Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, sitting next to the one and
Speaker 1: only west Hodcowitz. Were coming to you here from our
Speaker 1: studios at lambeau Field West, our final show of the week.
Speaker 1: We're just a couple of days away from Packers Lions
Speaker 1: Week seventeen at ford Field, and we all know what's
Speaker 1: on the line for green Bay win and get a
Speaker 1: first drawn by fly back from Detroit, settle in to
Speaker 1: watch Seattle and San Francisco, see what happens in that
Speaker 1: NFC West game and how that might impact the Packers seating. Um,
Speaker 1: the number one seed would be at stake for green
Speaker 1: Bay if they're coming back from Detroit with a win.
Speaker 1: So with that in mind, what's it going to take
Speaker 1: here for the Packers to get to thirteen and three?
Speaker 1: I like the way you laid that out to begin
Speaker 1: with two. It's like, oh, thank you, yes, I'll have that.
Speaker 1: That's sounds about. That's the menu for someday. That sounds
Speaker 1: about as pricks are perfect as how it could work
Speaker 1: out for the Packers, but you have to earn it,
Speaker 1: you have to work for it. In order to do that.
Speaker 1: The two things that I really isolated as important in
Speaker 1: this game. I go along with what Brian Balaga and
Speaker 1: Matt Lafloord a lot of people said statistically, I don't
Speaker 1: think the Lions defense is as bad as the numbers
Speaker 1: might suggest. I still think they are dangerous, and I
Speaker 1: still think it's something the Packers are gonna have to
Speaker 1: take an account they can't take for granted. Offensively, though,
Speaker 1: you can't get away from the fact that it is
Speaker 1: an undrafted rookie quarterback that you're facing with an unestablished
Speaker 1: run game. Now, Kenny Golladay is as good as they
Speaker 1: get as receivers go in this league right now. But defensively,
Speaker 1: I think you need to be able to really push
Speaker 1: this thing, and I think it's up to Zadarius Smith,
Speaker 1: press that Smith, Kenny Clark, to pressure David Blow, to
Speaker 1: get after him, to make this day as uncomfortable as possible,
Speaker 1: all while being able to maintain that solid run defense
Speaker 1: that they've played over the last month. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: would say if there's one guy for the Lions offensively
Speaker 1: that makes me a little bit nervous, it's Kenny Golladay.
Speaker 1: We've seen him make big plays against the Packers. I
Speaker 1: think this is a really up and coming young receiver
Speaker 1: who has not reached the peak of his powers yet.
Speaker 1: And also we saw yes Kyler Fackra was held. He
Speaker 1: probably could have gotten a sack of Kirk Cousins, but
Speaker 1: that was a pretty bad breakdown in the secondary that
Speaker 1: allowed that long touchdown pass that was called back late
Speaker 1: in the Vikings game. You can't have those kinds of
Speaker 1: breakdowns against Kenny Golladay where he could end up having
Speaker 1: a huge day. The other thing I see with this game,
Speaker 1: quite simply for the Packers is don't turn the ball over.
Speaker 1: You know, you know how I always am West when
Speaker 1: we sit here and we talk about a game where
Speaker 1: we really feel like the Packers are the better team
Speaker 1: and that the Packers should win the game. So to me,
Speaker 1: in those circumstances, I always say, hey, just don't turn
Speaker 1: the ball over. Don't make those kinds of momentum changing
Speaker 1: plays that can give a big underdog that spark and
Speaker 1: that belief that they can not you off and that
Speaker 1: they can make their season with a big upset victory.
