OverDrive - OverDrive - December 24, 2024 - Hour 1

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

Join Michael DiStefano and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss their Toronto Maple Leafs Christmas wishlist and John Tavares' impressive campaign so far. Kirk Morrison joins the boys to chat about if the Packers can be a threat in the playoffs, Aaron Rodgers' future and the NFL Christmas slate.

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The smarter way to book travel. This hour of Overdrive is powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Overdrive off and running on a beautiful Christmas Eve here in the city of Toronto and all around Canada, all around the world. Welcome into Overdrive up on TSN4, up on TSN 1050. I'm Mike DiStefano filling in for Brian Hayes. Got Dave Festchuk of the Toronto Star in for the regulars as well. What's going on, Dave?

Are we feeling very merry this Christmas Eve or what? I'm feeling good. I want to know how you're feeling, Al's brother, because when we left the studio last night, you pointed out that you needed to go somewhere that I felt was a very dangerous place. To the S-T-C. Right.

I thought you were talking about St. Catharines. Not St. Catharines. Silly me. I am an idiot, as it's been said many times. You were talking about the Scarborough Town Center. Not St. Catharines. Silly me. I am an idiot, as it's been said many times. You were talking about the Scarborough Town Center. I just drove by the Scarborough Town Center. It looked like chaos incarnate. How did you do there last night?

I did well, actually. I did end up finding a couple of things for the family. I had to get something for my brother and my sister and a little something else for my dad. I ended up finding what I needed to get. It worked out well out well for me and i was there right till the end let me tell you that close-up shop at 9 30 i think i didn't get to my car till about 9 38 wow oh yeah i i was there i was looking around but i think i got the right gifts i think i did i'm not a gift card guy like everyone told me it's like at that point you just got to go gift card. I'm not that guy. I can't do gift card.

I appreciate that. I can't do that. If you're gift card people, whatever, there's a big debate in the world. Are gift cards inappropriate? I personally don't feel there's much effort or thoughtfulness in a gift card. I want to give you something that I think you'll enjoy, you'll

appreciate. I get it. You can get whatever you want with a gift card, but that's just my own personal policy so i had to get out there get the gifts and mission accomplished people mission accomplished okay i'm with you on the gift card like if you're gonna give me a gift card why don't you just peel off a bill yeah just give me cash if that 100 whatever whatever it is just i don't like the gift card thing to me it's one of the great scams in retail history because the bottom line is you lose these things. You lose your gift cards, guess what? Well, they used to expire too.

They expire. There's all kinds of controversies with them. There's no controversy with cash. It's just you have it, and you generally do not lose it. You guard it with your life. Yeah. I also always forget that I have gift cards too. I literally was just that.

I had a couple of last-minute things I had to pick up today on my way in, and I went to Canadian Tire, and I went and I paid, and then once I got to my car, I realized I had a Canadian Tire gift card. I couldn't use the Canadian Tire gift card to pay for my items.

I completely forgot, used the plastic, and now I'm sitting here, and I still got the Canadian Tire money. I'm like, okay, I got to remember next time I'm there yeah that's a big issue i always forget that i have gift cards oh lcbo2 i'm the worst for it yeah i always remember after i make my purchase i'm sure like these these retailers they're just like they love the fact that people lose their gift cards because it's just free money for them exactly it's an outstanding proposition for them so i'm so you navigated the parking lot you got in there at rush hour.

You got in and out. And you were the guy that the employers were like, would this guy just leave the freaky store? We're trying to close the store. Pretty much. Yeah, they hated my guts. They hated my guts. They absolutely hated my guts, that's for sure.

But it's all good. I had to get it done. Mission accomplished. And I guess stay tuned later in the week to see how everyone enjoys their gifts. We'll be back on Friday, you and I. You put in a better effort yesterday afternoon than the Leafs. That's for sure. That's for sure.

Leafs 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. We were on the air when the game was ongoing. We were keeping track on what was happening. Overall, you go back and you watch the game last night. I re-watched it and got a chance to see what happened, and it really just wasn't a good effort, and it seemed to get worse and worse as the game wore on. And, you know, Toronto, they could really use this Christmas break.

That's what I've come to the conclusion, that they played a lot of hockey. Like, let's be honest, it is a lot. I think last night was like the fifth game in seven nights or eight nights, and they had a back-to-back beforehand just a couple of days prior, and they get an afternoon game. They've played a lot of hockey. There's a lot of injuries right now. Chris Tannev was a scratch in that game yesterday.

Obviously, Austin Matthews dealing with his injury. He wasn't playing. The Leafs really, really could use this upcoming Christmas break to try and just reset and get back going in the right direction when they return. Yeah, three full days off here before they go back-to-back at Detroit and at home to Washington on Friday and Saturday. So it's not exactly a long break, but it's a few days, and you're right. They could use it.

