OverDrive - OverDrive - December 23, 2024 - Hour 2

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

Join Michael DiStefano, Jason Strudwick and Dave Feschuk for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN NFL Analyst Luke Willson joins to discuss the headlines around Week 16 in the NFL and Hayes and Bro and O'Win Willson's selections for Monday Night Football, Christmas Day and Thursday Night Football. They also go around the biggest sports world in the latest edition of Strud or Dud and the Maple Leafs' defeat to Winnipeg.

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The smarter way to book travel. Hour number two of Overdrive off and running on TSN 1050. And now up on TSN 4 with the Leafs and Jets game all wrapped up. Toronto falling 5-2 to the Winnipeg Jets. First time the Jets had beaten Toronto in six tries. Toronto's six-game winning streak going against Winnipeg, and they win 5-2. Their life after Austin Matthews has not been pleasant. Two straight losses that they lost heading into that Christmas break. Not a good recipe

for a restful Christmas break for Craig Berube and the Maple Leafs Brain Trust, right? Because, you know, there's been a good year, but there are a lot of question marks around this team, including, of course, the health of the captain, the player who wears number 34, and, you know, exactly what kind of state he's going to be in come 2025, we don't really know.

I'm curious to get your take strutty because it feels like the last few weeks like early in the year the team was playing really well when it came to like defensive structure and it seemed like they were finding a pairing that they liked that worked with mccabe and and uh and tanev and then all of reckman larson have been playing well but it feels like over the last few weeks things have kind of gone a little sideways. And for whatever reason, they've decided to go away from that McCabe and Tanev pairing. Can you make some sense of why they maybe have been doing that

the last couple weeks? Well, I think it's bigger than just the pairings. The new coach came in and he has your attention right away because you want to go off to a good start with him and make yourself just seen by a coach in a good light. And then, you know, after a little while, time slips by. And not that you stop listening to him, but, you know, maybe some old habits fall into what you're doing before.

And that's what makes it hard. The maturing of playing that same consistent game night in, night out, that's a winning product. Like you look at the Florida Panthers. They, when they played last year and, I guess, the last two seasons, they've been very consistent in the way they played, right? The way that they approached the game, their maturity, the way they placed pucks, managing the puck, all that stuff.

It's everything. That's defending. And then every player slots in in the proper place, and you play that way all the time. Not some time, all the stuff. It's everything. That's defending. And then every player slots in in the proper place, and you play that way all the time. Not some time, all the time. And that is, I think, what ultimately is always the true sign of a championship team or championship-caliber team is you do the right thing almost all the time. And it just becomes part of your DNA.

I'm not sure that's quite part of their DNA yet. For the Toronto Maple Leafs, look at the game the other day against the Islanders. I think they were down like 2-0 within 10 minutes. Yeah, bad start. And those goals aren't, you know, you might not be ready to fire on all cylinders, but you can manage the game because of the way you play, right? Your maturity, and you're like, hey, we're not going to hurt ourselves here. We don't have our legs today.

It wasn't fair. They're fresh. We're not. But manage the game. And those are hard lessons to learn for for a group yeah it's just curious like you look at a team that played so well before and i guess you could argue it's just habits kind of coming back into it but i also was just kind of a little i get not stunned but i just kept wondering why are they switching up the pairing so much i guess that was like a big thing that kind of looked at to me and then tonight obviously you look no chris tanev in the game today and you realize oh boy there's a big hole in this lineup but on that

blue line when that guy's not there you look at the game today i mean typically the maple leafs you know they've been pretty good when it comes to blocking shots the block shots tonight just six just six this afternoon for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And that's something where you point and you say, probably could have used an extra shot block or two from Chris Tanev today. Well, Tanev, he's been among the league leaders all year in that category, obviously, and he's a huge, huge presence out there, right? But, look, today you put Jake McCabe alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsen,

and that pairing is on the ice for three even strength goals against, right? And only one even strength goal for the only even strength goal for they had there. So tough goal for sure. And when you bring it in, Philippe Meyers into the fold of the top six defensemen, we can talk about depth, but is it depth you bring in Philippe Myers into the fold of the top six defensemen, we can talk about depth, but is it depth you believe in? And that's the question here for the Maple Leafs going forward here. Maybe the trade deadline, the pre-March 7th trade deadline shopping list is a little longer than Brad Tree Living initially thought it might be.

Yeah, I mean, that's the thing, right? For a while we were talking about center maybe there's maybe there are some still some issues defensively and and finding a partner from morgan riley is still up at the top of the list perhaps or at least maybe a 1b next to a middle six center because you know you like tannev and mccabe together but in order to spread them out in order to get at least two if not three pairings maybe, maybe you've got to try and find that partner for Morgan Riley. But we'll have that conversation a little later with CJ when he joins us in about an hour.

But joining us now on the line, I did not want to hear that music at all. I just want to try and bring him in slowly. But here he is, Luke Wilson, our TSN NFL analyst. One half of the Owen Wilson team. Kind of been the go-to lead dog on that team that went 0-2-1 on the weekend, I might add. What's going on, Luke? How's it going, man? How we doing, Alex, bro? You got a little nervous this weekend, huh? You're lucky that we got jammed up.

