Halford & Brough in the Morning - What Should The Canucks Expect From EP40 Tonight?

Episode Date: September 26, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they look ahead to tonight's Canucks home matchup versus Seattle, which sees the preseason debut of Elias Pettersson and has the boys discussing what to expect from him this evening (3:00), plus they preview Week 4 and talk last night's Seahawks win with NFL.com's Nick Shook (26:47). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to Halford and Bruff The kick is on the way And the kick is on the way And the kick is up And the kick is good And the Seahawks win the game And he's hit it high and deep to right Grand slammed

Golden Verso Come after me I'm a man I'm 40 Got too far There's too much to lose It's not even Keep our composure

Good morning Vancouver 601 on a Friday Happy Friday Sweet sweet Friday It is Halford and his Browfield SportsNet 650 We are coming live From the Kintech Studios

And beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver Jason good morning Good morning Adag, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford, and Brought for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Score a debt freedom hat trick. No more interest, much lower payments, and financial peace of mind. Visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour 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 the middle. 1770 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech, footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. Can you feel it? That's how we start every ad read here at the Halford and Brough Show. Or can you smell it. Can you smell it?

Oh, I can smell it. Sports are going crazy right now. Already six o'clock in the morning. We are well underway at the Ryder Cup at Beth Plage Black in New York. We're actively tracking one of our guests. coming up at 7 o'clock, Adam Stanley's going to join us live from Beth Page for the Ryder Cup. We'll get right into the guest list here. I mentioned Adam's going to join us at 7.

Nick Shook's going to join us at 6.30 this morning. NFL.com, one of their writers, he is going to join us to talk about the Seattle Seahawks yesterday. Moved to 3-1 last night with a walk-off field goal win, as you heard in the intro, against the Cardinals in Arizona. So we'll talk to Nick about that. We can look ahead to some of the big stories from this weekend in the National Football League, including Micah Parsons return to Dallas on Sunday night football. That's at 6.30.

7 o'clock, I should mention before we get Adam Stanley on the show, AJ from AJ's Pizza is going to join the program. Another reminder, a $100 gift card to AJ's pizza is up for grabs. Today's best ask us anything. We'll get the gift card. Hashtag at AUA. Put a pizza emoji into your text and text to the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650, 650. The premise, as it always is, very simple.

you ask us something, we answer it. If it's a really good one, you win some pizza. At 7.30, Bob the Mojjvajanovich is going to join the program. Play-by-play voice of the BC Lions. So much happening this weekend, including the Lions back at home tonight, 7 o'clock at BC Place against Nick, don't call me John Arbuckle and the Toronto Argonauts. Lions looking for their third straight win tonight to get them one game over 500.

Last time the Lions played Arbuckle made them look like normal. It's true. Odie, if you will. Odie, yeah. Nirmal was a winner. They were devoured. They were devoured like a big tray of lasagna. There we go.

8 o'clock Rick Dollywall from the Donny and Dolly Show on Czech TV. Intrepid Connect's reporter. As per usual, here's noted Rick Dollywall handler, Jason Brough, to tell us what we're going to talk to Rick about today. The Holglander injury is probably going to lead the way. And also, Sherwood's contract status. All right. Working in reverse on the guest list. 8 o'clock, Rick Dollywall, 730.

Bob Marjanovic, 7 o'clock, Adam Stanley. AJ's in there as well, so too is Nick Shook. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? 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. We are going to begin with the Vancouver Canucks who, for the first time this season, skated at Rogers Arena on Thursday morning for practice. Yeah, they were all like, hey, look, black seats. 90% of the seats have been switched over to black. Yeah, that's what they said.

They were like, hey, look, black seats, almost entirely, almost. Tyler Myers counted every single one yesterday. He didn't do that. The Kinects skated in two groups yesterday. 2048, 20, Tyler to Tyler, we've got to practice. 49.

As I mentioned, two groups skated yesterday. The early group was the one that is going to play in tonight's preseason contest against Seattle. A reminder, that one, puck drop 7 o'clock. You can hear the call with batch right here on Sportsnet 650. You can also watch the game against the Crackin tonight on SportsNet. none of this streaming nonsense. It's just on good old-fashioned, regular TV,

John Shorthouse on his first call of the year. But if you prefer the radio call, Brennan Batchelor, on at 7 o'clock as well. So it looks as though we're going to get not the entire full lineup, obviously, of NHL veterans from Vancouver Connects, but we're going to get a chance to see it appears the first line of Jake DeBrusk,

Elias Pedersen, and Brock Bessor. And we're going to get our first look at Evander Cain and a Vancouver Connect's uniform tonight as well. And he's going to be centered by Braden Coo. with Lecker-O-Machia on the right wing. So he gets the young guys. He gets the babysitting job of Vander Cain tonight. I hope he's got his certificate and everything.

So I'm going to throw this out to the listeners. If you're going to watch the game tonight, what are you most curious about? Pedersen is probably going to lead the way to see what he looks like. And if he doesn't look very good, we'll say it's just the preseason. And if he looks great,

will say he's back. Evander Kane, first time in a Canucks uniform. Braden Coots, the young guy who's making a push to make this team. Craftsoff's going to be in the lineup. I don't know if anyone's curious to see what he looks like. And then Hughes and Hironic, yes, they're always entertaining, but we know what they are. There's a defense pairing of DPD and Veylander. Love it. Love it.

