OverDrive - OverDrive - January 19, 2026 - Hour 2 - Luke Willson

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN NFL Analyst Luke Willson on the NFL Divisional Round matchup, Josh Allen's clutch mentality in question and Sean McDermott's dismissal in Buffalo. The guys on the potential Super Bowl matchups, Maple Leafs' matchup against the Wild and Bryan gives his FanDuel Best Bets.

With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless. Big meetings land. Business grows. With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. Hour to overdrive continues, powered by Fanduel, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Brian Hasey, O'Dug, Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McClennan.

There he is, Luke Wilson. Noodle, let's stay humble today. No matter what happens, let's stay humble. It's so nauseating. It's so nauseating. It's worse than being a dick, like honestly. Just shut up. I'd rather you guys.

Exactly. Be obnoxious. Don't let them. Ignore the noise. Let's stay humble, man. It's so aggravating. I was telling them last hour, the fact that you would say stay humble and then just a shot for Al's brother here.

Just crush it. It's so gutless. It's so gutless. It is. And poor Al's brother, man. He is in a shell right now. Like, we're doing okay. Not well enough, evidently, but you guys are 5 and 0 on your picks.

We're three and two. We bet against the Bears twice. And they've had two of the most miracle, outrageous backdoor covers in the history of the game. You've got to chew on it. Credit to the Bears for covering and winning the first time, covering and losing the second time. But we still feel pretty good, right? Oh, like I know you're Steve Kerr and Antonio Brown. You're in a weird place right now.

But we still believe in you. and believe in our process, and there's a lot of points still up for grabs. Yeah, I will say this, boys, what's kind of been fun about this whole thing for me is just like how much it matters at this point, partially because we got Shell during the regular season. But like yesterday, if you can picture this, I'm

sitting on Jay's desk and it's fourth down, you know, those games end and we come on right away. And as soon as Caleb starts pure wetting out, I'm thinking, they covered. Yeah. You know, they covered. When they're chasing them out of the pocket, I'm like, done. And then all of a sudden,

As soon as Kometk catches it, I'm actually cheering go for two. Not because I really want them to go for two. I just know that if they go for two, the cover is safe, either way. So can you speak to this? Like I think most people understand. Brilliant play from Caleb Williams. I'm not taking anything away from elusive, imaginative, his arm to be on his back foot, throw that up.

There was like an Aaron Rogers vibe to that. But it's incredibly lucky. Like he wasn't saying, that wasn't a play. like I'm going to scramble and find Commet in the end zone. No, no, no, no. Broken down coverage. Everything was covered well. Brutal coverage by the Rams.

Yes, everything was covered well early, I'm saying. Yes. And then I don't know what the hell the defender was doing. And it was a great pass rush by not just Jared versus everything else. But the most impressive thing you saw on that graphic right there is the air yards is 51. Most people on planet Earth can't throw 51 yards crow hopping into it. Imagine sprinting backwards, going side to side really, having Jared verse in your face, and being on your back foot and being like, okay, here's 50.

Unbelievable play. I can't take anything away from him. But there's some luck involved. 100%. And you know what hurt is someone sent me a tweet right afterwards that reminded me of, I think it was the 14 championship game, the two-point conversion. To me.

To you. Yes. From Russ. Where Russ did the same thing. And the Packers, here it is. Someone sent it to me. And I'm like, this is sickening because of who he throws it to, too. Because that's Russ.

Like just, you know, you made a great player. It's a lucky catch. If we play this back, I don't know if we can pause it, this is kind of a fun moment for me. If we can go back to the beginning and just not even roll it. Going into games, you'll appreciate this. We had two two-point plays every week. And now if we needed more, we could obviously add more. But I remember being in the huddle when we scored, and it's okay, we're going for two.

One of the plays I was our first read and really our only read, this play, if you look at it, and it's actually a great job, I'm not even in the read. So what we wanted was Doug. So I remember being in the huddle being like... Doug Baldwin. Yeah, Doug Baldwin. In the huddle, I'm like, please call my number. And then they call the formation and I'm like, man.

So Russ is rolling out to the right. We're hoping to have man coverage to the right. But the Packers pass it off. See how they pass up? We're trying to go to Doug. I remember sitting there being like, oh, man, this plays dead. Like, there's no world. And when that ball was in the air, I'm like, Russ, there was no chance you threw this to me. And then obviously it ended up being a huge play because Aaron drove the

field and tied the game up. Right, exactly. And now the difference also, not that we need to review from 12 years ago, but you broken that ball. Like, Commet kept running towards the back of the end zone and it hit him. But anyway, that... It was a gong show. Again, I it's just, you know, sometimes

you get lucky. You get very lucky as an offense. It's kind of a prayer, Hail Mary, throw it up. I get why you went to Commet because, you know, he's a bigger frame. But I think the Rams would have been pretty sick if they didn't, you know, also they won. Crushing from the

the bears that they lose in overtime. Yes. And there's a lot of like conversation going on right now about whether or not if you win the coin toss, you defer or take the ball where I believe the bills won the toss, deferred, lost in overtime. I believe the bears won in one the toss deferred, lost in overtime. Yeah. Small sample size. But where do you stand on?

