Speaker 1: M Hi everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, sitting alongside my trusted colleague West
Speaker 1: Hodkowits were coming to you here from our studios at
Speaker 1: lambeau Field. West were another day closer to Packers forty
Speaker 1: Niners on Monday Night football at lambeau Field, the Packers
Speaker 1: only Monday Night game of the year. As we work
Speaker 1: through this week, obviously a lot going on here with
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers. One of the things maybe getting
Speaker 1: a little bit lost in the shuffle, is that this
Speaker 1: Packers defense two weeks in a row has actually played
Speaker 1: some pretty good football too. I guess you could say
Speaker 1: even two and a half games in a row since
Speaker 1: halftime of that loss at Washington and uh. I know
Speaker 1: there have been some coverage breakdowns here and there. Nothing
Speaker 1: has been perfect by any means. We'd like to see
Speaker 1: them take the ball away more all of that, But
Speaker 1: in terms of what this Packers defense is doing holding
Speaker 1: the yardage total down fairly well for their opponents in
Speaker 1: recent weeks, Who do you think is the best defensive
Speaker 1: player on this Packers team? Right? There are a number
Speaker 1: of candidates that I think you can point towards, but
Speaker 1: for me, I think it has to be Kenny Clark.
Speaker 1: And I was talking with our producer Marvin uh and
Speaker 1: you know, he was mentioning he also directs The Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy Show and mentioned that every single week basically Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy is mentioning the plays and how disruptive Kenny Clark
Speaker 1: has been weekend, and we got We've talked so much
Speaker 1: about Davante Adams. I think defensively, Kenny Clark has been
Speaker 1: that player for them. And what else is really impressive, Mike.
Speaker 1: This isn't in no disrespect to Ryan Pickett, are those
Speaker 1: type of guys, but this isn't your pound, run nose tackle,
Speaker 1: run stuffer. They asked him to do so many things
Speaker 1: in this defense and he's playing a lot, Mike. I mean,
Speaker 1: I was like bringing up the stats in front of
Speaker 1: me here Football outsiders dot Com. Two defensive stats. Defensive
Speaker 1: snaps so far this season. That's the total. That is
Speaker 1: a heavy, heavy workload for a defensive player. And the
Speaker 1: biggest thing is you just it's really difficult to take
Speaker 1: him off the field right now because he's equally as
Speaker 1: dominant against the run as he is being able to
Speaker 1: get inside pressure against the past. So I just think
Speaker 1: you're seeing a young man now at twenty three years old,
Speaker 1: is really coming into his own. The Packers drafted him
Speaker 1: with upside in mind, and and he's really, I think,
Speaker 1: lived up those expectations. And he's also just a quiet
Speaker 1: guy that just goes about his business weekend and week out.
Speaker 1: He's not trying to get on any commercials or billboards
Speaker 1: or anything. Yeah, he's not doing any crazy celebrations out
Speaker 1: there or anything like. Yeah, I have to agree with you.
Speaker 1: I think Clark is the best defensive player right now
Speaker 1: on this team, and I'll be curious to see now
Speaker 1: as the season goes along. I have to believe that
Speaker 1: as the Packers get beyond the bye week and you know,
Speaker 1: they go on this road stretch and everything else that
Speaker 1: we've talked about, I think Kenny Clark is going to
Speaker 1: see a lot more double teams now. Mike Daniels, of course,
Speaker 1: is the guy who has seen those double teams in
Speaker 1: past years and had to deal with those and had
Speaker 1: to make adjustments. Kenny Clark is the guy who's going
Speaker 1: to have to make adjustments because I think the way
Speaker 1: he's playing and what's on film. Teams have got to
Speaker 1: notice it, and they're going they're gonna have to say, hey,
Speaker 1: we can't let number ninety seven disrupt what's going on
Speaker 1: and in the middle of the trenches the way he
Speaker 1: has so consistently. So this is uh, it's one of
Speaker 1: those things where, yes, Kenny Clark is playing great right now,
Speaker 1: you can't just say, Okay, well, he's just gonna play
Speaker 1: like that the rest of the season. Other teams are
Speaker 1: gonna adjust him. The Packers will have to have their CounterPunch.
