Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my partner in crime, West Hot Courts were coming
Speaker 1: to you here from socially distant locations at lambeau Field West.
Speaker 1: It's almost here. Saturday, three thirty pm Central time, kickoff
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field the NFC Divisional playoff between the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams. We might as
Speaker 1: well get right into it. Keys to victory here for
Speaker 1: Green Bay. If you want to start offensive side defensive side,
Speaker 1: I'll let you pick. But what's it going to take
Speaker 1: for the Packers to come out victorious? First and foremost?
Speaker 1: Not getting caught up in the narrative. And what I
Speaker 1: mean by that is there's been a lot of consternation
Speaker 1: about Aaron Donald. What status, What is his status gonna be?
Speaker 1: What is he gonna look like? Is he gonna be
Speaker 1: the Aaron Donald that everybody's accustomed to see in the
Speaker 1: term inator that everyone's accustomed to seeing. And my my
Speaker 1: best advice for that is, don't pay attention to it.
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald is showing up on Saturday afternoon. He is
Speaker 1: going to be ready to play. And it was funny
Speaker 1: this earlier this week, Mike someone mentioned inside Ringbox like, Hey,
Speaker 1: you know, with him having the rib injury, does that
Speaker 1: mean they should maybe gear their game plan towards him. Like,
Speaker 1: if you ever find yourself in a position where you
Speaker 1: have to gear your game plan towards Aaron Donald, I
Speaker 1: don't think it's a very good game plan. Your What
Speaker 1: the Packers need to do is is you've said multiple times,
Speaker 1: do what they do best and respect the opponent that
Speaker 1: they're going to see. Be prepared for the league's top defense,
Speaker 1: the league's top scoring defense. Be prepared for a unit
Speaker 1: that is going to challenge you, particularly in the in
Speaker 1: the trenches and the line of scrimmage. If the Packers
Speaker 1: come out in respect Aaron Donald and understand the threat
Speaker 1: that he presents and down in the front, I feel
Speaker 1: like Green Bay will be able to find its magic,
Speaker 1: be able to, you know, figure out where its offense
Speaker 1: needs to go to succeed and make those adjustments. And
Speaker 1: then whatever happens with Aaron Donald the rest of the way,
Speaker 1: that's up for the the Los Angeles Rams to figure out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And that's where I keep coming back to with this game.
Speaker 1: And you said it is the do what you do best.
Speaker 1: And when I look at I look at the offensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball. For the Packers. There are three
Speaker 1: things the Packers have done really really well offensively to
Speaker 1: get to being the top scoring offense in the league.
Speaker 1: They've protected the football, They've converted on third down, and
Speaker 1: they've scored touchdowns when they're in the red zone or
Speaker 1: the gold zone, whatever you want to call it. But okay,
Speaker 1: here's the thing. Third down the Packers are like second
Speaker 1: in the league and third down conversions the conversion percentage,
Speaker 1: the Rams are third in the league. In third down defense.
Speaker 1: That might end up kind of being a wash as
Speaker 1: you go through this game, because both the Packers offense
Speaker 1: Rams defense very very good. But in turnovers and in
Speaker 1: red zone play, the Packers have a distinct advantage. Green
Speaker 1: Bay was plus seven, I believe plus seven, yet in
Speaker 1: turnover margin through the regular season, the Rams were minus three.
Speaker 1: Now to be minus in the turnover margin for a
Speaker 1: full regular season and still win ten games, that doesn't
Speaker 1: happen very often. But if the Packers continue to protect
Speaker 1: the ball, you can't discount how important it was for
Speaker 1: the Rams to win the turnover battle. In Seattle to
Speaker 1: zero last week and knock off the team that was
Speaker 1: the division champ in their own division in the NFC West.
Speaker 1: As far as the red zone goes, Packers number one
Speaker 1: in the league, and it's been even higher than that
Speaker 1: during this winning streak to close out the regular season.
