WEBVTT - #496 Packers Unscripted: Statement game 0:00:00.880 --> 0:00:14.880 Hi, everyone. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:18.280 I am Mike Spofford sitting next to my partner in crime, 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:21.799 Wes hod Kouwitz. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:24.480 out there West. We are back from a late night 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:28.400 return flight from Minneapolis and the Green Bay Packers are 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.479 the NFC North champions. How does that grab you? It 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:33.640 grabs me pretty good. Yeah. I want to just put 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:35.360 this out there. You know, you always put together the 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:37.920 like the description and the captioning and all that for 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:41.159 our episode the following day when you post the podcast 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:43.760 on the website, I'm gonna give you right now your 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:47.640 headline for that. You're ready. Statement game there. It was 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.159 a statement game. And last week I said this in 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:53.640 Insider in backs, What a better way to make a 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:57.640 statement and put yourself and solidify yourself in this NFC 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:01.440 North race an NFC conference then being able to go 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:03.720 out there and do exactly what they did to the 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:07.360 Minnesota Vikings. It did not come without adversity. Three first 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:11.800 to turnovers is not the prototype blueprint for the success 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:14.120 and it's Brian Balagas said afterwards to the fact that 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:16.280 it was their three biggest ball players too, and that 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:18.920 Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones and Davante Yeah, they were all. 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:22.000 They were all guilty. They this It shows you, though, 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:25.440 that guys need to raise their level of play and 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.680 in sometimes things are gonna happen to you. It's how 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:30.320 you respond to them. The defense gives up a hundred 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:33.440 and thirty nine total yards, five sacks, three and a 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:35.680 half of those belonging to it Darius Smith. A career 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:37.759 day for Smith, a career day for Aaron Jones, who 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.360 bounced back from his own fumble to have a hundred 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.000 and fifty four rushing yards. The Green Bay Packers went 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:48.840 into that dome, that noise box in Minneapolis, and they 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:50.720 put their foot in the ground and said, you know what. 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:53.000 You can bring up all your videos, you can have 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:57.080 all your fireworks, you can do all your claps, but 0:01:57.120 --> 0:01:59.520 at the end of the day, it comes down to 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:03.680 what happens between those hashes for sixty minutes, and for 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:06.280 a good portion of that particularly in that second half, 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:08.240 the Three Bay Packers were the better football team. Well, 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.240 I tell you what you're you're allowed to call me 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.679 a liar because I said the Packers would have to 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.840 win the turnover battle to win this game. That didn't happen. 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:19.360 I said the Packers would have to play their best 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.200 game of the season to win this game. That didn't happen. 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.040 I get to call you a liar because you said 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:29.160 Aaron Rodgers would have to play at another level. That 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:32.360 didn't exactly happen. But none of that happened. Yet the 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:36.040 Packers still won this game, and that's just a credit 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:38.480 to the team that they have. Now. I will say 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:40.480 one thing to try to give myself a little bit 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.960 of credit here. I did say after both of the 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:46.840 losses to the Chargers in the forty nine I said, 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:49.919 the Packers at some point this season, when they are 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.239 on the road and they get off to a rough start, 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:54.240 they're going to have to find a way to write 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:56.240 the ship. They've done it at home games, they hadn't 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:58.400 done it in a road game. They did it in 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:02.079 this game. With the three first half turnovers, some drop passes, 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:06.200 some off target throws, blown scoring opportunities, you only get 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:10.200 three field goals in the first half, they righted the 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.840 ship and got things squared away. A lot of credit 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:17.440 to the defense, obviously, but also just the leadership of 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:20.799 the team. You're talking about guys like Rodgers and Zadarius 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:24.440 Smith and Matt Lafleur and other veteran leaders on this team. 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:27.320 That in that environment with those kind of stakes, when 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.560 you get off to quite frankly, a terrible start with 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.160 a fumble on the opening possession and they take over 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:36.400 on the ten yard line, the Packers got their act 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:38.040 together and they did what they had to do to 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.240 pull out to date, the biggest win of the season. Yeah, 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:42.960 And it was that gut check that you wanted to 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:45.560 see them make in US Bank Stadium because at some 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:47.560 point the Greenman Packers were gonna need to win in 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:50.640 that in that dome, and you and I are part 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:52.520 of it. It's an open air press box. You feel 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:55.600 that energy. Yeah, first time, first time in four tries. 