Speaker 1: But but yeah, what's what's on film right now is
Speaker 1: pretty impressive, as you said, both defending the run and
Speaker 1: in terms of pushing that pocket. And it's a it's
Speaker 1: punch CounterPunch, and I think you've seen some of that
Speaker 1: already with Mike Petton and some of the blitz packages
Speaker 1: he's been using. I actually think the Packer is one
Speaker 1: of the things they've done very well so far. And
Speaker 1: the other part of the season is being able to
Speaker 1: to blitz through the middle of the offensive front. You've
Speaker 1: seen them threatened the double A gap stuff. I think
Speaker 1: it was actually correct me if I'm wronger, But the
Speaker 1: Jermaine Whitehead sack from two weeks ago. I think actually
Speaker 1: did come off a double a gap blitz, or at
Speaker 1: the very least he came up through the middle line
Speaker 1: and was able to get after Josh Allen. That's what
Speaker 1: can help in the in specifically in the dime passing situations.
Speaker 1: Helped take off some of the pressure. They've moved around
Speaker 1: those defenders, those defensive lineman a lot as well. But
Speaker 1: getting back to original points, specifically against the run, that's
Speaker 1: just the thing that he's going to have to get
Speaker 1: comfortable with. He's going to have to know that this
Speaker 1: is what is going to be required to me going forward.
Speaker 1: B J. Raji had to do it, Ryan Pickett had
Speaker 1: to do it, Mike Daniels has had to do it
Speaker 1: over the years and being able to still find ways
Speaker 1: to be effective. It's one thing to break out and
Speaker 1: get that attention. It's another thing to have to adapt
Speaker 1: to it. And that's what the great, you know, real
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl perennial type players do. Yeah, And when you
Speaker 1: talk about a quiet guy who's simply going about and
Speaker 1: doing his job, maybe with out a whole lot of
Speaker 1: flash or fan or Blake Martinez in the middle of
Speaker 1: that defense. Mike Petton during training camp, and when they
Speaker 1: were installing all of this and everything, he kind of
Speaker 1: called that that inside linebacker who's, you know, got the
Speaker 1: communication hel McCullum, the nerve center of the defense, because
Speaker 1: he's the one who's he's gotta make sure the front
Speaker 1: and the coverage in the back end that everybody's on
Speaker 1: the same page and knows what's going on. And and
Speaker 1: so far, I can't say enough about what Blake Martinez
Speaker 1: has done there. I know, statistically, nothing necessarily jumps off
Speaker 1: the page. You expect inside linebackers to rack up tackles
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff, just like he did a
Speaker 1: year ago. But we're not seeing just you know, flat
Speaker 1: out blown defensive assignments necessarily. And and yes, this defense
Speaker 1: has given up some big plays. I get that, but
Speaker 1: it's not because of just complete communication breakdown. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: you met. You asked me who the best defensive player
Speaker 1: on the team is right now, it's Kenny Clark. If
Speaker 1: you ask me who the most important player on this
Speaker 1: defense is right now, it's Blake Martinez. And it's because
Speaker 1: there's just you can't replace him at this point in time.
