Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am like Spofford sitting next to the one and
Speaker 1: only West Hodkowitz, were coming to you here from our
Speaker 1: studios at lambeau Field and West. Yesterday we heard from
Speaker 1: head coach Matt Lafleur with regard to following up on
Speaker 1: the win over Detroit, and we talked on yesterday's show
Speaker 1: about how Packers had two substitutes on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: Corey Lindsley went out with an injury. Brin Bolago was
Speaker 1: being evaluated for a concussion, so Lucas Patrick Jared Valdier
Speaker 1: stepped in. But we didn't know so sort of a
Speaker 1: revelatory statement was that Billy Turner, the right guard, had
Speaker 1: turned an ankle in that game, but he was gutting
Speaker 1: it out and playing on that bad ankle. Because the
Speaker 1: Packers went into the game with only seven offensive linemen
Speaker 1: on the game day forty six, if Turner had needed
Speaker 1: to come out of the game, they would have had
Speaker 1: to put somebody completely out of position into the offensive line.
Speaker 1: So fairly unprompted, which doesn't always happen in press conferences,
Speaker 1: La Fleur gave a pretty nice shout out to Billy
Speaker 1: Turner for for gutting it out there on Sunday at
Speaker 1: Ford Field and keeping the Packers offensive line as intact
Speaker 1: as possible. So hours before Matt Lafleur ever addressed the media,
Speaker 1: I had tweeted out Billy Turner had started all sixteen
Speaker 1: games led the Green Bay Packers offense and total snaps
Speaker 1: for this past season only coming out, I believe for
Speaker 1: two snaps all year one thousand, seventy six. Has just
Speaker 1: been a total iron man for them. And it goes
Speaker 1: back to something that Brian Goodkin said when he signed
Speaker 1: him and the other three veteran free agency this offseason,
Speaker 1: the durability history, the ability to gut through things, and
Speaker 1: the ability to have that availability at all times. And
Speaker 1: I thought this game really underscored that for Billy Turner.
Speaker 1: And and he's been such a bright spot for this
Speaker 1: offensive line because he hasn't been a big topic for
Speaker 1: the most part. He goes in there, he does his job,
Speaker 1: and he's solidified a position that had kind of been
Speaker 1: going through a lot of upheaval for a number of
Speaker 1: years since t J. Lang had left for Detroit. So yeah,
Speaker 1: to be in a position where Corey Lindsley's out with
Speaker 1: the back injury. That means you're only interior offensive lineman
Speaker 1: as far as reserve Lucas Patrick has to plug in
Speaker 1: at center. Then Jared Valdere, who has been predominantly tackle
Speaker 1: his entire career, he has to go in and suben
Speaker 1: for Brian Bulagas. Yeah, you wonder if Turner of wouldn't
Speaker 1: been able to go through it, if the Packers would
Speaker 1: have sustained another injury. Does that mean, you know, Tyler
Speaker 1: Lancaster would have to dust off his old offensive line
Speaker 1: gear from high school. I mean, there are so many
Speaker 1: different scenarios the Packers would have had to explore, but thankfully,
Speaker 1: with Turner kind of pushing through that injury, they didn't
Speaker 1: have to do that. And then, by the way, for
Speaker 1: everything that had happened in game, the Packers offensive line
Speaker 1: blocked its tail off. It had an exceptional performance given
Speaker 1: what the circumstances were with the injuries both on the
Speaker 1: field and and the guys that had to leave back
Speaker 1: to the locker room. Yeah, I mean that really turned
Speaker 1: out to be, uh to be quite the story of
Speaker 1: the game. And Lucas Patrick I went through the entire
Speaker 1: offensive film, and for those who want to check out
Speaker 1: my what you might have missed Peace with some clips.
