Halford & Brough in the Morning - Sports Are Going Crazy This Weekend

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (1:31) about what should be a playoff for the ages, plus they preview tonight's Seahawks matchup at Arizona with ESPN's Brady Henderson (23:35). 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.

It's time to chat with Adenan. It's Adnan Furkey's on the show. We're gonna talk some baseball and take a trip to the silver screen. That's right, it's time for Atenham. Yes, Adnan Furkey joins us now. We'll head out to the ball game and talk about all the films he's seen. 7.03 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody, Halford and Brubb of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Score a debt freedom hat trick, no more interest, much lower payments, and financial peace of mind. That's the three. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are now an hour two of the program. Adnan Verk from MLB Network is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason dot 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. Visit them online of Jason dot mortgage.

We are coming to live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Let's go now to the Power West Industries hotline. Our next guest joins us from MLB Network, Adnan Verk, here now. on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. What up, Adnan? Mike, Jason, a pleasure is always, fellas. As you know, I've been hustling with my book. Make sure you get it.

I hope it's available at p.c-a-amazon.a. Indigo. That's a file, essays, interviews, tails on the red carpet. On the cover is a blurb from none other than Oscar winner, J.K. Simmons, who has become a bit of a text buddy here because he is a massive Detroit Tigers fan. I mean, we must open with this. The Detroit Tigers fellas, this is unbelievable. 15 and a half game lead.

10 games as far as September 10th, and they're now second in the AL Central. This is historic. We've never seen this before. Fifteen game lead back in 1914. Bucky Dent, Yankees Red Sox. That was a 14 game lead. Unbelievable, this Tigers collapse. Much of the chagrin of my buddy, J.K. Simmons. Well, I would like to think that J.K. Simmons texts about the Detroit Tigers

like he teaches in whiplash. I was going to be my point, brof. Like, imagine his raids. If we've all seen what a great chameleon of an act. actor he is, but there's no better role than whiplash. I mean, he's just belittling and berating and punishing Miles Teller. Just imagine him doing that while watching the Detroit Tigers fall apart right now. And then most of our listeners are thinking about either the Mariners or the Blue Jays.

Let's talk about the Blue Jays first. How worried should fans be about this team right now? Normally, I think I'm a fairly guarded guy. I think I'm fairly cautious with these things. I'm at a 9 at a 10 if I'm a J's in terms of panic level. I'm dead serious because that one seat was so important, broft. They've never won a playoff game when they're Bo and Vlad. Now Bo's hurt, and there's no guarantees coming back anytime soon.

And you're not playing good baseball against the team. You could be facing the playoffs in the Boston Red Sox. And the Yankees are the best team in baseball since August 11th. I swear I was telling people, I said, just wait. They go, no, the Yankees are awful. The bullpen's horrible. They strike out too much. So this, they're that.

I've seen this like four years in a row now. The Yankees got up to a great start. They have this horrible swoon, and then they finish strong and then come playoff time, watch out. And since August 11th, they're the best team in baseball. They have now caught the Toronto Blue Jays. Both teams are in a dead heat. Thank God the Jays of the tiebreaker.

But it may not matter because I've never seen a year where schedule watching was so important. Yes, Cleveland has been awesome. They've won 15 of 17 games. They also at the All-Star Break had the easiest schedule in the second half of any team in baseball. And look at the Yankees. They're facing cupcakes.

got through that 12-game gauntlet, and they went seven and five. I said, wow, you went above 500 against four really good teams. And now it's like the White Tugs. Just beat them up. Judges hit in two home runs. Like, it's nobody's business, 51 homers, you know, only the fourth player ever, 50-plus home-run seasons. So I think that James spent serious trouble.

I mean, you've got to get this one seat. You've got to get this by, take a deep breath, figure things out. Otherwise, you go from being in first place much of the season, squandering it late, and then have to try to recover come playoff time in a wild card series in Toronto. It probably doesn't look good for Vladdy that he gets tossed out of a game on the same night where Aaron, Judge, and Cal Rally, I believe they each hit two home runs. And by the way, the big dumper, now the favorite to win MVP among odds makers. And for most of the year, it's been Aaron Judge and by a significant margin. But what Cal Raleigh has done lately has been so incredible that I think people are like, well, I think the voters are going to change their votes.

so all along bruff i said it's judge it's judge even like literally two days ago i'm like it's judge all the way he's got him he's going to be a batting champion and it 50 plus home runs two guys have done that in baseball history batting champion and 50 plus home runs and one of them was like jimmy fox in the 30s so i said it's judge he's got him on average by a wide margin okay average who cares about today game i got it he's got him by 100 points in on base percentage it's 50 points more than george springer who's second he's got him in slugging percentage by a hundred points he's got him in the fancy analytics stats WRC plus he's got him by 30

he's at 200 Raleigh's at 162 he's got him in F4 at 9.2 8.8 Raleigh every single number and yet after what I saw last night I go okay if Ralee gets to 62 or 63 all bets are off and I agree the odds makers now because Tom Breducci the very esteemed Tom Breducci

Sports Illustrated Fox Sports we've worked you the other day he again like me is it's judge all the way he said but if this guy hits 60 he's like watch out I'm like yeah because even as I tell you what judge is doing is historic, batting title, 50 plus home runs. Two guys have done it baseball history. 50 plus home runs four times.

