Halford & Brough in the Morning - Wild Card Baseball Rules

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (1:29) about all the excellent Wild Card baseball action thus far, and also preview tonight's trio of do-or-die matchups, plus they chat Seahawks with ESPN's Brady Henderson (25:38), as Seattle gets set to host the Bucs on Sunday. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

It's time to chat with Adenan. It's Adnan Ferdke's on the show. We're going to talk some baseball and take a trip to the silver screen. That's right, it's time for Atenham. Yes, Adnan Furkey joins us now. We'll head out to the ball game and talk about all the films he's seen. 7.02 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates.

Get out of the penalty box of debt and back into the game with a financial fresh start. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are now at hour two of the program. Adnan Burke from MLB Network is going to join us in just a moment here. to kick off hour two. Our two is bradded by Jason hominock at Jason. 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. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics,

working together with you in step. Let's go now to the Power West Industries hotline. Our next guest is from MLB Network. What a day to have them on the show. Adnanverk here now live on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. What up, Ednan. I'm doing great. Mike Jason, great to be with you guys.

It's always, I mean, this is just baseball heaven, man, game after game after game. I remember last year was such a dud, only one of the three series, oh, the one of the four series went three, and this year we get three of the four. So I'm kind of happy the Reds are done because, quite honestly, they weren't going to beat the Dodgers anyways, but these three other series, I can't wait today just to sit back and watch some baseball. The first time since 1981 that three sudden death games will occur on the same day in the Major League Baseball playoffs, first time in 44 years.

awesome. I know it's hard to pick one. It's like trying to pick your favorite child, but we all know we have one. Which is the game you're most looking forward to today? You know, I think for me it's got to be Yankees Red Sox. As you said, each of the series can be compelling in their own right, but I think Yankees Red Sox is always something special about this rivalry like no one else's business. And, you know, quite honestly, I think it's really a series that could go either way. That's also what makes it fascinating. I think each of the series kind of has different elements of intrigue to it. The Tigers, one for 15 runners in scoring position yesterday.

You know, 15 runners left on base, which is crazy. But the guardians are the lowest on base percentage of any team in the playoffs. So you feel like, all right, it's a coin flip. Again, pitching match of Sikoni v. Flaherty. It's not like it's exactly Cy Young versus Walter Johnson. And for the Yankees, Red Sox, what's so fascinating about it is Cam

Schlittler, careful with the name, and Connolly early are the two starters. This is only the second time ever. A winner take-all postseason game has two rookies starting in it. Early started, made his debut. September 9th. And even earlier than that, a veteran by comparison, Schlittler started

back in July 9th. So it's crazy to think two rookies only separated by two months in the majors are now going to be in this game. Having said that neither guy fell as is going seven innings. It's going to be three innings, four innings, then turn over to the battle of the bullpins. But only happened one other time. Twenty-twenty NLCS, I want to say. Yeah.

It was Ian Anderson and Dustin May. So Yankees Red Sox, man, should be fun. Based on the fact that they've already played two games in two days. And as you mentioned with the rookie starters. Probably neither of them going to go exceptionally deep in this game. Who's better suited?

Who's better set up in terms of the bullpen to get through tonight's game? The Yanks of the Red Sox. So well documented, Mike, how the Yankees, they're only 23rd in bullpen ERA, but I think it's a bit misleading because they were stronger down the stretch. And despite the fact Reaver did not look good in game one, you saw yesterday what Devin Williams was able to do, and then David Bednar. And for, you know, the Yankees certainly, they'll give you agitin when you see their bullpings, you're not really sure what you're going to get.

But with Boston's bullpen, there's really. two guys you trust. Garrett Whitlock and Roller's Chapman, and one of those guys gave it up yesterday and Garrett Whitlock. So I think the Yankees, I'm kind of even surprised by my own answer. I think they're bullpen.

I actually have a little bit more confidence in because I feel like Bednar. Certainly Williams, his last 10 appearances is much better, which well documented, worst season of his career, but last 10 appearances hasn't given up a run. So actually the Yankees are better suited bullpen-wise.

But Alex Gore, my old buddy, is brilliant at bringing in different guys in different situations. He's the one. You see all the time now, right? Star is coming in for three outs, year six out there. AC was the guy. It was 2018 in World Series.

You brought Nathan Evaldi in a relief performance but six innings. They lost that game, but it saved the bullpen then after that boss was able to win that game. So I think what's also interesting,

Mikey's offense, 50% of their runs are scored via the home run. They've had a couple so far. Volpey went deep in game one, Ben Rice game two, but you have to really get cooking. So I'm looking for,

I think, you know, Stanton's kind of due for a big home run. Judges had a bunch of singles, but hasn't really crushed the ball yet. So the Yankees really got to hit some home runs. Yeah, I was going to actually ask you about that, Aaron Judge.

It's interesting, like four for eight. That's good. You know, you're hitting 500. That's incredible, actually. But Aaron Judge needs to hit for power. Does he not? Oh, 100%. That's what you're getting paid.

It's interesting, Brock, because, you know, he had a situation there. You have to, okay, Judge comes up, and then unfortunately shrinks in the moment. And, you know, your batting average is the same as your slugging percentage. It's not great when you're a judge, right, sitting 500 in the series, but the slug is on it. So, like, yeah, you're just getting your little base set. So they need a half of it with real power. And it's interesting, when you look at judges' numbers historically, he has not been a good playoff performer.