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:57.840 Packers were owing three in that building. And it's not 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:00.360 easy to to put yourselves in a situation and where 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:02.720 you give them those turnovers because then that energizes a 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:08.240 fan base. But to see Vikings fans mass exiting in 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:10.840 the last five minutes of that game after the Packers 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:12.880 were able to shut the door on it, you know, 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:16.000 with Aaron Jones fifty six yard run, the fact that 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:19.400 the defense would not give up they would not give 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.640 any ground. They gave up ten points in this game, 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.640 and they all were after being put in adverse field position. 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:26.840 One of the things I put in my sidebar for 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:28.720 the game is that they were if you look at 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:30.520 just the plays where the Vikings had to stay in 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:33.880 their own start, in their own territory, eight punts, two 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:37.440 turnovers on downs, and the Kevin King interception, they gave 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:41.039 up no ground whatsoever. And Kenny Clark talked about that afterwards. 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:45.240 They've played good quarters, they've played good halves. This particular performance, 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:47.479 it was about as complete as you could ask for 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.520 from the defense, and then, by the way, offensively able 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.159 to rally themselves after halftime only down one point because 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:57.040 of what the defense had done and Aaron Jones and 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.400 the running game gets going, and the Minnesota Vikings had 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:01.520 no answer for Art, especially with Eric Kendricks not being 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.320 on the field. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:05.839 I mean, the Vikings certainly missed Eric Kendricks on the 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.920 field in the second half. Defensively, they certainly missed Dalvin 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:11.880 Cook being on the field. Offensively, for the entire game, 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:14.720 the Vikings could not get any running game going, which 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.880 made the play action pretty much useless in terms of 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:22.880 the missdirection and the deception part of it. And quite frankly, Wes, 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.480 the Packers just won the line of scrimmage on both 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.039 sides of the ball. Here, the Packers defensive line and 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:31.640 the Packers offensive line were the two best units on 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:35.520 the field in this game. We saw Zadarius Smith. I 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:37.680 don't know about you, may I think you commented last 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:40.120 weekend Insider inbox, and I did it again this morning 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.599 after that performance last night. You have a performance like 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:45.960 Smith did, three and a half sacks, five tackles for loss. 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:49.520 He dominated at one point or another. He whipped every 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:52.240 single guy on the Vikings offensive line because he was 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.280 lining up everywhere and he could win anywhere he lined up. 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.320 I think the guy needs to be in the conversation 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:00.680 for defensive player of the year. He's to thirteen and 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.960 a half sacks right now. He's on a team. He's 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:07.960 on a defense that that has certainly shown a lot 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.520 of improvement here down the stretch late in the season, 0:06:10.760 --> 0:06:14.240 kind of rediscovering where they were in September, after you know, 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.320 some lulls there in the mid season. He's got thirteen 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.640 and a half sacks right now. I mean, I know there, 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.880 you know, you can talk about Chandler Jones and t J. Watton, 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:25.680 Nick Bosa and these other guys who are going to 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:27.960 be in there, and I'm and I'm not saying, I'm 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.680 not saying that anybody should just hand the trophy does 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:32.839 a Darius Smith. But if he's not at least being 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:35.880 talked about for this, for this award this year, I 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.240 think there's something wrong because I think he's just had 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:40.960 a phenomenal season. The Defensive Player of the Year award 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:44.960 needs to be the best defensive player. Chandler Jones is 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.960 an amazing pass rusher, Nick and t J. Watt has 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.920 had a good season, and certainly Joey Bosa, what can 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:54.520 you say about him? But Bosa? Actually, I said Nick 0:06:54.600 --> 0:07:00.320 from say their cousins at Jake Coumarro fair enough. No, 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:03.920 Zadarius Smith to me is the best defensive player in 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:06.120 the NFL right now. I'm going to actually say that 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.200 because if you look at the way that these dominoes 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:12.720 play out, with the variations and ways that Mike Petton 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:16.240 uses him, there's no one doing what he's doing right now. 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.240 And I always sense that, right but it was that 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.960 Bill Callahan quote earlier this month and Bill Kalan sixty three, 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:26.400 sixty four years old, however long he's been coaching football, 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:29.160 saying that he had never really seen a guy like 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:31.920 him before in terms of he can play rover. I 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.440 wrote about this on on Saturday morning. Our schedules got 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:36.040 kind of mixed up, so we weren't able to discuss 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:39.160 this that much. But he plays rover like Clay Matthews did. 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:42.040 He plays three tech nose tackle like Julius Peppers did. 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:45.720 He is a Swiss Army knife of pass rushing. And 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.400 then by the way you line him up against the guard, 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:50.559 you line him up against the center, line him against 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:52.080 the tackle. You can even put some help out there 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.760 for him. It doesn't matter. He still wins one on once. 