Speaker 1: And the Packers are coming off of a game in
Speaker 1: Minneapolis three turnovers in the first half, very well could
Speaker 1: have spelled disaster for Green Bay in their attempt to
Speaker 1: clinch the NFC North. It didn't. They came back. But
Speaker 1: three turnovers in the first half is not a recipe
Speaker 1: for success. You gotta nip that in the butt and
Speaker 1: not let that become a trend here as you're trying
Speaker 1: to play your best football. Yeah, you gotta be able
Speaker 1: to protect the football, and it's the reason why the
Speaker 1: Packers are twelve and three. Simply put, They've been able
Speaker 1: to take the ball away. They've played well in the
Speaker 1: red zone on both sides of the ball, and they
Speaker 1: protected the football offensively. Here's the interesting thing. You know,
Speaker 1: Monday night in Minneapolis was only the second time this
Speaker 1: year the Packers have had three turnovers in a game.
Speaker 1: You know what. The other one was Philadelphia Detroit Detroit
Speaker 1: really that Monday night game. Yeah, Aaron Rodgers through an interception,
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones had a fumble, and Darius Shepherd fumbled the punt.
Speaker 1: So maybe it doesn't matter if the Packers turn the
Speaker 1: ball over. No, As as I say, not exactly a
Speaker 1: recipe for success, But my point being that this Detroit
Speaker 1: Lions defense did take the ball away from the Packers
Speaker 1: a few times, and they were on the verge of
Speaker 1: beating Green Bay at Lambeufield. Yes, Matthew Stafford is no
Speaker 1: longer the quarterback, but still those are the kinds of
Speaker 1: things that get your attention in a game where you're
Speaker 1: where the Packers are going in obviously is a heavy
Speaker 1: favorite and expected to win. I just think it's a
Speaker 1: it's a week that you can't take for granted. You
Speaker 1: just have to really be on top of everything and
Speaker 1: and take care of business the way you're meant to
Speaker 1: take care of business. I mean, this team to get
Speaker 1: to this point. It was really interesting listen to Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers discussed this at his locker on Thursday. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know the way he even said that game against
Speaker 1: Minnesota he can he count said among one of his
Speaker 1: better games he's played this year. Not maybe statistically, not
Speaker 1: because the numbers people can say, well, are you setting
Speaker 1: the bar that low for yourself? No, he's not saying that.
Speaker 1: It's that they were able to effectively manage the game
Speaker 1: in a game in which you needed to do that. Now,
Speaker 1: this is completely different from where the pack because we're
Speaker 1: at in the past, like when you look at it
Speaker 1: with going into Ford Field, and what it was gonna
Speaker 1: take to be able to beat a team like that
Speaker 1: in two thousand, what sixteen, the last two seasons when
Speaker 1: you know they were on the wrong end of it.
Speaker 1: I just think that there's so much fluidity with this
Speaker 1: roster that if you do take care of the football
Speaker 1: and you manage the appropriate situations offensively and defensively, you're
Speaker 1: going to be able to be successful. It's just the
Speaker 1: numbers bear it out. All year long. People wanted to
Speaker 1: talk about identities, they wanted to talk about what separates
Speaker 1: this team. I think that's what does it. It's that
Speaker 1: they're just incredibly smart in those situations and when the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter comes around, more often than not, the field
Speaker 1: is tilted in their favor. Yeah. The other thing too,
Speaker 1: I think from what I've heard in the locker room,
Speaker 1: we haven't had a lot of locker room maxus this
Speaker 1: week with the holiday in the short week and everything,
Speaker 1: but I sense the players. The players are definitely dialed
Speaker 1: into the fact that you cannot take anything for granted here.
Speaker 1: They oh, what's at stake, they know what's on the line.
Speaker 1: Preston Smith even mentioned yesterday when some reporters were at
Speaker 1: his locker, Hey nobody thought the Arizona Cardinals with four wins,
Speaker 1: We're gonna go to Century Linkfield in Seattle and knock
Speaker 1: off the Seattle Seahawks, a loss that quite frankly, has
Speaker 1: really damaged Seattle's chances to get the number one seed.