I mean, Anthony Stolar is still out. There's a lot of pressure on the guys that remain when you lose such key players. I can't think of three more key players. When you think about the narrative of the opening couple of months of the season, can you think of three guys who've been more important to

this team than Stolar, Tanev, and Austin Matthews? Honestly, no. That's it. One, two, three. You take your best forward who's been arguably your best defenseman, if not maybe your most impactful defenseman. The guy's been the best goaltender for you.

He's been one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. By the time he got hurt, I think FanDuel had him up to 5th best, 5th shortest odds to win the Vesna. He was in that conversation leading the league in say percentage and he goes down. He's out 4-6 weeks. Chris Tanev misses yesterday's game in say percentage and he goes down he's out four to six weeks Chris Tanev misses yesterday's game we're not sure how long he's going to miss hopefully you know they'll reevaluate things when they return to play this weekend

after the three day uh three days off for the holiday break and same with Austin Matthews but I just the the health of the team right now and that's really been a big issue all year long like this team they really really have dealt with a lot of injuries. Think back to in November, all the injuries that they had dealt with. At the time, they were down using Alex Speed. They had to sign Nylander's brother. Alex Nylander ended up signing a professional contract to play a handful of games. It took seven injuries to get down to that level where they just needed to get a guy who could play NHL games.

So yeah, that's been a big, I would say, a big storyline to this point in the year has been the way that the Leafs have had to navigate battle injuries. And you know what's funny, Dave? I look at the team, I look at their record, and it's kind of a major checkpoint right now in the NHL. Right to Christmas break, everyone's done playing. Last night was the last slate of games.

You can kind of just take a look over the next few days and look at the standings, look at the stats and say, okay, who's where and what's going on? And we can look at the Maple Leafs and we see a pretty good record, 21, 12, and 2. But if you look at the numbers, they haven't been as rosy as that. I don't know. How do you evaluate the first couple of months of this season for the Maple Leafs?

Well, look, if you want to go glass half full, I think it's been a pretty good beginning. You've got a new coach with a new system and largely the same team. You didn't make a ton of big changes, but you've asked for a drastic change in the style of play. And on top of the fact that you've had the injuries that you just laid out, I mean, you're 10th in the league in points percentage. You've been battling for that top spot in the Atlantic Division

the entire year so far, and you're right there with the Florida Panthers as you enter the Christmas break here. And given the fact that Austin Matthews hasn't been at his best coming out of training camp, missing the number of games he's missed, I think it's been a pretty positive start for the Maple Leafs. It could have been a lot worse if not for tremendous goaltending from Stolarz and Wall and some really good defensive play from Hannev

and McCabe as that shutdown pair at the top of the batting order for the defense core. And that's where I think, yeah, you can look at it both ways, glass half full, and you can look at the approach. It could have gone a lot worse. And I think you look at goaltending and how elite

that tandem has been between Stolarz and Jonathan and and Joseph Wall and how good that they've been keeping pucks out of the net right defending has been great but then you look at the last couple of weeks and it feels like it's kind of fallen off a little bit like you look into the numbers into the into the analytics and like the month of December has not been great the team that's ranking 25th in expected goals against 26 and high danger chances allowed and this is a team where the first couple of weeks was leading the nhl in these categories right like why why do you think that it has really fallen off here the last few weeks well look

one of my theories would be and it's it's a theory it's based on observation of this team for an awfully long time you know like the eight years plus of the matthews m on observation of this team for an awfully long time yeah like the eight years plus of the matthews marner incarnation of this team and i think it's it's a team that has a short attention span at times right so i think they came sprinting out of the gate playing for berube and playing the way berube wanted to play the challenge for berube is going to be keep getting them to do that in late december and into january and into fe late December and into January and into February and into March and then into April. And these guys, you know, they've had a history of playing really well, locked down for short stretches.

It's the long stretches that have been a problem. So is this a speed bump or a flag for you, what we've seen over the course of the last couple of months? Because, again, we've seen elite stretches, as you mentioned, of this Maple Leafs team under Sheldon Keefe. We have seen elite stretches. This team has been a terrific regular season team, but it's the inconsistencies

that have kind of plagued them over the course of the last few years. Is this one of those stretches where you're looking at the team and you're still seeing a lack of consistency from the group on a night-to-night basis. Again, you look at how well they played against Buffalo. Pretty good.

Then they come out the next night and they were terrible against the Islanders, terrible against the Winnipeg Jets. It's just inconsistent hockey is what we've seen out of this group. Now, is this a matter of the team's tired and they really could use a rest? They've just played a lot of hockey. The injuries have really been piling up. Or, again again is it more of a mental mindset i suppose of this team just can't seem to to to play with any amount of consistency yeah i think that's what it's been over over their history and look i also think like it's instructive for brad tree living and

craig berube because you come out of the gate you're not sure what you have and now you're sort of finding out what you have right and maybe you're finding out that you don't have as much as you thought maybe you you know you at first you know the first few weeks of the season month and a half of the season it's like wow this defense core is really good we're not even talking about the defense core well you know suddenly on it you know you see a couple of moments where a cave's out for a while or Tanev is out yesterday. OEL's dipped. Riley hasn't looked very good the last month or so.