Yeah. Saw that lead disappear for a quick second. Yeah, it did, didn't it? I mean, a little elf told me you're a little too sick to come in today. Is this stemming from when you puked on yourself during the overdrive pick segment over the weekend? So, again, I sit here, I make picks based on good information, based on experience.

I can't make picks based on a quarterback getting injured in the first quarter. I can't do that. So, you know, I get jammed up there. It is what it is. The Bucs game, that's on me. I got to wear that. I should have taken the Cowboys. You know, I said it on the show. I'm like, this has got Cowboys cover written all over it. You know, it is what it is. I thought the Bucs did have a chance to win and cover. The pick in the end zone hurt. The Bucs

defense not showing up for the first entire half of the game. It was also a tough pill to swallow, but I'm feeling pretty good right now. I don't know when you picked a winner. It's been a long time. I think we're one back. You've got a greasy game tonight there. We do got a greasy one.

We'll get to it in a little bit, but I do want to, I guess, jump off of that game we saw last night. Dallas winning 26-24 over the Bucs, and Cooper Rush had himself a decent little game. And I'm just curious, Luke, why is it that Cooper Rush has been able to run this offense a little better than what Dak Prescott was doing earlier in the year. You know, it's one of those things where in the NFL, I think sometimes you'll see guys that can process the game,

but don't necessarily have the talent, can really, the arm talent, the talent to extend plays, can really beat up teams that have vulnerabilities. talent to extend plays can really beat up teams that have vulnerabilities. And that's kind of what I get with Cooper Rush as far as, you know, when you watch him play, would you feel good about him going up against, you know, one of the best defenses in the league? I think most people would probably say no. But in the same breath, when you sit here and you got Tampa Bay whose past defense is atrocious Carolina last week you know his other wins are Washington against Washington commanders

whose defense is very very poor and the Giants who might be the worst team in the NFL he's gonna be able to really command the huddle, move down the field, execute plays. Where I would say it probably gets jammed up is if, you know, I think of the game earlier in the year where the Cowboys beat the Steelers, I believe it was like 2017. I'm going to guess week five, like that's a game there. I think Dak threw for 350, where I don't think Cooper Rush is finding a way to win that one. So that's kind of what I would say.

It's a bit of a who you're playing, but you've got to tip your cap. This is what you want in the back of a guy that can come in and execute the plays, and that's what Cooper Rush is doing, and I like what he's doing out there. So, Luke, the guy that Al's brother just likened himself to before you got on the air, Josh Allen, of course,

Al's brother anointed himself the presumptive MVP of the overdrive NFL pick pool. But Josh Allen has revealed that he's been playing majority of the season with a broken left hand, not his throwing hand, although he did hurt his throwing hand against the Patriots. The Bills kind of survived to win against the Patriots. What do you make of Allen suffering through the broken left hand

and the Bills surviving against the Patriots? Yeah, so I'll start with the good and the Bills surviving against the Patriots. I was on Jay last night, and I said, I actually thought it was a really good win if you're a Bills fan. And there's a lot of things that play into me saying that. But first and foremost, the offense wasn't great. I don't think the offense is anyone's worry right now. Josh Allen's playing at an MVP level.

He's historically been very, very good in the playoffs. So if I'm a Bills fan, the least of my worries is our offense. You're coming off a situation where your defense, on the other hand, gave up, I believe, 44 to the Rams on the road, then gave up 42, was it, against the Lions in a win in that one. And now all of a sudden, again, this offense, Drake May and the Patriots are not those two offenses, but in the same breath, I think from a coaching perspective, coaches can go look at that film,

try and find guys that are similar, can do similar things, are condensed with the Rams and the Lions did, and come out here and say, hey, let's try and hang 30. We're not as good as those other offenses, but let's get to 28 or 30 points and see what happens. And I thought the Bills' defense played well. You know, you look at the first touchdown the Patriots scored, really a small percentage chance of that catch happening.

It was a sick throw and catch by the Pats there. So you live with that one. And at the end of the day, you force a turnover with Stevenson on a fumble, and you get seven points yourself. Now, that play was absurd. I mean, the Bills' defensive touchdown. You've got to kind of thank the Patriots for that one a bit. But my point here is your net 14 points.

You give them 21, you score seven. I like it. I think it's a good showing for them, kind of right to shift defensively. And then I'd also say it's a divisional game. It's the Patriots Super Bowl, you know, as will be the last game of the year. It's all they're playing for. Hey, we can knock off the Bills, feel good heading into the offseason. And the Bills just came from a crazy shootout in the Rams situation to a crazy shootout in Detroit. It's an emotional letdown.

Again, I'm not so worried about that game. I thought it was a good division game that they came out on top of. As far as Josh Allen's left hand goes, what a crock of nonsense. I'm not saying he doesn't have a broken hand. I'm sure he does. But first and foremost, it's clearly not hindering him. He's literally playing the best football he's ever played in his life. He's going to win MVP of the league.

