Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Jays Force A Game 7!

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat week seven as well as tonight's Seahawks matchup versus the Texans with Too Deep Zone NFL insider Mike Tanier, plus they preview Game 7 of the ALCS with Sportsnet Blue Jays analyst Zach Worden, as the Jays took out the Mariners yesterday in a game six thriller. 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.

Third and 12 Dolphins Backed up on their own three Two of them from his end zone Here's the blitz from Delpin He gets to him, it's picked off Jenkins and the five, tackled at the two Ray Sean Jenkins have a day I find it very offensive

To all parties involved If I'm thinking about having the job I need to be doing my job 7-01 on a Monday Happy Monday everybody Halford Brough, SportsNet 650. Who was that? That was Mike McDaniel. Head coach for now.

How? How? How? Is he still there? I've checked twice this morning. I checked when we came in. I'm like, did McDaniel get fired yet? Nope. I checked again right now. Still not. So what was he saying? He finds the questions offensive? I think he finds everything offensive at this point. How could he be thinking about his job at a time like this? Oh, is that what he's got a job to do?

Oh, so he won't happen. He's suggesting that the idea that he'd be thinking. thinking about himself because he's such a team guy. Correct. Oh, man. Coach of the year, do you think? So selfless. Like, it doesn't even come up.

It doesn't even come up in his mind. Wait, could I get fired? We're doing pretty well, aren't we? Cleveland's a good team. Tua got benched yesterday, by the way. Am I the batty? You know who else got bench yesterday? I love his nickname.

Tua turned the ball over. Yeah. It's a good one. See, good. You know who else got bench yesterday? Gino got bench yesterday. Well, I saw his stat line because I didn't watch the game, but I was like, did he only throw the ball eight times?

The Las Vegas Raiders ran 30 plays yesterday. The Kansas City Chiefs had 31st downs. So the Kansas City Chiefs had many first downs as the Raiders had plays. They can't bring Pete and Gino back. I don't know if they can bring him back for this week. He got benched Kenny Pickett came in, and him in his tiny. hands at the end. Anyway, there's lots going on in the NFL yesterday. He'll never live that down.

That is the Sam can't do a pull-up Bennett story. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Kintech footwear and orthotics working together with you and step. We are in our two of the program as well. Mike Tanier our NFL insider from the two deep zone. A presentation of the

Clayton Public House is going to join us in just a moment here. Our two of this program is back to by Jason hominick, a Jason Dow Mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.orgage. This entire show, the whole shebang is brought to by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. To the phone lines we go, our next guest is our regular

Monday NFL Insider here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. It's Mike Tanier from the two deep zone. Morning, Mike. How are you? I'm doing great. The latest up to the minute reports are that Mike McDaniel's job is safe for now, for this week at least. Oh, wow. Okay. I have a question. I know. How?

Sure. I cannot answer that question. I am as stunned as you. I thought he was going to get tarmac. I think he was going to get the walk home treatment after that performance against the Brown yesterday. Well, I did as well, and it's funny, to shift sports entirely. I don't know if you saw what Not Emforst did over the weekend.

Yeah, it was like 30. days gone 21 minutes after the match they sacked their owner is a hothead though yes well don't kidding anyway there yeah so we I was like oh the table is set we can see some coach dismissals but as of Monday nothing yet I don't think we need to go too far down the road with the dolphins and McDaniel we know that that's a disaster let's look at another one though

that we mentioned the Las Vegas Raiders and what's going on right now with Pete Carroll and Gino Smith getting absolutely dogwalked by the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday to the point where I had another anecdote from that game aside from the first downs to play's run the chief started kneeling the ball

with two minutes and 31 seconds left to the point where Vegas could have called timeouts and got the ball back but they didn't they just allowed it to happen because no one wanted that game the Vegas defense looked good on those kneel downs they were great those were rushing attempts

for Patrick Holmes as well so there's a lot of betting implications how much longer can this go on in Vegas before they make a significant change because that's an embarrassment in a divisional rivalry game no less you're missing the big one which was that Andy Reid pulled Patrick Mahomes

late in the third quarter Oh right it was Minchu Mania And Gardner Minchu did not throw a pass The only way he appears in the stat she is he was the one kneeling with you know 4 minutes and 21 seconds left or whatever number you said I was watching that game

you know, simultaneously with Eagles Vikings here in Greater Philly. And I cannot, the only offensive plays that I can remember by the Raiders where Gino fumbling the snap Yeah. Which no one fumbles a snap like Gino, as Seahawks fans, no. And the sequence where I think it was

third and, it was first and 25 or something like that, and they completed three passes to get to like fourth and six. That's all I can remember about the Raiders. You're right, Pete Carroll sounds demoralized when he talks about this team. Kenny Pickett is not solution and the story within the story is that every week tom brady like shows up

someplace where he's not supposed to be even more like he first he's in the owner's box he's in the coordinator's box next he's going to be like standing behind uh pke carroll like the grim reaper and a shroud uh there's a story within the story here where you've got this power struggle where brady and his spy tech his GM who's like his guy versus carroll chip kelly out there in the world somewhere you know obviously mark davis in the world somewhere you know obviously mark davis in the world somewhere you talk about people not coming back, there could be some kind of unusual coup d'etat where Carol said, hey, this is a great time for you to retire, go take the Penn State job, buddy,

because otherwise it's going to get embarrassing. Let's keep it in the AFC West because there was another big story yesterday and involved the Denver Broncos, one of the most improbable comebacks in NFL regular season history against the New York Giants. The Giants were furious after this game. I saw Brian Burns freaking out. Brian Daibble apparently smashed a chair. there was a lot going on in Denver.

