Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Might Be Last Place In The League, But They're First Place In Our Hearts

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

In hour one, guest hosts Jamie Dodd & Israel Fehr look back at the previous day in sports, they preview the MLS Cup Final featuring the Vancouver Whitecaps at Inter Miami CF, they talk a bit about the last-place Canucks (3:00), plus they set up Week 14 with NFL.com's Nick Shook (26:44). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to Halford and Brough You're listening to Halford and Brough. Working the right side, Walker in front of the 10, keeps skipping to the five and into the end zone for a touchdown. He holds down, nice, is in a goal, and scores! Holy McAdoe! What a play by Matthew Nyes! Manta's over the line to Novak. Back to Malkin. Starr!

Gino! Machino throws on the Cape and rescues the Penguins late. Ladies and general, the weekend. Good morning. What's going on, everybody? It is Halford and Brough here on. Sportsnet 650. However, no Halford, no broth. I'm Jamie Dodd. Joining me today for the show is Izzy Fair. What's going on, Izzy? Good to be here, Jamie. I'm good. You? I'm doing great. A one-off on the morning show? Fantastic. No problem getting up out of bed. I'm not dreading the rest of the week. I'm so close to the weekend starting. I love it. It's championship Eve, too,

in this city. A one-off Friday on the morning show is what I'm all. about. We do have A-Dog here. Adog, what's going on? Good morning. Good morning. And Lattie, good. Hello, hello. Yes. Very good. You got it in. Well done. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Now's the time to maximize the benefits of

custom orthotics before the year runs out. Visit kintech. Dot net. Halfen Brough brought you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt free in just two weeks. Visit Sands dash trustee. dot com first hour of the show it's brought you by north star metal recycling vancouver's premier metal

recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal north star metal recycling they recycle you get paid 1170 powell street all right there is a lot going on on the show today so i'm going to go through the guest list i'm going to go through the prize situation as well it might take me a while but don't worry it'll be worth it uh and the morning drive the lineup is brought you buy the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal since 1926. Visit Duick GM on Marine Drive downtown in Richmond and at duik Auto Group.com. Guest lineup begin 630. Nick Shook of NFL.com will join us. We'll look back at the Thursday night game. A very entertaining Thursday night game last night between the Lions and the Cowboys. We'll look ahead to

the slate this weekend as well as the playoff picture. Maybe who's feeling the heat right now. in the NFL with Nick Shook. Seven, AJ of AJ's pizza. We'll join the show. We'll check in on what's going on at the shop this weekend. At 7.05, Dax McCarty, former MLS player, now an Apple TV, MLS analyst. As you mentioned, Izzy, it is championship Eve. Big match, a big footy match on the schedule tomorrow.

We'll chat with Dax about that. At 7.30, we will talk all things, NHL with Arda O'Call from ESPN. And at 8 o'clock, always looking forward to this. Rick Dollywall, Canucks Insider from Donnie and Dolly on Check TV. And as you well know, Izzy, there is no shortage of insidery things to talk to Rick right now about the Canucks with everything going on. All right. So Rick Dollywall at 8, Ardo Cal at 730, Dax McCarty at 7.05, AJ of AJ's Pizza at 7. Nick Shook from NFL.com at 630.

That's the guest list, but I'm not done explaining everything that's going to happen on the show today because we are giving away not one, not two, but three separate prizes on the show today. At 7.30, we're giving away a $50 white spot gift card to caller number five. That's 7.30, caller number five, $50 white spot gift card. at 8. Now, I was not aware of this promotion until, like, this morning, basically. But I understand you guys are doing something called the 12 days of Halbro. Is that correct?

All right. It's a secret prize. We don't tell people what it is until after I've awarded it. It's all birds. It's all birds. Yeah, I was going to say, what day are we up to? But it is day five. So this is the golden rings.

Yesterday was a peregrine falcon. The day before was an African elephant. They're all animals. If we're following the song, though, we're on the golden rings. That's true. So this is the one you want to win. This is like cash prize. $50,000 coming up right here.

Yeah. No, no, it's not. It's not. I don't even know what the prize is yet. No, you don't. It's a surprise to me. You tell people after we awarded at the 8 o'clock hour. There's a specific formula.

It's like Christmas. Yeah. But probably not as good a present. No. Yeah. I don't know. Actually, all the prizes. They're pretty good.

All right. Good. One of them's throwing out the first pitch of the C's game. That is pretty cool. You're wearing your C's hat. Yeah. Why didn't I win that? Yeah.

I'm not allowed, unfortunately. So 8, it's day 5 of 12 days of Halbro. A secret prize goes to caller 5. Is that correct? What's the number? I don't know. 604, 280, 060. 604, 280, 0650, there we go.

And at 830, we're giving away $100 A.J's gift card for the best Ask Us Anything. It is an Ask Us Anything Friday. So you can start sending those in as well. 650, 650 is the Dumbar Lumber text line. Don't worry. I'll give you the phone number again as well when it's 7.30 for the White Spot gift card and eight for the secret gift. Both of those going to caller five. Definitely not turtle doves. Definitely not turtle doves. What about lords a leaping? Yeah, that might be interesting. Tough to come by. I never really understood that you could give people. Not a lot of lords hanging around these days. No. Much of random dudes is just going to show up your house and just leap around.