Like, to report that out, and whoever did it, I'm sure there's some slimy agent. It's like, I'm trying to make sure Josh gets MVP or whatever. Okay, it's just ridiculous I'm trying to make sure Josh gets MVP or whatever. Okay. It's just ridiculous at this point to me. I'm like, listen, it's a broken bone, something in his left hand. He's clearly fine. He's clearly gripping the ball fine. I mean, every week the guy's supermanning into the end zone. Okay. And half of the league, if not more, has a small broken bone somewhere they're playing through. So that story kind of annoyed me. It had nothing to do with Josh.

I'm just sitting here saying, like, yeah, Josh has got a small injury that doesn't really affect him on Sundays. You know, does he have to shoot it up and numb it? Like, welcome to the club. And, you know, the amount of tort all and freezing agents and numbing agents that are put into at least 15 guys, you know, every single game day is common practice, to say the least. So, again, that hand thing to me, it's something that a guy like Al's bro would be like, wow, he's got a broken hand, this is sick.

But real players, you know, actually realize how much garbage that whole story is. Luke, what's a bigger story? Jaden Daniels having a great comeback win or the Eagles losing their quarterback? To me, it's a tough one because they're both, I think, pretty big ordeal. You know, I sit here and I do wonder at times, and I know it's not that easy, but, like, we just talked about Cooper Rush, and I look at the Chiefs as well, you know, and if, God forbid, Mahomes goes down, it's a huge ordeal. But you got Carson Wentz back there.

You would assume Carson Wentz would be able to operate the offense. Can he pick it? I mean, he did do some things, but the pick that he threw might have been the worst interception of the offense. Can he pick it? I mean, he did do some things, but the pick that he threw might have been the worst interception of the year. A lot of it was just chuck it to A.J. Brown. So I do think that it's really going to change their offensive game plan if Hurts is not there. You no longer have the runner that Hurts is. The whole push-push goes out the window as well. That's a big ordeal, especially know, especially if you're calculating,

okay, it's third and three, we want to run this, but we also know if we get a couple yards, we can do the quarterback sneak ordeal. You know, that could change play calling. I still think that the Eagles will be a tough team to beat with or without Hurts, obviously much tougher with them. But it's a big ordeal, especially because I was very unimpressed

with the way Kenny Pickett performed. And the Jane Daniels thing, I mean, you've got to sit here and say, like, if you're a Commanders fan, what a great season this has been to sit here and go from the organization you've had for as long as i can remember you know into a year where you get a new head coach a rookie quarterback and you're going into the playoffs and again it's going to be very tough the nfc is stacked in my opinion um but i i sit here and think the future is wildly bright wildly bright for jane Daniels and the Washington Commanders. With Luke Wilson, there was another kind of big story last night

that's developed into today. Tag Dell got injured and ended up tearing an ACL, fractured his leg, but hung on and ended up getting the touchdown. Very impressive. What do you make of that entire play and the fact that he was able to hang on? And what does that say about him and his toughness? I think for Tank Dell, it's really, and you can see how many guys were affected, it's such a brutal ordeal.

Hanging on there was awesome. That's going to be hopefully a highlight or a silver lining for him. But when I see an injury, it's not even so much the injury itself, which is awful. But as a guy who's been through the, like, rehab process and saw teammates do it, that is, like, the biggest mental gymnastics of all time I think football players go through, especially one that's as gruesome as his. And at this part of the year, you know, he's going to have to wait for the swelling to go down,

then eventually get the surgery. And then there's a lot of time where whatever his off-season plans are, they just got absolutely blown up. And then when you come back to OTAs in April, May, you know, there's a general excitement. You get to see all your teammates. OTAs are very, very light as far as time commitment goes. I think it's four days a week, four hours a day per the CBA.

So you sit there, and it's like, okay, everybody's having fun, and we're putting our offense in, and you're just kind of on the sideline. You're waking up everyone and everybody, and you're going in there and doing the same stupid movements of rehab that can get very very boring obviously they're beneficial and you need to do them but now all of a sudden it's like okay you know the team moves on the game moves on everything happens and you're like man this used to be my play and i'm sitting in the meeting just getting fresh out of rehab, and they've got Deontay Johnson in there now or whomever, and that can really take a toll on guys mentally,

and I know Tank Dell's already been through a lot. So I hope for him and his teammates to kind of rally around him and push him through because obviously the guy is a tremendous, tremendous talent. What do you make of the Bengals, Luke? I mean, they seem like a lost season for a lot of it. They're 7-8 now after winning three in a row. I think some of the percentages, the probabilities have them

with a 15% chance of still making the playoffs. They've got Denver Saturday and then Pittsburgh to finish it off. Is there an outside shot that Joey Burrow and the Bengals can pull this off? I think so, for sure. I mean, you look at this thing, and this is where it gets weird for me, because I think the Broncos are in trouble. So I think the Bengals go in. The Broncos are 1-6 against teams that are 500,

and that's who they've got this week. So the Bengals kind of control their destiny this week. Like you said, Joe Burrow's cooking. The defense has made a few more plays, and that's theoretically all they need. Jamar Chase looks sick. I mean, the team looks awesome. So you beat the Broncos. You're now one back of the Broncos, and the Broncos end with Kansas City.