Is that exciting for anyone? I would love to hear your thoughts, along with your Ask Us Anything's, into the Dunbar Lumber Text Line at 650-650. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and renter warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Dunbarlumber.com. I'm not going to overthink this one. I just want to see what PD looks like. The Juice Index. Everyone will be monitoring it tonight to see how much he's got in his step.

So again, the lines from practice last night, Debrusk, Peders, Bessers, first line. Kane, Coots, and Lecromacki as the second. Cravesoft, Teddy Bluger, Kiefer Sherwood is the third, and then Wilmer Ulrichson, Atu-Ratoo, and Mackenzie McCekron is the fourth. I want to go around the room here. I want to go around the room here. Guys, expectations for Pedersen tonight. I think that despite it being a preseason game and all the caveats that come along with that, I think that there should be some real energy for him in the building tonight. I don't think it's naive to suggest that after as bad as last season was and the amount of questions that were left in the air and all the changes that there's going to be some pressure external and internal on EP 40 and everyone everyone is waiting to see what you've been talking about for months what does he look like what does it look like because so often last year the eye and the smell test were both fails. You mean, we talked about it.

Like there'd be these games where we were going, bending over backwards to look for some sign of something, some sign that he was back. And it was the old PD or maybe not even necessarily the old PD, but someone that looked like he was energized and engaged and wanting to drive play. That's the perfect way to put it. Wanting to drive play and able to drive play. Continue to go around the room. I stole the thunder. Three-put chain texts in. I'd like to see Pedersen get a cross-ice pass.

without hesitation, just fire the puck. Adog, expectations for tonight for Pedersen. Gets a couple points, looks engaged. So points, of course, lead the way for A-Doh. Even if it's like a second assist on the power play where he didn't do anything on it. No, but he did. He set up the play.

He made a pass that anyone can play. Second assist on an empty netter to seal the game. I love it. But he really, really tried hard for it. You are a model of consistency. No, no, like I expect he'll look engaged, and I think he'll probably pick up a What high expectations we have for our players in Vancouver, I expect he'll look engaged. Baby steps, man, that's what I'm expecting to this point.

You know what, Adag, honestly, that's like. It is funny, though. As long as he looks engaged, I'm like, okay, cool. That's a crazy thing to say. After the last year and a half he's had, I want him to look engaged. Well, he hasn't for so long. So look engaged. You're being negative.

You're being negative through. Have some jump in your step, look engaged, look happy to be there, you know, have good energy, pick up a point or two. I prefer Halford so far. Halford's winning this around the horn where he said, like, I want to see him want to drive play. That's why I just said. No, you said he looked engaged. Same thing, semantic. You can be engaged without driving play.

No, you can't. It's physically impossible. So you think like... Well, for him, when I say engaged, that's what I mean. Okay. Driving plays, setting things up, getting an assist, maybe scoring a goal. It's all the same. Laddie, you're just like, I want to see Tolopilo.

Yeah. Oh, I do. That's a good point. I didn't think about that, but yes. I just hope he stays healthy. Honestly, I want him engaged in doing all the things like you guys said, but at the end of the day, it's a preseason game. I want him to come out with all of his bones intact. Okay, so a couple follow-ups here.

One, Adog, I think what you should, I want you to stay committed to this, the point total thing. I think you should have, before the, before puck drop on the first game of the year, you should have a goal in mind that you want him to hit where it's a success or failure, and then we will monitor that all year long. 93 points. Okay, it's set. Let's lock it in.

To some notes, because you mentioned the goalies, Thatcher Demko got a maintenance day yesterday, so he's not going to play today. Obviously, he played last game, so nobody expected that. Kevin Lankinen, absent from the group sessions yesterday, because he became a father on Tuesday. Congrats to Kevin Lankinan, and as such he's excused from the next couple days.

Remember Woodley's last hit? Yeah. Talked about babies eat and safe percentage. Yeah. I sure do. Yeah, I know. I didn't want to bring it up. I'm sure glad you did.

No update on Nils Hoaglander's health. We'll get something from Dollywall later in the show. And Connor Garland returned to practice yesterday as well. He skated with Group 2, so he won't be in the lineup tonight either. But it sounds as though he's nearing full health, given that he participated in practice yesterday. Another thing I'd like to see as it pertains to our earlier conversation about Pedersen. Chemistry with DeBrusk. Because that has also been a talking point in the early stages of the preseason.

And I know DeBreska's mentioned it a few times that year one, as of Vancouver Canuck, he didn't get a great read on Pedersen as a linemate. He said, you know, he didn't have a good feel on what the right spots were to go to, to go to on the ice while he was playing with Pedersen. He was like, I thought he was better. I thought he was going to give me the puck in better spots. I think it was part of it. Well, Besser as well, too, on that line because Peterson and Besson,

Besser haven't really been a thing for a while. Besser's been floating without a home ever since J.T. Miller left. Yeah. I mean, not physically. Like, he has a house. But we're talking about... I would be funny if he lost his house. You live with J.T.

He's got a stick. What am I going to do? Bindle on a stick walking around. Like, where am I going? No, but that's a... If that trio is going to stick and it's kind of been written in pencil since the way we were up in training camp in Penticton, that line's going to need to be highly effective for this team.