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.160 You need two people to block him at all times, 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.720 and sometimes that's not enough. And the guy can stop 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.160 the too. He's not just a pass rusher, he's he's 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:04.960 a complete defensive player. This But but to the original point, 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:07.320 this is no longer about the Pro Bowl. Who cares 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:10.840 about the Pro Bowl? I think if the AP voters, 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:12.720 which I know they do their dull diligence on this, 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:16.360 I can see him being an actual first or second 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.600 team All Pro agree, And to your original point, he 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:21.960 absolutely deserves to be in that conversation for Defensive Player 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:23.400 of the Year because people are having no count form 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.560 and he's making the entire defense better. Now Mike Kenny 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:28.840 Clark has another sack here in the month of December, 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.880 Preston Smith was getting in on it the secondary. You 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:36.240 saw this defense come together and really, Gell and one 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:37.520 of the things I asked a lot of guys in 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.480 the locker room boat was did you feel this kind 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.200 of coming on like this, this performance being there? And 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.160 to the man, they basically said yes, it was just 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:48.360 a matter of doing it for an entire game and 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.160 in the most hostile environment possible. It was quite quite 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:53.679 the game. Yeah, seven first downs, a hundred and thirty 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:56.079 nine total yards for the Vikings. As you said, pretty 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.720 much defensive dominance by the Packers. He catch a couple 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:02.600 of aches in that the Vikings tried the trick play, 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.200 they didn't execute it, just Fon Diggs misses on the 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:08.400 throw down the sideline to Kirk cousins Um and I 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.720 know the Viking fans were all upset in the fourth 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.240 quarter on the holding penalty that wiped out the touchdown. 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:14.679 But take a look at that one, folks, that was 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:17.439 a legitimate holding penalty. Kyler Facral is going to get 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.040 to Kirk Cousins there if he doesn't get held so 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:24.160 for for as few flags as Bill Vinovitch's crew through 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:27.960 in that game. But yeah, and and his and his crew, 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:30.920 the stats bear it out his crew, I believe for 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:33.800 the second year in a row now they are the 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.040 uh the crew with the least number of flags UM 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:38.760 at least for sure for this year. And I know 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.719 they were close to being UM the crew with the 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:44.920 fewest amount of flags last year. But that one, that 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.320 one did did have to be thrown. As I said, 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:49.760 it really was about the line of scrimmage here, because 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:54.760 the Packers defensive front whipped the Vikings offensive line, and 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.000 as the game wore on in the second half, the 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:02.160 Packers offensive line was clear winning the day for green Bay. 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.760 A couple of things when you look at what green 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:08.160 Bay's defense was doing in the first half with limiting 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:11.440 those opportunities for Minnesota after the turnovers, and then the 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:15.559 Packers offense, even though the unit wasn't scoring touchdowns in 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:18.080 the first half and they were only kicking field goals, 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.920 the ball control, the time of possession, all that all 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:24.200 that added up to a second half where the Packers 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:27.199 offensive line took over. Aaron Jones ends up with two 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.839 rushing touchdowns in the second half, the twelve yard or 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.160 to put the Packers in the lead, the fifty six 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.240 yard or that's the backbreaker. He had a hundred and 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:38.280 nine yards in the second half on the ground, right, 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.280 I mean he went over a hundred yards just in 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:43.520 the last two quarters to finish with a hundred and 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:48.640 fifty four Aaron Jones uh and taking over the true 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:51.559 bell cow roll with Jamal Williams leaving the game in 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:56.040 the second half with a shoulder injury. Um, this uh 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:58.319 what the Packers did on the ground. I mean, as 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:01.000 I said, you look at the turn over differentially, look 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:04.599 at Aaron Rodgers only having a sixty eight something passerrating. 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:06.679 You wouldn't think that's a formula for the Green Bay 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:09.400 Packers to win, certainly not win on the road and 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:12.000 win a big game on the road. But they did, 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.120 and they distill did it convincing? Yeah? And you go 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:16.840 back to what Rogers said after the opener against Chicago, 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:20.240 saying that we got a defense if West Howitz was 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:22.480 walking out the field and there was any cameras on me, 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:25.400 I'd be saying, we got a football team. I mean, 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.760 it's just the number of ways. And this was probably 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.520 the last check they had to kind of check off 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.520 on the box with being able to actually get down 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:35.800 early on the road in a hostile environment, finding a 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:40.520 way to win and not and win handily. Ultimately, this offensively, 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.080 I thought was a really telling performance because, yeah, it 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.440 didn't all go right. There were a lot of things 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.720 working against them early on. Aaron Jones had a phenomenal game, 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.280 and he fumbled the ball on the third play and 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:54.280 he fought through it. You look at dropped the pass 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:56.679 