But again, the mental gymnastics come in is if Kansas City beats Pittsburgh, they clinch the one seed. So who's playing in that last game? And I know the thought process is, hey, we don't want to get anybody hurt. Don't play them. But in the same breath, if I'm Andy Reid, and I know I'm kind of jumping all over the place, but if they beat the Steelers this week and clinch that one seed,

I'm probably playing Patrick Mahomes for at least a half. And the reason I say that is because you've got to buy. Do you really want your team and your starters to be completely out of football, a game I should say, for what will be two full weeks? I have a hard time believing that's a great play. I'm not saying they're going to play the whole game, but I would say, hey, at least get some snaps in there because we got next week off. So that's where it gets a bit weird. And the next thing is you look at the Colts and you look at the Dolphins. I believe they will hold the tiebreaker over the Bengals.

So both of those teams need to lose a game. So that's kind of the disappointing part, because I don't think the Colts are that good. Don't get me wrong. I think they can lose to anybody. But the Colts' next two games are the Giants and the Jaguars. I'm not sure they're losing one of those two games. You know, so it's unfortunate,

but, like like the odds are stacked against the Bengals and I hope that the Colts mess up. I hope that the Dolphins mess up and I hope that the Bengals run the table because to me the way Joe Burrow's playing

to not have him in the playoffs would be an absolute shame. And what would potentially be a historic matchup would be the wild card weekend at the moment, Joe Burrow versus Josh Allen at Highmark. I mean, that's what football fans' dreams are made of. It's unfortunate, though.

It does not look like it's probably very likely to happen. What a game that'd be, though. What a game that would be. And what a ball game we have tonight, Luke. And for the rest of the week, we're making the picks for Christmas Day and the Thursday night of tonight. So we've got a four-pack of games to pick here. So why don't we get things started, Overdrive?

Brought to you by FanDuel. Bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. And Hazenbro leading plus one. We are currently on the clock for tonight's Monday night football game. And this is an outrageous line. Packers laying 14 and a half points against the New Orleans Saints. Now it's at Lambeau. It is at Lambeau.

And I think I'm willing to lay the points. Ultimately, I don't think that the New Orleans Saints are really going to put up a lot of points here, Luke. Who's playing? They got Spencer Rattler at quarterback. No Alvin Kamara. Bub Means is out. I mean, there's really no one there to catch footballs, run the ball. I don't think they're going to put up a lot of points.

The last few weeks, they've been held to under 20 points, and they have not been playing very good football teams. The Packers are a great football team. I think they'll score. I think they can limit New Orleans offensively, and they should be able to win this thing by more than two touchdowns. Team Hazenbro would love to select Hazy B's New York Packers and lay the 14.5. You say New York Packers and lay the 14.5.

You say New York Packers? What are you talking about? Green Bay Packers. Green Bay Packers. I saw the Saints played New York a couple weeks ago. Too much Christmas eggnog? What's going on over there? Apparently, apparently, 40 and slip.

I was reading the Saints. They barely beat the Giants a couple weeks ago. I was reading them. But the Green Bay Packers, they're the pick. We're rolling with the cheeseheads. I mean, I get it. You're a coward and don't want to understand

that the backdoor's coming today. I totally get it. And now we're dead even heading into Christmas because this has a blowout. Let me tell you what's going to happen today. This has a blowout written all over it. You're probably going to be spamming the group like you normally do when you think you're going to get a win. The Pack are going to be up 21 and they're going

to say, okay, it's freezing out here. We can't win the division. We're going to start putting the subs in. Spencer Rattler is going to turn back the clock, start running around like a wild man pretending it's college in somehow, some way because he's a friend.

He's a friend of Timo and Wilson. He's going to find a way to lose this game by 14 on the dot, and the hook's going to jam you. I can feel it now. Shout out Spencer Rattler. He's going to lose this game by 14, and we're dead even. So I'm feeling pretty good about this. I don't know.

Green Bay 7-0 against teams under 500. 5-2 against the spread. They crush and beat up on bad football teams, which is exactly what the Saints are. But we're moving on. You got the next pick. We're moving on to Christmas Day. Big Christmas Day game. That Netflix game. We'll see how that goes. We'll see how it goes. We'll see

if we can watch it after what happened last time they had a live sporting event. But the Chiefs laying 2.5? is this down to two and a half now for the chiefs and steelers game outrageous you get another layup here who you taking i mean you know who i'm taking i'm taking the chiefs oh not even close how is this only two and a half explain this to me well it's funny um you know i sit here and say to myself that uh i i think part of it's going to be bet the other way so i like the doogie made us pick these today because i think it's going to be much higher i don't know exactly why it's two and a half but to me i sit here and say like mike

talman is a guy who coaches you know teams wins. He's very detailed in his preparation. He does a lot of those things. They make a lot of plays. He's not, Thursday night football is not his jam. And I'm not saying that this is a Thursday night game, but theoretically you're going to prep the same way. You played on Saturday. It's now Wednesday.