Speaker 1: They they could still get it if you know, the
Speaker 1: Packers losing the Saints Louis and all this other stuff
Speaker 1: falls their way. But if the Seahawks hadn't lost that
Speaker 1: game of the Cardinals, they'd be going into that Sunday
Speaker 1: night game saying, hey, if we beat the forty Niners,
Speaker 1: we are the top seed in the NFC. They lost
Speaker 1: that opportunity to a team in their own division that
Speaker 1: only had four wins on the year end coming into
Speaker 1: their place. So it is all about not taking anything
Speaker 1: for granted. I think the Packers are buying into it,
Speaker 1: and I expect to see a pretty focused team on
Speaker 1: Sunday in Detroit. Yeah, and and the other thing I
Speaker 1: made this argument and insider inbox, this team for the
Speaker 1: last eight months has played to be in this position.
Speaker 1: Everything that they've done, every workout, every practice, every game
Speaker 1: has set themselves up to go into Detroit, win this
Speaker 1: game and get a first round by you don't want
Speaker 1: to waste all of those efforts, all that hard work,
Speaker 1: all of that momentum because you overlook a three win
Speaker 1: opponent and every single guy, I think Corey Linsley mentioned
Speaker 1: it too, that first game was by one point. There
Speaker 1: was a one point difference, turnovers, whatever, uh, total yards production,
Speaker 1: you can look at all of it. In the end,
Speaker 1: it was one point that separated the Packers from victory
Speaker 1: and defeat. And while the situation has changed and half
Speaker 1: of this roster it seems like for the Lions is
Speaker 1: now an injured reserve, that still is something that there
Speaker 1: are guys that want to finish this thing out and
Speaker 1: and play the string out and show that you know what,
Speaker 1: if Matt Patricia is gonna be the head coach in
Speaker 1: two thousand, twenty and beyond, and that's the plan, we
Speaker 1: gotta play hard for him. We have to be ready
Speaker 1: for him. And then even a guy like David Blah,
Speaker 1: I mean, he's trying to prove that I can be
Speaker 1: a backup in this league. I'm a quarterback that's worth developing.
Speaker 1: I could be in this position again next year with
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford. All those things bundled together There's still is
Speaker 1: a lot to play for it. But as I've said
Speaker 1: all week long, Mike, for the Packers, they have to
Speaker 1: go out, they have to control the momentum right off
Speaker 1: the bat and make sure that while this game you
Speaker 1: cannot take for granted, maybe the second half is where
Speaker 1: you can actually start to you know, maybe pull back
Speaker 1: some of the troops if you can get out there,
Speaker 1: get a quick lead and make sure that that crowd
Speaker 1: is in your favorite right. And that's exactly the fast
Speaker 1: start idea is exactly what the Packers did not do
Speaker 1: the first time against the Lions. They fell behind thirteen
Speaker 1: to nothing. Fortunately for green Bay, that was a home game.
Speaker 1: As soon as the rally started, you know, the crowd
Speaker 1: kind of got behind the team and then it comes
Speaker 1: down to Mason Crosby kicking a walk off field goal there. So, um,
Speaker 1: I totally agree with you. I think I think a
Speaker 1: fast start, as we talked about on yesterday's show, you know,
Speaker 1: if if there are some green Bay fans in the stands,
Speaker 1: you know, get them riled up early, keep the Detroit
Speaker 1: fans quiet, don't let them think that some some big
Speaker 1: upset for Matt Patricia to hang his hat on in
Speaker 1: the off season is is what's going to result. And
Speaker 1: keep in mind too, Aaron Jones. We've been discussing these
Speaker 1: milestones all week long. Sixteen rushing yards away from his
Speaker 1: first thousand yards season, one touchdown away from matching on
Speaker 1: On Green single season record for touchdowns in a season.