That's another point of emphasis that I would make, that your best defenseman has not really been your best defenseman. He certainly hasn't been providing the offense that Morgan Riley customarily provides, or at least Morgan Riley has provided at peak Morgan Riley. And there's been a lot of talk from Ruby about the need for defensemen providing offense. Yeah.

Just hasn't come. Okay. So that's, but that's probably pretty low on the list of, of their problems right now. But, but again, like,

you know, what is this opening part of the season revealed? Maybe it's that you don't have as much defense depth as you thought you did. Yanni Hakenpah has been a non-factor. He's, he was one of your marquee signings in the offseason. He's played two games total

and we're not sure if we will actually see him play any meaningful games down the stretch here given the state of his knee health. Maybe your shopping list for March 7th is a little longer than you thought it would be. Let's get in the festive spirit

here. Let's get in the festive spirit. It's Christmas Eve. There the festive spirit it's christmas eve there's gonna be a lot of gift exchanging over the course of the next you know 24 to 48 hours with a lot of families and friends and whatnot if you were to gift something to the toronto maple leaf something that they need something you believe is on their christmas wish list what would it be number one would have to be and i'm not sure how to give this let's so I would try maybe the magic amulet endorsed by John Tavares that allegedly has healing properties in the name of goaltender health. Because, brother, I don't care about Austin Matthews' health. That's important.

Defense health, that's important. But nothing is more important to this team than the health of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Wall. I push back on that. I think Austin Matthews' health is probably more important. Obviously, they're both important. That is very clear. But I would argue that if you had

one amulet that you could rub all over these players and get them good health for the rest of the year, you're telling me that you would rub it on the goaltenders as opposed to Austin Matthews? Yes, because you won two playoff games. You won two playoff games last spring without Austin Matthews in the lineup. You could not win the biggest playoff game when Joseph Wall was hurt in Game 7. That, to me, says a lot.

You can overcome the loss of a forward a defenseman you cannot overcome the loss of both these goaltenders okay if you're down both if you're yeah sure yes i guess and i think you need to like this is a league now where one guy does not suffice okay these guys do not have the mileage on their odometers or the proven mileage on their odometers to tell you you can get by with one okay and you do not want to be dipping into the Dennis Hildebees and Matt Murrays of the world at key times in this season to see what you have. Because you know what you have back there. You've got guys that are a long way from being at the top of the NHL depth chart.

Okay? They're decent, you know, stop starter goaltenders or spot starter goaltenders in Hildeby and in Murray, but they're not guys you want to be counting on at a key moment at the end of the season. So you need both these guys, Al's brother, in my view. I mean, they've been absolutely essential to the success that this team has had so far, as tenuous as it is, as you point out,

and as maybe as much as it's showing cracks as we enter the Christmas season here, if those guys are healthy and able, they can cover over a lot of those cracks. You're right. Yeah, that is true. Because you look at the first couple of months and even the last couple of weeks here, the Toronto Maple Leafs haven't played very well.

And their underlying numbers would support that, but the goaltenders have been able to really, really step up and make some big saves and keep the team into it and steal a couple of games. We've seen a couple of those steals where the Leafs are in the goal lead category being on their end as opposed to getting goalied a few times this month. Which we haven't seen.

No, usually it's the other way around. And the Maple Leafs haven't been able to do that. But we're talking about the captain. That's the thing. He's the captain. Toronto's captain now, Austin Matthews. This team just isn't as good. They aren't nearly as deep when he's not in the lineup.

And I understand goaltending is everything. But the biggest issue that this team has had come playoff time has been goals not keeping pucks out of the net they've been able to keep pucks out of the net no matter who's been in goal realistically like you look back at the last few seasons whether it's been samsonov whether it's been joseph wall whether it's been jack campbell at times freddie anderson like they've had decent goaltending they just haven't been able to score and when austin matthews is that and i know austin matth Matthews has not been a massive goal scorer

come playoff time either. I get that. But he also has not been relatively healthy come playoff time either. Like, you look back a couple of years ago when they finally booked their ticket into the second round for the first time in 20 years, they laid an absolute egg that year

in round two against the Florida Panthers. Yes. Austin Matthews was a shell of himself in that series. He couldn't skate. He was so beaten up, he could not play. And that was really evident. And that team stood absolutely no chance. No matter how good the goaltending was, they couldn't muster up.

They didn't score more than two goals in that entire series in a game. So for me, I think it's goal scoring. I think Austin Matthews is very clearly, to me, the guy who's got to lead this team out of it. I think that that's what this team needs at this point is for him to step up. But they're both important. 100%. 100%.

