Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Need To Play With Some Emotion

Episode Date: January 16, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they preview tonight's Canucks matchup versus the Kings (6:00), plus they preview this weekend's NFL playoff action with NFL.com's Nick Shook (25:55). 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.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- trick of his career. They spent most of the third period in their zone. On home ice, they're gonna walk away with a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Who guarded you? Nobody, I was unguardable. You know, I was thinking during the match, I was like, hmm, I'm out here, I might as well just take that big, fat paycheck. And Coco and I love, we love a good

five star vacation so part of that check is going to go towards that so thank you guys thanks for coming out here and supporting us tonight. Good morning Vancouver 601 on a Thursday, happy Thursday everybody. It is Hal Prentitt is rough, it is sports net 650 We are coming you live from the kin tech studios and beautiful fairview slopes in Vancouver Jason. Good morning. Good morning Hey dog. Good morning to you. Good morning a new producer today. Elon. Good morning to you. Good morning guys That's the hat trick of producers this week. What was that? What was that clip? Elon

Is Danielle Collins at the Australian Open. Warming up to the Australian fans. She's an American and she was going up against an Australian woman that she beat and the crowd was very against her. Ah, I see. Okay. And then she doubled down by telling everyone what she was going to do with her prize winnings. Kind of funny, actually.

Halfway through the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking Starting is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service or parts. We are now in one of the program. Hour one is brought to 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. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the kintex studio kintec footwear and Orthotics working together with you in step. We have a big show ahead. You're looking at me You wanted me to do it didn't you know I knew you're I knew you're gonna say we have a big show you You knew you wanted me to do we really have a big show today. You wanted me to do it No, no, I wasn't I wasn't looking at you for that. I was just in an East fan. I'll put together a video compilation yesterday. When I saw it, I was like, Hmm, he might be onto something. He suggests that we do the kicker of the Kintec

read in step together. You want to try it in step, right? You want to try it? Okay. That wasn't what I was doing though. I was just going to look at you and see if you're going to say big show again. Everything's a big show. Is it, though? We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, footwear and orthotics working together with you in step.

No, don't like that. It's so cute. We have a show today. It's a show. Way to sell it, man. It's a medium-sized show. Nick Shook's going to join us at 630 from NFL.com. We will look ahead to the weekend that is the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Saturday afternoon, it's the Texans and Chiefs to kick off the round.

That will be followed by the Saturday nighter, which is commanders at Lions. Sunday, it's the Rams and the Eagles at noon our time. And then, of course, it all sets us up for the biggest and most hyped game of the weekend to close out the round and the weekend Bills Ravens from Buffalo on Sunday night very much looking forward to the weekend we'll talk to Nick Shook about all that at 6 30 7 30 Jonathan Davis not the lead singer of corn but rather the host of ice cap on Sirius XM NHL radio. He also doubles as a California hockey insider, I'd call him. He knows the Kings very well, he knows the Ducks pretty well,

he knows the Sharks less well than those two. But the Canucks are playing the Kings tonight. 7 o'clock Rogers Arena, so we will preview the game from the LA Kings side of things with Jonathan Davis at 7.30 this morning. 8 o'clock Adam Kierzenblatt is going to join the program. Two time guest now, Adam Kierzenblatt from the hockey news covers the Vancouver Canucks for that fine outlet. Drancer's on vacation?

Drancer's on vacation. He's on vacation. Yes. Drancs can't take vacation during the Canucks season. Not with the team going through this. I mean. We're going to have to call him back if someone's traded. It's that mid January vacation. I don't know where he is. I call him back if someone's traded. Is that mid January vacation?

I don't know where he is. I don't know what he's doing, but he's not here. Adam Kierzenblatt is going to be here at 8 a.m. Uh, as I mentioned, Canucks and Kings tonight, seven o'clock from Rogers arena. The Sportsnet 650 programming is as follows four to six Canucks central with Satyarshah and Dan Riccio six to seven.

That's the Canucks pregame show with the aforementioned hosts, Sat and Dan. Then you get to seven. That's the Canucks pregame show with the aforementioned hosts, Sat and Dan. Then you get the call of the game tonight with Batch and Randeeb. Jamie Dodd's working the intermissions with Sat. And then of course the postgame show goes all the way through till 11 o'clock. So seven uninterrupted hours of Canucks programming. And of course we will be talking a lot of Canucks,

including at 8 a.m. this morning with Adam Kears and Blatt. Finally, we are once again giving away a pair of tickets and a $50 gift card to join us, well, not Brough and I, but everybody else, Sportsnet 650 for the big football game at the Clayton Public House on Sunday, February the 9th. Caller? Once again, these are not Super Bowl tickets. We should stress that.

I had a couple people yesterday, so you're giving away those Super Bowl tickets? Yeah. No, they're not, no, we're not taking any of the Super Bowl. Let me tell you, listeners, if we were giving away Super Bowl tickets, we would be doing it with much more enthusiasm, much more enthusiasm. And quite frankly, we probably would

have taken them for ourselves and not given them away. We are giving away tickets and a $50 gift card to the Clayton Public House for the big football game on Sunday, February 9th. Caller number three at 815 this morning will win the tickets. The number here, six oh four two eight oh zero six 50 six oh four two eight oh zero six 50. I have noticed that with the increase in callers that we've taken, we've also had

an increase in a phone mishaps and dropped calls. So who knows how it'll turn out. You'll have to pay attention at 8.15 to find out. Clayton Public House, good food, good people, good times. That is what's happening on the program today. It is truly a big show ahead. Without further ado, Elon, let's tell everybody what happened.