I'm still on the take the ball second. Okay. I really am. And it's unfortunate. But I actually just went over this play for more analytical thing. I really think right now if you're Ben Johnson, you're the Chicago Bears, the interception in overtime, which led to the field goal that you lost the game on, I don't know how they don't execute that.

That has nothing to do with Caleb Williams. It has nothing to do with Caleb Williams. Zach Kolaris just kind of broke it all down for me. We had kind of the all-24 angle of it. it is maybe the perfect play call. It is executed well. And like DJ Moore needs to come flat there. And it is a...

Did he quit on that, right? I don't know. It's tough to say that. Or just like, it gets weird. Because it kind of indicated that during the call. It's bad when you see it from the other angle. He needs to be flat there. They have a clear-o with O'Dunese on the other side of it.

It's open. Caleb sets the whole thing up, Ben Johnson, and that's the game. He catches that. I mean, assuming they make the field goal, that is the game. I still, I get that it worked out there the way both times, but for me, I really like the idea of going second and overtime. Partsy, like how big are the round tables regarding their quarterback? Like you saw in Houston with C.J. Stroud, like, they have to be looking at that guy.

And maybe Caleb Willems to a certain degree where it's like, this guy can get us that far, but is he really going to be the guy to win us too more games? Is he capable of doing that? I think Hayes brought it up in the first hour. It's like some Buffalo fans must be saying about Josh Allen. He's the best quarter, but he's the best football player in the world, but we don't know if he can win the big one. Yeah, so there's three guys you mentioned there, and I have some pretty strong stances on all three. I'll start with the most positive, which for me right now is Caleb Williams. You think he can be the guy? Yes, I do. I do because the things that I'd like to see him

better at or the easy throws. You know that fourth and four is a prime example. I didn't tell Dougherty pulled this up. But there was a second and four on that drive where it's a quick little speed out and he fires a fast ball, I believe it was over Luther Burden's head. And if he's just accurate with a

five-yard speed out, six-yard speed out, we catch that ball, we get out of bounds and now all of a sudden it's first in, you know, ten from I think the 12-ish, and the clock is stopped because we're out of bounds. We don't need that miraculous finish. Those are

easy to clean up. You saw the growth with this guy with Ben Johnson. As strange as Ben Johnson is with the handshakes with some of the off-the-field theatrics, I don't think there's any denying that he's an offensive guru. The talent, the arm talent, the escapeability, the

athleticism, I couldn't be more brighter in the fact of Ben Johnson's there. I could not be more optimistic about his future. Bingo. So that would be my first one. I like where Williams is that. And he's only near. too. I think you've got to give more time. I do think this guy can go the distance.

I'll go to the one that I have the most questions about, which is C.J. Straub. And what's strange here is you went from... A.k.a. Al's brother. Dude, he looked like he had never played football yesterday at a time. Some of those hope plays where he was pressured and he was tossing it up in the air like a peewee football

player. It was like, what are you doing, dude? Brutal throws. Bizarre. In Odog, what I'd say you know, multiplies the absurdness of them is how great his defenses. Yes. Yes. Where it's like, okay, like the one there, which was the pick six, I get that it sucks taking a sack. I get that you want to go make a play.

But you have to have some sort of feel that you have a, what I would, you know, I hate using this term too often, but a generational defense on the other side of the ball. Dude, give him Joe Flackle quarterback and you're going to win a Super Bowl. You're up three points. here in the second quarter, the touchdown New England scored was on somewhat of a busted miscommunication

cover zero, which was still a bang bang play. Will Anderson Jr. was destroying Will Campbell. Yes, and Hunter was chasing. Oh, my goodness. He plays average. They win that game. Average they win. He spots them

seven there. I thought to, some of the just missed the rows from five yards. Hey, you know, it's first town. We have a wide open man, and it's inaccurate or it's batted down. I'm like, man, these in a game like that when you're in New England, it's bad weather, there's

two good defenses, your defense is generational. Five yards matters. You know, staying on schedule and being in second and five versus second and ten is a massive difference from a play caller. I worry about Stroud, you know, I do. I don't think the sky is completely fallen.

You know, obviously there's a little recency bias because the last few games have been horrid. I think you can get this guy back on track, but I do think there needs to have some sort of conversation in the offseason with Nick Cayley, their new OC, being like, how do we develop this guy?

And I hate to bring this up, but it's like after his first year, he had Bobby Sloick as his OC, everyone was like, hey, he was in the MVP chat in the year. The second year he regressed a bit and everyone blamed Bobby Sloick. Let's bring it a new guy. And

I didn't love that, you know, especially as Bobby Sloick was a guy that was potentially going to be head coach somewhere that year was getting interviews and certainly now you're probably sitting there thinking hey maybe it wasn't bobby sloic it's it's trouble there all right let's get to he had some stupid he had some stupid comments earlier in the year where he felt like he said he was like feeling old yes yeah grains are not good all right josh allen just let's get to the let's get to the let's get to the meat potatoes interception all of that yeah the whole nine yards i don't love when they're like these are things annoy me as an ex player and they're like oh

Josh Allen, four turnovers or whatever it was. Some of the turnover is his fault, 1,000%. The end of the half cannot happen in any situation. I thought that was a massive play. Obviously, the three points jammed him in the end. There is the pick that was in Denver's end zone. Yes. Again, I actually went over that somewhat recently with Caleris.

