OverDrive - OverDrive - December 11, 2025 - Hour 2 - Luke Willson

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jonas Siegel for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN NFL Analyst Luke Willson on Philip Rivers' return to the Colts, Jalen Hurts' down season with the Eagles and the Thursday Night Football matchup. The guys discuss the atmosphere of the Maple Leafs in Jonas' List and Bryan gives his FanDuel Best Bets.

Can my Wi-Fi connect all my family's smart stuff I want? Let's see. There's the smart TVs, five smartphones, laptops and tablets, smart speakers, smart vacuum. Huh, what else? A smart toaster. It was a gift. Smart salt shaker. Yeah, that's a real thing.

And a smart nine-speed cheese grater. Okay, I made that one up. All the tech, one connection. Yeah, this Wi-Fi can. Switch to Wi-Fi 7 on Bell Pure Fiber, Canada's fastest internet awarded by Ukla. Visit bell.com to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. Power 2 Overdrive continues powered by Fanduel,

bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Brian Haseo, Doug, Jeff O'Neill, Jonas Siegel. Yeah, Luke Wilson coming up here in a moment. Luke's got his tail between his legs, man. It just hasn't been a good year for him. Not on this show. I mean, we love having... He's a loser.

Unfortunately, it hasn't gone well. And HBO, we just pick winners. That's how we roll. And there's a new hashtag called hashtag, now we broke. Now we bro. Look at that record for now we bro. 25, 17 and 1. And we're just going to keep getting better.

The playoffs, that's where we really thrive, right? That's what it's really coming down to. And tonight we got Falcons and Bucks. Big game this weekend. Packers at Broncos, huge. Huge. Dude, what happened to the Bucks and Baker? Like, that guy was an MVP fave at the beginning of the season.

They've completely fallen off. they've had a lot of injury problems, a lot of injury problems, that their defense can't get stops, and I don't know, man, I don't know what else to tell you. Like, Baker just can't, he hasn't been able to overcome it, get it done. And now you look at it, it's them, Carolina. That Carolina could make the playoffs, which would be crazy. Crazy.

And they're going to get a home playoff date. But you've got, that game tonight, you got bills at New England this weekend, which is a huge game. Packers, Broncos, and yeah, we'll see what comes of it. We'll get to Luke in just a moment. Least Sharks tonight and a bunch of games in the

NHL tonight, including Florida in Colorado. I'm curious to see how that plays out. They won last night. I think they were in Utah last night. But Colorado coming off a road trip and the champs are in town. I know they're depleted and beaten up, but tracking this division, the Atlantic Division every night, it's changes every single

day. If I gave you guys Colorado or the field to win the cup, Colorado all day long. I don't think he's right. I'd go field, I think. Those are Dallas. Those goalies still scare me in the playoffs. Or the one thing,

I would have been a heavy favorite on Colorado. I was kind of a heavy favorite on Colorado last year. But guess who they met in the playoffs? The Dallas stars in the first round. Dallas is going to be a tough beat. Now, that's not going to happen this year. You know, assuming one of them doesn't fall off or Minnesota doesn't take off and catch them, you got to believe Colorado wins the division

I probably what the noodles son is cooking I probably wouldn't have cut myself off there for this type of activity I was about to make a point if you were plus 14

I'd accept it and I'd understand it and expect it when you're down 14 you probably let the guy finish his thought before you cut him off but it's all good good to see you look how you doing uh below average that's not going so well for you no it's not tough day tough day and we're down 14 yeah it's trouble man because you've been awfully quiet on that group chat too that that's what hurts yeah you just crawled into the basement and you

i don't want to hear anything out of you mr floating bag it's got to be disappointing to be in the same room with this guy isn't it like the two of you were so close he had such a connection you have to admit i've had some positive oh you've been a huge positive for us exactly What happened? Why couldn't you channel that kind of energy apply it to picking winners this year? I'm not sure, man. I'm not sure. It's tough times. What a game you got tonight, too.

It's just a brutal football game. Yeah, I mean, there's only one. The plays Tampa, right? The line's up to five and a half, I think, is it five and a half on Fando? The way things are going now, Tampa will probably win by five. Right. Yeah, 100%. But, like, there's no way I can pick Kirk Cousins on a short week. I mean, the buck's got everybody back.

Well, what's happened at Tampa? Well, this is what I'll say. First off is, now, Bucky Irving's been back, but it's like the defense is not an elite unit. I think Vita Vaya's elite, but outside of that, you know, it's not an elite unit. And then you look at offensively,

like you lose Mike Evans for a large part of the year. You lose Bucky Irving for a large part of the year. And Chris Godwin has missed most of the year as well. And because Baker is who he is, we all are kind of like, what's going on? And I'm like, well, you know, if the Lions lost Alman Ross, St. Brown and Jemir Gibbs, you know, and granted, Jimir Gibbs, I think, is obviously better than Bucky Irving. But it's like, what do you want Baker to do?

Like, his main receiver's hurt, his second guy's hurt. Their third guy has been great, but it's a rookie. Like, there's a learning curve with that. And you're down to your second and third string running backs. Yet they can still win the division. Because their divisions do do. Awful. horrendous.

NOSY South is abysmal. Terrible. Yeah. I mean, Carolina getting in would be a shock to the system. It would be tough. Like shocking if they found a way to win. It's tough for me to... I don't really like being around O'Dog now, man.