What did you make of this improbable comeback that saw the Broncos put up 33 points in the fourth quarter to steal a win against the Giants? Well, Brian Dable's kind of a loony bird, but let's leave that aside for now. It was stunning. First of all, there was a comeback, then a second comeback. There was a comeback with 513 to play.

And when I looked at that, first of all, I was like, why does the Broncos' offense not wake up until the fourth quarter. I don't have an answer for that question, but the same thing happened against the Eagles, where that offense looked pitiful for like three quarters or two and a half quarters, then suddenly woke up. That certainly happened. It looked like the Giants sort of just ran out of their like magic beans and power-ups and magic wands or whatever they'd been doing to win games in recent weeks, like all of the Jackson Dartley, you know, distribute the ball and, you know, run hard and break tackles, all that suddenly ended you through an interception. Then, I mean, we can

spend the rest of the rest of the sting talking about the last minute of that game where the Broncos kind of get hosed on a pass interference call. I mean, it should have been a no call for the ages, but they get gift wrapped pretty much a touchdown, you know,

with a pass interference to the one yard line. And then, you know, there's 37 seconds left on that clock. And the idea that Bow Nix can go out there with 37 seconds left, complete two passes, in downs, no timeouts, and clock the ball twice. That's like Mahomes level,

stuff. That's Brady-level stuff to be able to do that. And Bo Knicks did it. Now, that's a credit to like Bo Nix in terms of his preparedness and his discipline and his leadership and his gumption. It's still a stunning thing to witness for a team that looked like it was going to lose 26 to 6, you know, sometime in the fourth quarter. Let's talk about a former Giants quarterback by the name of Daniel Jones. I know we've talked about Daniel Jones with you before, and it was earlier in the season, you're kind of like, eh, I'm not buying stocking him yet. Are you now or do you still need to see more? I guess at this point I'm buying stock in that Daniel Jones is following the Sam Darnoldy career path to a degree like the Baker

Mayfieldy career path where you have a quarterback who went from a team where year in year out the Giants had one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL where it was Andrew Thomas and four guys no one ever heard of rotating cast and Daniel Jones never had to an opportunity to even look competent. And the one time he did look competent, the team actually made the playoffs and they beat the Vikings in the playoffs. Now he is on the most competent, most polished offense in the NFL. Maybe not the best because the Cowboys are amazing,

but the most polished offense in the NFL where everything is balanced, where the offensive line is good to great, where Jonathan Taylor is a good to great to outstanding running back at this point, where the playmakers, they're all like, B-plus playmakers, but there's like 20 of them. So you've got everywhere to go to the ball where the scheme has all these concepts

working in harmony, where it's bootlegs and rollouts and play action and RPO's and design quarterback keepers and plays where the tight end lines up at fullback. It's all working together and now we're seeing this with Daniel Jones. So you have to buy into it, at least for this season. You look at how they're playing.

You look at how their defense and special teams are playing as well. They want the chargers. They absolutely want the chargers. that game was not as close as the 3824 final score. And if you look at their schedule, look at their division, you have to put them in the top tier of ASC teams right now. I remember just a few years ago when Jeff Saturday was coaching the Colts. Oh, yeah.

That was quite a time. Did the Colts, I guess, in your opinion, made a pretty good decision bringing Shane Steichen in? Yeah, he's coach of the year right now. I guess maybe it'll be him and Todd Bowles. I don't know who else you would put in for coach of the year right now. And you're seeing what he can do schematically when he's not compensating for the quarterback. I think we're seeing Anthony Richardson, he was putting together this little menu of plays.

I think, well, Anthony Richardson can handle this. This is what he's going to do. And then Gardner Mincher came in. It's like, well, this guy is like, you know, could barely throw the ball down the field. It's got to be all kinds of, like, gadgetry and smoke and mirrors. Now you can run the things you want to run, and you can see that made the Daniel Jones decision. that was part of what Stuyken had to do. It had to get the team around that as well.

And that's a credit to what he's doing. And, you know, the question is going to come up soon? Is Daniel Jones going to get like a $150 million extension? I don't know. If I heard he got one tomorrow, I wouldn't be like, well, that's a mistake. It's one of the things that not just Stichikin, but Carly or say the new owner there in Indianapolis and the general manager, one of the things that they have to consider moving forward. So the road in the AFC now, like, where do you think it goes through?

Because Baltimore has obviously fallen way off the tracks here. The Chiefs look like they've got their offense sorted out. Whatever sort of protection scheme they've got figured out with the return of Rishi Rice seems like that's helped them. The bills are still the bills. And now you've got the Colts just kind of there atop the standings. But everyone, maybe some people still trying to figure out exactly what's what. So if you had to guess where the road in the AFC goes through, who'd you say right now? and don't forget the Patriots are to top of their standing

because everyone's trying to figure out what's what I think it goes through the bills because I can look at their upcoming schedule and say there's a lot of very winnable games in this upcoming schedule and they're coming off this by where I have a funny feeling they sat and talked about what happened the last two weeks

what happened in the last two weeks because we were undefeated and cruising and everything looked fine before that it will go through the bills the chief will end up winning that division they'll go they'll climb past the Broncos and win that division and the Colts are going to be that team.

