Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am like Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague West and Hot Koitz. We're coming
Speaker 1: to you here from our studios at lambeau Field a
Speaker 1: day later than usual West because of the Monday night
Speaker 1: game and some I guess call it a tight schedule
Speaker 1: with regard to the studio in which we shoot the
Speaker 1: show here, so recording this on a Wednesday instead of
Speaker 1: on a Tuesday for our first show of the week.
Speaker 1: But we're here to talk about a twelve victory by
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers over the Los Angeles Rams. And
Speaker 1: the bottom line is the Packers are six and eight
Speaker 1: and they're still alive. They are and that was what
Speaker 1: you and I talked about all last week. You couldn't
Speaker 1: look past the Rams. You had to win this football
Speaker 1: game to make the rest of this thing count. Green
Speaker 1: Bay came out and did that on Monday night. To
Speaker 1: my eye, you know, I know, as Aaron Rodgers talked about,
Speaker 1: and as a lot of people mentioned, this is the
Speaker 1: type of team they needed to beat. Right. If you're
Speaker 1: gonna actually say you are a playoff team, you had
Speaker 1: to turn back a banged up and be leaguered l
Speaker 1: A Rams team. But it was how they played throughout
Speaker 1: the course of the game. I think that impressed me
Speaker 1: the most because I thought offensively, they had an identity,
Speaker 1: they had a game plan for how they wanted to
Speaker 1: attack l A. They executed it masterfully. Hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: eight rushing yards Mike, and only one of those carries,
Speaker 1: uh the longest one was for fourteen yards. I don't
Speaker 1: even know how many double digit uh you know, yardage
Speaker 1: plays they had off runs, but they were consistent with
Speaker 1: it throughout the ballgame. Romeo Dobbs comes back, leads them
Speaker 1: in receiving, they got five sacks. Defensively, you look at
Speaker 1: how they were able to dictate the temple of this game.
Speaker 1: Keishaw Nixon did Keishaw Nixon things on returns. The green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers are going to have to play better to
Speaker 1: beat the Miami Dolphins. But I thought coming off by
Speaker 1: and coming off the win over Chicago, this was the
Speaker 1: type of encouraging performance green Bay needed to build up
Speaker 1: some of that confidence going into South Beach. Yeah, like
Speaker 1: you said, there were a lot of things to like
Speaker 1: in this game. Um My, my list is is pretty long. Actually,
Speaker 1: I start with the way they ran the ball against
Speaker 1: what has been a pretty good rushing defense even without
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald and Donald did not play in this game
Speaker 1: for the Rams, but when Donald has been out, the
Speaker 1: Rams have still been pretty stout against the run. But
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones ninety yards rushing. A J. Dillon only ended
Speaker 1: up with thirty six before leaving for a concussion evaluation,
Speaker 1: which he ended up clearing. Actually, so it sounds like
Speaker 1: all is good with with Dylan and he'll beyond the
Speaker 1: practice field this week. But A J. Dillon with two
Speaker 1: rushing touchdowns, and as you said, it wasn't it was.
Speaker 1: It was actually over a hundred and forty rushing yards
Speaker 1: until the neel downs at the end dropped them back
Speaker 1: under a hundred and forty. But it wasn't a hundred
Speaker 1: and forty rushing yards with a fifty five yard you know,
Speaker 1: explosive one in there. They they they pounded away and
Speaker 1: and the Rams made it tough at times. There were
Speaker 1: some tackles for loss in there, some tackles at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, some minus one and minus two's, but
Speaker 1: there were times that you saw the holes were there,
Speaker 1: and Dylan would make the cut into the hole or
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones would explode through the hole like he often does.