Same amount of days. So short weeks, Mike Tomlin, no bueno. Also, you know, I would say younger Russ on a short week, we're going to get a little more playmaking. But in the same breath, you know, he doesn't really, you know, scramble like he did, let's call it, in 2014. And I think Patty Mahomes will come out here. They want to clinch the division.

They want to get this thing done. They want to, sorry, clinch the one seed. I really like it. Again, a field goal? Are you kidding me? I'm taking the Chiefs all day. Yeah, I can't believe that that's just a two and a half. And go figure because the next game we got the Ravens and the Texans.

And I woke up this morning, guys, and this was a three and a half point spread. It's now to five and a half points. Explain two point swing in the matter of hours and Doogie very happily sent me a text and he's grinning right through that glass. The fact that I have to make this pick at them at five and a half. And the problem is me

and Partsy, Hazy B, we were all good at four and a half no more than, I don't know, 30 minutes ago. Now at five and a half, I still got to make the pick. But guess what? Just like I was willing to do all over the weekend, I was willing to lay the points despite the number continuing to grow for the Baltimore Ravens. What does that mean? That means that the Sharps are definitely back in the Ravens. They see that this is going to be a lopsided game. I don't think the Texans are that good of a football team. I think you know that Luke, this team a little overrated. They're having a massive sophomore slump from the quarterback, C.J.

Stroud, and that Baltimore Ravens offense is starting to roll. I mean, they can run the ball, they can throw the ball, and they can obviously stop the run. They stopped Joe Mixon. There's not really much to throw to out there if you're C.J. Stroud. Now you got Tank Dellinger. It's just him and Nico Collins. You double him up. You make sure that you take him out of the game. I think that we can see the Ravens roll again. Laying the points. Flying with the flock. I think you're going to get jammed here.

I'm not just saying that. I think you're going to get jammed. You've got to look at matchups, Al's brother. Here's my thing. First and foremost, C.J. Stroud did have a couple picks last week. But in the same sentence, I thought he threw the ball very, very well, especially on third down. And also to say that after Nico Collins, they have no one else,

that's just simply untrue. I don't know where you're getting that information from. But that's maybe one of the craziest things you ever said. Next thing I will say is let's look at what the Texans do well defensively. Any chance you know what they're holding, the percentage. You're an information guy. The percentage of the Texans are holding completion-wise other quarterbacks. They're holding completion-wise?

58.5%. Yeah, number one in the league. And you know what that's good for? Number one in the league, my friend. And what is the glaring issue with Lamar Jackson's offense right now? Fluidity through the passing game. Not a ton of things on time, on rhythm, et cetera. So basically, you're going to sit here and give me five and a half points

when I fully expect C.J. Stroud to come out here, throw for.350 against a terrible pass defense. And Lamar is going to have to deal with throwing the ball because D'Amico Ryans, who is a tremendous defensive coach, is going to load everybody up to stop the run. We've got to stop Henry, make Lamar throw the ball. I actually think this is going to be a very, very tight matchup coming down to a last-second field goal.

So hopefully Spencer Rattler doesn't absolutely dummy me tonight. And right now, we're plus two after Christmas is done. Well, let's see what your Seahawks will do for you. Because Boxing Day, we got another Thursday nighter. Seahawks, Bears. Seahawks lay in three and a half. Where's Owen Wilson going? We're going with the Hawks on this.

Don't get me wrong. The Hawks have a lot of, they have a lot of issues. They have a lot of issues that I don't love, you know, but there's just no way that I'm going to give this amount of points, or excuse me, this little amount of points to the bears.

The bears are terrible. I mean, it's like Mary's lost little lamb watching this football team. You go into Detroit on the weekend, it's got a banged up defense, and you turn the ball over twice in the first quarter. I mean, it was a joke. Every play they make looks like it's the hardest play on planet Earth to complete. I've never seen anything like it. They get one yard. It's like, Oh my God, they got a yard. You're shocked.

The run game is so, so, you know, and Seattle's most likely eliminated from the playoffs. Don't get me wrong, but it's not out yet. They're not done yet. So the idea that they're not going to come in here,

try and set up that showdown with the Rams week 18, hope for the best, obviously, you know, is a bit concerning, I would say. I think that Seattle comes in here and absolutely smacks the Bears. The one thing I would say about Chicago, as someone who is now backing the Bears in this one,

they are two totally different teams on the road than when they are at home. For a team that is 0-7 on the road, they've at least got a 500 record at home, and their point differential is within 10 points difference when they're at Soldier. So I think that they could keep this one close. I don't think they'll win the football game.

I think Seattle's the better team. But I think you this time, my friend, will get done by the hook. That's what I'm expecting this one to happen. The hook will get you on this one, my friend. I mean, we'll see, but there's a good, again, it all starts with Spencer Rattler tonight, which makes me want to jump off a bridge saying that.