It was the perfect greed. It was the perfect play call. It was the perfect throw as far as like we didn't force anything. He missed the throw. That is his fault. He missed the throw. That was not a stupid idea. we missed the throw by about five yards

or all sets a touchdown. Now we get into the one that I don't pin on him was when Bonito drilled him in the back. This is why I don't like when people just blanket statement. Oh, Josh had this many turnovers. You watch that playback. Shakir misses his chip. He's supposed to chip outside shoulder.

Dawkins sets shallow because he's expecting this chip. It's a waterfall effect here. You also have a guard sliding that way. Josh Allen steps back. He has a chip in two linemen pushing that way. is not expecting to get drilled in the back. You cannot pin that on Josh. No, the sack fumble's not on him.

Not on him. And the last interception may be not on him. I mean, it's a battle and it's the right throw. It's the right throw. So I don't think it's as egregious. Two of four, though, or on him. I agree. That's still a lot.

And I thought what was a bigger issue was the two misthrows. One was the Dawson Knox in the seam. Okay. And then two was the McColl Hardman in overtime. Was that in the flag? It was kind of a corner. Okay. Because I thought the third down in the flight, he was getting rushed.

It led to the field goal. I can't remember. It was Palmer or Cooks, he threw it to. But he under threw it. Remember the guy picked it up and ran into the end zone? Yes, yes, yes. That was a bad throw. Yes.

I don't know. A few of those. Yes. I mean, that's my concern. Is McDermott's taking the heat today? I didn't like McDermott's post game. Like, maybe he was trying to save. I had a lot of thoughts on that.

I thought it was just excuse after excuse. What was me, Buffalo? why can't we catch a break? He had three opportunities, Alan, to win that game. In my opinion, we came into the week, and I said it a million times. I've heard you say it. Everyone said it. This defense and the special teams, everyone else on the team,

the whole objective is to put the ball in his hands late and give them a chance to win it. Yes. When they're up 24-3, he could have won that game if he drives them into six. If they go up eight, I don't think Knicks is getting into the end zone twice. Because they would have to score a touchdown, then a two-point conversion. I'm not sure he does that. At a minimum, if they tie it, balls in your hand,

all he needs a field goal to win it. Couldn't do it. Late, obviously, in regulation, the throw to Knox was a bad throw. Was he pressured? Was there some arms up at the line? Yes, but still it's a feel throw, and he couldn't make it.

And then in overtime, three and out, he's got the ball. He can't even put him in a position to kick a field goal. So it's McDermott's fault. It's Beans' fault. It's the defense's fault. Unfortunately, to me,

they did everything they could to put him in an opportunity to have his Mahomes moment. And he didn't capitalize. He didn't do it. And now you've got to have whispers in Buffalo. Does he have the clutch gene? And he close? Okay.

You have to have that whisper in the back of your mind. Everything you say, everything you said there, I agree with. Except the last part. The whispers are very quiet. Are they? In my opinion, they should be very quiet. What more can the bills do to give him a Mahomes' Brady opportunity than what they just gave.

He was going to say, the roster. Right. Yes. Okay, you talk about Mahomes. Okay. Knox ran the route, man. Okay, time out now. Let's get into this. So you talk about Mahomes. Mahomes in his early years, had Tyree Kill, who was phenomenal. And

Travis, prime Travis Kelsey, where there's an argument that he is the best past catching tight end in the history of the game. 100%. And they changed the rules because of that game, because of what, for Josh Allen. Because they're like, isn't fair. Since they changed the rules, I believe he's 0 and 3.

In the big overtime game. The Knox thing, I get and again, I just watched this where it's like, hey, he throws a little high, Knox goes a little flat. Yeah, I think that's one he's going to want back. He's going to want back badly. But you mentioned overtime, and I'm pretty sure it was McColl Hardman, and it was a little

condensed formation, kind of smash concept, where that's one where I think he's expecting McCorm. Cole Hardman to break that flat. And it's a Nicole Hartman's caught what? Three balls in the guys here? He's on the practice squad like a week ago. You know, that's where you kind of need a guy that you've thrown the football to consistently.

So I do get where you're coming from. But my whispers for Josh not having the clutch gene, just because this game he didn't have it, he has had massive clutch jeans and moments throughout the year and throughout his career. Yeah. I mean, he's eight years in. Do you think the coach should have got the gate then? Me personally? So this is now, you guys know, I don't love throwing the conspiracy hat on.

I do not love throwing it. But I've got it on today based on what happened. Okay, so after the game, this is the kind of stuff that I look into. I find very fascinating. Was you talk about the whole catch, no catch thing. And I'm not going to get bogged down on that minutia. But I thought it was very strange how he was like, I'm standing up for Buffalo. I'm standing.

I call it in there some reporter said that, that McDermott called him on the plane and was like, this is a catch, I'm looking at it right now. Okay. Again, let's go over this whole thing, sure. If it's not clear, like this isn't 100% of catch. Okay, I'm on the belief it's an interception. I am.