Speaker 1: I I focus on about a half dozen plays of
Speaker 1: Patrick's at center, both run blocking and past protection against
Speaker 1: various defenders who were lined up across from him. I
Speaker 1: thought he played an outstanding football game because he came
Speaker 1: in with about I believe it was ten minutes left
Speaker 1: or so in the second quarter, so he played the
Speaker 1: bulk of the ball game. And then Valdeer making his
Speaker 1: Packers debut, now he came in very late in the
Speaker 1: third quarter, so he played just a little bit over
Speaker 1: a quarter of football. But as we talked about on
Speaker 1: yesterday's show, this is a guy who hadn't actually stepped
Speaker 1: on an NFL field for essentially a year, and h
Speaker 1: you know, hats off to him. He's only been in
Speaker 1: Green Bay, you know, a few weeks, and but has
Speaker 1: the mental acuity that he picked up enough of the
Speaker 1: offense that it's not like it's not like Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: had to take half of the call sheet and throw
Speaker 1: it in the trash. Because there's a brand new right
Speaker 1: tackle in there who's only been around for about a
Speaker 1: month or so, and that's a credit to a veteran
Speaker 1: guy who's been around a decade and has I believe
Speaker 1: it's a hundred and thirty plus starts in his career.
Speaker 1: You can't you know, you can't, as La Fleur said,
Speaker 1: you can't put a price tag on that kind of
Speaker 1: experience in those situations. So a few things that jumped
Speaker 1: out to me about that performance. One, Uh, it is
Speaker 1: pretty crazy that his first career star came at center.
Speaker 1: I've never really really miss that. Raiders played him at
Speaker 1: center his first game and then after that said you
Speaker 1: know what your six eight I would say six ft
Speaker 1: eight and they played outside. My goodness. But you know,
Speaker 1: he came from Hillsdale, so there were some questions about
Speaker 1: exactly where you would fit in the NFL Division two
Speaker 1: college player, and evidently they looked at him at six
Speaker 1: eight and said, yeah, let's start there. But anyway, over
Speaker 1: the last decade he's had a really you know, great career,
Speaker 1: first as a left tackle and then moving out to
Speaker 1: right tackle with Arizona a number of years ago, and
Speaker 1: here he is one month to the day, I believe
Speaker 1: it had been since he had been claimed off waivers
Speaker 1: after he told the New England Patriots that he'd like
Speaker 1: to return in what a big security blanket that was.
Speaker 1: And just listen to him talk in the locker room,
Speaker 1: both after the game when I had a few chances
Speaker 1: to speak with him, but then also when he addressed
Speaker 1: reporters during Monday's locker room. You can tell how much
Speaker 1: this means to him, not just to be playing football again,
Speaker 1: but to be playing a meaningful situation and being a
Speaker 1: chance right now to to actually, you know, potentially make
Speaker 1: a big run here in the postseason and maybe even
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl. Uh. He takes a lot of pride
Speaker 1: in that, and and he's a very even keeled, you know,
Speaker 1: if steady as it goes performer. He lined up next
Speaker 1: to Billy Turner, his former teammate from Denver, and he
Speaker 1: just did his job. Now, the Packers are going to
Speaker 1: have two weeks here to see if Brian Balaga can
Speaker 1: get through the concussion protocol and be available for that
Speaker 1: January twelve games. So you never know, this might be it.
Speaker 1: This might be the one appearance that veil Deer has.
Speaker 1: But the one thing I think Green Bay can take
Speaker 1: a lot of solace in right now and can feel
Speaker 1: confident about is that when he was thrown into that
Speaker 1: situation with the game on the line, the Packers need
Speaker 1: to get a win. These weren't garbage minutes. These were
Speaker 1: important plays for them to be able to to get
Speaker 1: that by and and he showed that even with after
Speaker 1: the one year layoff, he could step up for it. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: as you said, the Packers will have the buy to
Speaker 1: try to get these guys healthy Bolago with the concussion protocol,
Speaker 1: Corey Lindsley with his back injury, it will be interesting
Speaker 1: to see. Obviously there's a lot of time between now
Speaker 1: in January twelve, but the Packers do have two other
Speaker 1: offensive lineman on the fifty three man roster, Alex light
Speaker 1: who has played some both guard and tackle, and then
Speaker 1: um Jason leg Lou If I'm saying John Leglu Sorry
Speaker 1: I got the first name incorrect there. And he's been
Speaker 1: here even less time than Velder. Very recent acquisition. But
Speaker 1: depending on the injury situation and given what happened in Detroit,
Speaker 1: you wonder if maybe the Packers go with eight active
Speaker 1: offensive lineman on the forty six for the playoff game.
