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 trusted colleague Weston Hadko it'z. We're coming to
Speaker 1: you here from our studios at Lambeufield to look ahead
Speaker 1: to Sunday. It is a noon kickoff between the Packers
Speaker 1: and Buccaneers at Lambeufield and it's on CBS WES. It
Speaker 1: was switched from Fox to CBS, so just so you're aware,
Speaker 1: and so the folks out there don't automatically go to
Speaker 1: Fox to look for the Packers in an NFC game.
Speaker 2: In nineteen ninety seven, if I would have told you
Speaker 2: the Packers are going to play the Buccaneers an NFC
Speaker 2: Central game on CBS, you would have never believed me.
Speaker 1: No, I wouldn't have believed you. But this is the
Speaker 1: world in which we live. We'll take a look at
Speaker 1: this Buccaneers club because you talk about a game that
Speaker 1: is awfully big for both squads. Here in the middle
Speaker 1: of December. Tampa Bay started the season two and zero yep,
Speaker 1: then lost seven out of nine over the next two
Speaker 1: and a half months. But now suddenly they've won two
Speaker 1: in a row. They've gotten to six and seven. I
Speaker 1: think most importantly is they are coming off of a
Speaker 1: big road win in the NFC South. They went into Atlanta,
Speaker 1: pulled out a win in the final thirty seconds or
Speaker 1: so against the Falcons to create this three way tie
Speaker 1: in the NFC South with the Falcons, Buccaneers, and Saints
Speaker 1: all sitting at six and seven. So Tampa Bay got
Speaker 1: the win it needed last week to be able to say,
Speaker 1: all right, this division title is there for the taking
Speaker 1: and the Packers are the next team in their way.
Speaker 2: I think it was Kenny Clark in the locker room
Speaker 2: on Wednesday night who was saying, I mean, this is
Speaker 2: a big game for both teams. Yeah, very different reasons. Certainly,
Speaker 2: you need every victory you can get and then figure
Speaker 2: out from there whether or not that means wild card
Speaker 2: or whether that in the Buccaneers case, community Vision title.
Speaker 2: But I look at a lot of parallels between these
Speaker 2: two squads because while Tampa is much more veteran lateen
Speaker 2: than Green Bay is, they had to work through some things.
Speaker 2: Mid season was not looking good at all, but they've
Speaker 2: righted the ship a little bit. They've won some turnover
Speaker 2: differential battles. I think Baker Mayfield Buy and Large has
Speaker 2: played pretty well as of light, and Rashad White has
Speaker 2: been getting going as well defensively.
Speaker 3: There is a lot of parallels.
Speaker 2: Between what the Bucks are going through and what Green
Speaker 2: Bay is going through.
Speaker 3: They are a herding unit.
Speaker 2: If you saw neither team practiced on Wednesday, the Bucks
Speaker 2: held a walk through. The Packers didn't even do anything.
Speaker 2: They just didn't meetings. And if you look at the
Speaker 2: injury reports you can tell why. Packers a lot of
Speaker 2: things going on there. Tampa Bay, Vita Veya didn't practice,
Speaker 2: Devin White would not have practiced, Carlton Davis didn't practice.
Speaker 2: I mean, there are so many injuries on that side
Speaker 2: of the ball for the Buccaneers. But be that as
Speaker 2: May game will be played at noon Central start time
Speaker 2: on Sunday, and one of these two teams is going
Speaker 2: to have to come out on top.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And with regard to the Buccaneers, I mean, really
Speaker 1: you can't overstate how big that win was for them
Speaker 1: last week in Atlanta, because if they lose that game,
Speaker 1: they are two games behind the Falcons in the division
Speaker 1: with only four games left to play, so the division
Speaker 1: title is practically out the window and then they would
Speaker 1: also be at five and eight and on the outside
Speaker 1: looking in at this whole mess of teams, you know,
Speaker 1: seven and six, six and seven fighting for these wild
Speaker 1: card spots. So just an enormous win for them. And
Speaker 1: you know they got they got points in that game,
Speaker 1: like from anywhere and any time they needed. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, they got a pick six from Carlton Davis,
Speaker 1: they got a safety from Antoine Winfield on a blitz,
Speaker 1: and as I said, Baker Mayfield after the Falcons had
Speaker 1: scored with about two and a half minutes to go,
Speaker 1: Desmond Ritter got a touchdown, Baker Mayfield took, took the
Speaker 1: Buccaneers the length of the field, they scored with about
Speaker 1: thirty seconds left, and then made a tackle of Drake
Speaker 1: London inside the five yard line on the final play
Speaker 1: of the game to preserve that victory. Baker Mayfield West,
Speaker 1: We've seen him before, and in fact, this will be
Speaker 1: the third consecutive year we're going to see him in
Speaker 1: lambeau Field. In December two years ago on Christmas, he
Speaker 1: was the quarterback for the Browns. Last year in December
Speaker 1: on a Monday night, he was sort of the emergency
Speaker 1: quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams. He had just been
Speaker 1: signed off the street, you know, ten days before that,
Speaker 1: it had played in a Thursday night game the previous week.