But either way, it's like when a coach starts coming on here saying like, I'm standing up for Buffalo, I'm doing all these things. to me he's pandering to the fan days. But exactly. We lost the coin to us. And at that point, I'm like, he must have known what was coming. Possibly. Now, the fact that, this is where my hat goes on, the fact that B was retained,

I found very strange. And what I found strange about it is maybe this is like a Pete Carroll John Snyder thing where McDermott had his hands on this roster more than the GM did. I have no idea. I'm not in there. but who in their right mind is going to be like this is McDermott's fault, not Brandon Bean, unless McDermott is the one pounding his fist on the table saying,

I don't want these guys, I want the people I have in the room, I don't want to go make more changes. Like what are the philosophical differences that Brandon Bean had versus Sean McDermott? That's where I completely scratched my head and start to wonder what was going on behind the scenes. Yeah, and that is a valid question. And, you know, Bean didn't only stay, he got promoted. You know, he got a new title. Which is, again, I, like, that was jaw-dropping to me.

Yeah. And the roster, it's been well documented, not good enough or, you know, decent roster, but could use improvement. He's taken a ton of heat in Buffalo for his, you know, lack of weapons he's surrounded Allen with. And I'll see what he does this off-season. Immense pressure. I just don't know who they're going to hire.

You know, who do you. Like there's the favor right now is Brian Dable to come in and be the head coach. Yes, it is. Like on a lot of books, Brian Dable is the favorite to take over as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills. Luke, would you take Dable or would you take Tomlin? Wow, that's a great question. Thank you. Wow, that's a great.

That one stumped me right there. I don't want, listen, you guys know. Dude, you've been trashing Dable for three years. Yeah, but I don't know. I don't know if Tomlin is like the guy I would want in Buffalo either. Well, he's a McDermott vibe. He gives me a McDermott vibe. Defensive raw-rah guy that's going to get you to the playoffs.

McDermott gets them to the playoffs every single year. For that team, I would take Daible, but I would prefer neither. I don't like Daibles as a head coach. Neither do I. But, I mean, if you're making me either or. Little Mike McDaniel wheeling around with his glasses on and a toque. Okay. Go, Bill's goal.

Here's a crazy one for you. Parts you like it, don't you? I do like it. I knew you would. I've got one crazy one for you. How can you say stop it? Look at how two of a play this year. Could you imagine Mike McDaniel with Josh Allen?

If he's the offensive coordinator, I love it. I can't have my theory on him stands. Think outside the box. Let's get the weasel up here. I've got one for you, but this might be completely crazy and gone, though. What about the guy with the 24-year-old girlfriend? Bill Belichick comes out of retirement. Bill Belichick to Buffalo.

That's an organization that he has torched for 20 years. Noodles. Would you take Belichick back? Me personally, no, but I could see how Bill would want that job. Who wouldn't want that job? You walk into Josh Allen as your quarterback. And also for Bill, you know, the way it ended in New England. Oh, you love to take them out.

Listen, they got a real chance of winning a Super Bowl now in New England. With that defense, I worry about their offensive line a little bit. But, I mean, you got Jared Stidham playing quarterback for the Broncos. That is crushing that Bo Nix immediately is done for the year with a fractured ankle right after a game like that. Gary Stidham. Yeah. Tough, man. I think you guys should give us that call.

Ah, we might. I think you should get – O'Dog's going to make that. Steve Kerr is making the call at the end of the week. You honestly call me Steve Kerr one more time. I'm going to kick you right in the pills when I get into work. I just want to put some out there, you know, because we're saying. I'm just want to put some out there.

You know, you guys brought on a professional athlete. You brought him on. Right. You bring on professional athletes because in playoff time, a guy like Odog, my old partner knows how to win. He has won multiple championships in this very format.

What did you guys do? You discarded his opinion. Yes. Yes. Why did you do that? You know how the chain of command goes Partsy? It goes, me and Al's brother, we just have these thoughts. And he goes like this every time. Yeah, but I don't know. And then he just dismisses them.

This is what I'd say right now from an outsider just looking in. To me, you're Brian LaFleur. You know, specifically against the bears. Specifically against the bears. You look great for three quarters. And then you're half Josh Allen, half Matt LaFleur. Listen, great hair, lots of money, lots of respect. tiny tinge of C.J. Stroud

in there. I got to say humble. I got to say humble. I got to overcome that. Listen, I understand it. I hear it. It's not easy to take. And even the Josh Allen criticism where I'm coming from, I love Josh Allen. I have pumped his tires

more than anybody possibly on earth. And I'm amazed at the amount of people blaming McDermott, blaming the refs. Like, Alan, you've got to close there, man. The whole game is quarterback at the end. That's football now. Like at the end of the game, for the most

part. Now it is intriguing this year. Denver's defense, New England's defense, like there's some great defense is still playing. Seattle's defense is elite. The Rams scare me a little bit. They look good last night. But this is modern football. From Brady to Mahomes, it's, you get

the ball late and you've got to close. You have to close. It's just the way it goes. I agree. I agree, Hayes, where it's shocking to me, and I think it's even more heartbreaking for Bill's fans because usually it's been a lose even though Josh was unbelievable. Mahomes tops them

and you're like, I can't believe it. Bow Nix didn't top them. You know, where it was like, now, again, I do think that there's... Maybe a flag there, but... Yeah, and this is what gets tough about the whole flag game. If I can just get to... Well, get to the refs too, because that's a big topic of discussion.

