OverDrive - OverDrive - January 16, 2026 - Hour 1 - Luke Willson

Episode Date: January 16, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Maple Leafs' defeat to Mitch Marner and the Golden Knights, Auston Matthews shutting out the Marner questions and his tough performance in the game, Marner's role with the Golden Knights and getting booed on home ice, William Nylander's persistent injury, the Maple Leafs' recent stretch and Bo Bichette signing with the Mets and Kyle Tucker joining the Dodgers. TSN NFL Analyst Luke Willson on the Divisional Round matchups, Josh Allen's playoff run and picks with Al's Brother.

This hour of overdrive is powered by Fandul. Fandul, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. All right, here we go, Overdrive, Off and Running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker, and up on TSN4, Brian Haseo, Doug, Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McClennon. What's going on? What's going on? What's going on, panel mate?

Yes. How we're feeling? How we feeling the day after what was a wilder? Night. Wild wild night. As my good buddy, Chris Drury, just let the Rangers fans know, this show is a retool. Not a complete rebuild, a retool. Okay, yeah.

Man, the Rangers love sending letters out. Love letters to their fans. You only get one every 20 years, I think. I don't think you can go back to the well. I know the last one was probably seven or eight years ago. I don't think you can go the letter route again. Not after they're screaming mad. And I don't know why.

else you can do. I mean, I always say, like, there's been a lot of talking when I started in this business, people were like, people in Toronto will never stand for a rebuild. They'll never tear it down. Whatever market you're in has to put up with whatever you're doing. It's not like they're going to veto anything or stop it. It's like, this is what we got. So deal with it. So I don't know. They're awful, though. And that's what happens. Whenever they're bad, it's like just fire up a letter. You know, send a love letter out to everybody. At least there's some, you know, at least you You know, at least there's some communication, though, guys. Sure enough.

You know, people have been, where's Tom Fitzgerald? You know, what's going on in Jersey? What's going? I guess there is questions. That being said, though, they've been dominated on home ice this year all season long. And then the last couple times have been like a 10 spot and then an 8 spot. Like, it's ugly. The fans are pissed.

I just don't know if that's, I think it's different. Hayes, you can speak to this, but that's a single owner. That's one guy that he's. that Chris Drury calls up or he calls and gets instructions from. In Toronto, in other cities and other organizations, you're answering to a board. You're answering to other entities. Dallas Cowboys, New York Rangers, New York Knicks,

because the same guy, like, it's rare that it's just one guy. And I get the impression Dolan is fond of a letter. He likes a letter. You know, send a letter out. If you were to pen a letter, I love saying that. You can't say right. I'm going to pen a letter to the Toronto sports fan today. What message would you send after the Leafs?

They threw that game away last night. They had on four different occasions they had a two-goal lead. That's almost impossible not to get two points. Yes, they got one, but hurdle scores with seven seconds left. We're all on the panel. We're all there. Everyone's watching. You can feel it.

to smell it coming. You're like there, there's no way this isn't going to overtime. And then I go with a beauty ends it. And then while we're there waiting for the game, Tucker signs with the Dodgers. And this morning, Bichette signs with the Mets. Crazy. What a 24-hour rundown. So go ahead. Get your pen out. Write a letter. What are you saying to the people of Toronto? Well, the first thing I would want to tell the people of Toronto is I see some chatter online. about Austin Matthews. And I just want to, like, address one thing. The guy's been asked about Mitch Marner a million times.

He made it clear back in the summer. It's, like, guys, really the Mitch questions. It seems like that's a common theme with Toronto. Like, what do you think about that? It's like, if you answer it once, like, isn't that enough? And listen, I do understand, and Mark Masters is a colleague of ours. He's also a big boy, and he was a little bit snarky with Mark, which is, Mark's a big boy.

He can handle that. But I don't know. You're in the middle of a game and you're asked about that. And people are like, I don't know. It's just the guy's been. Why don't we play it? Why don't we play it? People that missed it.

So this was before the game. This was before the game. Masters was doing a little sit, I guess, a quick chat with Matthew. It's a walkoff. Yeah, he's getting off the ice after, you know, at the end of the warm up. The two of them were the last ones off the ice, which is what they used to do in Toronto. Matthews and Marner. Marner shot a puck down jokingly at him and I think Matthews saw it. I think he knew it. But this was Masters asking him about that and the response from Austin.

Austin, you and Mitch, the last two out and warm-ups per usual, send a puck your way there at the end. What was it like seeing him over there? I didn't look over. I don't know. So, yeah, I think I've had enough of the Mitch questions for the day, Mark. So, yeah, let's just get ready for the game and go from there. message received message received message received see i i don't know

you can you can be pissed off there's there's two layers of this oh i don't know how you get feel about it but like it's matthews is getting ready for a game i understand that you're coming off he's been asked a million questions all i think about is we think of all the guys that we played with would sydney crosbie answer that question that way would

would, you know, anybody else that you can take that. Mike Johnson said the other day, everybody's built a little bit differently. I get it. And he's like, you know what? I've had enough of this. And I want to show that it's my team still. And I want to have a good game. Did it have the best look to it?