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how messy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened?

What Happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca The Canucks yesterday? They took a day off. After what happened in Winnipeg in the know, in the previous game, they thought, you know what, let's recalibrate. Let's stay away from the rink.

Let's not get out there. Let's have a full day off. No practice, no media, no nothing in advance of tonight's game against their divisional opponents, the Los Angeles Kings. Just everyone had to go back to their families after the long road trips. This is exactly what you want to do after a disappointing game in Winnipeg. They got back there for 10 minutes and they're

like, is there a practice today? Rick, can we have like an impromptu practice? Some sort of informal skate. They will play the Los Angeles Kings tonight. As you pointed out very astutely in your note is a big deal for two reasons. What are those two reasons, Jason? Well, they'll need to bounce back after

getting embarrassed in Winnipeg. And that's obvious. And number two, the last time they played the Kings, Brock Besser took a headshot from Tanner Janot and they swore revenge, kinda. Sorta. I think it was J-Pat that quoted DayRNA saying the league did what they had to do when they I think it was J-Pat that quoted Day-R-N-A saying,

the league did what they had to do when they suspended Geno. Next time we play them, next time we play them. But right now we don't have to focus on that. It's behind us and we hope Bess will be back as soon as possible. Bess actually missed quite a few games. He did. With a concussion. He missed more games than Tanner Joe.

And now it is, as Day-R-N Darren A put it, the next time we play them. I've got a question for the listeners. I know it's early for homework, okay? But if you're listening right now and you've got the ability to text in, i.e. you are not on the highway. Don't text and drive. What do you want to see from the Canucks tonight? What is the most important thing you want to see from the Canucks tonight? I'm not limiting your options, but some of the

options might be, you know, a win. Some of the options might be revenge for Brock Besser, some sort of pushback, some sort of attempt to make Tanner Geno's life difficult. Now we always do have a complicated relationship with revenge and revenge and revenge and revenge. pushback, some sort of attempt to make Tanner Genot's life difficult. Now we always do have a complicated relationship with revenge in the city with what happened with Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore, but I'm sure the

league will be keeping a close eye on tonight's affair, given the history of Genot and Besser. Back in the day, this would almost assuredly be a busy night for the referees, but it's not the day anymore. We're not back in the day. We're in some other day. Is there even an obvious candidate to take care

of business for the Canucks on behalf of Brock Besser? Vincent Day-Arnais has been a healthy scratch. Dakota Joshua is hurt. Typically you'd like, if you're going to say, if it's just going to be the traditional, okay, I'm going to make Tanner Geno fight. You'd like it to be a forward so you don't complicate the minutes for your defense.

Sure. Makes sense. Right? Yeah. That's typically what it is. Um, who's going to fight among the Canucks forwards? JT Miller? Dan Heinen, you're up.

JT Miller, I don't think you want fighting, although he hasn't been playing much lately. He's a 50 minute and a night guy now. Seems like a decent candidate. But you don't, I mean, he's, listen, I, I, I don't think he's a hundred percent. And I don't think, uh, you really a decent candidate. But you don't, I mean, he's, listen, I, I, I don't think he's a hundred percent. And I don't think, uh, you really want him fighting. You want him out there finding his game on the ice.

Who else? You know what? I'm going to tweak this conversation just a slightly different direction. Maybe it's not necessarily the fight that you need to see tonight, but the fighting spirit is what maybe I think I want to see the most tonight is I have noticed, and I've made mention of it now on a number of occasions on this very

fine radio program that I have at times been a little surprised at the lack of pushback that the Canucks have had in all different certain situations that you'd think would require pushback. And by that, if you're wondering about examples, I mean, when one of their best players gets in all different certain situations that you'd think would require pushback. And by that, if you're wondering about examples, I mean when one of their best players gets subjected to a big body check, or when they're getting the doors blown off them by an opponent and the frustration level is building, or when they're mired in a funk and have lost

multiple games in a row and they just want to snap out of it. All those examples that I just gave were different times where someone, anyone could have stepped up fought back, pushed back, right? And it just seems as though for the most part, the Canucks don't do that and are content to play the, well, tonight's not our night, we'll pack it up, we'll get back to figuring out what went wrong and we'll try again the next game.

And it's not a horrible approach. I understand that you need to keep an even keel, but at the same time, everyone that's played a sport at any level, any level, knows that sometimes you just gotta show that you're in it for more than wins and losses and in these guys' case, a paycheck. That there needs to be some show of, hey, we're in this fight and we need to be taken seriously.

And tonight would be an awfully good time to do this because right now, there are a lot of questions about this team's identity and sadly, the only one that we've come up with is that their identity is consistently inconsistent, which isn't a great thing. Like you're not hanging your hat on that as an organization. Like, what do you guys do best?