Speaker 1: And certainly, if something would happen, they'd have to adjust,
Speaker 1: but his experience, what he offers as a football player
Speaker 1: in the communication skill, those three things are imperative right
Speaker 1: now because Mike, we haven't seen it so much the
Speaker 1: last few weeks. Last week with not having Germaine Whitehead,
Speaker 1: they had to go a little more traditional with their
Speaker 1: nickel packages or in Burke's ended up playing upwards of
Speaker 1: twenty snaps for the first time. But the thing about
Speaker 1: it is Martinez in a lot of situations has had
Speaker 1: to be the only inside linebacker on the field. We
Speaker 1: talk about dime linebackers all the time and playing all
Speaker 1: three downs, Well, he's had to do that sometimes in
Speaker 1: the sub base packages as we continue to call them,
Speaker 1: those hybrid type things where they're going with three uh
Speaker 1: cornerbacks instead of the extra inside linebacker, and he has
Speaker 1: to be the guy making sure that the front is
Speaker 1: tied to the back and everything is is in is
Speaker 1: in line there. I think he's done a really good
Speaker 1: job of that, and the fact that he's still been
Speaker 1: incredibly productive. Actually coincidentally, I know this is probably just
Speaker 1: more of a I don't want to call it a fluke,
Speaker 1: but I mean the fact that he's currently tied for
Speaker 1: the lead right now on the team in sacks with three.
Speaker 1: He had to his first two sack game last week.
Speaker 1: That you're finding ways to have him make an impact.
Speaker 1: And I think the biggest credit to Martinez at this
Speaker 1: point in time is if there's a running back or
Speaker 1: there's a player out in space down the field, Blake
Speaker 1: Martinez is gonna get him. He fits gaps well, he
Speaker 1: knows where he needs to be at all times, and
Speaker 1: if it isn't gonna be him, He's at least going
Speaker 1: to hold up the play until he can get you know,
Speaker 1: everybody else to pursuit and finish. So I just I've
Speaker 1: been really impressed with him and how he's handled this
Speaker 1: role in the fact that he's had to play next day,
Speaker 1: Antonio Morrison, Corey tumor Jermaine Whitehead as I mentioned, or
Speaker 1: in Burke's so many different guys having to fill that
Speaker 1: void with Jake Ryan being out for the year, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Blake Martinez has been up for that. Champel Well,
Speaker 1: both of these guys were talking about Kenny Clark and
Speaker 1: Blake Martinez. You mentioned it with Clark already. The snap load,
Speaker 1: the the snap count for these guys both really really high.
Speaker 1: Is this something that is sustainable as the Packers go along,
Speaker 1: are they're going to need to make some adjustments here
Speaker 1: over the course of sixteen games. I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be tough for him to play the snaps like he
Speaker 1: did in Detroit. Now, they did promote Tyler Lancaster, who
Speaker 1: I think I've mentioned it's probably four or five times
Speaker 1: now if you don't know anything about his story, mic
Speaker 1: wrote a phenomenal piece on him during the off season
Speaker 1: where he comes from, and actually I thought had a
Speaker 1: really good camp all things considered that what was at
Speaker 1: that time a very deep position when Mohammed Wilkerson was
Speaker 1: still in the fold, well he's now on the active roster,
Speaker 1: Mark Montrevius Adams, you know, you look for him to
Speaker 1: potentially get more involved. The Packers have been in a
Speaker 1: tough spot because they've been playing a lot of bass.
Speaker 1: They've been playing a lot of three defensive line packages,
Speaker 1: which puts Clark, Daniels and Lowry on the field a lot.
Speaker 1: But when you're down by multiple scores, the other team
Speaker 1: is going to run the full exactly. You've got to
Speaker 1: get your personnel out there to stop the run and
Speaker 1: get the ball back. So you want to go with
Speaker 1: those guys. It's must win situations, So I get that
Speaker 1: he's playing that much. I would think the Packers would
Speaker 1: like to taper those snaps off over the course of
Speaker 1: the year because you need to keep those guys fresh
Speaker 1: and you want to keep them involved in the inside
Speaker 1: us rush as well. But a lot of it I
Speaker 1: think is going to be determined Mike on guys like Adams,
Speaker 1: guys like land Caster, showing that they can go in
Speaker 1: in critical situations and help pick up that rotation. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, I agree with you. There. With with that
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Speaker 1: Another topic that continues to come up in our insider inbox,
Speaker 1: my weekly Chat and everywhere else that we try to
Speaker 1: answer fan questions. Is the situation with the Packers running backs.