No, it didn't. But it's not the worst thing in the world. Like, God. And like, we're talking about a guy that's coming in the building next Friday. Okay. Yeah. And everyone is going to boo his ass. Like, as hard and loud as they can boo.

and we're going to make a big deal about this. Wasn't it the most pleasant thing? No, but let's not just make a mountain out of a molehill here. Like, oh, my goodness. And then it turned into the back check in overtime where it was like, look at this guy. Listen, it didn't end well for him. I'm with noodles on this. It was, you know, there's a lot of guys, yes, guys are wired differently.

Austin's not stupid. He could have made a joke about it. It's a big night. It's a big night. It's a big night. everyone knows it's coming and guess what it's coming on friday he's the captain it's coming all next week Mitch is back what do you think he can't sit you can't just say you know there's just it's not necessary it would have been so easy from to just say I was interested I was doing my own thing but

we'll see what happens on the ice you're short move on no one cares anymore but the problem with it is I think it gets highlighted based on the ending like he was cherry picking in overtime that's what he was doing he was hoping that the puck got loose and someone dumped it into the neutral zone and he got a breakaway because that's what it was like it was the end of a shift sure but it was for icel too and he was cherry picking and you know i thought the like this is it in overtime we're watching it here and sure he's 24 25 minutes into the game but i think right here he's reading it like find a way to get this thing uh-oh now i'm in trouble and icel ends it but the face off at the end of regulation that was the biggest like

one-on-one play of the game. Matthews v. Ico coming off the timeout, and he got beat clean. Like, he got beat clean, and that allowed Vegas possession. They set up in seven seconds left. They tied. So I thought he was chugging. He scored a goal. You know, I thought he played pretty well through 40 minutes.

But Austin, like everyone else, the third period, the Leafs, they are just so uncomfortable with the lead. They just sit back. They get buried. They get caved in. They give up opportunities. I don't know if it's a killer instinct. I don't know if it's a mentality.

I don't know if it's nerves. I don't know what it is, but he's at the forefront of it with everyone else. And, you know, he loses that draw. They score late. His guy beats him down the ice. It's not a great ending for him. And Mitch Marner gets to go out and celebrate and Vegas wins.

You know, it's a tough night in the end because, oh, we talked about it before the game. We talked about it on the show. Last night was a big captain's game. You know, it was a captain's night for Austin. And, you know, he was kind of pissy with Masters and then performs the way he performs. Not the end of the world, but you look back in the night, it turns out not a great night for Matthews. Pretty good night for Marner. Yeah, and, yeah, I want to climb on that a little bit, Brian.

Like, I think he played well. I think Matthews played well. But I think his comment is highlighted by the way it ended. If the Leafs win in regulation, I think that is, I don't. think his comment to Masters is as the light has shined that bright. I think it's like, ah, he was a bit pissy, but you know, you can chalk it up to him being focused or whatever. The fact that they lose and the fact on that plate, what happens is people grab things and

go, oh, what about that? What about this? What about that? To me, that's where I think, oh, he's getting a little bit more maybe criticism because if they win that in regulation, you're going, hey, what a great win, what a fun win, all of that type of stuff. Oh, yeah, and Masters, you know, took a little bit from Matthews. In the end, Mark Masters is a big boy.

He's a pro. Austin Matthews is the captain of the biggest hockey team in the NHL. So he knows that that question's coming. I think he could have just been like, Mark, again, with a question, hey, you know what, can't wait to beat Mitch tonight or can't wait to go out of. I think that's where maybe there was a little bit of a mistake, we'll call it. It's not that big of a deal, but I guarantee you, like, Masters could have followed up and said, well, you think this is bad now.

You're going to be asked about it next week. Coming next week. That's the thing. Mitch is coming back. It's a bigger night, him coming back to Toronto. Next week's way bigger. Way bigger than last night. So I don't know.

Oh, I get it. I don't think it's that big of a deal. I just think it got amplified because of the ending of the game. Yeah. And, you know, listen, he wasn't alone. Like Morgan Riley was asked about it after the game, and Riley shot it down. quickly. I think it was Mark

again. What did you think about playing Mitch? And I'm paraphrasing, but he basically said, nothing. I didn't think anything and moved on. Like maybe that was their plan. Dude, that might have been their point where it's like, this isn't like the first time. It's like when you're constantly

being asked, it's like, what about playing Mitch tonight? It's like, how many times can you say it's another game? Like, is that what everybody really wanted him to say, well, it's just another game? Oh, okay, great answer. That's the way you do that. And Instead, he's just, and we always say we'd rather these guys give some real answers. And he gave a real answer.

He's like, I'm sick of talking about Mitch. I'm ready to play the game tonight. So, and then we say that's not the right thing to say. How stupid is that? I hear you. It's not a matter. Let me just tell you this. Another thing, in Carolina, if Sebastian Aho gives that nobody's even, that's where people

talk about playing in big markets. And I do understand you have to have an understanding about playing for the Maple East. it's like hockey mecca, but other guys look at that and like if that's Sebastian Aho and Carolina, like it's not even, nobody's even saying a word about it. And now we're blowing it up into this thing and what are we going to do? We're going to keep Raz and Austin Matthews. I'm not down with that. I'm really not.