They are both important. So if so, I'm going to give the amulet for goalie health. You're going to give Austin Matthews more of the goat's blood or the fluid from the comb of the hen that you can get in Munich, Germany, injected into whatever... Are we going back to Germany? Yeah, it didn't work the first time. If it worked

for Usain Bolt and Tiger Woods... Yeah, true. It's got to work for Austin Matthews eventually. I also think, if you're giving them good health, I suppose, I think they also could use an injection of some depth down the middle. I think that's ultimately what this team is going to need. We look forward.

Yes, it'd be nice to get on Christmas. It'd be nice to get on Boxing Day. But if you look forward towards the NHL trade deadline, I think the Leafs are going to be in the market for a middle six forward, whether that's a second line forward or a second line center or a third line center who can be a good matchup defensive center. I think that's ultimately what the team is going to have at the tippy top of their Christmas wish list come later on in the season. So if I could gift them that, it'd be one of those players.

Whether that's, I don't know, like a Scott Lawton would be kind of a good player who would fill a need of a shutdown third line center you could go back to the ryan o'reilly uh try and try and bring him back in from st louis he obviously has a really good relationship with the coach that's here now with craig berube he was just they they won together well in st louis yeah but he ryan o'reilly had a chance to be a leaf and he chose not to be a leaf he did have a chance to be a leaf but who was the coach back then like yeah he's a different scenario, a different situation. Are you blaming it on Sheldon Keefe? I'm not blaming it on Sheldon Keefe, but it's a different

situation in that point. I think Ryan O'Reilly, and it's not going well in Nashville. I think he would also he might want to mulligan on that one too. Maybe stick around in Toronto. Let's wind up, bring back Ryan O'Reilly and Luke Shen. The only time they've ever won a playoff

series both those guys were integral pieces to that team i mean that's not a bad like proposition here dave like because again you want to get morgan riley going morgan riley argued played his best hockey of his career in that series against tampa bay who's his partner luke shen without a doubt that's been a couple years a couple more age on those wheels. So is he still as effective as he was a couple of seasons ago? Probably not. But, you know, it is interesting to think about. Could the Leafs go back down that path again? It would be kind of interesting to see.

Hey, I mean, there are worse ideas. OK, I mean, hey, and there's there's been all kinds of ideas about how high should they aim when it comes to that center depth you're talking about. You know, we've had the guy that sits in that chair has been talking about free Crosby from Pittsburgh. Bring in Sid. If Sid, of course, that would be Sid's choice to leave Pittsburgh. You know, it would be a lot easier to, say, go aim higher if Tavares was not having the season that he's having now

can he continue it I suppose is the question but you know one of the more under talked about storylines I think from the early point of the season is the success that this guy is having like John Tavares has 17 goals at this point scored twice yesterday up to 17

he'd be leading 25 other teams in the NHL in goal scoring at 17. He's got a point per game average. Doing this at 34 years old, in year 7 of that 7-year deal, I don't think anyone thought this was going to be the case. And there are times we've been talking about pushing this guy off to the

wing, pushing him down to 3C. He just continues to play with an elite level of consistency on both ends of the ice. And perhaps he's showing, no, I can still play. I can do what Craig Berube wants me to do. Maybe I wasn't able to play the more up-tempo Sheldon Keefe level game the last couple of years. But here with Craig Berube, it's a straight-line hockey,

and that's what he's best at. Get in and around the net and chew puck. He leads the NHL in high danger shots and inter-slot shots. That's exactly what Berube wants them to do. Play down low, follow pucks to the net, and get some shots on net. That's exactly what Tavares has been doing. He's been very successful at it.

I think it definitely lessens the need for a legit number two, and maybe allows the Leafs to explore a more tertiary two-way option as opposed to an effective offensive scoring option well you're right I mean I don't know if I believe in the magic of the amulet Al's brother but I believe in the magic of the contract year okay it seems to work wonders on many many pro athletes suddenly they just have incredible years

and of course Mitch Marner on career-high pace in a contract year. What a shock. I am absolutely flabbergasted by that, Al's brother. But look, not to be disingenuous, but that is a factor. But I agree with you. When you think about who has benefited from the style of play mandated by the new coach, John Tavares is at the top of that list. I believe so, 100%. And it's funny to me that Tavares, high-skilled player,

but understands the importance of getting to the front of the net, understands the benefit of shooting pucks at the net in high volume, hasn't worked for a lot of other leagues. We've been talking about the need for secondary scoring, which is why we're talking about the need for tertiary centers and on down the line. It's funny to me that the guys at the top of the food chain have adapted well to the Berube system,

which was probably not our preseason prediction, right? Like the high-skill guys have thrived under Berube. It's been the guys with more role-player roles that have had a harder time finding the kind of performance that this team would want them to have well look at william neilander too i saw a graphic yesterday i i apologize i don't remember who exactly posted it but neilander's got 10 goals from within the inner slot and that ranks in the top 10 in the nhl you don't think about that when you think about william neilander a guy who goes to the net and scores in tight.