Two guys who did it were juicers, Mark McGuire, Sammy Associated, the other one is Babe Ruth. But what Cal Rale is doing, if he had 63 home runs as a catcher, and the Mariners win their first division title since 2001, that's extraordinary. And this isn't like he catches half the time. He's a very durable guy who is a catcher 80 to 85% of the time. And I think it might be a story that's too irresistant. to say no to him. That Cal Raleigh will be the MVP. But you're right, it's an amazing race. Every day it keeps changing. We're speaking to Adnan

Verk from MLB Network here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Adnan, how do you explain what has happened to the Detroit Tigers over the last 30 days? So much really comes down to pitching, Mike. Sometimes it's as simple as that. They got Terrick Scoobled and a bunch of dudes. That's it. And this happened last year. Remember they had Derek Scobble and a bunch

of dudes. Yeah. They got the ALCS. AJ Hinch was able to ride all those guys. Jack Flaherter is in the area north of five his last six starts. He can't be a dependable number two starter. They thought Charlie Morton could be a guy for them. Charlie Martin was so bad. He was released. He now got signed by the Braves as a ceremonial move for what could be a final start, one, anything, whatever it is. Casey Mies, who I love. Great young kid. Number one, bad, draftical overall years ago has battled Tommy John with an all-star this year. Second half dreadful. ERA north of six,

his last five starts. So there's no starter after Scoobel. Bullpen looks tired. Vest yesterday is a guy who's been reliable for them. Even he couldn't keep it close. Scoobble, and I hate to say this, because he's the best pitcher in the American League. I hate to say this. But in a must-win game against Cleveland, that was a must-win two nights ago. Okay? You're going to that series, Detroit's narrowly clean the lead. You've got to win with your ace in the mound.

That's wind day. They had a two-nothing lead, and Scoobel gave it up. Can't happen. Now, I get it. He drilled David Frye in the face on that bunch attempt, and I get it. He was shook, right? There was a block right after that. You clearly was not himself.

I understand the human element of it. But fellas can't lose in your aces in the mail on a two-nothing game. of the seventh can't happen he leaves the game it's three two you're going to lose that game last day the offense was pitiful nothing one run Cleveland is hell one game up and I swear as of like a week ago you had that sense of inevitability whereas with the match the eight game losing streak I was like no I still think they're going to get the walk card you're like really am like yeah I still think they have more talent I don't like the reds and debacks are that scary of the giants the giants have now been mathematically eliminated the cardinals are about to be mullinger gone so it's a three horse race

whereas with Detroit fellas I swear by Sunday go this this is done like they're cooked like this is awful. You can tell. They have no confidence. They have no team leader. I mentioned they're pitching. Offensively, Riley Green's going to strike out over 200 times. Hobby Byers is an All-Stars at a terrible second half. Kerry Carpenter's a platoon player. Torkels isn't at a good season, but he's gone cold. The rest of the lineup,

nobody scares you. So the odd thing is this. I think Cleveland wins the division. Detroit will probably get the wild card because Houston loses the tie tiebreaker to every other team that they are chasing, and they don't look good, and they're finishing with six games in the road. From the A's, they go to the Angels, and

got swept in that series against Seattle and looked awful. How about this, that? Houston did not lead at any point in that three-game series in Seattle. 26 of 27 innings the Mariners had the lead. That was awesome if you're a Mariners fan. So I do think the Tigers will get the wild card, but only because the extras, I don't believe in either. This is so awesome, all these storylines going on.

Can I just say that? How good it is and what a postseason we're setting up for here? Jay, I totally agree. This was what baseball wanted. right? Anybody who says, why do you make sure walkers? Because this is what happens. You get more teams of the dance, more teams of the party. Imagine years ago, if it was just division champions, we wouldn't care less. I mean, okay, Jay's Yankees tied atop the east, that's interesting, who gets the one seat.

But having literally all these teams trying to crash the party. And like I said, Cleveland was dead in the water, and now it feels like a certainty they're going to win the division. It's unbelievable. Yeah, so I'll acknowledge this, I bucked up to pay for MLBTV so I could get every single game down the stretch. So I'm watching last, I'm just mainlining baseball at this point. So I'm watching the Astros get chewed up at the Sut. I'm like right on. A's are doing the business there.

That's great. Then I'm flipping over and I'm watching the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers go 11 last night. Clayton Kershaw is coming on in relief. I'm like, what is happening here? So with regards to the, with regards. I'm getting giddy thinking about the postseason. It's going to be incredible. Kershaw pitching out of the bullpen is hilarious because it says two things.