Just weird vibes. Just being in this room with him, man. I always saw you two together, right, Jonas? Yeah. Really too bad, man. It's like a bad breakup. We're stuck between these two guys. I'll tell you what, it's really a feeling of going from the outhouse to the penthouse

because I feel like a champion right now. So you instigated, although, although he put you on waivers kind of, but you're happy with the divorce. Like you dusted yourself off, got a better partner pretty quickly, now you're taking flights around a world. I just feel like part of the team, that's all.

Wow, the energy is it's palpable in here, isn't it, Jonas? I'm trying to think of a quarterback situation where a guy leaves a team and then he goes somewhere. Sam Darnold? Is he like Sam Darnold over here? So he's J.J. McCarthy? That actually is a pretty good analogy. Wow, really?

Last week I was the Can City Chiefs. Now I'm J.J. McCarthy. That's tough. How did they not just, why didn't they want to keep Sam Donald around and find out if J.J. McCarthy was the real deal or not? Instead of just putting all their eggs in that basket. And I'm worried about that, dude. Although they smoked somebody last week.

Yeah, obviously last week looked better, but still a long way to go. I'll say this, I think everybody's kind of kicking themselves over that because when you go from a 14-win season where you're a couple games away from potentially being a Super Bowl contender to what you've seen this year. What about the happiness of Justin Jefferson as well? Oh, for sure. And he's the guy, like, you've got a generational talent in Jefferson.

Generational. And you've burned a year. You've burned a year of us. And pissed them off. Yeah, that's just like, you know, the house is on fire there. And hopefully JJ turns it around. But what gets a bit weird for me, like, seeing how it's all kind of transpired, is remember the couple games that he won,

and he had a few moments in the fourth quarter? quarter. The coach is giving him the ball. Correct. Like, game ball for this? Like, dude, generally speaking, getting a game ball, like, you got to really, you got to do some shit.

Excuse me. I get it. It's your podcast? We're not on your podcast here. Yeah. Man, you are losing your mind. I'm not allowed to say that. Not really on this show.

Everybody says it. Oh, we've got a new guy on a board. And I just ask a question. Do you think if Darnold was just, if Darnold was just okay in those playoff games, do you think they would have just kept him? Like, he wasn't great. Like, he was just fine.

Oh, that's a valid point, but he would have been a deeper conversation. He melted down the stretch. He melted in both games. It was the final game against Detroit, and that was a game where I thought leading up to it, I'm like, Detroit was banged up. This is a perfect situation. Now, granted, it was in Detroit, but he missed a lot of throws there. He was horrendous.

And then the next week wasn't very good either. It just seemed like inaccurate. Almost got the yips in baseball. I do think that was part of it. And, you know, we'll see because there's been much. moments where the yips have returned this year for Darnold. I would say this, like, early in the year when they lost to San Fran, you know, that last play, everyone was kind of blaming Darnold.

I'm like, okay, like Nick Bosa was healthy at the time, breathing down your back, like. Long season, guys don't make mistakes. But it'll be interesting to see how he handles because Seattle can still potentially get the one seat. And that, they got the Rams, I think, up coming here soon. Well, they got the Colts this weekend and your boy, Philip Rivers. Like, where do you stand on a 44-year-old grandfather, Philip Rivers? Is he actually? Yes, this is where I stand.

This is where I stand. You know, I think that it's a good move from Indy because I think he gives you a better chance at winning than Riley Leonard. That's just my honest assessment. I think most people would agree with that, at least most football people. The other side of this coin here for me is, and it wouldn't surprise me if they lose the next two weeks, which correct me if I'm wrong here, but it's Seattle and then San Fran. Yes, it is. So if they lose and they're on the outside looking in, if they actually go to Riley Leonard for the last two games. Yeah, if your rivers, why even play?

So I, not just that, but if you're the Colts, it's like, why do we need a 44-year-old when we can be getting a guy, granted, late, but a young kid who we drafted, you know, we can get him in here and get him going a little bit and get him some reps. So I think this is one of those things where it's like this is our last-ditch effort to basically try and make the playoffs. That's the amazing thing is, like he's trying to Joe Flacco this. They're

eight and five. They are a, they are free-falling. Like they have all these injuries and it's been a mess and they have a very difficult schedule because... I believe it's Seattle, San Fran, three, four also. They play Houston for sure. Houston is in there? And then is it Denver

maybe? It's not Denver. It might be Jacksonville. I don't know. He looked that up, but it's a bloodbary difficult games. The fourth game is also very difficult. I remember this. I just don't see how he's possibly going to help them win. I'm captivated by the story, but by

the end of the run, it was tough to watch Philip Rivers play. That was five years ago. I'm telling you, I'm with you on that. Like, I haven't really gone down. It was tough five years ago. Yeah, I haven't really gone into like, everyone's pretty high, just a 44. I'm like not really into it because with or without

Rivers, you know, even with Daniel Jones, I don't think they beat Seattle. Was there not another guy lying around somewhere? That's the question. Cam Newton wants to play, apparently. Cam's taking it personally that. Yeah, I saw that.

But to be honest, to you, like, Cam is not the guy they're looking for for that offense. You know, they're clearly looking for a guy who's going to go through progressions, throw the football around. That's not Cam. They're not going to win any of these.