Speaker 1: Now he's with the Buccaneers, and you know, this is
Speaker 1: a guy who's who's seen it all and done that.
Speaker 1: He's been in playoff pushes before, he's won a playoff
Speaker 1: game as the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. You're not
Speaker 1: gonna get anything past Baker Mayfield in terms of in
Speaker 1: terms of surprising him with anything necessarily, but he is
Speaker 1: a quarterback who can be pressured into a mistake here there.
Speaker 1: And the Packers have gotten their share of interceptions off
Speaker 1: of him when he's played in this stadium. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: believe it's five, right, five in those last two games.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, I mean, Baker is undeniably an NFL starting quarterback.
Speaker 2: It was good to see him get this opportunity with
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay this year because when he went in with
Speaker 2: the Rams, and it's a.
Speaker 3: Very unique coincidence that it worked out the way it did.
Speaker 2: That he's played Green Bay as much as he has,
Speaker 2: but just how everything unfolded with the Panthers, it just
Speaker 2: it didn't feel right, and I think I view this
Speaker 2: opportunity now that he has with Tampa's more of the
Speaker 2: get right, comeback, second chance after obviously Cleveland win a
Speaker 2: much different direction, and he can make all the throws.
Speaker 3: He was a number one overall pick for a reason.
Speaker 3: He's a gamer.
Speaker 2: He's seen these moments now I think he's benefited from them,
Speaker 2: and he's obviously built up a rapport with that receiving corps.
Speaker 2: Chris Godwin's numbers aren't really there this season, but Mike
Speaker 2: Evans continues to perform and produce in a big way,
Speaker 2: and he's also found a nice secondary option with White
Speaker 2: as a pass catcher. So Packers still have their hands
Speaker 2: in their work cutout for him. But you do look
Speaker 2: at some of the things that has happened with Mayfield
Speaker 2: in the past. He is going to give you a
Speaker 2: couple chances throughout the course of the game. It really
Speaker 2: comes down to whether or not the defense capitalize on it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you and you and I were talking before
Speaker 1: we turn the cameras on here about Mike Evans, who
Speaker 1: you know, the guy has He's been in the league
Speaker 1: ten seasons, including this year. This is his tenth year.
Speaker 1: He's had over a thousand yards receiving every single year.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's ever played fewer than thirteen games
Speaker 1: in a season. I mean, his durability has been impressive.
Speaker 1: He's well over eleven thousand career career yards. Now excuse me, and.
Speaker 3: It's hard to say.
Speaker 1: He's I mean the I was asked an insider inbox,
Speaker 1: so what do you do? What do you do to
Speaker 1: slow down Mike Evans? And it's like, well, the guy's
Speaker 1: got ten straight thousand yard seasons. If somebody had figured
Speaker 1: out a way to slow him down, it would have
Speaker 1: happened by now right. I mean, he's a To me,
Speaker 1: what I've seen in the times that we've seen Mike
Speaker 1: Evans against the Packers and in other times when I've
Speaker 1: seen the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, it just seems like,
Speaker 1: whoever's quarterback is, you know, it was Tom Brady, now
Speaker 1: it's Baker Mayfield, other guys previously. It seems to me
Speaker 1: that the quarterback just waits for the opportunity when the
Speaker 1: defense is in a call that leaves Mike Evans one
Speaker 1: on one and then the ball is going that way
Speaker 1: because it isn't. They aren't fifty to fifty balls with
Speaker 1: him when it's one on one, it's more like eighty twenty.
Speaker 1: He comes down with the ball more often than not,
Speaker 1: and you can't double cover him every play. You can't
Speaker 1: provide safety help on every single play. No defense can
Speaker 1: really do that throughout the entire course of a game.
Speaker 1: And he just always maximizes on his opportunities when he
Speaker 1: gets a one on one chance.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he's kind of the more I think about it,
Speaker 2: he's almost like the NFC's version of Keenan Allen.
Speaker 3: Where I think.
Speaker 1: It is, that's exactly what I said.
Speaker 3: Did you really I haven't even had a chance to
Speaker 3: read it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you hadn't. You hadn't, And that's exactly what I said.
Speaker 1: He's he's like Keenan Allen and that he just keeps
Speaker 1: putting up numbers and producing, and yet not a whole
Speaker 1: lot of people talk about how good this guy is well,
Speaker 1: and I.