Speaker 1: The Rams, they're not bad in the red zone defensively,
Speaker 1: but twelveth in the league. That's a pretty big discrepancy there,
Speaker 1: number one versus number twelve. As far as the Packers
Speaker 1: offense versus the Rams defense, that's where green Bay has
Speaker 1: an edge. You have to play to where you have
Speaker 1: your edge in the playoffs, and I think that's where
Speaker 1: this game can be decided for the Packers. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: agree with you in the other aspect that I think
Speaker 1: you have to look at with green Bay too, and
Speaker 1: the way that their offense is built is they've found
Speaker 1: ways to establish drives to shore and ball games and
Speaker 1: that's kind of been the blueprint for the Rams two
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. I mean, they are number
Speaker 1: two to Green Bay's number one in time of possession.
Speaker 1: But last week, if I'm Matt la Fleur in this
Speaker 1: coaching staff and I'm looking at that footage from the
Speaker 1: Seattle game. I'm looking at and going, you know what,
Speaker 1: the way the Rams played that for all the different
Speaker 1: problems that they had, the quarterback issues that they had,
Speaker 1: that was a pretty good blueprint. If you're looking at
Speaker 1: your Sean mcvain, you're saying, Okay, I want to make
Speaker 1: a run. We want to win a super Bowl with
Speaker 1: this team. They kind of set that out when with
Speaker 1: what they did against Seattle. And it's another reason why
Speaker 1: I think they have to be respected because, as you said,
Speaker 1: they won the turnover margin that was huge, But what
Speaker 1: did they do with that turnover margin? It was cam
Speaker 1: akers then turning out all of these total yards, all
Speaker 1: of this production, being able to extend drives and and
Speaker 1: find ways to control the clock. Yeah, you lost John Wolford,
Speaker 1: and John Wolford looked pretty good early on. Jared Goff
Speaker 1: has been limited. How much that's the thumb, how much
Speaker 1: of that is golf, we don't know. But the fact
Speaker 1: of the matter is is the packers. You talk about advantages,
Speaker 1: decided advantages, distinct advantages, advantage advantages. One of the things
Speaker 1: that plays into that is Green Bay knows exactly who
Speaker 1: they are and what they need to do to win
Speaker 1: They've done it all season long, Mike. To get to
Speaker 1: thirteen and three, they have probably most likely the National
Speaker 1: Football League's m v P at the most important position
Speaker 1: on the field where the Rams have some question marks
Speaker 1: going into this game, regardless of who they put out there.
Speaker 1: The fact that they haven't said it, the fact that
Speaker 1: you know, we even have to ask about them saying it,
Speaker 1: it tells you that there are questions there. Green Bay
Speaker 1: doesn't have those questions. They need to have the answers
Speaker 1: on Saturday and show that the team that won the
Speaker 1: NFC regular season that was the top seed, they can
Speaker 1: be the unit that goes out and carries that over
Speaker 1: into the postseason. Yeah. Absolutely, And and I'm with you
Speaker 1: with the where you started the conversation about don't get
Speaker 1: caught up in the narrative. There are all kinds of
Speaker 1: potential distractions here, whether you're talking about Aaron Donald's injury,
Speaker 1: whether you're talking about Cooper Cups injury, whether you're talking
Speaker 1: about the quarterback situation for the Rams, whether you're talking
Speaker 1: about Jalen Ramsey and all his trash talking and what
Speaker 1: he might do to try to throw Davante Adams off
Speaker 1: his game. Don't get caught up in any of those distractions.