Tumbling. Can I call the cops pretty quickly probably. all right that's what's coming up on the show laddie let's tell everybody what happened what happened what happened brought you by the bc construction safety alliance making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools resources and safety training visit BCCSA.ca.ca. And Izzy, don't worry. We will talk about the almost last place, Vancouver Canucks,

and by some measures last place, by some other measures, not. If you just depends the way you want to look at it. The way you want to look at it, yeah. Half empty or half full, they're first place in our hearts. We both work very closely with Thomas Dr. So we all know the perils

of not citing points percentage. We will talk Canucks, But as we alluded to, and we're going to talk more about it throughout the show. We're going to talk to Dax McCarty later on just after 7 at 705. The White Caps have their biggest game in decades, arguably their biggest game ever. And I know they won championships in their prior life before MLS. But this is a massive game playing Leo Messi and Inter Miami in the MLS Cup final tomorrow. The White Caps trained in Miami.

They spoke to the media yesterday. again, ahead of their biggest game in decades. And yes, first of all, it's on traditional TV. But this is a massive game for the White Caps. And it has really turned into, I think, a massive game for Vancouver Sports and Vancouver Sports fans as well. Yeah, we've seen the interest really rise for this White Caps team. And it's been there sort of slowly evolving all season.

But no surprise once the playoffs are at stake, went that there's their stakes attached to these games. The interest has gone through the roof here. And they've, they're not a team, like, they're not just a pure underdog team in the traditional sense. They will be underdogs in this game. They will be underdogs against Messi, but they've faced this team before and had a lot of success against them earlier this season before Thomas Mueller arrived. And this is what they've been building toward all season.

It has been really a spectacular story. They've really been, you know, this story in MLS this year. We know what Messi can do. When he came over a couple of years ago, that was a massive story. He's still trying to win MLS Cup. So that is the big broad narrative. But the white caps have been just an incredible, incredible story, not just in this market, but across the soccer world. Yeah.

And the layers to this, as you said, I mean, the game is in Miami, first of all, because they finished just ahead of the white caps. And, I mean, it would have been absolutely incredible to be able to have this game here. we saw how the crowd turned out for the LAFC match. I'm not a, you know, an MLS handicapper. I get the sense that probably the white caps are only underdogs because the game is in Miami. I suspect if it was here, it would be either a pick-um or maybe they would be much closer, for sure. Or maybe they'd even be slight favorites. But having said that, okay, the game's in Miami.

You've got to go to their house and beat Messi. They've done that this year in an elimination scenario. Now, I know it was the second leg of an aggregate tie there in the Champions Cup, but they've gone to Miami and beat Leo Messi in his building already this season. They have that to draw on. That was before Thomas Mueller joined the team. So they have that extra bit of experience. And, you know, I know Mueller was very quick yesterday when he was talking to kind of say,

look, I know the headline is Mueller versus Messi and that's cool, but I'm not the story here. I'm not the only story. And that's true. And we get into some of the other key players and the key matchups for the white caps. On the other hand, this is exactly the moment on the pitch. You get Thomas Mueller for.

Hey, we've got this guy with all the weight and all the winning he's done. He can be our leader going into the crucial match, the biggest moment where we have a chance to do something we haven't done before. They've never won MLS Cup. They never been an MLS Cup. And so far,

the Thomas Mueller experience has been absolutely everything they could have hoped for and off the pitch this is this has the potential to be the crowning achievement if he can be instrumental in leading them to a championship I mean people were joking because

you know somebody asked him kind of where does this rank on the trophies you're going for and look he's won the World Cup he's won the UA of Champions League but he came here to win I don't think he's looking at this as oh it's just MLS he's like no I'm a winner I came here to win and that's what I intend to do tomorrow oh absolutely yeah the pride is still very much there

and what the white caps accomplished in the first half of the season is what attracted him to Vancouver the way that they play how he's fit into that a lot of times I would say that that idea is slightly overrated that you have a player that comes in

and has the experience and the composure but at a level that MLS which is certainly higher than it was in recent years the quality has elevated year over year in the league but it's still I think for it's not the U.S. the Champions League, right?

Like, this is still a league and a game where things could go awry to have a player like Thomas Mueller. I mean, like, there's still the Conca Calf element that comes to play in MLS. I mean, the White Caps won a playoff game against L.A. That was completely bonkers down to nine men, you know, having the ball hitting crossbar and post three times in about eight seconds. Like there is some madness that can come into play here. And obviously having Thomas Mueller there as the stabilizing force is a huge plus.

But what he has done is fed seamlessly into a team that was already operating at this level. And then you add Ryan Gould, who's come in as a substitute for most of the games here lately. And to me has been phenomenal, whether he's been playing with Mueller or in the last game where he comes in for Mueller, where there might be some minor injury concerns with Mueller, how much can he actually play? But we know he'll be starting. We know that the game will be run through him to begin the game. And if Gould is the one to come off the bench,

you feel really good about that. Well, and what a luxury to have if you do have to take Mueller off to be able to bring Ryan Gould in. And they've got, looking at the on the pitch situation, of course, Brian White returned from injury, scored a couple goals against San Diego in the Western Conference Championship. Now, it is worth noting, Miami has been on fire in the postseason.