And you certainly can't use small sample size because virtually every season, the Yankees are in the playoffs from 2017 on with one notable exception. So what he has done, I will say, if you look at his resume, he does hit home runs. You know, I think he's got 15 home runs in the postseason. So kind of reverse this year. He's not hitting the home run, but he's getting on base, which he hasn't done previously in the playoffs.

But again, this Boston pitching staff, with respect to Connolly Early, maybe he's, you know, pitches the game of his life, but the pitching is not particularly staunch. Judge should be able to get a hold of one today and go deep. What explains Judge's performance in the postseason? Do you have any ideas there? Yeah, one of them is that, you know, come, what really succeeds in the playoffs is power bats and power arms. And so if you hit home runs, generally in the playoffs, you're going to win games. If you're going to try to scratch out runs and manufacture, probably not going to win. Similarly, pitching-wise, if you're going to be crafty and be a bunch of

Kyle Hendrickson throw 91, ain't going to happen. But it's particularly your bullpen, if it's built like the Padres are, for example, where every guy of the bullpen is lethal and throws 97-98, watch out. So quite simply, I think, Brock, Judge, I'm not saying he's feasts on bad teams. He didn't hit all his home runs against Chicago White Sox. But come playoff time, you're not facing any cupcakes. Every single guy throws 97-98 would sink and run and cut. And I think his swing gets a little bit long because he's looking for that home run,

and he strikes out way too much. If you look at a strikeout rate from the playoffs the regular season, it's like astronomically higher. So I think his approach stays the same, hit the ball hit it with authority, but these guys throw harder, faster with more run, more cut, etc. He's unable to make contact, therefore he strikes out more. So maybe he's made a bit of adjustment this year.

Hey, I'm going to shorten up a little bit and just make contact and get-based hits rather than home runs. Not the worst approach in the world. How does these Yankees fan base feel about this team? And I only say that because, you know, they went to the World Series last year, which is good. But it did not end well against the Dodgers, the way they lost that.

And even this season, it's great that they made the playoffs, but they also make a lot of mistakes. Yeah, the Yankee fan base is polarizing, as you might imagine. They're very much love or hate, as I would have described in rough, with regards to this team. You know, when they're rolling, they're like, oh, yeah, like even believe Aaron Boone saying, hey, this might be the most talented, complete Yankee team I've had. the fact that they lost Garicol for the entire season is one of the best pitchers in baseball and they lost Juan Soto

and Clark Schmidt was one of their top five starters done. Like the fact they matched their win total from last year in which they made the World Series to me that's significant. Like that's a genuinely surprising accomplishment. But to your point, if they lose this game tonight, you'd go, same old Yankees. They're not strong defensively. They strike out too much in the playoffs.

They're too reliant on the homeland. They don't have depth of their pitch and the bullpunch stinks. So, I mean, the Yankee fan base is fairly spoiled in general, unless they win the World Series, they're angry. But I think tonight's game could be really interesting because the Red Sox have had their number. You've spent it a great job of pointing out the last three times they've played in the playoffs. Boston has had the better of the Yankees significantly.

So I do think if the Yankees win tonight, hey, we beat our moral rattle of the Red Sox. Bring on the Jays, here we go. If they lose, there's going to be a lot more outrage in the streets. Who do you think is going to win tonight? I do think it's the Yankees. I've been impressed by Boston because I thought certainly felt about Roman Anthony, who is their best offensive player,

we talked about a lot. I did think he'd struggle, but I've been impressed by Trevor Story. He had a great game yesterday. He hit the ball with authority, going deep. So I'm like, this guy's legit. Back to where he was years ago with the Rockies. Bregman is always dangerous.

But I do think Slittler is fantastic. I mean, again, I don't think Booty lets him go deep, but I've watched enough from these last couple months. And there was a reason why he's getting to start as a rookie ahead of Louise Heel, who was the rookie of a year ago. Like, think about that. Louise Heel is available. I'd rather call this guy Cam Schlittler,

because he can throw, again, power arms, 96-97, which is what plays in the playoff. So I think Schlittler's going to pitch well. I think they get a couple of home runs. I think the Yankees win this game. Okay, let's turn our attention to the other two decisive do or die, winner take all game threes today. The early game noon, our time,

3 o'clock Eastern Detroit at Cleveland in game three. Who do you like here? And are the Tigers going to be able to manufacture some of these guys across the plate? They're getting runners on. They're just not bringing the runners home. Yeah, Mike, I always root for the best. story. And for me, I'm like, Detroit

gags on a 15 and a half game lead, yet they get into the playoffs as a wild card. So to me, the best story is, you blow it, but then you beat the team that beat you. Like, I think it'd be amazing. So I actually predicted Tigers in three, and my logic was, Scoble wins you a game, which is exactly what he did. He was tremendous.

And he just to win one other game. Now, you can't go one for 15 again, runners in scoring position, but optimist that I am, I would argue, if you just went three for 15, they would have won that game. So if you're at least getting guys on base, that's a a sign, whereas the guardians, as I mentioned, lowest on base percentage in baseball, their offense is terrible.

Now, they got rolling late, Rocktober, Brian Rokio ended up going deep for them, which is good news. But I don't really like this Cleveland offense with the exception of Jose Ramirez. Now, pitching-wise, Jack Flaherty has not been good at these last handful of starts for Detroit, so that's concerning. But Slade Soconi sounds like a character of a Scorsese film.