Speaker 1: If you're the Green Bay Packers, you have to do
Speaker 1: what you do and to switch things to the defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball. I think you and I are
Speaker 1: on the same page here. This all starts with clamping
Speaker 1: down on cam Acres, the rookie running back, second round
Speaker 1: pick out of Florida State. He's been a revelation for
Speaker 1: that Rams offense. He was He's exactly what the Rams
Speaker 1: offense did not have last year. The year before, they
Speaker 1: had Todd Gurley Offensive Player of the Year, they went
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl. Last year, the Rams didn't have
Speaker 1: this kind of a running game. And there's so much
Speaker 1: of this offense, particularly with a quarterback like Golf and
Speaker 1: I think Wolford falls into the same category. The play
Speaker 1: action game is huge for these guys, and they are
Speaker 1: very very effective as play action passers. I from what
Speaker 1: I've seen of the Rams, and I've been saying this
Speaker 1: all week, I think Jared Goff, if he's a straight
Speaker 1: drop back pastor I'm not saying he's a bad quarterback,
Speaker 1: but I think he becomes a very ordinary quarterback in
Speaker 1: a straight drop back passing game. If you clamp down
Speaker 1: on the run and take away the effectiveness of the
Speaker 1: play action and turn whoever's that quarterback for the Rams
Speaker 1: and do a straight drop back passer without that play
Speaker 1: action game. I think that completely plays to Green Bays
Speaker 1: and fan Well, let's go back in the archives. Let's
Speaker 1: go back to the multiple seasons of Packers Unscripted, the
Speaker 1: West Hogkwitz, let's be real moment of the week. Let's
Speaker 1: bring it back. Let's talk about it for a second.
Speaker 1: The let's be real moment of the week is there
Speaker 1: was a reason why John Wolford fit what Sean McVeigh
Speaker 1: wanted to do offensively and why they felt okay about
Speaker 1: him if they didn't have Jared Goff because he also
Speaker 1: is a guy that has some mobility to him and
Speaker 1: he can thrive in a play action type scheme. But
Speaker 1: everything that McVeigh does, and even to some extent, what
Speaker 1: Green Bay does with wanting to establish the run, it
Speaker 1: has to start in that first and second quarter. It
Speaker 1: has to begin with being able to sort of impose
Speaker 1: your will and allow your quarterback to adapt off that
Speaker 1: that that's when Goff becomes dangerous. Jared Goff is at leven.
Speaker 1: I think it's a hundred and eleven passer rating in
Speaker 1: two games I believe against Green Bay. I mean, he
Speaker 1: has had respectable performances and it's been built on explosive making,
Speaker 1: taking advantage of explosive plays, opportunistic happenings in the game,
Speaker 1: and also just being able to establish the run. Cam
Speaker 1: Akers is a guy I've been I've loved since the draft.
Speaker 1: He's been one of my favorite guys on the board.
Speaker 1: I draft him my own fantasy football league and he
Speaker 1: was there the entire season. I mean, I just felt
Speaker 1: like when push came to shove, even though they worked
Speaker 1: with Henderson for a while and obviously Malcolm Brown has
Speaker 1: been there for a few years, it felt like Acres
Speaker 1: is where this thing was trending. And when they finally,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of took the reins off and just
Speaker 1: let him go. You saw the impact he made. Now
Speaker 1: that being said, he's not a wonder kind. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's not this guy that's just gonna be uh, you know,
Speaker 1: you can't stop him, you know, like we're looking at
Speaker 1: with with Derrick Henry. Last month he was held the
Speaker 1: thirty four care thirty four yards and twenty one carries.
Speaker 1: There are answers for him, but the Seattle Seahawks did
Speaker 1: not have those in the wild card round, and it
Speaker 1: bit them, man. I mean that was ultimately as much
Speaker 1: as the turnover has hurt, the fact that they couldn't
Speaker 1: solve the first and second downs and end up being
Speaker 1: in multiple manageable situations. That's why the Rams were able
Speaker 1: to move the ball as wall as they did. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and when you look at the Packers right now defensively,
Speaker 1: we've been talking about it for the last several weeks.
Speaker 1: The Packers run defense is in a very different place
Speaker 1: than it was earlier in the season, in a very
Speaker 1: different place than it was in the postseason last year.
Speaker 1: We've talked about that fifty seven yard run by David
Speaker 1: Montgomery on the Chicago Bears first handoff of the game
Speaker 1: back in Week twelve, that Sunday night game at lambeau Field.