It could go through Indianapolis because the Colts are in the best position to wind up with the Gaudi record. Oh, they're not the best team, but, oh, you know, they beat Tennessee and all these other teams enough time. So they're at the top of the standings, but I still think it's going to go through Buffalo

and then you're going to see the Colts, you're going to see the Chiefs, and I have no idea what's going on in the ASC North, but I guess you're probably going to see the Steelers at the top of that division, probably with like a 10-and-7 record. Pretty good Monday night of football, Buccaneers at the line.

Lions, and then the Texans who started 0-1-3, but of won two in a row at the four-and-two Seahawks. Let's start with the Buccaneers' Lions game. Is Baker Mayfield, I mean, where is he on the odds to win MVP? He's the MVP right now. Right now? Is he the MVP right now? Do you think, Mike?

If I had a vote, which I clearly do not, I would have Baker Mayfield as the MVP. I, too, would have Baker Mayfield as MVP, and I'll give you the odds right now from a sports book. Mahomes is plus 150, Mayfield is plus 320, Josh Allen plus 400, Drake May plus 950. That's for all those Patriots fans out there, they're old Brady fans. I would vote for Mayfield for MVP. In terms of this game tonight, my eyes are on the injury report for the receivers of the Buccaneers, because it looks like it's possible rookie wide receiver

amica and Bucca might play tonight he was hurt last week Mike Evans has been out for a couple weeks he returns if they're back I think this is a win for Mayfield the Buccaneers against a depleted lion secondary

I do look at the point spread and the lions are six point favorites which tells me the house thinks that those receivers will not be back and that Mayfield for all this talents we'll have no one to throw to tonight it's funny I'm looking at the secondary market for the Seahawks game and it has cratered because the Mariners play game seven tonight

and I think a lot of people want to be watching the baseball game. Tell us about Houston though, the Seahawks opponent. They are coming off the buy. They started 0 and 3, but then they won two in a row in impressive fashion. What did they do to rediscover their game? Well, one of them is they played the Titans and then the other one was they played the Ravens with everybody injured. So that helped a little. They have a fierce defense. They have one of the best edge rushing tammons and one of the best cornerback tandums in the NFL.

So that gives them an ability to beat just about anybody. They started figuring out their offense. Their offensive line in front of C.J. Stroud is coming together a little bit. Stroud is able to get the ball to people besides Nico Collins a little bit more often. So that has helped. But really, their offensive resurgence has been a lot of, hey, there was an interception. We got the ball at the 48. yard line and we scored, it's been a lot

of that. The best way for the Seahawks to approach this team is to kind of do what they do. Establish the run, play, balanced, multiple tight ends. Don't make it a situation where it's third and eight, and these defenders can tee off with Sam Donald, run at them, throw short on them,

and then, you know, play smart field position football and make C.J. Stroud go to length of the field. And if the Seahawks can do that, they can come away with a win. It's the Lions and the Buccaneers at 4 o'clock our time, and then followed by the Seahawks and the Texans at 7. A good night of football, a great night of sports.

Mike, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We appreciate it. Enjoy the games tonight. We'll do this again next Monday. Absolutely. Take care and enjoy your week. You too. Thanks, buddy.

That's Mike Tanier. A presentation of the Clayton Public House here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Pre-game to post game, the Clayton is your home of football. Catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors. Visit them online at the Clayton Pub.com. You are listening to SportsNet 650. your home of the Vancouver Canucks and we turn our attention now back

to the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks will be back in action. Two more games remaining on this five game road trip. Tuesday in Pittsburgh, Thursday in Nashville and the team will have to make some decisions we assume on who's going to play in those two games, Jason,

because they are dealing with a lot of injuries at Forward right now. Yeah. I have no idea what the prognosis this is for Heedle, but I cannot imagine he's going to play the rest of this road trip. The Canucks do have some decisions to make. They probably have to bring some guys up from Abbotsford. I imagine Nils Amman is going to get the call.

Maybe another guy, maybe a couple guys. Abbotsford, I don't know where they are right now, but I know they just played some games in LaValle. They don't have a very good lineup right. now, to put it like, you know, like they've, Carlson, Sasson. It's very blunt. It's very blunt, Jason. Well, Carlson, Sasson, and Baines are all with the big team and they're playing pretty well as a trio. Like her Mackie's not down there. They might have thought that they would have him for a bit this season. He got hurt in yesterday's game. If you missed it, the Canucks finish that game minus three

forwards in Bluger, who is injured, I guess, again. No update on that. either Leck or Mackey, who left sometime in the first period, and Heidel, who of course was hurt on the controversial hit by Tom Wilson. It does sound like Brock Besser. We'll be back with the team soon. No indication if he'll be there in time to play tomorrow in Pittsburgh. But yeah, like as encouraging as the Canucks record on this road trip has been, and the way they've won games,

there's concern about what they're going to look like in the next little while the heatle thing just looms over everything because you know this again we said in the first hour like this worst case scenario for heat to be to not only get hit get hit by tom wilson yeah like that and it wasn't a direct head hit but you know just even the whiplash of something like that can cause a concussion we don't even know for sure if he does have a concussion. It's true. There was no medical update given after the game.