I think they're outscoring opponents 17 to 4 in the five games they've played in the postseason. Messy has been in on 13 of those goals. They don't call them points in soccer. They call them goal contributions. That's right. Yeah, he has 13 goal contributions in the postseason already. So, I mean, no surprise, Leo Messi,

incredibly dangerous, incredibly talented. And I know in past meetings, it has fallen on a defensive midfielder Andre Kubis to kind of be the guy tasked with shadowing trying to shut down Leo Messi. He's done a pretty good job of it. He's one of the best defensive midfielders in MLS. So that's going to be a matchup, I think, to really keep an eye on. The white caps also getting Tristan Blackman back. He missed the San Diego match because he got the red card late against L.AFC.

I was at that game. Now, he was returning from injury in that. I thought he looked really shaky even before the red card. now is his second yellow to be fair but I thought he looked really shaky I'm very curious to see what level he's at he's the MLS defender of the year he was so important for them

they've made it work with this kind of makeshift like Ralph Prezo hey you're a centerback now get back there we'll figure it out they've made it work but against Messi against a team with this level of star power I think you need Tristan Blackman at the closest to the peak version of himself

you can get yeah yeah the the margin for error is is very very thin and he'd been very good for this team as you said MLS defender of the year coming back off an injury and I watched the the Miami Eastern final and they were running rampant right they were they were they scored five they could have scored more they they're going to really put pressure on the white caps defensively and you're right kubas in the game uh certainly the first leg here in in Vancouver in that champions cup tie he had messy in the pocket to the point that Messi, who is famously stoic, who doesn't emote very much,

was very frustrated by the end of that game. And that continued into the second leg. In fact, you could probably argue the White Caps played a better team game in the second leg of that tie in Miami, moving the ball, scoring the ball really dominating, whereas the game here took advantage of a couple of opportunities to score and really frustrated Messi. So I imagine that the final, well, if, you know, the White Caps are game plan, for this, a combination of those two games where they're going to have to be, you know, I imagine

Kubas will be man marking messy and that will be, yeah, as you said, the matchup to watch because he was certainly up to the task the last time that they played against. Yeah, and I know I was reading some of what Dax McCarty has written about this match before we're going to chat to him in just about an hour here and he said the other guy obviously and, you know, fans of European footy will know the name very well. Sergio Buscats, if you're not closing him down, look, he's Golder. This is going to be his last professional game. He's retiring after this. But if you're not closing him down and putting pressure on him when he has the ball in midfield, he's going to break your lines. He's going to find a way to

spring one of the attackers. So you got to have Kubis locked up on messy, but you need to find a way to be putting that pressure on the deeper lying playmaker in Buscettes as well. And anyways, as you said, like both of these teams like to have possession, like to attack. I mean, the white caps are extremely disciplined about playing out from the back. They don't like, you know, the Route 1 football. I don't think they're going to go away from that. It's going to be a challenge in this match, but they're going to have to stick to that identity that's been so successful.

And look, I think it's also, from a bigger picture point of view here, worth mentioning, important to mention, whatever happens tomorrow. And everyone, I mean, it would be phenomenal to see them take home, beat Messi win their first MLS Cup. I think you have to acknowledge that this season and the Mueller acquisition, but the season as a whole has already been a huge, huge success. for the white caps. And I mean, they delivered a legendary Vancouver sports moment against L.A.F.C., as you said, just a bonkers win down to nine men defending as if their lives were on the line,

managing to do it, managing to win in penalties. That was in front of more than 50,000 at BC place. Mueller has been everything they could have hoped for. He's been an incredible ambassador for the team for the city. It will always mean more if you can cap it off with a championship. But I think they've already changed how this city looks at them and look, if they fall flat on their faces next year, a lot of that goodwill goes away. But they have built something that they have a chance

to use as a stepping stone to being a higher profile team here. I think they've done it a phenomenal job. It will carry over to future season. I mean, just look at the watch party tickets sold to BC place. Like I never would have imagined them selling that many just to go watch the match on the big screen. And yet, that's what they've

done so far this season. it always comes down to winning right people will come if you have a winning product you know we see that across sports and it's certainly true in this market and the white caps have won consistently this year and it goes to the next level that if you watch them even if you don't have a huge degree of of expertise in soccer you watch them play this season and you can tell that something changed with their approach to the game and you know what yesper sorenson has brought in the the philosophies, the principles, the way that he wants this team to play. It's a very similar team, you know, throw Mueller out. It's a very similar team to the team that they had last season and even the season before. And there were some good, you know, additions, some young players that have been brought in in key positions that have allowed the white caps to further take that step. But it has a lot to do with, as you said, as you said, Jamie, they're on the front foot, they're attacking, they're not afraid. A lot of times in the White Caps' recent history at MLS level,

there has been that trepidation to put themselves on the line. And this team has changed that. So obviously, number one, winning and winning consistently and having these big wins, the Champions Cup Games against Miami, these wins in the playoffs here, that they'd never been able to break through in the playoffs. They'd had playoff teams, you know, over the last decade, not able to break through, always losing to a team like Seattle.

