WEBVTT - #639 Packers Unscripted: Historic greatness 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:10.480 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:14.440 Packers dot Com. I am like Spofford, he is Wes Hodkowitz. 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:17.160 We're coming to you here from our studios at Lambe 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:20.680 Field West. The Packers coming off of a twenty four 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:24.960 to twenty two victory on Christmas Day over the Cleveland Browns, 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:27.880 once again too close for comfort, as we've talked about 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:31.240 um several weeks here, and we'll get to how this 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:34.080 game got so close and how the Packers did pull 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:36.839 it out. But we have to start with number four, 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:41.440 forty three, Aaron Rodgers breaks Brett Farves franchise record four 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:44.920 touchdown passes in the regular season, and it goes to 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:48.360 number thirteen, Al Lazard. So we're all back on zoom. Now. 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:50.879 You were over in the head coach Zoom. I was 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:53.880 in the Aaron Rodgers Alan Lazard zoom post game. We're 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:57.240 talking post game. And the thing that hit me the 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.160 most as I'm watching this and in thinking about it 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:04.720 is Aaron Rodgers at thirty eight years old, in reflecting 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:08.920 upon the first round pick from two thousand five when 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.480 I was a senior in high school, and the as 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.240 I think Rogers even said a couple of times, like 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:17.119 his NFL career is almost an adult at this point. 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.320 And you know, our video department did a fantastic job 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:24.440 with the video montage of his touchdown passes out of 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:28.440 the message from Brett Farve. But I even wrote about 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.680 his path to four or forty three, But it wasn't 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:33.440 until it actually happened that it kind of hits you, like, man, 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.880 like there's still some you know, Kobe Bryant had that 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:39.440 great line and I think it was two thousand and 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:42.520 ten about how you know we've won, we're gonna win 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:45.280 some more, and let's play until We're gonna play until June. 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:47.960 Let's keep going. It's still like that with Rogers, but 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:50.840 it starts to when you think of all the memories 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:53.320 and all the accomplishments and in the things that he's 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.920 done at just an incredible level for seventeen years. The 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:00.880 hitting four forty three just hits different. And for al 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.320 Lazar to to lay out the way he did, you 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.000 can tell he wanted that one, man. I mean, he 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.240 said it wasn't a big deal. They weren't talking about it, 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.120 but once that ball was in his hands, he had 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:13.800 just a heat seeker for that pylon, and Rogers joked 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:15.400 about how he had to wait a second because he 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:16.720 wasn't sure if it was one of those things where 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:18.520 they just rolled it a touchdown so they could review 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.040 it and then and then make a decision for there. 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:23.920 But you know, Lucas Patrick gives him this massive bear hug. 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:27.240 The offensive lineman just mal um in history has made 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.480 so an incredible accomplishment and certainly one that has Rogers 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:33.280 even said, kind of brought a few tears to his eyes. Yeah. Absolutely, 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:37.120 And Rogers ends up finishing this game with four and 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:40.000 forty five touchdown passes. He ends up throwing two more, 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:45.160 both of those going to Davante Adams. And I have 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:47.520 to say this was there. There are some things in 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:51.080 the statistical realm, both with Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:53.680 that start that start to blow your mind a little bit. 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.440 And Rogers even used, I believe he used the phrase 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:59.160 mind blowing when it comes to the stuff that Davantae 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:02.400 Adams is good doing. He ends up with ten catches 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:06.080 for a hundred and fourteen yards and two touchdowns for starters. 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:10.000 That is the eighth time in his career that Davante 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:12.959 Adams has had double digit receptions, a hundred plus yards 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.720 and multiple touchdowns in a game, and that is an 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.680 NFL record. Nobody in the history of this great league 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:23.640 has done that. But the other stuff that really starts 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.799 to get interesting. Adams now has a hundred six catches 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.120 d and sixty two yards and ten touchdowns on the season. 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.040 It's the fifth time in his career he's he's had 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:37.600 double digit touchdowns on the year. But with the hundred 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:40.640 and six catches and sixty two yards, he is really 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:43.960 closing in on the franchise records for a single season. 