He had a no-hater of one of his last starts of the year. So you'd think slight edge to him, but I do think Detroit is the better team. You know, when it's all said and done, I try not to look at September. I try to look at the collapse. I just know who's actually the better team. And I do think Detroit is a slightly better team. So I'm calling the Tigers to

pull out the upset and win in Cleveland. The second of three is the Padres at the Cubs. That's 5 Eastern 2 our time. So it's U. Darvish for the Padres and James and Tallien for the Cubs. And my understanding here is that neither starter

like some of these other games is expected to go very deep in this. When my buddy is a huge Padres fan, he's like this is going to be a bulk bullpen game and that's a problem because Mason Miller pitched a ton yesterday and he's the guy you'd want out there theoretically coming out of the pen. How do you see this one playing out? My brain just by the way went

U. Darvish is still mid-league baseball. You Darvis pitching for the prodig. Former Cub now pitching against his team, former team with the Padres. And to further Jay's point normally if you go, oh, U. Darvis is pitching we should be good. No, with you Darvish pitching, it's a bullpen game. Like they're not

expecting U. Darvish to go more than three innings, which is hilarious at this point his career. Your buddy's absolutely right, Mike, that the key to the Padres is their bullpen. They've just got so many weapons coming out of the pen. But Mason Miller and Adrian Motohan pitch both in games one and two. So theoretically, are unavailable for today. Then again, it's do or die. Right. You think if they ask Mason Miller, you're going to pitch, like, yeah, I'm available. Of course I am. So I think that every guy, it's all hands on deck, but the bad news becomes

the long of this goes, yes, fatigue will catch up to you. And so the good news for the Brewers is they're hoping this game goes to extra innings. They use every single bullpen B's, they don't care if it's the Padres or the Cubs that they're playing. I do think San Diego wins. Pitching-wise, again, as you said, James and Tyone gets a call for the Cubs. He's been fine. He's not going to go deep. Both these teams have actually been really reliance on the bullpen.

We know San Diego has one of the best bullpins, but Chicago's has been particularly stout recently as well, and how good they were in game one, Keller ended up getting the save. So I think overall, they pitched nine and two-thirds innings, bullpen. So for the Cups in two games, the Pages are eight and a third. Both of them are not particularly well-rested. but I think San Diego's offensive is a little bit more boom in it. You saw Machado going deep yesterday, great playoff player. I think Tatis might go deep today.

He's looked good so far on this playoff. So I like the Padres to beat the Cubs. Again, great crowd there at Regley. I hope it's an awesome game. But I do like the Padres a little more than Chicago. We're speaking to Adnan Verk from MLB Network here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We can already look ahead to one of the Divisional Series. And that, of course, is this is the most star-studded of star-studded series.

I think you can imagine outside of maybe a Yankees Dodgers World Series, but Philly's Dodgers and the NLDS. How excited are you for that. The games in Philly, Otani's on the mound. It might get a little noisy in Philly. It's going to be unbelievable, fellas. I mean, even though it's an NLDS, it is a de facto NLCS, what I mean the de facto World Series, quite frankly,

because the National League is stronger than the American League. So I do think whoever comes to the NL, they're probably my favorite to win. So I can't wait, man. I originally thought for Philadelphia, Yeah. Once Zach Wheeler went down, he's their ace, one of the best pitchers in baseball. That would be too catastrophic a loss to become, but it hasn't been the case at all because Christopher Sanchez is in the Zion conversation. He's going to be a top five pitcher for them.

Ranger Suarez has been very good. He's just Lozardo is excellent. And maybe Aeronola can revert to the form. He's shown previously in the postseason, which he didn't show this year in the regular season. So four legit starters. Bullpen-wise, they improve, obviously, the Juan Duran. He's been a great story coming home from Minnesota. And offensively, I mean, Schwarber, if you weren't for Otani, Chorber will be the MVP, 56 home runs, 132 RBIs. Those are eye-popping numbers. Trey Turner is a batting champion.

He was the only guy in the nationally to hit above 300. Allow that to sink in. Only guy hit above 300. Deco Horace for his second at 297. And, of course, they've got Bryce Harper and Castellas and all the rest of those guys. So Philly obviously feels pretty strong. But how about the Dodgers? I mean, the Reds didn't even put a flicker, a whimper into them.

Otani goes deep twice. And the big news for L.A. fellas, Bucky Betts is back. He had a terrible regular season all year. did not make the All-Star game. He went four for five yesterday. He had a sizzling September. So now they got their horses, right? And their pitching staff has not been healthy all season long.

Now they're ready to rock. And you can tell when it comes to smell going to having strong Yamamoto. And then you're going to unveil Otani for game one, like Brough alluded to in Philadelphia at the bank. It is going to just be awesome to watch. So I think I'm going to go Phillies in five, but I think it's going to be an awesome series. I can't wait. And while we're talking about the Reds, let's also.

talk about the Mets and how they ended their season. What's going to happen there? I know their owner apologized to the fans and promised to get to the bottom of things, and they spent a lot of money to miss the playoffs. $340 million, to be exact, bruff. And they went 38 and 55 from June 13th on. I was talking to one of our baseball insiders, John Heyman,

who also writes to the New York Post. I saw one at all he goes, think about it. If they just went 39 and 54, they could have made the play. out from June 13th on. And I go, let's look at even a smaller sample in the last 21 games went 7 and 14. Like, if you're just a 500 team down the stretch, you'd easily make the playoffs.