This season, that has changed. and of course we have no idea if that is going to be able to continue but the foundation being laid here is very important and look there's no denying

the exclamation point that a championship would bring you want again no one's going to rip them I mean it always results depending right if it's 5-0 again like it was against Cruz and Zool that might be a different story

but I don't think it's going to be but you're right you want the exclamation point here to wrap up the season I think it is worth just noting again about Yesper Sorensen I was reading at the MLS website their analyst Matt Doyle just kind of breaking down the match and he said like forget

Coach of the Year, manager of the year what Sorensen's done is his opinion arguably the best coaching job in MLS history It's like unfathomable Yeah I had friends who follow the White Caps go to games and were just puzzled of like they didn't understand

what they were watching because you got so used to the way that the White Caps played And under Vanney Sartini, who was a really great character and personality and helped rebuild the white caps, you know, from a confidence perspective, because they were really slipping. You know, post-Alfonso Davies, they had really slipped. Their results weren't there.

Then Vanny comes in is a great personality, a great character. And they were able to get results. You know, they're able to win Canadian championships and so on. But the job that Sorensen has done here is, it's magnificent. It really is, and that they haven't a single time this year given up those principles. Even coming off that Champions Cup, they lose 5-0, they've got a ton of injuries, they've got players gone to international, they're bringing players in from, you know, white caps too, from the lower levels, and they're still weren't sacrificing their principles.

He's been so consistent on that. And I think that that's fueled the veteran players that have been here. And we heard Thomas Mueller talk about it when he came here. that his call with Sorensen was strictly about tactics and football and principles and philosophies. And that was what attracted to him there. So if you're you're swaying a guy who, as you said, Jamie, won the World Cup, won the Champions League with that. Imagine the impact that that had on the players that were already here, right? So that absolutely massive.

All right. It's White Caps, Inter Miami, and Leo Messi tomorrow for MLS Cup at 1130. We will talk more about this throughout the show and with Dax McCart. at 7.05. There's a stadium angle too here that we might get into at some point in the show. But we do have to spend just a couple minutes here before we go to break on the Vancouver Canucks. And we've already had a ton of texts in about this. And if you're not up to speed, we're not going to talk about the practice yesterday because other stuff has happened since then, kind of. But if you're not up to speed, Nashville beat Florida 2-1 in overtime last night,

Calgary beat Minnesota. And all of that means the Canucks wake up this. this morning in 31st place in the NHL by points percentage, dead last, dead last in the NHL by points. And they are in points percentage, they are still slightly ahead of Calgary, because Calgary has played two more games than them. However, the Canucks play the Utah Mammoth tonight. If they lose in regulation, they will also be, by my math, dead last by points percentage. not where they wanted to be on December 5th, Izzy.

And by the way, they also have the fewest regulation wins in the league, not even tied with anyone. They were tied with Edmonton. Both teams had six. Ebenton destroyed Seattle to get their seventh last night. So 31st points percentage, dead last by points, fewest regulation wins in the league here on December 5th. And look, the standings are very tight, even at the bottom.

Things could change. It's a parody league. you go three win three of four on home and all of a sudden oh you're not dead last i just ran the draft lottery simulator the knucks one well yeah they're one of the they got one of the best odds i do think though and i know this has been a topic on the station on our my show going into these weekend games could the fans make their displeasure known in some forceful way here on these next couple of games i think the symbolism here matters there and especially depending on what happens tonight but if you lose in regulation tonight and you're going

into a hockey night in Canada game on December 6, dead last in the NHL. That is a very combustible situation, a very difficult situation. And Izzy, we've seen moments like that turn into large scale

organizational change before with this team. Yep. The last place is a massive symbol, right? That is just, that is one that no one can spin. No. You can't spin last place. There's no we're right there or we're young or it's like, no, You're in the last place. Yeah.

There's no way around it. It means something. It's a big headline item and it's, I think it is going to change how fans approach these weekend games. I was saying to you before the show, I mean, especially if the white caps win, like, and I know they love this word, the juxtaposition between the two teams on Saturday. It could be very, very stark. All right, this segment brought to you by Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal since 1926. Visit Duick GM on Marine Drive downtown in Richmond and at Duick Auto Group.

dot com. We haven't even talked about the Thursday nighter. We'll do that next with Nick Shook of NFL.com here on Halford & Brough's SportsNet 650. It's Canucks Central on Sportsnet 650. From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post game breakdowns, we've got it all.

Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. Golf up under center single back gives. They give it to Jerm. Run it outside. Got a blocker. down to the 10 to the 5 to the end zone wave to him he's gone baby touchdown Detroit lions Tristan Cologne with a nice flock to help spring him 13 yards and the lions can double up their

lead with the extra point welcome back to halford and bruff here sports net 650 jamie dodd is real fair filling in for halford and brough this morning they'll be back on monday Halifton and Brough brought to you by Sands and Associates. Get out of the penalty box of debt and back in the game with a financial fresh start. Visit sands dash trustee.com. This segment of Halifton Brough brought you, or this hour, I should say, brought you to buy North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal, North Star Metal Recycling. They recycle. You get paid 1170 Powell Street.