Because scoring is already going to be a problem for the Canucks. I think we can all kind of. kind of suggest that scoring might be an issue. That top line is going to be leaned upon heavily, and they're going to need to find some chemistry straight away. Okay. So that's the Canucks side of what happened. Let's talk about the Seahawks last night,

because for most of that game, they looked like clearly the best team. It looked at times like they were going to get a comfortable victory. It was a victory, but anything but comfortable. It was a little too close for comfort last night. the Seahawks were up 20 to 6 midway through the fourth quarter but they needed a Jason Myers walkoff

52-yard field goal at the death to win it the Seahawks did withstand a late rally from Kyler Murray in the cards to beat Arizona 23 to 20 on Thursday night football here's what the game winning kick sounded like courtesy Westwood won Seattle lining up from the left hash 52-yard field goal try for a win on the road

they're ready crowd in a frenzy good snap good hold the kick by Myers on the way and it is good and the Seattle Seahawks get a 23 to 20 win the last second field goal by Jason Myers propels Seattle to their eighth straight win over the Arizona Cardinals and a three in one record to start this young season it. What a kick. What a kick. What a kick. You know what? You mean that as a drop. What a kick.

It was a good kick because Myers had missed a 53-yard earlier in the game, which I think would have probably put the nail in for the cards. But that miss, you could see it was a real turning point in that fourth quarter. Anyway, go ahead. Most of the night, that crowd was booing the Arizona Cardinals' offense. And the Seahawks defense looked, yes, it looked good. it was part of the equation, but it was mostly the cards looked

just super disorganized. Like there were plays where the receiver would go the wrong way and Murray would throw it to like nobody. He threw an awful pick to start. Now the Seahawks fumbled it right back to

the Cardinals on the return. It just looked awful for the Cardinals, but the Seahawks let him hang around and Halford mentioned the missed field goal that allowed them to score a late tying touchdown. And, man, if the C, you know what, I was thinking, like, during that game, that's the type of game, like, the Seahawks would play, but they were, it was the Cardinals

last time. Do you know what I mean? No. Okay, but, like, how many times, how many times did the Seahawks have a game like the Cardinals did, but they ended up pulling out the win? Oh, okay. You were like, what is wrong with these guys? What is wrong?

And then they make some plays in the end and they find a way to win. And you're like, oh, well. Right. So in this scenario, the Seahawks kicker wouldn't make a boneheaded play on the kickoff with seconds remaining thereby giving. Let's talk about that too. Okay. So the Seahawks. I love these new kickoff rules.

They've helped the Seahawks in two wins this year. I love the new kickoff rules because I'm pretty sure half the NFL doesn't understand them. This is as much as I can take from the early stages of the season. So yesterday. after Kyler Murray throws a touchdown pass and they kick the convert to tie the game at 2020, Cardinals line up for the kickoff and Chad Ryland's kick, a squib kick,

lands short of the landing zone. You have to get the ball inside the 20 and Chad Ryland's kick hit about the 20 and a half yard line. He didn't miss it by much, but it was short. And once again, the broadcasters weren't exactly sure what was going on because as soon as the ref blew the whistle, I was like, oh, where does that ball come out to?

I don't, I admit, I did not know the rule. Yeah, I was like, is it the 30, the 40? And then, man, what a big mistake to make, though. So the Seahawks get the ball on the 40. They marched the ball down the field on a couple of plays, including a big play from Sam Darnold to Jackson Smith and Jigba. They line it up. And it was interesting listening to Mike McDonald in the post game

because after missing a 53-yarder, You thought there might have been some hesitation with trotting Jason Myers though from the distance that they did. I couldn't believe they ran right before the kick. Mike McDonald said, we knew he was going to make that kick. And I don't know if that was just like clever coach speak in the aftermath.

He is a very good kicker. Yes. And the 53-yarder was a rare miss for Myers, to be honest. He's good from that distance. And of course, he was good at the end of the game. So kickoff rules have aided this Seahawks team because we remember they had a crazy touchdown in Pittsburgh off a kickoff as well.

It's been one of the narratives of this season. Sam Darnold, another very, very efficient performance from Sam Darnold, who is starting to look like a guy that can engineer a team to the playoffs, not unlike what he did with Minnesota the year prior. Now, the questions are obviously going to be what happens when he gets to the playoffs

is he going to take 12 sacks again. But doesn't make a ton of mistakes. I know he had the two picks earlier in the season, but very calm and collected. ground game not great didn't love the way they ran the football yesterday and they they probably learned something yesterday about the importance of closing out games because what they did to New Orleans two weeks ago beating the living snot out of the Saints early and not letting them off the canvas they didn't do it yesterday they couldn't put the final

nail in the coffin you know when they were up they had a big lead at halftime they had chances on offense to put scores in the end zone they put one in the end zone but it got called back on a JSN hold, which I don't know if you, he got caught on a hot mic sharing his thoughts on the holding penalty. Did he agree with it? He probably agreed. He was like, shocking me he did not. He did not agree with that. Yeah. Okay. But overall, the Seahawks are three and one. If not for some self-inflicted mistakes in week one, they could be four and oh. Mike McDonald is now nine and one in his first 10 road games as Seattle Seahawks head coach. Yes, it was a soft schedule. And we kind of went through this last season, didn't we?

Can only beat the teams that are in front of you. Coming up, they've got Tampa Bay, Baker Mayfield. And that's in Seattle. In Seattle. Then they go to Jacksonville. Then they host Houston. And then they've got the buy week. What record do you think they'll be?