Speaker 1: That's what That's been a turning point for this Packers
Speaker 1: run defense because since that fifty seven yard run by Montgomery,
Speaker 1: opposing running backs over the last six games have averaged
Speaker 1: only three point nine yards per carry. Against Green Bay,
Speaker 1: that's all that the opposing running backs have been able
Speaker 1: to do in in essentially traditional run game situations. The
Speaker 1: Packers will take that any day of the week. And
Speaker 1: that's what it's going to take to try to take
Speaker 1: away this this uh, this play action game of the Rams.
Speaker 1: And then to further the point I was making earlier
Speaker 1: about the red zone, Okay, the um It's interesting you
Speaker 1: look at the statistics West, the Rams red zone offense
Speaker 1: fifty seven point nine percent, the Packers red zone defense
Speaker 1: fifty seven point seven percent. That's almost identical in terms
Speaker 1: in terms of those percentages. If the Packers can play
Speaker 1: to that now and and just to tell you those
Speaker 1: percentages being identical, the Packers defensively eighth in the league,
Speaker 1: the Rams offensively nineteen in the league. The Packers have
Speaker 1: an edge there, and and and the Packers red zone
Speaker 1: defense has been better down the stretch these last three
Speaker 1: or four games than it was earlier in the season
Speaker 1: as well. So again that's another thing. I see both
Speaker 1: of these teams being able to move the ball between
Speaker 1: the twenty yard lines. I think both of these offenses
Speaker 1: the coach the coaches are creative that there's playmakers on
Speaker 1: both sides, but when the ball gets inside the twenty
Speaker 1: yard line, this game comes down to are you gonna
Speaker 1: score touchdowns? Are you're gonna settle for field goals, and
Speaker 1: I think that's where the Packers have to win this game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I don't want to get into the whole bend
Speaker 1: or brank Brand bend, but don't break easy for me
Speaker 1: to say, uh, mentality stuff. But I thought one of
Speaker 1: the things that Dom Capers didn't get nearly enough credit
Speaker 1: for was the fact that the Packers were exceedingly good
Speaker 1: in the red zone throughout his tenure. They were when
Speaker 1: they were at their best. It was when they route
Speaker 1: rose up and answered in that area the field. The
Speaker 1: problem ultimately became down the stretch, just too many explosive plays. Well,
Speaker 1: you look at what Petton has done this year. Mike
Speaker 1: Petton has done this year with his unit, Packers have
Speaker 1: not had very many explosive plays, especially with the deep
Speaker 1: passing game. They've been able to curtail that. And while
Speaker 1: there have been instances, mostly in the first half of
Speaker 1: the season, where teams move the ball a little too much,
Speaker 1: probably for green Bay's liking, green Bay in the last
Speaker 1: six seven weeks has really, as I've said before and
Speaker 1: gotten some people making fun of me, batting down the hatches.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say it again in that area. Because here's
Speaker 1: the thing, like we've seen it time and time again.
Speaker 1: You can pull out multiple examples pass Packers games. There
Speaker 1: is a huge difference between three and seven seven and
Speaker 1: it changes the complexion of the game. Just look at
Speaker 1: that matchup against Chicago too, and in the fact that
Speaker 1: the Bears weren't able to punch some of those in
Speaker 1: and the way it changed things. So that's where this
Speaker 1: comes back to me. For Green Bay being able to
Speaker 1: finish eighth in that category and also have that uptick
Speaker 1: the second half of the season, that bodes well. It
Speaker 1: shows that guys are on their assignments. They're being able
Speaker 1: to have their containment, protect their edges. Chris Barnes is
Speaker 1: crashing down into gaps, he's staying clean. The cornerbacks aren't
Speaker 1: making foolish mistakes getting too handsy with with the receivers.