Like one, you know, how desperate the Dodgers are for any sort of arms. out of the pen because the injuries of Kurtz. I was like, I could pitch. Yeah, and he did, and good on him. And the Dodgers won that game, right? So let's start there, though, with the Diamondbacks who are making that late push to try and get in. So it's the Mets, one game

up on Diamondbacks and the Reds for the final wild card spot. The Mets have the Cubs right now in this series going on. The D-Bex, as I mentioned, have the Dodgers. The Reds have Pittsburgh, and the Reds had a dramatic late win yesterday, too. How do you see it playing out with those three teams? Who's going to get that

final wallet card spot in the NL. I'm glad you went to the Reds because again we were live last night when we network Mike watching that game and I was like schemes in the mound again it's windy forget about it and listen how selfless to see if he just went three innings he'd have an era sub two think of how many guys right if they're hitting 301 they're like I don't want to play the last day or they'll get one at bat okay I'm good I got a knock that's it we're done so the fact that skeins is like no I'm going to be I'm going to go like he went six strong innings the back of a run sub two ear a two or a two hundred plus strike

The guy's awesome. It's one of the great all-time seasons we've ever seen. And the Reds amazingly battled back. We're watching it live. Like, oh, my God, Tyler Stevenson was at that point, four-for-four-four, it's a game-tying home run. Three, all the Reds are back in it. But then give love to the Pirates.

Like, to Jason's point, it's so much fun seeing these teams crash the party. But I love a good spoiler. How about for Pittsburgh? You're 20 games under 500, but screw you. We're going to knock the Reds out of the playoffs. They're playing with fire out there. It's awesome to see. And they win that game four, three and 11th.

So that felt like a bad loss for the Reds. Two nights ago, the Mets were down by five. They have not come back to win a game down by five in two and a half years. And they came back, Francisco Overs' home run. He's going nuts to the around's first base. I'm like, alright, let's go Mets. And like Edwin Diaz, six out saves Carlos Mendoza's managing for his life. It's amazing.

Mets lose last night. Again, you feel like they come back down to Earth. They've got one starter they can rely on, and he's a rookie. It's Nolan McLean who goes today on MLB Network. He's their Nolan Ryan. He's the one guy they can rely on. Kodai sang in the minors, Mania comes out of the bullpen,

all the guys that they could rely on. No, it's down to this kid who's been great so far. And then there's Arizona who just won't go away. Arizona is a team that kind of forget about it. You got out of debacks. They're still right there. They're one game back. They traded the deadline.

Meryl Kelly got dealt to Texas. They were sellers, and yet they're still hanging out because Ketel Marte is such a great player, and their pitching has been really strong. So I feel like, to me, Mike, it's Mets or Reds, but shame on me if I disparars the debacks because they're right there as well.

The Dodgers last October. had the ability to flip the switch and turn it on. Do you think that the Dodgers can turn it on in October again as they did last season? I'm skeptical. I'm going to be honest with you. If I had a World Series pick right now, I'm going Phillies. And Phillies, I was worried about once they lost Zach Wheeler, but they still

have great pitchers with Christopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, and I feel like Aarono hopefully can step up, and their offense can bang. For God's sakes, Schwarz has got 56 home runs, like another great game from last night, two homer game. With L.A., that bullpen is awfully concerning. In the month of September, they're apparently fifth in starters ERA,

but they're the fourth worst bullpen ERA. Tanner Scott, who's their closure, who's getting double-digit money per year, is getting over $10 million year to be a closer, and was incredible a season ago, literally said this two weeks ago, said baseball hates me right now. I was aghast. I mean, even if you feel that, you can't say that publicly. You just say, we're going to grind through this thing.

It happens. He looks shell-shock. And, like, as a closer, I get it. I have empathy. A pitcher is a lonely spot in the mound. But that's one of those if I'm a team, and I'm a kid. You can't say that, bro. Like, if you lost the game mentally, we're done.

You can have like, hey, I'm in this thing. And privately, we'll figure this out. We'll get you a psychologist. We'll work on different things. Your mechanics. Like, dude, if the closure is like baseball age right now, like, I just suck. I'm like, oh, God. And Kershaw, again, to your guy's point, he voluntarily went to Dave.

Because, hey, I can be a guy of the bullpen. Dave, like, okay, sounds good, because I'm going to need you. That's how bad it looks right now. None of the guys that they thought they could depend on have worked out. And that's the problem with bullpins. they're so Volvo from year to year. So I'm not totally sold in the Dodgers. I know what they're going to say.

Hey, in a wild card series, we don't have to pitch all those starters who are electric. So we'll use Otani for game one and Snell for game two and Yelamoto game three. Glass now goes in the bullpen. Kirshan on the bullpen. Sheen in the bullpen. We'll figure it out.

Okay, might work for a round or two. It certainly has in the past. But I don't think they've got the juice to go all the way. Adnan, with all the baseball excitement, like, we've also got a new Leo DeCate. Caprio movie that's getting great. Have you seen it yet? Are you so important that you would get invited to the,

I think there was the world premiere in L.A. Earlier in the month. And is it widely released tomorrow? Is it one battle after another? Like, because this, like, I couldn't be more excited for this movie too. I'm very excited about life these days. I bet to say you and I share a brain because nothing gets me more excited than playoff baseball and a new P.T. Anderson movie.