So we talked about this on our Seahawks group thread last night. Sorry, you're not on it. It's just different people. It's not a bad thing. It's just different people. Okay. There is a very real chance that they could be five and ten. two going into the buy that look i know tampa bay is three and oh but tampa bay's got philly

this weekend and they got all kinds of injuries on offense and lumen is back yes well texans are bad and that's in seattle and that's in seattle the road game in jacksville i don't even know what to make you know they're good on the road they're automatic they are they're nine and one under mike mcdonald on the road that's a long trip you're playing a jacksville team that i can't really make heads or tails of, but here's the thing, if they get to five wins by the buy, suddenly you're talking about a team that's got like a really

good shot at making the playoffs, and all of a sudden you're looking at, well, double-digit wins and how far into double-digit wins could they get? So it's been a good start to the season for the Seahawks. Hey, are we back on the Seahawks? Are we excited about the Seahawks? Are we willing to go there? They've sucked me in for sure. I knew it. Deke and Squamish, we need to know if Halford

jinx the Seahawks, and if they gave up a rushing touchdown. They did not. They absolutely did not. No rushing touchdowns allowed for the fourth consecutive game, the only team in the NFL that is not allowed a rushing touchdown.

Laddie wants to know when we're going to talk about the Blue Jays because they won last night. They're back, baby. He's like, you jackals only talk about them when they have a disaster. That is true. Here's a question for Laddie.

And I know it's late in the season and I know that they've already clinched the playoffs, but how profound was the Dalton Varsho Grand Slam last night in the grand scheme of things. Oh, I listened to the Nesson broadcast of it, and even they were like, that's got to be such a weight off their shoulders. And it's like, yes, the Santander almost Grand Slam

earlier in the game, and then that moment, it's just, you can't sum up baseball better than what happened. And how about a round of applause for the bullpen? Yep. Bullpen day. Bullpen day. Yeah, I mean, pitch pretty well.

You know, that's what they needed. And now the starters get an extra, extra day of rest. and, you know, hopefully, so is Gossmann right now scheduled to start the final game? Or how does it go? I'm not sure how the, I'm not sure how the lineup is going to shake out.

I think it depends on if they get the buy, right? They want to line it up. That's what I'm talking about. That's what, like, you want to get it as soon as possible. Yes, he is for, so tonight they start their final series of the season against the Tampa Bay Rays who've given them a little bit of trouble. Fits, if you will.

Especially the pitchers that are lining up to face the Jays. Bieber, you savage, the young guy, and then Gospon. Those are the scheduled starters, but what you would hope is that they've got the first round by clinched by, you know, at least the last game so they can roll Gossman and the, well, they can just rest everyone. They're going to have a break then. New York, the Yankees, of course, also won last night, 5'3 against the White Sox. So the Yankees have now won five straight and eight of nine. With that win yesterday, the Yankees clenched home field advantage in the wild card should they get there. Because they can still win the AAL East over the Jays for the division title.

They both have the same record right now, 91 and 68. The Jays hold the tiebreaker. And it should be noted, sorry, that Baltimore's in last place in the division. They've had a bad year. It's not good. the J's play at home against Tampa Bay. You mentioned the starters. They haven't had a great record against Tampa Bay this year.

It just comes down to what you basically got to, I think you have to win two or three at a minimum. Baltimore has been better. But I think you've got to win two or three. Baltimore has been in a better shape the second half of the season. But yes, there's not a lot to play for it on the stretch. But hey, maybe they'll enjoy being the spoilers. Okay, the Ryder Cup is underway,

and there are some very interesting scores out there. Colin Moracawa for the Americans was kind of a controversial selection to the team and a lot of people were saying well he's not really playing that well maybe that's a spot that Keegan Bradley should take Colin Moracow

along with Harris English He should be on the European team with that kind of name but he's on the American team he's a traitor Rory McElroy and Tommy Fleetwood are five up through eight holes That's bad, right? That's a dog walking. Yes. There's another one, too.

And it involves the number one player in the world, Scotty Sheffler, who along with Russell Henley, is four down to Ludwig Oberg and Matt Fitzpatrick. The Americans are only up in one of the four matches. They're one-up. Zander Shoffley, Patrick Cantlay, over the Scottish guy that won the Canadian Open, Robert McIntyre. Oh, yeah.

And one of your favorite guys, Victor Hovland. Love the Hovland. And then the scary duo of John Rom and Tyrell Hatton are one up through 10 on Bryson Deschambo and Justin Thomas. So a very encouraging start for Europe at the Ryder Cup. I love that they put the Husky Lads together. That's that pairing, that group's name, Rahm and Hatton. The Husky Lads, that's what they call them. I just made that up on the spot.

They don't call them that. That's when they got their close. for the Ryder Cup. They were husky-sized. Why do we have to shop in this section? All right, we got to go to break. When we come back, we're going to do some more NFL talk with Nick Shook from NFL.com. We'll get into last night's game between the Seahawks and the Cardinals. But we'll look ahead to another exciting weekend of NFL action,

including Micah Parsons return to Dallas as a Green Bay Packer on Sunday night football. You're listening to The Halford-Inbuff Show on Sportsnet, 650. What a kick. It's Canucks Central with Dan Rachel and at T.R. Shaw, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the postgame show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. Michael Dixon puts it down. Jason Myers. The kick is on the way.