There's nothing. So we do have to wait on that. I imagine we're going to get some news from the Canucks today just in terms of, you know, if they're going to bring anyone up. I don't know if they're going to give an injury update on any of the players. But, you know, Pittsburgh came into the season. And everyone was like, oh, they're going to finish last and probably get Gavin McKinnon. It's going to go Lemieux to Crosby to McKinnett. Well, the Penguins don't seem to be following the script because,

They have the same record as the Canucks. They've been good to start the season. At 4, 2 and 0, they just went to California. They lost Anaheim 4 to 3, but they beat the Kings 4 to 2. And they, of course, beat the San Jose Sharks because everyone beats the San Jose Sharks. Jari, baby. They beat them 3-0. Yeah, they have two shutouts on the season.

One by C-Labs, famously in the first game against the New York Rangers. And they gave up six the next game. Yeah. Also famously. So, hey, I mean, it looks like the penguins are just alternate. their goalies. We're probably going to see seal-offs, right?

That would be the game and the new head coach there is Dan. Revenge is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, but I digress. Yeah, we gave you an opportunity and then traded you to a team to give you a chance to be a starting goalie. Even more opportunity.

Revenge. I'm sure you'll want revenge on us. By the way, Bruff, the Abby Canucks back home on Friday that no good Abby Canucks roster. It's the banner, called their cup banner raising night on Friday. So they've got the entire week off,

essentially. So recalling someone should be that difficult. They played in LaValle on Saturday and they went back home. So getting a recall won't throw their season into arrears because they don't play again until Friday. I don't know what's going to happen there. We haven't spent a ton of time

discussing the actual hit. The mechanics of it, the legality of it, whether we thought the overrule or the ruling on the eyes. It should have been interference. Like it was Way, way late.

It was like three seconds late, but after he gave up the pucks. I don't know how there was not a penalty on the play. The hit itself was fine. Yeah, I didn't have a problem with, oh, the hit was like, he leveled him. I mean, Hita was able to stick two strides. Yeah.

And then he got hit. Yeah, but I mean, like, how do you not call a penalty on that? That's ridiculous. It's a great question. It's not even, it's not a major necessarily, but like. Well, they did call a penalty on it. But I'm saying how you revert that.

And then they reviewed it and they figured it was a good hit because they figured it didn't pick his head. Wasn't late? No, no, it was nothing to do with that. But it was late. But it was late. But if it was late, if they deemed it late, if they deemed it late,

it would have been an interference call. But maybe what they reviewed was whether it was a check to the header. No, no, no. They review everything. They reviewed it for... Can you do that? Yeah, they called it a five-minute major for interference. Okay.

Wasn't for sure called a five-minute for interference? Yes. Okay. Initially. Yeah. Just want to be clear. Five minutes for interference. Yeah, because you can do a game for a check of the head. So what should have happened is like you should have reviewed it and been like it's not a five, but it is still a two.

Yeah. In my opinion, they should have, but they obviously saw it differently. And then this is why it was like three Mississippies, like it was so long. It wasn't that much. Now, secondly, there was the response or lack there of to the hit. And that's come up as well. I will. Isn't that what we got Kane for?

Like, why is he not stepping up there? I think it was all. I mean, I get that Tom Wilson is a monster. I understand he's huge, but nevertheless. Listen just a little bit. It was clearly a message from the coaching staff. I think I was instructed not to go after him. Oh, I thought it was because he had a big dinner after the game.

He didn't want to hurt his hand. I think. Good one lady. So we played the audio. We played the audio. He was cash money in that game. Oh. Hey.

Those are both good jokes. I will acknowledge as such. I think it was on instruction. You heard Adam Foote after the game. But isn't that like, don't you want a bit of pushback? You don't have to kill the guy, but just like... Okay, look, I understand... I'm going to put it this way.

What's the logic of that is, I guess, my question? I understand that sometimes you don't want to play into the other team's hands. And what Tom Wilson was clearly doing after the Capitals had a tough start was targeting guys. He tried to hit Connor Garland and Garland just got out of the way. He was like, oh my God, I nearly died there. And then, and then, unfortunately, for Heedel, um, Heel wasn't able to get out of the way, Tom Wilson. Right. So I understand not playing into their hands and I understand not getting distracted. And I understand the situation with the Canucks also being down bodies up front. Sure.

And, like, you don't want to go down to, like, how many forwards we got left? Seven? Like, you don't want to get to that position, right? I mean, it was Mancini that accepted the fight. And frankly, Adam Foote didn't sound all that impressed that he did, except that fight. He was like, yeah, I guess good for him. I'm glad. But, like, I heard the same thing. You know, like, it was kind of like, eh. So I understand that. I also understand going into Chicago and being like, we need wins, guys. Let's not get distracted by getting revenge on Jason Dickinson. All that being said, it bothers me that the Canucks just played, you know, Chicago, where Jason Dickinson, you know, hurt Heidel the season before. Yeah, yeah. And nothing happened to Dickinson. Nothing. Yeah, the Canucks got the win, but whatever. And then literally the next game, Heedle gets hurt again.