Hang on, let me just throw this in here before you get to the refs. I am done with the in-game rules official guy. I'm done with them. I don't want to hear them anymore. Yeah. NFL games, the whole official guys piping up. I don't want to hear it anymore. I've had it with that. They don't bring a ton to the table.

They don't seem to ever... Yes, they don't seem to ever go against the referees. Never. That's their brotherhood. Correct. So that's what... It's a bit tough about it. It's how I agree with you on that, O'Dog. Where I think the official thing is a bit of a weak argument from yesterday's game. Is it's like,

okay, here's where I'm at on these calls. The first PI the final drive. I thought was very, very soft. I thought that was very soft. Here you go, okay? What was not soft here? This is soft.

100%. Well, especially since they didn't call it the other way. Yes. Or you could have called the Cook's one. But what I didn't love, and this one is legit. I'm sorry, Bill's fans. You can yell at me all you want. He is early here.

You've got your hands wrapped around his waist. When you see this, look, ball's not there. Early, early we're tackling him. Early is a penalty. But if you go back to that first. one, what is being lost. I love White. I'm giving it to him.

What's being lost is what wasn't even debatable was the roughing the passer on Joey Bosa. You didn't like that call? That was 100% a good call. Yes, I agree with you. I thought you were going the other way. No. Because it was gone and it was like one, two, and then he smacked them.

I'm like, so I gave them. 100% there. Yes, you're right. But if we start playing this, what was called, what wasn't called, yes, I think Denver then can go the game. should have been over and overtime when there's a hold in the end zone. And they missed that. Josh Allen, they were backed up.

A safety would have ended the game. They missed, like, referees missed games. This is what has been a bit annoying for me personally, if I can go on this personal thing, is it's like, I get branded it like three years ago. I was branded the anti-bills guy. And I think I've weasled my way out of that branding. Well, they haven't won. I mean, that's the thing.

Now they're like, he's an anti-bills guy again. You said it. You want to start for me how they lost this game. it starts with the end of the half. Yes. Careless. No question. Careless. That is the main reason you lost the game.

Now you go to the turnovers and the miss throws. That's two and three. Okay. Sure. Now four, we can go into penalties. But penalties work both ways. The idea that this game, when you had the amount of turnovers you did,

even what gets lost in this, the cook fumble early in the game, was such a momentum swing. Yeah. They were chugging. It's like, you guys had a chance to win. You had a chance to go to New England

and have that showdown. And Buffalo, at the end of the day, it was Buffalo's fault, not the referees. Think about this if you had the post-game React's podium bingo card, Josh Allen crying and talking about five turnovers? Like, come on.

Who would have had that? No one. No one. And that's what I found so strange about McDermott's press conference when he was like, I'm standing up for Buffalo. I'm standing and I'm like, something. Something's up here. Something's up. Mine tent went up right away.

Well, the Dolphins have hired Jeff Halfley, who was the defensive coordinator in Green Bay. No way, really? Halfley. Halfley's on his way to Miami, so they're going defensively minded. Yeah, very good. They're going to flip, and we'll see that opens a DC spot in Green Bay.

Do you think McDermott gets another job? Yeah. I do. I think he should. I mean, he's had a great run. I get that he's got Alan as his head, coach, I said earlier, the bills were the Jets before the Jets. Like, they hadn't gone to the playoffs in 18 years.

And they go every single year. And he's done a good job. Like, they've won a bunch of games. Yes. You know, the division almost every year, go to the playoffs every year. Yes, Alan's a big part of that. Yeah. But I think he deserves another job.

I wouldn't be shocked if he gets another one pretty quickly. Wouldn't shock me either. Yeah. The strange one's going to be Stefanski. Stavansky is a guy to me. I mean, like, you could argue that he, by Cleveland standards, by Cleveland standards, which are not good. He had kind of a good tenure there.

Dude, he had one of the coach of the year twice. Two-time coach of the year. Where is he going to land? All right. Do you want to say anything to? Noodles, let's just stay humble. Okay, job's not finished. Job is not finished.

We got to just focus on our pick this week. Let's just nail our pick. Then we go into the Super Bowl. Whatever happens with their pick, they're going to be loud in the chat, a lot of barado. It doesn't matter. We're going to focus in on our pick. That's it.

Stay humble. Stay humble. Curzy, you got anything on that? Curzy. I'm going to honestly kick you in the pills so hard when I see you if you call me a curzy. Help me. He was like, he was ready to come back to us, Luke. Oh, yeah.

Antonio Brown. You gave him the polite. No, we're good. Thank you. Yeah, took his gear off and started running to the locker room. The floating bag. That's right. I almost put the floating like the,

was a balloon that floats. I'm going to put that in there. O-Dog, I am partially, man. I feel bad. We love O-Dog. We want our separate way. We would, man. I just wish they used your input, especially in crunch time.

Well, we're going to do this way. I'm going to gut it out. I'm going to gut it out with my new parties. But I'm telling you next year, I got my own super team, and I'm not dealing with any of you. I got my own super team, and I know exactly who it's going to be. You're on the clock this weekend. Tony O'Brown.