Speaker 1: And to be able to on a fairly consistent basis
Speaker 1: get six and seven yard runs against a pretty good
Speaker 1: run defense, I thought was a was a tremendous sign.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the five sacks from the defense most on
Speaker 1: the season, um and the Packers that only had one
Speaker 1: game this year with even three sacks during which Rashan
Speaker 1: Gary didn't get at least one of those. So the
Speaker 1: fact that you know to get five sacks and a
Speaker 1: season high without Gary was a good sign because that
Speaker 1: pass rush needs to needs to move forward. And then
Speaker 1: what more can we say about the special teams return
Speaker 1: return game dynamo in uh in Keyshawn Nixon. I tell
Speaker 1: you he had the there was the one called back
Speaker 1: on the penalty that that was a disappointing call to
Speaker 1: a lot of people. But he made an impact on
Speaker 1: kickoff returns. He made an impact on the punt returns.
Speaker 1: The Packers are winning the field position battle in these
Speaker 1: games that they're winning because of Nixon and that return unit.
Speaker 1: I asked uh Aaron Jones after the game about Nixon
Speaker 1: and how that changes the complexity and and sort of
Speaker 1: the composition of an offense when you are starting at
Speaker 1: midfield or they're abouts and as Jones pointed out, what
Speaker 1: you don't think about when you're at the fifty yard
Speaker 1: line is first and foremost, you get two first downs,
Speaker 1: you're in field goal range two. You don't know. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not easy to not turn over the football at
Speaker 1: this level. Packers have had one of the very best
Speaker 1: doing it for fifteen years at the quarterback position. But
Speaker 1: there's a lot of teams that they kind of have
Speaker 1: a little bit of their you know, a nod in
Speaker 1: their throat, trying to make sure they play clean football.
Speaker 1: The reason I say that is a lot of teams
Speaker 1: the twenty five yard line to the fifty yard line,
Speaker 1: you're going through some shark infested waters. They're trying to
Speaker 1: make sure you maintain the possession of ball, let alone
Speaker 1: get a scoring drive going. Having a returner like Nixon
Speaker 1: takes away all of that, and it gives you a
Speaker 1: little bit of a spark offensively in that you know
Speaker 1: you're not starting off at your own thirteen yard line.
Speaker 1: You know you're not having to dig yourself out of anything.
Speaker 1: Uh second, right now in the NFL in kickoff return
Speaker 1: yardage average, Kenny wanga Wu from Minnesota's tops at twenty
Speaker 1: six yards per per return. He Shaw Nixon four. Wanga
Speaker 1: Woo has a touchdown return on his schedule yard or
Speaker 1: on Thanksgiving Night. When you look at whatever it is
Speaker 1: now eight returns of more than thirty yards three, I
Speaker 1: think of fifty in an area of the game that
Speaker 1: has been largely eliminated the National Football League because of
Speaker 1: how they've pushed back or pushed up the kickoffs. It's incredible.
Speaker 1: Keishaw Nixon is added, and as I talked with j
Speaker 1: Alexander about after the game, the fact he's doing this
Speaker 1: while playing the nickel corner position. Um, there's no days
Speaker 1: off for him. Right now. I'm blown away, Mike, because
Speaker 1: the Packers have had talented returners twenty five point four
Speaker 1: yards per return. If that ended right now, that would
Speaker 1: be the Packers best stat with a guy that's had
Speaker 1: at least twenty returns since Randall Cobb in two thousand twelve.
Speaker 1: It's pretty astonishing what Keisha Nixon has been able to
Speaker 1: do on his twenty returns in a very short amount
Speaker 1: of time. Yeah, absolutely, very impressive. And you mentioned that
Speaker 1: he's playing nickel corner on defense and my what you
Speaker 1: might have missed piece with some video clips that's on
Speaker 1: the website right now. I actually took a look at
Speaker 1: how he's playing defensively at that nickel corner spot, and
Speaker 1: he's he's a solid, a very solid, steady presence in
Speaker 1: this defense for the Packers in the secondary. You can
Speaker 1: you can check out the video clips. I mean, what
Speaker 1: the the impact that he's making in two phases of
Speaker 1: the game is significant, and I thought this game essentially
Speaker 1: was decided after halftime. It's ten to six at intermission.