So this is like two games in a row against guys. guys that have hurt Hedel. One happened last season, one happened yesterday. But nothing, like Carlson's kind of stood up to Tom Wilson. Well, good, right? Like, I'm sure Tom Wilson was shaking in his boots. Right? And it's good that he did, but it does, I don't know,

it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I hate that that happened. And they got away with it. I've long. Like, they literally got away with it. Dickinson was not, I guess he was thrown out of that game. But he wasn't suspended and that game was lost. anyway at that time. Blackhawks were terrible that night. I don't think they ended up losing

that game 6-2 in Vancouver. And then, you know, nothing for Tom Wilson. Yeah, you know me. I mean, I've said on this show numerous times, I've bemoan the lack of pushback. I've suggested that maybe the Canucks would be the team that would, at times, be on the front foot and be aggressive in these moments instead of always having to react. And then, in certain instances, not react. The only thing that is preventing me from going down that road again and that level of analysis is that if the coach tells you don't do it, you got to listen to the coach. That's the end of that conversation for me.

Is that if Foot went in after the first period and said, we're not doing this today, whether you want to or not, whether you feel obliged to, whether it's your responsibility or you think it's your responsibility, ultimately you got to listen to what the coach has. This is a second time this season, and we're only six games into it,

that in the aftermath, foot has made a very pointed remark about the opponent trying to drag the Canucks into their style of game, their style being the opponent's style, and him making sure very explicitly that the Canucks don't do it, because Calgary was the other one. And I remember we played the audio in the aftermath of the Calgary game. And I played the audio because I just thought it was an odd thing to focus on in a 5-1 win about not getting dragged into the mud with Calgary.

And I was like, wow, Foot really seems to be making this a point of emphasis. I wonder why. I didn't even feel like that first game had the elements that you needed to address that. But he did. And then again, it was a very similar message. We played the audio earlier. He did not want his guys going down the road

of what Tom Wilson was trying to do. And Tom Wilson was trying to spark that game. Yeah, and he actually did. Right. I mean, now I would say that the three-goal comeback from Washington probably had more to do with how depleted the Canucks were just in general than anything Washington did.

I think Washington played very well at all. And the Kinex did enough to hold on and win. But can we all agree that it just leaves us feeling like angry and upset? But I'm not questioning the group yet, yet, because if they're doing it on orders, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. You're questioning Adam foot. Kind of. Yeah.

I don't understand. Like, there is an argument to me, like you're up for nothing on the road in Washington. If not now, then when? You're not seeing Washington for a while. Do you agree or disagree with the no? of two points matters most because I sometimes take issue with that because that's that's small picture and then I think big picture is something else to consider I I hear you I hear you you know I know for this team where they want to go what they want to do and where they were last year

two points are probably more valuable than anything but sometimes you do make an investment for the future yeah that's what it is sacrificing in the present galvanizing moments yeah Although, IMAX article, I don't know if you read it in the aftermath, they sure felt like a team that was galvanized by what they did over the weekend. Did he, did he feel galvanized by it? I don't know. I don't know. Yeah.

I don't think so. But the guys were, I mean. Like, do you think he's quite, do you think he afterwards, he was like, um, did we win or did you get that guy? Yeah. I don't know. Who knows? That's a great question. Okay.

Before we go to break, one to watch. Brought to you by Limitless. A.V., Vancouver's most trusted audio visual integrations experts. Two to watch tonight. George Kirby, Shane Bieber, head-to-head, game seven, on the bump. Bieber's had one. Very good start in this series so far. Not so much for Kirby.

So we got two to watch tonight on our one-to-watch, brought to you by Limitless AV, Vancouver's most trusted audio-visual integration experts, specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces. Book your personalized tour of their Experience Center today. at them online at limitlessav.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us

weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Gilbert's pitch, Archer, lifts the ball, right center, Cansoe, looking up in the fence, out of here! Big Fly, Addison Barger, and the Blue Jays, double their advantage.

They're up 4-0 in the third. 737 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halverner up in the morning is brats by Sands and Associates. Get out of the penalty box of debt back into the game with a financial fresh start. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. I love the sexist slither of a lady snake.

I played this all last night after the game. This is all I listened to. It's good game seven music. This is Larry White. Oh, yeah, right. I'm licensed. Larry Black. Can't do Barry White.

Yeah. Halford in breath of the morning. Hour two, we're at the midway point of the show. Zach Worden, SportsNet Associate editor, Blue Jays writer, is going to join us in just a moment here. Game 7 music will set up a little game 7 action in the second here. Hour 2 of this program is brought to by Jason hominock at jason. If you love paying too much for your mortgage,

then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.morgage. Game 7. Tonight, 5 o'clock. You can hear it right here on SportsNet 650. It's the Blue Jays, it's the Mariners. It's the first game seven in the history of the Seattle Mariners. It's the second game seven in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays.

How they do in the first one? They lost in 1985 to the Kansas City Royals, which means whoever wins tonight, it will be the first game seven victory in franchise history. That's a lot at stake. Never mind the fact that you also get to go to the World Series if you win tonight. Let's talk about this game some more.