Dave tweeting and saying, I agree with Luke and Steve. I'd like to see McDaniels in Buffalo. Who's Steve, Kurt? So maybe you guys are on this on. Who tweeted out? Who tweeted that? Dave, tweeting in. Dave's a man of integrity. I agree with Luke and Steve. All right. Good seeing you guys.

We'll do it again later in the week. Yeah, what? Wilson. All right, leave suit back in action tonight. Good step. Take on the wild. We'll tee that game up next. With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support.

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styled in shareables and weekly prising up for grabs. Football game days are better at BP. And we've got two more weeks of NFL football. We've got this weekend, then obviously an off week, and then the Super Bowl. We're actually going to be down there in San Francisco for a few days doing a few shows. We can't wait to get down there. And we're down to four teams. So we kind of know what the combinations might look like.

If you guys could pick Seattle, L.A., New England, Denver, what would be your Super Bowl? you could pick any combination. What would you take? Well, isn't kind of the sexy pick, like L.A., New England? Yeah, I think so. Even Seattle, I think with Darnold is a cool story. Dude, they're going to be tough to beat the way they played, man. And he was a question mark where he wasn't even taking number one snaps in the warm-ups.

And he looked good. He looked really good. I think I go Seattle, New England. Like the fact that New England might get back to a Super Bowl is just absurd. Yeah. Like you think about the suffering from some fan bases and if they get back to another one, like what was that rebuild? Four years?

Yeah, he left in 2020. We were doing a show at home. It was COVID. Early COVID. I was still upstairs. That's how early it was when Brady broke the news that he was going to Tampa. So six years ago and I saw a stat earlier, where is it here? I think it's 15th straight year of either the Patriots or Chiefs playing in the

AFC championship game. 15 straight years, either New England or Kansas City, which is crazy. What would the, you know, in a perfect world, what would the league want? What's the biggest fan bases out of those last four that draw? You know, we always say, oh, you know, the fan base, like the leagues would lead towards this. Probably L.A., Boston. Yeah, L.A. New England. Probably.

Did you see that the bears, shout out to her friendly Ann who sent this to me, and I saw it posted online, the bears had chicken broth and hot chocolate on the sideline with a canister of mini marshmallows just to, you know, if the boys wanted to warm up during the... Smores fire, or what are they doing there? Yeah. Was it that? I mean, the weather did look. It was freezing, but I haven't seen hot chocolate on a sideline before in the NFL.

You really think you need the marshmallow? too. You guarantee there's some 350-pound linemen and they're just mowing down the marshmallows. A handful of marshmallows as he's running out on the field. Exactly. That's kind of a creative play. I wouldn't expect it, but I guess it was a creative play. All right.

So the Leafs start a homestand here. Minnesota tonight. Detroit Wednesday, Vegas Friday, Colorado Sunday, Buffalo Tuesday. How many points do you think they need to consider this a successful homestand? What did you just rip off? Five games? Five games. Seven. Sorry, you've got to be 700.

Like, you've got to get to, like, this is crunch time. I just talked about the road being 500. They just got above 500 in Winnipeg, and they found a way to get it done, coming back down from two goals. You've got to be your home record, which is one of the best in the league, and you've got to keep it that way if your road record. is not one of the best in the league, and it's not. So I'm sorry, but right now, based on what's in front of you,

all these teams have got a few inter-division games, seven out of ten points. Yeah, I think you're right. I think, like six. Six is probably realistic, three out of five. But if you could get seven points out of their next ten, that puts you into at least you're going to continue to keep pace with everybody else, whether you're one point in, one point out, because that's what they're doing right now.

And you've got to find a way to be in that mix, come Olympic break, come down the stretch, all of that. Again, strength of schedule, we did it last night on our broadcasts. Like Ottawa and Detroit have a very tough schedule down the stretch. But it's because they're playing Atlantic Division teams. And the Atlantic Division is very tough. The leaves have had, up until this last road trip, a muffin schedule. Now, you know, this last road trip was tough. They found a way to get five out of eight.

This homestand, again, they've played some of the most home games in the league. You're adding another five here. You've got to get seven out of ten. And they've been great at home. Minimum guys. That's the bare minimum for them to stay afloat. Yeah, like if they want to even stay afloat, that's the bare minimum of seven out of ten. I know I'm getting wordy here, but Hayes, you talked about they're still going back out west a couple more time.

Like they've got to go, you know. The road is a massive challenge, and they played, I believe, some of the least amount of road games. That's right. Yeah, they've played, what have they played here, 1922 road games. So they still have 19 road games. So that's, you know, needless to say, that's a lot. And, you know, they've been very good at home. They're 16, 5 and 5 at home.

So you've got to keep that going. I would agree it's 7. I would say if it's 6, it's imperative you beat Detroit and Buffalo, ideally in regulation. Yeah, you know. Those are, I would actually take that. Six with two wins against Detroit, Buffalo, and Reg, I'd take it, you know, because the other three are Giants of the West. Minnesota, Colorado, Vegas.