Speaker 1: The reason if you're healthy most of the time, the
Speaker 1: reason you usually go with seven because because you you know,
Speaker 1: you've got at least two backups there, but offensive linemen
Speaker 1: don't really play special teams except for like field goal
Speaker 1: protection that kind of thing. So if you want to
Speaker 1: have other you know, the linebackers and the faster guys
Speaker 1: and what not available for special teams, that's where some
Speaker 1: of those last spots on the forty go. So there
Speaker 1: could be some interesting decisions to make, uh you know
Speaker 1: two weeks from now. Yeah, and Alex Light has kind
Speaker 1: of become that sort of Don Barclay type where he
Speaker 1: can play guard or tackle depending on what the Packers needs.
Speaker 1: So he could be a little bit of a Swiss
Speaker 1: Army knife there if they feel like they need a
Speaker 1: little bit more security. Depending again, we're gonna have a
Speaker 1: full week here before we get another injury report to
Speaker 1: see where Turner and and Lindsley and and all these
Speaker 1: guys are gonna be at. I know Corey's putting together
Speaker 1: a plan trying to make sure that he can be
Speaker 1: ready here for the stretch run as well. Packers were
Speaker 1: smart about it. I thought when you look at the
Speaker 1: entire way that they approached that game. You know, Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams address reporters in the locker room as well on Monday,
Speaker 1: and he basically said, I mean, if this would have
Speaker 1: been a you know, playoff game, he could have played
Speaker 1: in it. He feels like if they would have need
Speaker 1: to play this weekend, he would have been available. But
Speaker 1: you need to be smart and you want to try
Speaker 1: to get your team as healthy as possible. And for
Speaker 1: the first time in a long time here Packers are
Speaker 1: in a position to do that. They aren't trying to
Speaker 1: run a table. They're not trying to you know, claw
Speaker 1: their way to a division title. They had that hay
Speaker 1: in the barn and they were trying to get a
Speaker 1: buy and they've earned that by now at this this
Speaker 1: winning streak they've been on, and it affords them this
Speaker 1: opportunity now to sit back, relax, take those keep those
Speaker 1: hits off their bodies, and you know, see what falls
Speaker 1: to them now in this divisional round. Yeah. Well, shifting
Speaker 1: gears to the defensive side of the ball, There is
Speaker 1: definitely something we need to talk about in the big
Speaker 1: picture sense, and that is that with the defense only
Speaker 1: allowing twenty points to the Detroit Lions, the unit actually
Speaker 1: finished the season on a five game run of allowing
Speaker 1: only twenty allowing twenty points or less to the opponent.
Speaker 1: And that's the longest streak that a Packers defense has
Speaker 1: had in the regular season since it had a six
Speaker 1: game streak back in two thousand and ten. And we
Speaker 1: all know what happened in two thousand and ten, but
Speaker 1: the other connection to that year is that this Packers
Speaker 1: defense finished the entire season allowing nineteen point six points
Speaker 1: per game, and that's the first time a Packers defense
Speaker 1: for an entire regular season has has had a points
Speaker 1: allowed average under twenty since two thousand and ten. So
Speaker 1: hats off to Mike Petton and the Packers defense. We
Speaker 1: obviously saw the unit get off to a tremendous start
Speaker 1: in Week one against the Chicago Bears, just allowing the
Speaker 1: three points, but I think what really defines this unit
Speaker 1: season is the way it bounced back from allowing the
Speaker 1: thirty seven in San Francisco in UH in the blowout loss,
Speaker 1: to then come back and go five straight games to
Speaker 1: end the season. And actually the Lions were the first
Speaker 1: team out of those five to score more than fifteen
Speaker 1: because they were on a run of four straight games
Speaker 1: of allowing fifteen points or less. A really good finish
Speaker 1: to the season, I thought by the Packers defense, despite
Speaker 1: obviously a rough first half in Detroit, which they turned
Speaker 1: around with a pretty dominant second half. This conversation about
Speaker 1: the Packers and they're, you know, winning ugly and things
Speaker 1: like that. One of the reasons they've been able to
Speaker 1: do this is because of how the defense has performed
Speaker 1: down the stretch. And I think that's the reason why
Speaker 1: I keep saying over and over again, that's what ugly
Speaker 1: wins are, two fans, and to those who want to
Speaker 1: characterize it is that is is when your defense is
Speaker 1: tough and your offense doesn't look like anything spectacular, it
Speaker 1: just falls into that category of an ugly victory. And
Speaker 1: and the Packers are just fine with that right now,
Speaker 1: as much as they'd obviously like to see the offense
Speaker 1: find another level in January. And that's going to keep
Speaker 1: you in games here down the stretch too. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're going to have chances here. And and I go
Speaker 1: back to something that was actually asked of me an
Speaker 1: insider in box, and you had to edit this. I'm
Speaker 1: curious to see what your thoughts were on it yourself.
