Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Blue Jays Are Favourites To Get To The World Series

Episode Date: October 9, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat all things baseball playoffs with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (1:41), plus they preview Sunday's Seahawks matchup at Jacksonville, as ESPN's Brady Henderson (25:43) joins the show. 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 Adnan. It's Adnan Furkey's on the show. We're going to talk some baseball and take a trip to the silver screen. That's right, it's time for Adnan. Yes, Adnan Furkey joins us now. We'll head out to the ball game and talk about all the films he's seen. 7.05 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody.

Halford and Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brub in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal beat you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. This is them online at Sands. That's trustee.com. We're now in 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. Our two is bradded by Jason hominock at jason.orgia.

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 at jason.orgage. What a time to be alive for baseball fans. You get another pair of potential series ending games today and tonight. You got the Cubs, you got the Brewers, you get the Dodgers, you get the Phillies, you get the J's punching their ticket to the ALCS yesterday. First time in nine years. they're going to the American League Championship Series. There's so much to talk about. So without further ado, let's bring our next guest on

from MLB Network, Adnan Verk, here now live on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Adnan. How are you? I'm doing great, Mike, Jason. I was got to be there in the Bronx last night and watch the Jays clinch and be on the field and talk to the likes of Addison Barger and, of course, Vlad Jr., and Alejandro Kirk

and Anthony Santander, and Ernie Clement, who might be one of the great stories of this Blue Jay season. What a win for Toronto. I win it for very exciting to see. And a ton of Jay's fans in attendance. I was there on the field for an hour afterwards, still getting interviews, and you could still hear the Jay's fans there, chanting, screaming, singing in El Canada at one point.

Great night for Jay's baseball. What did you think of the Jay's not just advancing to the ALCS, but the way that they did it in game four? Well, the funny thing was, Mike, everybody was talking for the game, you know, seeing Jay's media, my old buddy, Dan Shulman, and I met a son Ben Shulman and other people there. We all kept saying the Jay's best chance to win the series was games three and game five. I said, bullpen game in the Bronx, that does not auger well.

We all know this entire season, the biggest concern for the Jays has been their bullpen. So the fact that they were able to win that game that night in that fashion to me was incredibly impressive. I really can't say now because I'm like, you know, if you win the game three, you've got momentum, you win three straight, Rodon. didn't pitch well. The Jays really just murdered lefties this season, like, all good. Instead, the Yankees climbed up the map. They come back, you know, for 6-1 deficit, eight runs unanswered, and they've got momentum. And Cam Schlittler was unbelievable the last performance he had against the Red Sox. And Schlittler was really good again last

night. But like the Jays used that many different pitchers and mix and match with, like I said, a much malign bullpen, which has been much better in the month of September, and then they get just enough offense, Vlad driving in the first run again. Obviously, Coment's a great story. Dalton Varsher, et cetera. I just really think, clearly, Mike, if you watched that series, the Blue Days were clearly the better team. Like, they and the Yankees both may have had 94 wins,

but the Jays out hit them. They were better in all facets of the game, clearly. How impressive was the composure the Jay showed to come back and have that performance in game four at Yankee Stadium after it did look a little bit like they lost their composure in game three? yeah I mean especially after some of the wonky defense right like after that's what I mean yeah that kind of felt like what happened yeah that's what kind of happened to the Yankees last year right

jay it was like you know when judge dropped the ball in game five and all of a sudden bullphee doesn't cover and garrick cole and all the rest of you go okay that's kind of what it felt like for the jays at the Yankee stadium like just a couple of miscus and all of a sudden when it rains it pours and you know i saw john schneider yesterday before the game and he was asked that question about how the jays free group after that kind of loss how tough can it and he's like, listen, this is a tough team. This is a Brazilian bunch of guys. We've overcome adversity before.

But I'm with you. I'm like, if ever there was a time, the Yankees were going to push back, it was like, hey, you know, you kind of got the Jay's heads a little bit. It came down from five runs, for God's sakes. Judge, their best player hits a Titanic home run. I still don't know how he hit that home run. A hundred miles an hour high and tight and somehow keeps it fair. It was ridiculous.

And again, they've got Schlittler going, who did a dozen strikeouts. The last time he faced a team, which was against the Red Sox. And again, last night, I didn't have many cases. but didn't give up a walk, because this guy's a stud. Because the Jays are kind of take a deep breath, because you know in your head it starts to become part of that psyche. Oh, God, here we go again.

If we lose this game four behind Schlitler, our bullpens, well, the gas, game five. Okay, we feel good at home, but you never know. The Yankees seems good if they win three straight, blah, blah, blah. For them to be able to go, hey, you know what? We gagged in a five-run leave. It happens. We're going to win this thing. And they did full credit to them.