Speaker 2: Think a big reason for that is because it ended
Speaker 2: up taking him six years to make a playoff. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and unfortunately, kind of like Alan, we're missing a really good,
Speaker 2: potential Hall of Fame career just because we're not putting
Speaker 2: enough spotlight on the guy. Yeah, he's almost like an
Speaker 2: early Elbert Poolholtz box Score. My friend Scott Vince's the
Speaker 2: one that gave me this analogy where it's like when
Speaker 2: you look at the back of a trading card, it's
Speaker 2: just perfect. There's no injury season, there's no hey, he
Speaker 2: had fifteen catches as a rookie. No, it's just it's
Speaker 2: all production from the day he walked in the door.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: And certainly he's a player. And I love these guys
Speaker 2: because they're becoming fewer and farer between. But a guy
Speaker 2: that has been with one franchise, he won a Super
Speaker 2: Bowl with that franchise, and despite a litany of differ
Speaker 2: from quarterbacks throwing him the football, he's done. It doesn't
Speaker 2: matter if it was Josh McCown or Tom Brady. He's
Speaker 2: been able to accomplish a lot in this league. And
Speaker 2: I actually have to take some ownership of this as well,
Speaker 2: because I overlooked him and I paid the price in
Speaker 2: my fantasy league this year because I had to make
Speaker 2: a decision. I don't know if it was the fifth
Speaker 2: or sixth round. I made a decision between him and
Speaker 2: Chris Godwin. I drafted Chris Godwin. That didn't work out
Speaker 2: so hot for me because I thought maybe slot receiver
Speaker 2: type beck of vibes, he'll joe with Baker Mayfield. No,
Speaker 2: the guy has been and will continue to be Mike
Speaker 2: Evans and six foot five, two hundred and thirty pounds.
Speaker 2: I mean, for all the respect we gave Megatron throughout
Speaker 2: his career, I feel like in a lot of ways
Speaker 2: we definitely haven't given Evans enough flowers of his own.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, and you mentioned Rashad White earlier as well,
Speaker 1: and he has been a producer as far as the
Speaker 1: receiving yards out of the backfield for this Buccaneers offense.
Speaker 1: But the other thing you have to look at right
Speaker 1: now with what's going on with this Tampa Bay offense
Speaker 1: is how White is run the ball. For the season,
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers are ranked twenty ninth in the league in
Speaker 1: rushing offense. Honestly, that doesn't mean anything at all, because
Speaker 1: if you just look at the last three games, Rashad
Speaker 1: White has two hundred and eighty six yards of four
Speaker 1: point eight average yards per carry over the last three games.
Speaker 1: Two of the last three he's hit one hundred yards rushing.
Speaker 1: That's not that they are no longer the twenty ninth
Speaker 1: ranked rushing offense in the league. What they've done recently
Speaker 1: is what they're hanging their hat on offensively, and with
Speaker 1: the Packers coming off of another rough game defending the run,
Speaker 1: they've got to shore that up because you can't let
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay come in here and control time of possession
Speaker 1: and control the game with the running back, because then
Speaker 1: it gets a lot harder to get after Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Tampa's one of these rare teams in this
Speaker 2: day and age where they just feature one bellcow back
Speaker 2: in a lot of ways. They did it with Leonard
Speaker 2: Fournette before this as well, and White has been the guy.
Speaker 2: I don't think anybody else has over three hundred rushing
Speaker 2: on the season. I think he's pretty much been the
Speaker 2: dude for them. And now four of his all four
Speaker 2: of his games with over twenty carries have come in
Speaker 2: the last six weeks.
Speaker 3: Again, it just.
Speaker 2: Reemphasizes that they're continuing to feed them the ball and
Speaker 2: they're getting better returns out of that. A capable back.
Speaker 2: I think everybody felt like this year, you know, everyone
Speaker 2: understood he was going to be RB one for them,
Speaker 2: and he gives them some versatility, gives Baker mayfield some
Speaker 2: different options in which to use them. But at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, even though they've made this switch
Speaker 2: from Bruce Aerons now to what Todd Bowles is the
Speaker 2: head coach and now they have a new offensive coordinator
Speaker 2: now as well, they still kind of stuck to a
Speaker 2: very similar blueprint for how they want to structure their
Speaker 2: offense and as of late, it's been very successful.
Speaker 1: Well on the defensive side of the ball. It's a
Speaker 1: unit that in some ways has been tough to figure out.
Speaker 1: And I know that they they've been dealing with injuries,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, and that certainly plays into it. But
Speaker 1: just looking at the statistics, they're twenty seventh in the
Speaker 1: league in yards allowed, but only thirteenth in points allowed,
Speaker 1: and a big reason for that is turnovers. The Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers are actually plus six internal over margin for
Speaker 1: the year, which is not a number you would normally
Speaker 1: see for a team that is six and seven. You know,
Speaker 1: that is hovering around that five hundred mark. But it
Speaker 1: is a defense that has taken the ball away. I
Speaker 1: think that is what has helped keep points off the board,
Speaker 1: even though they have surrendered a lot of yards. And
Speaker 1: the other thing that really sticks out to me, Wes
Speaker 1: is that from a pressure perspective, they have six different
Speaker 1: guys on this defense that have four or more sacks
Speaker 1: on the ear one of those being Antoine Winfield, who's
Speaker 1: a nickelback slash safety slash do it all dB. And
Speaker 1: when I talk about six guys with four plus sacks,
Speaker 1: that doesn't include two of the biggest names on the
Speaker 1: defense and Levante David and Devin White, who have three
Speaker 1: and two sacks respectively. And I know those guys have
Speaker 1: dealt with some injuries and missed some time, but my goodness,
Speaker 1: six guys with four plus sacks, plus you still have
Speaker 1: David and White if both of those guys are available
Speaker 1: to play.