Speaker 1: Somebody had said if this, if if I saw parallels
Speaker 1: between the two thousand ten team and the two thousand
Speaker 1: ninet team in terms of the structural makeup of it,
Speaker 1: entirely different scenarios. The two thousand ten team was banged up.
Speaker 1: They were very talented, but they were banged up. This
Speaker 1: team is much healthier. That defense statistically was more dominant
Speaker 1: than what this year's team has been. But it is
Speaker 1: interesting and that I feel like there's a very similar
Speaker 1: swagger and energy in the locker room, and I also
Speaker 1: feel their capabilities of winning those close knit games. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of ties between these two squads. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'll be honest with you, the Packers finished eighteenth and
Speaker 1: total defense this season. They could have very easily been
Speaker 1: a top ten unit had they been able to reduce
Speaker 1: more of those explosive plays. Because the red zone defense
Speaker 1: was exceptional. They did a really good job in certain
Speaker 1: scenarios and being able to keep teams off the scoreboard.
Speaker 1: It was just not being gutted for that big fifty
Speaker 1: or sixty yard game that ultimately, nine times out of
Speaker 1: ten is going to result in some type of points,
Speaker 1: and obviously it's going to reflect poorly when you look
Speaker 1: at a stat sheet at the end of the game.
Speaker 1: But this team can win football games. And I just
Speaker 1: think the way that they're using Zadarius Smith right now
Speaker 1: has been a revelation for them. It's allowed Kenny Clark
Speaker 1: to be able to really excel this last month of
Speaker 1: the season. I know Preston Smith is getting a lot
Speaker 1: more attention right now, but he's up for it. And
Speaker 1: to be honest with you, who nobody keeps track of
Speaker 1: playoff stats, Mike. You know this. We can talk about
Speaker 1: Tremont Williams and in the interceptions he'd had back in
Speaker 1: two thousand ten, and those things that stand out to you,
Speaker 1: but nobody cares about tackles. Nobody cares about individual accolades.
Speaker 1: At this point, It's about whether or not your team
Speaker 1: can win and advance to the next round. And I
Speaker 1: think when you look at this defense specifically in the
Speaker 1: parallels that you could run to two thousand and ten,
Speaker 1: there's a very similar mindset and there just get the
Speaker 1: job done. Yeah, I think so. I I like what
Speaker 1: you said just kind of about the swagger in the attitude.