Seattle, San Fran, Jacksonville, Houston. Those are all lost. And that's kind of where I'm like, you know. What's the point? Well, at Rivers is his point. playing. He's not coming back to sit on the bench. I would be shocked if he's not playing this Sunday in Seattle. That is crazy because that defense can hunt. That guy was changing his grandkids' diapers, and he's going to be

playing in the NFL. Yeah. Like, he is older than I am. It's going to get awkward when someone comes around a corner and just destroys him. Yeah. I don't know if I'm comfortable watching that. It's going to be awkward. The strange one for me, and I don't know if, like, I'm sure at this point, give up a seventh rounder, maybe they didn't want to, and get Joe Flacko. Like, Joe, what's Joe Flacco doing right now? I don't know.

Backing up Burrow? There's got to be some guys out there that are available via practice squad or something, right? Is there anyone out there? Like, can you make trades, though? Your post-trade deadline. Yeah, that's true. I don't even... I'm not sure you can get anybody else.

That's why I think it's desperate times call for desperate measures. Listen, it would be an incredible story. I'm not rooting against the guys. I'm not either, but like... I just don't see how it's possible, because you reference the SCED in and of itself you got to, like, put yourself in that locker room, too. Like, aren't you, if you're in that locker room, you're like, Philip Rivers is our quarterback?

Like, how can he have a grasp of the play call? That won't be hard for him. No? I'm telling you that, that will not be tough. Just because there's carryover from his whole career. I think he's a history with Steichen, doesn't he? Not in Indy, though. Stuyken wasn't there.

But, like, if it's similar verbiage, you know, this is what gets weird. It's like there's only so many plays. Like, sure, will they condense a little bit of the playbook? Yes. And, like, what will happen is, let's say the two-minute drive, Stuyken or whoever's in his ear, will be like, hey, this is, you know, I always use the term, like, the term Aggie for us was, the AG, said for all-go. So that was, like, everybody knew Aggie was All-Go.

So if they have a different word for their All-Go, you know, they'll have somebody at least translating, like, yo, we want all-goes here, we call it this. and he should know this by now and it could be generally speaking similar verbiage like as a quarterback at his age that's like the least of my worries where I get more so is like you have no feel with the receivers

you know you don't really know the timing of everything the playbook will be condensed to a degree you're not going to have every single bullet in your chamber again and you're playing Seattle it's not like you know you get to play the Raiders week one getting a little warmed up and then get a win and survive here.

And you're also, if we bring that playoff board back up, you're not defending a playoff spot. You're on the outside looking hand. You have to win. And you have to beat some really good football teams. Like Seattle on the other side is trying to win the division and go for the one seed. Sam Fran is theoretically trying to win the division still. I believe only a game out.

And then you've got Houston that is in the wild card but hanging on by a thread. Now, I think Houston might be the scariest team in that entire picture right now. And Jackson's trying to hang on to the division. And you've got to beat all, you've got to basically be four playoffs. Oh, it's a playoff game every single night. And you don't have a great defense. I think it's okay. Yeah, no, it's a wild free fall, man.

It's a lesson because we all fall into the trap. I do. Late October, this team's great. They're legit. They're going to win the division. They're going to run away with it. No, there's no guarantees. And a team like the Colts probably didn't deserve the benefit of the day.

out. They just don't have the history. Danny Dimes is out due to injury, but it's not like he was playing great. The MVP was, you know, Jonathan Taylor, but like what has happened to that run game? Beginning of the year. Stack in the box. I mean... Yeah, and this is my thing. And it kind of goes, not to

flip this subject, but it's very similar to Philly last year. Everyone was like, man, Phillies have an unbelievable year. And what, I think the general fan doesn't understand. And I like live this, where if you can run the football, literally everything opens up

and it's not just Seattle but in Detroit it was the same thing the first thing every defensive coordinator preaches we have to stop the run because if you cannot stop the run everything now becomes infinitely harder and it's like all of a sudden John and Taylor is rushing like a wild man

everybody's keyed in on like I got to fit this gap even your safety is like because hey this is my run responsibility and that's my first thought stop John and Taylor all week stop Jonathan Taylor. I got to make sure that John then Taylor comes through this gap. I got to go down there and tackle this man.

Right. And now of a sudden it's like oh, play action, you know, Pittman, somebody. In that split second, all that emphasis on stopping Jonathan Taylor, it makes it wildly easier for quarterbacks. I think we're seeing that with Jaylen Hertz a little bit this year. Well, Hertz is taking a ton of heat in that market.

Like in Philly, which Philly is not a normal market. Well, that performance against the charges. It was awful. It was insane. I don't know. I don't know if Doogie can do this this quickly, but the last interception, the last interception that lost the game. Is there any way you can pull that up? Doogie, can give us a the thundle. Interception and sealed the game, end of the

game, OT. In overtime. In overtime. Okay, Doogie, do you can get that done? I'm sure, dude. But when he gets it done, I want to, like, explain to you when I see these things, and, like, my jaw drops with how outrageous decisions on the field. I don't know if there's any other sport

where you can do such a thing. But as he's going, and this This is why I say, like, he's getting killed. So that's a traditional RPO. And one of the reasons you can tell is that the O'Lyman, if it was just to play action, they would kind of sell the run, and then they'd back up because they don't want to get illegal man downfield. So when you see this, if Dugie gets us, the O'Lignment are blocking, and they're blocking. Like, Philly could have been flagged for illegal man downfield.

At a youth level, because RPO is a run, I can help coach an 18-year-old team in London. We run RPO's. Okay, when you're reading pass option. Yes. It's not very common in the NFL. as much as people think because the defenders are good enough to play both sometimes.

There it is. Look at Dougie. Doogie, if we can run this back and just stop it. It's not a teleprompter. Just run it back, Doogie. John Madden here. And it's Joe from the bridge that's heavily involved. Joe is up for a sports hemi-hundred. But you're reading Cleal Mac and he's got square feet.