Well, I don't think it's about razzing him. I think it's, listen, if I believe, the part of me wants to believe he was playing to the crowd back home, which would be great. I'm not sure I believe that because I don't think he's ever really played to the crowd. but if that was the plan, like I'm shutting this down because Lee fans back home that are watching don't want to hear it or they want to see me say, I'm not talking about Mitch.

Maybe that was his plan. If that was the plan. Maybe he was pandering to the crowd. Brilliant. If that was the plan, you know, Jerry's percentages, 25%, 25% that that's what he was thinking. Okay.

But it would land. If you don't know that was his plan, then you don't know that he was trying to be a dick to master, so don't make assumptions. It's got to go both ways. Okay. Well, and I hear what you're saying, yes, Sebastian Aho, but no one, you know, you can't on one, on one hand say it's an honor and it's the greatest thrill of all time and then say, well, I wish I could be Sebastian Ajo and no one care. You know, like this is what comes with it.

Aaron Judge got to talk every day. Dak Prescott's got to talk every day. He's a captain of the team. I'm more intrigued by what he has to say after the game, which again, no one's talking about, you know, like what happened at the end of the game. How are you going to get back up off the mat? that was a big blow last night. It was a great hockey game. Thoroughly entertaining.

Like tons of back and forth action. I thought they had it on multiple occasions. When Lott made it 5'3, I'm like it's over. And then when they got the offside call on the Dorofia third goal that got called back, I'm like, okay, you can't possibly lose this point now. But you got to reset. Like we got started, you know, before they went out west, saying four or five points. Like so you got three now through three games.

Not the worst. Not great, but not the worst. I thought overall through 40 minutes, 50 minutes. They played well. But now you go to Winnipeg. Jets are winning a little bit more lately. It'll be an electric atmosphere again. A lot of leave fans, a lot of jet fans, Saturday night.

You got to find a way to get points. And I got to believe Hilderby will play. You know, Walled wasn't on the ice today. He's played a lot recently. I think you're going with Hildovi on Saturday night. Willie, I doubt plays. We'll see. But I doubt he plays.

What was announced, lower body? injury again? Reaggravation of what he used to have. Due to celebrations. Based on a celebration, that's what it looked like. It looked like he celebrated. He's Martin Gramatica, basically. I was just going to say that.

He went up for the celebration. Willie Gramatica. Oh, man, that stinks. And who knows how long he's going to be out for. But, yeah, we'll see. That's concerning because if you reaggravate an injury, you know, you want to be 100%, but that seemed very innocent. You know what I mean?

Like that, for him to, you know, maybe it just twins something and they're being precautionary. Like they got a great better. But you also get to the point, Jamie, where you're like, if it only took that to reaggravate it, we might have a bigger problem than we thought. That's my bigger concern is he didn't get laid out in the middle of the ice or, you know, got run into the boards and his leg twisted or whatever the nature of the injury is. that looked very innocent and that's concerning it might they might be precautionary but you know he was playing well and then all the sudden he's gone oh he was concerned cooking man yeah like his

set up to riley the goal yeah um and the fact that he didn't come back is i think the concern right like he didn't right it's not something you want to fight through or he didn't fight through but um yeah i mean will he ever since he returned he's been really good and they've been playing well. Like again, last night, it was a great game. Vegas, a really good team. Really good team. And I thought Marner, what was interesting about that game is I think it illustrated the realities of his life now, his career going forward. Like, that is Eichol and Stone's team. And it was the Eichel and Stone show last night. And Marner is going to be a big part of it. But I would use the Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh analogy. That's what it felt like to me.

That was Sid and Gino and Phil. You're going to play a ton. And you're going to play a ton. You've got to put up numbers, and you're going to be a second, third line guy, sometimes on the top line, power play guy. But when you have Eichel playing the way he played last night and Stone playing the way he can play, and Theodore and other pieces, Marner, yes, he's got a day on his jersey. He's an important player, really important player, but he's going to ride shotgun with those two guys. They just start creeping towards the net. Like Eichael's on the half wall, Stone's at the side of the net, Marner's at the top, and it's like this closer they creep to the net. you're like one of these guys are going to score.

And they have that threat of the stone stuff play, kind of cross-crease play. And then everybody collapses. They got the bump play to the slot. Like they're going to score a ton of goals. Dorothea. Yeah, Dorothea, that guy could just flat a rocket for a shot. Rocket. That power play is impressive, though.

And Mitch is a big part of it. I've watched them play a lot this year. And the one thing he misses out on points is, because he's the top of the. umbrella. He's the guy who gets the puck in, distributes it, but it goes down to Eichel, down to stone, then into either hurdle, into Dorfia. So Mitch misses out on the secondary assist because it's already gone down to the play. So it's, he, you know, in Toronto, everything ran through him, right? Like it ran, like he was the guy and he distributed the puck. He gets it in, and he's the top of

the umbrella. So I think he's missing out on some points that way, but I don't think he cares. I think they know they got a good team there. I didn't think if the Leafs played well, I thought Vegas looked really tired and shaky early on. They couldn't make a pass. Their goalie wasn't very good until, you know, he settled in. And people are talking about that ridiculous save-o-McMan. Keep in mind the guy was doing a back.

He was facing in the net. Like he stopped it with the back of his legs. It had a hashing vibe to it, though, didn't it? It was insane. It was an insane save, but it's like, don't, you know, great save. Don't ever do it again. type of thing from a technique standpoint. Willie Mase Hayes kind of play.

