG show. Come on, guys. Yeah. That's why I presented it in a PG way. Yeah, fair enough. I'm killing it.

Drance is locked in Christmas Eve. I do agree. I do agree. If the present is even remotely hard to wrap, it's going in a bag. Like, I'm sorry. You're getting it in a bag. Well, it needs to be hard to wrap. But, you know what? Wrapping it is important. Well, it needs to be hard to wrap it. But you know what?

Wrapping it is important. Okay. We're still going with that. We should take Frank's advice from the last segment. Grow up. Yeah. You guys grow up. All right.

All right. Elite five over there. See, when he made the joke, I was about to make the exact same joke. Yes. And I was like ah nuts he stole my thunder but he has probably been prepping this joke for days

fair enough hey i if if if balak's gonna lob me one up like some midwinger playing for young boys i'm gonna i'm gonna volley it that's all i'm gonna say fair enough um so yeah to answer that question depends on the gift i had to wrap like a one of those chairs that toddlers sit on so like a soft chair that shaped like a dinosaur okay very cool and we didn't have gift bags so we had to we had to wrap it it was tough and in in hindsight i wish i had invested in a very in a gift sack you know you know those things i i do i have many gift sacks big sack guy no i love sacks because there's no garbage. Are you trying to give me so much material in this segment?

What is going on? My gift to you, Balak, is I'm going to make your folder so full. Full to the brim. It's already full. You heard the intro. I know. Unreal. The No, I have those Christmas sacks that have the like string on the top.

You know what I'm saying? I was trying to find one. Yeah. So then you have no garbage, no work to wrap. And it looks amazing. The only problem is kids like to open wrapping paper. Yeah. So I still find that I keep wrapping paper, usually in my storage unit, so that I can wrap just for my niece and nephew.

Yeah. You know, because they want to rip paper off a gift and then be excited when they see it. JD Quickletlam texted in that Drance is giving off small gift sack energy. Small gift sack energy. Oh, God. Okay. Okay. Got to answer Canuck's question now. I I gotta get this back on track let's go uh

ask us anything uh Ivan from Chilliwack what do you gentlemen see as the top priority in the new year for the Canucks in order to get back to being a consistent elite team in the NHL oh so I don't think it's just like hey get a top four defenseman and you're back to being a consistent elite four or sorry elite top team in the nhl well yeah i mean that's part of it it's a it's a big part of it okay so look last 20 games it's been pretty hit and miss for this Canucks team without question. So, they've now played

excuse me here 17, is that right? 17 games since JT Miller's since JT Miller took his leave? Because it'd be 10 plus 7, so yes.

And that's kind of 17. Is that 17? Yeah. So that's kind of how I demarcate the season, as it were. And in that time, across that 17 games, the Canucks ranked 32nd in the NHL by shot attempt differential, which is a number I hadn't realized was that low.

In terms of what they're permitting against, though, it's not great, but it's 19th. It's really what they're generating that's killing them. 47 shot attempts per hour. And by the way, of course, this also shows up in shots. They've been outshot by a wider margin since Miller's leave than all teams except Detroit and Pittsburgh. And they've managed to outscore the opposition, their opposition,

but they're among the bottom 10 teams. It's like them and the Islanders, you know, like they've done it because they've had phenomenal finishing and their goaltending is held, right they've done it because they've had phenomenal finishing and their goaltending is held, right? That's it. So what, I mean, what they need is to get back to attacking off the rush with some level of consistency. There's just no teeth to this Canucks rush attack. Like that Pedersen goal, the first one yesterday felt remarkable because it came against the grain, like because this team actually was able to attack against the grain.

When you think about what the Ottawa game looked like, what the St. Louis game looked like, what the Boston Bruins game looked like, and I'm deliberately picking mid-sides. Those teams are attacking the Canucks with speed. The Canucks are very rarely attacking their opponents with speed. Now, I think this comes down largely to their ability to move the puck from the back end out.

I think that's a big issue. Even when they are able to frustrate their opponent's attack, which they're able to do pretty well, that first pass out is not clean or it just doesn't quite work. They don't get through the neutral zone with speed. They don't get through the neutral zone with control. The landmarks, the anchor play that they tried to install, we're seeing none of that. Vegas punished them repeatedly with it when they lost to Vegas last week. So I want to see this Canucks team get back to generating something

off the rush beyond one and done stuff. That's what they don't have right now. They're just not playing in the offensive end at all. And this is a streak that's now like this is a lack of form that's sort of permeated and been sustained across a pretty big sample of games now i mean we're approaching 20 games since i thought the canucks were playing remotely well i know the heronic absence looms large here i think miller's absence loomed large here too but But Miller coming back in the lineup, like Miller hasn't scored on a goalie since October 26th.