And if you watch it, it's probably a nine-yard rush from Sequant. Like, it's the easiest thing. Unless he's crashing down, you hand the ball. off. So your first decision is hand the ball off. And it couldn't be, it's not a gray area. It's like, yo, if Cleo Mac is sitting there, like he is, look, you said it's not a teleprompter. Look at the top right of screen. It's a telestrator, by the way.

Here you go, you got Cleo Mac literally looking right at Jalen Hertz. Like, guys, it's like, how do you make this decision? This is day one of college-style stuff. So you pull it, and then you're jammed because Cleo Mac's in your face. And then to make matters worse, it's first down. Throw it over somebody's head out of bounds. Right. Get rid of it. It's second and ten.

You'll live. No, you know what I'm going to do? Thread the needle into a window that doesn't exist and lose the game. Like, I can't stress it how simple some of these things are, guys. Is there some selfishness involved too? He wants to prove to other people that I can make that throw. People talk about his arm and his decision-making, and it just seemed like I'm going to make the big time play and shut everybody up.

was extremely costly. Yes, I think there's some of that. And I think the other thing is all pre-plan in his head. So, like, when I watch Jalen Hertz, I think a lot of his decision-making, he makes before the snap. So he'll look around and be like, you know, Cleo Max's going to actually dive in here,

and I'm going to pull this thing. And it's like you're not actually reading, you're just anticipating. And when he's right, it's awesome. Because it's like very smooth, like, wow, what a fast read. When he's wrong, he jams the entire playup. And again, you've got to win on the line. It's a tough team.

It's a simple execution. You catch the ball. You look at Cleo Mac. If he square stands and not crashing down, you say, have fun, Sequin. And if you run – I don't want you to run it back. But if you do – for all the football nerds out there, the old line, I'm going to get a ton of push on the play. Like, I'm telling you, it's an eight-yard game for fun, and you're sitting at second and two. Right.

You know, and I'm sorry we got bogged down the football minutia boys. But, like, when I watch this stuff, my – head almost exploded. Well, and you've got to think the coaching staff is aware of that, and they probably addressed it with hurts. And we went from supposed to be down 12 with a chance to get down 11 to... That's really at the core of all this is that point right there. I can't get over it. Well, listen, we've got some great games this weekend. Which game is, which game, if you could only watch one, Bill's at Pats, Packers at Broncos? Which game would you choose? Bill's Pats. Because the divisions kind of on the line?

Yeah, divisions on the line. I think that both, like the Pats to me, I've been singing their praises, and I do think that they should be the one seed. I think they're the most, I want to make them very clear here. I think they're the most complete team in the AFC, you know, as far as offense, defense, special teams. I don't think they have the best unit at

any of them. Maybe special teams is probably an argument there. But they're very good at all three, and I think they have a great coach and Vrabel. But the flip side is they don't have a, I know he's considered an MVP season, but Drake May is not Josh Allen. So it's kind of like

one of those age-old things where you've got a superstar and Josh Allen versus like an unbelievably fundamentally sound well-coached football team and for me I actually like love that stuff. I love it. I love that stuff. This screams an Allen performance for me. It's not going to be easy though

Hayes. It's not going to be easy. He doesn't this guy thinks it is. I honestly think he'll make it look easy at times. I think he's that good and I think it's December now and this cat is like let's go. I agree. I agree but let's start playing. This team is very like I know they're not flashy. This New England team is very, very

legit. Like, not as good as the Texans on defense, but inching in that realm. Like, Vrable has clearly got the boys bought in. You can see that. They'll be jacked up, right? At home, Bill's in town. Drake May has been playing obviously very well. It's been great. And he'll know how to here's the next thing. I would give I would give Vrable the nod over McDermott.

Damn straight. I would. Yeah, I guess. I mean, this season he has. I mean, it's tough to argue that. So, like, Josh is going to have to have an – I mean, he can do it, but he's going to have to have – I think he will. I believe you. He's going to have to have an unbelievable performance. Yeah. Like, I'm not – I'm not shocked. A little bit surprised. Packers are favored at Denver.

I don't know. Why is that shocking? I mean, Denver's a double-digit team with an elite defense. They're playing at home. I mean, I know the Packers have been very good recently, but – Agreed. Agreed. I'd say match-up-wise. You know, we'll see. But the one unit that I don't think it's enough love is the Packers' defense. Yeah. Like, the Packers' defense is straight up nasty.

It's playing great football right now. Physical. They can get after you, whether it's in the run game or the past game, and they have some absolute dogs in that unit. And they play. They talk their trash. They talk their S-word. See, I already learned from my mistake.

They're in your face. The D.Bs are nasty. Micah Parsons, it looks inspired out there. He's playing great. Yeah, he's playing outstanding. So I expect the defense to show up, and love has been great recently. He's been great all year. He's been very good all year.

I think it's a legit favor. I think the pack should be favored. I think they're going to win a game. It's not even that I'm not like in cahoots with that. Like I understand it, but it's more about Denver. Like maybe it's a public play. And that's how the line gets driven sometimes, like where you think the money's coming in. I think it's Vegas possibly saying we don't either don't believe in Denver or the general public doesn't know enough about them to,

to bet them against the very public team in Green Bay. Who is red-hot and has been doing it on primetime. Like Thanksgiving and last week against the Bears was in the 4 o'clock window. That's a huge game. Totally. I think LaFleur has got to come in this week and pull the defense aside and be like, listen, you know, Bo Nix has not had a phenomenal year. He says a couple great fourth quarters.