Vegas is at it, Ross Ms. Anderson, so he'll be in town, right? He'll be here, obviously. He'll join them probably in Boston. Vegas plays the night before. So you are getting a little bit, like you are catching teams potentially that in a back-to-back situation where you've got to make that hay there. And I know in Mitch Marner's story, all of that type of stuff. But, you know, bottom line is, I still say it's seven out of ten.

Now you've got Minnesota, a team that's a little banged up right now. You've got to beat them on home ice. You have to. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, Willie's out. Nye's a game time decision, but Wall is playing tonight. We'll see when Stolars makes a return. But it was a good road trip for the least.

And, you know, credit their captain because he is chugging right now. Like, he is really playing well. I thought he had a great trip. you know, I thought he really, and obviously on Saturday night, you know, he scores a goal, he sets up the O-2 winner where Halebuck's got to think this guy's shooting, you know, on a two-on-one, you've kind of got to speak to you noodles, but I think he- Max Domey over there too. I mean, that's what you're looking at. Exactly.

Like one guy's a 60 goal score and the other guys have, what, 20 goals score? 10-goal score. 10 to 15-20. But that cage was wide open for Max. Like, he made him bite on it. And Halebuck reached with his stick. He didn't even move. Hellebuck reached with a stick.

Yeah. That's a great goal right there. The great play. And I thought, like, Matthew's goal in Reg was like an example of... Him shooting it. Well, a goal score is goal. Like, you come down Broadway, you kind of read where Hallibuck's going to be, and he did that with no pulse, like, low blocker.

See, that's what he does, man. If he just winds it up and curls and drags it and he just rips it by goalies. Yes, exactly. And my point is, oh, like a fourth line guy, just maybe one times this and just rips it and says, I got to get rid of this thing, or misses the net, or tries to deak and gets, you know, run over by Morrissey or whoever it is. Yeah. That's the one fascinating thing about his goal scoring, Brian. It's like, you know, some of the quick shot guys, like, like Brendan Channing had one of the best quick release kind of wrist shots ever.

Like it was just on his stick, off a stick. Matthews has the patience to kind of corral it a bit and then pick his spot and then roof it. I think he's known for his release, but it's not exactly like his quick release. Like he just took his time there and said, I'm just going to find my spot and absolutely wire this. And it's impressive to watch. You know, it's funny watching that game, it's weird to say, I don't think Winnipeg's out of the playoff mix. And I know it's a stretch to say. and if you take a look at the standings,

but all because of the quality of competition in front of them of who they have to jump. That's where because Chicago, I'm not a believer yet. St. Louis, I think, is going to wave the white flag. Calgary is going to, you know, is trading. Nashville. I think now you're looking at L.A., Anaheim, San Jose, Utah in there. And Seattle is tied with San Jose for points in that Pacific.

In Winnipeg, I believe. Seven points out, noodles. That's a long haul. It's a lot. It's a lot. But I just, they played, they were, had won three in a row leading into that. They got a point against Leaves. Again, it could be a stretch, but I keep an eye on them.

I just, they are a team that, I look at the teams in front of them. That's what the bottom line is. And that's, I understand that. You know, that's why I appreciate San Jose being like we've gone through this. And, you know, Sherwood, two seconds in a prospect. You know, it's a lot. Sure, it's a good player, but he's got no term on his deal. Maybe they try to resign him.

I would guess that's their plan. But San Jose is thinking, we've got 35 games left. We're right there. Let's try to salvage this. Let's try to get in. And it's worth a lot. If you can get in, sure, you're going to likely play Colorado and get pumped, but at least you're in, you know, and you're alive and you feel like you've made a big step.

And, you know, at some point, when you've accumulated all these picks and prospects, you've got to start thinking about the actual team and the games. and living in a moment. That's why I think a team like Utah is going to be. I think Utah should be active. I really do. I think that's a team that's turned the corner. That's the interesting part, you know, watching the Detroit's, watching the Buffaloes,

watching, you know, we watched Ottawa make it last year. Some of these teams that had retooled now are more mature. Let's see what their managers do at the deadline here. And now you're starting to see the other way some trades happening where, you know, I watched that St. Louis team last night. and, you know, it's an interesting thing. Two things I got out of that game last night. Zach Hyman has 19 goals and 31 games.

Dude, he's on fire. Is he your replacement for Braden Twain? I was just going to say if it's situational, I would at least sniff on his name. Sniff. I agree with you. I thought he was going to be sniffing on the original roster, just the way he was playing and McDavid is playing.

And, Hayes, you mentioned Detroit. It's going to be interesting to see their deadline because last year, Wasn't that the year that Larkin was, like, critical of their Stevie Y? He was like, wow, we were looking for a little bit more. So that'll be interesting if maybe they've done enough for them to actually say. And I do believe in that roster more than years before. But guys, I don't want to jinx them, and I really hope it doesn't happen.

But they've been in comfortable positions before and gone on some serious spins, man. Big time. Big time. Like between them and Buffalo, you're like, are you guys really going to do it? Yeah. Like, are you going to hold on here? They're like anything else, man. It's hard to trust.

It's hard to trust until they actually pull it off. But they look like they're capable of doing it. Definitely. They're good teams. They're good teams, but you have to, it's like anything. Watching them, you've got to prove it. You can't just go, that's money in the bank. They've got to prove it.