It's going to be two months since Miller beat a goaltender. So as much as, you know, it's about the defense, as much as I think a puck mover would help, like they also need their best players to get going. They also need their best forwards to get generating and they need their best forwards to get generating with some speed, with some level of consistency against these teams and you know this team's managed to hold the fort for the most part they're going to be positioned to make a run when they get back in a month i think my concern is their form is so poor is so contingent on like jake

debrusk finishing efficiently and keifer Sherwood unscreened wrist shot goals and ricochet goals off the... Their sources of offense right now feel so much flimsier than they did in the club's first 16 or so games of the year. And they're still a month away from getting Hronik back. So it's really like, can they play well enough in that first month back after the holidays

that they're still positioned to streak down the stretch when they get everyone back? Right? Like, because the way the trend line is going, they need luck

to win games right now. They need luck to score goals right now, especially when Quinn Hughes is off the ice. And they are asking too much of Quinn Hughes. Hey, Quinn Hughes, can you play 28 minutes a night, lead the entire league in scoring as a defenseman, and be our only reliable source with which we generate five on five?

Like, that's what's being asked of Quinn Hughes. And what's amazing about Quinn Hughes is it's like, no problem, I got you. It's fine, I can do it. and that and that can work for 15 games that can work for a stretch it's also good to have that in tandem with someone else being able to help from the back end too no but but it's also it's good for that to be like when Dom in not Dom the producer but Dom the driver of the Fast and Furious in the Fast and Furious series like Toretto. Yeah, Toretto. Put respect on the names.

Sorry. What you want is a guy who, what you want Quinn Hughes to be is that when Dominic Toretto says, I'm doing this for family and turns on the nitrous Hughes is the one that propels the muscle car you know

uh to effectively like take out an entire army somehow by himself right like he's going into space no that's ludica that's luda oh yeah that's luda and tyrese man come on yeah um anyway my point being like what they're at you want quinn want Quinn Hughes to be accelerant. You want to be a good team that Quinn Hughes makes a great team, or you want to be a great team that Quinn Hughes puts over the top. Right now, you're a bad team that Quinn Hughes is making passable. And so you need to raise that baseline because this team's playing badly. And they have for a 20-game stretch.

They are. I'm sorry. I don't care what the results say. I don't care what the results say. I don't care what the record is. They're playing badly in terms of controlling play five on five and generating five on five. And if it continues, they're going to be in trouble. Yeah. And so we'll see how that this next month is going to be very, very crucial.

Next question. Yeah. Mike, the urologist from Brockville, Ask us anything Christmas Eve for his three daughters. If a kid wakes up first in the morning, should they be allowed to open a present or should they wait for the whole family to wake up? I think the truth is, is that with football on at 10 a.m., don't sleep in on Christmas.

Well, okay, but... Get the presents out of the way early. Kids wake up at like 5, a.m. Don't sleep in on Christmas. Get the presents out of the way early. Kids wake up at like 5, though. Perfect. Kids wake up at 5. Kids wake up at 5, throw some of that good Wayne Gretzky's cream in your coffee.

You know what I'm talking about? Balak is shaking his head. He thinks that's another drop. I thought he made wine. Yeah, they also make what they call Canadian cream, but it's obviously Irish cream product. Unbelievable. Go get yourself a bottle for tomorrow, Balak. Go get some Gretzky cream, Balak.

Embrace waking up. I'm doing that. Wake up at 5 a.m., embrace it. Throw some Irish cream in your coffee. Get some breakfast in you.m., embrace it. Throw some Irish cream in your coffee. Get some breakfast in you. Open presents at 6. Kids are distracted and playing by 8.

Yeah. You've got time to sweat your fantasy lineup. You've got time to place some last-minute player props, some same-game parlays. By 10 a.m., no one's mad at you for watching football. That, my friends, is a Merry Christmas. So what I will say. That's my plan anyway.

I'm going to be the one who's like with the kids. I'm going up to my sisters in Pemberton. Yeah. Because I don't have kids. But my niece and nephew will wake up early. And I'm going to be on team Egon and Marie. I'm going to be on team, hey, Marie. I'm going to be on team. Hey, everyone, let's wake up.

Let's go. Let's go. Come on. Let's go. Let's get in beds. I don't want to track this Chiefs game, this Chiefs Steelers dustball contest while we're opening presents. No way. So are you also a hey, you have to eat breakfast before you open presents?

Oh, absolutely not. No? No. You've got to get a drink, though. Okay. Mimosas, coffee, and Irish cream. On an empty stomach. Yeah.

Got to do it. That's the best time. A, get some Gretzky cream in you, and you're good. I'm not even going to enjoy my new Patagonia fleece if I'm not two mimosas deep by the time I'm opening presents. This is peak brunch drams. You know, you're not wrong. My dad used to always make us all sit at the table next to the Christmas tree and then eat breakfast.