Quite honestly, it's embarrassing. To be an 83-win team with that kind of a payroll and not make the playoffs, even be an 83-win team, you shouldn't make the playoffs. I'm actually glad the Reds are gone. You shouldn't be allowed in. You're going to be like a legit good team. Come on.

But for New York to not do it, it's incredibly frustrating. And look at all that star power. And yet those are the guys that let them down. With Gore had a 30-30 season. Soto was one of the best. best players in baseball. Soto was better this year than last year, even though he didn't make the, even, he didn't make the All-Star game. He had 40 plus runs and 38 steals.

Juan Soto had a combined 40 steals in his previous five seasons. That's 670 games. And he sold 38 bags this year. And Alonzo, who looked at him, they didn't even want him last year, signed a two-year deal. He's going to opt out. He had almost 40 home runs over 120 ribbies. So it certainly wasn't the offense. It was their pitching. Sean Monai, they gave $75 million over three years. And in the biggest start of the year, he went an inning in two, thirds. They just couldn't trust him to get any out, so that's how bad that is. He was bad down the stretch. Senga had a bad year,

was injured and hurt. Their bullpen was a disaster. Held he was a terrible pickup. The guys they could rely on incredibly were their rookies. Nolan McLean gets called a plate in the year. He was their best pitch. He was like Nolan Ryan. Jonah Tong, the pride of Markham, Ontario, certainly sowed some flashes and Sprote was not bad as well, but ultimately

Jay comes down their pitching. It completely let them down. They couldn't get outs. And the fact they lost two of three to the Marlins. They had destiny in their hands. They went two or three. They're good. They lost Friday. And even the Reds lost on Sunday.

The Reds lost the Brewers. That's when one game you're in the playoffs and you get a shut out for nothing to Miami. Brutal. Ednan, a little bit of movie talk here. Have you heard about this new documentary that's coming out on Netflix called Who Killed the Montreal Expos? Yeah. So David Sampson, my partner in crime so often on Metal Arc Media, the Dan Levitart show. My friend Ben Lyons sent me a story that Samson,

This can't be true. I haven't talked to David about it yet, but he said, I had no idea, I was the villain in this thing. He said, they came to my house to interview me for like six hours, and then only afterwards, he said I was talking to my kids. And I go, I don't think I'm coming out well in this thing. He just thought, I'll tell some stories. How was it like baseball, Montreal?

Oh, God, we're going to absolutely eviscerate you. You are the villain. You are the guy who's being hung in effigy. You and Jeffrey Loria, his former stepfather, love. So I look forward to watch it just to see how Samson comes down. Because all kidding aside, he's a genuinely good guy. And he likes playing the villain. He knows what people think about him in Canada.

Apparently didn't realize he's doing the documentary. But the Expos I miss and love, I wear an expo shoot the other day. You still get compliments and you wear Expos gear around town. So it always, eh, expos, all right, great. But I really look forward to the doc because it seems like a fairly easy answer. I said they were a rhetorical question, right? Who killed the Montreal-Festown? Jeffrey and David Samson, the next question?

But don't you think there were a bunch of things? Like, listen, I liked the Expos. too. I was always a Jay's fan over the Expos but I cheered for the Expos too. I you know Andrez Gala Raga, Tim Wallach like that was kind of my generation of growing up and watching baseball

but I also watched a lot of games from the Big O where that place was not full. It was a terrible stadium. The strike had a massive impact on the Expos but I always come back to the stadium

like was there any chance that they were going to survive without a new stadium? No, 100%. And growing up in Kingston, you know, I was only a few hours away from Montreal and as an avid baseball fan, never went to a game with the Big El. Think about that. As you said, there was just no reason to go. There was zero appeal to it.

I remember that final year for the Expos, I was working at the score, and we were doing some of their games by buddy Sam Costantino was with the voice. And it was like, he's calling it in the studio in Toronto. Like literally, it was so budget by the. the end. He's called 20 Expos games. Rocky Biddle's like getting the save for the expos. God, this is such a shoe strong operation. But you're right. It's easy to fantasize and romanticize now about the team. But when you look those last years, you're right, it was brutal. And I think you're right, the strike probably was the biggest

thing. I mean, that year in 94, they were so loaded with, you know, Larry Walker and Pedro Martinez and all these incredible stars and future Hall of Famers. Once that was over so many Montreal fans that that said, I'm not going back. But I'm with you. If I had to give one answer, I'd say it's a stadium. Again, I never went personally. But I never heard one positive word about it. Everyone said it was like concrete, the artificial turf, a sterile environment. Even now when people say, what about baseball back in Montreal? I don't think it's any secret.

Rob Manfred would like to span to a couple of more teams. And you look at the teams in the mix and they say, well, maybe Nashville, maybe Portland. Salt Lake City seems to get some interest. People will mention Montreal. But you're right. There's no chance of tapping without a much, much more fan-friendly stadium. I had a friend that went to McGill, and I went out there to visit him a few times. And one time we went there, this is in the 90s, late 90s, we went to an Expos game, and there was like 6,000 people there.

My friend had been a few times, and he said, do you know what clacking is? And I was like, clacking. Like, what are you talking about? Clacking is how you make noise in an Expos game, and you take an empty seat, which is probably right beside you. And you lift it up and down and up and down. and that makes a, and that's a very French word, it's like, you clack the seats, you know, like, and it's like, that, that was their way of clapping. It was clacking with empty seats, which might have been ultimately what killed the Montreal Expos.