How much can a game like that? Like, what can it do for a team? I went old man mode yesterday, and I was talking about, the Roberto Alamar home run in the 1992 ALCS and how that was considered like a pivotal moment for the Jays when they went for a team with a reputation as as chokers and they went from chokers if you want to be cliche about it chokers to champions right now they still had to beat the Braves in the World Series but you know it

it was getting over the hump and actually winning an ALCS as opposed to just getting there that made them champions you know they they they They went into it. It was also on the road in Oakland, and I think that performance at Yankee Stadium last night could serve them well going forward. No, no question about it, Jay. By the way, I met Dennis Eckers three years ago.

When I met him, I said, I'm sorry, I'm from Toronto, and he merely shook his name to call that Albar home run. He told me it was worse than the Gibson home, right? Really? I was like, oh, wow. Because he said, he goes, we hated the Js so much. There was genuine animosity with both those teams, and Robbie celebrated with such gleeve,

so it was a, that is an unbelievable moment. home run by Alamo. And by the way, interviewed Chris Berman on our hockey podcast yesterday, me and Jason DeBurz, too. And Boomer in talking about nicknames, I see, he goes, you've got give me some Blue Jus nicknames. He said, you know, I'm a big history guy. Roberto Remember the Alamar, which is

one of his favorite nicknames of a Blue Jay player. But regardless, yeah, those kind of moments, you know, I talked to Vlad last night, and I said, you know, have you seen the replays of the home run you hit? Like, he goes, I haven't seen it yet. He goes, I'll enjoy now the series is over. But, like, hey, they can take a minute or two to now kind of said, look at what we've

done. These guys know what all the noise has been. Maybe not chokers, but certainly underachievers. That's been the label for this Blue Jays team for the last six, seven years. Our first time the ALCS in 2016, but you had yet to win a playoff game in the Vlad Jr. Bobuchette era. Now, I was like, okay, we won a series. Like, we beat the Yankees, all right? Like, we had 94 wins, so did they.

We beat them head to head. This is a team that represented the American League in the World Series last year. They won the pennant, and we own them, right? Like, ultimately, we won this series Burned Square. No matter what, now the Jays are the favorites. Like, I don't know how the Mariners beat the Tigers or Derek Scoobled in the mound, right? So I'm like, the Jays are the favorites to

go back to the World Series first time since 93. And, okay, they'll be underdogs against the Dodgers or the Phillies. Brewers might be favored. But regardless, it's like, hey, man, like, they've got some mojo now. And again, I just saw a snippet of it last night, watching that game and them being there, but they've got

a certain feeling about them. And you could tell, I mean, even John Schneider started the champagne celebration. start spreading the news. Little knock there against the Yankees who's playing Franks and Entra and New York, they've got a certain vibe about them right now and again, it's a really plucky team, right?

These Davis Schneiders and these early commenced and like these guys who have really been unsung heroes, but collectively they're a heck of a team and like I said, I think they're the favorites against the World Series now. We're speaking to Adnan, Verk from MLB Network here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650.

Adnan, so with regards to a bullpen game and I know that the Dodgers used it frequently last year on their run to the World Series. I think they had four bullpen games all told in the playoffs. But with regards to what the Jays and Schneider and P. Walker did yesterday, how much of that is meticulous planning and knowing what you want to execute and how much of it is gut feel, knowing what pockets and situations and flow of the game,

you need to get up and move a guy out and bring a guy in? Yeah, I think it's more planning and preparation. I do think you go through that and you go, all right, let's just figure this out, literally line by line, step by step. And John Small has been a great point in the broadcast. You know, the thought behind a bullpen game, the reason why can be really effective is that the hitters are constantly kept off balance. You know, normally when you're facing a pitcher, you so it cannot wait to face him the third time.

I've got a little bit of memory storage now. What he did to be the first time when you did in the second time. You're just facing a different dude every single time. And like they're only going inning, inning in the third. That's it. So that's why it's really hard for the hitters. Now, of course, the challenge for the pitchers is you're relying on like eight different guys to get you to the win. If one guy falters, you're dead.

That's it. One link in that chain falls apart. And so I can really see the challenge for both teams. I don't think it's particularly sexy as a baseball fan watching a bullpen game. I'll be honest. Like, I'd rather I start to go out there and go deep in the game to me. That's more exciting. But I do recognize the construction and the artistry of a bullpen game.