And it's like, well, not show up all the time. Well, we got real leaders of that. The listeners have showed up. Okay. We got like 30 texts in 10 seconds. Joe from Seashell answering what I see, want to see from the Canucks. Don't chase hits just to prove a point, rather hit hard when the opportunity arises and win the damn game.

Here's another one. I want to see passion. Kiefer Sherwood splattering him on the boards would be a great start. Calm Bobby. He's always calm. Good morning guys. Let's deal with Janot in the first five minutes, then play hockey and try to get a much needed win tonight.

Not sure who will step up, but somebody's got to. That's not very calm at all, Bobby. A lot of people suggesting that Kiefer Sherwood could be the guy to step up. I think this is kind of what you were getting at unsigned. I'd like to see a team that looks like they actually care about competing. I'd like to see them. Here's another one unsigned. I'd like to see them come out of the gate strong. None of this laying back four shots in a period stuff.

Phoenix Sherwood 10 hits tonight. Absolute wrecking ball. Set the tone early. Have a fight if we need it. If JT Miller is really pissed off, maybe he'll do something too. I have a feeling that JT Miller is going to be the man under the radar tonight for the Canucks. Under the microscope?

Or. Yeah, sorry. Under the microscope. Um, hopefully not under the. Under the radar tonight for the Canucks. Under the microscope? Yeah, sorry. Under the microscope. Um. Hopefully not under the. Under the radar would be worse. It'd be slightly worse. Uh. Under the microscope.

So for, the thing that I'm kind of talking about is, you know, over the weekend when the Canucks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs three, nothing in Toronto. And a lot was made from the Toronto media about the response of that game from two particular guys. One was Chris Tanev and one was Mitch Marner. And Tanev came out afterwards and was like, you know, our effort was unacceptable. Our execution was terrible.

We didn't play well. And then Tanev was so upset that he hurt John Tavarra's practice yesterday. He wanted to make up for it. Probably not the best way to do it, Chris. Mitch Marner on the other hand was like, I liked our effort. Right. Even if you believe that as a person You don't say it out loud

You can't ever really come off the ice of a three nothing loss on home ice on Saturday night How can I can't I be like yeah? I like some of the things we did tonight three nothing losses three nothing loss. You should not be happy with it process Over results none of that stuff now in the context case It's a lot different because they can't even hang their hat on a good effort in Winnipeg the night prior. And all I'm really trying to get at here,

and someone said, settle down, Don King. I'm not advocating for a brawl. I could care less how it manifests itself. Just has to, they just gotta show passion. Last year, there were a number of occasions, and granted some of them had to do with Nikita Zdorov being in the lineup, but there were a number of occasions and granted, some of them had to do with Nikita Zdorov being in the lineup, but there are a number of occasions where the Canucks played with a certain level.

Part of it was swagger for sure. Like there was a confidence involved, but there was also a sense of like hunger and attitude and there was a real burning desire. And I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that they hadn't tasted success in a while. But there was almost a burning desire for And I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that they hadn't tasted success in a while, but there was almost a burning desire for this group to want to show that they were in the fight. And whatever way that resulted, be it in like,

we're scoring a lot of goals or we're locking them down defensively. There was a real hunger and a real, I mean, passion's probably a good way to say it. Do you remember the narrative of last season? Like how are the Canucks turned it around? And a lot of times the answer would be, I think these guys were just sick of losing. Mm-hmm.

They were just tired of losing. It was a group that had been together for a while. The Corps been together for a few years and they were just tired of losing. So they did something about it. Mm-hmm. Uh, Well, and then what did Patrick Alvin say coming into training camp? There wasn't enough humility. Yeah, it is. I mean, and it's hard not to be

somewhat resting on your laurels after the season they had last year. It wasn't just a good season. It was regular season wise. One of the best in the 50 plus years history of the Vancouver Canucks in terms of wins and points. They want to play off round got to within one game of the Western Conference final. I think inherently and I don't know I'd say I was guilty of this as well. I think there was a natural assumption that the next step in the evolution was just going to happen because that's what good teams do right. They always get better but then the adversity hit. A lot of things that were supposed to go this club's way haven't gone their way this year.

They weren't super healthy like they were a year ago. They didn't have really good performances, specifically from JT Miller to a lesser degree from Elias Pedersen, because Pedersen kind of no-showed the last half of the last year. But everything wasn't aligned. And there's one or two ways it was gonna to go is either they were going to dig in

and use the adversity as a rallying point like so many NHL coaches love. Love it when you get adversity gives a chance for the guys to figure out how to get through the tough times and they come up better on the other side. Other teams deal with adversity in sort of less favorable ways. Either they start to feel sorry for themselves or they think that everything's stacked against them and they just wait for the adversity to pass. As opposed to try to fight through it.

So what you're saying is we need just like a measly little line brawl to start the game tonight to get the Canucks blood pumping. The Canucks aren't built for that. It won't go well, but nevertheless. No team in the NHL is built for that. Yeah. To show the effort at least.