Speaker 1: A lot of people asking continuing to ask, why isn't
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones getting the ball more? Why isn't he on
Speaker 1: the field more? It was to nothing at halftime against Detroit.
Speaker 1: Jones was hardly on the field in the second half
Speaker 1: as the Packers are basically in their two minute offense
Speaker 1: with with either Montgomery or Jamal Williams as the past
Speaker 1: protecting running back. I'll just say this, I think Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy on Monday essentially admitted he would like to get
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones the football more. He blames himself for the
Speaker 1: limited opportunities thus far that Jones has had because now
Speaker 1: that he's been in there for a few games after
Speaker 1: missing the first two games, I think Mike McCarthy does
Speaker 1: want to get him the football more. That being said,
Speaker 1: I'll go back to what I said in my chat
Speaker 1: on Tuesday, which is on Packers dot com if you
Speaker 1: want to check it out. I think people are getting
Speaker 1: way too hung up on this. I think the criticism here,
Speaker 1: while some of it may be valid and there's arguments
Speaker 1: to be made, I don't deny that, but I think
Speaker 1: the criticism has gone overboard because when you look at
Speaker 1: the production the Packers have gotten from the running back
Speaker 1: group as a whole, and what is going on with
Speaker 1: the execution of those players and what they're getting out
Speaker 1: of them, the running back position is the least of
Speaker 1: this team's problems. So I don't understand personally, I just
Speaker 1: don't understand why the criticism of this has gotten to
Speaker 1: such a height When the penalties, the protecting the football,
Speaker 1: the turnover margin, the drop passes, some blown coverages in
Speaker 1: the secondary, those are the things that would change the
Speaker 1: outcome against Washington and against Detroit, not the usage of
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones. Just my opinion. I just think this is
Speaker 1: this is something that has taken on a life of
Speaker 1: its own, and the Packers have far more important issues
Speaker 1: that they need to focus on right now than what's
Speaker 1: going on and running. I agree with Mike, and I
Speaker 1: think you and I touched on this a little bit
Speaker 1: earlier this week, but I want to revisit one thing here,
Speaker 1: going back to this game on Sunday, Packers and the Lions.
Speaker 1: Lions won this game. If you haven't heard, carry on
Speaker 1: Johnson had twelve carries for seventy yards. He averaged five
Speaker 1: point eight yards of carry in that game, and I
Speaker 1: think now is still averaging like six six and a
Speaker 1: half yards of carry on the season. Like Garrett Blunt
Speaker 1: had the same amount of carries. He had twelve carries
Speaker 1: for twenty two yards and two touchdowns. I don't hear
Speaker 1: any chirping right now out of the Detroit Lions. Their
Speaker 1: media core, their fan base, their coaches. They understand that
Speaker 1: guys have roles. The part that I've had a difficult
Speaker 1: time to ciphering, I think it also it ultimately just
Speaker 1: comes down to wins and losses. When you win, people
Speaker 1: don't question things. When you lose, people do. It's just
Speaker 1: the way that this business works. It's the way that
Speaker 1: any professional sports league or amateur college sports league works. Here.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, Aaron Jones is dynamic. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: I wrote probably as many articles as anybody on the
Speaker 1: beat last year on Aaron Jones. Right. I covered every
Speaker 1: inch of his family's history. For the most part, love
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones, great football player. But I what I don't
Speaker 1: understand is, like we talked about this twenty four and nothing,
Speaker 1: they're trailing at halftime, and you start seeing these tweets
Speaker 1: in the day after, and it's it's mostly from a
Speaker 1: national perspective. I'm guessing people that were just looking at
Speaker 1: box scores and making their own analysis from there. Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones didn't have a cary in the second half. Things
Speaker 1: like that. Since day one, Aaron Jones himself has said,
Speaker 1: we all have roles, we all do something well in
Speaker 1: this offense. Well, it just happens to be that Jamal Williams,
Speaker 1: I think everybody would agree at this point in time,
Speaker 1: is their best pass blocker. I think everybody that would
Speaker 1: agree in their two minute offense time, Montgomery is their
Speaker 1: best option there because you can use them in so
Speaker 1: many different ways. You can flank him out and he's
Speaker 1: a receiver, he's not a decoy, he's a receiver. You
Speaker 1: can keep him in the backfield, you can motion them,
Speaker 1: see what they're gonna do, how they're going to disguise
Speaker 1: their defense, and Aaron Jones can do those things too.