Like, it really is a fascinating. You know, baseball is a team sport, but it's built on individual matchups. It is pretty cool to say, okay, look at all these individual matches. We're just, you know, doddle a little Mason Flew Hardy here, a little Saranthi Dominguez here, a little Rodriguez, here, a little here, a little pusher here. Like, it's pretty cool to see how, like, you know, managers to map that all out. And I'm glad you mentioned Pete Walker, Mike. He's a great job.

Obviously, John Schneider, much-a-lawed manager a year ago. Now he's going to be top three manager of the year. Pete Walker is a hell of a pitching coach. Everyone knows what he's done. And Alejandro Kirk, who I got to spoke to him after the game. You know, he's a pretty modest guy and self-effacing. But I said, listen, as a catcher, that's important. You're calling a game with all these different pitchers at you as well.

So give credit to the catcher as well. So the Detroit Tigers won't have a bullpen game in game five against the Seattle Mariners. Now the Mariners have already won a game where Scoobel started. How hard is it going to be for them to win two in this series? I mean, I think it's virtually impossible, Jay. We'll find out. Maybe the Mariners could do it.

I was talking again to John Smolts in the press box before the game, and John's got deep ties to Detroit, Michigan. And he was telling me, he's like, you know, with Scoobel, he said, you know, the mirrors have gotten to a little bit. I'm like, yeah, in the regular season, those two starts, he was not dominant. But that playoff start only gave up two runs, and, of course, those two homers don't hurry Polanco.

And Smolte said to me, he's, you know, those are both changeups. He needs to know to stay away from that change. Because the pitch he kind of falls in love with, even though it probably is his best pitch. But I said, you know, going into this series, I kept saying to myself, well, the mayor is better not allowed to get to five.

Because Scoobled, those are win days, games two and five, you just have to win one other game. Well, flip the script, you steal game one. Somehow you lose game two. but now you're in a situation which is exactly what Detroit wants. And as AJ Hintz said, he goes, like we feel pretty good now going across the country, give him the ball the best pitcher in baseball.

So it is an enormous task with Seattle. No question about it. If you're going to get to him, get to them early. And just hopefully you can scratch out some runs or it belongs to. Like he makes a mistake. You make him pay. There's no doubt Seattle has the offensive talent. But to me, there was a lot of urgency for Seattle to win that game yesterday.

I was like, you've got to get this one. You do not want scoble looming. He's like Yvonne Drago there in the corner coming out. It's like, dude, this guy is that good. I think he's the best pitcher in the world. And, you know, he's going to short as Paul Steins and others as far as guys. You don't want to have facing in one game. But listen, Seattle is.

Hey, Drago lost in the end. He lost. Exactly. We need our Rocky Balboa here for Seattle to pull it out. I think either way, it's a great story. I remember with you. I think if Detroit gets in the ALCS, first time since 2013, for much of the year, they're the class of the division,

an awful ending, yet they rebate them by beating the team that beat them, the Cleveland Guardians, and then they beat Seattle. So that's a great story. And, of course, if Seattle gets there behind Raleigh and J. Rod and Rosary down, first time since 2001, I mean, if you're a 25-year-old Mariners fan, you have no idea what this is like to have your team build these deep in the playoffs. So I think it's a good result for baseball either way, a tall task for Seattle. The Cubs or the Phillies tonight, which team has a better chance of pushing it to a game five?

I think the Phillies only because Christopher Sanchez is on the main. To me, he's top three Tsay Young voting this year. He's been unbelievable for Philadelphia. And, you know, it's been a weird series in that we always talk about the home field advantage that Philadelphia has. They have the best home record in baseball. They've now lost five the last six games

at home in the postseason. And the road team has won every single game so far. Swarber finally stepped up. It's a monstrous home run 455 feet. Ilamoto just did not have as good stuff. And Glaston was capable of being on and being filthy, but I do think Sanchez is awesome and had a great year for Philadelphia. And maybe it's just

the fact I want to see the series go five. It doesn't feel right to have it only end in four games. So I like Philly to win and then game five, who knows, feels like more like a toss-up. And again, this kind of feels like the urgency, L.A. feels. Even though they've won in Philadelphia, I do don't want to get back on that flight. They're looking to get this on tonight. Adnan, this was great, buddy. As always, thanks for taking the time to do it.

We really appreciate it. Enjoy tonight, Friday, all the games this weekend. It's an awesome time to be watching baseball. Yeah, thanks so much, boys. Jay's Final Four. Who would have thunked at the start of the season? It's awesome. Amazing. Thanks, dude. Appreciate it. Thanks, boys. Take care.