And yes, Leo is the head. Lider. He's an incredible actor. I love him. But for me, Paul Thomas Anderson is as good a director is working today. And I say that as a guy who wasn't crazy about liquor's pizza at last film. But if you look at this filmography, whether it's Boogie Nights, Magnolia, there will be blood, the master. These are some of the great films of the last 15, 20 years. So when I heard P.T. Anderson and Leo, I'm like, okay, okay, that sounds good. And then the early buzz was action comedy. I go, huh, that's not really what Pete T. Anderson does, whatever. And then I heard, oh, it's a much more commercial film. It's not really going to be one winning awards. Like, whatever, we'd all like to enjoy a good popcorn movie. The reviews have been so robust. It's gone from, yeah, it's a commercial movie, but it's so brilliant. It's one of his best movies. I'm like, oh, my God. This is now going to be a true Oscar contender, two hours and 47 minutes. I have my IMAX ticket bought for 3.30 p.m. Eastern tomorrow, so I will give you guys a full review next week, but I'm with you 100% Jay.

I'm beyond hype. I just hear P.T. Anderson, and then you're throwing a little Leo. I'm like, I'm in. And the buzz is like it's 98% right now rotten tomatoes. They're easily calling it one of the best pictures of the year. Imagine how exhausting filming there will be blood was. especially for Paul Dano. Hey, we're going to kick your butt again.

Okay, Dina Eilis is just going to absolutely mall you here in this scene. You get with that? Okay, action. Oh, man. Adnam, this was great, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do this. As always, we appreciate it.

Enjoy the last few days of the regular season. When we do this next time, we'll finally be there, MLB playoffs. And in honor of there will be blood, I drink your milkshake. I drink it up. See you, pal. Thanks, Adnan. Thanks, boys.

Take care. Adnan, Verk from MLB Network here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. There are some movies that are exhausting to watch. Like every Paul Thomas Anderson movie? There Will Be Blood was one of them. I would say Apocalypse Now was tough, and the deer hunter was very tough. I've never been a huge PTA guy only because he's an amazing director only because I've never had fun ever watching one of his movies. I mean, even boogie nights.

I mean, I had his moments. But it was still like... Yeah, exactly. So like, I'm excited to be able to go see an amazing director make an entertaining movie for a change because he doesn't really do many of those. And the fact that it's still at 98% after all those reviews is just incredible. Do you think the scene in Boogie Nights with Sister Christian playing

and the kids setting off the fireworks and they're thinking about ripping this guy off, do you think that was one of the most stressful scenes in movie history? Everyone sweats when they're watching that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. It's a good song, though. That's a great song.

Oddly underrated song. Great director, tough to watch films. Very excited for one battle after another. It looks like it's going to be incredible. So when I saw the first trailer for this, and this was in the early stages of the release, it was positioned as a way different movie. Yeah. It was like more slapstick in comedy.

Yeah. Well, I mean, it's the consensus review on Rodton, me, is like the summary of, like, what they're calling it is like a screwball adventure. Right. Although it still has tons of violence and it. action almost in like a Tarantino-esque way where it's like comedy action. Because you look at the trailers now. If you look at

the trailers now, it's totally being repackaged as a more like serious film. Whereas in the again, I remember watching the first trailer and it was like it almost made DiCaprio to be like this sort of like conspiracy riddled kook and there was like funny music playing in the background. I think it's using screwable action comedy as like a way to sort of mask

or lower the stakes in what is a very heavy subject matter that he's trying to handle because it's very topical. of what's happening right now, especially in the United States, just politically. So I think he's using the comedy aspect of that to maybe, you know, make it easier to watch and dissect. But, I mean, the reviews have been just, yeah, lights out. Like they're saying this is like a surefire best picture nominee, if not winner, for the next Oscar season.

Okay, let's do a quick reset here because we're honing in on a midway point of the show. It's a very busy time in the world of sports. We've been on the air for an hour and a half. Haven't really talked much at all about the big Thursday night football game tonight, Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals are going to do battle in Arizona. The Seahawks have drawn me in again. Seahawks are two and one on the year. So two are the Arizona Cardinals.

So it's a big game for NFC West standings and jockeying. Seahawks are a one and a half point road favorite. We're going to speak next to Brady Henderson, our Seahawks insider from ESPN. I mentioned this yesterday. Seahawks are the only team in the National Football League right now that have not allowed a rushing touchdown this season. They are the best run defense in the NFL. Now, through three weeks. you have to say a lot of that probably has to do

with the opponents that you're playing as opposed to how stout your run defense is but it's still some pretty nice feathers in the cap of that defense. So we'll talk to Brady about that at 7.30. 8 o'clock we're going to go to Abbotsford. Brandon Astell, the play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks is going to join us.

The Vancouver Canucks last night were in Abbotsford, a 3-1 exhibition win over the Calgary Flames and a lot of the guys that starred during that Abbotsford Connucks Calder Cup playoff run a year ago did the business last night. So we'll talk to Brandon about that at 8 o'clock. At 8.30, we're going to do what we learned, humanoid edition.