Adnan, always fun to chat with you. Enjoy these games. We'll chat again next week, and this has been an awesome postseason already, and the Jays and the Mariners haven't even played a game yet. That's well said. I mean, when these series are generally going the distance, wait until Toronto and Seattle get going. I look forward to clacking today while watching these games. I'll have empty seats around me.

If I could have the noise of being at the big O. Jay, we've got to talk one battle after another once you and Mike have seen it. We'll do that next time. Sounds good, buddies. Thanks. Thanks, boys. Take care. Ed Navirk from MLB Network here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. A reminder that although we took a brief sojourn away from Canucks preseason coverage, all Canucks preseason coverage is brought to you by Big League Sports Excellence.

the Sports Excellence exclusive CCM Jet Speed Extra SE lineup of gear at Big League Sports Excellence your go-to for everything CCM visit them in store at 2151 Berard in Kitsilano coming up on the other side of the break going to go in an entirely different direction going to talk some NFL Brady Henderson

our Seahawks insider from ESPN is going to join us. We'll look ahead to a big game for the Seahawks this weekend against the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers Baker Mayfield and Company coming to 10 you see they're both wearing the throwback uniforms The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to wear the white creamsticle jerseys.

Oh, and those are cool. And the Seahawks are going to wear the 80s, Steve Largent, silver and blue and green. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, it's an all-time epic uniform matchup. So very much looking forward to that. We're going to talk to Brady about that. In the next half hour, 8 o'clock, we're going to talk to Drance. Get back into the Canucks talk.

And then at 8.30, Jay Triano is going to join the program. Canadian basketball icon, assistant coach of the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks were up at SFU, for training camp. We got a big show ahead, so don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. Hey, it's Big Nazar. Have your say and join me on the people's show with big takes and even bigger bets, weekdays three to four on Sportsnet 650, or wherever you get your podcast. God, I hate Thursdays.

Like, it's just so aggressive for 7.31 in the morning. Who going to work right now is happy to hear this. Lots of people. It's the most. Truck drivers. All the coolest people that listen to the show? Meth heads, truck drivers. It's the most polarizing of all the musical days.

I feel like whoever enjoys listening to this right now, if they're in their car, right now, they're smoking with the windows up, like, you know? Because it's raining. Because it's raining. They're like, well, I don't want to get wet. I'm definitely not going to stop smoking. It's now 732 on a thrash Thursday here on the Alford Embrough show

on Sportsnet. 650. Alford and Brum of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can get your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees to learn how. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program with the midway point of the show. Brady Henderson, our ESPN, Seahawks Insiders, going to join us in just a moment here. Bob and Nanaimo text in definitely the right music for driving through Qualicum Beach in the morning.

Yep, it is. That tracks. Hour two of this program is. Qualicum. This is brought to you by Jason Homnock at Jason. Dot Mortgage, the most medal of all the mortgage brokers. If you are paying too much for your mortgage, and if you love paying too much for your mortgage,

then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at Jason.com. He is, again, the most medal of all the mortgage brokers. To the phone lines we go, the Power West Industries hotline. Brady Henderson, ESPN, Seahawks Insider. joins us now in the Halford & Brough Show on Sports 10650. Morning, Brady. How are you?

What's up, fellas? How's it going? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this as always. We appreciate it. First question, and it's a scheduling question, are the Seahawks going to move their kickoff time this Sunday to, I guess, alleviate some of the downtown congestion concerns with the Mariners also playing in the playoffs Sunday as well? No, they're not. It's going to remain at 105, as was initially planned. So that whole thing ended up being much ado about, well, some ado, I guess,

about nothing. So, yeah, there was talk of maybe that game being pushed back by a couple hours because the Mariners game, you know, was going to be, you know, first pitch of that game was going to be at some point. And I can tell you from having covered the Seahawks preseason game in August on the same day that they had a Mariners game, it is an absolute nightmare. Just an, I mean, I'm telling you, like, it took me. hour to go, you know, three blocks, like not even an exaggeration. And shame on me. I didn't

realize there was a Mariners game that day, so I didn't give myself enough time. But, I mean, it just, it gets to be an absolute nightmare. Now, on that day, you had rush hour traffic. I think that was a Thursday. They wouldn't have to contend with that. But, you know, this is a playoff game and a regular season game. So, you know, presumably there would be just as many people down there. So the Mariners' first pitch is going to be at 503. So with a 105 kickoff,

I still think there could be some congestion from, you know, people leaving the Mariners game and people getting to the, or people leaving the Seahawks game and getting to the Mariners game. But, and I think maybe

staggering the two start times could have avoided some of that, but I think what happens in the end why they are starting when they are is because the broadcast didn't want to have a situation where the games were going simultaneously and the audience was split. So in this case, you know, the four hours between the two start times, then, you know, one game is definitely over by the time the other one starts. And that way the networks know that, you know, they're getting the undivided attention of the audience. So when we normally get you on here, we talk specifically about like the Seahawks and what they're going to do this weekend. But we

started with a scheduling question, and I am going to ask you only because of what's going on with the opponent about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And my question is, who's going to be playing for them on Sunday? Yeah, that is like biblical type stuff, the amount of injuries that they're dealing with. And I think Todd Bulls made some comment about how they had more people not practicing than actually practicing yesterday or something to that effect. I mean, It is like something that you just don't really see. So I'm looking at their injury report from yesterday. They had one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine guys who did not practice.