At Annverk from MLB Network here on the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet, 650. You're gesticulating to yourself. What you got? I want to, there's a bunch of people that have texted in about some of the Jim Rutherford audio that we played in our conversations about Petterson and, you know, talk. It's not here anymore. And Fish Dancer texted in. And he said, the Canucks tried to trade Petey for Natchez. They tried to keep Tocket circled back on Besser. They have backed into this iteration of the team.

If it works, do you give them credit? And I think you replied, you play the hand you're dealt. And he said, Fish Dancer continued. I think it's going to work, specifically Foote and Petey, building up and empowering him over the disdain the talk it seemed to have. Also, the aggressive play style fits right into Petey's strengths. We're going to see Selke Petey again. Yeah, I think if you're the Canucks, you do what you got to do.

Sure. To empower the group, you know? And, you know, yeah, maybe you did try and trade, Pedersen. And you definitely did want to keep talking. and you were very disappointed when he decided to leave. So use that. Use that for your team because Tocquet, you owe nothing to him now. In a very galaxy brain move, I asked Adnan about the planning and preparation of a bullpen game

in advance of this conversation because sometimes your best laid plans don't get executed, like the Vancouver Canucks, for example. They had plans and ideas to go in a different direction. maybe one of the plans was not having Elias Pedersen in the lineup moving forward maybe another one was still having Rick Tocke behind the bench as a matter of fact you could make the argument that those might have been their preferred

plans but it didn't work out that way like I don't think the Jays went into the season going if we make it to the ALDS we're going bullpen game and game four game four baby but they did it and it worked brilliantly yesterday and it played into their identity like it played into their next man up identity because it was literally next man up

which inning is it next man up and again so back to the Canucks um I think that if this management group is able to you know summon something from the ruins and the ashes of last year I don't even care how they got there I could care less yeah like you know what you know what plans are great but they don't always go the way you want them to go The sign of a good organization. We've said this all the way dating back to the Jim Benning eras.

You should always have plans, A, B, C, D, and E. You should have a manila envelope in a desk somewhere. In case of emergency. You know what a good reminder is, is how some companies started out. Yeah. What was Netflix before Netflix is right now? Right. That's a good point.

You know? I just watched an office episode where they talk about Michael getting his Netflix sent to the office. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It took me a second to realize. Yeah. It was a physical media. Sometimes you just got to pivot and you got to lean into the things that maybe you didn't even want to happen.

Or you become blockbuster. Yeah. Don't become blockbuster video. You could have bought out Netflix and you said no. The Jays didn't want a bullpen game. A bullpen game is a negative, right? That's a, oh, it's a bullpen game. And yet the Js have won.

They won them one in the regular season, too. I brought up the Dodgers last year had four of them on route to winning the World Series. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just an ugly way to win. So, so, so, you know, use it. Use Talkett leaving. I mean, even if you could say, well, to be fair to talk it, like, man, you know, he, you

know, maybe the Philly job was like, who cares? Like, spin it that he bailed on you guys. Spin it that way. Sure. And spin it that. I even think you need to spin it. Spin it. No, he didn't bail.

Yeah. Spin it that J.T. wanted out because he did want out. And even if some of the guys were like, yeah, you know what, I actually kind of like JT, right? Or I like Talkett. Like Quinn Hughes loved Talkett. He loved him.

But guess what? Talk's not his coach anymore. I like Talket. And listen to me talk about it. I want him to win eight games this year. Yeah. I still like him as a guy. He's not on your team anymore.

I hope he does well, just not well at all. You know? I hope he has a good time in Philadelphia while having the worst time of imaginable. You know, it's funny. Because some of this, admittedly, is red meat for the listeners because there's a lot of listeners that, and when you do the Vancouver versus everybody thing, it doesn't matter if you have a personal affinity for the guy because he's not here anymore. It's us versus everybody else. So in that instance, Tocke becomes an enemy just like everyone else.

I really liked him. I loved having him on the show. I still, to this day, think he's a good head coach. I want him to win six of 82 games this year, right? you remember when David Quinn and we were talking about this at the break remember when David Quinn was hired by the sharks and they're like we're going to be really bad you're going to lose a lot of games this year yeah and then he went out and he lost and they're like but not that bad and they fired them right and I don't want that to happen but that's

those are the kind of scenarios that I play out of my mind where I'm like yeah you should go and get everything that you wanted this year you know go to a team with lousy goalie and an inferior blue line and have fun with it you know what happens you know what uh you know who would appreciate these thoughts of yours too, Rick Talkett. Yeah. Like, he always understood that this is what it's about. It's about the team you play for. Yeah.

Like, he's not here anymore. They wanted him to come back and he's like, no, I'm going to go coach Trevor Zegris. And he knew. And Zegris wasn't even there at the time, but you get my point. He didn't expect everyone to be like, good luck, Rick. We love you. Yep. Here's a parting gift.