Speaker 1: The Packers had deferred on the opening coin toss, so
Speaker 1: they're getting the ball to start the second half. They
Speaker 1: drive down the field and get a touchdown. A couple
Speaker 1: of crucial defensive penalties on the Rams that helped that drive,
Speaker 1: but the Packers get a touchdown. It's so it's seventeen
Speaker 1: to six. Then the defense gets a three and out
Speaker 1: with the help of a holding call that put the
Speaker 1: Rams in a long yard situation. And then the field
Speaker 1: position comes into play because Nixon returns the punt to midfield.
Speaker 1: There's also a face mask on the Rams that puts
Speaker 1: the ball on the law, so Angeles thirty five yard
Speaker 1: line and just uh, a handful of snaps later from
Speaker 1: the thirty five the Packers are in the end zone again.
Speaker 1: So you come out of the second half touchdown three
Speaker 1: and out touchdown, and suddenly it's twenty four to six
Speaker 1: and the Packers for the most part, we're we're in
Speaker 1: command the rest of the game. UM. Shout out to
Speaker 1: Preston Smith for his second sack of the game. That
Speaker 1: was maybe the one moment uh. Later on, it's two
Speaker 1: to twelve and the Rams had crossed midfield on a
Speaker 1: past interference penalty and then Preston Smith kind of snuffed
Speaker 1: out that drive with his second sack of the game.
Speaker 1: But other than that moment um, you know, from twenty
Speaker 1: four to six on, the Packers were in command of
Speaker 1: this thing. And it was it was it was that
Speaker 1: sequence of complimentary football, the offense doing good things, the
Speaker 1: defense getting a three and out, the special teams giving
Speaker 1: you the field position, the offense taking advantage. That's how
Speaker 1: you take control and win games in the NFL. And
Speaker 1: it's a lot gonna be a lot harder to do
Speaker 1: against the Miami Dolphins and a team that's right in
Speaker 1: the thick of the a f C wild Card chase.
Speaker 1: But that's what you have to have, that type of
Speaker 1: stretch in a game where you take command of things.
Speaker 1: And and the Packers need to do that again if
Speaker 1: they're going to continue this winning stream. Well, and I
Speaker 1: thought too. You know they tried to do the double
Speaker 1: double before halftime. You know that all going to goes awry.
Speaker 1: Rogers gets sacked on the attempt at Hail Mary. Things
Speaker 1: are just not going great. You're only up ten to
Speaker 1: six at that point. You are getting the ball, but
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of things can happen. We've seen
Speaker 1: a lot of things happen this season and the and
Speaker 1: the Packers. As I had mentioned last week, the Packers
Speaker 1: hadn't been great with production on that opening drive of
Speaker 1: the second half. They've done it nine times. They had
Speaker 1: had only one touchdown and two field goals in nine
Speaker 1: tries before Monday night. They got their second touchdown, fourth time,
Speaker 1: scoring out of ten tries, getting that first possession um
Speaker 1: taking the opening kickoff of the second half, and uh
Speaker 1: and it worked to their advantage this time. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: throw some stats at you. You're typically the stack, all right,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw stats at you. First drive twelve plays
Speaker 1: fifty two yards, six minutes and fourteen seconds. Second scoring
Speaker 1: drive eleven place seventy four yards, six minutes and fifteen seconds.
Speaker 1: Third scoring drive the one you illustrated out of the
Speaker 1: halftime eleven place sixty eight yards sixty eight I'm not
Speaker 1: even talking about the fact they were able to run
Speaker 1: out the clock on the game last eight before the
Speaker 1: nail down. There was a great stat that pr Maven.