And then you had four other guys who were limited. And then three guys who were on the injury report, you know, as full participants, but still on their injury report. And so, yeah, it's, and these are some big time players now, you know, Jamel Dean. I think Baker Mayfield was on there. Bucky Irving, they're starting running back, Sterling Shepherd, Levanti, David. So, yeah, it's not a good situation for them. And meanwhile, the Seahawks, of course, are coming off a mini-buy because they play it on Thursday.

So at a like neutral site, you know, full health game, you know, the Bucks are 3-1 and that's a pretty good football team. And I might even pick them to win over the Seahawks. But in this case, I'm picking the Seahawks. Who knows what to make of the fact that it's in Seattle. That may be a detriment of the Seahawks more than it helps them. But, yeah, I mean, with the injury situation being what it is, I think you've got to pick the Seahawks in this game.

Yeah, it's interesting because we talked to you last Thursday ahead of that Seahawks game. That Seahawks went over the Cardinals. It feels like a lifetime ago now because so much has happened in the NFL and then the world of sports. But it was interesting in the aftermath talking about that game because you got out of Arizona. kind of saying, like, a win's a win, and you've got to be happy with it.

But they didn't really have that killer instinct in putting the foot on the throat of the Cardinals when they had an opportunity and let them get back in that game. I know this was a while ago, so we're dialing the wayback machine here. But what were some of the takeaways from that win, which was a good one, and Arizona, but it was a lot closer than it probably should have been? Yeah, I still, I'm not, I don't get discouraged by the fact that they let the Cardinals back in that game. I think the Cardinals are not a bad football team at all. And you just see teams make runs like that.

My bigger takeaway is just how the offense look, minus the run game, which is still very much a work in progress. But I think my big takeaway in that game is just how Sam Darnold continues to be a playmaker. And I did not know that he had that in him, really, that he had it in him to that degree. And you just week and week out, see this guy, not only escaping pressure, but really making plays

creating while on the run. And he saw a couple more pretty good examples of it. You know, early, or I think before their touchdown drive, maybe in the first half, he's got the, it rolls out, scrambles to his right, finds Elijah Arroyo, and you're thinking, gosh, he might be better off running that ball, and then he threads a needle to Arroyo for a 20-plus-yard gain, and then, you know, has the big scramble for 24 yards,

I think on the next play. And, you know, one of his, you know, maybe his best throw of that game was one that did not get completed. It was when he was kind of throwing off his back foot and he hits, or he tries to throw to Oroyo in the end zone. And he gets, you know, Oroyo draws a defensive pass and a offense penalty. But that's, that's one of those just heat check kind of throws where you know a guy is feeling it when he attempts that throw off his back foot with a couple defenders deep down the field. So, yeah, Darnold, that was probably the big. take away for me. It's just how good Donald is playing, how accurate he

is downfield. I think he's got the best completion percentage in the NFL on throws of 10 plus yards downfield. Obviously, the two big throws to JSN over the final two drives. The first of those two throws, that ball goes 45

yards in the year, almost half a football field, and it is right on the money. So I just, I continue to be very impressed by how Sam Donald's playing. Between what you just said about Darnold and what's going on with Gino Smith in Las Vegas, how good is that Seahawks QB swap looking through the first four weeks of this season? Well, yeah, it looks really good.

I can't remember if we talked about this aspect of it last week or if we have before, but you know, the way I kind of see that swap is, look, the Seahawks, they don't need Darnold to be a whole lot better than Gino Smith in order to win that trade because, remember, They got seven years younger in that trade. They got $4 million per year cheaper when you compare those two contracts. They've also, as we've talked about, think that they got a better leader in Sam Darnel. They think Sam Darnold is a better leader with his temperament than Gino Smith is. And they picked up a third round pick by trading Smith to the Raiders.

And so one way to look at it is if Sam Darnold is just as good as what Gino Smith was, then that trade is something of a win for the Seahawks. And right now, he's playing a lot better than Gino Smith. Now, a true comparison of that would be, okay, and this is hard to save, but how good would Gino Smith be in this system? Right. Because that was your alternative, was having Gino Smith in the Kovic system. Obviously, that's impossible to know,

but I can't imagine he'd be much better than Sam Darnel is playing right now. And obviously, when you look at, you know, you know, some of those issues that he had in Seattle are showing up, you know, particularly the interceptions. And so, yeah, this trade is looking like a big win for the CX. Now, for the Darnold era to be a success in Seattle, which I think is a different question than it was the swap a win. For the Darnold era to be a success, I think he's got to take them on a deep playoff run and we'll see what happens there. But right now, if you're just judging that swap, looks like a big win for the Cthawks. Yeah, I think that's where I,

go back and forth in my mind like I'm happy with how Sam Darnold has looked and I'm happy the Seahawks are three and one and I like their chances right now at least of making the playoffs not guaranteeing it but I think they could do it but in the back of my mind I'm like okay yeah but I want to get back to going to Super Bowls and I want to get back to being a contender for the Super Bowl can they do that with Sam Darnold? Remy, I don't have a great answer for you, unfortunately. I'll tell you this, though.