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.320 He had the hundred and fifteen receptions last year, which 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.840 he did in fourteen games, of course, and then he's 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.960 so he's only ten catches away from breaking his own 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:57.800 mark there and then Jordy Nelson had one thousand, five 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:02.480 hundred nineteen receiving yard. Adams needs just a hundred and 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.480 fifty eight over these last two games to break that mark, 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:09.160 and he would actually break that in sixteen games, as 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:13.080 Nelson said it, because um Adams did miss a game 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:16.960 earlier this year. You you look, you look at these numbers, 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:20.800 and what Davante Adams is doing prefacing this all is 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.919 to preface of course, that Aaron Rodgers actually went on 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:28.400 record and said Davante Adams is the best football player 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:31.719 he's ever played with. And that's saying something, saying a lot. 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:33.960 You know, when you look at even he reflected on it, 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.800 you know, Brett Farve, Charles Woodson, the guy that he 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:39.880 credited a long time is being the best guy. Jordy Nelson. 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.080 He doesn't say that lightly, and he it was one 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:44.400 of those things. He wasn't just trying to say it 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:46.800 to say it. He mentioned he already told Davante yes. 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:51.520 And there's a part of it that's poetic. Rogers has 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.000 been talking about it being a lot of romanticism about 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:58.480 football this year. All these incredible receivers that Rodgers has 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.040 played with, starting his career with Don Driver, the franchise 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:06.640 is all time leading receiver, Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings, James Jones, 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:10.880 Randall Cobb. And then here comes this kid from Fresno 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.279 that had really prolific numbers in college, but yet was 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.560 still a second round pick like a lot of his 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.839 predecessors in Green Bay. And this might be the one 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:23.920 that ends up being the Hall of Famer. And this 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:25.720 is where you start to think about these things because 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:27.760 there's a long road to go here, and Davante I 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:30.440 think understands he he knows what he has to accomplish 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:33.480 here in the next three, four or five six seasons 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:37.120 to be considered in that it's exclusive company. It's tough 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:38.880 to get in the hall as a receiver, especially in 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:42.600 this day and age. But I think it would be 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:47.240 apropos for Rogers in what will be an undisputed unanimous 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:50.680 first ballots selection into Canton someday to actually have a 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.080 receiver that goes on that journey with him as good 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:55.320 as Jordy, as good as Jennings, as good as all 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:57.480 these guys were. This is the guy that was the 0:05:57.520 --> 0:05:59.160 one that was a cut above. And what I love 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:02.320 about it the most is Davante is basically a sum 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.880 of all the parts. He can make the circus catches 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:09.360 like Jordi does he he you know, his roads are precise. 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:11.520 You know you see some of the stop route concepts. 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:13.720 You see shades of James Jones and that being able 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:16.760 to work across the middle like Greg Jennings and Randall 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:20.480 Cobb did. And I feel like the more you watch 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:23.320 him play, the more you gain an appreciation for what 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.120 makes him great, the fact that he had another ten 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.920 catch game. Mike, remember the one of the first times 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:30.360 he did it. You and I kind of were like, oh, wow, 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:33.279 he has ten catches. Twelve catches, that's interesting. Now the 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:35.480 guy just does it like its old hat. Yeah. I mean, 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:37.760 he's a special special and he does it without having 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:41.720 twenty passes thrown his way. Now, not every cent to 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.880 Davante Adams is completed, but when you look at the 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.279 ratio of the targets to the receptions, it's it's pretty 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:52.480 darn impressive. Getting back to this game, in particular to 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.919 twenty two over the Browns, I don't know how you 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.560 can describe this game any other way than to say, 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:00.920 both on the offensive and dfensive side of the ball 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:03.280 for the Packers, it was. It was a jekylin Hide 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:06.919 type of performance. You look at the offense, there's a 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:10.840 stretch there where the Packers capitalizing on the turnovers the 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.440 defense was getting. The Packers scored three touchdowns and a 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:18.280 field goal in a span of five possessions. Points in 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.440 a span of five possessions. That's pretty good. You're at 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:23.080 twenty four points midway through the third quarter, you're right 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:26.560 where you want to be. Then suddenly the offense goes 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:30.200 three possessions and gets one total first down, going three 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.520 and out twice and then getting one first down before 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.520 having to give the ball up. Similarly, on the defensive side, 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.640 you have a defense that gets four interceptions in five sacks, 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:44.880 