Speaker 1: Tom Fanning, who had never won credit but I'm gonna
Speaker 1: give it to him anyway, came up with the first
Speaker 1: time the Packers have had and back to back games
Speaker 1: in the same season three scoring drives of eleven or
Speaker 1: more plays in the same game this year. Before that,
Speaker 1: it was two thousand and eight. As cool as it is,
Speaker 1: everyone loves seventy five yard touchdowns, there's gonna be defenses
Speaker 1: like l A that are gonna make you go the
Speaker 1: full length of the field. They're not gonna lapse. They
Speaker 1: have speedy guys in the secondary. They're gonna be able
Speaker 1: to catch up. The defensive front goes without saying, they're
Speaker 1: not going to give you the big play. They're gonna
Speaker 1: make you take your time and the Packers made it happen.
Speaker 1: They made it happen with a J. Dillon on the field,
Speaker 1: and when Dylan unfortunately had to get you know, cleared
Speaker 1: for the concussion. They did it with Aaron Jones who
Speaker 1: was banged up, and they did it with Patrick Taylor
Speaker 1: who had just been signed to the fifty three man
Speaker 1: roster hours earlier. Aaron Rodgers makes a great throw to
Speaker 1: Romeo Dobbs on the twenty three yard gained during that series.
Speaker 1: The Packers were just so dang efficient in this game,
Speaker 1: and Mike, that's what you're gonna have to do now,
Speaker 1: going down to Miami, facing a playoff caliber opponent and
Speaker 1: being able to take care of business. It was a
Speaker 1: perfect complimentary performance in terms of everything we've asked for,
Speaker 1: with the Packers defense holding its ground on the opening possession,
Speaker 1: the Packers offense giving them a little bit of wicker
Speaker 1: room early on, and then l A having to play
Speaker 1: from behind from there. Well, the other thing we're seeing
Speaker 1: as this season has unfolded. You had mentioned Romeo Dobbs
Speaker 1: was back from the ankle injury. You look across the board,
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball, the and and even been
Speaker 1: special teams to a certain extent to which I'll mention
Speaker 1: the draft class, this rookie draft class. Their fingerprints were
Speaker 1: all over this victory. Romeo Dobbs and Christian Watson combined
Speaker 1: for nine catches and a hundred and one yards. Quay
Speaker 1: Walker gets a sack and a forced fumble, the first
Speaker 1: full sack of his career. He had a half sack
Speaker 1: earlier in the season. He gets a He gets a
Speaker 1: sack and a forced fumble, also has another tackle for loss.
Speaker 1: Davante Wyatt gets a half a sack, sharing one with
Speaker 1: Justin Hollins. Zack Tom at left tackle is filling in
Speaker 1: for David Baktierra. We don't even mention his name. He
Speaker 1: his name doesn't even really get brought up um all
Speaker 1: night long, except for, you know, being part of that
Speaker 1: big pile that pushes a J. Dillon pushes a J.
Speaker 1: Dillon into the end zone in the in the big
Speaker 1: scrum there Kingsley Nigbari at edge rusher, who's getting obviously
Speaker 1: a ton of playing time right now with with Rashawn
Speaker 1: Gary being out for the rest of the year. He
Speaker 1: gets a sack, almost almost an interception. Um oh and
Speaker 1: and kuay Walker broke up a couple of passes to
Speaker 1: almost almost had a pick. Trek Carpenter, the seventh round pick,
Speaker 1: is making tackles on special teams. I mean, this draft
Speaker 1: class is all over the place, and the Packers are
Speaker 1: gonna need absolutely everything that this rookie draft class has
Speaker 1: to try to make a run at this thing here
Speaker 1: starting with uh a victory on on Christmas and Miami.