You know, and the last part of his name does sound like quit. Yeah. It's awkward. I haven't used it yet, but now that it's out there. If we're going to use, we're going to throw around Timu talk it like with regularity. We're going to call it talk quit. Like that's a guarantee. Okay.

We're up against it for time. We're going to pivot to some NFL talk. We haven't done a lot of NFL talk this week, you know? We had 10 here on Monday. And I think that's pretty much it. Understandably so. It's a busy time in the world of sports. But the Seahawks are back in action this weekend in Jacksonville against the 4-1 and red hot Jaguars.

We'll talk to Brady about that. We should also probably look back on that. Very entertaining, but very sound. ending game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday. There's a lot to get into with Brady Henderson, our Seahawks, ESPN Insider. That's coming up next on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. 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. Love this music. Love it. Rogers is giving away Blue Jay's postseason tickets to its customers through Rogers Beyond the Seat, including a grand prize contest for each series that includes a pair of tickets with airfields. fair and accommodations. Rogers customers can visit Rogers.com slash

Blue Jays to enter for a chance to win. All tickets are non-transferable. And ALCS tickets. What a company! You're listening to the Halford Inbruff Show on Sports 9-650. Halford and Brub for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Get out of the penalty box of debt and get back into the game with a financial fresh start. Visit them online at Sands

dash trustee.com. We are an hour two of the program with the midway point of the show. Brady Henderson, ESPN, Seahawks Insider is going to join us in just a moment here for hour two. Our two of this program is brats about Jason hominock at Jason.mortgage, the most metal 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.morgage. Before we get to Brady, I need to do today's one to watch. and with two MLB postseason games,

one Thursday night football game and 14 NHL games. It's a lot of candidates to pick just one to watch. But it says you home here Knox Sportsnet 650 and I'm going to go with Vancouver Canucks First Line Center.

And the biggest question mark for the Canucks this year, Elias Pedersen, if PD can return to the 102-point player that he was just two years ago, the Canucks could be on their way back to the playoffs. If not, and he's more like the guy that scored, and every time I look at the numbers,

it still blows my mind, 45 points last year. Granted, he only played in 64 games in an injury-plagued campaign. But if he can get back to that 102-point guy and Adam Foot can get him there, Canucks have a very good chance of getting back into the post season. And that watch begins tonight.

Against the Calgary Flame, 7 o'clock puck drop. You can listen to it right here on Sports Night 6.5. 50. One to watch is brought to you by Limitless A.V. Vancouver's most trusted audio-visual integration experts specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces. Book your personalized tour of their experience center today. Go online at limitlessav.c.c.a.c. Do we have Brady on the line? We do not. We're working on it. Brady Henderson, our Seahawks insider from ESPN, is going to join the program. We have woefully woefully overlooked the NFL this week

as two big football fans. Dude, we've overlooked the NHL. Nah, we talked a little bit about it. The Canucks are playing their first game of the regular season tonight. That's the NHL's fault for saving it till Thursday. Just saying. Just saying.

Is it also the NHL's fault that the Blue Jays are in the ALCS? Why did the NHL? And in spectacular fashion, too? That series against the Yankees, I will remember that series forever. Well, now that they won. Every game, every game, It was memorable.

Where does that Vladdy Grand Slam stand up now in the history of Blue Jay's playoff moments? It's up there. It's up there. It's up there with the bat flip. It's not Joe Carter. It's not Joe Carter. It's not Roberto Alamar against Eckerson.

It's in the top 10. It's not there. Well, yeah, it's in the top 10. It might be in the top five. It might be in the top five. Yeah. I went through the list. You went through the list?

What in your head? I do lots of research for the show. You scoff, but you're like, you don't watch preseason hockey. I don't like admitting it out loud. I watched out of market preseason games this year. I'm worried about you. It was sadder than it sounded. You hate the preseason.

I know. There's got to be better things to do with your time than that. You'd think. You'd think. Yeah, here we are. I wanted to see Eichel and Marner play together because I saw that they were going to be on a line together and I watched one of their preseason games. They didn't

play together. It was a futile exercise. That's when it's called flipping the channel to something else. I was like, I guess I can watch it. Let's see what Dora Faye is doing. He had a hat trick last night, by the way. Okay, let's get back to the Seahawks talk here, which we haven't done all week because we were saving it for today. Joining us now, our Seahawks insider from ESPN, Brady, here now live on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Brady. How are you?