And the kick is up. And the kick is good. And the Seahawks win the game. They beat NFC Westmo. The Arizona Cardinals. on the final play of the game. 632 on a Friday. Hey, it's a Fiesta Friday here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a license insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees.

That's Sands. To learn more, visit Sands-Trustee.com. We are still in Hour 1 of the program. Nick Shook from NFL.com is going to join us in just a moment here, the highlight of Hour 1. Hour 1 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 the 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the phone lines we go, the Power West Industries hotline. Nick Shook joins us now on the Halford & Breath Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Nick? How are you? Fantastic, guys. You got yourself a little bit of a victory Friday. Don't you after what happened last night? Not too shabby.

It was a little closer than everyone. anticipated it would be like midway through the fourth quarter when the Seahawks were up 20 to 6. But a win's a win, especially on the road. What were your thoughts about the Seahawks walk-off win over the cards last night? I mean, yeah, you're right. It did need to be as close as it was. They didn't quite play with their food as much as, you know, they had that touchdown called back and left the door open for the Cardinals.

That tends to happen in the NFL games. We saw it happen in mass on Sunday last weekend when we had just an assortment of blocked kicks all happened within about the same 15 to 20 minutes of real time. It was chaos. So that happens at the end of games sometimes. But I'll tell you what, man, you know, as time is passing here, as we complete our first month of the season, I'm growing more and more impressed by what I'm seeing from Seattle. You know, Year 200, Mike McDonald, they're starting to come together under his identity.

This defense plays with a ton of attitude. I love the way they fly around the field. I thought they made it really difficult for a Cardinals offense that has not found the going easy against any opponent this season, but they, you know, they made it really difficult for Kyler Murray and for, you know, Arizona to kind of figure out what they're going to be after losing James Connor. Obviously, the Marvin Harrison struggles in the first half are well-documented. But just overall, I mean, this team's just playing well. I like the balance of their ground game. Sam Darnold looks the part. He looks like what they envisioned when they decided to get rid of

Geno Smith and sign him instead to fit into Clint Kubiak's offense. Been very impressed by him. The only thing I would like to see more, and I think Tori Horton is going to play a role in this going forward is a little bit more balance in their receiving core because it still feels like it's, you know, heavy Jackson Smith and Jigba. But, you know, Donald's doing a good job of trying to distribute the ball. And as, you know, a team overall, I just think that they're looking more and more like a complete team that everybody's going to have to take seriously whenever they find them on their schedule right now. And it's a tough NFC West, but, you know, it's only a month in, but I just, I really like what I'm seeing from Seattle.

Kyleor Murray, to his credit, made some throws down the stretch and made it a very close game at the end. But for most of that game, that Arizona crowd was booing the Arizona offense. And that included Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison, Harrison, Jr., but let's keep it on Kyler Murray here. Is he a quarterback that's going to get the Cardinals to where they need to go? That was a big question going into the season. and it felt like a bit of a crossroads season for him with the Cardinals. And, you know, it's hard because I think back to some of his best moments over the last few years, I think about the way that they absolutely detonated the Rams early last season in Arizona.

And that's peak, Kyler Murray. You know, he's a guy who thrives playing out of structure, which can sometimes get a little haphazard. But you see the potential for him to be a star. It's just that it's not consistent. I kind of hesitate to pin a lot of the responsibility for their offensive struggles on him. Yes, they're 28th in the NFL in passing yards. They're the 26th ranked offense in the NFL in total yards per game right now, and they're just not putting up points.

But I also feel like the approach they have offensively doesn't seem to make sense. And losing James Conner last week, I thought it was going to be a huge blow to them. Granted, at that point, he wasn't leading them in rushing for the season, but he led them in rushing every season prior since he'd arrived in air. Arizona in 2021. And it felt like in previous years, and especially last year, if Connor had a good game, the Cardinals probably won. And if he struggled, they probably lost. And now they don't have them at all. So where do they go from here? They have enough talented pass catcher. And I say pass catcher because Trey McBride needs to be included in that

consideration. Harrison's going to figure it out if people just get off of his back. Michael Wilson does a pretty good job. You know what Greg Dorch is. It's not the strongest group, but it's good enough. So the question becomes, well, then why aren't they figuring it out consistently, and I think it starts up front. I have not seen past protection be a reliable resource for Kyler through this first month, no matter who they've played, whether it was them playing against New Orleans in week one, where it just felt like everything was difficult for them, whether it was their near collapse against Carolina in week two, their close loss in a rock fight in Santa Clara last week against the 49ers or this game. It's just, it feels like Kyler

doesn't have the opportunity to get comfortable and their offense is kind of jammed up. So I don't know how much of that falls on him. There are times where he makes mistakes. That's, you know, undeniable, but I want to see it play out. I'm not ready to give a just like a firm answer one way or the other on whether he's the guy for them. I need to see the rest of the season play out first. Can the Cleveland Browns build on their upset of the Green Bay Packers because they got another tough one this week with the Detroit Lions? That's a great question because their offense. You want to talk about bad offenses? I just talked about Arizona. The Brown's offense is terrible. and it really comes down to their passing game.

It's, again, offensive line, but it's also the fact that Joe Flacko, you know, at his age, 40 years old, is a 40-year-old quarterback. He's a guy who basically isn't mobile, can't move. When he needs to scramble, he can't scramble. And it's as simple as that. Their running game has not been consistent. Quinn-Shon-Jadkins is starting to find a bit of a rhythm, but he also, you know, didn't play in week one and didn't have a training camp.