Speaker 1: They're all those type of things that play into playing
Speaker 1: eleven man solid red zone defense, and the Packers need
Speaker 1: to be able to bring that against the Rams. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you mentioned like the Bears game for the Packers
Speaker 1: was a really good example. They did give up the
Speaker 1: one deep ball over the top about a fifty plus
Speaker 1: yard play or whatever. It was, but then the defense
Speaker 1: rose up and forced a field goal attempt. When defense
Speaker 1: of lee We've talked about this a lot. When you
Speaker 1: when you do give up an explosive play, when you
Speaker 1: can recover from that and not let it lead to
Speaker 1: a touchdown, you're fine. You know those those don't hurt
Speaker 1: you as much, and you know that's a that's certainly
Speaker 1: an area of the Packers have improved on in I
Speaker 1: thought as the year has gone along, the other thing,
Speaker 1: I think you just have to be ready for and
Speaker 1: this is where I think these last couple of games
Speaker 1: have have been good for the Packers in terms of
Speaker 1: you have to be ready to handle momentum swings in
Speaker 1: these playoff games that things are gonna swing wildly back
Speaker 1: and forth. You look back at the Rams and the
Speaker 1: Seahawks in the wild Card round last weekend, when Darius
Speaker 1: Williams got that pick six, which I believe was the
Speaker 1: rams fourth pick six of the season, if you can
Speaker 1: believe that, I mean, that's really impressive. So again, we're
Speaker 1: not stressing the turnover thing too much here as we
Speaker 1: go into this, but it just felt like Seattle never
Speaker 1: recovered from that momentum swing when the Rams got that
Speaker 1: pick six, took it to the house. It just felt
Speaker 1: like the Rams were in control of the game the
Speaker 1: rest of the way. And these last couple of weeks
Speaker 1: the Packers have gotten off to a fast start against Tennessee.
Speaker 1: Tennessee climbs back in, but then the Packers regained control
Speaker 1: and finish it. Same thing kind of happened in Chicago.
Speaker 1: You have to be able to handle those momentum swings
Speaker 1: and snatch it back when when you have those opportunities.
Speaker 1: I think the Packers have done a good job of that.
Speaker 1: They have to continue to do a good job of
Speaker 1: that in the playoffs. Yeah, and and and this is such,
Speaker 1: this is gonna be a momentum game, Mike. I mean,
Speaker 1: you've seen it already. That stat was brought out to
Speaker 1: me and I haven't corroborated yet, so I hope I'm
Speaker 1: not spouting false knowledge. But that stat that when the
Speaker 1: readers brought up about Sean McVeigh and his team's their
Speaker 1: record in the second half when they lead at halftime,
Speaker 1: I think they threw it out at thirty seven to nothing.
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's factually true, but it is
Speaker 1: startling when you look at that type of production, and
Speaker 1: you follow the Rams enough the last few years, you
Speaker 1: understand the way they play and why they've been successful
Speaker 1: with Sean McVeigh as their head coach, and that's played
Speaker 1: into it. The fact that they can shorten games, the
Speaker 1: fact that they can take the momentum and if they
Speaker 1: get it, they'll seize it, they'll hold on to it.
Speaker 1: And they have veteran players now that have been in
Speaker 1: this system for three or four years that understand what
Speaker 1: their role is in those instances. Green Bay. I thought
Speaker 1: that's where they've made the big jump this year, in
Speaker 1: year two underneath Matt Lafleur. Last year, the construction was there,
Speaker 1: the foundation had been built, but it was everybody still
Speaker 1: settling into it, understanding what is being required of them.
Speaker 1: This year they do Aaron Rodgers playing faster, the running
Speaker 1: backs seeing their lanes and and understanding the wide zone
Speaker 1: scheme and what the Packers are looking for there, and
Speaker 1: then ultimately the passing game with Davantae Adams doing Davantae
Speaker 1: Adams things. And then you've got your Robert Tonnions of
Speaker 1: the world stepping up and making huge contributions when I
Speaker 1: think expectations are rather modest for him going into the season.