Speaker 1: You get this one, and then you know you're coming
Speaker 1: back home for two games against division rivals that are
Speaker 1: indoor teams, coming to Lambeau in the cold, everything starts
Speaker 1: to feel a little bit more realistic. Packers are gonna
Speaker 1: need everything this rookie draft class has on on Christmas
Speaker 1: Day in Miami, and the way they performed on Monday
Speaker 1: night was a great sign for what they might be
Speaker 1: able to do. The other thing I really liked about
Speaker 1: this game, Now, certainly you want, you know, consistency for
Speaker 1: all four quarters, but it was how guys stepped up
Speaker 1: on almost specific series on plays. You look at Kingsley Nigbari,
Speaker 1: the play that he gets the first down sack on,
Speaker 1: he also nearly has an interception on the third down
Speaker 1: on this attempted screen. At the very least he broke
Speaker 1: it up. Davante Wyatt gets the stop on first down
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter, then combines with Justin Hollins on
Speaker 1: the sack, which you know Baker Mayfield runs right into
Speaker 1: their lap. But that's football. As Preston Smith said afterwards,
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes it isn't about the plays that you're making.
Speaker 1: It's about making those plays and then seeing what comes
Speaker 1: to you. I mean that was kind of Preston's things.
Speaker 1: Preston's had some good rushes this year that he hasn't
Speaker 1: statistically been rewarded for. But then you look at you know,
Speaker 1: his first sex. Someone's helping flush him to him. You know,
Speaker 1: that's what this defense needs to get out of this group,
Speaker 1: and you know, so many of these guys have been
Speaker 1: put in some really tough situations. You know, Kingsley and
Speaker 1: Ningbari wasn't even really the next guy up at the
Speaker 1: beginning of the season and now he's the starting outside
Speaker 1: linebacker with Preston Smith. Zack tom As I wrote last week,
Speaker 1: had only played in five games. I think that's the
Speaker 1: thing that people forget about. He has these three spot starts.
Speaker 1: He sat the other eight games before last week. It's
Speaker 1: these guys being ready for the moment. And that's ultimately
Speaker 1: going to take you far in this league, because if
Speaker 1: you can be ready in adverse moments, you're going to
Speaker 1: be ready for the ones that you're prepared for too.
Speaker 1: And um, it's exciting to see. Certainly, you know, you
Speaker 1: look at Kuaywalker hundred tackles on the season. You know,
Speaker 1: Christian Watson has been a completely dynamic and and causing
Speaker 1: defensive past interference penalties and blocking on the Aaron Jones
Speaker 1: touchdown round and catching passes. But it's when you're getting
Speaker 1: contributions from the fifth round picks, from the fourth round
Speaker 1: picks and you're getting those immediate returns. Doesn't get any
Speaker 1: better for that than that for a football team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this uh, this this draft class showing all kinds of promise.
Speaker 1: I want to get to. Um, what was a crazy
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Speaker 1: fifty years of better. Alright, West, I don't know where
Speaker 1: you want to start with regard to everything that happened
Speaker 1: in the NFL prior to the Packers and Rams on
Speaker 1: Monday night. You have the crazy comeback by Minnesota. You
Speaker 1: have the absolute madness of a final play in Patriots Raiders.
Speaker 1: You have just absolutely brutal clock mismanagement by the New
Speaker 1: York Jets against the Detroit Lions. And then you have
Speaker 1: the officials inserting themselves and then not inserting themselves on
Speaker 1: the final drive of the Washington New York Giants game
Speaker 1: on Sunday night. It was a it was a nutty
Speaker 1: weekend of of NFL football. So I'll let you go
Speaker 1: where you want to go. Let's let's start off with
Speaker 1: the things that had packed the Packers the most first,
Speaker 1: and it was the Giants Washington game. In terms of
Speaker 1: this this wild card chase, I feel terrible for Ron
Speaker 1: Rivera in that football team. I feel terrible for Taylor Heineke.
Speaker 1: I feel terrible, you know, for those receivers. One of
Speaker 1: the more peculiar in a season in which I think
Speaker 1: officiation officiating this league has been really poor. UM, I mean,
Speaker 1: what can you say about how that game ended? Um?