But you put this on your defense. You say, we've got to go in here and we need to make their life a living hell. Stop RJ Harvey in this run game, which they could definitely do. And, like, D.Bs, we're going to have Micah Parsons chasing after Bo Nix, and when he makes that mistake, we have to capitalize. Like, you cannot give up 14 points in this game. If I was before, that's what I would be talking to my team saying. All right.

Well, any last comments, any last words for you two? It'll obviously be my party. Oh, I appreciate that. Or at least going to be good this year, man. My dad's all, he's all banged up. That's very much TVD. We've got to see. My dad asked me another day.

He's like, man, ask the guys if the leaves are going to get Quinn Hughes. And then he goes, and he wants to know how much of an impact that would have. That's a no. They're not going to. It would be a significant impact, though. One of the best players in the world, like a top five player, not just defensemen. But it's not happening. Do you have time to ask a leave question?

Can I ask a leave question? Go ahead. Leap's corner. Why don't you sell the farm and get them? They don't have a farm. Oh, really? See, I'm not a hockey guy. They've sold the farm already.

There's no farm to sell. The farm's gone. They have guys that could sell. They could trade. When Hughes. They could put a package together. Really? From the bridge?

What would that be? We talked about a couple weeks ago. It would start with Matthew Nyes. Yeah, okay. And what else? It would be more than that, but not substantially more than that. Like, what do you think they're getting from here? Like, the NHL just doesn't do crazy trades.

It's ridiculous. Yeah. And Vancouver, they kind of got fleeced on the last couple deals. The Bo Horvett deal, the J.T. Miller deal. Why do you trust that Jim Rutherford's going to figure this deal out? I don't. I mean, they'll get something for them. They will, but I don't know.

I don't think it's as crazy as you think. I'm not saying the least they're going to do it, but I think twice about it, man. I think your dad's on to something. He learns, I always say this, so I'm like, guys, I said this with Buffalo. And I'm telling you, in my opinion, I think Buffalo gets jammed somewhere in the playoffs.

It's going to be a tight game. Buffalo is going to get jammed somewhere, whether it's the divisional round, whether it's the AFC championship, and we're all going to come back here. on this show, we're going to say they were one piece away. And you know what? Looks good on their damn front office.

Go make it happen. Because they had a chance to get the one piece and they didn't go get it. I'm done. We're coming back. Jonas, I want a package out of you to get 20 years out of Vancouver. I'm curious what you would put together. I mean, they have no picks. So that's...

That is concerning. They have no... Who did they trade the picks for? A lot of players. A lot of guys who... Some of them are still on the team. Carlo's still here. Lotton's still here. A couple other guys.

All right, so you're locking in bucks, just to clarify. Okay, bucks minus five and a half. Need a win. That's the luck. I might lose by 20. I might lose it. I want you to win here. Dude, I need it bad.

Like, we want the bucks to cover, right? Look at how pathetic I am. I get sympathy now. I get pity. Dying. I have a bad feeling, Falcons. I know. Back door tonight.

But we'll see. Let's see what happens. All right, Luke. We'll catch you tomorrow. There he is Luke Wilson. All right, Jonas, do you have a game that you want to play? If you'll have my game. And I hope there's a cute Quinn Hughes element to it.

No, there has to be. Okay, there you go. Quinn Hughes will be included in this. Overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN4. Wi-Fi 7 on Bell Pure Fiber Internet. It's fast, like really fast. And the offer, it's good, like really good. Switch to the proven reliability of Bell Pure Fiber Internet,

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In North York at 4,400 Dufferin Street and Vaughn at 1390 Major McKenzie east of Duffron. Visit yumemarket.com for their holiday menu. All right, best bet's coming up, lease sharks tonight on TSN. Thursday night are Bucks Falcons. Luke was just in here locking in his bet. they're laying the points bucks minus five and a half at home tonight all right jonas what do you have for us here you've got something in the chamber and you want us to play along

Jeff thinks it's stupid but I haven't even heard it yet but I can probably guess it's going to be stupid what is it called it's called happy or unhappy pretty good I like that that sounds like something we'd probably be involved in yeah yeah yeah all right happy or unhappy go ahead make a choice happy or unhappy I'm unhappy before this even starts but you can make me happy possibly go ahead

so this is unhappier and a happy Craig Baroube edition so these are things he's happy about and not so are we playing the role of Craig Barubei well and not that part okay this is a serious show you've got to be prepared for a second

am I got notes okay happy or unhappy go ahead let's start with unhappy and I think you guys what are we doing Are we disagreeing, agreeing? So this is, you believe he's unhappy in this scenario, and then we have to react to it.

Yeah. Okay. I don't know the game, but. More of your own kind of segment is what it is. All right, Jonas, go ahead. My notes are actually bad because they got them wrong. But anyway, Craig Barubei, unhappy right now. You touched on Nealda.

We'll get to that in a second. The power play. Oh, furious. It's like, when is this going to get solved? What else can they try? I think they have to stick with what they've been doing of life. which is Riley with the other four forwards. The numbers for whatever the heck they're worth,

which I don't know what they're worth, are pretty good. I think that's their best shot based on what they have of like a competent number one unit. I guess the question is if, let's say you give it five more games. It doesn't work. Do you just try to split the talent into two groups?