Speaker 1: There is there is a belief on this defense that
Speaker 1: they're going to find a way to get the job
Speaker 1: done when they when they have to, and I think
Speaker 1: the two thousand ten unit was like that. The two
Speaker 1: thousand ten unit went through with with the injuries that happened,
Speaker 1: with Nick Barnett going I are and other guys, you know,
Speaker 1: you had Dozen Bishop stepping in. You're signing Howard Green
Speaker 1: and Eric Walden off the street to come in to
Speaker 1: help that two thousand and ten units. So the process
Speaker 1: of getting to the end of the season was completely
Speaker 1: different because this Packers defense really other than what Darnell
Speaker 1: Savage missing a couple of games, I mean, they've had
Speaker 1: their primary guys, you know, pretty much all the way along,
Speaker 1: which I think is also a big factor in in
Speaker 1: how they were able to turn it around after that
Speaker 1: rough game in San Francisco. But the other thing too,
Speaker 1: is that ability, that ability to make you know, and
Speaker 1: I talked about it yesterday with the offense, but it's
Speaker 1: making a key play at the key time. I mean
Speaker 1: Nick Collins getting the interception in week seventeen to close
Speaker 1: out that ten to three victory over the Bears just
Speaker 1: to get into the playoffs. B J Rogie with the
Speaker 1: pick six and the NFC Championship, Termon Williams at the
Speaker 1: end of the first half to you know, start to
Speaker 1: get some separation from the Falcons in the divisional round.
Speaker 1: Those are the things that stand out to me about
Speaker 1: the two thousand ten team after they got through all
Speaker 1: the injuries, that defense just made key plays at key
Speaker 1: times down the stretch to to fuel that playoff run.
Speaker 1: This two thousand nineteen defense is perfectly capable of that,
Speaker 1: and they made several of those types of plays during
Speaker 1: the regular season. If they can do that in a playoff,
Speaker 1: in a playoff game or two, who knows how far
Speaker 1: this goes. And they got Tremont Williams. Williams number number
Speaker 1: is still here, so I mean, you got that, boy.
Speaker 1: That'd be cool if Packers actually could get on a
Speaker 1: run this year win a Super Bowl, to actually have
Speaker 1: a run like that where you had a guy on
Speaker 1: both of those teams that played in those type of
Speaker 1: situations that it's one thing to have the quarterback or
Speaker 1: to have a tackle or something, but it's not easy
Speaker 1: for its cornerback to stick a round that long, at
Speaker 1: least as far as the NFL is concerned. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's why everybody understands why this is such
Speaker 1: a special opportunity now too. You know, I've said this
Speaker 1: a number of times now, but I think it bears repeating.
Speaker 1: You know, this season started for the today as we do.
Speaker 1: This is December thirty one, Happy New Year, Mike. This
Speaker 1: whole thing started in mid April for the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: Like they built their roster obviously back in March, and
Speaker 1: they were able to come back, and they're able to actually,
Speaker 1: you know, put a team together, build the system, get
Speaker 1: the offense to buy in, get these new pieces involved
Speaker 1: in Mike Patton's defense, get them to believe. And here
Speaker 1: they are, thirteen wins first round by and now it's
Speaker 1: all up to the next sixty minute game in front
Speaker 1: of them. So I just think that there is an
Speaker 1: awareness with this team, and also they definitely understand that
Speaker 1: they're mortal. This is not infallible. They've been in a
Speaker 1: lot of knockdown, drag out games in which of certain
Speaker 1: swing here, gust of wind there, and next thing you know,
Speaker 1: you're you're on the losing end of it. They understand
Speaker 1: what it takes to win and also knowing where their
Speaker 1: weaknesses have been and where they need to improve. And
Speaker 1: I still think when we talk over and over again, Michael,
Speaker 1: but the Packers having that best game out there for them.
Speaker 1: That's still very much at play here when they go
Speaker 1: into this postseason. Yeah, I think so. But you know,
Speaker 1: you know how this goes in the playoffs to us?
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, thinking back to the last time
Speaker 1: the Packers had the first round by in two thousand
Speaker 1: and fourteen, Obviously everybody remembers that Dallas came to lambeau Field.
Speaker 1: That does Bryant catch, no catch, you know whatever, But
Speaker 1: when you even you go back a week, how close
Speaker 1: it was that Detroit almost beat Dallas. And then it
Speaker 1: wouldn't have been Dallas coming here, it would have been
Speaker 1: somebody else. And and the way the way those playoffs
Speaker 1: unfolded because of some really close calls in the wild
Speaker 1: card round. And so who knows what's going to happen here?