And I think it's another team that starts with offensive line. I like their interior. Their tackles have been an issue and are going to continue to be an issue, I think. So their defense is going to keep them in every game, though. So I think that they're going to give the Lions problems defensively, and we'll see if the Browns can do enough because, look, let's face it, I know they won that game last week. They had no business being in that game other than the fact that their defense kind of kept

them in it, and they certainly had no business winning that game. The Packers melted down. And against a team like the Lions, I just can't imagine that they're going to figure out a way to upset those two teams two weeks in a row. So we talked a bit about this earlier in the week, about when the New York Giants would go to their, would make a quarterback change. And we figured, well, I don't know if they're going to do it against the Chargers

because that would be a tough task for Jackson Dart. Well, they're doing it. What are your expectations for that Giants hosting the Chargers? I think I don't know if I said this on this show, but I know I wrote it in QV Index and I stand by it. And I'm not taking a victory lap on this, but I will say, sure, I was right. This was going to happen.

Russell Wilson was going to lose his job before October, and he did. I expect Jackson Dart to encounter the typical struggles of a guy making his first professional start this weekend against the Charter's team that is very good. But overall, this was the move that the Giants had to make, not only to try to preserve Brian Dable's job, but also prevent them from drifting into irrelevance before Halloween again. and I also think it's the move that they had to make because they spent a first round pick on him and this is the better option at quarterback it's just probably not going to happen overnight

so what can we expect from them more life than their offense we saw in the preseason I know it's just the preseason but when Wilson walked off the field and dart walked on the field it's like they were two different offenses it's like they had way more options available if brian dable is a play caller because of what dart could do and more than anything he just kept them moving consistently he got the job done

he made plays with his arm he made plays with his legs he's a playmaking kind of guy and I think as Danny Kelly described him as a point guard passer in his pre-draft scouting report and that's kind of what you're seeing from him so far so I think that Giants fans bare minimum should feel as if they have a better shot

of converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns instead of throws off the goalpost like they did against the chiefs on Sunday night and that alone is worth watching and to get excited about especially considering he is a rookie we're previewing this weekend's NFL action with Nick Shook from NFL.com

here on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. It is a presentation of the Clayton Public House. Pre-game to post-game, the Clayton Public House is your home of football. Catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors. Visit the Clayton Pub.com. Two teams that are going to face each other this weekend, Nick, at one and two, surprisingly at one and two,

the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs. Which teams should be more concerned about their one and two start to the season going into this one? You know, I would say it's the Chiefs, but they've been here before. We've left them for dead before. They've proven us wrong. They're not a pretty team offensively. Rinse and repeat, they still find ways to make the playoffs and get to the Super Bowl, much to the

chagrin of football fans residing in the other 31 NFL markets. But at the same time, I also can't really hit the panic button on the Ravens right now because they're just too talented to be a team that, you know, their record says what they are. They've had a heck of a schedule to start this season. I mean, they've had no break so far. safe for the game against the Browns. They lose at Buffalo in a heartbreaker that they probably should have won. They dominate the Browns, especially in the second half of that game. They overcome that Cleveland defense, which is the best in the NFL right now. And they lose that tough one against the Lions. I mean, that's a tough start. You get Kansas City now. You got Houston

and L.A. You know, you get the Rams after that. I imagine if you can get out of this stretch, you know, somewhere around, I don't know, but three and three. At that point, I don't expect you to necessarily, you know, get to week seven looking at a four and two record right now. considering you'd have to win all three. But if you can get there at three and three, everybody's going to chill out a lot on them because they're good. Like, they're a good football team. They have a due time NFL MVP at quarterback. I am concerned about their run-stopping ability. Non-Diam out of BK's injury is very much concerning me. Harbaugh is not saying anything

specifically on it, but I fear that that could be a, you know, a prolonged issue. And we obviously saw how weak they were against the run against the Lions. And, you know, that's the first thing you have to do in the NFL. Even in today's past, first league, you've got to be able to stop the run, because if you can't, you can't do anything else. And we saw that first hand in that loss to Detroit. So I'm a little concerned about them defensively. And I think Lamar will overcome some of the struggles that he encountered against the lions, you know, dropping back too deep, maybe not giving up on a play and quickly enough and taking off and running. Those are fixable things. Derek Henry's got to figure out how to

hang on to the football. But these are things that they can all correct. You can't correct, you know, missing personnel on the defensive side of the ball. So that's the only thing that really concerns me. So I didn't really give you an answer there. To be honest, between the Chiefs and the Ravens because they've both done it before. I don't know. I guess if I come all the way back around, I would say I'm a little bit more concerned about the cheese ultimately. I'm concerned about the Ravens because of the run defense. What happened on Monday night? Just never happens to a Baltimore team at home. You know, dressed in all black, this fierce defense, just got, they just got bodied by

Detroit all night and they ran the ball whenever they could. I think it was touchdown drives of 98 and 96 yards where they just methodically crammed the ball. just right through the Lions D-Lining through their, you know, the linebacking crew as well. So I don't know if that was like a one-off or an aberration, but that gave me a lot of pause. I'm not saying that they're going to miss the playoffs or anything like that, but I did mention last week. I'm like, keep an eye on this because Derek Henry's fumbling the ball like it's going out of style. They're now one and two. They make a lot of mistakes and they can't stop the run.