all kinds of big plays, the types of things that 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:49.360 you're looking for. But at the same time, two eighteen 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.840 rushing yards allowed over four hundred total yards allowed. The 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.360 Browns were seven out of twelve on third down, and 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:58.640 four of those seven conversions were when they needed six 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:00.840 plus yards in order to conver, which is where the 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:05.640 defense should have the advantage. There there was there was 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.400 this Jekyll and Hide component to both sides of the 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:10.560 ball for the Packers in this game. The bottom line 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.200 is they came out with the win Versul Douglas with 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:17.040 the big interception. Obviously with forty three seconds left in regulation, 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:20.119 when the Browns were whatever, they were fifteen or twenty 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:25.480 yards from a realistic field goal for a possible steal 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:29.640 it at Lambeau Um type of scenario. The Packers won 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:33.120 the game. But there's there's just a lot of uneven 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:36.600 unevenness in the team's play right now before we go 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.640 into the unevenness, because there's some unevenness to sort out. 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:44.400 Is there ever a game that epitomizes the importance of 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.720 protecting the football that this, Oh my goodness, Baker Mayfield 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:49.640 throws four interceptions for the first time in his career. 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.200 First time Packers have four interceptions, I believe, since two 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.680 thousands sixteen against Russell Wilson. It was a fun game. Yeah, 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.800 the five the five interceptions against Wilson at lambeau Field. 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.120 First time three inners options in the first half since 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:06.120 two thousand eleven against Oakland slash Vegas then Oakland. Yea. 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:11.760 The Packers generates off those turnovers. They only score twenty 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:14.240 four points in the game. It is such a great 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.560 reminder of at the end of the day, you can pass, 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:19.559 you can run, you can do all these things. Great, 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:22.840 if you turn over the football, it's gonna come back 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:25.480 to haunt you. Yeah. I don't know what I was 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.760 gonna say is because you know, we we we get fed, 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:31.920 and Packer Nation as a whole, if you follow things 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:33.880 on Packers dot com, the Dope She and all that 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:36.200 kind of stuff, we get fed a lot of really 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:40.800 interesting statistics from Tom Fanning, natela Cassio, and the communications 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:44.120 department they have they have like a hotline to the 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:46.520 Allia Sports Bureau. I'd like to say we don't have 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.000 that necessarily, but when they want to check on something, 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.080 figure out where it fits historically. Right, here's the question. 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:55.080 I want to know, how often? How often is the 0:09:55.160 --> 0:10:00.520 team's turnover margin in the game larger in the margin 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:03.520 of victor four oh in turnovers, but you win the 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.040 game by two points. As I wrote about on Saturday 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.120 night after the game in my postgame editorial, that's not 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:11.600 how this is supposed to work. You go four oh 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:15.640 in turnovers, you're supposed to be in much greater command 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:17.880 of the football game. But this one almost got away 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:20.240 from Yeah. Unfortunately for green Bay, they didn't give the 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:24.560 ball up at any in opportune times. Nick Chubb, Miike, 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:27.480 you can, Marv can play back all of our clips 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.320 from last week. We talked about how dangerous this guy is. Yeah, 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:32.160 how many times did we say the key to the 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:34.960 game was to was to contain Nick Chubb? And and 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:37.840 uh yeah he was. He was a monster. And you 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:40.280 want to talk about, you know, the four oh I 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:44.400 would love to see the splits with what Cleveland did 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.920 inside their own fifty as opposed to what it looked 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:50.960 like once they got into Packers territory, because for whatever reason, 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:53.760 the closer they got to the end zone, the more 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:56.920 they got away from Chubb. Chubb was really got them 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.000 going on a lot of series, still only carried the 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:01.840 ball what five time in the first half. It was 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.160 almost like Cleveland was operating the entire game like it 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:08.000 was in a two minute offense situation and didn't want 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:11.559 to commit to Chubb. The second half was really interesting 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:14.920 because the Packers started shifting more to their dime package. 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:18.160 They started going to more of their sub personnel. Cleveland 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:20.840 had a really good, you know, opportunity to run against it. 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:22.760 In that circumstance, you still want to be able to 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.320 defend against the run when you have six dvs on 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:26.960 the field. But the Packers are having trouble with it. 