I know one guy that texted in and said, Besser should fight his own battles. That's a tough one. That's a real team guy there. Yeah. It's a real team guy there. True. Yeah. Or Bess could just take it on himself. He's like, all right, it's go time. Tanner Joe, I know this is a tough, tough pill for me to swallow, but I'm going to try it anyway. Brock Besser is out with another concussion. Yeah. Like I mean, if any, if there's one guy that gets a pass in this instance, I think it's Besser.

He already took the licking for the team, missed some time and get back at him. These are, and look, here's the other thing. If you want to look at this in a totally different, under a totally different lens, this is an opportunity for this team to show some sack or whatever. Yeah. This is a chance to sort of be like, Hey, Wolfpack moment. Let's rally the troops and get behind them because they've got a very obvious and specific reason to come out pissed off too. Yeah.

And to write very motivating reasons. You would hope we got our asses handed to us, the game prior and a guy on the other side knocked one of our buddies and best players out of the line of sort of like seven games. With a legit dirty hit. It wasn't just a good clean hard hit. It was a lot of malice with that hit. It was a suspendable hit and Janot was suspended and I realized that Janot apologized to Brock Besser but that's not going to help you get motivated. You're not going to be like, well, he apologized, right? They got to find something.

They got to find something to galvanize this group. Sure. Last season it was, well, we're sick of losing. That's a galvanizing moment. Right now, maybe the galvanizing moment, aren't you sick of the noise? Aren't you sick of every second game? You know, your fan base freaking out and there's more noise. Don't you want this whole thing with

Pedersen and Miller and all the noise about train? Don't you, don't those guys want that to end? If they don't, you know, that's also a sign and maybe a sign to management. If they're not going to fight through this and fight for their, essentially their place on the team, then that might tell you something about the situation. Yeah. I mean, I look, I've been loathe to do this through the first half of the season

is to put extra emphasis on every single game, because at a certain point, you know, they, one, you start to get fatigue with that, that act after a while. But two, some games mean something and some games don't. I mean, let's just be honest with the NHL schedule, but this is two in a row now for me. I mean, I remember coming in prior to the Jets game, talking about it on Monday and Tuesday saying, Hey, a big game. This means a lot.

There is close to as healthy as they've been all season long. It's a litmus test game. I know you're at the end of a road trip. I know you're tired, but you also just came off one of your best wins of the season in Toronto. And for a team that's struggled with consistency all season long, it felt like that was a real big opportunity to be consistent. And what did they do?

They reverted right back to their old form where they follow up a good game with a bad game I'm not talking about like an above-average performance with an a below average performance I'm talking about high bar to low watermark. Like it was brutal in Winnipeg There's no positives from that game Keith the water guy has everyone completely forgotten that JT's arm looked like it fell off the other game Do not expect a strong game from him tonight. He's probably playing with a separated shoulder or torn rotator cuff. Just look at his two one-timers in the third

period last game. He looked so awkward. Um, this is always a tough one, but I think if you're in the lineup, you should play to a certain standard and that involves, I noticed Keith the water guy that none of your texts involved his legs. And that's what a lot of people have an issue with that.

JT Miller has a few bursts during the game, but his motor doesn't seem to be running the entire game. And if he's really that injured, he shouldn't be playing. And then don't play. Like if I've seen a lot of these a lot yesterday as well. Like, he's got a bunch of different injuries.

I'm like, then why is he in the lineup? It's a tough one. If he's that injured, he shouldn't be in the lineup. It's a tough one because we did this for PD too, right? Yeah. I mean. It's like, if you can't contribute, if you're injured, rest.

Yeah, but the flip side of it is like 60% of JT Miller better than 100% of another player. It's also. It has another player. It's also, It hasn't been lately. It's also, I think it is more complicated. Yeah, it's way more complicated than we're making it out to be.

Probably. And this is coming from me. I love boiling everything down to the meat and potatoes and the black and white issues, but when it comes to injuries, it's like if someone's playing through something that they shouldn't be playing through, it's very hard to criticize them

because that's a heart and soul kind of thing yes if you're an emotional leader of a team when you talk about leading by example sometimes it's showing the guys on the team what it looks like to play through pain okay but if you're not back checking and you're actively hurting the team in the process you shouldn't be playing fair point like that's it's not like he's not it's not like he's like fighting through this I okay, he had that one good game the other day, but if he's not able to- He had four points in one game. It was better than a good game.

Yeah, that was a great game. But if he's not able to fight through it and if he's hurting his team and he's not back checking and he's not giving the 100%, the 100% effort that he can give, then why be in the lineup? Okay, a couple quick notes on the Vancouver Canucks front. In case you missed it, there was a paper transaction yesterday. Breezeball, Leckromachy and Max Sassen all got sent down to the American League. This is purely it seems for cap related reasons. None of them dressed last night when Abbotsford took on Ontario in AHL action

in Abbotsford. So I would assume that the three of them will be recalled at some point today. Maybe not necessarily all three, but as it stands right now, the Canucks have just 11 healthy forwards on the roster because Dakota Joshua is still on injury reserve with a leg injury and he is yet to be activated from IR. So you could probably expect some sort of transaction coming up today. The Canucks are going to have a game day skate. They are going to speak with the media later today. So we'll find out a little bit more, including who's going to start a net.