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones is a critical piece to this puzzle because
Speaker 1: not only for all those reasons, but the fact that
Speaker 1: Detroit is missing what three inside linebackers at this point
Speaker 1: of the season. Their defense is really their defensive front
Speaker 1: in particular. So if you're able to get that that
Speaker 1: ball moving in the first quarter, um, then you know,
Speaker 1: keep whatever happened, whatever that change was in that second
Speaker 1: half against Minnesota, and carry that over to this game.
Speaker 1: We could talk about Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams and
Speaker 1: all the other pieces that have to be in play
Speaker 1: for the Packers here both on Sunday and moving into
Speaker 1: the postseason. But I just think, especially with the question
Speaker 1: marks right now with Jamal Williams and not sure what
Speaker 1: his availability is going to be with the shoulder injury,
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones, this game is set up for him perfectly
Speaker 1: to have a breakout day. Yeah, well, I want to
Speaker 1: continue to talk about that because there are several individual
Speaker 1: milestones mile posts that various Packers could hit here in
Speaker 1: the final regular season game. Obviously, getting the win, getting
Speaker 1: the first round by is the priority, but you mentioned
Speaker 1: Jones is sixteen yards away from his first thousand yard
Speaker 1: rushing season. He currently leads the NFL with nineteen total touchdowns.
Speaker 1: The last Packers player to actually lead the NFL and
Speaker 1: touchdowns for a single season was Jim Taylor back in
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two. And I believe Aaron Jones goes into
Speaker 1: this final game one touchdown ahead of Christian McCaffrey of
Speaker 1: the Panthers. And then also he's one touchdown off of
Speaker 1: the Packers single season franchise record of twenty touchdowns, which
Speaker 1: was set by a Mon Green back in two thousand three.
Speaker 1: So that, uh, that's one for him to get another one.
Speaker 1: You mentioned Davante Adams, He's, uh, the exact number is escaping, right,
Speaker 1: And I was at nineties ninety six receiving yards from
Speaker 1: a thousand yards season, and it's really interesting for him.
Speaker 1: Not only would it'd be pretty cool for him to
Speaker 1: get a thousand yards season in a year that he
Speaker 1: missed four games and he's only playing twelve in the
Speaker 1: regular season. But this is a guy who had a
Speaker 1: nine seven yards. He just missed a thousand another year
Speaker 1: where he had eight hundred and eighty five but then
Speaker 1: missed the last two games when a hundred and fifteen
Speaker 1: yards and two games would have been pretty reasonable for
Speaker 1: him to get a thousand. Davante Adams has only had
Speaker 1: one thousand yards season technically in his career, and he's
Speaker 1: going for number two in a year that he missed
Speaker 1: an entire month, So that's kind of interesting as well.
Speaker 1: And on the defensive side, here's a couple to keep
Speaker 1: an eye on. West. I look this up and it
Speaker 1: was interesting. Zadarius Smith, Preston Smith, Kenny Clark. That trio
Speaker 1: has combined for thirty one and a half sacks so
Speaker 1: far this season with one regular season game to go.
Speaker 1: Since sacks became an official NFL statistic. In the top
Speaker 1: trio in one season for the Packers was in Reggie
Speaker 1: White with sixteen sacks and winning Defensive Player of the Year,
Speaker 1: along with Vannie Holiday with eight sacks and Keith mackenzie
Speaker 1: with eight sacks had two between the three of them,
Speaker 1: So the Packers current top trio is thirty one and
Speaker 1: a half. If they get one more sack, maybe the
Speaker 1: two Smiths split one, they each get a half, and
Speaker 1: that gets him to thirty two and a half, and
Speaker 1: that would be one to chalk up and another one
Speaker 1: on defense too. Uh. The Packers coaches go through the
Speaker 1: film and they keep track of tackles, and the official
Speaker 1: statistics that the Packers put out are the coaches tabulations
Speaker 1: of tackles. Well, Blake Martinez solo and assisted tackles combined,
Speaker 1: He's been credited with a hundred and ninety one tackles
Speaker 1: so far this year and since Packers coaches started keeping
Speaker 1: that statistic in five Since then, the single season record
Speaker 1: for the Packers is a hundred and ninety four tackles
Speaker 1: by Nick Barnett in two thousand and five. So Blake
Speaker 1: Martinez is four tackles away from breaking Barnet's record, and
Speaker 1: obviously nine tackles away from the first two hundred tackles
Speaker 1: season since the Packers coaches have been keep being that statistics.