He would make an entire breakfast, and then we would have to fully eat breakfast, fully have to finish. He'd have to wait for every sibling to finish. Torture. I know. Why would they do it like that? Before like before you could do and then he had to be like okay now i gotta go get and he like enjoys this he like takes pleasure in it then he'd be like i'm gonna go get the video camera i'm gonna set it up it's gonna take me a little bit and then sick then one by one yeah i

know and then one by one you can open presents presents. See, you could do stockings before breakfast, but then presents underneath the tree had to be after breakfast. Stockings first. You know what? Yeah, stockings always first. It might have been the same thing where like, okay, you get the taste, but then that just makes you want more. It's crazy.

650-650, this one, Justin and East Van ask us anything. If you were to cater your Christmas dinner, what's the dish they need to cook perfectly before you hire them for the job? Pierogies. I don't know. It's Christmas dinner, man. I'm not a big fancy Christmas dinner guy. I want pierogies. I want kielbasa.

I want some cabbage rolls. I can make all of it myself. I don't need you to make me a Christmas dinner. We have very similar Christmas dinners. Yeah, there you go. My stepdad makes, like, he's Ukrainian. Right, there you go. So he makes pierogies and cabbage rolls. My family's Polish.

Homemade pierogies and cabbage rolls. There you go. So you're going to Josh's house for Christmas. I don't do homemade pierogies, but I'll do homemade cabbage rolls. I just throw store-bought. I'll be honest with you. I think store-bought, like, you know, the less fancy. Every time I try fancy pierogies, I'm mad.

Yeah. I'll bring you in some good homemade pierogies. Oh, no. Because they are, like, unreal. Homemade pierogies are delightful. I'm just saying, like, fancy store-bought versus generic store-bought. Give me the generic store-bought. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Give me an entire stick of butter fried onions. Like, so much butter i need like dollops of sour cream on that yeah just crazy amounts of sour cream i i although i i don't know tell me i'm wrong okay you're wrong i have replaced sour cream in my life with just greek yogurt ah you're one of those guys the thing is the thing is is i have greek yogurt always because i use it for smoothies and for breakfast sometimes and for some salad dressings i if i have sour cream i only ever would buy it because i'm making mexican or making pierogies and increasingly i'm just like why would i do this i have greek yogurt it's bring some baked

potatoes in your life. They're the same product. They're different experiences to me, Greek yogurt and sour cream. And that's why you need sour cream. Like sour cream is just better to me on pierogies and the likes that you put sour cream on. It is modestly better, but I feel like it's a difference of a couple percentage points for an entirely different dairy product in my fridge that's just going to take up space and then I'm probably not going to use all of because I use it for like

three things only. Sour cream lasts a while. It lasts like a month at least. You guys have your sour cream. I have my Gretzky cream, okay? And we'll all have a very merry cream-mas. I eat a lot of potatoes. Don't do that again. Please never say that again.

Merry cream-mas. You just said it again! I sorry anyway uh kids mike what are some of the trade values for right defensemen out there other than the usual suspects he's throwing some big names out is kids mike what would you have to give up for Noah Dobson or Brayden Schneider? If one or both were, for some reason, on the trade market, what would the price for those guys be? Oh, I mean, through the roof. But also, you know, this is very much like, you know, us talking like Dom Perignon versus like an $8 bottle of Spumante Bambino, right? Like Noah Dobson is a star defenseman and Braden Schneider is...

Gretzky Cream. No, Gretzky Cream's delicious. Bro. I'm sorry. I like the program. Braden Schneider is good. What do you mean? He's fine. He's no Gretzky Cream. He's no Gretzky Cream. I don't. I like the program. Brendan Schneider is good. What do you mean? He's fine.

He's no Gretzky. He's no Gretzky. I don't know that he's good. I don't know that he's good. I liked the prospect, but at some point you become an NHL player, and it's like, what's the New York Rangers' biggest issue? It's that they have one pair that can actually carry play, and Adam Fox ain't as good as Quinn Hughes.

Quinn Hughes can do it all alone. You know who can't? Adam Fox. Adam Fox needs a little bit more help, which is totally fine. It's just that the Eastern media lied to hockey fans for five years and pretended that Adam Fox was the better player. You just have to watch! Anyway.

People used to get mad at me for this take. And it's just like, what were we doing? There was a level of arrogance from the East being like, how dare you say Quinn Hughes is even close to Adam Fox. And Kael McCarr. I took years of bullets for I think Quinn Hughes makes decisions better than Kael McCarr and drives play better than Kael McCarr

and that situation is awfully responsible. Kael McCarr does some things that Quinn Hughes can't do, don't get me wrong, but it's at least becoming a debate. It's going to take a lot more, though, for Quinn Hughes to actually seize the belt, given that Kael McCarr has a Stanley Cup ring and a consmith. Yeah. He essentially has to win a cup before people...