Tonight, hopefully we'll find out who's going to start a net tonight. Hopefully we'll find out who's going to start a net tonight when they take on the LA Kings at Rogers Arena. Okay. We're going to talk a little NFL with Nick Schuch coming up. We got an open segment in the second hour to start the second hour of the show at seven o'clock. I want to talk a little bit about the Edmonton Oilers and how they stayed hot with another win last night against Minnesota.

Remember that slow start the Oilers got off to? Yeah. They got over it even quicker this season. They are one of the NHL's hottest teams. They're looking pretty good, sadly. Uh, we'll also dip into the Dunbar Lumber text line and take more of your comments. Uh, what do you want to see from the Canucks

tonight and anything else that's on your mind? Little NFL talk coming up and then we'll return to more of your comments. Uh, what do you want to see from the Canucks tonight? And anything else that's on your mind. Little NFL talk coming up, then we'll return to the Canucks. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 PM on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 631 on a thrash metal Thursday here on the Halford & Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Bruff in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers.

They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Nick Shook is going to join us in just a moment here from NFL.com. Our one of this program is brought to 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. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. It is upon us. It is the divisional round of the NFL

playoffs this weekend. Four matchups, two Saturday, two Sunday. Very excited for all of them. All of them. It's going to be a great weekend of football. Joining us now to preview it all, our good buddy from NFL.com, Nick Schuch now on the Halford & Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Nick. How are you? I'm fantastic, guys. Getting ready to dive in a divisional round weekend. We're only a few weeks out from the Super Bowl

in New Orleans. It's going to start with the Texans at the Chiefs in Kansas City. Kansas City is an eight point favorite, but I think there's going to be a lot of people watching this game and wondering what Chiefs team we're going to see this team. Is it going to be the chief's team that went 15 and two,

or is it going to be the chief's team that won all 15 of those games by barely anything? I realized they're the same team, but everyone just seems to have a different opinion on how good this year's Kansas City chief's team actually is. Yeah, and that's fair. on how good this year's Kansas City Chiefs team actually is. Yeah, and that's fair. They haven't been the spectacularly impressive team that they've been in past years.

I mean, you know, I ran back this exact matchup from a few years back in the playoffs and was flabbergasted to realize that the game ended 51 to 31 between the Chiefs and the Texans back when Bill O'Brien was coaching the Texans Obviously a lot has changed since then Kansas City deserves a lot of credit for getting to this point, you know 15 and 2 With that last loss coming because they you know, basically just conceded to the Broncos in week 18 Despite not putting up a ton of points and by not being the explosive team that they

were back then. But then again, they haven't really been that team for a while now. And we had similar concerns about them last year around Christmas and they lost to the Raiders and they go on a hot streak, then run all the way to the Super Bowl and win another one. So I have a hard time counting them out. I have a hard time going against them when it comes to picking games because they just proven to me time and time again that they're such a tough out that I'd be foolish to think

that they're going to lose a game. But I do think that this matchup makes it a lot more interesting than people realize or maybe that they expect. Houston's defense has been playing fantastic football in, in, in recent weeks and they did make it an interesting game back when they met in December, you know, late December, right before Christmas. Now I don't like to, you know, take a lot out of the last time they played matchup type situations, but that's also the game in which the Texans

lost tank dealt to an injury. Um, it was played an arrowhead. They have familiarity. And after the Texans then laid a stinker of a game out there against the Ravens on Christmas Day, they'd be the Titans team that they should handle and they kind of did. And then they went out and delivered their best defensive performance, I think, of the entire season in what they did to the Chargers.

A Chargers offense that was very hot coming into that game. So I think this one is going to be interesting and could be closer than people expect because you have a low scoring offense versus a defense that's playing very well. But the determining factor for me is the Chiefs defense. And that's kind of what was the difference in their earlier meeting.

So it's gonna be an interesting one, but don't expect a ton of fireworks, I don't think. Who is, what is the strength of the Chiefs? Because everyone obviously would be like, oh, they've got Patrick my homes. But is it the offense or is it the defense? You know, last year I would do the defense. This year, I think it's a balance between the two. It just depends because visually they're not that impressive offensively.

But if you if you appreciate what they do on a per down basis, they are one of the toughest teams in football to get off the field on third down And I think that can win you a lot of football games if you just simply Refuse to punt or refuse to be in situations in which it's logical to punt Mahomes is their greatest strength I think because his ability to convert those third downs has become a massive thorn in everybody's side And while it's not the majestic 60 yard touchdown passes that he used to be ability to convert those third downs has become a massive thorn in everybody's side. And while it's not the majestic 60 yard touchdown passes that it used to be, um,

I think it's even more dangerous cause they just keep other offenses off the field. So the strength of their team is Andy Reed really more than anything, because he's found a fit, you know, he's proven that he's the greatest currently active head coach in the NFL and he's been able to adjust his style to the strengths of his team. And they continue to win despite losses on offense over the years, losses on defense, because it's hard to stay, you know, a Superbowl winning team, everybody else is going to come, you know, pick from your tree year after year, uh, and yet they stay here because of their coach.