But that's what he's been asked to do this year, and he's been able to do that. He's taking and driving pucks, playing that straight-line hockey and driving to the net and scoring that way, and he's kind of adapted that. And that's exactly what Berube has asked him to do. And Nylander's one goal off of the league lead right now. Again, another thing I don't know if we're talking a whole lot about

at this point is the goal-scoring season that Nylander's having. One goal shy of leading the NHL in the rocket race behind Leon Dreisaitl at the Christmas break. It's impressive. If I would have told you that was going to be the case at the beginning of the year, I don't think you would have believed me. You could have got some pretty nice odds on a fan duel. Oh, yeah.

Nice little rocket race on Willie. Could have definitely done that. He was probably listed in the preseason odds. Would have been low. It would have been low. That's for sure. Yeah, it would have been way low. But at least they're done for the next couple of days.

But the sports calendar continues. No sports tonight, but a heavy slate on Christmas, which traditionally has been dominated by the NBA, right? Over the last couple of decades, it's been the NBA Christmas slate, and they've really, really represented what it is to be a sports fan on Christmas Day. You sit down, you get to watch it all day. It's similar to NFL and Thanksgiving, right? The last couple of years, the NFL has kind of put in their hat in the ring here,

and tomorrow we've got a couple of big games chiefs and steelers baltimore texans like how the nba is already struggling with viewership right now yeah how much do you think they are absolutely hating what the nfl is doing right now they're hating it immensely like this is the worst casecase scenario. And here's the thing, Al's brother. A year ago around this time, the NFL vowed, I think it was an article by the Wall Street Journal, if I'm not mistaken, they basically said that if Christmas falls on Tuesday or Wednesday, we won't play because it's not good for our players

to be playing on these short weeks. We can't ask Patrick Mahomes to play on a Saturday and then a Wednesday. And then shortly thereafter, they said, wait a second, we probably could do that. And they're doing it a year later. They're saying, you know what, Patrick? Yeah, we know you have been hobbled by a high ankle sprain, although you didn't look too hobbled in Saturday's game.

But we're going to ask you to play on Saturday and then Wednesdaynesday and player safety whatever that means anymore yeah that that'll take care of itself we're getting a lot of money for this and we're gonna serve our tv partners our new streaming partners at netflix we're gonna give them a nice christmas treat uh despite the fact that we said not too long ago that we wouldn't do this you know it's interesting i never thought of this being a as a reason for why it's now you know why the nfl is now able to do this or why they feel like they they can do it you know prior to covid it you know they never were forced to play games on tuesdays and wednesdays right but when covid games ended up

getting canceled and they had to move the seasons around to move games around, then they ended up having to do so. Play some games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Fridays. Yeah. And everything kind of got, you know, jammed up. And I wonder if that gave the NFL a little bit of data to say, actually, we can't do it because we were forced to during COVID. And it didn't prove to be, you to be more injuries or anything like that and that the players were willing to do so, then now they're sitting here saying, yeah, we can play on a four or five-day rest.

That's all they need. Hey, man, it's a hell of a selling point, isn't it? I guess we'll find out in the long term how it affects players, but I'll say this. The NFL's got one thing going for it. You never hear an nfl player say i don't want to play and this is true the nba they can't say you can't exactly say that uh with a straight face no absolutely not i want to get into this we got to go to kirk morrison

joining us former nfler but i do want to get into that and and. And maybe we could have a little bit more of a lengthier conversation as to why the NBA viewership is down. Because I think that has a big part of it. So we can get into that a little bit later on in the show. But coming up, we do have Kirk Morrison joining us. And MJ, Johnny, going to join us also at 5 o'clock. I'm Mike DiStefano with Dave Feshuk of the Toronto Star. Listen to Overdrive up on TSN4 and on TSN

1050. Overdrive continues up on TSN4 and on TSN1050. Mike DiStefano filling in for Brian Hayes. Got Dave Feshuk of the Toronto Star in with me. Wasn't a great ball game last night. Not a great ball game.

That is an understatement. 34 to zip. It was the first time all season that a team had been shut out the packers crush the new orleans saints and i don't want to say i predicted a 30 point win but i i did predict a 30 a 30 point win i didn't think they were going to get shut out you predicted a 14 and a half point cover i certainly did and i mean look at the roster the saints put out there last night. That offense, if you ask any Fairweather football fan, they might have been able to name one skilled position player.

It really was kind of an embarrassing roster that they had to field. Joining us now to talk about that, talk about the Christmas slate coming up this week, is former NFLer Kirk Morrison of Series XM. What's going on, Kirk? How are you? Well, how are we doing today, fellas? We're doing great. We'll look back on last night's game, I suppose, and it was an absolute blowout, obviously.