Like, unless he does this for... He would have to do it for, like, seven more... People, like, just keep going back to the Conn Smythe. You win back-to-back Norris trophies, and it starts... Like, he'd be the first guy to do it. If he can do it... And he's making a pretty strong case right now.

Yeah. If he can do it, he'd be the first guy to win back-to-back Norris trophies since Nick Lidstrom. Well, we were told last year that he wasn't even the best defenseman in the division, that Evan Bouchard had that title. Who was telling you that? An unnamed reporter from Edmonton. Well, from Edmonton.

To be fair, Edmonton people are pretty high on Evan Bouchard. This was during the heat of the playoffs last year. People should be high on Evan Bouchard. This was during the heat of the playoffs last year. People should be high on Evan Bouchard. He's good, too. He was on my Norris ballot last year, by the way. Evan Bouchard was. And I had Evan Bouchard and I had Gustav Forsling on my Norris ballot. And go check the votes.

Now, that wouldn't even be a hot take to be like those guys are among the five best defensemen in the world but when i filled it out those were like hipster ass takes i don't know if they were like last year they weren't go check had a big glow up go check the votes before the playoffs and after the playoffs the conversation around those two gentlemen completely flipped evan bouchard though also like he had a pretty bad giveaway yesterday i don't know if you saw that another one yeah yeah he had a pretty bad giveaway yesterday. I don't know if you saw that. Another one? Yeah, he had a pretty bad giveaway. Oh, no, it was against Ottawa, right? It was the

Nick Cousins one on Sunday, so that's the one you mean. Doesn't matter. Evan Bouchard is the classic makes loud mistakes, so people will be like, and like Nelson Munson, guy is an elite, elite defenseman. He is without question one of

the five best defensemen in hockey it's just that Quinn Hughes is either one or number two depending on how much you want to wait team success in your evaluation and how much you just want to be like hey this guy's clearly the most impactful individual defenseman in the league uh I agree I agree it is Halford and Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolfe, Thomas Drance. On the other side, Nick Shook. We'll talk NFL. Are you ready, Drance? You're ready. I'm born ready. We'll do that. On the other side, Halford

and Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolfe, Thomas Drance on SportsNet 650. I love young boys. Welcome back to Halford & Brough, Josh Elliott Wolfe, Thomas Strance here with you, coming to you live from the Kintex studio, and you can text in 650-650, the Dunbar Lumber text line. it's an ask us anything Christmas Eve. So get your questions in. Merry Christmas to all, and to all, please send us questions. I don't know. I didn't know where that was leading.

It led somewhere pretty good. It led somewhere fine. Yeah, you nailed it. Anyway, text in 650-650. Dunbar Lumber Tax Line. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Jason.Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find you the perfect mortgage for you.

What's happening right now? That's Jason.Mortgage. Not.com, not.ca, Jason.Mortgage. Halford & Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. Too much Gretzky cream in the break for me. That's on me.

Keep your texts coming in on the Dunbar Lumber text line. We now go to the phone lines. It is Nick Shook, writer for NFL.com. Appreciate you taking the time, Nick. How are you? I'm good. How are you guys? We are doing well.

Appreciate you taking the time over the holidays here. We wanted to talk. Actually, I wanted to get your thoughts. Football takes no holidays. Football takes no holidays. But I wanted to get your thoughts. Hawaii Bowl tonight, baby. Let's go.

Sorry. I wanted to, Nick, I wanted to get your thoughts on. So we saw the Packers. They demolished the Saints last night. If you, we were debating this earlier, if you were to power rank the three teams in the NFC North. From the perspective of which teams are going to be the toughest outs come playoff time.

How would you rank those three? Oh, that's an interesting way to spin it, because, you know, if you look at it in terms of record, you go Lions, probably Vikings, and then Packers. But based on the current trajectory of each of these teams, I have a strange feeling that by the time we get to, I don't know, mid-January, divisional round or so, we actually might see the

Packers being the tougher out than the Lions. The Lions have been so decimated by injuries, especially recently, and they've done a great job of overcoming that, but there's a critical mass that you have to meet as a minimum to be able to compete, and I feel like they're just getting closer and closer to that, where the Packers are healthy for the most part,

say for Christian Watson, he got banged up last night, and their defense is ascending. And their offense can beat you in so many different ways. I tend to lean Packers, and I'm not trying to be somebody who just, you know, wants to be like, oh, this is my sleeper pick, try to get ahead of the game or anything. It's just based on recent performance. It feels like the Packers are the most complete team in the Lions right now.