So let's move on to the second game on Saturday. And that is the Washington commanders at the Detroit Lions. You know, how Alfred and I were texting back and forth over the weekend and going, you know, normally we just like make fun of everything. And we were like, earnestly, Jaden Daniels is very impressive for a young quarterback. Um, what's the challenge going to be like for him heading into Detroit? The crowd is going to be crazy. There are going to be Superbowl expectations for Detroit.

How do you think Jaden Daniels is going to handle it? Yeah, we've had a couple of awesome offensive rookies of the year in the last two years. Uh, you know, in coming off of the season that Stroud put together, which included a playoff win at home, by the way, before going on the road and losing in Baltimore in the divisional round last year, you know, when you saw that season, you thought,

there's no way that the next offensive rookie of the year is going to be this good. And Daniel has been just as good, if not better. Different, I think, in certain styles, but also his ability to win the clutch has been a defining factor in this commander season, in this turnaround and why so many people believe in him. And I think that's why a lot of people are going to give them a fighting chance or more

than a fighting chance in Detroit this weekend. I tend to agree, but when I look at it from a matchup perspective, I just don't see how Washington's defense is going to stop Detroit's offense enough. Detroit's offense is a juggernaut. They've proven to be that for quite some time now, at least for the majority of this season. And while the commanders might find a way to keep up and turn it into a shootout, I just don't think that if you pit these two teams' strengths and weaknesses against each other, it just feels like Detroit has the upper hand so I would not be shocked if

it came down to the wire because I think a lot of people picked the Buccaneers last weekend and you know Daniel's once again delivered in the clutch he's got that clutch gene and it could be interesting but this is a different environment than Raymond James Stadium. Ford Field is going to be a whole new ballgame for this team and I think it's just going to be extremely difficult for them to win that game. Okay, well since there are similar point spreads, Texans, Chiefs, Commanders, Lions, which upset would surprise you the least? Hmm, that's even more difficult. I'm still going to go Commanders there I think because I think the Texans will it close, but I just have a really hard time envisioning the Chiefs getting beat in the postseason because it hasn't happened since the 2021 season.

So the one that would shock me more would be, I'd be more shocked by the Texans beating the Chiefs. I think the commanders would have a better shot because of that alone. Let's move on to the Rams and the Eagles. So much was made of Sam Darnold's performance in the Rams Vikings game last weekend. Was enough credit given to the Rams? That's fair. That's a fair question to ask because in media, in journalism as you guys know, the first

thing that everybody does is focuses on the negativity because it sells. And it's also a fair point to raise about that game, which is it was the second straight game in which Sam Darnold was, you know, terrible, largely terrible. Now I, the discourse on this is interesting to me because those who want to defend Darnold would point to his offensive line or his receivers not getting open to the Rams defensive scheme. And I think all of that is valid, but Darnold also held on the ball for 3.21 seconds per pass in that game. That's way too long. He walked himself into a number of those sacks hunting the big play and so on and so forth. And because of the story that he had this

season, which was, you know, the redemption arc powering the Vikings to 14 wins in a regular season and the opportunity to win the, take the NFC's top seed into the playoffs. It was a drastic fall from stardom, I think, just in a two-game sample size. So I think that that deserves the attention. But yeah, the Rams played great football. I mean, they played phenomenally on defense. They had a perfect game plan to face Donald and the Vikings explosive offense, which just did not show up.

They kind of took what the Lions did, I think the week earlier, and just put their own flavor on it with their personnel. So a lot of the additions that they made in the off season have proven to be wise ones. The defensive front was Braden Fisk and Jared Verz, and Kobe Turner, and Byron Young. And then you go to the defensive backfield,

Akela Witherspoon has been a great pick up for them as a veteran, among other players back there. Kobe Duran as well. So, you know, you think about the Rams performance in total and then you also throw in the fact that they're playing in Arizona because of the, you know, the tragic wildfires affecting Los Angeles area. And yeah, we should be paying all the attention

in the world to them. This is the good story. The Darnold story ended, you know, over the weekend. It ended on Monday night. We should now be shifting our focus to a Rams team that can make a legitimate run with much more to play for than just NFL football and yeah I don't think people are paying enough attention to them but again I think it's just because people want to put to bed the Darnold season I think once and for all and because negativity sells. Well, we do have to.

It has to be said, the Donald story isn't completely over. And I know you wrote about this for NFL dot com. Where does Sam Darnold play football next season? Yeah, that's a great question. And I mean, nine different teams, I think I listed in that, which you can find at NFL dot com slash shook. It's I just I kind of you can find at nfl.com slash shook. I kind of took a look at every team's death chart in the NFL, and after going the ones

off the top of my head, I was like, who needs a quarterback? Who could be in the market for a quarterback? Because I think even the Rams could be in the market, or at least most people thought they could have been in the market prior to the way that Stafford played in that playoff win over the Vikings.