But, you know, it was a weird, it had a weird feeling for me watching it because I didn't think Wohl made some good saves, but I, you know, I didn't think he had his A game. I didn't give up six. You know, it's going to be a tough night. I think the goalies have their greatest game. But both teams had some firepower. And, you know, Vegas is a team that kind of kept methodically chipping away at you, chipping away.

Like, they're a good team. There's something, again, about the league. in the third period with leads. Like they are really uncomfortable. I don't know why. I don't know what changes. You know, is the way they protect the puck,

the way that they break out. They seem to do a lot more just flip it out, just get it out, you know, in the third period or games where they've got the lead and that's just going to lead to you being on your heels. Buddy, it might be flat out personnel.

Could be. You know, could be, especially, you know, on the defensive side, they're back end. Yeah, without Tanna, and yeah, we know what they're, what they have and where they're going. But, you know, ultimately, now you go into Winnipeg tomorrow and you, if you get five points,

that's a great trip. It's a great trip. You get four, it's a good trip. You get three, it's going to be really disappointing because of how you started. Like, tomorrow's game is really now the linchpin for the whole four game trip because you beat Colorado, you had Vegas. If you can't get past Winnipeg tomorrow, then it's going to be. to be a missed opportunity.

Yeah. But, yeah, last night, like the Lee fans that traveled, Mitch was getting booed while he touched the puck, which is pretty wild. You don't see that too often. I didn't see that coming, though. Like, again, maybe that's me being naive. Do you think it's just going to be a rain of booze? Oh, if you heard the booze in a visiting rink, you're going to hear them.

I'm pretty sure, loud and clear. Right or wrong, I don't care what people do when they go in that building, but I would suspect that it's going to be very loud. That's all I could think of last night Because I You know Full disclosure I was on a plane

So I watched it actually On TV but on an app In the U.S. broadcast So I watched Ray I didn't get a chance to watch a TSN broadcast And at first Butchakross was like They're booing somebody

And Ray's like That's Mitch Marner they're booing And he's like no way And he goes watch And every time he touched the puck They're booing And Ray goes out There was a bunch of fans

He told the story What he told on us with Overdrive saying there was a bunch of fans that came in for it. I just didn't, I wasn't expecting that. I don't know. Hayes, did you think it was automatic that they were just going to boo him next Friday? Like that's it? Oh, yeah, I expect that.

I mean, who knows? The Scotch Bank Arena is a conundrum. It's impossible to predict. I don't know who's got the tickets. You know, if there's more suits than who knows, you know. How's it going to go, Brian, when there's booing. And then they toss up the thanks for, like, you know, the welcome back. the welcome back vid like what's that going to get it's a weird kind of psychosis like there's a chance

that he gets booed and then cheered during that video and then booed the rest of the night like it's it's a weird exit man and the fact that again they just played and the way that that game played out the fact that Vegas ends up winning you know the way the leaps are going to handle it they're not going to prop it up like the players aren't clearly that that is obviously the way they're going to operate is we're not talking about him. We're not interested. And I appreciate that mentality. Don't get me wrong.

I think that's the right place. Not a part of your team anymore. He's not here anymore. And he's not coming back. He's gone. You've got to move on. You've got to believe that you still have a good team and you got to prepare for it. But that building is a weird building.

You know, how loud it's going to be, how nasty it's going to be. Yeah. It's not going to be Long Island when tomorrow is. It's not going to be anywhere close to that. It's just not the way Lee fans are generally wired. People in Toronto aren't wired that way. You know, when Vince Carter came back, Tracy McGrady came back, it was crazy. But different, you know, different context, different crowds.

But I think last night, I guess I wasn't certain how many Lee fans would be there. You know, how many people were going to fly down, how many people would be in attendance? It's a crazy building. Golden Night fans are loud. There's a lot going on in there. You know, I wasn't sure they would allow Leaf fans to be heard, but they were last night. All right. So more on this.

Mike Johnson will join us. Johnny just after five. We'll get into the Tucker and Bichette follow up for the Jays and Blue Jays and Blue J fans and how they're trying to handle this and where it's going. The money these guys are getting. Dude, crazy. I just say one thing on that. You just go to Tucker and say, this is our offer, because if you're not going to take it,

I don't know why they would let, and they've been through it before. They've been dragged along, and then somebody goes to a different team. Here's our offer, take it or leave it, and then you go back to Bo. I'm disappointed. Bo Bichette's not going to be a Blue Jay now. Yeah, the fact that it happened so quickly, it almost feels like Bo, you know, waited for Tucker to go and then just landed and never picked up the call again from the Jays. But I do. I wouldn't either, man.

I wouldn't either. It was like, oh, I've been part of this team for a long time, a part of the main core that delivered offensively. And all you guys cared about was Kyle Tucker, a guy that's never played a game for this organization. How do you think that? I told you right off the hop. How do you think that make him feel? Yeah. But let me ask you.

you this, maybe they see something that they didn't want to commit to. You know, it took them a long time to sign Vladdy, a long time. Yes. They could have, like, it took, and they didn't get Bichette done. Something smelled like they didn't want to, you know, move. Certainly not paying $42 million a year, like the Mets did. Like, that's an absurd dollar amount. Good for Bichette.