Speaker 1: But for my money, with everything else that went wrong
Speaker 1: in that game against Detroit, at no point in time,
Speaker 1: I didn't write about everyone eleven hunderword notebook. I didn't
Speaker 1: even touch on the running backs, because at no point
Speaker 1: in time was I going, man, why are they not
Speaker 1: feeding Aaron Jones the ball? I'm thinking they need a
Speaker 1: thirty yard chunk play to get the ball moving downfield.
Speaker 1: If you want to talk about the beginning of the
Speaker 1: game and how you're utilizing him, fine, but you at
Speaker 1: least have to acknowledge the point in which the Packers
Speaker 1: were in that game against the Lions and where the
Speaker 1: situation was at. It's a situation that screened for Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams and Time Montgomery. It just did. Yeah. And this
Speaker 1: is the other thing too, the fact that it was
Speaker 1: twenty four to nothing at the start of the second half.
Speaker 1: The Packers drive down and get a touchdown. If you
Speaker 1: don't get the two point conversion there and it's twenty
Speaker 1: four to six, it's still a three score game. I mean,
Speaker 1: it was only a two score game, and barely a
Speaker 1: two score game because they got the two point conversion.
Speaker 1: It's twenty four to eight. You still you can't you
Speaker 1: can't play the game as though, Okay, we just need
Speaker 1: to score two more touchdowns and we're gonna get this
Speaker 1: thing tied up. Because if you miss one two point
Speaker 1: conversion along the way, which the Packers did on their
Speaker 1: second touchdown. You haven't necessarily closed the gap as much
Speaker 1: as you would have liked. So, um, I think you
Speaker 1: and I are on the same page here. And as
Speaker 1: I've said before, I'm not I'm not sitting here to
Speaker 1: to be a Mike McCarthy apologist for the criticism that
Speaker 1: he's getting here. I've given my opinion on this and
Speaker 1: and it is my own opinion. I completely understand what
Speaker 1: the Packers are doing here with their running backs and
Speaker 1: the utilization and how the game situations have dictated this,
Speaker 1: and they're just so there are so many other issues,
Speaker 1: and it's why Mike McCarthy continues to go to the
Speaker 1: podium and talk about penalties and protecting the ball and
Speaker 1: turnover margin and all these things, because at the end
Speaker 1: of the at the end of the day, West in Detroit,
Speaker 1: twelve penalties and minus three in turnovers is why you
Speaker 1: lost the football game. And none of that had anything
Speaker 1: to do with the utilization of the running backs. Not
Speaker 1: like any of the running backs put it on the ground.
Speaker 1: It's not like any of the running backs you know,
Speaker 1: messed up their opportunity. I mean time Montgomery, you see
Speaker 1: what he Offers as a receiver. He did it against Buffalo.