A lot of people I think would want to say he's going to play in Pittsburgh next year. And I think that a lot of what Pittsburgh needs to do is they need to figure out who they want to be as a franchise and what direction they want to proceed. Do they think that they're good enough to contend for, you know, Super Bowl? Do they want to run it back with Russell Wilson again? And or do they want to see, you know, more of Justin Fields? Who is going to be their offensive coordinator? I mean, Arthur Smith is there as of now, but I think ideology matters a lot when it, you know, determines how you proceed a quarterback. I thought, you know, frankly, it's crazy to sound about the Jets thing was kind of

interesting because they, I mean, they're not in a position to draft a quarterback. Rodgers may or may not come back. He may not play. Who knows? We've talked about that for a month and a half. I thought it would be funny because who wants a reunion with a guy that they dumped years ago? But I thought that was kind of interesting. I thought it was interesting with the Giants too because they don't have a quarterback either. You could point to the Raiders, but I feel like the Raiders already have that option in Aiden O'Connell and if they really want a quarterback in this draft, they'll make the move to go up and take Shador. And I don't feel like he's going to fit in Cleveland

because I feel like the Browns would make more sense with Kirk Cousins, although that's a possibility as well. So what I'm doing in this answer is I'm just giving you a bunch of possibilities without it. With my telling you, I have no idea. I think he's the backup quarterback in Minnesota next year. More than anything, I think he goes in on a cheaper deal and, you know, he competes with JJ McCarthy and they figure it out from there. How do you think Steelers fans would react if they signed Sam Darnold and said, he's our guy, because this is a team that you credit them for being able to make the playoffs more often than not, but then you also

look at how things have gone in the playoffs for the past, I don't know, decade or whatever, almost a decade. They just go to the playoffs and they lose. It's five straight playoff games for them. And you look at their division and you've got a guy like Lamar Jackson and it's admirable to keep making the playoffs despite not having

answers at your quarterback position, but it's also, I think frustrating for the fan base to feel kind of trapped. Like there are some good things about your team, but ultimately you're not a true Super Bowl contender. Yeah. I think this is one of the few examples in the NFL that we've seen in the NBA very often, which is you're in purgatory.

It's the worst place to be because you're not taking high enough to get some, you know, game changing talents on either side of the ball, but you're not low enough or you're not, you know, you're not taking low enough because you're not winning the Superbowl or you're not getting to the Superbowl. You're just a first round exit every year. because you're not winning the Super Bowl, or you're not getting to the Super Bowl, you're just a first round exit every year. And it is a testament to the Steelers' ability

to first off trust their coach, and secondly keep enough of what they do best intact, even after losing a quarterback. But I can tell you right now, all the people in Pittsburgh want the same thing, which is, hey, I think we need to change coaches, we need to change everything, blow it up. Like there's a lot of people there that, you know,

are leaning that way in terms of fans, but fans often acted of emotion and everything else at this time of year, especially as coming off of a playoff loss. So I think that their reaction to Sam and Arnold being their quarterback wouldn't be all that different. They would put an optimistic spin on it, but I mean, this is a fan base.

I was just asked to get excited about Russell Wilson for a year and they were more excited probably about Justin Fields than anything and for a period there they had reason to be excited until Russell you know fell back to being Russell and their offense cratered really over the last month leading to you know those five straight losses close to year. So I think they've been here before. I don't know, I wouldn't say that apathy is setting in. They are tired of being a one and done team in the playoffs, the Steelers organization and all of their fans are.

And I don't know if Donald makes you think because of the way that he just went one and done with the Vikings and the way that he played in week 18, I don't think that inspires a ton of confidence. So I don't know if it would move the needle all that much more than keeping Russell Wilson would. We're speaking to Nick Schuch from NFL.com here on the Halferd and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. We have saved the best for last.

We're going to dive deep into the Bills Ravens matchups. This is the final of the four divisional round games. You know, if the NFL was without conference alignment and without seedings and without divisions, I think a lot of people would say that this is a worthy Super Bowl matchup right here in the divisional round because of the two MVP candidates at quarterback going head-to-head. I do want to start though Nick with the weather in Buffalo because seeding does matter and home field advantage does matter especially when you play in a place like Buffalo. How cold is it gonna be? How low are the temperatures gonna drop? How are the Ravens gonna prepare for playing

in Buffalo on Sunday? Yeah, they've already spoken about, you know, it's too cold to practice outside in Maryland and that it's gonna be, you know, tough. Lamar said he won't wear gloves. He hates wearing gloves. He said he'd leave it up to Teddy Bridgewater, but he hopes that they have jackets on the sideline and everything else. He's already been wearing like a balaclava

on the sideline for a month and a half now. I think more out of fashion than anything. So he'll still be accustomed to that because he's gonna need it for warmth this time around. It's gonna affect them to a degree, but they're a running team. They've been a running team for a while, but the way that they run the football now looks different.

And we obviously saw the results and they beat the Steelers in wild card weekend and what they've done all year with Derek Henry. They're kind of built for this. Like they have the big truck that you need to drive through the snow and his name's Derek Henry. They have, they got Lamar, you know, able to drive through the snow. And his name's Derek Henry. They have they got Lamar, you know, able to play off of that.

And I think that it would be kind of thrilling and captivating television to watch Lamar, you know, run through the snow in a road game against the Bills. I do think it would bring down our our total points output for this game. It might make, you know, we did. I did my podcast the other night, the gridiron podcast. And we, I just said off the, off the cuff Ravens by 10. And I feel confident in that unless there's a foot of snow on the ground.