Joining us now, he's been our Blue Jays guy throughout the postseason. SportsNet Associate Editor, Blue Jays writer, Zach Wharton here on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Zach. How are you? Good morning, guys, going well here. What a couple days it's been in this series. Appreciate you having me back on. How are you guys doing? We're good.

We've spent the better part of today talking about the intricate season nuances of the series, but also looking at a big picture as well. I know there's still a game to be played and narratives are going to be decided tonight but if you'll allow you can jump in on this too like looking back this series is really delivered despite the fact that

most of the games haven't been all that particularly close it's still been an absolute roller coaster, tons of drama tons of theater the first time that the Mariners and the Blue Jays have ever met in the ALCS it's lived up to the billing so far at least in my opinion yeah 100% I don't think you can ask

anything more from a series especially when it goes seven, just kind of have, you know, the swings and the back and forth. I think, you know, kind of every single time in this series when you've expected one team to win, the other team is kind of one, and, you know, the momentum hasn't really kind of stuck with one side for all that long. So it's been a really incredible series, and I think, you know, last night was, was another example of that, where, you know, the Blue Jays obviously backs up against the wall and, you know, you get the 22-year-old rookie kind of coming out and delivering one of one of his best starts of the season. And it's just really, really been impressive the way that kind of both teams have been able to step up and kind of respond.

And I think, you know, that sets up quite a game seven where you just have absolutely no idea what to expect going in. Is John Schneider off the hook yet for game five? Or does that get brought up again if the Mariners win tonight? I think if the Mariners win, you're definitely looking at that game five. And you're thinking about it as, you know, the Blue Jays have. their chance to win and move on with what happens there. I think obviously if you go to the World Series, I think you can kind of put that behind you,

but I think if they don't, it's going to be one that's going to sting, and it's going to be one that lives on for a while, for sure. Have you read or heard anyone that has defended John Schneider's decision-making there? I might be too deep on Twitter because I did see some people kind of, you know, putting together some theories. deep though? Yeah, he must have a real deep towel.

It was one tweet of the millions that were sent that has the defense of Brendan Little. But yeah, no, I honestly everybody kind of seems to have been against it. And, you know, I think it's, yeah, it was not a great decision. I think, you know, even

when you look at Brendan Little at his best this season, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of reasoning for why you would want to bring him in, even though, you know, they said they want to flip around the hitters. But, you know, once again, you're flipping them around to face a guy who hasn't really performed in the last couple months.

And, you know, both of those guys rally and Polanco hit lefties better. So I think, you know, kind of when you put all the numbers together, it's just one that definitely leaves you scratching your head at the end of the day. We're speaking to Zach Word and Blue J's writer for Sportsnet.com. Also Sportsnet.com associate editor here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Let's turn our attention to the M's here for a sec, is for all the things that the Jays did right yesterday, and we played the final call from Dan Shulman,

where he said the Jays played an excellent game in all facets. The same cannot be said for the Seattle Mariners. They have to look back on that game six with major disappointment. They had three errors in the game. They hit into three straight inning-ending double plays. They became the first team in postseason history to ground into bases loaded double plays in back-to-back inning. So, like, you made history, but in a very infamous way,

their top three batterers went 0 for 11 like they had a lot of self-inflicted wounds yesterday how frustrated do you think the Mariners are with how they played yesterday in their first potential close-out game yeah I think you'd have to be super frustrated I think you know obviously they've played a pretty good series so far I think you know kind of when you look at their losses in the series you know it was kind of the Blue Jays bats

that kind of contributed to those and for them to you know have so many moments yesterday where they had opportunities to push some runs across to probably get you savage out of the game sooner and just to not be able to do it and to kind of have some defensive moments that kind of reminded you of the New York Yankees a little bit in the way that they played defensively at times

against the Blue Jays. But I think if you're the Mariners, I mean, you feel pretty good about the way that you've played in this series and all postseason. So I think that they, you know, probably are going to be good at wiping that and turning the page being ready to go today. But yeah, like you said,

you know, certainly missed opportunities offensively and defensively. You know, this is a Blue Jace team that you can't really afford to make three errors against because they're going to take advantage of it. And just like they did yesterday, you know, a couple runs come across on those errors. So I think, you know, yesterday you look at the double plays. And I think that that is kind of the story of the game where, you know, the Mariners had their big spots there. And, you know, they have, they have Raleigh up with one out and the bases loaded in the third. and it kind of feels like he savages, you know,

kind of on the edge of coming out of that game if anything happens. And, you know, Raleigh hits the ball hard, but it's right on the ground. It's kind of a first pitch, and it just kind of ends that rally right away. And then the J.P. Crawford won the next inning. You know, he's obviously up there and, you know,

kind of takes a strike, takes a strike, and then just kind of weakly grounds out. Like, even though they did have those threats, like it felt like they didn't really kind of put the pressure on the Blue Jays all that much. to kind of score in either of those spots after, you know, once they did get those guys up there. Just thinking about some of the starters and for the Jays and what they must be thinking. Like, Tray is Savage out on the mound for a couple of huge playoff games at home and delivering.