Hey, what's up, fellas? Doing great. How's it going? It's good. It's very busy times in the sporting landscape here. We didn't talk a ton this week about what was, let's be honest, the game of the week in the National Football League last weekend, that thriller in Seattle between the Bucks and the Seahawks with the high scoring and the two tremendous quarterback performances and the gorgeous throwback uniform.

So I know we're looking ahead to Jacksonville here because it's closer, but let's go in the rear view here a bit, Brady. From an aesthetic standpoint, I know Mike McDonald must not have loved it, but that was a very, very entertaining game that the Seahawks and the Bucks put up last weekend. Yeah, if you like great

full-back jerseys and you like a lot of offense, that was the game for you. And it was not a great defensive performance. And, you know, it was really, really surprising. And I know that they were, you're dealing with some pretty key injuries. But I think that we have seen a more competent Seahawks defense, even when they've had a worse injury situation. And I go back to that game against Detroit on,

I think it was Monday Night Football early last year, when I think they were missing even more guys. and they got lit up by Detroit, no doubt. But I saw more resistance, fewer guys opening, you know, receivers running open in the second and third level, more of a pass rush. I think, you know, there's a reason why McDonald, to his credit, kind of put the blame on his shoulders postgame and saying that that was, you know, he needed to do a better job of game planning.

I believe what he meant there is that he gave his players just too much stuff to have to deal with, like too much in the game plan. And I do think that maybe the bigger connection there is that I do think that may kind of underscore some of what is at play in terms of why they've been so bad at home. Now, certainly this problem did not begin with the hiring of Mike McDonald. But I think as far as McDonald's teams are concerned, I do think there's a correlation between, excuse me, having a very complex defense that requires a lot of pre-stap verbal communication, and for the obvious reason, that is more difficult at home than it is

on the road. I mean, they're going in this Jacksonville game with a 9-and-1 road record under McDonald, which is just remarkable. And look, if you're looking for reasons why there's been such a bizarre disparity, I think that is one reason. But again, that doesn't explain why this same thing, albeit to a lesser extent, existed under Pete Carroll, but I do think that's one factor with McDonald's. So you're obviously talking about just communicating on the field with the noise of the stadium when the team is on defense.

So which Seahawks players are responsible for the communication? Like who's leading the charge there? Well, I think it's, I mean, if you ever get a chance to go watch them during a training camp practice, and you really are sort of on-field level to hear that kind of stuff. It's everybody. You know, it's the same linebacker who closes the front before the snap. He's talking to the rest of the, you know, the front defenders. It's Ernest Jones at the second level.

He's kind of talking to both levels. And that's Julian Love on the back end who's getting the secondary on the same page. And so, you know, they talk about, you know, Mike McDonald wants them to communicate obnoxiously. That's just his way of saying, like, you need to go over the top in terms of communicating and to make sure everybody else is on the same page. And, you know, a lot of that is they have kind of answers for when an offense checks to a different play. And then so a lot of times they're changing the play or changing part of, you know, their level of the defense as part of that play right before the snap.

And that's, you know, when you can't really hear a guy and you sort of have to do that nonverbally or try to do it verbally and hope the guy can hear you. I think that's where things can get haywire. So that's just kind of my theory on, I'm working on a story ahead of the Monday night game on what on earth happened to what used to be one of the

NFL's best home field advantages and that's one of the theories I'm working with. They're going to have to tell the crowd to be quiet now on defense. The defense is trying to communicate with each other. Come on, guys. Don't you know anything as football fans? Don't make, don't make noise now. Yeah, it's like

when the offense has the ball and they're like, you know, they do that motion with their hands like, guys, come on, calm down. Yeah, the Seahawks are working. Brady, how much of that game against Tampa Bay, like we can talk about communication, but how much was it just injuries? Yeah, that was part of it. You know, I still think that, look, it's one thing if,

okay, let's see you have a backup player in there, and the guy is just not as good as the Sodor, and he just gets beat like a good player a starting player on the other side of the field gets beat and you certainly saw some of that I mean Nehemiah Pritchett came in there and Emeka Egbuka

I think it was got him on that red zone touchdown and just beat him and that happens. There was some of that what was really surprising to me was there was a lot of just wide open receivers like from the jump which I think tells me that guys just were

not really like mental with it in terms of and not like a lack of focus, but it just, I think they got out schemes. And I think, I do think that, you know, when McDonald was saying that, you know, he was part of his game plan. I think what he meant there is he just put too much on guys' plate.