So it's a really tough question to answer, because all three can beat whoever they play unless they run into each other along the way. So it's going to be extremely fascinating. That division itself still isn't settled. Yeah, so you made the argument that I made. When you see in segment one, so Josh is a Vikings fan for context,

but I was trying to explain to him that I thought given the Packers talent on defense, I mean, we're seeing this Lions team need to overcome their defense right now. I think they were the most talented team in the league six weeks ago, but now, you know, they need to like use the run game to control the clock and try to shorten games and really score 30 every game. Whereas I think this Packers defense is trending to be elite, especially with what we're seeing out of Edger and Cooper and company. I mean, you know, Packers right now are 12-1 to win the Super Bowl.

Vikings 11-1, Ravens 7-1, Eagles 6, and then the Chiefs, Lions, and Bills all at 4.5-1. I mean, I know the Vikings have outkicked their coverage defensively all year, but I find it impossible to conclude anything other than that the Packers are the most complete team in that group. Yeah, primarily because of what you just said with his injuries. If you had Aiden Hutchinson and you had Carlton Davis, I mean, they've just lost so many guys on the other side of the ball.

O'Neal, McNeil, you can continue to go down the list. I would feel more confident in them, but the big part of getting to the Super Bowl and winning the whole thing or at least making a deep run is staying healthy. And so often you see great teams just get undercut by injuries. I'm not saying that's happening to the Lions or guaranteed to happen, but if I am asked to prognosticate, which I am, that is I have just a little bit less confidence in them

because of what you just said. They have to go score 30-plus a game to really give themselves a good chance, whereas the Vikings, you know, Brian Forrest gets a ton of credit for having a very aggressive approach, but he's also deploying these guys in great spots. I thought Dallas Turner came on pretty strong. What you're getting out of Stephon Gilmore in coverage has been a big boost as well.

There's a lot of guys that people maybe don't pay attention to on this defense that are making differences. So that's why it's so tight. You know, I finally kind of dropped my skepticism with the Vikings in the last couple weeks. And I think this year's the best division in football by far and going to definitely be the most compelling and probably produce our conference champion

if it isn't Philadelphia. How do they navigate and I know the latest reports are that they haven't engaged with Sam Darnold yet on significant contract talks I think we all look at Sam Darnold getting at least that that sort of Baker Geno mid-level quarterback contract but but maybe he's able to play himself into more we know that there's some unsettled quarterback situations around the league. Look in the crystal ball this Christmas Eve for us, Nick. What are they going to do at quarterback in Minnesota? I think it's a fascinating situation because it kind of reminds me a little bit of the Nick Foles-Carson-Lentz situation. I think even closer to Carson-Lentz and Jalen Hurts.

There's another speech happening in Philly, but this is not the first time this has happened where the guy that you expected to come in as a bridge or a veteran backup suddenly plays well enough to earn legitimate money. I mean, that could be a trade ship. That's what the Eagles once did with Bulls. That could be your starter for the foreseeable future because Sam is not old.

I mean, he was only drafted in the 2018 class. That's not that long ago. At least I tell myself that every day when I look in the mirror and realize my hairline's never coming back. But it's a good position to be in, honestly, when you talk about the Vikings because they spent that draft on J.J. McCarthy thinking he was going to be the future. And for all intents and purposes, he should be if he comes back from his knee procedure in a pretty good spot. It's just that it's not guaranteed right now, and the proof that you have in Darnold is hard to ignore.

So it's a great spot for them to be in. They have multiple options, but there's also that old saying, if you have two, you have none. I think that's not really accurate here, but let's let the rest of the season play out, because oftentimes these situations solve themselves by the time a team gets to the postseason. How much do you believe in this Darnold resurgence being

Sam Darnold, and like, hey, if he goes to another team, he's going to be able to continue this? How much of this do you think is, hey, the Vikings have a lot of elite offensive weapons weapons that might be helping out quite a bit including a very very good offensive head coach well i think that situation is always pivotal to a quarterback you know just how they're going to fare uh young quarterbacks especially um you know i often wonder like what would Spencer Rattler look like in Washington right now? I don't know. I mean, I'm not saying that he's Jaden Daniels,

but it's a better situation than the one that he's operating in with the Saints, as we saw last night. And I think that the situation that Donald was thrust into in New York was an unfair one, but it's not uncommon for rookie quarterbacks. So I try to hold what I'd seen. I try to let that go, what I'd seen in Sam's past because he has just taken so many strides forward, and that's the other part of the situation.

It can also help a quarterback advance as long as they know how to cultivate their natural talents, and Sam has been arm strength, ability to extend plays, keeping his eyes down the field. The problem with him is in ball security and then eventually a lack of trust in his offensive line. Well, he's got a good offensive line to trust now.