You've got to do something drastic and hurt somebody's feelings. And I don't know if that's putting Troy Stetcher on the point or if that's putting Nicholas Watt in front of the, net, and it's also a right-handed option for William Nealander to go down to the goal line, but I don't know if Nicholas Waugh sees the ice well enough and understands power play moving to find the open guy, whether it be John Tavares in the slot or Austin Matthews on the off-wing. But I, for the life of me, cannot figure out how guy's so talented, he could go out on a

power play like that and butcher it like to happen. It's insane. Well, he's talking about confidence now, right? He was talking about that the other day, Barreouper, that it's in their head. And I think he's right. You have to argue it. They look completely lost in the power play. It's like a fourth line that goes out there and it's like has no idea what they're doing.

Absolutely. Yeah. Like it is, it's shocking that Austin Matthews and William Elander on the ice for a power play that's that enough. You would think the two of them alone with a bunch of scrubs could make it work. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. The reason is like,

do you think the fact that like Matthews, that one timer isn't really a threat anymore? Like, is that part of it? Is it not having a shot threat at the point? Like, Marner wasn't a shot? shot threat. But when you think of even Austin Matthews in his prime, like was he one-timing bombs over there? He wasn't really. No, you're right, but it was at least like a threat.

Well, he would find avenues to get shots off. Yeah, and part of that was Marner, and part of that was Nealander getting bucks through. But I think I think you got to start with the best player personally. I think you got to look at Matthews and you know, if you look at Edmonton when they're cooking,

usually it's McDavid's doing what McDavid does. What does Matthews do historically better than anyone else is get shots through and find holes and there you go the idea of starting out the power play I've talked at length about them skating around and all this motion they have that accomplishes zero and the refusal to shoot the puck to start a power play yeah like to shoot the puck on net from the top and Morgan Riley as weird as it is he is a very talented defenseman that does not take a slap shot like even a half slapper something on net that's that's low and gives

chance for chaos after that they don't do it i do like your idea though do you remember when the bruin's put char in front of the net like on the odd power play it's like nicholas was a big dude with some pretty solid hands throw him in front of the net the guy's six five he's massive out there but if that's the case you're hurting somebody's feelings whether it be matthew nize john tovar's but there aren't they at the point where somebody's feelings got to get hurt someone's got to be responsible i mean i guess mark savard is that just it's not being responsible it's about finding the right mix for it to be successful adapting. It's not trying to find somebody to blame everything on. It's about trying to find something

that works because they keep rolling out the same guys. Yeah, I guess what I'm saying is like there's there's a fork in the road with any scenario like this. You can have to go down this road and say, let's simplify, just, you know, throw it on net and throw big bodies. And the other one is coach your way out of it. Like in modern sports, it's supposed to be that way. You know, you got to, you got to find a different way to, for a zone entry. You got to find a different way. You got to find a different way to get the puck on this guy stick and give him avenues for shots. I don't know. I mean, I'm assuming they've tried all of that and it's still a mess and it's got to be rectified. Now, they're lucky because their penalty kill has been great. I don't know if that's

coming up next. Happy with the penalty kill, but their penalty kill has been outstanding. Yeah. Like, it has really saved them a lot of nights because for the most part is just a wash special teams. Like that's where you, that's where your power play really gets exposed. If you're O for four every night and the other teams two for four, you're dead. You can't win. But if You're both over for four. Okay, let's play five on five and see what happens. And recently it's work for them. All right, Jonas, go ahead.

Let's get to a happy. I think you mentioned the penalty kill and one of the key components has been Scott Lawton. I think their bottom six now has like some definition. We haven't really seen that, not just like this year, but in previous years, it was always like kind of like a mishmash, weird third lines, fourth lines of just like, I don't know, whatever. Like it was David Kamp and like whoever. First line center, David Kamp. Yeah, well. He's seen he's playing first.

line center in Vancouver right now. Go ahead. Crazy. Adam Foote, unhappy. But it's like now they've kind of developed some identities with those lines. You mentioned it before with McMahon, Wah, Joshua. It's like a hard and heavy kind of line. And then like Lotton on the fourth line, like

whatever the trade, at least like there's now kind of a hard-to-play identity with that group, whoever's on it, whether it's Lawrence with him, Robertson, whoever. The bottom six actually makes some sense and it never made sense. Yeah, well, I think you're right.

And I think a lot of it is the health. The arrival of Nick Waugh has helped. For sure. Right? You got Waugh and Lotton now as two veteran guys you can trust in every situation. Who have the capability of contribute instead of going out there, which David Camp would go out there and he would just pass time. Good penalty killer, but there was not a lot going on. Yeah.

I think it helps that Lotton has been scoring recently. Yes. Clearly. But he's been great on the penalty kill. He wins, he's helped him a lot there. He's been a big factor for them. Like his, by all accounts, a big name in the room, big voice in the room.

You know, he's done a lot for this team. Unhappy. I don't know if we need to delve more into William Neander and this. I think it's a little much. I think it's. It's been appropriately stated, but we're reaching overstated. I think we know he's not happy with Willie.

Yes. Right? Yeah. I mean, four games in a point a row for him is like never happened. And I said this yesterday. He's just looking to jolt the player. and get his attention, above anything. It's not that he wants to be a hard-ass,

and when he wants to get in Willie's ear, he wants the results to change, and he's trying to get his attention. Can I ask you about that, though? Wouldn't it have made more sense to just say, when he's struggling, playing with Matthews? Like, I get that this is more jarring. Oh, you're going to play on the third line.