Speaker 1: That's where this team to me is different than the
Speaker 1: thirteen and three team a year ago. And it's why
Speaker 1: I feel like this game at lambeau Field, with green
Speaker 1: Bay having a full week and a half extra time
Speaker 1: to to get ready for this in the Rams, making
Speaker 1: a flight back to l A, practicing in l A
Speaker 1: other and also coming out here on a short week
Speaker 1: with dealing with the injuries that they are. Everything points
Speaker 1: to green Bay. But that doesn't matter if you don't
Speaker 1: show up on Saturday afternoon. Yeah, you've got to play
Speaker 1: your game, absolutely you. You have to be able to
Speaker 1: do that well before we go. I do want to
Speaker 1: get your thoughts West on the other divisional games. I've
Speaker 1: always considered this, you know, maybe the best weekend of
Speaker 1: NFL football of the entire year, when you're down to
Speaker 1: the final eight four in each conference. The other one
Speaker 1: in the NFC, of course, is the NFC South Showdown
Speaker 1: Showdown number three of this season between Tom Brady's Buccaneers
Speaker 1: and Drew Brees Saints. What are your thoughts on this one.
Speaker 1: It's funny when everybody was talking about Brady moving over
Speaker 1: to the NFC. I think these are the type of
Speaker 1: matchups that people started salivating over right away, right, I
Speaker 1: mean they wanted to be able to see primetime Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, Drew Brees. Those type of matchups happened before
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl because everybody's gonna watch the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: and then as it brought out, and when I were
Speaker 1: discussing this over the weekend, as we were setting our
Speaker 1: schedules and trying to figure out, Okay, when where the
Speaker 1: Packers are gonna play. When you knew it was gonna
Speaker 1: be Brady versus Brees, that things going in primetime, You
Speaker 1: and I had a ticket book towards an afternoon football
Speaker 1: game on Saturday, and and here we are Low and Behold,
Speaker 1: and both of these teams, though they just didn't dominate
Speaker 1: all year, they had to kind of work through some things.
Speaker 1: They have had their moments, and this is sort of
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways, like that rubber match between
Speaker 1: the two understanding Okay, who's one who's lost. Certainly the
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers have something to prove in this game.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I just look at New
Speaker 1: Orleans and this is what it's all about. Everybody knows
Speaker 1: what their salary cap situation is like for next season,
Speaker 1: it's not pretty. Uh. They invested heavily into winning a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl this year, they got healthy breezes back, Michael
Speaker 1: Thomas is back in their defense, has been able to
Speaker 1: maintain uh an air of dominance here that I think
Speaker 1: some people were wondering a couple of ago if they
Speaker 1: were going to be able to do that. So it's
Speaker 1: a great matchup in that regard. And then certainly from
Speaker 1: Tom Brady's perspective, do you look at the way he's
Speaker 1: played over the last month and a half as he
Speaker 1: settled in the Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich is scheme. Um,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fireworks. It's gonna be an absolute banger
Speaker 1: of a game that I hope you and I on
Speaker 1: Sunday afternoon are going to be eager to watch for,
Speaker 1: you know, packers ramifications. Yeah, you just this. This is
Speaker 1: a heck of a matchup, and and you just wonder here,
Speaker 1: here's the one thing I'll say with regard to the Saints,
Speaker 1: because you're right, they've they've gone all in. They know
Speaker 1: that Drew Brees is nearing the end, possibly at the
Speaker 1: at the very end here if he if he retires
Speaker 1: in the offseason. You wonder what the psyche of this
Speaker 1: Saints team is going to be if they are in
Speaker 1: a close game down the stretch. Because they lost the
Speaker 1: Minneapolis Miracle, you know, they lost on the bad call
Speaker 1: to the Rams in the NFC Championship game that one year,
Speaker 1: they lost in overtime to the Vikings. Again last year
Speaker 1: in the wild card round. They've they've got some night marriage,
Speaker 1: they've got some demons to exercise here and uh and
Speaker 1: to do it against the division rival and with a
Speaker 1: with a matchup like Drew Brees against Tom Brady. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's absolutely going to be one to watch, Mike.