Remember, it isn't to ask us anything Friday. We've got a $100 gift card to AJ's piece. on East Broadway to the best ask us anything so keep sending those in 650 650 to the Dumbar lumber text line but it is time right now for our NFL preview brought to you by the Clayton Public House pregame to post game the Clayton public house is your home of football catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors the Clayton pub dot com and we now go to the phone line where we are joined from NFL dot com by Nick shook Nick thanks for doing this today how are you good thanks for having me on guys

Yeah, it's our pleasure. So a pretty entertaining, at least high-scoring Thursday night football game. What did you think about it? Yeah, I mean, it was nice. You know, we've gotten a handful of good Thursday night games, but this one ranks up there for sure. What I really thought about it more than anything was that it was a much-needed win for the Lions more than just for their record.

It was also the message that was sent by Detroit to the rest of the league. Not that, you know, emphatically winning that game was going to suddenly scare everybody, but it just reminded everybody that don't forget about the Lions. Don't forget about Detroit in this NFC playoff race that gets tighter and tighter with every week and just makes the conference look stronger and stronger. Don't forget about the team that, you know, yeah, maybe they don't look quite as good as they have been in the last couple of years, but they still got the culture. They understand how to get back to the playoffs and they understand how to win a game like this

against, you know, a good offense and kind of bow up in the most important moments and get a victory. So I thought, you know, I think the Cowboys are a little bit ahead of, not ahead of schedule, but they're playing above their ultimate potential because their defense had gotten better over recent weeks. And they feel very much like an 8-8-1 team to me, which is the only way you can finish 500 these days now with the 17 games. But I think the better team won and did it in a fashion that is reminiscent of how they've done it over the last couple of years. The conference is strong. there's a lot, you know, a lot of, there's not a lot that separates the teams in the playoffs. Right now, the Lions are just outside of the playoffs and do have two teams in their own division ahead of them. They did look good, they put up points, they looked a lot closer to the team that we've gotten used to watching over the last couple of years.

NFL.com, the playoff probability is at 54%. Well, that's obviously the data number, but as you talked about, there was some confidence probably, from that win for Detroit. So where do you stand on them actually getting into the playoffs at this point? Yeah, we're at the stage now where you're kind of running out of, out of, you know, breathing room out of leeway to, you know, you can't really lose many more games and keep those hopes alive. So, yeah, confidence building, I think, plays a part.

I really believe more than anything, it was just an important one for them to kind of get back on the horse after losing, you know, to the Packers on Thanksgiving and not really being able to stop. a nose blade defensively in that game against the Packers team that looks like it's getting good at the right time of the year. The standings in the NFC are, it's kind of crazy how strong this conference is if you look at it from 1 at 7. I mean, right now it's Chicago, the Rams, the Eagles, the Buccaneers, the Seahawks, the Packers, and the Niners in the top seven. That's a tough group to crack, but I think that Detroit is built to find a way to get

there. A lot of this matters, you know, the schedule over the last five weeks or so is going to play a big part. In Chicago and San Francisco end up playing each other once, Chicago also has a very difficult finish to the season. And, you know, they're, in NFC North that is just as competitive as we thought it would be. Maybe we didn't think the Bears would be there, but, and then it might have been the Vikings, but there they are at the top of the division, and they don't have a lot of breathing room. So I think the Lions have a good chance to make the playoffs. They are a team that has been there. They are prepared to get there. They're built to

content, but it may all come down to week 18 when the Bears and the Lions face off in Chicago. It might be one of those primetime games, much like how last year the Lions finished the regular season against the Vikings, but that was just to determine that never once a, this time, a real

playoff spot, and it may be a winner go home type of situation could be on the line there. Yeah, you mentioned that matchup with the Bears and they take on the Packers this weekend, and the Bears leading the NFC, 9 and 3, they've won 5, in a row and a lot of good vibes there with the new head coach and

you know, Caleb Williams playing well, but also I think a lot of people look at them and wonder, okay, when is the falloff coming? Are they really that nine and three team? Do you see the bears being able to maintain not just that position at the top of the conference but a playoff position for the remainder

of the season? It's going to be challenging. They play the Packers two times the next three weeks. They have the Browns in between which presents a challenge to them because the Browns have a good defense. They're Browns' that's terrible. And then they play the Niners and the Lions to finish the year. All those teams save for the Browns are all competing for the same

playoff spots, essentially. I mean, obviously the Lions and the Packers are competing for a spot in the north and a wild card spot. But those are all playoff games in here on out. It's probably one of the toughest, if not the toughest final five game stretch to close a season. And I kind of went out on a limb last week and thought, I could see a scenario. At that point, they were eight and three where I could see them lose every single one

of the last six games and finish eight and nine. They didn't do that, obviously, because they lost, or they beat the Eagles on Black Friday. So I think that that victory was probably the first step toward them trying to finish this off because it gave them, I don't know if they'll say this, but at least in the outside, it's a type of win that should give you a lot of confidence that, yes, we do belong among the big boys. We're not frauds, but the NFL changes rapidly, you know, week by weeks, you can get a completely different product from one team or one player, just asked Bryce Young now. He's performed over the last month, very high and low. So I'm not 100% sold that the Bears will get there, but I was very impressed by a win that they secured over the Eagles, a broken Eagles team right now.