So start getting yours in now, if you haven't already. Dunbar Limer text line is 650, 650. Tell us, what did you learn over the last 24 hours in sports? Hashtag it, W.W.L. And finally, before we go to break, I need to tell you about the BC Lions. It's another season of hard hits, heated rivalries, and non-stop entertainment for tickets. Visit BCLions.com and get ready to

roar as one. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. I drink your milkshake. I drink it up. Hey, it's Big Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets. Weekdays 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650

or wherever you get your podcast. 7.30 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. It's just so aggressive. It sure is. 7.30 on a Thursday. We don't... Brum in a metal concert. Could you turn it down, please?

My ears heard. Do you have any ballots? I wouldn't be there at 7.30 in the morning. Ruff asking him to turn the amp down just a scooch? Just the scooch? I have reached that age, especially at Canucks games. Man, they play the music loud. They do.

Like really loud. Oh, yeah. I think I'm going deaf. It could be because I'd be nice. Yeah. We had a little 650 company. mixer thing on Monday. Yeah.

And there was a lot. Thanks to the invite, by the way. You weren't invited. There was a lot of noise. There was a lot of things going on. Yeah. Drans and Dodd were doing their show. There was music playing.

The conversations that I, people must have thought, they're like, why is that, why is that gentleman yelling at me? Yeah. Because I just, I talk a loud voice. But I have to amplify it even more. For yourself to hear your voice? And I also assume everyone is as deaf as I am. Because I can't hear anything.

My dad's got hearing aids. And sometimes I'm jealous that he can just go, Turn it off. I don't want to hear anything anymore. Power down. You are listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees to learn how.

Visit sands dash trustee.com. We are in our two of the program with the midway point of the show. Brady Henderson's going to join us for some Seahawks talk here in just a moment. Hour two of this program is brought to by Jason Homunuck, the most medal of all the mortgage brokers. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason the most metal of all the mortgage brokers shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Visit them online at jason. com. To the phone lines we go, Brady Henderson, our Seahawks insider from ESPN joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Gordon Brady, how are you? What's up, fellas? I'm going to talk really loudly, really enunciate.

Make sure you can both hear me. I can hear you loud and clear, but I appreciate you making the extra. extra effort for me. That's nice. Yeah. Of course. It's very nice. Brady just wants to get this game out of the way so you can watch the Rider Cup this weekend. Oh, I'm pumped. I've got to tell you.

The schedule cannot have worked out better with a Thursday night game. That means your boy has the weekend off to do nothing but watch golf. Maybe play a little golf as well. Do you think it's going to be, before we get to the Seahawks, do you think it's going to be chaos in New York? Like, I feel like the crowd is going to be a factor and it might go over the line a little bit. Yeah.

I mean, yeah, I think there's always that danger at the Ryder Cup. And, yeah, I don't, I don't too. Why not? I mean, it's the New York crowd. I think that when, what was it, when Brooks Kepka won his major out there, you know, wasn't even the crowd giving it to him as an American out there. And so when he was winning the tournament. So, yeah, when you talk about a Ryder Cup when it's already crazy,

as it is, yeah, I think it's got a very, very strong opportunity to do that. Terrell Hatton's going to have a big, big temper tantrum out there with a lot of swearing. Okay, let's get... I mean, yeah, Rory, it hits a lot of, yeah, a lot of opportunities. Okay, let's get to the Seahawks game. How do you see this one? Are the Seahawks the favorites in this one, or is it pretty even to you? Well, I think they're the betting favorites by a point and a half.

I don't know if that line has changed since all the final injury report came out, but they're going to be missing some guys, or at least there's a chance they're going to be missing some guys. They will get David Witherspoon and Julian Loveback, which is pretty big for their secondary, but Charbonnet is questionable. Anthony Bradford is questionable, and Boy and Maffei are questionable as well.

Now, Charbonnet was listed as a full participant all three days this week for whatever that means because they didn't practice. on Monday, and I think Tuesday was just a walk-through. I can't imagine they did a whole lot yesterday, either, before hopping on a plane. So I don't know exactly what to make of that, but Mike gut tells me that he's got a really good chance of playing,

but, look, their depth has really gotten tested over these first, you know, a few weeks, and we'll see if that can continue, but I think at full strength, these teams are fairly evenly matched. I would give an edge to the C-Oxious because of

I think they have an edge in top-ed-ed talent, especially now that James Connor is down. And the other weird part about it is this is a road game. And as we know, the Seahawks are just for whatever reason a better team on the road, and they've obviously had a lot of success in this building. So, yeah, I would say the Seahawks are the favorites here, but you just don't know how much the injuries are going to be the equalizer. Well, the road success might have ended now that the Seahawks had a dominant win at Lumen, right?

Like, we might be reversed now. You know, I remember not too long ago when we worried about the defensive line being able to get past pressure and we worried about the offensive line with past protection and creating gaps for the running backs. Now I'm feeling pretty good about both. Do I have a right to feel good about both? I think so, yeah. I mean, when was the last time you watched the Seahawks team through three games and didn't think of the offensive line as being this big, you know, question mark or big weakness? Obviously, the run game is not, it's not near where they want it to be.