Speaker 1: With Minnesota playing New Orleans and Philadelphia playing Seattle, the
Speaker 1: Packers have, you know, one of three possible opponents, and
Speaker 1: you just don't know how this. Obviously, everybody's i think,
Speaker 1: expecting the Saints to win at home against the Vikings
Speaker 1: at the super Dome and the three seed the Saints
Speaker 1: will come play the two seed in Green Bay. But
Speaker 1: here's an interesting thing, because I just looked this up
Speaker 1: before week before. We came in here three previous times
Speaker 1: before this year, since the NFL instituted the playoff format
Speaker 1: in with the six seeds and the top two getting
Speaker 1: the by three previous times, the Packers have been the
Speaker 1: two seed with the bye one of those times. Only
Speaker 1: one of those previous three times they did not play
Speaker 1: the three seed in the next round. It was after
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl title when they ended up playing Tampa Bay,
Speaker 1: who was the four seed. Why because Minnesota was the
Speaker 1: sixth seed and knocked off the three. Just throwing that
Speaker 1: out there just in case. But anyway, but that's the
Speaker 1: madness of the post exactly. That's the thing. You just
Speaker 1: don't know how. You just don't know how this stuff
Speaker 1: is going to go. The Saints had to put it
Speaker 1: all on the line. They were playing for a possible by.
Speaker 1: They had to put it all on the line. They
Speaker 1: blew out the Carolina Panthers. They didn't get there by.
Speaker 1: They have their home game as the three seed. The
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings rested everybody. The Vikings are coming off a
Speaker 1: bye week, going into the super Dome and trying to
Speaker 1: knock off a favorite team. You just never know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and the Packers perspective. You just need to look at
Speaker 1: two thousand and ten for how crazy these things can
Speaker 1: play out. I mean that they ended up having to
Speaker 1: go to Chicago, out of all places to to go
Speaker 1: to win the Super Bowl, after winning in Atlanta and
Speaker 1: winning in and after the after the Bears had tried
Speaker 1: had didn't have anything to play for and played all
Speaker 1: their starters in Week seventeen to try to prevent the
Speaker 1: Packers from getting into the playoffs in the first place,
Speaker 1: and then that ends up being the NFC Championship game
Speaker 1: at Soldier Field is Green Bay in Chicago, when it's
Speaker 1: all said and down and here you are now. And
Speaker 1: it was a couple of guys that talked to in
Speaker 1: the locker room after the game. I mean, like Lucas Patrick.
Speaker 1: Lucas Patrick was on the practice squad when the Packers
Speaker 1: did the run the table thing in two thousand and sixteen.
Speaker 1: And then you know, you have Aaron Jones and Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams to draft classes that don't know what it's like
Speaker 1: to play in the postseason. I didn't get a chance
Speaker 1: to ask him, but I was looking at I don't
Speaker 1: know if Billy Turner has played in a playoff game
Speaker 1: yet I don't believe he has because he got to
Speaker 1: Denver after their Super Bowl and I think he left Baltimole.
Speaker 1: He's only in Baltimore for a short time, and I
Speaker 1: don't think he made it with Miami. So there's veterans,
Speaker 1: there's young guys, and then you look at a guy
Speaker 1: like Mercedes Lewis that has been to the a f
Speaker 1: C Championship Game. He was on the doorstep of finally
Speaker 1: getting to that Super Bowl. And I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: turn this into the Julius Peppers. You know, let's go
Speaker 1: get him a ring thing. But it doesn't matter if
Speaker 1: you're in the league for fourteen years or if you've
Speaker 1: been in the league for one year. There was a
Speaker 1: time in Green Bay where every single guy went through
Speaker 1: and they all knew what it was like to go
Speaker 1: to the playoffs. And that's not like that anymore. You
Speaker 1: have experience where it counts, but you also have guys
Speaker 1: that are really hungry to show that they not only
Speaker 1: can just be a playoff team, they can be a
Speaker 1: Division of champion, they can be a Super Bowl contender. Because,
Speaker 1: as the shirt said, the North is not enough. And
Speaker 1: now the Packers have a chance to prove that they
Speaker 1: are very capable of taking this entire cake. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean you mentioned Louis. There's also Jimmy Graham, who just
Speaker 1: missed the Saints super Bowl in two thousand nine because
Speaker 1: was a rookie. In two thousand and ten, then he
Speaker 1: just missed Seattle's back to back super bowls when he
Speaker 1: went to the Seahawks. He's been in playoff games, been
Speaker 1: you know, played on a lot of playoff teams, but
Speaker 1: he's never been to a super Bowl. There is the
Speaker 1: hunger there that goes along with that. One other thing
Speaker 1: I want to get to just to clarify a little
Speaker 1: bit from yesterday's show, and then we'll sign off, because
Speaker 1: we were talking about that crazy ending to the Seattle
Speaker 1: San Francisco game. Just to be clear, neither one of
Speaker 1: us was advocating or demanding that it should have been
Speaker 1: a past interference penalty. I honestly didn't even get enough
Speaker 1: of a look at it. I think I think you
Speaker 1: would agree with me that the point we were trying
Speaker 1: to make is that you, at least in that situation,
Speaker 1: with that much at stake, you have to stop the
Speaker 1: game and take a look at the play. Okay, So
Speaker 1: that was the point we were trying to make it. Hopefully,
Speaker 1: I hope nobody misconstrued it, because I honestly didn't even see.