He's also performed incredibly well under pressure, and he's being directed by a former quarterback in Kevin O'Connell as his coach. So the situation is fantastic for him, not to mention he's got one of the best one-two punches at receiver in the NFL in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. And even Aaron Jones coming over to Minnesota, I think, was a big boost, and especially early in the season. So, you know, the situation is huge for him, and it's allowed him to kind of settle in. He's got the trust of his coach and his teammates. He's got weapons to throw, too. He's got time to throw, and when he's even under pressure, he's been fantastic. So,

taking strides that I never thought I'd see from him in his career, and I think that he deserves a ton of credit for that. Even when he's had a couple of clunkers, it's been nowhere near the disasters that he experienced in Carolina and New York. I think Kevin O'Connell has a huge part to do with it as well. So everybody there deserves credit.

It's kind of a non-specific answer, but first and foremost, I'm not going to take anything away from Sam. I think he's done a great job. I feel bad for Spencer Rattler. You know, he sort of started his third game, and the first game he looked fine, and then the second game he bumps into the broncos defense right at the moment when they're peaking you know like they wouldn't be as hard an opponent this week if he was playing them as they were when he saw them and looked

non-functional uh on that thursday night game i don't remember the exact week week eight or whatever and then he bumps into this packers defense that I think has suddenly become elite, and I don't think anyone knows it just yet. You know, number one by DVOA since week eight. I feel like the public's taking just like a – probably we're one week away. They do it against a real quarterback next week, against Minnesota next week, and I think everyone will be like, Packers D, real problem, Edger and Cooper. Oh, my God. And he looks non-functional again.

I just feel like he bumped into two of the most brutal possible matchups in the NFL with how the lines are, how thin the line can be between success and failure. Feels like that kind of might be a wrap for him as a potential starter.

I think with the franchise that he's with right now, I think he'll have a spot on the roster next year, and he'll maybe be offered the opportunity to compete because I don't know what direction they're going to go. In fact, I just dove into this late last night at the game, which was, you know, where are the – is the Saints starting quarterback in 2025 on their roster right now?

And I don't know. I don't know because Derek Carr, they could trade him and save 40 million off their cap, which there's $63 million over the cap right now in 2025, according to over the cap. So they can save 40 of that by trading him as a post June 1st trade. They could save 30 of it as a post June 1st release. I think all options are on the table with them because this is not a team that appears that to contend and isn't just a quarterback away.

So it's, if that's the approach that you take as a franchise, then you get a little bit longer of a runway with Rattler with the idea that, all right, let's put them behind a slightly better offensive line. He's got nobody to throw to. I mean, no,

no, Kevin Austin and, and a number, he's got Dante Pettis in his receiving core, Dante Pettis, who's best known for being a returner, going back to his days at Washington, has never really made it as a receiver in the NFL.

And Alvin Kamara wasn't back there either. He lost at center in that game. The situation has been really tough for him. So you're right about the defensive matchups and everything else. And I agree. I think Green Bay's defense is very quickly becoming one of the elite groups. And it's not just a matter of the fact that they played Seattle the week prior and Sam Howell was back there.

They've been like this for a while now. People will pay attention. The only outlier is the three-point loss to Detroit. They gave up 34 to Detroit. But otherwise, they've been fantastic over the last six, seven weeks. So I don't hold any of that against Rattler. I think he has some of the athletic tools to carve out a role in the NFL. He's like a better Dorian Thompson Robinson to me at this

point. He still makes mistakes like DTR does. He didn't put enough on the ball when he threw that pick down the sideline, but he made a fantastic throw on the plate prior. So I think he needs time. I don't know if he gets an opportunity to really prove himself as a starter unless he lands in the team that is in dire straits, kind of like Saints currently are right now. But I wouldn't evaluate this without considering the situation around him. Yeah. I mean, a Saints team tanking to get a Manning under center feels like a classic call.

I like that. In the words of Bart Scott, poetic justice. Yeah. Let's go. I want to throw a Sam Darnold conspiracy theory at you you ready let's do it when they reworked the matt stafford extension in la and and you'd know this better than me but the way that i read it and i i you know i'm not a i'm more of a nhl cap expert than than a guy who knows my stuff when it comes to the NFL's more convoluted system.

But it looks to me like he only has a $4 million dead money hold if he's a post-June 1 release. That to me reads like the rework deal was a retirement deal, or at least a potential retirement deal. And Darnold, we know, seems to fit in pretty well with these Shanahan trees, obviously KOC running a pretty similar system to what McVay runs in L.A. I feel like that's the Darnold team that I'm going to be watching for, specifically watching to see what Matt Stafford does beyond this season,

given some of the injuries that he's sustained over the last couple years. Yeah, I don't think you're far off base. I took a perturbed glance over that contract last night while working on a piece and kind of came to a similar conclusion. The only reason I eliminated it from immediate consideration was the fact that they don't have a clear option on that roster outside of Stafford. It doesn't mean that they can't find one,

but it would take a set of circumstances to unfold in order for them to be able to get a guy like Donald, right? It's not like they're going to draft anybody. They've played well enough with Stafford to make you think, well, no, there's no way they make a move unless Matthew Stafford decided he's done playing football. He's been very difficult to pin down in terms of performance this year. He's had some fantastic games.