And, you know, it's hard to fathom. You know, they were pretty good, I thought, in Pittsburgh game, at least at the second half. But then the run game has not really consistently been there. but how many times have you watched Seahawks seasons get sunk by an offensive line that just can't hold up in pass protection? And I really think that you are seeing, and I've talked about this, and I'm going to sound like a broken record, I apologize, but I really think that you are seeing the scheme help out the offensive line here

where, yeah, they got some personnel boosts. Like, Grace Abel looks like a stud. Abe Lucas is healthy, and Charles Cross is a year more mature, I mean, Anthony Bradford, I think he's playing okay. We'll see if he plays in this game. But I think it's also the fact that they're not lining up in shotgun 80% of the time. They're not passing the ball as often as they are.

So I think that's the big reason why Sam Donald has only been sacked three times is because the scheme is really keeping defense on us. And then, you know, Donald is really doing his part. And that was a big question that, you know, we talked about a few times, that, you know, how decisively can he play, you know, given some of the past struggles to do that. Well, he's getting the ball out in 2.7 seconds on average. That's the 10th fastest average time before throw in the NFL. And he was in mind he was 34th last season in Minnesota. Now, part of that last year was, that was kind of a downfield

offense. And he was taking a lot of downfield shots to Justin Jefferson. And he was able to do that until he wasn't until his offensive line fell apart. So that's really going to be this big thing for him throughout the season is how fast can he play? He's doing a really good job of that. By the way, great article up right now from Brady on ESPN.com is the Seattle Seahawks new offense working. You got some great anecdotal stuff in here as well. So you asked the question about the new offense. And at least on paper, there have been notable improvements. And it's week over week two. Like week one wasn't great. Week two, it got better. Week three, it really exploded. So what were your findings when asking the question? Is the new Seattle Seahawks

offense working? Well, I didn't write that headline. Just to be clear, I'm thinking I've got to send an email to get that change. But, yeah, I really just, you know, I took kind of a dive into the numbers. We got this great database of ESPN where we can, you know, look at all the different, you know, rates of shotgun versus under center and play action and all that stuff. And I think the big takeaway from the story and just from watching Kubiak is he, is really like a

kind of Ryan Grubbs' polar opposite and I don't think that that is necessarily a coincidence. I think it was really difficult on Mike McDonald last season to have his offense be run that way with all of the running or excuse me

all of the throwing as much as they drop back as much as they did that out of shotgun and that's just not the style of offense that I think McDonald wants to play and so you have you have you know where as I mentioned in in the story there like you know grubb was a guy who would never really he'd never coached in the NFL and this was a brand new scheme that they were trying to make work in the NFL whereas Kubiak is running one of the more established schemes in the NFL and again it's you know a run heavy scheme that gets on their center and play actions and all that so I think I don't think it's a coincidence that Kubiak is in many ways kind of the antithesis of his predecessor there.

Okay, he answered this perfectly, and you mentioned Ryan Grubb like three times. Ryan Grubb's got a big game at Georgia. You have mentioned this on a number of occasions, and I know you're, you know, Farrant's balanced reporting and everything, but give me a sense.

How dismayed were people with the Ryan Grub experience now that it's over and done with? Because it sure sounds like a lot of people weren't happy with the way that he called plays last year. Well, yeah, I think there's a lot of excitement locally when he got hired. Because everybody had just seen him at UW for the last few years.

Sure. You know, that UW offense with Michael Pennix, Jr. was just lighting the scoreboard up. And so I think there was plenty of exciting. I mean, there was obviously a ton of carryover between the fan bases and even the non-U-DUV fans had seen what he had done. And so I think there was a lot of excitement.

I don't know if, you know, I don't think this was one of those cases where, you know, every week the fan base is calling for Grubb to be fired. I think there were just enough kind of problems on offense to where I don't think a lot of people necessarily pinned it on the coordinator. I think Gino Smith was the much more divisive figure among fans than Ryan Grub was. But I think internally, it was way more difficult than it was. And from what I've heard, there were kind of some personality clashes there,

I would say that Ryan Grubb kind of clashed with some people and maybe some of his bedside manner rubbed people the wrong way and obviously just the simple factor the matter is when you got a defensive-minded head coach like Mike McDonald you're going to want to run the ball

a lot more than he did and it's really, you know, I think I mentioned it in the story that Ryan Grubb was able somehow to convince Mike McDonald that he was going to throw the ball or that he was going to run the ball a lot more than he did and that just didn't come to fruition. And I think a part of this, I don't think I got into this part in the

story. But remember, McDonald was hired pretty late in the process last year. So by the time he got hired at the end of January, well, now it's early February when they start looking at offensive coordinators. By that point, the pickings were kind of slim. And so I don't know if they had a ton of viable alternatives to grub. And I do think, actually, I know that that was a big reason why they ended up with it. We're speaking to Brady Henderson, our Seahawks Insider from ESPN here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I want to turn our attention back to the defensive side of the football. So I think I've mentioned this like four times now.