And, you know, he's so young that he must be like, how am I out here in this situation? But Shane Bieber's the starter for Toronto tonight. I mean, he kind of must be thinking that too. like how many games did he as he actually played in the last couple of years it's just a handful really because he was shut down early in the season by Cleveland back in 2004 hasn't played all that many games this season and now he is pitching one of the most important games in blue jays franchise history he must be thinking that too like what i'm out here for this this is crazy yeah i think if you told me back in March

that the the Blue Jays would have Tray Savage and Shane Bieber pitching for them and on back to back days to go to the World Series I would be telling you that you're crazy and you'd be like Bieber he doesn't even play for the Blue Jays Yeah I'd be like Tray Savage is ready to pitch in single A Dunedin and Shane Bieber

cover Tommy John and the Blue Jays are coming off like a 94 loss season I don't think we're talking about that yet but man like just just incredible stuff and I think you know the Bieber stuff is really interesting because, you know, for him, he came out of the gates with the Blue Jays looking so good. You know, his first start against the Marlins where he strikes out nine and gives up like two hits in that game. Like he looks incredible. And then things kind of snowballed on him, you know,

as the season wore on, it kind of led into that Yankees ALDS star where he's chased in the third inning. And, you know, the confidence I think maybe is shaken a little bit in what he's going to be. And, you know, of course he also, as they head into the postseason, kind of falls behind Savage on the depth chart a little bit, right? Because they're going Gosman, one, you know, he obviously is chased early by the Yankees and you're heading into that game three in Seattle now where they were down to nothing and Bieber was on the mound

and you're kind of feeling like the Mariners had the starting pitching advantage with George Kirby going in that game against Bieber and Bieber comes out and kind of, you know, flips the expectations and, you know, delivers a really strong start. Probably his best start as Blue Jay since that first one that he came off the IL. So for him to do that, was huge.

And I think, you know, it probably makes, you know, Blue Jays fans feel a little bit, a little bit better that he is coming off that, that bad, really great start in that game three and that the Blue Jays were able to hit George Kirby in that one pretty well, you know, kind of setting up now, where now, you know, heading at the game seven,

you feel like the Blue Jays have the starting pitching advantage. And obviously, you know, the many things have gone in the series. Who knows that it obviously means nothing. But it's going to be going to be really interesting to kind of see how Bieber fares a second time out now that the Mariners have kind of gone that first game against him

out of the way where they struggled so so mightily. Now all that said, both managers of kind of, not directly, but indirectly acknowledge this could very well end up being a kitchen sink game when it comes to the bullpen.

You just throw everything out there, whatever it takes, because it's one game to get to the World Series. In the event that that unfolds for both teams, who's more equipped to win a kitchen sink game, especially when it comes to trotting out starters, bullpen, or anyone that you've got in terms of available arms for

a game seven. Yeah, I think, like, I kind of want to lean Blue Jays a little bit, but I think, you know, Brian Wu features really heavily into that. And you know, for him to kind of be having his second outing, I think he's a guy that we might see for multiple innings

today and just, you know, depending on kind of how George Kirby is able to settle into the game and what he looks like, I think Wu is going to be like kind of a an X factor in the game. And I think for the Blue Jays using Jeff Hoffman for 35 pitches last night, it's the most pitches that he had thrown since 2023. I think it'll be interesting to see how he bounces back and then what he looks like.

Because I would imagine he is almost, you know, certainly going to pitch in this game. I think that they probably use him that much because they are feeling good about Kevin Gosman bouncing back later in the game at some point. So I think, you know, kind of when you look at it that way, I think that the Mariners kind of the back end, options in their bullpen. You know, Matt Brash has kind of struggled at times in this series.

Gabe Spire hasn't been at his best. And, you know, I think those are two guys who have been used a ton this season. And obviously Matt Brash coming off Tommy John. So him kind of, you know, being a guy who's pitching and like almost every single postseason game for the Mariners has been interesting just to kind of see, you know, maybe his command take a little bit of a step back in the last few days. And so, you know, I wonder, you know, just how those Mariners guys are holding up where, you know, the Blue Jays, you know, they didn't have to use Sir Anthony

Dominguez, and I guess they didn't have to use them in either of the last two games. And then they have Gosman bouncing back and yesterday, Barland, and Hoffman were the only two relievers they used. So I wonder if, you know, the Blue Jays just have a slight advantage when it comes to rest. And then, you know, Brian Wu and Kevin Gosman kind of will be the two X factors for what, you know, kind of the kitchen sink of the game looks like. Well, we got to talk about Vladdy. I mean, this is probably beyond what Blue Jays fans had hoped for with their highest expectations. I mean, can you say much more about how much Vladie has delivered in this series and maybe juxtapose it with how he was looking down the stretch of the regular season?

It's hard to describe. What he's doing is kind of putting this postseason run is like a, an all-time, like, this is an all-time great postseason run. If you look, I think, at, like, the best 10-game post-season spans in MLB history, it's, like, the fifth most productive by OPS or something like that. It's definitely within the top 10. And for him to flip the switch, like you said, coming down the stretch where he wasn't looking good, and for him to enter the playoffs and just be like this completely different monster

who's not striking out at all. It's, you know, six home runs to two strikeouts, a 1500 OPS. Like this is this is a version of lad that I don't think we've ever really seen before. And for him to kind of, you know, turn that, that, that dial up to where he's, he's at this point where he's not chasing out of the zone. He's hitting everything hard. Like, there's, there's no getting him out right now.