on third down. That wasn't the greatest throw, but a 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:58.800 pass he could have caught and still moved the chains, 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.240 and that didn't go right ear as well. But the 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.800 hallmarks of this offense that have been there all year 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:06.640 were again in play here. The receivers blocked their butts 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:08.600 off down field. That's what it has allowed them to 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.600 spring some of those big gains. This offensive line with 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.000 Elton Jenkins in there, what the what they're able to 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:17.440 do between the tackles and opening up holes. It was 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:19.800 there when they needed to do the stretch play. Mark 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:22.920 uisveld Is Scantling is the one sealing off the edge there, 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:26.360 allowing Aaron Jones to get up the sideline. Alan Lazard 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.960 has three catches on third down. Davante Adams fights through 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.960 his own MISQ but ends up having thirteen catches, the 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:35.760 second Packer all time to have at least thirteen catches 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:39.480 in a game, tying Don Hudson. It's not just Aaron 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:43.000 Rodgers anymore. And that is what has allowed the Packers 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.040 to be in a position that they're in right now 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:47.960 at twelve and three, to have a thirty chance of 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.000 going into Detroit and being the number one seed when 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.679 they leave because of these type of things. And I 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:56.240 just got to give a shout out to to for 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:01.000 Aaron Jones to be able to find that second gear 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.520 late in that game twenty three carries that tied the 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:06.640 season high. I mean, there was no Jamal Williams to 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:08.600 work off of it. It It had to be Aaron Jones, 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:10.760 and he stepped up to that opportunity. And I want 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:13.000 to get back to UH to where things sit right 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:15.360 now with the playoff scenarios, but I do need to 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:18.720 take care of some sponsor business. Select Cousin Subs locations 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:22.400 are now offering delivery. Whether you're ordering catering or your 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.080 favorite sub, They're delivering right to you when you order 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:29.320 online at Cousin Subs dot com. Cousin Subs, we believe 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:32.080 in better. Okay. So the Packers are twelve and three. 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.360 They have clinched the NFC North Championship first division title 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:41.400 since two thousand and sixteen. The Packers still in control 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:43.400 to get a first round by. If they beat the 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:46.559 Detroit Lions, the Packers will have a first round by 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.600 in the playoffs. They are also still in play for 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.400 the number one overall seed because of the results that 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:57.160 happened over the weekend, namely Seattle getting beat by at 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:00.839 home by the Arizona Cardinals. The Packers can get the 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.160 number one overall seed in the NFC with a win, 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:07.800 and if San Francisco loses to Seattle, which then would 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:11.520 give the NFC West title to Seattle, San Francisco would 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.640 drop to the five seed as a wild card, and 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:18.000 the Packers would have the number one seed. For those wondering, 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.840 can the Packers still get a first dround by if 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:24.760 they lose to the Detroit Lions. The answer is yes, 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.640 but the Packers would also need the New Orleans Saints 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.320 to lose to the Carolina Panthers in order to still 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:32.360 get a buy with a loss. The most important thing 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:36.200 is the Packers are gonna control of getting that by 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:39.120 the Minnesota Vikings now are locked into the sixth seed 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:41.760 in the NFC. They will be going on the road. 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:43.720 They are a wild card team and they are the 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.120 six even with this upcoming game against the Bears. They 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:49.480 cannot help themselves. So it would be an interesting decision 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:53.560 with by Mike Zimmer how how much he really plays 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.520 his guys when they could in effect give themselves a 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:58.160 little bit of a bye week and rest up in 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:00.640 the playoffs. But that's a tough deci in coming off 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:02.280 of the game they just played where they did not 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:05.640 play well on either side of the ball. Frankly, they 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:07.880 do have some guys banged up that they definitely want 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.120 to get healthy for the playoffs. But I'll be curious 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:14.720 to see here exactly what the Vikings decide um because 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:18.360 they cannot improve their playoff position with one game to go. Yeah, 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:20.600 I mean, they're Kirk Cousin is gonna need a tune 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:22.840 up fight here. I mean, if they're really wanting to 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:24.680 do anything in the post season, they're gonna need to 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.440 be able to get some mouthwatch for that performance. So 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:29.320 I would be very interested to see exactly how they 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.560 go with it. I wouldn't anticipate, you know, if you 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:34.440 want to keep cooked down or even Madison, I get that. Yeah, 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:36.640 I mean, and depending on Kendricks and you know, guys 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:38.640 like that that they they need to heal up and 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:41.000 get healthy for the playoffs. I wouldn't expect those guys 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:42.920 to play, but how he plays it with the rest 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:46.000 of the guys, when you know you're you're not in 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:48.480 a you're not in a position to to help yourself 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.160 in any way as far as the playoff positioning goes, 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:53.280 it will be an interesting decision. Yeah, And for green 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.640 bas perspective, this goes back to something I've been saying 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:57.880 for the last month. Mike, it's just win the game. 