I just wonder if that might be a problem for Baltimore. Yeah. I mean, it's not every day that you see a defense give up 224 net rushing yards to an opponent. It's not every day that when running back goes 12 for 151 and two touchdown. and is the less explosive of the two backs in a backfield. But that's exactly what happened. And I would agree because it's really about foundational things. Like how is your defense the integrity of your defense?

Can you stop the run? Because if you can't, then you cannot dictate to the opposing offense, you know, how this game's going to go. You're always on your heels. You're always trying to react. And you basically find yourself in a position that the Dallas Cowboys are in right now, which is that our defense can't stop a noseble. And we just try to have to outscore you to stay in these games.

games. The Ravens have the talent to outscore teams, but that's not really their identity. And that was what was probably most striking about that game is that the bullies got bullied in their own house. And if anything, it's either a sign of things to come or it's a really good wake-up call for a team that is expected to contend for a Super Bowl. Okay, we're going to finish with two marquee matchups in the NFC here. We're going to start with the Battle of the undefeated. It's the 3-0 Philadelphia Eagles against the 3-0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And this is a preview for Seahawks fans because we get the Buccaneers next. Where has Saquan Barkley been for the Eagles through the first three weeks of the season? Yeah, it's a good question, right? Well, they did, you know, they had some changes in the offensive line again. You know, Mackay backed in left in Free Agency and they replaced him with Tyler Steen. They also, you know, didn't have Lane Johnson for most of their game last week. And he's the best right tackling football and a key part of how they operate up front.

So when your offensive line isn't at full strength, it's not quite as easy to get a guy like Saquan going. I also think that this first month has been a feel-out period for the year. Eagles in that they were such a lean on Sequin to start games and close games for them type of offense, you know, down the stretch last year as they made their run to the Super Bowl triumph over the Chiefs. And I think from year to year, you're never the same team. And sometimes it takes you a little bit to adjust to your own, you know, newfound weaknesses and strengths. And it required them going down 26 to 7 at home against the Rams on Sunday for them to wake up and think, you know what? Maybe we should throw the ball a little bit more than we have.

So to answer, where is Sequin? I just think this offense is evolving in front of us, and you're probably going to see them lean more on Jalen Hertz as a passer. I mean, he had two scrambling touchdowns in week one, which is more than he had, you know, the entire previous season. That in itself was a bit of an evolution. But I just think that the identity of this offense is going to change. And the beauty of that is if you become a passing team,

then you got less guys in the box, you know, less defenders committed to trying to stop Seekwon. And that kind of opens things up for Sequin. and then maybe he can get going. It's a luxury to have as much talent as they have, though. They'll figure it out. So I mentioned there was two marquee matchups in the NFC, and the big one is Sunday night football, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys,

the return of Micah Parsons to Dallas. Tons of interesting developments in the background here. Like Green Bay getting upset, as Jason mentioned, by Cleveland last week, so they're going to come in pissed off and angry. You've got Micah Parsons, obviously, coming in, looking to make a statement. You've got a Dallas team that's one and two.

Not very good. They're going to be without CD Lamb. I kind of feel like everything's shaping up here for Green Bay to really put it on Dallas, but it is in Dallas, so that has to be mentioned. Yeah, yeah, and it's also a potential revenge game for Kenny Clark against the Packers, right? Let's not forget about Kenny Clark's roll at all this. Not forget about Kenny Clark. How can I forget about Kenny Clark? It's not often when I submit my picks every week that I choose a team to win by 18 points.

But I have chosen the Packers to win by 18 points because the Dallas Cowboys defense is terrible. their offense was much, much worse without C.D. Lamb available in that second half against Chicago. And I don't care how well Giovante Williams is running. When you lose your left guard in Tyler Booker for multiple weeks, when you're already a little banged up on the offensive line interior, and when you lose your top receiver in an offense that needs to be explosive to keep you in games, it's a formula for a bad day at the office. And you had all the pressure, the primetime stage, the emotions that are going to be involved on both sides. and I think that Green Bay is just a stronger team overall. The addition of Micah Parsons completed that defense. That defense played well last week.

They just didn't win that game. And this will be a get-right game for the Packers' offense, which goes from playing the best defense in the NFL, at least statistically, to one of the worst, if not the worst, in the NFL in Dallas. So I expect a big day from Jordan Love. Michael Parsons is going to cause some problems, but so is Rashon Gary and Lucas Van Ness

and, you know, Edge Cooper and everybody else on that defense. And I think the Packers win that one running away. and we don't really learn that much more than the fact that the Cowboys aren't going to look too great about making that trade. It's a good Sunday slate. We're very much looking forward to it. Nick, thanks for doing this today, bud. We appreciate it.

Enjoy all the games this weekend. We'll do this again next Friday. Yep, thanks for having me on guys. Appreciate it. Thanks, buddy. Nick Shook from NFL.com here on the Halford & Bruff Show on Sportsnet, 650. Okay, we're going to go into the Dunbar-Lumber text line now,

650, 650, if you want to be part of the conversation on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet. 650. We asked listeners earlier, what are you looking forward tonight when a lot of the Canucks star players take the ice at Rogers Arena for an exhibition game. A revenge game, Jason, a revenge game against the Cracken. Okay. Matt and Surrey texts in and said, for me, it's about Pedersen. It's not so much that he has to look engaged. I don't think that's the right word. He also doesn't need to get a pile of points. He needs to look dangerous. He needs to start looking like a player

that other teams have to plan for. I think that's a great way to put it. Sure. And I would emphasize he needs to start looking like a player that other teams have to plan for. Now, would it be nice if we watch the game tonight and we were like, whoa, he's fully back. That would be great.