Speaker 1: He did it again in this game with the twenty
Speaker 1: three yard catch. You want to have those guys integrated
Speaker 1: in the offense. You know. People and also are using
Speaker 1: this thing about the four straight runs that Jones had
Speaker 1: and I think it end up going for thirty seven
Speaker 1: yards or something like that. At that point the game,
Speaker 1: that was critical, I thought with that, with how the
Speaker 1: passing game was struggling, they just had back to back
Speaker 1: or it was close to it with the fumbles giving
Speaker 1: the ball back. You needed to establish another threat against
Speaker 1: that defense. And they did it there right, But then
Speaker 1: then the problem is the four straight carries for thirty
Speaker 1: seven yards. Like I said, so Jones needs to come
Speaker 1: out for a breather. So you call play action on
Speaker 1: the next on the next first and ten, and they
Speaker 1: missed the blitzing linebacker coming right up the middle. He
Speaker 1: completely recks the play and Rogers has to throw it
Speaker 1: away and then you're in second and ten. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, he just ran the ball four straight times.
Speaker 1: He needs to step out for a play. Well, when
Speaker 1: he steps out for a play, the other guy, I mean,
Speaker 1: you still need to execute the next play. It wasn't executed,
Speaker 1: and it threw off the whole sequence, in the whole
Speaker 1: rhythm of what the offense was doing. Like I said,
Speaker 1: the part I think is the most interesting is the
Speaker 1: Packers in the Lions use their running backs. I said
Speaker 1: it going into this game. They have very complimentary parallel
Speaker 1: running back back fields. They use them the same way.
Speaker 1: There is no discussion about whatsoever in Detroit right now. Well,
Speaker 1: why didn't carry On Johnson get the ball every single play?
Speaker 1: Why didn't carry On Johnson get the goal line carries?
Speaker 1: Doesn't matter right now because the Lions won. When you win,
Speaker 1: everything's hunky dorry. When you lose, people ask questions. That
Speaker 1: was ultimately the difference between how these two back fields
Speaker 1: are utiflized and not much different. Yeah. Alright, Well, as
Speaker 1: we head into a weekend here where Packers fans have
Speaker 1: to wait until Monday to see the Green Bay Packers play,
Speaker 1: it's a pretty big weekend in Wisconsin sports, and I
Speaker 1: want to start with the college football team, which is
Speaker 1: the Wisconsin Badgers. On Saturday night, they are headed to
Speaker 1: the Big House. As they say in ann Arbor. It's
Speaker 1: a big football game for Wisconsin. The more time goes
Speaker 1: by the worst. The loss to be why you looks
Speaker 1: as b y. You got pasted by Washington and then
Speaker 1: they got pasted by Utah State where my son attends college.
Speaker 1: So that loss to be why you continues to look worse.
Speaker 1: But the Badgers have bounced back with a road win
Speaker 1: at Iowa, very tough place to play in prime time.
Speaker 1: They got the win uh last week and then now
Speaker 1: going into prime time at Michigan. And these two games
Speaker 1: these last couple of years Paul Chris Jim Harbaugh Wisconsin
Speaker 1: against Michigan, these have been low scoring, defensive slug fests,
Speaker 1: so to speak. Could be a really really interesting football
Speaker 1: game Saturday night. Yeah, it will be. And also I
Speaker 1: think an important test too for the pack. For excuse me,
Speaker 1: I'm so caught on the pack for the Badgers defense,
Speaker 1: because you know, they have given up some points at
Speaker 1: different points in this season. I think they've had to
Speaker 1: do things a little bit differently this year, even though
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people have. You know, they
Speaker 1: put them right up there in discussion at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the year as being a potential playoff teams. So
Speaker 1: they they've had to win in different fashions. They have
Speaker 1: to you know, they have a quarterback now that I
Speaker 1: think they trust at this point in his career to
Speaker 1: to make plays, which historically it's been more based around
Speaker 1: just run the ball until you can't run it anymore. Uh.
Speaker 1: And defensively, they got to pick themselves up. So it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a great game. I'm excited. I don't know
Speaker 1: how much of it I'm gonna be able to catch,
Speaker 1: but uh, certainly Jim Harbaugh in the Wolverines, it's it's
Speaker 1: gonna be probably their biggest test in this conference. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: the quarterback is going to have to make some plays
Speaker 1: Alex Hornerbrook for the Badgers, because this is a great
Speaker 1: running offense against a great rushing defense. And uh and
Speaker 1: really the game probably in that context will come down
Speaker 1: to which of the two quarterbacks Cornerbrooker Patterson for Michigan,
Speaker 1: will be able to make enough plays. Well. The other thing,
Speaker 1: Wes I put off talking about it for too long.