The Packers put together a pretty good performance over the Saints, but you look at that Saints team and that offense in particular, how could an NFL roster look like that in a primetime game? How do you think the NFL felt about that one? Well, I mean, it looked like a great game when the way that the beginning of the season started with the New Orleans Saints. Remember, they were the 2-0 champions of the NFL

after the first two weeks, having scored multiple points against the Panthers. And remember, they blew out the Dallas Cowboys. Oh, everybody, watch out. And then they go on a losing streak. They fire their head coach, Dennis Allen. Look, Derek Carr hasn't been healthy. They've been going back and forth between Spencer Rattler and Jacob Hayner

at quarterback. Remember Chris Olave, their outstanding wide receiver. He's been banged them around ir with the uh concussion situation they lose rashid shaheed who's one of the outstanding young receivers in this league he goes on ir so that's not the same team that was we saw earlier in the year and that's unfortunate because i think that there's a better representation for the new orleans saints than we saw last night they're just going up against a juggernaut in the Green Bay Packers who are definitely hitting their stride at the right time.

Yeah, do you think the Packers, in what you saw last night, I think after the game, LaFleur was saying how that's the first time that they've been able to win in all three phases and win in all four quarters in a full 60-minute performance. And last year, you remember, there was a big back-half surge for this team, similar to what's happening this year. Are the Packers becoming a team to be aware of in the NFC? Are they the third-best team in their own division, though?

How crazy is that? That is quite insane. Good point. I mean, yeah, they're a threat, but it's crazy to think that this is a season in which they're a threat, but yet they crazy to think that this is a season of which they're a threat, but yet they may be the third threat in their own division, as we've seen the way that Minnesota has been able to play this year,

and obviously Detroit, who continues to get it done despite all of the injuries they've got as a team, especially on defense, but I'll give Green Bay their credit. I mean, they're a team that right now looks to be in a position of the way they run the football, the way they're playing defense under new defensive coordinator Jeff Halfley. They've got some things and pieces in place that you have to like their positioning

on. It just depends on right now who they draw in that wild car round. Right now, it seems like it may be the Rams. If there's a 3- matchup if the rams win their division and then you know green bay kind of stands pat and they're the number six seed so i can see that but they earned a lot of confidence last year i know it's some new guys right josh jacobs and a couple other players who they've drafted but they earned a lot of confidence

being a seven seed going to Dallas and beating them last year. So they probably have that carryover again this year. So, Kirk, let's look ahead to the Christmas Day games tomorrow. You've got the Chiefs and the Steelers and the Ravens and the Texans. And before we get to the matchups, I was curious, you played in the league a long time, for eight years, and I'm wondering how you feel about the idea, because it was only about a year ago that the NFL was curious, you played in the league a long time for eight years, and I'm wondering how you feel about the idea,

because it was only about a year ago that the NFL was saying, you know, we won't play on Christmas Day if Christmas Day falls on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. Here it is on a Wednesday, and the Chiefs are going to be playing their third game in 10 days. What do you make of that from a player safety, player health perspective, and in terms of the gameplay we might see because of the grind on these guys? Well, I mean, the Chiefs are 2-0. If they win this next game, they're 3-0, and they've got like a two-week off break

that they probably may not even have to play in that final week 18 matchup versus the Denver Broncos. Look, I've always said this. The NFL is very challenging. It's very hard, but they make the schedule the way they do. And it's not like it's just for one team. They make it for multiple teams who have this similar schedule. The same could be said for the Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, who are all playing good football at the right time. The NFL, if you turn it on, we're going to watch it. And I think over the last couple years you've seen that.

I've been to a Christmas Day game a couple years ago, the whole slime game here in Los Angeles with the Broncos versus the Rams, and people showed up, people watched. If you put National Football League games on television, the consumer is going to watch it. And the NFL realizes that, and now you're putting two marquee matchups on Christmas Day. I know I'm going to be watching.

I would love to even be there. It's definitely taking over the NBA. But, you know, again, just to kind of go back to your player safety point, I feel like this is what everyone has to go through. Everyone is going through it. And I've always said this, at the end of the day, you never hear people complain after the game.

It's maybe before, oh, we're hurt, we're banged up, but you never hear people talk about it afterwards because that long break, man, always feels great. And those teams will have a lot of time to rest up before they have what I think, you know, well, they're all making a playoff, so that's a little bit even easier now that they've got a little bit of rest going into a possible Week 18 matchup that they may need to play hard in or giving them an extra week of rest if they've already felt like

they've got their seating already in lock. With Kirk Morrison, former NFLer. And, well, let's dive into this matchup, Chiefs and Steelers. I think it's still two and a half is what the spread is currently over on FanDuel. And, you know, the Chiefs has been an interesting season. I mean, they're 14-1, but there's been a lot of close calls in this one. Do you expect another close, gritty game here between the Chiefs and Steelers tomorrow? Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, it's a home game for the Pittsburgh Steelers. To me, we know it's going to be a close game, close matchup. That's the way the Steelers play. Games are always coming down close. It's kind of surprising the way it went to a double-digit lead, you know, last week versus the Baltimore Ravens, but that was because of the little pick six. George Pickens, I think, returns for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