And a lot of it had to do with the fact that they dominated in the interior. And I think any time you can win in the trenches, you've got a good chance of emerging victorious on Sunday. So we'll see. It's going to be a very nice test to Ben Johnson's group, but a great story nonetheless in his first year. We talked margin for error with the Lions, a team with even less margin for error and the AFC is the chief.

obviously they've been able to stay in the playoff picture, grind out some of these wins here. They've got a massive game coming up against the Houston Texans, talking about teams with great defenses. Houston's the team that has really, really stepped up defensively of late. The Chiefs basically, you know, if they lose another game, I guess their chances will be pretty close to zero at this point. What have you seen from them in recent weeks that's allowed them to at least stay in the hunt here while the, you know, the numbers were very much against. them over the last month or so. Yeah, I mean, over the last month or so, they've lost three or four. Well, if you count, by week of week 10 as well.

So over the last four games, they lost three or four. But they've all been close. I was encouraged by the fact that they finally won a close one over the Colts and the fashion in which they did that in week 12, you know, coming back from a 20 to nine deficit in the fourth quarter, I thought, okay, all right, maybe they've finally cleared this hump, this hurdle, and they'll start to put it together. Losing the Cowboys on Thanksgiving kind of wiped that out for me. So it's going to be a huge test of their, you know, their metal and their intestinal fortitude this Sunday when they face the Texans, you know, like you said, the best defense in the NFL right now and, I mean, an absolutely suffocating unit.

And they're going to have to go on a run here. And of these last final five games, most of them are against playoff teams or content teams of playoff hopes. I mean, they got two wins on their schedule that I can look at right now and say those are definitely wins. And that's Tennessee and Week 16 and Vegas and Week 18. Well, the Vegas game might not matter if they don't win these other games before them. So they got to turn it on. And kind of like the Lions, you know, they have an established culture. The Chiefs runs, you know, for a decade of success and the ability to find ways to win.

We just haven't seen them play consistently as a team on both sides of the ball for most of this season. You know, we know the potential is there. But, you know, we'll time run out on them before they can put together. That's what I'm very interested to see this weekend. And I think Houston presents a really good test of, you know, Just how good is this offense? Because we've all been saying for a while now, oh, once they got Rashid Rice back, especially,

we're like, oh, their offense is back. They're going to make the playoffs. They're going to run. They're dangerous. They're still one of the best teams in the NFL. Well, against this Texans defense, if you can find a way to succeed on that side, then people are actually going to believe you.

It's going to be a great test of Andy Reid and how he can clear a hurdle he hasn't encountered in a decade with this team. And it's going to be some appointment viewing there in the prime time. Well, especially with what the defensive line of Houston can do, right? I mean, they can absolutely wreck game plans. How do you see Kansas City trying to survive that and scheme around that? Yeah, you know, one of the big things about the Chiefs coming out of the off season was, you know, did they do enough to upgrade their offensive line?

And for a period, it looked like they did. You know, the selection of Josh Sennon's looked like a genius move earlier this season and the reshuffling of their offensive line. Even, you know, for a stretch there playing Kingsley Sue and Mattia there at left guard after realizing there was another. like a pick for him to play tackle. It all makes sense. And it felt like they had, you know,

by training Joe Tunney, they had given themselves an opportunity to reconstruct their offensive line in rapid fashion, and they'd found success. Well, now they don't have Simmons. You know, whoever they've decided to play at left guard,

because they've tried a few different guys there. It hasn't been super consistent. And luckily, they invested in Jalen Moore in the off season, giving him, you know, a pretty lavish contract for a guy who had never been a consistent starter. But overall, I am concerned about this unit for them,

up front. I think that has been their biggest issue offensively over the last few weeks. I mean, Sinan's missed a good amount of time before getting hurt. And this is a team that can absolutely capitalize on it. This is a Texan's team that made Buffalo's offensive line look terrible just a couple of weeks ago

and kind of bring and remind us all that maybe they're not as good in the trenches as everybody believes that they are. And I think they can do the same thing to the Chiefs. So it's going to be a great test for them And, you know, it's going to be a good test for their defense, too, because I don't know what to expect in their defense most of the season. It feels like, you know, Scott, or Steve Segnullo has really just resorted to the blitz in the second half to generate any sort of pressure and kind of gotten desperate with it.