Speaker 3: How exciting is Antoine Winfield as a football player?
Speaker 1: Wow?
Speaker 2: I mean when you look at this, Michael. I will
Speaker 2: get to those inside backers here shortly. But Winfield is
Speaker 2: a guy that in twenty twenty, when the Packers are
Speaker 2: having that back and forth with Tampa was you just
Speaker 2: sometimes you look at a rookie and you're like, this
Speaker 2: is this is the guy and it's not just because
Speaker 2: of what his name is. He has everything you look for. Yeah,
Speaker 2: ninety seven tackles, which leads the team for them eleven
Speaker 2: passes defense, he's picked off two of those, four force fumbles,
Speaker 2: three fumble recoveries, and yeah, he's also added four sacks.
Speaker 2: He's an all round playmaker. And as Bill Huber was
Speaker 2: asking of Jordan Love in the locker room on Wednesday evening,
Speaker 2: you know, you can't really even diagnose where he's going
Speaker 2: to be at any given time. He's used kind of
Speaker 2: in the same way that Charles Woodson was used near
Speaker 2: the end of his run in Green Bay.
Speaker 3: He's listed to safety, but you're going to see him
Speaker 3: in the slot. They could blitz him.
Speaker 2: They have depth in the secondary depending on what happens
Speaker 2: with Ryan Neil here.
Speaker 3: But he's a guy that is going to be everywhere.
Speaker 1: He reminds me, frankly, and the Woodson thing is interesting
Speaker 1: to me. He reminds me of Troy Paulamalu, except without
Speaker 1: the size. He's not as big as Polamalu was and
Speaker 1: obviously without the hair.
Speaker 3: Yeah that part two, and maybe he just reminds you
Speaker 3: of his dad too.
Speaker 1: But when you talk about a guy who's lining up
Speaker 1: everywhere and has a chance to make an impact defensively
Speaker 1: from almost any spot on the field. That was Paula Malu.
Speaker 1: That's why he's in the Hall of Fame. And Antoine
Speaker 1: Winfield is still very young, long way to go, but man,
Speaker 1: this guy can play.
Speaker 3: First three four years in the league. It's incredible what
Speaker 3: he's done.
Speaker 2: And when you think of that star kind of defensive
Speaker 2: back that you throw on a guy, he certainly fits
Speaker 2: the bill.
Speaker 3: Levonte David and Devin White though.
Speaker 2: Those guys are I think the prototype, and they've been
Speaker 2: the prototype for years.
Speaker 3: Of how you want to develop a defense.
Speaker 2: A veteran that is wise beyond his years but still
Speaker 2: plays an exceptionally high level. In David, yeah, second on
Speaker 2: the team and tackles. This season, I think he was
Speaker 2: now up to thirty three ish around that area. Remarkable
Speaker 2: the way he's been able to adjust his game. And
Speaker 2: I remember three years ago saying, this guy that's not
Speaker 2: getting enough love. He's been one of the top inside
Speaker 2: backers in this league for years, but no one's given
Speaker 2: him credit for it. He's definitely gotten his flowers now
Speaker 2: at this point. Devin White, I think is dealing with
Speaker 2: the foot injury right now. We'll have to see exactly
Speaker 2: where he's at in this one, but is the number
Speaker 2: two to that, and then via Vita via Veya is
Speaker 2: one of the most exciting defensive linemen in this league.
Speaker 2: He's been that way for a number of years. Just
Speaker 2: a monstrous human being that also is incredibly athletic for
Speaker 2: a guy his size.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean how many how many teams have their
Speaker 1: leading sack guy for the season be an interior defensive alignment.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, he's he's a problem. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's he's tough to handle.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's not it's not even like the Aaron
Speaker 2: Donald thing where Donald's just going everywhere you're gonna find him.
Speaker 2: But three two three, and he's gonna push your in two.
Speaker 1: It is gonna be He's gonna be somewhere. He's gonna
Speaker 1: be somewhere in there, and you've got to be ready
Speaker 1: to handle him.
Speaker 2: But to be honest with you, I haven't watched enough
Speaker 2: Tampa this year to explain exactly why they've been so
Speaker 2: far down the list in terms of their past defense.
Speaker 2: I think they're third from the bottom of the league.
Speaker 2: Their their run defense has been fine, but I mean, overall,
Speaker 2: as you mentioned, the yards allowed this year are up there.
Speaker 2: The teams have been able to move the ball on them.