Speaker 1: The Milwaukee Brewers are back in the National League Championship
Speaker 1: Series for the first time in seven years, and they
Speaker 1: are trying to get to the World Series for the
Speaker 1: first time since nine two when I was in fifth grade.
Speaker 1: By the way, um I wasn't Games one and two
Speaker 1: at Miller Park Friday night and Saturday Brewers against the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: It's it's just an exciting time to be a Wisconsin
Speaker 1: sports fan right now because this Brewer team, they've been
Speaker 1: fun to watch. Yeah, they have been, and it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a cool you know test. Now you probably can
Speaker 1: give me the breakdowns and what the win loss was
Speaker 1: this year against the Dodgers. Do you know for four
Speaker 1: to three Dodgers, I knew you're gonna be able to
Speaker 1: come up with it. So I'm excited to see it
Speaker 1: the Brewers. As you said, from the very beginning. The
Speaker 1: interesting part of this thing is that from the beginning, uh,
Speaker 1: on the high stakes of those playoff games against Chicago,
Speaker 1: you know, whether you're not, you're gonna be the wild
Speaker 1: card and you're gonna be the top. See. So hey,
Speaker 1: you won, you swept through the Colorado Rockies. Now enjoy
Speaker 1: the fruits of your labor. Put these uh this home
Speaker 1: field mantage to to work. And it's just I remember
Speaker 1: that two thousand and eleven team, Mike, and I remember
Speaker 1: saying to myself, I'm like, this is the best Brewers team,
Speaker 1: and they had flaws but I remember saying that this
Speaker 1: is the best Brews team of my lifetime, my lifetime.
Speaker 1: Uh you know, seven short years later they did it
Speaker 1: unconventionally with how they handled their bullpen and they're they're
Speaker 1: starting rotation. But this, this team is this team is
Speaker 1: making it look a lot easier than the last two
Speaker 1: playoff teams did. Yeah, well, this this is gonna be
Speaker 1: This is gonna be quite the fight with the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Because you look at the Dodgers. They went to the NLS.
Speaker 1: This is their third straight time in the NLCS. Two
Speaker 1: years ago they lost to the Cubs in the NLCS.
Speaker 1: Last year they get through it. They end up losing
Speaker 1: in the World Series to the Astros. A great World Series,
Speaker 1: but the Dodgers come up short. This is a team
Speaker 1: that I mean, they went out and got Manny Machado
Speaker 1: at the trade deadline. There. The Dodgers are like, this
Speaker 1: is our year. And as much as Brewers fans are
Speaker 1: saying this is our year, this is the Dodgers team
Speaker 1: that's had its heartbroken the last couple of years. They
Speaker 1: feel like they're battle tested and they're going to give
Speaker 1: the Brewers absolutely everything they can handle. And the other
Speaker 1: side of it too. I know the building the Brewers
Speaker 1: are still building for the future, but we've seen it
Speaker 1: so many times, Mike. I think of the Texas Rangers
Speaker 1: teams that's like, Okay, we'll be back there. You never know,
Speaker 1: You never know. You have to make sure that you
Speaker 1: capitalize it when you're in the moment. As we talked about,
Speaker 1: the Brewis are now back to this stage for the
Speaker 1: first time in seven years in two thousand and eleven.
Speaker 1: Nobody was necessarily worried about waiting seven years to get
Speaker 1: back to the playoffs again. But we gotta go with that.
Speaker 1: We'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team on Packers dot com. On Twitter, you can follow
Speaker 1: him at west hot I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers
Speaker 1: for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, We'll
Speaker 1: see you next time.