It's an incredible contract. Like, the reality is, the reporting on it is, if it wasn't the Mets, it was the Phillies. You know, there have been reports. The Phillies thought they had them on a, a seven-year deal at $200 million. And the Mets called up when they missed out on Tucker. Basically, you know, it's like you're gooned on Tinder and you're just like swiping. And Steve Cohen called up Bichette and just said, hey, what's it going to take?

$42 million? Sure. Opt out after every year? Sure. You know, and Bichette's like, I'll play third base, second base, left field. I don't care. You're paying me $42 million. You know, so the Jace clearly didn't have an appetite for that or it would seem like they don't.

And I do think there is two sides to the question. It's not just Bichette, you know, jumping from the J's. It's how much did the Jays really pursue him? How comfortable are they with not having him here? And it puts pressure on the guys that are here, right? Like now, Ernie Clement, you're playing, man. Ernie, you got to go. You know, Jimenez, you're going to short.

You got to play. You got a hit. Anthony Santander, I think he's got a ton of pressure on him. He didn't play last year. Like now, they've lost a massive power bat in your lineup. Santander better be healthy. He better play, better perform. they need that.

So it's a big hit. But they did spend a lot earlier this offseason. They have made moves. They've been active. And he didn't sign with Boston or the Yankees. Neither of these guys signing the American League East. So there is something you can take in that. Steve Phillips on that later this afternoon.

All right, Luke and Al's brother coming up. It's been a crazy week. A lot of back and forth with HBO trying to figure out where we land, who we're taking, who we're going to leave for you guys to take. I like our process, though. I like quality process. Yeah, quality, everyone had their, like everyone was understanding. There was no flying off the handle.

I like our process. Okay. Oh, I don't know. I mean, you flew off the handle a couple days ago, you were saying. But that's a part of the process, right? You throw a lot at the wall and figure out. I rely on hazy to calm me down. And that's precisely what I'm trying to do.

It's part of the process. It's all about delegating. It's all about making sure everyone feels good about themselves. House. Everyone's a part of the team here. All right, so we'll catch up with Luke and AB. We'll do that next. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind, and now I've got my own show.

So if you're tired of lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies, available on all TSN platforms in the IHeart Radio app. All right, Overdrive continues, powered by Fandul, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Big weekend in the NFL. Leafs in action tomorrow. Raps playing the clips, but of course, Kauai's not going to play. And B.J. Singh,

currently three under part at the Sony. He's on fire, VJ. Oh, right. Yeah. He's on fire. B.J. is on fire. VJ.J. in Hawaii with his honkas and a tight beige slack, he's unstoppable.

Unstoppable. Although, quickly, before we bring our boy in, there he is. I got cornered by Hedge last night. Why? It's Hoka shoes, not Hanka, because I guess Hedge is a supporter. Yeah, Hedge is a big supporter. And it was very unsettling last night. She was very upset that you continue to butcher the name of VJ's shoes.

I'm sponsored by A6, so it's hanka. I'll never change. Brand loyalty, I love it. I love it. There he is, Luke. What's up, Luke? How we doing? I'm living large here, boys.

living large. I'm excited for today. Obviously, Nules and I, we've been in talks all day. We've been in talks all day. We've been grinding numbers and big moment here. Very big moment. All right. What do you make of Sam Darnold showing up on the injury report? It's a bit worrisome.

I thought the whole thing was just handled a little strangely. It's like, okay, so we tweaked the oblique, I believe. That's what they're officially calling it. And then just like the media availability and I don't, don't love it i don't love the whole thing but i got a feeling the seahawks will be okay oh is that right okay you feel good about the seahawks interesting played some mind games here early noodles and playing mind games very interesting i love it i love it very interesting um well i mean injuries are a huge part of it right like it sounds like ed oliver i think it's been activated uh for the bills

so that's a big boost on the defensive side and nico collins i believe out for the Texans, that's a huge hit on the offensive side. Like, we're week two in the playoffs, but it's a war of attrition, right? Like, how many guys can stay upright? Especially at this time of the year, Hayes, like, you know, it's kind of like, yeah, the season resets, it's the playoffs, but the body doesn't get that reset. And for a lot of these teams, not obviously Seattle, Denver, but it's been, you know, a grind getting to this point.

You know, I look at a team like the Rams as well. It's like they had to fight their way down the stretch. they're trying to win the division, they lose out on that. They get in, you think, oh, they got to lay up against the Panthers. That game was wildly close. They got to fly across the country there, talking about the Carolina game. It's an interesting ordeal, you know, and it'll be fascinating, even Buffalo here. As much as last week, you know, they won.

It was a tough game. Jacksonville gave him a lot of problems. kind of came right down the wire. Josh Allen played really well, and now all of a sudden you're going into Denver. It's going to be tough, boys. I know you're going to pick Buffalo, but it's a tough one. I wanted to ask you, and I'm just going to keep this general

because this is for the fans, not for anything else involved in this show. What are your thoughts on Buffalo visiting Denver? Go ahead. I think if you watched Buffalo last week, Josh Allen right now is just playing out of his mind. He's been like that for a lot of the year. What I get nervous about with Buffalo,

and this is true transparency not for the show. Last week, I actually thought that they'd be tough, but I thought they would win the battle in the trenches and eventually break Jacksonville's run defense and pop a few big ones. That did not happen. What surprised me about last week was how comfortable and how efficient Josh was operating inside the pocket. And where I get nervous for Buffalo this week is they're now facing the number two rush defense.