And, but Houston's offense is kind of a low-ceiling offense. So it's going to be a very good examination of where these two teams are. But I have some concerns about the Chiefs because of their weaknesses in the trenches. We've touched on a few teams here, you know, a couple of teams in Detroit in Kansas City that basically need to keep winning or start winning here in December to get into the playoffs. I'm curious, though, when you look at the whole playoff picture or some of those teams on the bubble, is it Kansas City or Detroit that you look at as being the teams under the most pressure? Are there teams that are in a playoff spot right now that you would identify as being the ones

that really need to show something over the next few weeks to prove that they belong there and to ultimately get that playoff spot? Yeah, I'll give you three teams in the AFC that needed. do that right now. It's Jacksonville Jaguars who are playing better as of late. In fact, they've kind of given me a little bit more of a reason to believe in them than I had for most of the season.

The Indianapolis Colts, because their quarterback, whose mobility was a strength, is playing with a broken fibula. And they haven't looked very good offensively once he suffered that injury. Over the last two games, they've struggled mightily lost two close games against two playoff hopefuls in Houston, Kansas

City. And the last one is the Chargers. And the reason that it's the Chargers as their offensive line is going to struggle regardless of the opponent because they lost both their starting tackles, you know, weeks ago, if not before the start of the season, you know, losing Joe Alt, getting him back from a high ankle sprain and then watching him go down basically two weeks later was a great illustration, an unfortunate, but great illustration of just how valuable he is to this team and how good he is as a tackle, whether it's on the right side or the left side. Since he's been gone, they have not been able to protect Justin Herbert. They've had a hard time opening running lanes. Moni Vidal had a great game against the Raiders last weekend, and part of that was because he popped off a 59-yard touchdown run with some great running and some timely blocking.

But overall, I don't believe in this offense as much as some others do because they can't protect their quarterback who is now playing with a surgically repaired left hand because he suffered a fracture in it last week, and he's going to try to play this week as well. So I think that there – if you look at each of these teams like Jenga Towers, I think there are a few less people. is in the Chargers Tower and in the Colts Tower than there is in the Jaguars. And that could open the door for teams like Houston and Kansas City to sneak in there before the end of the regular season.

Nick, the Chargers host the Eagles and, you know, cross-conference matchup here. But both teams, eight and four. And the Eagles, they might be the eight-and-four team with the most frustrated fan base of all time. And I understand it. Like there's been weird offensive stuff going on and they want to fire the offensive coordinator or at least take play-calling dudes away from him. There's always this storm going on, it seems like, around A.J. Brown.

What do you make of the Eagles and their chances to repeat as Super Bowl champions? Heavy as the head that wears the crown, right? I mean, this is just, I wouldn't expect anything less from a rabid, passionate fan base like Philadelphia. But they have reason to be upset. I honestly, like, I'm not a fan of anybody ever losing their job, but Kevin Paduolo's first year's office coordinator has looked pretty rough. I think he's been a major reason, his decisions, his play-calling decisions, and the way that he approaches the games with the game,

from a game plan's perspective, he just, like, there are other coaches that are great opening script coaches, and Petullo is not in his first season. So I, with Seriani being, you know, an experienced play caller himself, I agree with this sentiment that they should probably at least consider giving play-calling duties to the head coach. Can he handle that and still manage the game? I mean, he's done it well sometimes. And other times he's needed that offensive coordinator.

that remains to be seen. But they have plenty of reason to be frustrated. And look, the expectation when you come off of winning a Super Bowl with a team that has an incredibly young nucleus on defense, you believe like, oh, we're going on a run here. Everybody wants to be a fan of the dynasty, and they want their team to be the next dynasty. And it felt like it probably could be for them.

And they just haven't played good football and football that matches the quality of talent that's on their roster. And that's going to frustrate their fans, no doubt. I, just sitting, watching the By Friday game and, you know, writing about it for NFL.com, I got frustrated with the way that they approached it offensively because they're getting shredded by Chicago's run game, I mean, at a remarkable rate given that we thought the Eagles defense was starting to come together and could be as good, if not better than last year. And then they can't, I mean, this team's trouble to get first downs about as much as the

Cleveland Browns do, and they have way too much talent for this to be the case. So they need to look in the mirror and evaluate how they approach things offensively because that's their biggest hurdle. And they're lucky that the Cowboys lost last night because it felt like Dallas is going to try to mount a late push. Ultimately, I think the Eagles will still make the playoffs. And we'll see if they are the 2024 Eagles or the meltdown in Tampa Bay to finish the season, 2023 Eagles. We'll find out. In past years, a Baltimore-Pittsburgh matchup in December would be certainly the

headliner of a weekend and you know in the conversation for potential game of the year kind of thing this weekend maybe not quite those vibes both teams having some issues of late the ravens have had a couple of real stinkers uh the Steelers and the Aaron Rogers experience has been pretty up and down as well what what's your read on those two teams heading into that matchup oh man well it's it's wait actually you come out there what it were the two two teams that you listed there? Steelers Ravens. That's what I thought.