Now it gets a little complicated, but I think that they're preparing as best they can. You know, they spoke about how it's cold down in all these mills, Maryland. And I tell you what, it's not nearly as cold as it is, you know, more of this way. I'm sitting in Cleveland right now and I've been watching snow for the last hour

and a half and I think it's about 15 degrees out. So, yeah, it's frigid. It is January here and it would present a challenge to any football team, regardless of where they're located. You mentioned how good Kansas City Chiefs are on third down and how they just keep the offense moving. Baltimore's got to be up there with that in terms of third. Like if you get, if let's say Derek Henry gives you two good runs of like four yards,

it's third and two. Baltimore has to be one of the more unstoppable teams on third and short, just given how many options they have. Either give it to Henry again, Lamar could run for it, Lamar could throw for it. It just seems like a very tough team to get off the field. Yeah. Um, man, I'm actually glad that you mentioned that

because the team that was number one and third down percentage in the regular season was Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Second was the Kansas City Chiefs and right behind them was the Baltimore Ravens with a difference of about 0.3% between the two percentage points. Second was the Kansas City Chiefs and right behind them was the Baltimore Ravens with a difference of about 0.3 percent between the two percentage points Yeah, they've been great at it the funny thing is I actually didn't know if that number was gonna stand as closely to Kansas City's mark because

You know just in my recollection there's been times there's been laws in some of these games for the Ravens where They'll be rolling and also they'll just go three and out out of nowhere and they might do it twice like two possessions in a row and you're like where did it go and usually it's like it's third and you know we're off schedule a little bit and we miss a pass over the middle or something like that and it usually doesn't matter all that much but I thought that would factor into it yeah you're definitely right there in terms of average possession as well, the Chiefs rank sixth, the Ravens rank fifth.

The difference is one second in a game on average. So very similar. I mean, look, it's the tailgull of time, ball control, especially on the road. I mean, that's how the commanders just beat the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers had seven possessions in that game. Like the end their success rate was over 50%. It was over 52% in a game that they had seven possessions and put 20 points on the board because they simply they wasted a couple of possessions in the second half. Like, sometimes it comes down to that if you can play ball control and the Chiefs and Ravens can both do that except the Ravens are extremely explosive offensively as well, which makes them the scariest team in the AFC in my opinion. They're my favorite to go to the Super Bowl, for sure.

One final prediction, and we're not even going to pick any of the games this weekend, but one final prediction before we let you go today. Will Deion Sanders become the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys? God, wouldn't it be great for the headline? I mean, I don't know. Nothing with the Cowboys and Jerry Jones

would shock me at this point. I could see him making the hire just for the attention like just alright This will drive the attention on our team for six months We'll have the Colorado effect with the Dallas Cowboys, but you don't need that by the way. You are the Dallas Cowboys And yet I could very much see it see it happening and I mean, we'll see I don't know. It's a big jump from college to the NFL, but it was a big jump from an HBCU to a D1 and Deion did a pretty good job at Colorado this year. So I don't know.

I'll tell you one thing though, if he does get hired, I'm going to write about it for the next 12 months. So if it happens, I've already mentally prepared myself for that. Can you imagine, we talked about this the other day, the Cowboys hire Deion Sanders as their head coach. They find a way to move up in the draft to take Shadrura Sanders, but Dak Prescott is still there. I mean, that's a soap opera just waiting to be seen.

You know, it would be kind of fun if they called the Titans or the Browns and said, we have this guy, his name is Rain Dakota Prescott, and he's on a new contract. And yeah, he's not great in the playoffs, but you guys don't make the playoffs that often. You want him, we'll take number one, we'll take number two, we'll throw you multiple future first. I honestly think it wouldn't be that insane because they have a trade chip in

DAC that would be an upgrade over what the Browns and the Titans have right now. And that would make it fun. I feel like I've seen some of the craziest things in the world or possible in the NFL over the last few years. Truly. And yet that would exceed all of us. Nick, you're the best buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We appreciate it. Enjoy all the games this weekend. Let's do this again next week so we can preview the AFC and NFC championships. Alright, sounds good guys. Thanks. Thank you. Nick Schuch from NFL.com here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

Before we go to break, I need to tell you about Rogers Xfinity TV. The mystery is solved. What mystery is that you ask? You can watch all new seasons of your favorite true crime shows on Investigation Discovery. It's available on channel 413 only on Rogers Xfinity TV. Okay, we're gonna need to hear from the listeners in the next segment as well. Text in on the Dunbar Lumber Text Line 650 650 Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Dunbar lumber.com

I think we'll start with what the Edmonton Oilers did last night and what they are doing and how good they look. But we'll also talk about the Vancouver Canucks and Patrick Johnston wrote a pretty interesting article over the weekend where he talked about some of the big trades that Pat Quinn made in the early 90s to shake up the team, but also provide them with some players like Cliff Ronning and Jeff Courtney and my favorite Gerald Diddick that were very helpful for the team over the next few years and we'll compare that situation that Pat Quinton was in to the situation

that Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alveen were in. You're listening to the Halford & Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.