Speaker 1: So and I've got a few other ones that are
Speaker 1: going to be in my one Last Look column as well.
Speaker 1: I had some fun looking up this, uh this stuff
Speaker 1: yesterday as I was preparing my Saturday one last look
Speaker 1: for Packers dot Com. But some interesting things here as
Speaker 1: the regular season wraps up, because all of the team
Speaker 1: records and all that are based on regular season games,
Speaker 1: only postseason goes into another category. Well, and then there's
Speaker 1: one other one that is not going to be as heralded.
Speaker 1: I don't think many people will make much about, but
Speaker 1: it's thirteen wins. Packers can actually get thirteen wins in
Speaker 1: this season. That would be the most since two thousand
Speaker 1: eleven during that fifteen win campaign, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there there are only three. There are only three coaches
Speaker 1: in Packer's history with thirteen wins in a regular season.
Speaker 1: It's Vince Lombardi, Mike Holmgren, and Mike McCarthy. They're the
Speaker 1: only ones who have done it. And Matt Lafleur, in
Speaker 1: his first year, is trying to become the fourth coach
Speaker 1: to hit that mark. And it goes back to something
Speaker 1: that I think, you know, Mark Murphy has talked about
Speaker 1: this season. I think a number of guys have talked about.
Speaker 1: I mean, how many people on September one would have
Speaker 1: put them in a position to be doing this right now, uh,
Speaker 1: to to have a first round by I mean, Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers has mentioned this at numerous different intervals throughout the
Speaker 1: course of the year about how maybe this isn't the
Speaker 1: most talented team. But I'll be honest with you, Mike,
Speaker 1: and you've been doing this a little bit longer than
Speaker 1: I have, but this is as tight knit of a
Speaker 1: team as I've covered. And that's not to say that
Speaker 1: the chemistry wasn't there with some of those other teams.
Speaker 1: I think the two thousand team in particular had great chemistry,
Speaker 1: but in terms of, especially on the defensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball, how close they are from cornerbacks, the defensive
Speaker 1: linemen to linebackers. It's not just the positional groups, and
Speaker 1: it's not just you know, getting into the huddle and
Speaker 1: and you know, channing Kumbaya together. I mean, these guys
Speaker 1: legitimately really care about each other. And I know that
Speaker 1: narrative and that cliche kind of gets thrown out there
Speaker 1: when teams are having success. It's more difficult to get
Speaker 1: that sort of reputation when you're six and ten. But
Speaker 1: I think to some extent it's true because there is
Speaker 1: an idea there that those guys are playing for each other.
Speaker 1: So Darius and Preston Smith are on the verge of
Speaker 1: becoming superstars in this league. You get fourteen sacks in
Speaker 1: a season, in thirteen sacks in a year, you're gonna
Speaker 1: get notoriety. Kenny Clark has been just the steady as
Speaker 1: they go kind of players since day one with his mentality.
Speaker 1: Even with some of the breakouts he's had the last
Speaker 1: couple of seasons, you have your Dean Lowry's and your
Speaker 1: gyr Alexanders and you look at a guy like Kevin
Speaker 1: King and how he stepped up a week ago. They've
Speaker 1: stayed healthy and they've been able to be on the
Speaker 1: field together, and then when they're off the field, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of the cambaraderie there as well. So it's
Speaker 1: not a stat it's not a milestone, it's not anything
Speaker 1: cool like that, but that definitely goes a long way.