Speaker 1: And then reading the pool report afterwards, it's just I
Speaker 1: don't even one of the things I really liked. And
Speaker 1: I've said this numerous times when Dean Blandino was the
Speaker 1: head officiate in the NFL was even if his guys
Speaker 1: got it wrong, and it's a it. We're all human
Speaker 1: in this game is moving at a thousand miles pro
Speaker 1: where I get it, But Dean Billandino would almost put
Speaker 1: out a statement every week commenting on the officiating. And
Speaker 1: since he left, and there's been numerous people in charge
Speaker 1: of the thing now, I feel like we're missing the
Speaker 1: accountability piece. And reading that poor report, I don't know
Speaker 1: what was more infuriating the way that game ended. Terry
Speaker 1: McLaurin checking to see if he's on sides on the
Speaker 1: line on the line of scrimmage right, and then God
Speaker 1: only knows what happened in that interaction, and then for
Speaker 1: the receiver to just be completely manhandled on the play.
Speaker 1: It was strange. The whole thing was strange. And then
Speaker 1: the conversation afterwards with the reporter UM felt weird and
Speaker 1: surly and Curt. I just if you're if you're the
Speaker 1: Washington Commanders and you're they're there fans, I mean, like,
Speaker 1: I just don't know how you come out of that
Speaker 1: not feeling like you just got completely jobbed out of that,
Speaker 1: or at least at least to the extent that that
Speaker 1: you know, not that anybody necessarily wanted to see the
Speaker 1: Giants and Commanders tie again in the rematch, but that
Speaker 1: game looked like it had overtime written all over it, right,
Speaker 1: that it shouldn't have necessarily been decided in regulation that
Speaker 1: you go get the touchdown to the two points, you
Speaker 1: go to overtime tied at and decide what had been
Speaker 1: a pretty well played, entertaining football game and a very
Speaker 1: impactful game as far as the playoff chase. Decided in overtime,
Speaker 1: and see what happens with those two teams having already
Speaker 1: played an overtime earlier this year. And yeah, from that standpoint,
Speaker 1: Washington was robbed at that opportunity. The Giants are one
Speaker 1: went away from clinching a playoff spot, and they didn't
Speaker 1: beat Washington this season. In this rematch, the officials beat
Speaker 1: the Commanders. Yeah that's a shame. Yeah, it is Um,
Speaker 1: the thing is, where do we go from here? Well,
Speaker 1: the thing is, and I don't I don't want to
Speaker 1: make it. I don't want to make it all about
Speaker 1: the officiating. But um, you know, quite frankly, the fact
Speaker 1: that Minnesota pulled off the comeback from thirty three to
Speaker 1: nothing to win thirty nine to thirty six and overtime
Speaker 1: in some ways overshadowed another horribly officiated game because the
Speaker 1: Vikings had opportunities taken away from them by just some
Speaker 1: really really bad calls, and by the same token during
Speaker 1: the comeback, Minnesota keeps, in my opinion, kept getting free
Speaker 1: fifteen yards for supposed unnecessary roughness hits that you look
Speaker 1: at the replay and you kind of go, oh, that's
Speaker 1: that's fifty. Like everything's happening fast, because Minnesota is in
Speaker 1: a hurry, and you know, they got to score a
Speaker 1: bunch of points, and it was like they're marching down
Speaker 1: the field getting free fifteen yards here and there, and
Speaker 1: and you get you get one look at the replay
Speaker 1: and you go, wait a minute, like, you know, the
Speaker 1: Colts are not playing well here, but Minnesota is getting
Speaker 1: Minnesota is getting a bunch of yardage that it doesn't
Speaker 1: seem like, you know, is uh is legit. So it
Speaker 1: was that that started things and uh and I you know,
Speaker 1: I hate that the officiating is such a is such
Speaker 1: a story in the NFL. But um, but it is.