Speaker 1: I want to mention this to this tells you how
Speaker 1: precious these moments are as well, because over the last decade,
Speaker 1: I would challenge anyone to debate me on this, Green
Speaker 1: Bay in New Orleans have been the cream of the
Speaker 1: crop in the NFC. I mean, they are the most consistent,
Speaker 1: viable title contenders in all those regards. But yet they
Speaker 1: haven't made it back to the Super Bowl. Um, you've
Speaker 1: had I'm not calling them fleeting, you know, moments or
Speaker 1: flashes in the pans. But you saw Seattle pop up
Speaker 1: and you saw you know, San Francisco and New York
Speaker 1: a little bit, and and certainly a championship to Philly,
Speaker 1: Atlanta getting there and now San Francisco getting back again.
Speaker 1: But it's been Green Bay. In New Orleans, it's been
Speaker 1: Rogers and Breeze. And uh again, I'm not looking ahead.
Speaker 1: We'll have to see all this weekend plays out. But
Speaker 1: if it comes down to Rodgers versus Breeze for a
Speaker 1: spot to go back to the Super Bowl, uh, those
Speaker 1: those storylines will write themselves. In addition to the fact
Speaker 1: that if it would end up being Rogers versus Brady,
Speaker 1: I get that too. But the Packers and in Saints,
Speaker 1: in their administrations, their brass have kept themselves in this
Speaker 1: hunt for a decade in the league. That stresses parody.
Speaker 1: That's incredible. Yeah. Absolutely. On the a f C side,
Speaker 1: Baltimore is at Buffalo, Cleveland is at Kansas City. Um.
Speaker 1: The the Baltimore Buffalo game really really intrigues me because
Speaker 1: especially because of what we saw last week from Baltimore,
Speaker 1: where Tennessee was kind of having their way early, their
Speaker 1: offense was getting things going. They got a couple of scores,
Speaker 1: they got up tend to nothing and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, here come the Ravens. It was like it
Speaker 1: was like this, this train started cranking up, coming down
Speaker 1: the tracks, and then and then Tennessee could not stop it.
Speaker 1: Um And you know, Baltimore will probably try to use
Speaker 1: that that same type of formula. I mean, Josh Allen,
Speaker 1: he'd probably gonna be able to come out and drive
Speaker 1: the Bills down the field on the first possession of
Speaker 1: the game and get some points on the board. But
Speaker 1: can you do can you play like that for four
Speaker 1: quarters against a defense like Baltimore's and then, you know,
Speaker 1: try to contain the singular most unique, nobody's liking quarterback
Speaker 1: in the NFL in Lamar Jackson. This uh, this, this game,
Speaker 1: this game from a matchup standpoint, is really really intriguing.
Speaker 1: It's fantastic. And in the other aspect of this too, Mike,
Speaker 1: you and I all weak were asked from people. You know, Hey,
Speaker 1: the NFC, you know they have a bunch of older
Speaker 1: quarterbacks and a f C has a bunch of younger quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: What do you make of that? Well, what I make
Speaker 1: of it is you're seeing Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, who,
Speaker 1: by all accounts, are gonna be guys that are gonna
Speaker 1: give the National Football League a lot of problems for
Speaker 1: the next decade. In one shape or form, they are.
Speaker 1: They are two of the guys I think really stood out.
Speaker 1: And then you have Baker Mayfield over in Cleveland too.
Speaker 1: That those recent draft classes that have produced this talent
Speaker 1: in the a f C. Now you're trying to see, Okay,
Speaker 1: other than Patrick Mahomes, reigning MVP the league, who was
Speaker 1: you know, drafted a few years ago too, Can any
Speaker 1: of these young guys guide a team to a super Bowl,
Speaker 1: to a to a ring, you know, much like Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers did a decade ago when when he got that opportunity.
Speaker 1: That that's what I'm looking for in this matchup. And
Speaker 1: for Buffalo, as i'm gonna say that, I'm gonna echo
Speaker 1: the same thing I said last week going into that game,
Speaker 1: is that they are a team that has been building
Speaker 1: towards this moment. It hasn't been an overnight success story.