Speaker 1: When you talk about a team in its chemistry going
Speaker 1: into the month of January, yeah, I mean every team
Speaker 1: sort of develops its own version of chemistry. There are
Speaker 1: all sorts of different formulas to continue the metaphor that
Speaker 1: that work. I think with this particular team where the
Speaker 1: chemistry has has uh, withstood some scrutiny and and withstood
Speaker 1: some rough moments have been coming off of the losses
Speaker 1: in the second half of the season, when the Packers
Speaker 1: lost to the Chargers and they lost to the forty
Speaker 1: nine Ers. These weren't just you know, knockdown, drag out
Speaker 1: fights and you lose on a walk off field goal
Speaker 1: kind of thing. These were just dud performances on both
Speaker 1: sides of the ball, quite frankly by by the Packers
Speaker 1: in road games, you know, long flights out to the
Speaker 1: West Coast and all that. And I think the chemistry
Speaker 1: of this team pulled them through and got them back
Speaker 1: on the right track very quickly after both of those losses,
Speaker 1: as as opposed to seeing you know, seeing one lost
Speaker 1: beach twice, so to speak. And I think that's one
Speaker 1: I think that's one way that the chemistry of this
Speaker 1: team has been tested, and they have passed that test
Speaker 1: to get to this point and being able to balance
Speaker 1: back from losses where they didn't fall into you know,
Speaker 1: mid season dulgrums. They didn't have consecutive losses all season.
Speaker 1: And then keep in mind too, and this is kind
Speaker 1: of the onus and and sort of mantra that I've
Speaker 1: developed for this team. You have to beat them for
Speaker 1: four quarters, because you've seen them get off to slow
Speaker 1: starts and then work their way back into it. It
Speaker 1: happened last week. Then you also have seen times where
Speaker 1: maybe they get off to a fast start, they kind
Speaker 1: of go into a little bit of a lull in
Speaker 1: the second third quarters and they finish like gangbusters in
Speaker 1: the fourth. I mean, this is a team that we
Speaker 1: say it over and over again about how they can
Speaker 1: win a variety of ways, but they truly can. And
Speaker 1: last week I thought they you know, kind of pop
Speaker 1: the cap on another way. So it's a fascinating way
Speaker 1: to go into this thing. The Packers have to turn
Speaker 1: back Detroit. They have to be able to win this
Speaker 1: game and get that crown. But when they do, man,
Speaker 1: you look at how this thing sets up right now.
Speaker 1: If they're hosting a game or two in January in
Speaker 1: Green Bay, Wisconsin against San Francisco and New Orleans and
Speaker 1: some of these warm weather teams seattle to a certain extent,
Speaker 1: the game changes. Yeah, absolutely well, looking at what else
Speaker 1: is going on around the league in week seventeen. As
Speaker 1: I mentioned at the top of the show, if the
Speaker 1: Packers get the win at Detroit, they're flying back and
Speaker 1: then settling in to watch the Seahawks and the forty
Speaker 1: Niners battle for the NFC West crown. And if the
Speaker 1: Packers get to thirteen and three, then a Seattle win
Speaker 1: over San Francisco at Century Link would give the Packers
Speaker 1: the number one overall seed. From the forty Niners perspective,
Speaker 1: if they win against Seattle and win the NFC West,
Speaker 1: they are the number one seed. And then if the
Speaker 1: Packers have a win, they would get the buy and
Speaker 1: the number two seeds, and either way it shuffles out.