And you know what? That gives me to the exact. I guess that explains why I didn't. Reception we lost there because this is, I think it was Kyle Hamilton yesterday who said, Steelers Ravens is the purest form of football

that you'll get. And it's not that it was either Kyle Hamilton or it was Patrick Queen, one of the two, and Patrick Queen would know he's been on both sides of this rivalry. This year, it's the middest form of football you can get.

is even a word, but that's who they are. They're two six and six teams that cannot get out of their own way. You know, Baltimore being a team that lost their quarterback for a good portion of the season, it makes sense. Their offense has not looked anywhere near what it was in previous years. Derek Henry, for the first time, was kind of shown, you know, some signs of his age. He's still, you know, a wrecking machine, but he's shown some signs of his age. And the defense, I think the defense has come together in the last few.

weeks the last month or so, and especially after they acquired a Louis Gillen and allow them to move Kyle Hamilton around. But there's just some sort of sense of fraudulence with this team. And it all really goes back to the fact that their quarterback just doesn't look like himself. He is such a dynamic weapon. And this offense is just not going to be as good without him and Lamar Jackson. So even when he's on the field and he's not at 100 percent, they just look like a very meh team, a very average team. A team that I wanted to believe was going to make a run and get back to who we thought they were going to be and they just haven't looked apart. The Steelers, meanwhile, are a team that is a weird mashup of veteran players whose best years are two to three to five years behind them and young guys who aren't quite entering their prime.

And there's more of those veteran players than there are the young guys, the good draft picks that they've made so far. And this fan base is now suddenly desperate to fire our coach who's never had a losing season. This is the current state of the AFC North's greatest rivalry between Baltimore and Pittsburgh. And this is why it is the most mid-matchups you'll get in football. right now. So I don't know who emerges here because things get weird in rivalry games. I have more confidence in the Ravens than I do the Steelers because I believe the Steelers don't

know who they want to be from week to week. And Aaron Rogers is going to pull that late season frustrated Aaron Rogers move that we already saw from him. He looks old by the way, too. If I had to choose two to win this division because the division is bad and they are the two teams that have the greatest chance to win the division,

I would pick Baltimore because they believe that Lamar has to look like himself eventually, right? unless the ankle issues are more than we realize. But either way, neither of these teams makes me think that they're going to be able to make a deep run of the AFC. He is, Nick Shook of NFL.com. Nick really appreciate the time. As always, enjoy the games this weekend.

Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. That's our pleasure. Nick Shuck from NFL.com, weighing in on the NFL slate. And, yeah, as he said, not the peak form of football that it used to be. Unfortunately, Steelers and Ravens. All right, it's Halford and Brough here. and ask us anything Friday. We will give away a $100 gift card for the best ask us anything at 830.

But we can dive into the inbox right now. We'll read some throughout the show here. Okay. Jay Texan, ask us anything. If the Canucks persistently stay at the bottom of the league, does the trade value of the pending UFAs diminish? I don't think so just by virtue of being at the bottom of the standings. Now, I know there's been some concern recently about like, hey, Kiefer Sherwood. He's stopped scoring.

He's moving down the line. I'm not getting as many minutes. Is that going to hurt his trade value? Dranth made the point on our show yesterday. Like, teams probably weren't valuing him as a 30 goal score anyways. They know he was going to slow down. And he's still key for Sherwood and that he brings the energy and the physicality. So it probably doesn't hurt things too much.

Then you look at, you know, when they're back, guys like Bluger and Forbort, those are known commodities. Teams know what they're getting if they're trading, you know, low value picks for those types of players. I think the only thing is, does potentially is increase the urgency, right? It's one thing to be considering selling and if you're in 25th place in the league and oh, hey, maybe if we get hot, we'll go in a run. If you're just kind of bouncing around 31st, 32nd, 30th, 30th, 31st, like, why are you

holding your players? And do you almost need to do something at that point? Make a trade, expedite the process a little bit to change the conversation in the market. And we know that Jim Rutherford historically has never been afraid to be. the one to set the market. I would also add that being that low in the standings, and I know we've spent a couple of weeks talking about

the memo and the report that's out there for teams that the Canucks are open for business. If the Canucks are indeed in 32nd or 31st and not in that 25th, 26, 24th range that you mentioned, Jamie, I think it then also probably puts a little bit more emphasis on what they're getting

back. You're not selling, you know, not like they gave up the farm to get Lucas Reichel, but you're not, you're not getting, you're not going to get that kind of, you know, excitement about a player of that ilk, of that age group coming back. If your, your team is, you know, very much stuck near the bottom. So put those two things together. I don't think it affects, as you said, the individual value of the player, but how you get to a trade, so as you said, you know, the urgency. Yeah. And then the packaging of what you're looking for is always, you know, a possible thing that

that gets changed here. And look, it's rare to see a lot of trades happen at this point. At this point of the calendar, yeah, for sure. All right, it is a Canucks game day, by the way. They take on the Utah mammoth tonight at Rogers Arena. Game day coverage on SportsNet 650 is brought you by Panago. Game day, the Panago way.

Get any large pizza plus cheesy bread for only 2499. Use code Canucks at Panago.com. Panago for it, restrictions may apply. We will chat with AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway next, as well as Dax McCarty, Apple TV, MLS analyst, former MLS player about the MLS Cup final, White Caps versus Miami. Keep sending your Ask Us Anythings in. We've got the prizes starting up towards the end of the next segment as well.

So I'll tell you more about that here on Halford & Brough, Sportsnet, 650.