I think he may have overloaded them, and I think those guys weren't playing fast. And then you also just saw some individuals, like not playing as physical as they had been. and you know the tackling was an issue in that game and look you can erase tackling mistakes when you have a bunch of guys rallying to the ball like if one guy misses but you got two or three other guys rallying to the ball it's not to think a deal because those guys are going to clean up that initial mistake and you just didn't see that

and so it was I think maybe part of McDonald's game plan guys not playing physical and guys just not rallying to the ball like they typically do and it was just one of those stuff happens, you know, bad day at the office. And then, by the way, you know, you got a quarterback playing at an unbelievable level in Maker Mayfield on the other side. And even, you know, he was missing his number one receiver, but, you know, they were still able to get it done. So bad day at the office, bad day at the stadium.

I know, and I read the remarks from McDonald. And then I know when you get carved up as badly as the Seahawks did in the passing game, the initial reaction is to look at the secondary. But I know there was special criticism for the past. rush or lack thereof because and I had to go back and double check this. Baker Mayfield set a record. First

NFL quarterback in the history of the league to have 375 passing yards and fewer than five incomplete passes. So literally everything he threw on Sunday was a positive, a net positive for the team. And that's got a really sting, not just that they lost

and the guy had a huge game, but when he works with that kind of efficiency, it means that you're not putting enough pressure on him and not making his life hard enough. I wonder how much of a talking point that's going to be for this defensive unit going into Jacksonville on Sunday. Yeah, and that's a great stat. And another one

is, you know, he, I think he dropped back 37 or 38 times and they hit him twice. Yeah. Which is hard to do. Crazy. Yeah. And you know, the long play to a Mecca Egbuka, a 57-yarder, you know, there was a breakdown

in the secondary there, but also, as Michael Donald put it, too many Mississippies. They gave him too many Mississippies. I don't know if up in Canada, you guys played football on the yard. He'd have to count one Mississippi, two Mississippi, before you start rushing. And so it was almost like they were, they were waiting for the counts. The past rushers were to try to get to them. But yeah, and look, it's hard. I think when you are already playing without DeMarcus Lawrence, and then you lose Derek Hall in the first quarter, and now you've got, you know, I think they really have four edge guys because they want to have.

have a big, you know, they want to rotate those guys to keep it fresh. And then, you know, by late in the game, you got Yenna Wosu, who, by the way, is, you know, sort of coming off an injury and maybe doesn't totally have his legs completely underneath him. You know, he's, you know, he's having to play probably more snaps than they would prefer. And so edge is, is maybe one spot. Now, I do, I do think there's a good chance Lawrence gets back this week. Hall is going to miss this week and maybe another week. And then they got to buy after that Monday night Houston game. So I don't think he's going to have to go on IR, but I could see them maybe looking to get an edge guy.

I think if they are going to make a trade, I think the more likely one would be trying to get a cornerback. And again, we talked about this. I think that they would, I very much think that they would listen to trade offers for a week, Rick Wallen, and maybe try to get someone in there who's more reliable, more physical, and somebody who, you know, maybe more part of their long-term plans than he is. What would the Canadian version of the Mississippi be? One Athabaska? Yeah, right? That's a good one. One Athabaska. Two

Athabasca. That's not bad. And we only got three downs here, so it's different for now. You got all the syllables in there. That was pretty good. We're speaking to ESPN, Seahawks insider Brady Henderson here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Let's talk about the other quarterback, Sam Darnold.

And despite the late interception, which on replay was some bad luck involved with that, It was a brilliant performance by Donald. And it's funny, going into this season, Brough and I were trying to handicap and navigate what the Seahawks offensively might look like. And we both kind of came to the conclusion.

It would be a lot of scores in the low 20s, high teens, and it would be a low event game with Sam Donald a quarterback. Well, he certainly surpassed those expectations. And it's funny because people are starting to talk about him as being a special kind of talent. I know that's what the tight-end barner had to say. week as well, just saying that it's really a lot more to Darnold than I think what people expected coming in here. I know he had a good year in Minnesota last year, but it ended so

poorly. I think there was still a lot of question marks around him. What have you seen from Donald now through these first few weeks of the season, and how high are you on him moving forward? He's playing really well, yeah, and he has impressed me both with, you know, the how on time he's played, which I think was, we've talked about this. Like, that was a big question mark just because he had a tendency over his career to be one of those guys who doesn't like totally process super quickly and and maybe holds onto the ball too long. I think he's doing a really good job of finding that balance between making a quick decision on, you know, whether to throw the ball and then getting the heck out of there

when it's not there. And both on the scramble stuff and on the design rollout, I think one of his best skills, maybe his best skill is his ability to throw on the run. run. And you see it not just thrown to the right, but also moving to the left. And I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but you just, every week, there's another example or two of these great plays that

he makes on the run. And so that was kind of my bigger takeaway from that game on Sunday is yeah, it was super disappointing for them, like how bad their defense played. But also,

just if you zoom out, I think years from now, you could look back at this game. say, okay, like, dueling with Baker Mayfield, throwing four touchdown passes, making all the plays that he did, like, you might look back at this game a few years from now and point to that one is, okay, yeah, that's when it became clear that Sam Donald was like truly their franchise guy. And so I say that with the caveat of it's the NFL and every, you always get reminders of how dangerous it is to jump to early conclusions. But look, based on, The only thing that we have right now to go off of is these five games.