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:00.400 He needed to win against New York while Washington in 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:02.880 Chicago to make this a very relevant game. And they 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:05.840 did that. Yeah, and we Yeah, I was gonna say, 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:09.280 we've seen from the moment, and I remember sitting in 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:12.960 the media auditorium after after one of the Packers victories, 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:15.280 waiting for Matt la Floor to come in for his 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:19.360 postgame press conference, and we watched the San Francisco forty 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:22.040 Niners on the television kick the last second field goal 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:24.840 to beat the New Orleans Saints. From that, at that moment, 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:28.360 the Packers were in control of getting a first round 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.560 by if they could win out. And that's what they've done. 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.200 As you say, they've kept winning and now they're down 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:36.200 to one more game, or if they get that win, 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:38.920 they have a first round by. The Packers would be 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:41.480 at home in the divisional round for the first time 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:45.600 since And uh, that's uh that, that's what's on the 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:47.960 table here on a short week with the holiday mixed 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:49.840 in and everything like that, the Packers still have some 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:53.240 preparation to do, but they're going to go to Detroit 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:55.400 with plenty to play for. And that's what's kind of 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:58.280 cool about this year's team two thousand nineteen. How wherever 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:00.240 this season takes Green Bay. I mean, that's what I'm 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.360 gonna remember this unit four. Is that getting back to 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.320 my point about it's not just Aaron Rodgers, they just 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:09.200 they play well situationally. Mason Crosby makes a pretty darn 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.359 good kick for forty two yards to get them on 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.520 the board early on in this one. You need that. 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:17.280 Tyler Irvin has been a really good upgrade for them 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:19.760 on punt returns. He ate muffed that one, but otherwise 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:21.520 he's been exceptional. And by the way, when he did, 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:23.159 he jumped right back on and he didn't let it 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.359 get away from him. You look at Kyler Fackral. I 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:29.000 thought had a sneaky good game. I tweeted this. I 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.280 mean the pressures he was able to generate, even if 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:34.159 it doesn't translate into the stack column or into the sacks. 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:36.240 He was a big part of this performance. Yeah, Dean 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:39.159 Lowry had a sneaky good game to Dean Lowry. Kenny 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:41.800 Clark coming on again another four and a half sack 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.600 month in December, just like he did in two thousand seven. 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.880 Clark with another December sack. He just keeps, just keeps 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:50.240 making those tally marks in the snow, right. Yeah. And 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:52.399 the question I when I was doing the Packers pregame 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.399 radio show beforehand, you know, I was asked by Dennis Crouzy, 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:57.800 do you feel like the way the defense is playing 0:17:57.840 --> 0:17:59.240 this can this is a team that can win a 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:01.880 Super Bowl in the answer is absolutely because as Ryan 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.119 Hartwig and Duke Bob and everybody put up our graphics afterwards, 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:08.879 you look at the stars now on that that those 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:11.680 faces that they have on these defenses and on offense, 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:14.280 and you compare that to where they were at three 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.560 and sixty five days ago. Yeah, there's there, there's some holes, 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:19.760 there's areas that packers need to improve. They're by no 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:23.520 means a complete product yet, but just the talent difference. 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:25.520 And I gotta be honest with you, Mike, I don't 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:26.960 want to take this down the road that I'm sure 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.440 you weren't expecting this to go too, But we want 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:32.680 to talk about za Darius Smith for Defensive Player of 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:34.240 the Year. I know there was a fun thing about 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:36.600 Aaron Jones as the m v P or Matt laflour is. 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.920 The coach Brian Goodkins has to be a serious contender 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.520 for Executive the Year for them to be able to 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:45.199 have this overhaul of talent, you know, and then he 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.800 hires Milt Hendrickson from Baltimore, and then they go and 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.000 get sa Darius Smith. They go and get Preston Smith. 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:53.600 That was a busy forty eight hours for them, Adrian 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.359 Amos holding things down in the secondary. Billy Turner has 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.160 brought a lot to that right guard position, settled down 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:01.199 a spot that had really been an upheal for the 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.840 better part of two years since t. J. Lang left. 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:06.719 And there are just so many different things about this 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:08.960 team that it's very special for them to be in 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:12.399 a position now to get a first round by compared 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:14.600 to where they were at last year at this time. 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:17.520 Man Brian Good, it comes to be the last guy 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:19.760 that wants to take a bow, but it's pretty incredible 0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:21.760