Speaker 2: But they've played well situationally and been able to keep
Speaker 2: some teams off the board too. And when you look
Speaker 2: at a team that again has gotten on a little
Speaker 2: bit of a winning streak here late, a lot of
Speaker 2: times it's going to come down to keeping the opposing
Speaker 2: team out of the end zone.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, we'll get to our Keys to Victory in
Speaker 1: just a second. I'll take care of a little bit
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Speaker 1: Keys to Victory, Wes. When I say what's it going
Speaker 1: to take for the Packers to win this ballgame? What
Speaker 1: is at the top of your list?
Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to put on my Mike Spofford Week
Speaker 2: fourteen hat and tell you that it's going to come
Speaker 2: down to running the ball and stopping the run. We
Speaker 2: know that the dangers that lurk there with this passing
Speaker 2: offense of Tampa Bay. You can't allow them to get
Speaker 2: into a rhythm and get white going and have to
Speaker 2: defend them on both fronts. That is not a key
Speaker 2: for victory defensive or offensively. I should say We're gonna
Speaker 2: have to wait and see how this week unfolds for
Speaker 2: Aaron Jones. I know he told Rob Reichel in the
Speaker 2: locker room on Wednesday that he wasn't really expecting to
Speaker 2: go Monday. It was more about trying to be ready
Speaker 2: for this one.
Speaker 3: Have to see.
Speaker 2: He said, he's probably gonna practice on Thursday. We've shot
Speaker 2: this before we go out there for practice, so we'll
Speaker 2: have to check it out. AJ Dillon is dealing with
Speaker 2: a thumb injury now. He was listed as a DMP
Speaker 2: on Wednesday. Don't exactly know what his status is going
Speaker 2: to be. He has yet to miss a game in
Speaker 2: his career due to injury. He's only missed one because
Speaker 2: only missed a couple because of COVID right back in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty, so he's been a workhorse for them. But
Speaker 2: if you get Aaron Jones back, that still gives you
Speaker 2: one of your faces of the run game, independent of
Speaker 2: what's going on with aj Dillon and ultimately Mike as
Speaker 2: much as we're going to talk about Christian Watson and
Speaker 2: these receivers and you're not sure what's gonna happen with
Speaker 2: don Tavian Wicks with the ankle. You go back to
Speaker 2: the original structure of this offense from week one, and
Speaker 2: we talked about Aaron Jones, how this offense was going
Speaker 2: to need him. It's taken a while. It's been an
Speaker 2: inconsistent year and the injury front. I know, he's had
Speaker 2: some fits and starts, looked great in the opener against
Speaker 2: the Bears, and then just hasn't been able to get
Speaker 2: back into a rhythm again. You hope the hamstring is
Speaker 2: behind him. You hope that we're getting close to the
Speaker 2: need being behind him and the Packers can mount a
Speaker 2: playoff push here with their Pro Bowl running back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm totally with you, you know, with regard
Speaker 1: to the stop the run, run the ball thing again.
Speaker 1: You know what you and I were talking about it
Speaker 1: earlier this week after we got back from the game
Speaker 1: in Jersey. And as much as you know Jaden Reid,
Speaker 1: who fortunately doesn't have a concussion and is just dealing
Speaker 1: with an ankle injury and sounds like potentially he's trending
Speaker 1: to play, but most importantly does not have a concussion
Speaker 1: was put in the concussion protocol, So that's good news
Speaker 1: for this Packers receiving corps that certainly is banged up,
Speaker 1: you know. But Reid had the sixteen yard touchdown run.
Speaker 1: He had the twenty yard run on the end around
Speaker 1: on the Packers first play of the second half. Late
Speaker 1: in the first half, Patrick Taylor, I believe, busted off
Speaker 1: a fourteen yard run. But the big thing that was
Speaker 1: missing from the Packers running game was aj Dillon on
Speaker 1: a just a traditional you know, not in a two
Speaker 1: minute drill type of thing like it was with Taylor
Speaker 1: at the end of the first half, but just traditional
Speaker 1: running the ball, being able to being able to bust
Speaker 1: one of those runs to turn into an explosive whether
Speaker 1: it be fifteen or twenty yards or something like that.
Speaker 1: That didn't happen. Dylan was productive, but the Packers weren't
Speaker 1: able to get any of those big runs, and it
Speaker 1: just felt like because none of the traditional runs were
Speaker 1: really keeping the Giants on their heels. Ye the play
Speaker 1: action game wasn't you know, it didn't. It didn't get
Speaker 1: the def to react the way you want it to.