Speaker 1: It's a great story. Uh. If Green Bay would somehow
Speaker 1: just work their way back up this thing and end
Speaker 1: up claiming the number one seed, that's incredible. San Francisco's
Speaker 1: point of view, you look at the setbacks they've had
Speaker 1: and being able to claw their way back into that
Speaker 1: game against the Rams and then potentially beat Seattle and
Speaker 1: Century Link. I know Packer fans don't hear that, but
Speaker 1: that's also a pretty good narrative two for a team
Speaker 1: claiming the number one seed. Yeah. Well, when you look
Speaker 1: at the forty Niners, I mean, this is a team,
Speaker 1: this is a team that won on the road at
Speaker 1: New Orleans, and I'm trying to remember they had another
Speaker 1: really big road victory. I can look it up if
Speaker 1: you can talk for a couple more seconds there. The
Speaker 1: other thing, yeah, I will say, well you're looking that
Speaker 1: up is for those wondering can the Packers get a
Speaker 1: first drawn by if they were to happen to lose
Speaker 1: at Detroit. The answer is yes, but that would require
Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers to beat the New Orleans set. So
Speaker 1: if the Packers lose and the Saints lose, the Packers
Speaker 1: would still get a first round by. But if the
Speaker 1: Packers lose and the Saints win, then Green Bay is
Speaker 1: the three seed, and then as the three seed, the
Speaker 1: Packers would be hosting Minnesota in the wild card round
Speaker 1: because Minnesota is locked in at the six and can't
Speaker 1: change totally. You have to be thinking about the Rams game,
Speaker 1: right because otherwise it didn't really play anybody on the road.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe I might be thinking of I might be
Speaker 1: thinking of another team than that. That chalked up a
Speaker 1: couple of big road wins. But you talk about the
Speaker 1: Packers roads. People want to talk about the Packers. Look
Speaker 1: at this road schedule. It did get ramp up at
Speaker 1: the end of the year. But Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, l A, Rams, Washington, Arizona,
Speaker 1: and then they had to face Baltimore, New Orleans and
Speaker 1: back to back weeks. Maybe that's what I was. I
Speaker 1: know they had the Baltimore game at home and then
Speaker 1: that came down to a walk off field goal. So
Speaker 1: maybe that was the game with the Niners that I
Speaker 1: was that I was thinking of. But um regardless, So yes,
Speaker 1: as a Packers fan, you're keeping an eye in the
Speaker 1: Saints game and then on Sunday Night football if the
Speaker 1: Packers do come back with a victory from Detroit, you're
Speaker 1: keeping an eye on what happens there in the NFC West.
Speaker 1: As far as the NFC East is concerned, it's between
Speaker 1: Philadelphia and Dallas, Philadelphias and the driver's seat. With their
Speaker 1: victory over the Dallas Cowboys last week. So I Philadelphia
Speaker 1: beats the Giants, the Eagles are the four seed. If
Speaker 1: the Eagles lose to the Giants and the Cowboys beat
Speaker 1: the Redskins, the Cowboys are the four seed and the
Speaker 1: that team then would be hosting the five which essentially
Speaker 1: is going to be the loser of the Seattle San
Speaker 1: Francisco game is going to be the five seed and
Speaker 1: going on the road on wild card weekend. So um,
Speaker 1: in the a f C, here's here's one thing I
Speaker 1: want to ask you because it's interesting because the Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: Steelers are still in the mix for a wild card
Speaker 1: and and they have and they're they're on the road
Speaker 1: at Baltimore. But the Ravens have locked up the number
Speaker 1: one every a f C and they're sitting everybody. So
Speaker 1: the Steelers could potentially get a win over you know,
Speaker 1: the second string of the Baltimore Ravens so to speak,
Speaker 1: and sneak their way into the a f C playoffs
Speaker 1: as the six C. Now there's some other things too,
Speaker 1: because the Tennessee Titans are still in the mix, and
Speaker 1: there's somebody else I think who's still in the mix
Speaker 1: in the a f C. Yeah, there's there's a couple
Speaker 1: of teams. And how it works, Buffalo is Buffalo is
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, and I believe they're the five seed
Speaker 1: in the in the a f C. They've got one