Speaker 1: I was working on my computer getting ready for whatever
Speaker 1: we were going to post on the website, and I
Speaker 1: really didn't even get enough of a look had it
Speaker 1: to see if I would have called it past interference
Speaker 1: or not. But that aside, the question I want to
Speaker 1: throw at you is do you think do you think
Speaker 1: we're headed for another officiating controversy fiasco in the postseason
Speaker 1: like we had last year? Is that? Where is that
Speaker 1: where this twenty nine season is headed? Are we going
Speaker 1: to be talking about one of these things again like
Speaker 1: we were last January? A couple of things here. I
Speaker 1: want to answer that question. I want to give you
Speaker 1: a real good answer to that. I want to just
Speaker 1: add in with my own amendment to to what you
Speaker 1: just said. I don't even care if they would have
Speaker 1: just stopped the game and they ate a bag of
Speaker 1: Cheetos and then two minutes later started redoing the game.
Speaker 1: We have the play stands. The optics of it were
Speaker 1: so bad, Like just just look at the play right,
Speaker 1: the games on the line, look at the play This
Speaker 1: wasn't a fifteen point blowout trying to everyone get to
Speaker 1: the bus. This is for major stakes, and we'll see
Speaker 1: what happens at the Seattle Seahawks. It could be fatal stakes.
Speaker 1: And it was an incomplete pass, so it's not as
Speaker 1: though the clock was running or the clock has stopped,
Speaker 1: so you have an opportunity to stop the game and
Speaker 1: take a look at I get what New York saying.
Speaker 1: New York saying that, well we had the forty seconds,
Speaker 1: that was enough time. But come on, man, all right, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think we are. And the reason I say that
Speaker 1: is because in this same seat, listen, literally this same seat,
Speaker 1: this same desk, the same you know, Microsoft surface microphone,
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford, we sat here last year and I said,
Speaker 1: there were too many blown calls. There was too much
Speaker 1: controversy in the regular season to expect they're just not
Speaker 1: to be any in the postseason. And then lo and
Speaker 1: behold the NFC Championship game. You had arguably the biggest
Speaker 1: blown call of this century. Right now, when you look
Speaker 1: in terms of postseason play, in terms of how that
Speaker 1: that that shuffle out, I'm actually kind of curious now
Speaker 1: if that scenario plays out, if they would even overturn
Speaker 1: it with the the interference role, they might not even
Speaker 1: overturn who knows, because they've been finding a way to
Speaker 1: come through that paper bag all season. They might well,
Speaker 1: and they haven't. And they haven't given as much as
Speaker 1: they've now given the power to say, as I like
Speaker 1: to say, drop a penalty flag from New York for
Speaker 1: past interference if they want to. They haven't given them
Speaker 1: the power to say, like, oh, that's a helmet to
Speaker 1: helmet hit. That should be a fifteen yard right, I mean, um,
Speaker 1: But that was also what the issue was in New
Speaker 1: Orleans in the NFC Championship last year, whether it was
Speaker 1: past interference or not the receiver took a helmet shot.