Speaker 1: It's been a long, gradual process, finding their quarterback, finding
Speaker 1: their defense even before that, and now here they are,
Speaker 1: they're going up against the Ravens. And for the Ravens,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned earlier this week, a chance to exercise
Speaker 1: some demons from last year as well. So it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a very compelling matchup. Yeah, the other one in
Speaker 1: the a f C, Cleveland is at Kansas City, just
Speaker 1: like you wrote it up at the beginning of the Yeah, exactly. Well.
Speaker 1: I I give the Cleveland Browns a heck of a
Speaker 1: lot of credit for getting forgetting this far. They've certainly
Speaker 1: dealt with you know what they had to deal with
Speaker 1: last week with the COVID issues and the coaching staff,
Speaker 1: and then they go on the road to a division
Speaker 1: rival at Pittsburgh and and uh and you know, blow
Speaker 1: them out of their own yards, so to speak. But
Speaker 1: I just don't know if Cleveland's defense can really hang
Speaker 1: in there against Patrick Mahomes in this Kansas City offense.
Speaker 1: I think this Chief's offense it's just it feels like
Speaker 1: it's it feels like it's too much for what Cleveland
Speaker 1: has on the defensive side of the ball. And Baker
Speaker 1: Mayfield he probably is gonna really enjoy and have a
Speaker 1: lot of fun in a shootout maybe with Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 1: But I just I think the Chief's offense is too
Speaker 1: much in this game. Yeah, I get so many two
Speaker 1: thousand eleven Packers vibes from Kansas City's offense, not saying
Speaker 1: that they're even remotely similar, but just in terms of
Speaker 1: their production in the way they've gone about that. This year,
Speaker 1: they were Super Bowl champions, they succeeded, they thrived, and
Speaker 1: here they come right back and they're every They're up
Speaker 1: in everybody's business again. And Mahomes certainly doing what he's
Speaker 1: done at his age is just remarkable. But for the
Speaker 1: Browns perspective, the great thing about this is that, I mean,
Speaker 1: do they've won the lottery already? They They've They've been
Speaker 1: able to get back to the postseason for the first
Speaker 1: time in eighteen years. They want to playoff game now
Speaker 1: for the first time in twenty six years. Right, They
Speaker 1: now are in a position where they're playing with house
Speaker 1: money and you're going up against the best team that
Speaker 1: everybody's had in their power rankings all season long. What
Speaker 1: do you have to lose? So Yeah, to mention your
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield thing there, I would totally embrace this. I
Speaker 1: wish the best of luck to Cleveland's defense trying to
Speaker 1: find a way to to find the answers here. But
Speaker 1: for Mayfield, for Stefan Stefanski for Alex van Pelt, who
Speaker 1: was calling plays last week. This is go go have fun,
Speaker 1: see what happens, make a miracle happen. I don't know
Speaker 1: what the line is like on this game, but you know,
Speaker 1: I just feel like the Cleveland Browns, for everything they've
Speaker 1: been through last year, everybody thinking it was gonna be
Speaker 1: their year. This year, everybody jumped off the hype train.
Speaker 1: It was it wasn't fun to talk about the Browns anymore.
Speaker 1: It was last year was about the Browns. We gotta
Speaker 1: find our next team that we're gonna overestimate. And here
Speaker 1: you are. They're right back in this thing and there
Speaker 1: they're really become the team that I think everybody felt
Speaker 1: they could, you know, since the day that Baker Mayfield
Speaker 1: became a Cleveland Brown. Yeah. Well, it should be a
Speaker 1: whale of a weekend of NFL football the Divisional Playoffs.
Speaker 1: Two games Saturday, two games Sunday. It starts with Packers
Speaker 1: Rams at lambeau Field PM on Saturday afternoon. With that,
Speaker 1: we will call it a wrap on this edition of
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage
Speaker 1: of Saturday's big playoff game on Packers dot com for
Speaker 1: wes I am Mike, thank you for tuning in. Everybody,
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.