Speaker 1: And that's a credit to the Giants. They were able
Speaker 1: to do what they needed to do. But if you
Speaker 1: can run the ball between the tackles and just get
Speaker 1: one explosive one here, a ten yard run, here, a
Speaker 1: twelve yard run there, it starts to put the defense
Speaker 1: on their heels. And then and then Jordan Love with
Speaker 1: the play action game where which is where I think
Speaker 1: he is absolutely one at his best, is out of
Speaker 1: play action. I think that's the key to getting this
Speaker 1: offense back into a rhythm instead of you know, all
Speaker 1: of kind of the fits and starts that we saw
Speaker 1: on Monday night, which had followed up some really good
Speaker 1: weeks of offensive football.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I don't have any pro football focused stats
Speaker 2: for you or some you know, deep introspective analytics, but
Speaker 2: it just seems like when you have to go eleven
Speaker 2: personnel out of shotgun it is third and nine, that
Speaker 2: just has not been a successful way for Green Bay
Speaker 2: to go about, you know, winning this season. There's been
Speaker 2: some long conversions and there's been some times where Jordan
Speaker 2: Love has made some exceptional throws, but a lot of
Speaker 2: them seems to come off of things that they've built
Speaker 2: and things that they can take. And you know, there's
Speaker 2: some that Jordan even touched on when we were talking
Speaker 2: to him on Wednesday about the end around and the
Speaker 2: reversals and some of the things they were doing.
Speaker 3: With Jayden Reid.
Speaker 2: Is that now that you put that on film, the
Speaker 2: way that you can build off of that and build
Speaker 2: packages that look the same but operate differently. That's the
Speaker 2: key in the National Football League.
Speaker 3: When you look at the.
Speaker 2: Pony package that they did it for a time with
Speaker 2: Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. It wasn't just okay, well
Speaker 2: there's two running backs back there, who's getting it? It
Speaker 2: was okay, now Jones is motioning out, who's following them?
Speaker 2: What kind of coverage are they end? What kind of
Speaker 2: information can Aaron Rodgers take from that same thing? Now
Speaker 2: with some of this motion stuff, when you have guys
Speaker 2: like Reid that are coming in motion. When it was
Speaker 2: going well the last few weeks, I almost looked at
Speaker 2: it as that was the one to running combination, was
Speaker 2: what Reid's doing, stretching them horizontally and then north and
Speaker 2: south with Aj Dillon. So again we'll have to take stock,
Speaker 2: we'll have to see who's available, But certainly a huge
Speaker 2: sigh of relief for the Packers that Reid didn't sustain
Speaker 2: a concussion on the short week he can be in
Speaker 2: the fold. He is dealing with an ankle injury limited
Speaker 2: on Wednesday, but Green Bay needs them, especially depending on
Speaker 2: what happens here with don Tavian Wicks. If he's unavailable,
Speaker 2: that roster and that depth chart for the receiver position
Speaker 2: certainly dwindles.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And the other thing you have to say when
Speaker 1: you're coming off of a game where you turn the
Speaker 1: ball over three times and you look at what Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay has done defensively in terms of takeaways, you've got
Speaker 1: to protect the football. You know, Jordan Love had done
Speaker 1: a tremendous job of protecting the football for a good
Speaker 1: stretch of games for quite a while, but had the
Speaker 1: ball stripped from him on the read option run and
Speaker 1: then you know, made a bad read, bad throw for
Speaker 1: the pick. Those were on back to back possessions against
Speaker 1: the Giants, and then obviously there was the turnover on
Speaker 1: special teams with the muff punt. So you've got to
Speaker 1: protect the ball and then you the formula for beating
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield in this league is pretty well known. It's
Speaker 1: pretty standard. You have to force him into a mistake
Speaker 1: or two because he does still have that gunslinger fatality.
Speaker 1: He's going to take his shots. He's going to take
Speaker 1: his chances. But if he's taking that chance when he's
Speaker 1: under pressure, when he's not comfortable, that's when maybe you
Speaker 1: know that that cannon of an arm of his isn't
Speaker 1: entirely accurate, you know what I'm saying. Like, if you
Speaker 1: if he's sitting back there and he's and he's got
Speaker 1: you know, he's got protection, and he's got time, and
Speaker 1: he can scan the whole field and he takes his chance,
Speaker 1: that's a much higher percentage play than when you can
Speaker 1: you know, when you can pressure him, flush him out,
Speaker 1: and then he still wants to try to make that
Speaker 1: big play downfield, that's when potentially a mistake can come.
Speaker 1: I think you have to force Mayfield into a mistake
Speaker 1: or two in this game to help out a Packers
Speaker 1: defense that has been struggling against the run.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and back to back games now without an interception
Speaker 2: for him and probably had his arguably his best game
Speaker 2: of the year. Even though he only threw for one
Speaker 2: touchdown against the Bears, three hundred and seventeen passing yards
Speaker 2: which was a season high, and you know, he has
Speaker 2: the weapons and he obviously knows how to utilize. He
Speaker 2: came in last year with the Rams and he fit
Speaker 2: well into that culture. They had some big emotional moments,
Speaker 2: but then after the season was like, no, I'm still
Speaker 2: a starting quarterback. There was an opportunity in Tampa to
Speaker 2: prove it Kyle Trast. They didn't want to go that direction.
Speaker 2: It was Mayfield and he's trying to prove them right
Speaker 2: here during the final four weeks of the season.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, shifting gears to the NFC playoff picture. The
Speaker 1: key games that are coming up this weekend obviously Packers
Speaker 1: and Buccaneers, as we talked about, a big one for
Speaker 1: both squads. A very interesting game on Saturday West because
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings, now having made a quarterback change to
Speaker 1: Nick Mullins replacing Josh Dobbs, they are traveling to Cincinnati
Speaker 1: to play the Bengals. The Bengals who are right in
Speaker 1: the mix of a crazy wildcard picture in the AFC
Speaker 1: as well. It's one of those things, you know, Obviously,
Speaker 1: any game, any game can go one of two ways.