Speaker 1: of those wild card spots. So um, there the scenarios
Speaker 1: in the a f C for that number six seat
Speaker 1: or death. Oh it's Oakland Yeah, Oakland. If Oakland wins
Speaker 1: and then has about four other games go exactly the
Speaker 1: right way, Oakland can actually sneak in to the number
Speaker 1: six seed in the a f C. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot of other more complicated scenarios on that side of
Speaker 1: the ball, But anything in particular from the a f
Speaker 1: C that interests you heading into Week seven, I just
Speaker 1: I gotta say Mike Tomlin and how he pulled that
Speaker 1: team together this year, the job that they've done defensively
Speaker 1: to to keep this team in this thing under a
Speaker 1: lot of circumstances. You lose Ben Roethlisberger when they lost him,
Speaker 1: and not having a guy really step up and grab
Speaker 1: that opportunity behind him that that could have the season
Speaker 1: could have went arrived very quickly. But here they are
Speaker 1: taking on Baltimore. I actually think this is a really
Speaker 1: good audition for r G three because it's a guy
Speaker 1: that I think some people kind of left his career
Speaker 1: for dead a little bit. Yeah, he'll be stepping in
Speaker 1: for Lamar Jackson, and in an inter own basis, he's
Speaker 1: played pretty well. I felt like throughout the course of
Speaker 1: the year. Now he's gonna be playing one of the
Speaker 1: best defenses in the NFL the Steelers, but that's that's
Speaker 1: gonna be a good matchup to see how he reacts
Speaker 1: to that. And then it always seems, one way or another,
Speaker 1: the Titans are always right in this thing. At the
Speaker 1: end of the season. They've probably played more significant Week
Speaker 1: seventeen games maybe. I mean, it seems like every year
Speaker 1: something's on the line for Tennessee in Week seventeen, they're
Speaker 1: right in the mix somehow. It was like the Packers
Speaker 1: for about five years, it was the Green Bay. It
Speaker 1: was like that a lot, but Tennessee has been team
Speaker 1: especially with some of the uncertainty and the that that
Speaker 1: conference and that division in specific, so seeing if Ryan
Speaker 1: Tannehill can sprinkle his magic a little bit more and
Speaker 1: beat the division champions there to to claim a wild card.
Speaker 1: Houston's already locked up that a f C South, but
Speaker 1: Tennessee trying to sneak in as a wild card. It's
Speaker 1: a fascinating week. Other than that, there really isn't much else.
Speaker 1: It pretty much is all predicated on what those those
Speaker 1: final wild card you know, positioning sort of works out
Speaker 1: quickly before we go. The word out of Minnesota as
Speaker 1: of this morning, anyway, is that it sounds like the
Speaker 1: Vikings are going to rest up their guys and kind
Speaker 1: of treat this as a bye week with Week seventeen
Speaker 1: against Chicago, knowing that they're going on the road in
Speaker 1: the wild Card, and you think that's the right move.
Speaker 1: Probably originally earlier this week, I felt like you need
Speaker 1: to give Kirk Cousins that tune up fight. But with
Speaker 1: Adam Felan in the hamstring, Delvin Cook and Madison both
Speaker 1: being injured, uh, and then you know Eric Kendricks Now,
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many different things that have kind
Speaker 1: of popped up for the Vikings here at Okay, what
Speaker 1: good does it do if you have Kirk Cousins out
Speaker 1: there against a very good Chicago defense against you know,
Speaker 1: with with secondary parts offensively. I don't like this scenario
Speaker 1: for the Vikings. I still think this is a terrible
Speaker 1: way to enter the playoffs. But all it takes is
Speaker 1: one win to to get you back in it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure, and they'll be looking to obviously become the
Speaker 1: road Warriors in the NFC as the number six seats.
Speaker 1: So with that we will call it a wrap on
Speaker 1: this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all
Speaker 1: of our coverage of the team and of Sunday's game
Speaker 1: from Detroit on Packers dot com. You can subscribe to us,
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Speaker 1: content for West. I'm Mike. Thanks for tuning in, everybody,
Speaker 1: See you next time.