I feel better about it now than I would have a month ago, three weeks ago. And look, I think that they realized that you've got to have a really good quarterback or you've got to have a really good team around him in order to get there. And so I don't think that they necessarily looked at the Sam Darnold trade as, oh, this is the answer to, you know, the quarterback, you know, sort of the quarterback problem that they've had since, or the quarterback question that they've had since Russell Wilson was in their heyday. I think that was more of a situation of, look, Gino Smith wants money. He's been unhappy here with his contract.

They had the questions about his leadership. And so for right now, that was the, the, best move to make. And meanwhile, they saw a rare opportunity of a quarterback coming off a Pro Bowl season who wasn't going to be resigned by his team. So I don't think they made that trade with the thought that, yes, Sam Darnold is definitely the savior. I mean, just look at the contract. It was a three-year deal that makes him one of the, obviously, he's very well compensated by most people's standards, but in terms of quarterbacks, and he's not anywhere near the top 10. And so, you know, this was just sort of kind of one of those middle-tier quarterback deals that

reflected, you know, the fact that they're kind of just taking a look at Sam Donald. And, but certainly you could say that he's, he's playing his way into more than just a look in Seattle. Yeah, it's just the age-old question, right? Like, you can, you can debate this over and over again. You know, everyone wants to find Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, you know, And, you know, the talent is usually at the top of the draft. Usually, I say not always, but usually at the top of the draft. And you have to be bad, really bad to get that talent. But then we've seen how many teams struggle because they get so bad.

And then they get that quarterback. And that quarterback is put in this situation. Like, this is impossible. I mean, you know who you can ask about that? Sam Darnold. Third overall pick, right? Like, with the New York Jets. I guess right now we'll just.

We'll just enjoy what the Seahawks are doing and hope they can find it somehow. Like they did find Russell Wilson, certainly he wasn't a top five pick. Yeah, no, it's a great point. And I think Chuck Schneider would, and really he has kind of lamented that fact that, you know, look at every other team in the division, just as an example. You know, they've all had those just bottom-out seasons that where they end up getting the number one overall pick. I mean, Arizona picked number one overall. That's how they got Tyler Murray.

You know, San Francisco, I think they picked number two overall, and that's how they got Nick Bosa. I think they traded up to number two to get Trey Lance. But, you know, they picked Nick Bosa very early in the draft because they had a horrible season before that. The Rams, I can't remember if they traded up to number one to get Jared Gough. But, you know, that's a team that has nonetheless, they've picked up there, and the Seahawks, you know,

to their credit, I think. They, you know, they haven't had one of those just miserable seasons where, you know, you go four and whatever, 13, three and 14. Now, the worst they've been, and this is kind of wild to say, the worst they've been under John Schneider, and for the longest time, Pete Carroll, was seven and nine. Yeah. Or maybe seven and ten when it was the Russell season a few years ago, whatever it was.

you know look that is you know it's kind of a gift and a curse because you know the gift is that you never have to make your fan base suffer through just a miserable season like that they mean they've had some tough seasons but nothing like nothing that would end up you know getting them anywhere near the number one overall pick but that's also the curse is that in the NFL that's sort of a way that you get better is you'd have really bad seasons and you are in position to you know take really top to your talent and the Seahawks just haven't done that and they've had to do what some other teams have had to do, which was find their quarterback another way.

And I think they've done a pretty good job of that with, you know, finding Wilson in the third round, finding Gino Smith, sort of lucking into him as a guy who turns out was a backup who was ready to be a starter all along and then going to Donald. And so, yeah, you know, you'd love to have Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson or one of those guys that you get early in the draft, but they just haven't been in position to do that.

We're speaking to Brady Henderson for me, SBN, our Seahawks Insider here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Brady, one more for you before we let you go. How much longer is Rick Willen going to be a member of the Seattle Seahawks? Boy, I tell you, the whole trade stuff, I would not discount that possibility. And I'm not, not me hearing that directly from the Seahawks. That is just my read based on things that I do know about him. And one being the fact that they just didn't trust him enough to give him a contract extension over the offseason. And certainly there's no question about the talent,

but I think there is question in their minds about the way that he applies himself and his ability to stay locked in from playing to play out. And there's just no reason that a guy who's that tall and that fast should be getting beat to the point where he's got to grab a guy and get a penalty or to where he's getting beat by Ricky Pearsall down the sideline for a game-changing play in the opener and things like that. So look, the way I see it is,

I'm not sure where there's going to be a whole lot of snaps for him if Josh Job has overtaken him as the number two corner, which he appeared to do last week in Arizona. Now you've got Nick Eman-Mori coming back, and the plan when they drafted him to third-fifth overall was to play him a lot as a big nickel. And now there's talk of Daryon Kendrick competing for snaps in traditional nickel. Well, if Kendrick is in there, and that means Witherspoon is saying, on the outside. And if Job is the second corner, well, he's

in on those nickel plays, and then Emmanuel is going to come in on certain, you know, nickel packages, that doesn't leave a whole lot of snaps for Tariq Wollin. And so look, if you're the number four guy who's not playing a whole lot and you're making five

whatever million dollars, and I don't think the Seahawks were going to extend him, you know, give him a new contract after this season anyways, yeah, then I think it very much makes sense to look at what you could get for now look you're not like a bad team who's going nowhere and you need to acquire draft picks i think that the reason they would trade him would be uh you know to find something that could help them this season so i i think if they were to do

it that would make more sense than you know trading him for uh you know a fourth round pick or something like that because you know someone to help them right now whether it's woolen or another player, you know, I think means more to them than a draft pick in next April. Brady, this was great, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do it. As always, we appreciate it. Enjoy the game this weekend. Best of luck navigating the traffic

downtown. We'll do this again next Thursday. All right, sounds good, guys. See you. Thank you. It's Brady Henderson. ESPN, Seahawks insider here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, one thing, I think it was very big of me, not to mention the Rider Cup to Brady. We talked about

it before. And you are a... I'm a I'm a big person. You're a big person. You're a large man. Wait. Wait. Okay. Okay.