Speaker 1: But the impact of this game potentially on the whole
Speaker 1: playoff race really is significant, because if the Vikings were
Speaker 1: to lose on Saturday and they drop to seven and seven,
Speaker 1: then all of these teams that are six and seven
Speaker 1: in the NFC, whoever can get to seven and seven,
Speaker 1: you're suddenly tied with them for essentially the last two spots.
Speaker 1: Then it's not just you know, trying to squeeze into
Speaker 1: the last one. Minnesota drops back to seven and seven
Speaker 1: and a bunch of teams catch them, and you know it,
Speaker 1: the picture looks completely different. The flip side is if
Speaker 1: Minnesota wins this game and the Detroit Lions can't get
Speaker 1: themselves back on track and they lose at home to
Speaker 1: a Denver Broncos team that's been playing some pretty good
Speaker 1: football over the last couple of months, suddenly Minnesota is
Speaker 1: only a game back of the Lions, and then they're
Speaker 1: playing the Lions twice in the last three weeks. A
Speaker 1: win here by Minnesota and a loss by the Lions
Speaker 1: could put Minnesota for all of their quarterback changes put
Speaker 1: Minnesota in position to possibly win the NFC North again.
Speaker 3: We'll talk about this during one of our offseason shows.
Speaker 2: But man, I really don't like how they've done this
Speaker 2: with the divisional matchups.
Speaker 3: Like we're just talking about this with the jib.
Speaker 1: I don't know how. I mean, what has happened? What's
Speaker 1: happened here with Minnesota playing their last three games after
Speaker 1: this trip to Cincinnati, their last three games go Detroit,
Speaker 1: Green Bay, Detroit. I don't get that at all, Like,
Speaker 1: how do you not play one of your division rivals
Speaker 1: until Christmas? Like that just doesn't make any That just
Speaker 1: doesn't so.
Speaker 3: But be that as it may.
Speaker 2: I could totally see why they would have scheduled Detroit
Speaker 2: Minnesota for the finale.
Speaker 3: It's just to have him two weeks before that is
Speaker 3: so weird to make, but it is.
Speaker 1: I agree.
Speaker 2: Let's get back to the bones of this thing. Jake
Speaker 2: Browning seventy five percent completion percentage looks like a player
Speaker 2: right now for Cincinnati going up against the Minnesota defense that,
Speaker 2: depending on which metric you look at, among the league's
Speaker 2: best right now with what they're doing.
Speaker 3: Brian Floores as coordinator.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Browning is dealing with some kind of like
Speaker 1: a forearm injury or something.
Speaker 3: It doesn't. It doesn't.
Speaker 1: It doesn't sound like it's going to keep him out
Speaker 1: of this game based on the reports out of Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: But he is not one hundred percent healthy. And as
Speaker 1: you said, this Minnesota defense, certainly coming off of the shutout,
Speaker 1: know out in Vegas against the Raiders, this Minnesota defense
Speaker 1: under Brian Flores is really starting to hit its stride.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and looking quickly at Detroit there because you were
Speaker 2: the one that actually brought it up to me. I mean,
Speaker 2: Denver finds a way to beat Detroit at Ford Field.
Speaker 2: They've suddenly swept the NFC North this year, and that's
Speaker 2: where really their turnaround even began when you look at
Speaker 2: the win.
Speaker 3: That they had over Green Bay.
Speaker 2: So obviously Packer fans for no reason other than just
Speaker 2: to cheer against them, certainly a cheer against the Lions,
Speaker 2: certainly big Denver fans this weekend. And then just quickly
Speaker 2: I want to mention this as well. I mean, the
Speaker 2: Bears are going to be taken on the Browns. Joe
Speaker 2: Flacco has played relatively well. Certainly Cleveland's defense is what
Speaker 2: they're hoping to ride here. That'll be a big test
Speaker 2: for Justin Fields and everybody's kind of within lockstep of
Speaker 2: one another. So each one of these games, I could
Speaker 2: say this week is a big week, but I think, honestly,
Speaker 2: like these next four weeks, we're going to keep saying
Speaker 2: this just because of how close this positioning is entering
Speaker 2: this final stretch of the season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and when you look at the other games that
Speaker 1: that affect NFC wild Card picture, I'll just rattle them
Speaker 1: off here, Wes, and I'll let you comment on what
Speaker 1: you want to. But the Giants, who obviously just beat
Speaker 1: the Packers, they go down to New Orleans to face
Speaker 1: these six and seven Saints. Washington, coming off of a
Speaker 1: bye week, will go visit the six and seven Rams,
Speaker 1: and Washington has not been playing well. But maybe you know,
Speaker 1: as Packer fans, you're gonna cheer for Washington here to
Speaker 1: try to beat the Rams. Maybe the fact that they're
Speaker 1: coming off a bye week they can get something straightened
Speaker 1: out and compete with the Rams. Atlanta also now six
Speaker 1: and seven after their loss to Tampa Bay last week,
Speaker 1: they traveled to Carolina to face a Panthers team that
Speaker 1: the Packers will be playing a week from now. And
Speaker 1: then the I believe it's the Monday night game is
Speaker 1: Philadelphia is at Seattle. Suddenly. The Eagles have lost two
Speaker 1: in a row to very very good teams. But a
Speaker 1: ten to one Eagles team is now ten and three
Speaker 1: and in a fight for their lives for a division
Speaker 1: titles so they don't get relegated to a wild card spot.