Speaker 1: It's not getting better. That's the problem. We've been talking
Speaker 1: about this for three years. It's it's not it's it's
Speaker 1: not every year. It's not getting better. The rule book
Speaker 1: keeps getting thicker. The rule book keeps getting thicker. And uh.
Speaker 1: And I'll say this, I've I've said this before an
Speaker 1: insider inbox, I've said it to you, and we've had
Speaker 1: conversations as an as annoying and frustrating as it gets
Speaker 1: to see some of the things that happened on the field.
Speaker 1: Big picture, I don't blame those officials on the field.
Speaker 1: I think the NFL has given them way too many rules,
Speaker 1: way too much to manage. And when you have that
Speaker 1: much stuff that you've got to try to pay attention
Speaker 1: to and officiate and get the calls right. That's how
Speaker 1: some of the obvious or which should be the simpler,
Speaker 1: more basic calls of the game are going to get
Speaker 1: missed more often because they've got them paying attention to
Speaker 1: too many things. With out a system that is robust
Speaker 1: enough to help them in the way it needs to
Speaker 1: help that. That's a game. Bring it back to the
Speaker 1: Washington New York game. I just I love that comment
Speaker 1: from I forget which official is even the head umpire
Speaker 1: that they were talking to. But um, you know he's like, well,
Speaker 1: you know, he could be counting personnel. You know, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of different jobs that go along with this.
Speaker 1: It's not just seeing if the it's just like, oh
Speaker 1: my goodness, but and and and and it's not. I mean,
Speaker 1: come on, it's not as though. It's not as though
Speaker 1: there were a whole bunch of illegal formations being called
Speaker 1: during the game. And then and then, with a minute
Speaker 1: to go in a one score game and two teams
Speaker 1: fighting for a wild card spot, you're going to decide
Speaker 1: the fact that Terry McLaurin is an extra two and
Speaker 1: a half feet off the line of scrimmage and that's
Speaker 1: a penalty that wipes out a touchdown when the when
Speaker 1: Washington scores on the play and is ready to run
Speaker 1: a two point conversion, Oh no, sorry, illegal formation. We
Speaker 1: haven't called it all game, and we're gonna call it
Speaker 1: now with the game on the line and take your
Speaker 1: touchdown away. I'm sorry that there's an officiating problem in
Speaker 1: the NFL and the league has to start taking it seriously.
Speaker 1: The last thing I'll say on this um, this is
Speaker 1: how you know, the officials and referees got too far
Speaker 1: involved in the game. Minnesota had the greatest comeback in
Speaker 1: NFL history, down thirty three points going to the second half,
Speaker 1: and due by the time that game was over, I
Speaker 1: didn't care, Like I honestly like, I understand the whole implications.
Speaker 1: You want the Vikings to be playing for something here.
Speaker 1: It was the most monumental comeback ever. And literally I'm
Speaker 1: watching that game going on Saturday, I'm like, I just
Speaker 1: want this to be over. It wasn't exciting to me.
Speaker 1: It was like more frustrating because it's like, who cares
Speaker 1: at this point? Yeah, it isn't. It kind of got
Speaker 1: it kind of became the theater of the absurda in
Speaker 1: in a in a lot of ways. So hey, Chandler
Speaker 1: Jones had a speaking speaking of speaking of theater of
Speaker 1: the of the absurd, I tell you it's it's interesting.
Speaker 1: I mean we're talking about I mean Robert Sale's mismanagement
Speaker 1: of the clock at the end of the Jets Lions game,
Speaker 1: and then what the Patriots did on the final play
Speaker 1: of a tie game. I mean, those those two things
Speaker 1: could cost both of those teams playoffs spots here that
Speaker 1: those those could be the moments that their teams, their
Speaker 1: fans are gonna be looking back on in the offseason
Speaker 1: if they don't make the playoffs and say, our season
Speaker 1: ended because of because of just you know, brainlock type
Speaker 1: of stuff. I mean, just you know, it's it's it's remarkable.