We're going to talk to Thomas Drance. All things, Canucks coming up next. We'll talk about some of the decisions the Canucks have to make in the next couple of days. You're welcome, G-Maz. Yeah, G-Maz didn't like all the baseball in the NFL talk. And that's fine. Send in your feedback, though. No, it's good.

That's fine. You don't get defensive. I'm not getting defensive. He likes the show. Yeah, I know. That's good. And he just wants some Connux talk. And I get it, okay?

But we've done a lot. I know, but not everyone wakes up first thing in the morning and listens to the show. But that's why you download the podcast, Jemaz. So the Connects are going to practice today out at UBC. I think they're going to practice around 1130. And then they've got their final preseason game of the year. Mercifully. Tomorrow night against the Edmonton Oilers.

And I'm curious to see what rosters, both teams have. you know, McDavid and Drysiddle going to come to Vancouver? I suggest probably not. Was that it for the Canucks? Like they, that was the last sort of last preseason hurrah for the majority of the vets? I don't think so.

You don't think so? I think you're going to give it another go. Well, I think Kane's going to play tomorrow. Yep. Okay, so here, let me just remind you of the practice lines on Tuesday and these are the ones that kind of, kind of trip me up a little and I got duped.

a little bit duped but I don't think that the Canucks coaching staff is going to run a practice with the lines that don't tell us anything. It's like, whatever, you just go out there and how about you guys choose who you want to play with right? I don't think they do it that way. So it was DeBrusk,

Pedersen, and Besser, and those three played last night in Calgary. So maybe that's it for them for the preseason. That would be two games for that line. Maybe that's enough, although I didn't exactly nominate it five on five. Harrison had a great power play goal, and maybe they want one more rep.

They got six days off, don't forget, between their final preseason game and their first game. They go October 3rd to October 9th. So maybe that's five days off. Whatever, long time. Second line, and this is the one we talked up yesterday, which didn't happen, was Baines, Heedle, and Garland. Yeah. Now, Heedle didn't play, but Garland did play. was out there on the power play, actually,

in place of Kane, who did not play, and he practiced on Tuesday with Coots and Leckermackie. None of those three played last night. Is everyone keeping up here? It's a little confusing here. No. Who's on first? And then you had a fourth and a fifth line.

There were so many bodies out there that some guys didn't even practice. O'Connor, Ratu, and Sherwood, and then Labate, Blugher, and Carlson. And everyone was confused. LeBate was practicing because it was like wasn't he put on waivers he was but you know you can clear waivers and not be sent down and then you've just got a run of games with the Canucks where you don't have to worry about waivers so some people are wondering well wait a minute maybe the conucks want to have that guy in the lineup a couple people sent me a tweet from the Abbotsford

conucks where they unveiled the roster that they were going to throw and he wasn't on it they were like what's going on here and I was like the Labate truthers there are doesn't dozens of us, as I put on Twitter, dozens of us. And we're starting to realize that there might be something here with our boy, Joe LaBate. I mean, so Sasson, Nils Amon, and Krafsoff didn't even practice on Tuesday. And I was like, okay, those guys are gone. And then Sasson goes to place yesterday and plays really well. Hey, he was a wagon yesterday.

He was like wheeling all over the place. So I don't know. I don't know. They, look, I'll give the Kinnock's organization credit. You sneaky little scamps, you. They kept everything. under wraps and kept everybody in the media guessing right up until plaque drop yesterday.

I was asking around. I'm like, hey, via like multiple texts, I'm like, does anyone have any idea who's playing? Who's playing tonight? In Calgary? Have we failed this, this badly as a media? Media conglomerate here that we can't figure out who's playing for the only team that everyone

pays attention to in a game that was going to be televised and everyone had access to the practice and like no one knew. Okay. So good on them. This is the new, this is going to be their new mantra moving forward.

It's keep them in the dark. Mushrooms. So you know how Drance can be a bit of a contrarian sometimes? Yes. Drance is a big Baines guy. So we get a lot of texts into the Dunbar Lumber text line about Baines and, you know, like,

you know, I like his story. It's a great story about, I don't know if he's an NHL player. And some of them are way meaner than that. Baines, or sorry, Drenz, called Baines last night a beast. He said he was a beast out there. Two primary assists.

And then I went into Drance's replies. And they were like, Bain's a beast? Like, what game are you watching? So let's talk to Thomas Drance on the other side about Archdeep Baines. And why Drance likes him so much? Because maybe he's seeing some stuff that others don't see. or maybe he's just crazy. Both options are out there.

That is going to be part of our Canucks preseason coverage. A reminder that all Canucks preseason coverage on SportsNet 650 is brought to you by Big League Sports Excellence. Score the Sports Excellence exclusive CCM JetSpeed Extra SE lineup of gear at Big League Sports Excellence. Your go-to for everything CCM. Visit them in store at 2151 Burrard in Kitsilano. Final hour coming up.

You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sports. at 650.