And if that run game is as non-existent as it was last week, I can say with almost 100% certainty, I'll say 99, that it will not be as easy throwing the football against this secondary with this pass rush. Their defensive backs are unbelievable. I would put Sartan as the best. cornerback in the game. And their pass rush is the best pass rush in the game. So that's going to cause Josh

to have to really do a lot of things off schedule, which he can do. He can definitely do. We've all seen a million times. But it's not really a great strategy when it comes to margin of error going into a game. So as boring as this sounds, O'Dong, they need to establish the run.

That's just the reality of situation. I think if they get jammed like they did last week with their run game, I don't think they're going to win this game. Now, I'm not saying they need to run for a buck 60 but if they can hover right around that like let's call it low 90s to a buck 10 mark I like Buffalo

last one of them at why match the swath the third our left file down there he is John Lennon how are we feeling Alice brother everything all good or what everything's fantastic boys we got a

big weekend divisional series coming up I can't wait to get an these picks, man. I feel so good. I'm back. I'm off the cruise, and it's been all football this week leading up to this next little 10 minutes here, boys. Al's brother, just quickly, how would you summarize your season in totality?

Like, what kind of season do you think you had personally with your selections? Oh, I think we had a fantastic season. I mean, we're what, plus 21? Like, 21 games over 500. That's nothing to sneeze at here. Like, I mean, that's like asking Tom Brady, hey, how you

feeling going into that in that Super Bowl and they're undefeated. Feel like it's been a pretty good season. But unlike Tom Brady and 07, we are going to finish it and get the ring. The 07 Tom Brady season. You said it. No, not 07. What happened, noodles in 2007 again?

You guys aren't the Giants. I hate to break it to you. All I'm saying is that, you know what, they've had a slow start to the first quarter of the playoffs. That's all it is. First quarter. Maybe first half. We're down like 10-7 going into the second quarter. Oh, it might be 283.

We're the cardiac bears, boys. We're the cardiac bears. That's right. That's right. We'll stay humble. Let's say humble. Stay humble. Stay humble.

So for those that maybe are not familiar with the way this works, because we had such an electric regular season and we are the one seed, we get to choose the two games we want to play. As a result, because there's four games this week, the other guys, Luke Noodles, Noodle's son will pick the other two games. So we have been going back and forth all week. We have landed on our two picks, I believe. We'll land it on our two games anyway.

We'll get to some tremendous information in a moment. But I think we do this in chronological order. I think that makes sense. Maybe we go based on the scheduling this weekend, which means you guys are picking twice before we pick. You're on Bill's Broncos and you're on Seahawks Niners. Those are your two games. So we'll start with Broncos minus one and a half against the Bills.

Noodle Son, you are on the clock. Yeah, you know, well, we just kind of talked about it. Nudles and I, and I, to be honest to you, boys, before I even get into this, Noodles and I had this chat, I knew these would be the two games you guys picked because I knew that you guys wanted Buffalo and you know that I'm not going to take Buffalo. So it's a good strategy, boys. But thank you for this absolute layup, because as you saw last week, they can't run the ball against good run defenses.

Sean Payton is going to out-coach McDermott. They have the best pass rush in the game. If it wasn't for a couple games, they'd be up there of Houston's defense statistically. Sean Payton, like I said, is going to come out here, devise a game plan to destroy this Bill's defense, and it's going to be up to Josh to even keep this thing close, and he can't sit in the pocket. Shaver just blew out his ACL. Who's he going to throw the ball to? Kincaid, let's say Kincaid gets early.

Let's go back. What happened when Kelsey started getting going against these guys? They moved Sertan on to him. If Kincaid warrants that, that in the second quarter, they'll make adjustments. We are Broncos all day. We are Broncos Let's Rock. I love it.

I love this play. John shouted the pills as dogs. We are Broncos all day. Josh Allen as dogs. And here's it's interesting to me that you didn't name one player in your assessment. There's one player in particular who you chose not to talk about.

And that would be Bo Nix. And this guy's under Pan Cam is going to be absolutely disgusting and egregious. He's going to look at Josh Allen and say, I got to go blow for blow with Dat Cat. They're offense down the stretch. He's going to go old dog at Top Golf.

Absolutely. It'll be the O'Dog at Top Golf in Vegas. Bo Nix is going to be put in a position where he's got to put up points. I hear what you're saying about the Broncos and their defense. I'm sorry, Josh Allen, modern football. He's going to move the ball. He's going to move the chains. They're going to put up numbers.