He's had some ugly games. He's had some games where he's had nobody to throw to because staff or, uh, because Tukutakua and Cooper Cup are out and he's thrown to Jordan Whittington and trying his damnedest to keep them in games and making mistakes as a result. So he's been one of the most volatile quarterbacks in the NFL this season. And yet I have immense respect for what he does and what he's still capable of doing. Like when they went to shoot out over the Buffalo Bills at home.

So I would hate to see a guy like that walk away right now. And I have a hard time believing that he's that close to retirement, but I do think that contractually speaking, the Rams gave themselves and Stafford the option that, Hey, you know, you decide that this might be your last year. He has been through a lot of injuries. We'll make it pretty easy on both sides. And so it's definitely not out of the

realm of possibility i would just hate for him to walk away right now just because i enjoy watching play football i think he's still got enough left in the tank yeah he's awesome to watch but i also think he'd be awesome to watch on a panel he seems to have it like i think he'd be great in the media side if he decided hey you know i can still earn a few million dollars and talk football instead of taking these insane hits. That's fair. I wouldn't mind him swapping out one of the other players right now. That's for sure. So we've got this Christmas slate.

And my first reaction to it, Nick, is like, this is going to be Dust Bowl City in terms of these offenses, but I kind of think Kansas City, as much as I hate to say it because I've been fading them all year, I think they might have another act here in terms of actually, and I know it's silly

to criticize a 13-1 14-1 team, but I mean, that offense has been stinky to watch play and i think they might be finding belatedly the sort of gear where i might have to take them seriously come playoff time somebody's been watching the chiefs for the last two weeks because um they have shown very small glimpses of that they tried to open it up against the browns brown defense played pretty well in that game uh they took a semi-similar approach against hou Browns. Browns defense played pretty well in that game.

They took a semi-similar approach against Houston, which is a good defense as well. But what you saw was the inclusion of Hollywood Brown, that offense, and how it could elevate them as a group. I think that their tackle issue is going to be a problem no matter how long they remain eligible to play football this season. It's just not something that they're going to fix. They've tried. Playing Gio Tuni left tackle for a game against Miles Geert worked in their season. It's just not something that they're going to fix. They've tried, you know, playing Gio Tuni, left tackle for a game against Miles Geert,

worked in their favor. It was a smart decision, but that's not a long-term plan. So I think that's going to be an issue for them regardless. But, you know, we spent multiple days wasting time talking about Patrick Mahomes' ankle before he came out and ran for a touchdown. So these are the Chiefs. They are going to continue to do what they do.

And when they add a talent like Hollywood Brown to their receiving core, and he fits in as nicely as he did in that win over the Texans, yeah, I think you have plenty of reason to believe that they could actually take the next step. They are a team that, you know, as somebody who appreciates what Mahomes has done with this offense all year, the way he's converted third downs and been excellent in unconventional ways. I'm very tired of everybody complaining about watching them play football

because it's not a pretty brand, but it's a winning brand, and that's all that matters. I think it could get a little bit prettier, and I think you're right down the stretch here with the inclusion of a couple guys. Heyman Pacheco still isn't at full strength either, I don't think. He hasn't quite looked like himself yet. So they peak in the playoffs, man. They always do.

And we're getting close to the playoffs, so I wouldn't be surprised at all, especially with the reason I did. Yeah, see, my criticism of their offense is partly aesthetic-based, but more it's that with the sort of cracks that we're seeing in their pass rush and secondary cornerback options, right? I think against one of these serious teams like the Bills or whatever, they're eventually going to find themselves in one of those situations where you're down a couple scores and actually have to be able to solve problems

with some explosives. And I just don't think they can find those explosives, or I don't think they had been able to find those explosives consistently enough. So I just thought they were playing a brand that was winning in the regular season with a healthy dose of luck, but was going to fall short. And now I'm a little bit nervous that my stock in Casey offense isn't good enough to win a Superbowl here this year for a third straight year. Incredible stuff.