Wouldn't it make more sense to get him going? Like, this probably lasts a period, right? Like, this isn't going to last. I would say by the end of the first period, he'll be back with John Tavares. Agreed. But it's just, can the reaction of him going to the rink and seeing he's on the third line, is will he get fired up about that? I don't know how he fired up he gets about anything.

Well, but the thing is Bobby McMahon's not playing tonight. He might play the whole game with that line. Like, who are you going to flip him with? You put him back with Tavares. Robertson? Cowan. Cowan's played with those guys. I don't know.

Anyway, we'll see what happens tonight. All right, what do you got for one more happy? Yeah, absolutely. The Troy Statcher thing is just nuts. Like, imagine I told you this like a month ago. Like, guess what's going to happen? They're going to claim Troy Stetcher on waivers, who wasn't playing for Edmonton.

Not only is he going to play, he's going to be playing like 23 minutes a night. He's going to be playing with Jake McCabe on a line or a pairing that goes against top lines. He's going to be on their number one penalty kill because Carlo and Tanna are both out. And it's going to be going great. Yeah. It's crazy. It is. And it's like for him, like even just like having to talk to him, like he was thinking like, man, like I might be in the minors pretty soon.

Like I might get like my NHL career might be over. The fantastic story. It's unreal. His position in life and how he views it and the grad of everything. It's an awesome story. Well, it also is a testament to desperate players. Yes. You know, like it does.

There are some guys who are just wired. Everything else doesn't matter. They're just constantly wired. They're constantly on their toes. They're constantly motivated. But. there are a lot of athletes, not just hockey players. You got security, a bit of a different viewpoint.

No security, different viewpoint. And also, sometimes that lack of security can be crippling for guys. Like, they don't all respond this way. They just, that fear of like this is the end, just it completely takes them over as opposed to inspiring them to continue to play or play better. But, yeah, Stetcher's been great. Like, he's completely stabilized Jake McCabe. McCabe's been very good recently.

And that was mandatory. had to happen. So, yeah, I mean, I think Craig Barube, it's interesting because he's not happy about Bobby McMahon's suspension, can't be happy about all the injuries, you can't control it, but they're a reality. Yeah, you should see when he gets asked about Stolars, and he's skating, he's like, no. Not, not. Got nothing to say on him.

So Stolars is not even on the ice skating at all. No, I've not seen him since he left that game in Boston. It's nuts. Like it's been a month, literally a month. Yeah, a month. I think. Month today, he left. Yeah.

What do you think of, like, I haven't heard anything on Brandon Carlo either. Has he had surgery or not? So I'm pretty, I find their injury disclosure policy, like, very frustrating. So last week on that road trip, they kind of suggested, Craig Brewery kind of suggested, like, he might need surgery. But surgery on what, what happened? And why has it not happened? Why has it not happened?

What happened before? Like, he was, like, this just, like, came out of nowhere. It was like, oh, he's not playing night. or he wasn't practicing and it's maintenance and then he's not playing and now he's gone and now he hasn't been seen so I don't know and TANF that's a tricky one because of the nature

of the injury but he's not going to have surgery is that what they're saying surgery on what I think that's the thing exactly it's not great yeah I know hopefully he so hopefully he's healthy I like that happy I think we bring that every time you're in here Jonas

I think he's too yes you want to be included in that? Like maybe the way you would have felt better about it if we were all included in some way. Yeah, I got to think about it. I'll work with Jonas and I'll tweak the segment next time. Yeah, I like that.

Okay. All right, what do we expect tonight? Oh, you're on the panel. I'm expecting a real quality game and I say the Leafs win. Yeah. Like San Jose is a good story this year. This isn't some world beater. Yeah. Ryan Reeves back in Toronto claiming he doesn't hold a grudge, but then effectively

explaining that he holds a grudge about communication and how they didn't think he could play in the league and now he's back and well you didn't play very well last year like it seemed like it might have been his line mates i don't know but every time his line went on the ice they got scored on it just it was a tough start for him but i'm really happy that the guy found somewhere to play and it's it's going well for him exactly like he's still in the league the guy's he's had a very good career like he's in the league a long time he's going to play a thousand games yeah like that's a testament but, like, I don't see a dancer with him tonight. Like, I don't think he's showing up looking for a fight,

but no one's going to fight him. So who, I don't, what's Ryan Reeves going to bring tonight? I don't know. We'll see. But he's back in town and that's another story. And Klingberg and Lilligran coming back again? That's right. That's fun.

Johnny Klingberg and Timothy Lilligran. There we go. Got to get it tonight, though, if you the Leafs, got to get it. All right. Catch on the panel tonight. Great seeing you. Great seeing you. HBO.

intact. Happy, not happy. Happy, not happy. All right, leave Sharts tonight. We'll come back with our best bets powered by Fandul Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. Can my Wi-Fi connect all my family's smart stuff at once? Let's see. There's the smart TVs, five smartphones, laptops and tablets, smart speakers, smart vacuum. Huh, what else? A smart toaster. It was a gift.