And you're relying on Bo Nix to go blow for with this cat i don't see it i was brother going relying on sean patten and bonnitch yeah sean patten i get it but he's not on the field he's not on the field and what's the saying what's the saying that als he always uses he always says the sharps

the sharps i believe this was a buffalo favorite at the beginning the week was it not it flipped a complete reversal complete reversal it was i think ed oliver could be a sneaky one here you bring in ed oliver you know big defensive tackle. He was monstrous for the bills. He's a big reason why his absence as to why

they've been getting ran all over. You had him back into the fold. I believe he was activated just a couple hours ago. So he's going to be playing, man. I think that will be big to stop in the run. And then it comes down to Josh will be Josh. And we saw this matchup a year ago with Sean Payton versus McDermott. The bills won 31 to 7 and absolutely blew the Broncos out of the water. I think we'll see a good game, a tight game, but at the end of the day, this is the bill's year to make it happen. I think Josh Allen does not go down. He refuses to lose. I think the bills win this one.

I really do. So thank you for the extra point. It's the same narrative as last week. The same narrative. Jacksonville, too good. You know, Trevor Lawrence, Red Hot, wait until you see this defense. They're going to mall the bills. It's the exact same conversation.

All right. Now we move on to the nightcap Saturday night. Rams or no, sorry, Seahawks Niners. Seahawks minus seven. So a seven-point favorite at home against the Niners. Here we go. Let's see this. Blender brand.

I'll be very honest, noodles. This is one of those things where, you know, all year, and I know this is how else brother makes his picks, I've been pretty adamant that the Niners are legit. At one point, I had the Niners winning the NFC West. You know, so there's a lot of emotion in here to try and say, like, ah, the Niners are going to cover the spread. But the end of the day, like X's and O's can only bring.

bringing so far compared to Johnny's and Joe's. You know, Seahawks at home, this is a much, much, much weaker opponent when it comes to the Johnny's and Joe's. It just is. This is talking about the Niners. They're hungry. I played play out games in this building at home. This is a massive rivalry.

And if you go back to that final week of the season, that game should have been 30 to nothing. Okay. It was way closer than it actually was in the score. excuse me, the score was way closer than it actually was in the field. Again, unless you have a hunch noodles, and I will go with your hunch. If you have a hunch that it'll be close, you let me know. But I think we roll with the Seahawks minus seven. Look at that look on Alisbro's sake.

He's hurt. He's hurt. Oh, Doc. He's hurt. Sorry, Al's hurt. I'm with the Seahawks, too. Brock Purdy, man. He's the magic man.

Always been a believer. Always know Brock Purdy. I've hated Brock Purdy from the word goal if you want me to be perfectly honest with you. You know who we love Al's brother, Robert Sala. Bob Sala is a big H. Bobby Sala? Always has, but.

Sala. Guys, before the game, let's meet up in Al's Brothers' hometown and we'll run the stairs like Sala. That's what we're going to do. Okay. We need a backdoor cover here. We should go up. And we need a Darnold. Let's see and ghost. He's already planting the seed. Ooh, the oblique's not feeling great. That's him, that screams

planting a seed. Right? When he starts throwing picks, it's not his fault. It's the injury report. I'm okay with the Niners are getting points here, I was brother. I love it. I wanted the Niners. We were in the text chain.

I wanted the Niners, and there was a little bit of a pushback, if you will, from one of our members. So, like, all right, let's make them have this decision. I mean, it's a divisional game. It's a third time that they've seen each other. Which member was a hall. It was O-Docke said that Seattle was going to destroy them.

That's how we started. The word I use, gentlemen, is slaughter. Slaughter. Slaughter. Slaughter. Hold on, hold on. I don't see it happen. Former parts.

Right now is the moment you should be realizing you're on the wrong side. Yes, there is a good regular season. But as you saw round one, when it counts in the playoffs, you should be with the professional athletes. Well, but instead of- I got to tell you one thing. I know Al's brother was never a professional athlete, nor will he ever be.

But me and him are better friends than me and you ever were. We are so tight right now. And if this goes south this weekend, what do you think is going to happen? He's going to be calling you guys saying, is there a waiver claim before the championship weekend? You awake, you up? Yeah, you up. All right, moving on. Was it Eric, was it Eric Wettle a few years ago who just like jumped off the street and jumped onto a championship winning team with the Rams?

Yes. Yeah. Brilliant play, but it was Eric Wettle. Brilliant play. Yeah. All right, Pat's minus three at home against the Houston Texans. That was brother. Tremendous information.

Yeah, you know what? Like at first I was thinking, it could be a bit of a difficult game, like that Texans' great defense. But after looking into numbers, cultivating some tremendous information, this is actually a very easy selection, fellas. A slam dunk, if you will. It hits the Patriots. Like, yeah, the Texans got a tremendous defense and an absolute unit when it comes to rushing the passer. But Drake May is the best performer under pressure we've seen this year. He's first in the league in yardage, completions, touchdowns, and quarterback rating when under pressure.

So they may be able to get after him, but he's going to start picking them apart and move the ball down the field and continue to put up points like he's done all year. MVP, Drake, Drake, May, I may ask. On the other side of the ball, I mean, the Texans, that old line stinks. They can't run the ball well. Timu Stroud, as he's now being referred to as on this program, he's a shell of himself. And he'll be without his top weapon, Nico Collins, who's declared out today. And you're going up against a defense that only allowed three points against the Chargers. A much better offense.

Yeah, like they were spectacular. Mike Rable, great coach, and he has come up big and clutch in a lot of big games. So I think the Patriots cover this one by a field go at home with ease. Okay. I'm with you. I think we all are. Oh, you saw it the same way. We're going to lock that in, Patch minus three.