I think that stock is, I'm worried about that stock. I'm considering selling it. And this Pittsburgh game is going to be a big one for me. Yeah, as somebody who's covered three Super Bowls with the Chiefs by now, if they weren't to make it, I would be the most disciplined person on the planet just for variety's sake. I think their weakness is – defensively, their weakness is that corner. And this is what happens when you try to stay competitive,

you have to let some guys go. That group of Shamari Conner and company, it does come to be desired, but I also trust Steve Spagnuolo to manufacture enough of a rush to kind of bail them out. Honestly, what I need the Chiefs to do over the next couple weeks

is dial in the offense in terms of Mahomes finding guys downfield because in the first half against Houston, he missed two possible touchdown passes just because he just barely overthrew his guy both times. That's just a rapport thing. And Noah Gray, I think he's got enough of a rapport with now at this point considering he relies on the tight end so much. I need him to do that with the rest of the court.

They do have two recent additions. You think about Hollywood Brown coming back now and getting DeAndre Hopkins during the season to be a loser, see Rice, Xavier Worthy as a rookie. Still a lot of new faces here. I would like to see them use this last couple weeks or so to dial that in and assuage some of the concerns that you might have with them as an offense

and the pressure that would put on the defense. Hey Nick, really appreciate you taking the time and happy holidays. Yeah, happy holidays to you as well. Thanks for having me. Thank you. There is Nick Shook, writer for NFL.com. You can read his work on NFL.com.

Sorry, go ahead. Every time Mahomes gets an ankle injury, MASH is rushing over. Yeah, because he's like, I'll show you. The way that Mario reacts in the Super Mario Bros. series games, when he gets a mushroom, right, and he gets giant. He gets larger, yeah. Yes.

That's Mahomes with an ankle injury. Every time you hear Mahomes has a high ankle sprain low ankle sprain whatever it's just like oh he's going to get faster yeah I don't know why it does feel right it is right I don't know why I think he always has this speed he's just like

now I'm going to show people I can run because they think I'm hurt I'm telling you this rule this is like a gambling rule of mine is when Mahomes has an ankle injury mash Mahomes rushing it made me money in the super bowl a couple years back remember he was grimacing leaving the field half at halftime yeah the eagles up big one of my grit one of the best gambling days of my day of my life mashed mahomes rushing overs mashed the chiefs comeback on and on and then i had mahomes rushing overs when they got posted like 10 minutes before the game last week.

And first touchdown score was a very good Saturday. It was a very good Saturday for your guy. This one, 650-650. We're doing an Ask Us Anything Christmas Eve, by the way. Thomas, you made your fantasy final. Congrats. I've done the same. That's what Nick says.

Congrats, Nick. Congrats, I've done the same. That's what Nick says. Congrats, Nick. Congrats, Nick. Way to go. Josh Elliott-Wolf has also done the same, just not in the 650 league, which is fine, whatever. And wondering, A, who was the player that got you there? And B, would you start Jordan Love or Sam Darnold in week 17? So it's a full PPR league.

It was a complete team effort. I had three running backs all at 25 or more points in week 17. So it's a full PPR league. It was a complete team effort. I had three running backs all at 25 or more points in Jerome Ford, Jameer Gibbs, and Chuba Hubbard. I guess if I had to name a fantasy MVP on my team this year, it would be Chuba Hubbard. Maybe it's Chris Godwin because I traded Chris Godwin the week he got hurt right before he got hurt to Beck for Jameer Gibbs. That's a tough break.

So I think Chris Godwin's probably my fantasy MVP in the 650 league. Play Darnold over Jordan Love. So this is a tough one because the Packers have gone into being one of the run heaviest teams in the league. They're like fifth from last in neutral script run rate uh across like the last six seven weeks like jacobs is really the engine of that offense right now but you can't run on the vikings no like you can't really run on the vikings part of it is they generally have a lead have a lead i know but also they're actually good against running backs there they kill running backs as a general rule.

So I'm a little nervous about it. I think if you expect that game to shoot out, then Love is going to have to throw. But at the end of the day, even like yesterday, Love gets this first touchdown as a passing touchdown to Dontavian Wicks, but it's after they ran it with Jacobs, who got as close as humanly possible to getting over the line before getting stuffed, and then obviously Reid got stuffed on that Kelsey flip pass.

So the Packers got three touchdowns from three different running backs, and I know the Saints are a completely different beast than the Vikings defense, but I just think first and five, the Packers' first inclination is mash it three times with Jacobs and let's get into the red zone. Whereas the Vikings are like, let's run some sick play action and then we'll hit Josh Oliver in the flat for a tight end touchdown. So it's like, that's because that's the other part of this. Sam Darnold has one of the highest red zone passing rates in the flat for a tight end touchdown. So it's like, that's because that's the other part of this. Sam Darnold has one of the highest red zone passing rates in the league. To me, that would make the difference.

I know it's tough given sort of our preseason evaluation of both players, but I personally would start Darnold ahead of Love. I would agree. I would agree. Unbiasedly, I would agree.

650, 650. Keep the questions coming in. We'll answer more as the show goes on. Coming up next, though, Landon Ferraro on Halford & Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolfe, Thomas Drance here on Sportsnet 650.