They're at home in their place. I actually think the Kansas City Chiefs, this may be a loss for them. I really believe Pittsburgh is, you know, playing with an edge. Having lost last week, not playing their best football and turning it over. I kind of like the position that they're in. I'm going to take the Pittsburgh

Steelers to beat the Chiefs. I think it's just that one game, three games like you mentioned, 10-11 days. I just feel like it may be a little bit too much, just depending on some injury situations with guys. Patrick Mahomes will be fine, but Chris Jones probably not 100%. I just think that the Steelers win an ugly, sluggish game at home,

and they take over, and we'll see where that puts them as they try to capture the division crown so they can host a home playoff game there at Accresure Stadium. Well, the other narrative, I guess, coming into this week, Kirk, try to capture the division crown so they can host a home playoff game there at Accresure Stadium. Well, the other narrative, I guess, coming into this week, Kirk, and you finished off your career in Buffalo, so you know what it means to fans of the Bills, how starved Buffalo is for success. And there was a feeling that Josh Allen had the MVP race probably wrapped up a couple of weeks ago and then a bit of an uneven performance in a squeaky

win against the patriots uh with lamar jackson continuing the fire on all cylinders for the ravens has people thinking it might be still a bit of a race here uh you know lamar and the ravens playing the texans what do you what do you think the chances are that lamar jackson can catch josh allen down the stretch here and make this mvp race maybe more compelling than i thought What do you think the chances are that Lamar Jackson can catch Josh Allen down the stretch here and make this MVP race maybe more compelling than you thought it might be? Yeah, you know, I think one of the difficult things is that we never forget the primetime games, right?

Those are the ones that we get a chance to sit around. They're the only, what I call the standalone games. And so those are the ones that kind of leave the lasting impression on you throughout and i say that because watching now lamar jackson play on christmas day the only game you'll be able to watch and see how he either takes over a game how he's the best player on the field we'll watch that and it's hard to forget that especially in the time where the votes are going to be, you know, the voting starting right now in terms of that actual award, the MVP.

So that kind of puts Josh Allen behind the eight ball a little bit. And the games that mean a lot, the Buffalo Bills wrapped up their division to win. How long ago? So there's not really that game that you say, oh, wow, we've got to watch this game for this particular reason. The Buffalo Bills are already in the playoffs. They're hoping that Kansas City loses twice, which I just don't see happening. And so it's kind of crazy that Josh Allen doesn't really have that meaningful game that you want to see him take over and have an unbelievable performance. It's almost to a point where you may want to preserve Josh Allen a little bit

and get ready for the playoffs, whereas the Baltimore Ravens are playing for not only a division title, they're also playing for their seeding as well. That's why I think this is going to be a difficult, difficult now last couple weeks because I'll be honest, here in Los Angeles, I got a chance to see that Josh Allen game where he threw for three touchdowns and he rushed for three touchdowns. And I just said the next day, hey, just give this guy the MVP now. I mean, he's the best player in the NFL this season. And Lamar Jackson comes off of a bye week and has just been outstanding.

Like, hey, hey, look at what I'm doing. And you're like, oh, my God, you can't discredit what he's doing. With Kirk Morrison and the quarterback that's going to be on the other side of Josh Allen this weekend, Aaron Rogers, he's always in the news because he just loves to talk to that guy.

But he was asked today about his future in New York. I want to play the audio of what he said today and get your thoughts on the other side. If you do want to come back and they want you back, what would that mean to you? I mean, given all that's taken place. It would mean that they see me as an important part of helping the culture, the changeover, The culture, the changeover, whatever they do at head coach and helping, you know, the next wave of New York Jets.

You know, that'd be special to hear that. But if they don't, again, no offense at all will be taken what do you make of those uh those words there basically either you want me or you don't uh let me know early on that's basically what he's saying and that he realizes the business of the national football league and the business side of it is that i know you're bringing a new head coach general manager probably bringing a new quarterback and if I'm not a part of those plans let me go somewhere else and I can kind of find a spot that I can be in or would you want me to be a bridge quarterback is that something that is in the cards as well I think he realizes what it is right now. It has been a failure

since he's been in the two seasons that he's been with the Jets. They have not reached their expectations. And so he realizes that things have to change. Now he's just trying to figure out, is he a part of that change? Or does he need to go and pick his

bags and take his football somewhere else and hopefully he can find a spot in the league that will allow him to come in and play quarterback. I'll tell you this. He's played well, especially this last month. This Jets offense has played well. They've been able to get some things going with Devontae Adams, Garrett Wilson. Brees Hall came back and ran the football a little bit better.