Seahawks are the only team in the NFL right now that haven't allowed a rushing touchdown this season. I think it's 3.2 yards per care they're giving up on the ground. I think the longest run they've given up and actually physically handing off the ball, run from scrimmage is 13 yards. The run defense is great. Now that I've said this, Arizona is probably going to score four rushing touchdowns tonight and run for 400 yards. but if they don't, if they don't, how much conversation and focus has there been

specifically this week about that defensive line and the job that the Seahawks are doing against the run this year so far? Yeah, that came up, and I think it came up in the context of this time last year. Remember, they were 3-0 in Michael McDonald's first three games, but it was kind of a precarious 3-0 because the run defense, you could see some real cracks in there. And then obviously they busted wide open and they went on that losing streak and they swapped out their inside linebackers, you know,

cutting Terrell Dodson, trading Jerome Baker for Ernest Jones. And then, you know, it really took that personnel boost and kind of getting more comfortable in the scheme to really turn the defense back around to where they ended up, you know, as good as they were by the end of the season. But it was, you know, there was that stretch in there where they really could not stop the run. well through three games this year they're excellent at stopping the run and uh i think it's i think they they would say that that is in large part due to how connected they're playing and i think this also translates to how they're rushing excuse me we hear a lot about how they're playing is

one and uh how that is allowing their rush to um you know their pass rush to generate pressure despite only using four guys and they're one of the you know lower blitzing rate teams in the NFL and they're still doing a decent job of getting to the quarterback. And so I think that same idea is kind of translating to run defense. And guys talk all the time about how, you know, a lot of times when you're giving up yards in the run game, it's not always because you're just physically getting beat. It's because guys aren't being assignment sound and they will try to do too much or they'll try to do someone else's job as opposed to just trusting that the guy next to them is going

to get the job done and really being assignment sound. And it sounds like that's a big part of what they're doing. They also happen to have some dudes up front now. And, you know, Byron Murphy is one of those guys who's emerging. You know, is, you know, unproductive as he was as a pass rusher last year, I think a lot of people didn't realize he was really good against the run, and he's still really good against the run. And you've just, you got a lot of other guys up front, too,

who are doing their jobs, but they're, you know, they're really trusting, I think, the system and trusting the guy next to. them. Brady, did the Seahawks find a player in the fifth round in Torrey Horton? Yeah, they did. They did. And, you know, look, there's a lot of guys who will be kind of flashes in the pan in the summer.

You know, you got your preseason hero every year, it seems like. But with Tori Horton, it felt like this, like it was built for last, you know, just with, because it wasn't like he was just, he popped up in a game here and there. I made a few plays. It was consistently in training camp once he got back on the field. I mean, it was very clear that this rookie fifth round pick is better than this, you know, veteran that you signed, this guy who, you know, won Super Bowls and had been kind of a big name as an NFL receiver in Marquez-Baldos-Cantling.

And so, yeah, it's pretty cool to see what he's doing as a fifth-round pick. Now, obviously, if he doesn't have that, you know, pretty serious leg injury last season and miss most of his final season at Colorado State. You're probably talking about, you know, maybe a third, maybe a second round pick kind of guy. So I don't think the talent is really in question. But, you know, I think the thing for him is, can he stay healthy?

I think he sounds like he has a very good head on his shoulders and he's not a guy who's going to let the early success go to his head. I think the question is, you know, can a guy with a slighter frame and some injury history, can you keep it going? And if he does, boy, look out, he just looks like a real, real stud of a player. Seahawks special teams in general have been very good, especially over the last two weeks. It was a performance for the ages against the Saints.

But even if you go back to that Pittsburgh game, there was the heady play on the kick return that ended up in the touchdown off the kickoff. And that's been another thing where, you know, maybe if the offense isn't necessarily rolling, they found other ways to get big plays on defense and, of course, on special teams. Yeah, well, remember So they had the They had the blocked punt by De Anthony Bell Who had since earned a promotion to the active roster They had obviously that the Tori Horton

95-yard punt return for a touchdown And look, whenever a guy returns a punt that long There's a lot of guys doing some really good work And if you watch that play I mean, it's one excellent block after another And then, you know, Chad Serrat blows up the punter And they're really spring in there You know, they also had the long kickoff return

by Dorek Young later in that game. And I don't remember the last time seeing a special team performance that was that thoroughly dominant. And so, you know, Jay Harville, I think some people, you know, whenever you've got like a coach's son who's coaching in the NFL, you know, I think Kyle Shanahan has kind of fought this perception throughout his career.

The assumption is that, oh, well, you're a Nepo baby and, you know, you got the easy road there. Jay Harbaugh can coach now. And you didn't necessarily see it all last. year because they had some struggles at the return game with guys putting the ball on the ground, but Jay Harbaugh is a really good coach, and Mike McDonald swears by him, and, you know, you just see it. And when you see that many key blocks getting sprung and you see, like, some disciplined

decisions there, remember, Nehemiah Pritchett, like, that play could have very easily been called back right at the point of return if Nehemiah Pritchett doesn't lay up on the gunner like you did. So to me, that's good coaching, and Jay Harbaugh is a fantastic coach. All right, let's get this game out of the way, and then you can play some golf and watch some golf. Brady, I would say good luck to the Americans, but I will be cheering for Europe, and we will reconvene next week.