Speaker 1: And the Seattle Seahawks sitting at six and seven. They've
Speaker 1: had a very tough schedule and they've kind of hit
Speaker 1: the skids a little bit lately, losing twice to their
Speaker 1: division rivals San Francisco. I don't know what Seattle's quarterback
Speaker 1: situation is, if Gino Smith is going to be back
Speaker 1: for Monday Night or not, but a lot of eyeballs,
Speaker 1: both in terms of the top of the conference and
Speaker 1: the wild card picture will be on that Monday night
Speaker 1: game with the Eagles against the Seahawks.
Speaker 2: First time during the Pete Carroll John Schneider era that
Speaker 2: Seattle has lost four straight games as well, so things
Speaker 2: have been so it's.
Speaker 1: Four in a row now for Yeah, I didn't realize
Speaker 1: that it was up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they lost to the Rams before facing forty nine
Speaker 2: Ers Cowboys forty nine ers. Because again, these division games
Speaker 2: have to be played within three weeks of each other.
Speaker 2: But either way, I mean bringing it back to it,
Speaker 2: and what we talked about on yesterday's show on Wednesday
Speaker 2: show is that the Packers they didn't gain anything last week,
Speaker 2: but they didn't really lose anything either, so.
Speaker 1: They missed it. They missed an opportunity to put themselves
Speaker 1: in a better position. But the bottom line is, you know,
Speaker 1: all these teams are at six and seven and right
Speaker 1: now six and seven is the seventh playoff spot. So
Speaker 1: it's you just you, uh, It's it's like every we
Speaker 1: say this a lot, but even more so this time
Speaker 1: of year. It's like every week is just a one
Speaker 1: game season. You got to go out and win the
Speaker 1: game and then you take a look at where things
Speaker 1: stand after that. It's all about going out and winning
Speaker 1: your game, because that that's the one thing, that's the
Speaker 1: one thing that you have control over everything else. In
Speaker 1: this crazy nutty league where all sorts of wild stuff happens,
Speaker 1: that it that's all gonna happen. There's nothing anybody can
Speaker 1: do about. All you can do is go out and
Speaker 1: play your own game.
Speaker 2: And fans don't realize this type of stuff, but carenton
Speaker 2: Valentine after the game, on on Monday Night. Was even
Speaker 2: like somebody asked about, you know, your heavy favorites, you know,
Speaker 2: six and a half point favorites over the Giants, and he's.
Speaker 3: Like, I didn't know any of that. Like they don't care.
Speaker 3: All they look at is.
Speaker 2: The film and what their assignment's going to be and
Speaker 2: whether or not they can beat this opponent. Kenny Clark
Speaker 2: talks about that all the time as well. For Green
Speaker 2: Bay standpoint, you're back at lambeau Field. You've not been
Speaker 2: good on the road this year, but you're four and
Speaker 2: two at home. They've won three in a row. I
Speaker 2: wrote a story on Packers dot com Jordan Love is
Speaker 2: one hundred and thirteen passer rating in these last three
Speaker 2: games at Lambeau and.
Speaker 1: You have back to back road games after this. You
Speaker 1: got to get this one at home.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And honestly, let's be real, Mike, I mean, the Packers,
Speaker 2: if you're going to make a playoff run, you have
Speaker 2: to have a positive, hopefully more than five hundred record
Speaker 2: at home to get into the postseason. Then you got
Speaker 2: to try to go take care of business against the
Speaker 2: Carolina team that's really struggling right now. But if you
Speaker 2: don't take care of business at home, beginning with this
Speaker 2: one against the Bucks and in another couple weeks here
Speaker 2: against the Bears. It doesn't make your job any easier.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, this is well, it should be a good one.
Speaker 1: It's mid December football. It's two teams that are right
Speaker 1: in the thick of things and lots of scoreboard watching
Speaker 1: to do on top of it. So with that we'll
Speaker 1: call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 3: You sure have follow all of.
Speaker 1: Our coverage of the team and everything from Sunday's game
Speaker 1: against the Buccaneers at Lambefield. We'll have it all for
Speaker 1: you on Packers dot com for Wes, I am Mike.
Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in everybody.
Speaker 3: We will see you next time.