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.440 But every single time it seemed like when Baker Mayfield 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:32.400 dropped back to pass in the middle of the field, 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:37.160 bad things were happening. So I'm sure Stefanski and and 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:39.079 Alex van Pelt are going to go back and look 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:41.200 at that film and be really disappointed in how this 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.400 game played out retrospective to what the Ernest Johnson and also, 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.800 as we talked about Chubb, we're producing. But that that's 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:49.560 for Green Bay. I think this is probably has to 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:51.720 just be a massive wake up call for them because 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:54.760 it's a reminder of what can happen when you face 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.560 an elite running back, and it could happen this Sunday 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:01.079 with with Minnesota if Dalvin Cook is back, because teams 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:03.080 are gonna look at this now and be like, Okay, well, 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:05.679 if we protect the football and can run the way 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:09.160 that Cleveland ran, we can give this team some problems. Yeah. Absolutely, 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.160 I mean that that's that's what That's what teams are 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.320 going to if if you have the type of running 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.280 tech that you can rely on. That's uh, that's how 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:19.200 teams are gonna digest this game. When they're looking at 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:23.200 the film of the Browns playing at thirty six passes 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:26.240 for Baker Mayfield, one runs for Chubb and Johnson in 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:28.600 that game. That's hard. That's hard to do. That's how 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:32.120 you explain. Yeah, that's hard to explain the thing. The 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:35.880 way this game unfolded, though, it was interesting because because 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.120 there were there were so many little moments, maybe they 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.800 didn't seem like they were huge at the time per se. 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:45.319 But right off the bat the Browns miss an extra 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:47.960 point right so then on their second touchdown they go 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.160 for two trying to chase that point, and they don't 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.360 get it. So that's two p e t s that 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:56.080 were blown, and of course then the final margin of 0:12:56.080 --> 0:13:00.400 the game is two points. The drive um early, I 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.320 believe it was early in the fourth quarter at least 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:05.400 to carry it over into the fourth quarter. The Browns 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:10.160 are down by nine. They are in Green Bay territory, 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:14.880 closing in on scoring territory. But then all of a sudden, 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:17.480 a false start puts them in a tough down and 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.920 distant situation. And then bang bang, back to back sacks 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:24.319 Preston Smith Dean Lowry. They get back to back sacks, 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:28.000 and the Browns go from your looking at at least 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:29.840 trying a field goal to make it a one score 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:33.600 game with plenty of fourth quarter time still on the clock. Too, 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:35.959 then they're out of field goal range and they end 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.160 up they end up punting the football. They get nothing 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.240 out of that possession, and it remains at nine points. 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.160 It remains a two score game until well into uh 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.559 into the fourth quarter before the Browns then do make 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:49.680 it a one score game with a with a touchdown 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.280 later out in the fourth. So there were some there 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:55.160 were some moments that don't necessarily make the make the 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:59.160 final highlight reel a play like Rusul Douglas forty three 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.559 seconds left, But there were there were moments where there 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:05.720 were moments where this game really kind of turned. And 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:09.319 there there were some some key happenings that that played 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.840 into the Packers hands well. And then the other aspect 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:14.560 of it too that I look at is Preston Smith. 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:17.400 There's so many times in NAH Football League Mike Smith 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:19.080 you want to get him go and talk about sacks 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:21.280 right in the factors outside linebackers coach doesn't want to 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:24.360 talk about sacks. What I love about what Preston Smith 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:26.160 has done this year, though, is he has eight sacks 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.600 on the season. I would argue all eight of them 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.720 are well earned and came at critical points. I understand 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:34.680 there was one that could be labeled as garbage time 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.680 I think against Chicago, but the guy played exceptional for 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:40.600 the first three and a half quarters that ended up 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:43.680 leading to a fourth quarter sack. But the guy, every 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.280 single time he makes a play and gets to the quarterback. 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:49.040 It seems to affect the game. And it happened again 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:51.480 here because yes, you get the false start, but as 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:53.880 we saw early on in the game, Cleveland was able 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:55.880 to convert the third and fifteen. I believe it was 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:57.760 they were able to find their way back from it. 