Be nice. Be amazing. But I would also accept progress. Yeah. Step in the right direction would be nice. Anything would be nice. Just a sign of positivity. And there were some signs down the stretch before he got.

hurt and finish the season not playing hockey there were some signs but he wasn't he wasn't fully back and we'll we'll know when he's fully back because we won't have to talk ourselves into it um let's do and ask us anything here there's a pizza emoji sure uh from scott and he said never mind specific players what are the top attributes you'd want the canucks to find in a second line center That's a good question, but I don't, like, I don't think you have to have a specific type of center. I think you want to complement your other top center. Like, if you think back to 2011, Henrik Sedeen, great offensive abilities, and then you had Ryan Kessler who was a Selke winner.

That's pretty nice. That's a nice combo. So, you know, ideally, ideally, I think, if Pedersen is playing at his best, and he's offensive, but also great defensively, I want a big strong center. Yeah, I hate being this reductive, but I'm the same way, but for maybe a different reason, but. Okay, well, yeah, I mean, like, look, Sam Bennett is so important to the Florida Panthers, and he's an intimidating guy, and he's, And he is that cliche, hard to play against. But look, if Heedle plays like he did in Abysford the other night, and he is distributing the puck, he's scoring goals, I'll be happy with Heedle as the two C.

The question is, can he do it against better competition? Because that wasn't great competition. Calgary didn't exactly send their best team, and their best team isn't that good anyway. and can he stay healthy we all know the questions around Philippeal but if you were to say like what would you ideally would you like

you'd want that big strong right shot center and like that's not I mean it's just hard to find it's very difficult to find some brawn I think what you're getting at here is like the size thing for one reason my thought process on it is this

when I was watching the preseason game the other night and I was watching Joe the body Labate, Joe Labate, run around and knock guys and getting fights and everything. It got me, I mean, I was jokingly. I threw it out on Twitter. I'm like, you know, cooking up a hot take for Labate to make the opening night roster. But it did, in all seriousness, bring me back to a conversation.

We've had a lot about this team, which is the snarl, the energy, the size, the aggression, the forechecking, maybe the fighting, all those elements, they're really lacking from the forward group. They've got size on the blue line. there's any question. They've got some snarl. They've got guys that can do all the things that we just talked about in the sort of brawny slash aggressive mold. At forward, it's lacking. And it was why when they were talking about two C options in the summer, I just kind of disconnected myself from the Marco Rossi discourse. Because I was like, it's not the right fit. Not for this group. It's adding a diminutive smaller skill guy to a group that has that in droves. You don't need any more of it.

I mean, at the time, we were like, well, beggars can't be choosing. And that's the other part of it. Like if you, but Scott's talking, is Ask Us Anything's in this mythical world, right? Well, Rob and Surrey Texan, ask us anything aside from first and second line center, because the Canucks are clearly lacking in both. Which area of the ice are they also really lacking in?

And I think you're answering the question right now. I think it's, I don't like it when a forward group is left to like one or two guys to deliver on all the things we just talked about. Who's going to get on the forecheck? Who's going to be? a crap stir, who's going to go

and be on the front foot when it comes to being the aggressor? Well, hopefully that's Kane. Right, but right now, I could look at it's Kane and it's Sherwood that fit that mold. But if Kane is at full strength and that can be tough with him too, he's getting a little bit older,

he's a lot of injuries. Don't forget, he didn't even play a regular season game last year and I know people are saying, well, he'll be motivated for his contract and hopefully that's the case. If he's on his game, he's elite at that sure he is absolutely elite at that so to go back to the original you just want joe le bait in the lineup don't you kind of so to kind of do to your original question from scott i do think that i would trade a second if this mythical ideal second line center i would trade off offense like if a guy maybe came in and was only going to top out at 50 or 60 points which would be low for a second line center but was able to bring size and physicality and more of those things that's where you're I would go with that. Because you got to, like, I know Bennett's a unicorn almost in a sense

here, but like Sam Bennett's regular season last year wasn't good. He didn't score a lot. He went long stretches without either putting the puck in the back in the net or getting points period. That's what made his contract so interesting, I think. People are like, well, based on this model here. But everyone understands the value of having it. Yeah, and everyone understands the value of having those guys. Okay, we are up against it for time on the Halford and Breft Show on Sportsnet, 650. We got a lot more to get into on the program. Hour two, AJ from AJ's Pizza is going to join us Of course, get your ask us anything's in

For a $100 gift card to AJ's Adam Stanley's going to join us at 705 Live from Beth Page For the Rider Cup Play is underway on the Friday Jason's been covering it as closely as humanly possible We have asked for

We've been asked to provide spoiler alerts On this because some people might be recording it Didn't even think of that Okay, we can do that That's fair Yeah, that's fair because it's very early in the morning and it's kind of tough to watch the Rider Cup right now. So Adam Stanley's going to join us live from Beth Page at 705.

730 Moge is going to join the program. And before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From waiting rooms to exam rooms and everything in between Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected for a free quote. Visit them online at Janpro.ca. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.