This man can somehow cover 14 and a half points. Don't like your odds. I think we got a shot that we go on a roll. I think we got a shot. That's what I'll say. I don't like your odds, but we'll see. Should be an interesting one tonight, that's for sure. Blowout City is what I'm expecting.

Luke, you obviously expecting something a little different, at least hoping and praying for a Christmas miracle to get you going in the right direction this weekend. We don't need to pray for that because we just know how to pick winners. So that's what we're up to this weekend. Luke, appreciate it, buddy. Good luck this weekend. Merry Christmas, pal. Merry Christmas, pal.

Merry Christmas, guys. There he goes. Luke Wilson, TSN football analyst and one half of team Owen Wilson. What do you guys make of the picks? What do you think? Snow is expected tonight in Green Bay. It might be difficult to put up points. That's when the Green Bay Packers are at their best, though.

Are they? When Lambeau's a snowy tundra, that offense seems to come alive. All right. Seems to come alive. Sounds like it might be wet snow, the ball gets slick, it might be tough to put up points. It might be hard to, you know, hang that 14-plus on the Saints. I'm looking like 28-10.

Okay. 28-10 final. I don't think they need to score 30, 40 points to cover the number. I think you get 24, 20, maybe 24, 28 points should be enough, I think. So this deep into the season, you're winning by one game, correct? After all that analysis, all the breaking down, you guys looking at the pop charts, the charts, all this stuff, this is what we're at is plus one. Plus one. Absolutely. Which is a heck of a lot better than being minus one on the other side, Strutty.

Are you training for the tiebreaker? The 40? Oh, did you hear that, Strutty? Oh, you were on the show, actually. I hope it's tied. I hope it's tied. Doogie McMahon says he's doing everything in his power when it comes to making which games we pick on to get us to do this 40. He's hoping and praying. That's probably what's on his Christmas wish list. He's probably hoping for a tie.

Is that what's on your wish list here, Producer Doogie? 100%. 100%. I can admit that on air. Okay, so what's the training consist of, Al's brother? You'll see. You'll see. We'll start moving and shaking, absolutely.

We'll have to get outside and start doing some sprints, start doing some lifts. Alright. Oh yeah, we'll get it going. Make it easier to the game. That's not my style, you know that. I got a great shoot all right i'm not a long distance runner though the first 10 15 yards i'll be in good shape after that

you consider the 40 long distance a little bit a little longer than i want we'll see we'll see i think beat 10-1, though. I can break 10-1. That is a guarantee. I can break 10-1. Absolutely. I like your chance. Absolutely, I can. Thank you. All right, still to come, Chris Johnson to join us,

the Maple Leafs losing an afternoon game 5-2 to the Winnipeg Jets, and Keegan Matheson going to join us at 6.32. Some rumblings about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. chatting about some possible contract extension talks or lack thereof. We'll see what Keegan can tell us about that in the 6 o'clock hour. I'm Mike DiStefano, Jason Strudwick, and Dave Festshuck.

You're listening to Overdrive on TSN 50 and up on TSN 4. The weekend brings Hurry Up Tomorrow to Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles on January 25th for one night only. Get there with iHeartRadio. Two tickets to the show, flights, and hotel from TripCentral.ca. Plus $500 cash. For your chance to win, enter every day at iHeartRadio.ca.

You guys are beautiful. An iHeartRadio experience. The Weeknd in L.A. Powered by TripCentral.ca. You guys are beautiful. An iHeartRadio experience. The weekend in L.A. Powered by TripCentral.ca. The smarter way to book travel. Overdraft continues on the TSN radio network and up on TSN4. Mike DiStefano filling in for Brian Hayes. Got Jason Strugwick and Dave Feschuk in with me.

And it's the patented Strud or Dud with Jason Strudwick. I'm excited man. I haven't had I haven't had a chance to play Strud or Dud so I'm excited to get in on this. The muffin man. Yes the muffin man absolutely. So it's pretty simple concept got a couple of takes. You tell me is that a strut take? Is that a dud take? We'll start here. And we'll start with you, Strutty. Your boy, Zach Hyman, on an absolute tear right now. It's at six straight games with a goal, up to 13.

Zach Hyman hits the 30-goal mark this season, guaranteed. Strut, 100% he gets there. Before his injury his injury he wasn't scoring but he was getting tons of chances he was still playing well sometimes the hockey gods are fickle and he didn't get it done and now since returning he's been absolute fire so another 17 goals and we're we're just now at christmas you can lock that in oh yeah this is an absolute strut muffin i mean this is look the guy is seven goals in his last six ten goals in his last nine i mean he's got 48 games to go else brother i mean forget 30 like i mean 40 is approachable here he's only at 13 but there's plenty of plenty of road ahead here so i like uh zach hyman's chances to really light the league of fire in the second half here.

Which is kind of insane to say because think back to the day where he was left off of Team Canada's roster on December 3rd. He's sitting there with three goals since then. He's been one of the hottest goal scorers in the NHL. And I think that's really what's so wild about what Zach Hyman is doing is, you know, it doesn't take long to change the opinion of people. You start scoring goals and you start finishing at the rate that he is, all of a sudden you're looking, three goals, ah, we'll even score 20. Now it's, oh, he's for sure going to score 30 goals.