He looks like he is, you know, he looks like he could be their guy long term. And meanwhile, you've got Gino Smith down in Las Vegas who is off to a dreadful start. I think six touchdowns and nine interceptions in five games. And so the Seahs has kind of be feeling pretty good about how that swap was made. I mean, when that trade was made, I think there was a lot of people who's knee-jerk reaction was, well, they downgraded from Gino Smith, which, you know, obviously once a show, folks, we lost

them. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. This is probably a good time to interrupt the flow of conversation and point out that numerous people astutely pointing out that one Mississippi, two Mississippi, and Canada is often one steamboat, two steamboat. I didn't think, I didn't know that was a Canadian thing. I went down the Reddit. Is that just because steamboats are on the Mississippi? I don't know. I just know that

there's an actual... Often they're casinos. There's an actual Reddit channel dedicated to this conversation. It's in the geography Reddit. Other people suggested Mississauga. Mississauga is not... But why do we have to... Why do we have to follow the misses? Athabasca.

That's a good one. I like that. Someone someone on Reddit pointed out that you could go Saskatchewan, Saskatcha 2, Saskatcha 3. Which isn't bad. Which isn't bad, but we did steamboats in elementary school and high school. Didn't play a lot of touch football in high school. How are we doing with Brady there?

Do we get them back for the final two minutes of this? No? Okay. You know what, Andy? Just leave it. It's fine. Well, no, we're almost up against it for time anyway. We got the gist there, I think.

Yeah, yeah. It was going on. That was Brady. You understand what's going on. It's football. Brady Henderson, ESPN, our Seahawks insider. Seahawks, one-point road dogs in a line that's kind of moved all over the place. place. I thought

that Jacksonville would just get the sort of standard three points at home. Jacksonville minus three. Yeah, it just seemed straight forward. They just beat the Texans. They went on the road and beat the Niners. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then they beat the Chiefs. Like, you'd think that that have some currency

in the betting world, but... Who knows with Jacksonville, though? It's a very weird team. Like, I watched... I mean, the way they beat the Chiefs was hilarious. Right. It wasn't... It was great. It was a great win. It was a slap. Appstick touchdown. And they also scored on a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown, which I don't

think you can count on every week. Like, it's a very odd team. But there goes Mahomes again, making the big mistake. Right? Like, it's such a bizarre team because you look at it. You're like the 4-1. Devin Lloyd might be the defensive player of the year in the NFL through the first five weeks in the season.

See what you will about Trevor Lawrence. He got the job done. Doesn't he look like a grown-up Mitch from dazed and confused? Very much so, yes. Yeah. Mitchy, Mitchy, Mitchy. What's that kid's name? Wiley Wiggins?

The kid that always pinches the bridge of his nose. Yeah, Mitch. Yeah. He does look like him. Right? Just a very, very grown up and fallen all over the field. Touchdown. But then getting up and scoring.

So I don't know what to make of it. I, and I also can't make sense of the Seahawks team because whatever they do on the road, they are seemingly incapable of replicating at home. home. And you don't often say that about NFL teams that the amazing things you do on the road, you can't do at home. No one ever says that. But they're nine and one. They're four and oh in these 10 a.m. start time games under McDonald. I love that theory from Brady. I mean, it makes sense as anything else. Yeah. You know? Well, yeah, because nothing makes sense. That would be hilarious if Seattle has like quiet down. The defense is working. Yeah. Yel when we're on offense. Sam

Donald's got it all figured out. Anyway, that game, by the, there is a Thursday night football game tonight, I might add. It's the lowly New York Giants against the now defeated, previously undefeated Philadelphia Eagles. I will not be watching that. I'm going to be, I will watch because I'm, I kind of like watching Jackson Dart.

And you have multiple screens at home. Yeah. And I bet a lot on football. So I'm going to do that. Shorty's going to join us next. He does this once a year. This is very exciting. So enjoy it while you can.

John Shorthouse. It's a first game of the Canucks regular season tonight. Ed Rogers Arena against the Calgary Flames. So Shorty will grace us with his presence on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.