The offensive line is just not as good as they hoped to, but he's got an opportunity, and that's what I said he's playing for against Buffalo these last couple games as well. It's proven that he still belongs in the league. He can still play at a high level in this league, and if he's not playing for the Jets, his audition is for the 31 other teams that say,

hey, if we need a starter, he could still be a starter. If not, would he take that role of being a bridge or a backup quarterback? No, that's a really good point. I think the last two weeks here definitely will be a big audition for Aaron Rodgers. Appreciate the time, Kirk. Hopefully we can speak again uh down the road yeah sounds good fellas appreciate it thank you absolutely kirk morrison from uh sirius xm nfl analyst former nfler um yeah i mean that's a really good point he brings up i guess

you know a lot of people think and he should just like it's it's so bad right now with New York. Why doesn't he just go away? Like, just go, it's done, he's not coming back. It already sounds like the Jets are moving on from him. Just go away and no one will be upset. But he does still have something to play for. Possibly next season, if he wants to come back, show to the world, show to the other 31 teams,

I can still play this thing at a pretty high level. You give me a team with some weapons, a good offensive line, which is very imperative to quarterbacking play at that age, I can still put forward a winning product for your city and for your team. Well, it'll be interesting to see the fallout from some of his other comments this week about the possibility of being released by a teenager uh essentially a troll of owner woody johnston who has been accused in this athletic article of taking advice from his two teenage sons brick and jack who are big madden

fans and have alerted their dad to the Madden ratings of certain players. Gary Judy, yeah. Gary Judy in particular. And it's alleged that this team is essentially run by video game. You know, you don't hear pro athletes, I was brother, troll the owner very often.

And we just heard Aaron Rodgers troll the owner of the New York Jets. Aaron Rodgers has been trolling the world for the last five years. This guy just gives no you-know-whats about anything. He just speaks his mind more than anyone else on planet Earth, it feels. And we'll see if it costs him. I will be curious to see how many teams will be lining up for his services. Well, I'll tell you what, it hasn't been great in the full scope of the season, and obviously

very disappointing for the Jets, because there were people, I don't know where you stood on Jets preseason, Jets prognostications. They were, if I'm not mistaken, favored to win the division at the beginning of the year. It seems ludicrous now. Yeah. But, you know, they were favorites, and he was a big reason for that. Now, he's had some tough times, obviously, and the offensive line has a lot to do with that.

Obviously, the Jets' defense has a lot to do with it. But the last three games, you look at it, I mean, he's had five touchdowns thrown, zero interceptions, hasn't thrown for less than 250 yards in any of those games, had a 340-yard game against the Miami Dolphins. So he's had some decent results. He's had some flashes of the genius that was Aaron Rodgers in his prime. Now it's not a consistent,

you know, kind of sustained flash, but it's, you know, brief, you know, moments where you go, well,

he still got it to some degree. So I like given the fact that there's always a handful of teams searching for quarterback talent in this league, and that's a universal truth of the NFL year after year after year. There's just not enough quarterbacks to go around. You know there's somebody out there that would take a flyer on Aaron Rodgers.

You would think Cleveland's an interesting name, actually. Pretty good O-line. They've got some receivers. They've made some questionable quarterbacking decisions in the past. Why not another one? Why not bring in another distraction? Why not? I don't know.

But, yeah, it's really interesting. Aaron Rodgers this week going up against the Buffalo Bills, and that'll be a good game. But I'm excited for those games tomorrow. I like it. Antonio Morrison, or Kirk Morrison, likes the Steelers. You know who's on the Steelers? Hazenbro. On the Steelers. You want to know

for the week? We are. We are. Picked a winner last night. Absolutely we did. Alright, Mike Johnson still to come in the 5 o'clock hour. He goes to the Overdrive on TSN 1050 and up on TSN 4. Overdrive continues up on TSN 4 and on TSN 1050. Mike DiStefano and dave festruck in from the

toronto star you watch that raptors game last night i did yeah not a very good one they lose uh it was a 139 to 125 to the new york knicks og and anobi showed up and showed out in front of his new home crowd against his old team. Big night for OG. OG's a big hero and the big apple. I'll tell you that right now. And that Knicks team is rolling. They really are.

They'll be playing Christmas Day against the Spurs and Wemby, who, speaking of being on a roll, is currently on a roll. Wemby's, like, Victor Wemby is such a freak of nature. Like, this guy, I was talking about it with producer Owen right before the show. Like, the guy is only in his second year. He's, what, 20 years old? Yeah. Like, and he could become, like, a top five, top ten player in the NBA by the end of the year.

Oh, yeah. In just his second season. He's incredible. Like, just the things that he's able to do, the athleticism, his ability to shoot, score, defend. Like, the guy, like, he's had 18 blocks his last two games. Yeah. 18 blocks.

I mean, he's leading the league. He's averaging four a game, averaging 25 points. He's shooting, like, he's shooting 36% from three, 88% from the line. Unbelievable. 48% from the field. I think he's been 50, 40, 90 over the last 15 games or so. He's really heating up.

It's scary how good this kid is. It's scary. I want to get into the NBA and their viewership scare and maybe what could be coming tomorrow for Christmas. We'll get into that at the start of the 5 o'clock hour here on Overdrive. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score.