Speaker 1: I mean, the margin is so small in this league.
Speaker 1: We know that there's so many games that can go
Speaker 1: either way at any moment. And if the craziness doesn't
Speaker 1: happen in the Patriots game and the game goes to
Speaker 1: overtime and the Raiders win, maybe the Patriots then still
Speaker 1: aren't making the playoffs. But when you lose the game
Speaker 1: that way, when you lose the game the way the
Speaker 1: Jets did, when they're fighting for a playoff spot and
Speaker 1: they have to settle for a fifty eight yard field
Speaker 1: goal to tie, which misses, and their coach took a
Speaker 1: time out into the locker room with him after the
Speaker 1: game that they never used, and they had to settle
Speaker 1: for fifty eight yards, Like, come on, man, that's tough.
Speaker 1: The uh the Patriots thing just starting. They're really fast.
Speaker 1: I mean I remember when I first saw it, I
Speaker 1: was like, oh, so that the Raiders were up. It's like,
Speaker 1: oh no, yeah, It's like when you first look at it,
Speaker 1: you're thinking, you're thinking, like, oh, like the Patriots were
Speaker 1: in desperation mode and this, this touchdown is only going
Speaker 1: to impact whatever goes on in Vegas. You know, no,
Speaker 1: you know, no connection to the Raiders specifically, but whatever
Speaker 1: goes on in Vegas with all the gambling and the
Speaker 1: over under in the point spreads, and it's like, no,
Speaker 1: the game was tied and the Raiders just won the
Speaker 1: game instead of having to go to overtime, Like, you know,
Speaker 1: is there anybody that took a bigger l at the
Speaker 1: end of that game than Mac Jones? One one, he
Speaker 1: the ball comes flying out to him, six ft five
Speaker 1: sixty pound Chandler Jones catches it completely, pie shoulders the ground,
Speaker 1: just face plants him. And then after the game they
Speaker 1: asked Bill Belichick about why they didn't throw a hail Mary,
Speaker 1: and He's liked, couldn't throw it that far? Poor Mac Jones, man,
Speaker 1: He just he's just taking els all over the place. Um,
Speaker 1: if I can really quickly just to close up the
Speaker 1: thing on Detroit, I mean, dude, as much as the
Speaker 1: Packers are trying to make a run here, Detroit has
Speaker 1: been doing this thing for a month and a half.
Speaker 1: The Lions have gone from one and the Lions have
Speaker 1: gone from one and six to seven and seven. Um.
Speaker 1: They're only loss in that time was was at the
Speaker 1: very end of the game on thanks coming to the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills, who of course are right now the number
Speaker 1: one seed in the a f C. That is the
Speaker 1: only game the Lions have lost over the last two months.
Speaker 1: They are they are winning the close ones, including the
Speaker 1: win over the Packers at Ford Field. They've gotten two
Speaker 1: two wins in the meadow Lands, beating both the Giants
Speaker 1: and the It's on the road now and um and yeah,
Speaker 1: the Lions are. The Lions are feeling it and uh
Speaker 1: and they are. They are right in this playoff chase
Speaker 1: right now, one game ahead of the Packers and uh
Speaker 1: and if the Packers can can manage to stay alive,
Speaker 1: it could make things very interesting in Week eighteen at
Speaker 1: Lamber A lot more interested. I think everybody, including myself
Speaker 1: thought that Week A teen game was going to be yeah,
Speaker 1: all right. Well with that, we will call it a
Speaker 1: wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to
Speaker 1: follow all of our coverage of the team. We will
Speaker 1: have everything for you leading up to the Christmas Day
Speaker 1: game in Miami on Packers dot Com. We'll have another
Speaker 1: show this week also to preview that game and talk
Speaker 1: about the Miami Dolphins for Wes I am Mike. Thank
Speaker 1: you for tuning in everybody. We'll see you next time.