Totally. It's a crazy division in the Atlantic. Like you look at the Pacific, Vegas and Edmonton are just going to cruise home. Like just, no one's going to contest them. They're going to fight with each other likely for home ice, you know, who's going to win the division and who's not. but Seattle, San Jose, Anaheims completely fallen off. Like they've won a few lately, but they've went through the East Coast and got pumped.

And L.A. is a disaster. Like, I don't know what's gone on with them, but they're not a trustworthy team. Like Edmonton and Vegas are, you know, Edmonton's 25, 17, and 8, 7 points up on Seattle. Vegas, 24, 11, and 12, 9 points up on Seattle. Seattle's in third in the division. All three of those teams, though, Brian, it's, it's, Seattle, San Jose, Anaheim and L.A., all have 51 points. Right, and someone's getting that third seed.

Somebody's getting the third seed. That's why I say that third seed and the two wildcard spots are kind of weak. Yes. So if somebody can go on a run there, again, that's why I brought up to Winnipeg. You can put yourself into that wildcard situation because of Nashville, because of Calgary, because of St. Louis, because of Chicago, you know, those teams, what are they going to do? Are they going to start to be selling? True. Very true. Did you see that play my guy McDavid made last night?

Oh, my God. Spin a ram on. On the podcoles and goal? My guy. My guy. Your guy. I love him. No one better.

Man, he's good. Oh, you know what? I got to give a shout out to RNH Nuge. Thousand game last night. And there was a time where I was like, I think it was when he signed his last contract. And I said to myself, why did they, like, they hadn't had success. They just kept sputtering out. and they're terrible.

First overall. I'm like, why does RNH need to be a part of this moving forward? Because he's been a part of so much losing. But that guy's a hell of a player. And he's really important to the team, and he plays a big role. And he's turned himself into a head of a hell of an NHL player. So congrats to him. Great pick.

Like, first, yes, not McDavid, but not Yakupov. Just a really good first overall pick. Really good players, man. A thousand games. Like, he probably plays 1,500 games in the league. You know, probably played to his 40 and just keep plugging along. The way he thinks the game. Stradi always talks about it.

He plays in fourth gear. He doesn't play a million miles an hour. He just goes. He knows where to go on the ice. And, of course, he scores the first goal of the game yesterday. Exactly. And I'll take a guy in fourth gear that knows what the hell he's doing over a fifth gear, no brain player.

Yes. A million miles an hour. Million mile, what is it? Million mile wheels, 10 cent hands. He doesn't have that. Ten cent heads. sometimes, too, unfortunately. But he's smart, man. Good player.

Carl. Curzee doesn't like that. I'll tell you that. He should. I want the guy's Twitter handle that called me Steve in the tweet. Steve, it's not even Kersey. It's just Steve. I agree with Brian and Steve. Steve Kerr. Hey, listen, Steve had a great second career as well. Right, Kurs? He's an important part of the sports landscape right now.

He's great. He's great. Best bet's coming up. Leaves Wild tonight. The college championship as well. We'll touch on that. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless. Big meetings land. Business grows.

With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. Seasoned gamer or just video game curious. This week in gaming is the podcast for you. We break down the latest in the world of video games. 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. Something to chew on is brought to you by Boston Pizza Canada's favorite sports bar. This January at BP get delicious mouth-watering pasta starting at 11. 99 every single day. Enjoy the pastas you love at prices you can't miss. Hustle into your local

BP tonight. All right, Best Betts, powered by Fanduel. Make your picks and assemble the same game. Parlay in seconds on the Fanduals Sportsport Gap. Parlay the Leafs and the Hoosiers tonight. Indiana Hoosiers. They're big favorites, aren't they?

Crushing teams all year. Crushing, man. I love seeing that, man. I love seeing some different blood in there instead of the usual suspect. I know they're powerhouses. I love seeing a team like that in there. Absolutely. It's totally, totally off the beaten path.

Like, they're a basketball school. They always have been. Yep. And old Bobby Knight, remember him snapping all the time and throwing chairs. He'd lose his mind all the time. That wouldn't go over in today's world, what he used to do. No, he used to lose it. He'd grab people and he was.

Swearing at people, yelling in their face. He was a bully. Yes. Precisely that. totally different era. But yeah, they got a great coach, great quarterback, Heisman winner, likely to go first overall. And I'm on the Hoosiers.

And I think the Leafs, you know, it's going to be a tough game. Minnesota is a really good team, really, really good team. But like you've been saying, noodles, you're catching them, maybe, you know, tough trip, injuries. Yeah. We'll see. Sleepy Monday night. Yeah, the goalies are really good.

Both of them made Sweden. It was the last time a tandem made the same team internationally. That's crazy. Best bets powered by Fandals. Same game parlays around the NHL are available on the Fandul Sportsbook app. Please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario.

All right. There you go. We'll see if the bill's hired coach between now and tomorrow, what other hirings could happen around the NFL. And we'll have a full breakdown of the Leaf game and Raptors on the West Coast, losing the Lakers last night. LeBron's still going.

Lost to get into this week. We're looking forward to it. Thanks to everyone. behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today, TV radio podcast, web and up on YouTube live, every show streaming live on TSN's YouTube channel. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at...

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