Speaker 1: But nobody's nobody's got the power to nobody's got the power.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, yeah, who cares? Right? No? I mean,
Speaker 1: but I I said it an inbox. I think it's
Speaker 1: I think we are headed for another officiating controversy fiasco
Speaker 1: in the postseason. Whether it's going to be whether it's
Speaker 1: going to be roughing the passer, which was somewhat controversial
Speaker 1: in the a f C Championship last year with the
Speaker 1: Tom Brady play, whether it's going to be another one
Speaker 1: of these catch no catch things, whether it's going to
Speaker 1: be past interference, I just I think we're headed to it,
Speaker 1: and unfortunately, and it's just a question of which team
Speaker 1: is going to feel like they got wrong. Because here's
Speaker 1: the other thing, Mikhael, when you get playoffs where all
Speaker 1: these teams, these are your best twelve teams, the NFL
Speaker 1: has theoretically there's going to be tightly contested matchups every
Speaker 1: single week all the way up until the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Maybe if you know, Seattle, Denver, thing blow out happens.
Speaker 1: But because it's close, that means there's going to be
Speaker 1: close calls, which means there's going to be close decisions,
Speaker 1: which means there's gonna be unhappy people on both sides
Speaker 1: of the party. You just hope that it's unhappy people
Speaker 1: because it was a bang, bang play and they made
Speaker 1: the call that they felt was right. And that's something
Speaker 1: like last year where you know that probably changed the
Speaker 1: future and maybe even the legitimacy of who should have
Speaker 1: been playing in the Super Bowl. Yeah. Absolutely, because it
Speaker 1: was something that everybody looked at and said, boy, they
Speaker 1: you know, they nobody was saying that was a bang
Speaker 1: bang play. It was like, hey, that one, that one
Speaker 1: was botched and and the wrong team probably won the
Speaker 1: NFC titles. By the way, very quickly, just to throw
Speaker 1: this out here, well be before we just sign off,
Speaker 1: I'll let you do the honors. But this was a
Speaker 1: very important episode for you and I have Packers Unscripted,
Speaker 1: well you especially, you haven't missed one. Yeah, that's true,
Speaker 1: I haven't missed one this and it's it's actually fitting
Speaker 1: because you mentioned Happy New Year before. It's New Year's
Speaker 1: Eve as we're taping this and we're returning the page
Speaker 1: to this was our five podcast of Packers Unscripted right
Speaker 1: here on the last day of nineteen, podcast number five hundreds.
Speaker 1: Maybe we have some confetti or something that was going
Speaker 1: to rain down mus Marvin didn't didn't rig anything up.
Speaker 1: How fun is that, though partner, we haven't been canceled yet.
Speaker 1: What a tremendous honor. No, it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: When I actually came on board with the Green Day
Speaker 1: Packers in April of two thousand sixteen, and we knew
Speaker 1: that this scenario is gonna happen where Vic was gonna
Speaker 1: be sliding out and I would probably sliding in with
Speaker 1: you on the beat, they talked about wanting to do
Speaker 1: a show, a daily program. We started on Spectrum, we've
Speaker 1: shifted to Packers dot Com here over the last two years.
Speaker 1: What a wonderful ride it's been. I pitched for years.
Speaker 1: I wanted to do podcasts, I wanted to do video
Speaker 1: stuff at my previous employer, and then here we are.
Speaker 1: I get to live the dream with Mike Spofford every
Speaker 1: single day, and we've hit number five hundred, My friend,
Speaker 1: all right, here's two thou With that, we will sign
Speaker 1: off on podcast number five hundred of Packers Unscripted. Be
Speaker 1: sure to follow all of our coverage of the team
Speaker 1: on Packers dot com, subscribed to us, like us on
Speaker 1: iTunes and other podcast services starting with number five oh one,
Speaker 1: and be sure to check out all the great video
Speaker 1: content on the Packers YouTube channel for WES. I am Mike.
Speaker 1: Happy New Year, everybody. We will see you next time.