And it's, you know, I, I think we've seen him kind of be at this type of, you know, production level before. Like I think back to 2021, but I think just the way that he is, you know, attacking pitches in the zone and you know kind of really controlling all the paths against these mariners pitchers has been just just a totally different blad and that you know i i think a lot of it maybe even goes back to to them earning that buy and getting kind of that first week off where he gets the chance to kind of reset his body because i know he was dealing with the the knee the hamstring thing and you know i'm sure there was a ton of other other things kind of bogging him down at the end of the

season and i think you know we we look at when he's had like really great regular season i think 2021 and 2024. Obviously he didn't make the playoffs and, you know, kind of some of these other, like, no, I don't want to call them so-so seasons, but not, not Pete Vlad seasons, you know, they do make the playoffs and then he kind of enters the playoffs and continues that and doesn't have, you know, any specific moments, but now he's just kind of collecting moments on their way into this game seven. So, you know, I think you can't really overstate the difference that he is made for this

Blue Jay's team and just how important him. stepping up has been, especially with Boba shed out and, you know, everything that's going on with the Blue Jays lineup with Anthony Santander as well. Like, it's just been so impressive and has really kind of been the number one story for four of these Blue Jays in the playoffs. And, you know, honestly might even be the number one story outside of showing you with Donnie doing whatever he did and in all of baseball right now. Well, and I guess you got to credit the rest of the Blue Jays hitting lineup because it hasn't exactly been easy to pitch around Vladdy. even without Bichette in the lineup. Yeah, no, I think, you know, the Mariners in their, the game five win, you know, they get to intentionally walk Vlad twice and the Blue Jays only score two runs.

So, you know, they were able to avoid him in that game. And, you know, I think last night, obviously, Vlad comes up with the bases loaded and, you know, hits 116-mile-power ground ball that gets out. And it's, you know, kind of seemed like it's like a really big spot. But, yeah, you know, I think you kind of look at the games that the Blue Jays have one. when Vlad has been kind of, you know, going off a little bit. And the Blue Jays have kind of got traffic on, so the Mariners aren't able to pitch around it, really.

And, you know, the credit goes to, I think the top of the lineup for that, where it's, you know, it's Springer, it's Lucas. And then, you know, I think the bottom of the lineup has been super important of that, where, you know, we've seen Isaiah Kanaf and Andres Semenas kind of work their way on base and kind of set things up for the top of the lineup. And, you know, just the way that the Blue Jays have kind of been able to get this production one through nine. Obviously, it's kind of what they've done all season, but, you know, in October, where the pitching is at its best and the pitching and, I'm sorry, every pitch, you know, matters a little bit more.

I think these guys who weren't exactly the most productive hitters in the regular season to kind of step up and find their way on base and work tough at bats has been huge and, you know, is also a part of why Vladie has been able to kind of step up in these moments for sure. Yeah, Jimenez is hilarious. It's like, you've got to watch out for that number nine hit her out. He might hit two key home runs he gets you. Okay, so game seven goes tonight. Five o'clock, our time. A reminder, you can hear it all right here on SportsNet 650. Toronto, Seattle, the winner, goes to the World Series.

Zach, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Regardless of what happens tonight, we'll do this one more time, and it'll either be to preview the World Series or to put a bow on the Blue J series. But whatever the case, thanks for doing this. and enjoy the game tonight. It'll be a lot of fun.

Sounds great, guys. Always fun coming on. Enjoy the game tonight and appreciate you having me back. Yeah, thanks for doing this, bud. We appreciate it. That's Zach Worden, Sportsnet. com.C.A. associate editor,

Blue Jays writer here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Yes. The Blue Jays and the Mariners would each host game one of the World Series? If I got that right?

The Dodgers finished. It's not who wins the All-Star game anymore. No, like, remember that? Remember that? They were like, yeah. They still don't really care about the all-star game. Oh, in the All-Star game, quick, think. Yeah, yeah.

Yes. You got guys in the All-Star games, like, my team will not be in the World Series. I don't care about this. The Rockies. I think the Js have. The Jays have it. By the way, it's an 8-10 start time tonight. They pushed it back by two minutes from 808.

The Jays have it one game over the Dodgers. Dodgers have it three games over the Mariners. Okay. So there you go. All right. 8 o'clock Eastern, by the way. 8 o'clock Eastern. But it's a 5-10.

It was scheduled for 508, but now it's 5. For simplicity's sake, though, 5 o'clock, Sportsnet, 6.50. Just be there at 5. No, I want to be right. If you want to let's do it on this very station, right after Sadden Dan or done at 5 o'clock, we will turn it over to the Blue Jays broadcast. Huge game tonight.

This segment of the Halford & Brough show is brought to you by Jan Pro. From showrooms to stock rooms and everything in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected for a free quote. visit them online at janpro.com. Speaking of Satyar Shah, he's going to join us next. More Canucks talk to come in the 8 o'clock hour. You're listening to the Halford & Breath Show on Sportsnet, 650.