You know, it's both defenses. Layup of the week, boys. Congratulations on winning the regular season. Layup of the week. Very stout. Very stout. All right. Rams minus three at the Bears. Lay in three and a half in Chicago.

It's a night game. It's supposed to, it will be freezing. It's Chicago in January. It's going to be ice cold. Rams lay in three and a half. Don't forget that hook. You guys call the Rams and they win by three. We're going to take this one.

It's a big one. It is, although it was four at one point. Well, it's trending towards it. If you look on Fandu, I think it's minus 1118 at three and a half. So it's kind of trending to four. which means the sharps and the money is still putting money on the Rams, and we are going to do that as well. I think the Rams come in.

Look, the Bears, it's been a nice season for them, but seven times they've had to come back late in the game and win the game. I don't see it happening. I think that they finally get put to rest, and I think Maddie Stafford comes out and has a good game. But this is going to rely on whether or not the Rams can run the ball and protect the ball. They can do those two things.

I think they win this game with ease. It's in the Bears, 26th rank-run defense, and the Rams number one in the running game in terms of DVOA. And they protect the football. They turn it over just 15 times, the fourth fewest in the NFL. So if they can protect the ball, run the ball. Mattie Stafford will do his thing. Pooka will do his thing. He'll find Devonte Adams for a couple of nice grabs.

I think that they'll be able to put up some points here and win this one easily. Yeah, I agree. I mean, the Rams defense down the stretch has been scary. Like, it's not been positive. It was not positive last week. It could be a shootout, but I think if it is, that still can suit the Rams. You know, I still think the Rams are in a position with their offense. I take a veteran in a game like this and Matt Stafford over Caleb Williams, regardless.

How well Williams played last week, he was great. But I agree. Like the cardiac bears, it's been a great run. Good for you. McVeigh, Stafford, Rams, lock it in minus three and a half. All right, there you go. I love us. I love us.

It's tied four-four going into Sunday, and it's six-four, by Sunday night. And we love it. We love where we stand. Yes. We love where we stand. All right, boys. Well, you guys have a perfect record, to your credit.

You guys picked really well last week. We jammed you again this week. That will continue into next week. But the picks are, as you see up on your screen. Nootlson is on Denver and Seattle Landpoints. All four favorites were picked here. We're on New England and the Rams. So I guess the dogs are not barking as a Friday afternoon.

We'll see what happens this weekend. All right, boys. Good luck. Full breakdown early next week. Great seeing you guys. There it is. See you in the Giles' brother. I'm sure Luke would want to be a part of Al's brother's wedding, right?

When that happens, we've got to find a role for Luke. Ring bear. Ring bear. Yeah, exactly. Perfect. It'd be awesome. All right. Mike Johnson coming up.

Steve Phillips still to come on the craziness of the Leaf game last night. The baseball scene with Tucker, Bichette off the table. And who else is still out there? Who could the J's still pursue? Because they still have money now. Are they going to remain active? We'll find out with Steve in the next hour. Overdrive continues up on YouTube live.

Seasoned gamer or just video game curious? This weekend gaming is the podcast for you. We break down the latest in the world of video games from basics to beyond. The hottest gaming news, insight, and industry leaders and more weekly. Join me, Naomi Kyle, and stay ahead of the game with all the latest updates. even if you're a total newbie. Stream this weekend gaming on the free IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Quest complete. Mail it in Friday is brought to you by Boston Pizza Canada's favorite sports bar. This January at BP get delicious mouth-watering pasta starting at $1199 every single day. Enjoy the pastas you love at prices you can't miss. Hustle into your local BP tonight. You got a VJ with this honka's update? I need to know if this man's making the cut. Oh, where is he?

Come on, Vijay. I was just looking at him. I need this man to make the cut. I do, too. He was three under. Sorry, I'm trying to. He's still three under. Yeah, and he's through 16 today.

He's going to make the cut. The cut line's minus one, I think. Dude, Vij, do not do something stupid coming down the stretch. I need you on the weekend. With your glove, your full hat, and your honkas and a broomstick. Yes, with your glove on as you put. Won't take that glove off. like Jack Niklaus for the putting.

Right. Loves it. Yeah, take on that corner on 18. But, like, what should he hit? Does he take the driver out? Dude, you told me, I think, yesterday. This guy's mashing it out there, 3.30. He hit a ball 332 yesterday off the tee.

That's massive speed off the tee for VJ Singh. Love it. All right. VJ's 3 under, and he's coming home. He's coming down the stretch. He's doing it. And our boy, Nick Taylor was 8-Under yesterday. He's still in the lead.

He's just going on. out in the next hour. Man, I love that Hawaii golf. Love that Hawaii golf. Love it. It is a beautiful thing. All right, Johnny coming up, Steve Phillips. Best Bet still to come. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by Fanduel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Introducing Brian Adams Radio on I-Heart Radio. Hosted by Brian Adams. Adams himself. Join me for an insider look on a wild ride through 40 years of global rock and roll.

Brian Adams Radio. Now available on the free IHeart Radio app. Or ask your smart speaker to play Brian Adams Radio on IHeart Radio. Who's ready to rock? Oh, go. Kids want to rock.