And that's kind of where we're at with Zach Hyman, I think. Well, I remember some people were wondering if this was his drop-off year. Yeah. Has he hit the cliff? you just scored 50 some goals last year plus playoffs so here you are this time of year and for the Oilers they need it they need this balanced scoring

I do wonder if they regret it because in the short term you want instant chemistry and 97 and Hyman have the chemistry already so if there's an injury which I'm not hoping anyone does get injured, but if there is, I'm assuming he'd be the first pick. I would think so. I would have to think that he would be.

There was a mistake to leave him off the first time, but who am I to doubt Hockey Canada and the brain power out there. All right, Strutter Dud, the Rangers will miss the Stanley cup playoffs. Best truck. We'll start with you. Oh,

this is a strut muffin take. No doubt about it. I mean, they're a mess. And to me, like there's just no simple formula here. You know, do you fire Peter?

Lavio let, you know, then do what so many other teams do and just get another coach in there. I'm not sure that solves it because it seems like the problems run deeper than just the coach here. They've shipped out their captain. They've shipped out Capo Caco. Who else do they have to trade to get this thing back on the rails?

I mean, he was a healthy scratch today. Yeah. Like, what does that mean? Well, Iiner. I mean, he was a healthy scratch today. Yeah. Like, what does that mean? Well, I plan on asking CJ just that at 6 o'clock, but, I mean, that's obviously a player who's been a heart and soul guy for the Rangers. And for him to get healthy scratched, either you're sending a message to someone

or you don't want him to get hurt ahead of the holidays because he might be on the move once the trade freeze is done. This is incredible that we're even talking about this. I will also say, Stroud Muffin, this is why. I'm looking at who they have to pass or compete with for that final spot. So we're looking at Philly, we're looking at Pittsburgh, and we're looking at Ottawa.

I'm not sold on Philadelphia. Pittsburgh is a great story. I want Sid to make the playoffs, but I think the team ultimately will have to beat out is Ottawa. And Ottawa's kind of the other way. They are building momentum. They've got their goaltender. They look very good. Alita Somar did leave

the game with an injury yesterday, so depending on that situation... Fair point. But they look... I've seen them play twice against Oilers. And the first game they looked good. They looked really good. I thought even last night, even though they lost,

they looked a lot more organized and a lot better. So I think that team's trending in the right direction where the Rangers aren't. So this is – yes, there's a lot of issues around that team. They've got to sort things out, and I don't know what the Rangers do. But Ottawa seems to be getting past some of those hurdles, and I believe the Sens need to make the playoffs this year, and they will push hard to get in there. Yeah, I think that's probably the most difficult part.

It's not can they get it done. It's are other teams going to fall out of it. I'm going to go dud because I think the Rangers are a good team, and in this league, goaltending can win you a lot of games and Igor Shostakhin, although the last few weeks have been a distraction, it's been a problem. At some point, this guy locks in,

they're going to get back on the winning ways. And I think that this is a talented, they won the president's trophy a year ago. That roster is not that much different. It really is not that much different. You could argue maybe, you know, it's a roster that's getting a little older.

Panarin, right? Crider's a year older. Zibanejad has not been as good. Trocek is having a, you know, a downfall type of year. So you can make that argument that the team isn't as good because of age. But it's really not that different. I still think that there's a lot of good hockey players there. And if they can just figure it out and just get going in the right direction,

and maybe it takes the goalie pulling them from the depths to get it done, but if there is one goaltender in the league who you can believe in, Hellebuck, I guess you could put in that conversation, Igor Shosturkin could be that second guy right there to get it done. So I'm going to say done. I think the Rangers have a chance. I still think they have a chance to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. All right. One of Elias Pettersson or JT Miller will be traded by the deadline. Strutty? Dutt, I think this is too big a deal to do midseason.

You're talking about massive contracts and the return. How do you win this trade? Did Buffalo win it when they traded away Jack Eichel? I keep thinking about Jack Eichel when I'm looking at these two players. So I think this is something in the offseason you have to get it right if you do decide to go down this path. And then the other question is

which one do you trade? Do you trade Pedersen or a player I believe to be the heartbeat of your team, especially in the playoffs last year, JT Miller. Fast Chuck. Yeah, I think it's a dud. I'm with you for all the reasons you outlined. I just think these chemistry things, you know, we had