Yeah, let's do it. I cannot wait to talk about this one. I can't wait to watch it, too. See you, pal. Try the game tonight, Brady. Thanks. Brady, Henderson, Seahawks, Insider, here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. A reminder, it's a 515 kickoff.

Tonight, SportsNet 650, you're home of the Seattle. Seahawks. Seahawks are slim, slim one and a half point road favorites in Arizona tonight. Can I do an early what we learned? Sure. Because a few people, one person texted in and kind of made fun of the idea that the crowd at the rider cup is going to be intense. And maybe that person doesn't really know the reputation for New York golf crowds and also

the Ryder Cup. I learned that the European team practiced while wearing virtual. reality headsets that mimicked intense crowd noise and what were deemed below the belt insults. So like they were

I don't know if it was like on a simulator or something or they were wearing these on the course probably not on the course probably in a simulator but like you would hear people yelling at you like it was like jackass or whatever language. Who got to program this? I would want to be part

of the team that got to like so fun fun so fun like and uh you know there are i know i know the broadcasters are a little bit worried and i think the organizers are a little bit worried that it's going to go too far well morcawa was openly i know he was calling on the fans to get rowdy and get crazy and cause chaos yeah but like you don't want crowds yelling when guys are in the back swing or the down swing right like you don't like that's that's BS right yeah i've feel like, but I feel like that's what's going to happen. Hey, he's swinging here.

Yeah. Who's that? Some New York guy, I guess. Tell him the crowd to be quiet. I, it's actually pretty good. Give the guy some, give him a second or two. Got to let him finish his play here. Come on.

Keep going. Do you think about what you're going to say? I didn't know where this character came out. It's hard to do that accent without swearing, so I'm not trying to think of what I can say. It's such an inspired character. I think that's how it's going to end up. I really do. I think that the combination of factors at play here

between the president making an appearance on the Friday, the U.S. team urging on the fans to make it as rowdy as possible. Some of the personalities on the Europe team. The European team leaning into their role in all of this is very important. It's a very important thing because there's two ways that you can go. Luke Donald's laying it on a bit thick now with the, oh, the American players are getting paid and that sort of thing.

There's two ways you can, when narratives get formed and it becomes the sort of classic black hat, white hat, good versus evil. You become the foil to your opposition. Like a distinct opposite, as opposed to being a neutral. Because you can come in and you just be like, we're here to play golf, right? We're here to win a golf match.

That's it. Yeah. And, you know, you can, you can, you can just be very, very non-confrontational and you can go without having any controversy. When you lean into being a particular character or the foil to the Americans, you are playing your part in it.

You are. I just feel like this might be one of these tournaments where after the tournament is over, you're like, we need to do something about this. Do you remember the, what's it, the waste management? Sure. I still call it the Phoenix Open, right? Yep, yep.

it kind of got out of control a couple of years ago, and this year they had to dial it back. Sure. This could be the one that could do that for sure. It's a tempest in a teapot, as they like to say. Yeah. Anyway. You're getting a lot of golf talk,

and I don't care because this is going to be, this is going to be an amazing sports weekend. It is. By the way. It honestly starts on Friday with the Canucks Exhibition game, and I know exhibition games aren't always high-profile events, but aren't we all curious to see? what Elias Pedersen looks like,

even in an exhibition game. Assuming he plays. Yeah, I think he will. I think he will. I think, you know, Quinn Hughes will play. I think Petterson's going to play. Van der Kaine is going to play.

Brock Besser, probably. And, you know, I want to see what the power play looks like when it sets up. I'm not expecting Pedersen to all of a sudden be the old Pedersen again. But, hey, I'm also not going to say, like, it means,

nothing how he looks on Friday, I think most of us would like to see some semblance of energy and let's use the trance word juice. Like let's see some juice in those legs. I'd like to see him move his feet. That'd be nice. Move your feet. Yeah. I want to see that. Have juicy

feet out there. Yeah. Have some juicy feet. Make some juicy plays. And so so we've got we've got that. We've got the Rider Cup and football. I mean, it's the final weekend of the MLB regular season. I do. Yeah.

We'll see how the Jay's finished this season. We'll see who makes the playoffs. Man, it's going to be a crazy. Sports are going crazy right now. I love it when they do that. Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the program. As a matter of fact, we have the final hour of the program to get in the books. We are going to go out to Abbotsford,

the scene of a win last night for your Vancouver Canucks 3-1 in exhibition action over the flames last night. The play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks, Brandon Astell is going to join the program at 8. At 8.30, we're going to do what we learns. Ours and the Humanoids, get yours in. Dunbar-Lumber text line is 650-6-50. Hashtag it WWL and tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports. One final hour to go, don't change the dial.

You're listening to the Halford & Breath Show on Sportsnet, 650. Hey, he's swinging here. Yeah. Who's that? Give him a second or two. Let me finish his play here.