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Yummy Market.com for their holiday menu. All right, best bets powered by Fandul. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the Fandwell sports book. Yeah, but I'm going to trust Luke Wilson, which I don't generally do this year, but I do think this is a, you've got to get this game if you're the bucks tonight.

have to win. I think you pick the winner first. I think it's Tampa. I think they win by a touchdown plus. So we're going with the bucks. We're laying the points at home. Keeps them in the driver's seat in the NFC South. It is a divisional game short week. Just Atlanta hasn't been great. Like he said, Kirk Cousins, under the lights,

prime time. Tough to trust, considering what's happened with him the last couple of years. Best bets powered by Fanduel, the overdraft. Same game probably available on the Fandual Sportsbook. Yeah, please play responsibly 19 plus, physically located in Ontario. I want to ask you something about that. Can you remember an MVP race in the NFL being this like

muted? Do you know who the favorite is right now? Matthew Stafford. And like number two is Drake May. Right. Number three, I believe on Fandole is Jordan Love. It is, yeah. And I think Allen's 14 to 1. It's like, what is happening? The play is to sprinkle on love and Alan. Yeah. I would sprinkle on both because I think it's wide open with four weeks still to go. Stafford's been good. May's been good. They have not happen out of this world. They've just been very good on first place teams. But Jordan Love is really starting to get going.

And Alan is starting to look like Superman. And if he goes in this week, it makes a statement, he'll be eight to one by the end of the weekend. Or the favorite. Or possibly. And I think Jordan Love the same thing in Denver. If he goes in there and plays really well, he'll be five to one, six to one odds. Yeah.

Like their odds are going to get shorter and shorter and shorter because higher profile players, higher profile teams. And if they are perceived as, wow. these guys dragged them back into the division or they won the division because of how they played down the stretch, the narrative will pick up steam. Yeah. And it's wide open for them. Wide open. I just can't

remember like a year like this. I'm sure there have been like last year we had Lamar and Josh Allen. It was like who's going to, like we had Mahomes obviously. Yeah. And they were doing great stuff and you knew it was going to be those guys and how well they were playing and the performances and the numbers. Even Sequin was in there. Yeah, right.

Right. And what he was chasing. And Jonathan Taylor was for a time, but now the Colts are playing so poorly and he's come back to life. Running backs never win. And he knew they were never going to win. Like Bo Nix, I think, is like the sixth best odds. It's like what? Just an upside down year in the NFL.

Yeah. Like you've got look who, Kansas City is likely not going to make the playoffs. Baltimore may not make the playoffs. Yeah. So it's just been a very unpredictable year. You know, as for the NHL, like it's pretty clear cut. Nathan McKinnon's the guy. I think it's probably him

and his teammate won two. I think the car. I had them. won two last year it's hard to separate them for the heart yeah yeah like I don't see I think Celebrini's in the race

but they got to make the playoffs but dards in the race have to make the playoffs McDavid will be in race always around he's hovering and if he's red hot the last 50 games

he'll be right in there he still could win it but you know as of now there's a pretty clear pace car NBA same thing it's Shay Yokage

maybe Luca probably probably it. Yeah, that's why the NFL one is so weird. It's like, how old is Matthews, like, how old is Matthews, ever, 30, 37 or something? Yeah, he's been around a long time. He's played really well. And he didn't have much of a camp.

He had a back injury in the summer and it was undetermined if he was even going to play. If he did, what he was going to look like. Well, didn't they talk, weren't they talking about trading him in the, the offseason? Or wasn't he going to go somewhere else? There was chatter of, I think there was chatter of retirement, possibly. Or, yes, maybe they were looking into moving him because of his age and because of his injury history. and he's been great and the Rams have been great

I think that applies to who's going to win the Super Bowl this year No favorite Like I have no idea who's going to win I have a feeling I've got opinions But I can't say definitively Where this time last year

You could feel the Eagles were starting to pick up steam Felt like them or the Lions in the NFC And you looked at Kansas City Baltimore or Buffalo It was like one of those five teams Was going to win the Super Bowl and they did This year I don't know I have no idea

Your matchup today What would it be Bill's Packers I think I'd say the same because it's like I have questions with all the other teams I still don't know about Darnold Yeah and I have questions with those two teams For sure

You know I don't know if the Bill's defense can hold up for a playoff run But I try to think of it like if Buffalo is playing team X Who would I pick? Who would I pick? You know what I mean? Yes And it's going to be like at Pittsburgh At Denver Pick yeah

against Jacksonville or New England or something like that. Right. And I pick them in all those games. And I would like the girls in all those games. Yeah. Yeah. Now, Green Bay, it's going to be tougher because if they win the North, they're going to play Seattle, tough game.

Niners, tough game. They're going to have to likely go to the Rams, tough game. Like, the NFC is going to be a blood bat to get out of. But I like the way they're trending. I like the way they're built. I think they're a really good team. But NFC is tough. It's a tough call.

Like, it is, I don't know. I think the Eagles, for me at this point, I can't trust, clearly. I mean, there's a world from. I don't trust who's coming out of the South. The Rams. Like, yeah, Rams, Seattle, Green Bay. Those are the best three teams. And I would go Rams won Green Bay two as of right now.

Yeah. And then the rest, it's a bit of a falloff or you got to figure out. I just, you know, the Niners, they've just got those big injuries to defensive players. But they're well coached and they're playing well. it's going to be a good run. It's going to be a fun December. All right, Jonas. Thank you for doing us, as always. I got a big one tonight. I'm curious to see Celebrini in town, too. Just how the crowd reacts to him being here.

Yeah, like a buzz? Yeah, I think so. Like, remember last year you played really well at Scotia Bank, really, really well. And the Leafs are playing better, but they've got injuries. They've got suspensions. We'll see what Hilderby's got tonight. Your boy. My boy, Dennis Hilderby.

All right. Leave sharks tonight. Fox Falcons tonight, full breakdown tomorrow. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out today. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today, TV, radio, podcast, web, and up on YouTube live, every show up on TSN's YouTube channel. We're out of here.

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