Bruce Bruggeau on the program last week talking to Al's brother and Hayes about this thing, about how this goes back some years, but they've got to get over it, right? You've got to get these two guys in a room and figure it out because it's in the team's best interest and to your point strutty it's in both of their best interests not to be traded uh at a moment like this where you've got a very promising team that's in the playoff picture and has every reason to put this behind them move

forward yeah i'm gonna go dud as well but i think it's because what you say, Strutty, this would be a difficult, difficult trade to do. And realistically, it would be difficult to pick which one you want to move on from because there was a point where Elias Pettersson, you're looking at as maybe a future captain. Now Quinn Hughes obviously ends up getting that role, but Pettersson's big in that market, but so is JT Miller, and he's become, as you mentioned, the heartbeat, heart and soul type of player,

and that market loves JT Miller, and he's the one who's actually performing right now. Patterson, it's not gone well, but let me tell you, what's concerning about this, I think why this does have legs, is because the splits when these two are playing versus not playing is what's concerning like in JT Miller's 10 game absence strutty Patterson was a rock star had 15 points in the 10 games that he was out but in the six games since returning he's pointless and he has just 11 points in 23 games when Miller is in the lineup so I like that's another big reason

why you're looking at it and just saying, why isn't this working? What is going on here? Can you imagine being in that dressing room and if it is indeed as bad as maybe we're thinking it is, and trying to pick a side or walking around on eggshells around these two guys,

it would just be so unsettling. So the fact that the team's even in a playoff situation and competing decently in the Pacific Division is actually pretty impressive. And then managing that as the coach or Quinn Hughes as the captain, two big personalities. Totally different types of players.

Yeah, I think Rick Tucker deserves a lot of credit for keeping things, I guess, as bottled up as they possibly could be. Until this week, things are starting to get a little hairy, but I mean, we'll see what ends up happening, but that is definitely a big story out in Vancouver. I'm sure CJ might have a thing or two to say when he joins us in about 25

minutes or so, but I got a couple more strutter duds coming up next year on overdrive. The weekend brings hurry up tomorrow to Rose Bowl stadium in Los Angeles on January 25th for one night only. Get there with iHeartRadio. Two tickets to the show, flight and hotel from TripCentral.ca, plus $500 cash. For your chance to win, enter every day at iHeartRadio.ca. You guys are beautiful.

An iHeartRadio experience. The weekend in L.A. Powered by TripCentral.ca the smarter way to book travel Overdraft continuing up on TSN 1050 and now on TSN 4, Mike DiStefano Jason Strudwick and Dave Feschuk

we're all in for the regulars the B team in today on two days out from Christmas Day, it's Festivus for the rest of us. Today might have another airing of grievance on the other side. I've got one more thing that I do want to get to, which I think we'll get to it probably nearly. Look at that.

Absolutely outrageous. Me on Mr. Costanza. Brother Costanza. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. But I got one more strutter dud for you guys and it's got to do with Josh Allen and what he's been up to this year but after Josh Allen's performance against New England and lackluster performance I might say did that open up an opportunity for

Lamar to come in and sneak away that MVP with a strong stretch run. I just don't see it. I mean, to me, as much as you can say it was a lackluster performance, which it was by Allen's standards, it still got the win. So you can sort of spin it as a gritty performance, a survival mode performance, a la Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, as you pointed out earlier in the show, Al's brother. And I just feel like this thing's been decided. There's voter fatigue. Lamar's already won two of the show, Al's brother. And I just feel like this thing's been decided. There's voter fatigue.

Lamar's already won two of these things, including last year. I think Josh Allen is the new thing. He's the hot thing. He's had so many signature performances before whatever happens between now and the stretch run that I just think it's locked up. I don't think there's anything that can happen from here to the end of the season for Josh Allen to lose this thing. Dud, Saquad Barkley.

Your boy, Saquad Barkley. Saquad. Have you seen his legs? They're huge. Where are we just leaving him out? I'm actually insulted that you're not including him in this conversation. It's just ridiculous. Fan duel odds, I think he's down to like plus 1,500.

It's pretty much down to a two-horse race in the betting market, but perhaps in your head, Strutty, we could put in Saquon in there if that makes you feel good. It makes me feel really good. He's having a great season. He's gone to a new team. They've got a nice offensive line. He can run back, and he's delivered.

He's absolutely delivered, this guy. 13 rushing touchdowns. What more do you want from this guy? He's been outrageous. He really has been good. But the interesting thing is, I'm going to say it's a strut take. And the reason why is because you look at what Lamar Jackson has been up to this year. His stats are unequivocally better than Josh Allen's.

That's what's so interesting about it. He's got more passing yards, he's got a better completion rating, more touchdowns, less interceptions, a better quarterback rating, and he's also looking like he's going to win the division. And he finally got past Mike Tomlin in that Steeler narrative. So there's a lot of reasons to think that Lamar Jackson statistically should be and could be the league MVP this

year over Josh Allen. He just hasn't had the signature moments, right? Like the Bills have beaten the two best teams in football in triumphant games, right? Where Allen's been the star and Allen's been the story. I can't even, you know, you can sit here all day and list

off the number of you know just highlight real wow jaw-dropping moments that josh allen's put together and i mean lamar has those too but i just think alan's just done it at a level that nobody else can really touch well we'll see what ends up happening there's a couple more weeks couple more, something to wrap this thing up. But, you know, it's dropped in half over on FanDuel from minus 900 to minus 450. So the betting market a little scared that there could be a late comeback from Lamar Jackson. All right, hour three of Overdrive coming up next.

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