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:02.800 He gets that sack, they're thinking, okay, well maybe we 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:05.760 can potentially make a run at this thing again. Here 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:08.080 comes Dean Lowery in their face. Now it's fourth and 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:10.800 twenty two. They're thinking, hey, maybe we'll still go for it. 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:13.200 And then they get yet another penalty and they're like, 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:15.160 you know, well, we'll go with the punt four and 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:17.760 we'll punt it. We don't have the fourth and twenty seven. 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:20.280 Play draw fourth and twenty two. It only gets us three. 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:25.520 We gotta punt in this situation. But lightheartedness aside. Fourth quarter, 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.240 every single second counted there as it played out. Yes, 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:31.040 the Packers got the ball back and went three and out. 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:33.880 There were some injuries there with yosh Niman, but those 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:38.280 are the type of drive eating, time eating plays that 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:41.000 I think ultimately ended up kind of swinging this thing 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.800 in Green Bay's favor. Yeah, On on the offensive side 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.160 of the ball. Obviously, it was frustrating. You know, Aaron 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:49.000 Rodgers clearly set it after the game. Matta floor too. 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:50.840 They've got to figure out a way to close out, 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.040 to close out games offensively, because there was the costly 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:56.880 three and out in Baltimore the previous week when when 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.960 the Packers had, you know, the drive that was between 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:03.120 Baltimore's two touchdowns there late in the game. This time 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:05.560 it was it was back to back three and ounce. Now, Okay, 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.440 the first one you try and end around, it doesn't work. 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:10.320 You lose a bunch of yards. You're getting bad down 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:13.640 and distance. Okay, the second one was the second one 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:15.760 was unsettling in a sense. Now this is where Ben 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.480 Braden had stepped in at left tackle. Yosh Niman was 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:22.360 getting looked at temporarily briefly there in the medical tent. 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:26.000 But you got seven yards on first down on a 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:28.560 first down run by Aaron Jones. You're in second and three. 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.240 Now that's not to say that this drive was was 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:33.680 going to you know, go all the way down the 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:35.680 field and the Packers were gonna you know, score the 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:38.680 clinching points. But to end up going three and out 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:41.920 there when you were in second and three third and two. Um, 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:44.880 they ran the ball again twice with Jones on second 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:47.640 and three and weren't able to get it. And then 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:52.040 on the following possession, after they did get one first down, 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.200 then Davante Adams is wide open on third and six 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:57.680 down the Packers sideline, but he loses the ball in 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.040 the lights. Um. I mean we'm dropped that. You and 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.040 I are looking at each other in the press box going, 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.440 we haven't seen a drop like that since what six 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:09.120 years ago? You know? And then he he said after 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:13.840 the almost reluctantly, he almost reluctantly admitted that he lost 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:15.439 the ball in the lights because he didn't want it 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:17.720 to come off like an excuse. But he's just being honest. 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.600 And Davante DeVante is as honest as there is um 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:23.439 with the media, and he's and and he says, I 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:25.640 still gotta make that play. I make that play ten 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:29.159 times out of nine. I loved that line. Um, But 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:31.879 he lost the ball in the lights. And so for 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:34.240 my my point here is that for all of the 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:36.679 for all of the angst and everything about how the 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:40.560 offense wasn't able to close this thing out, they weren't 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:42.840 really that far away from being able to do it, 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:44.760 is what I'm saying. You had a second and three, 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:46.840 you were right there in position to get a first 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:48.840 down there and to move the chains, and you had 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.280 Davante Adams wide open on a third down, and just 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:53.399 luck of the draw the ball got you know, the 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:55.720 ball went into the line of the lights and he 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.840 couldn't quite haul it in. This offense is not that 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:01.960 far away from being able to do what it needs 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:04.199 to do down the stretching game. And it wasn't just 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:06.520 that they went second and through that Aaron Jones carry. 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:09.240 They did it the next series with a j Dillon 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:12.040 to Dylan gets seven yards on his first carry, gets 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:14.119 six after that. That's what ended up leading into the 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:16.040 play that that ended up being the third down missed 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:20.560 to Davante. Here's the thing, and I made this point 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:24.000 on a local radio show I did with a renowned personality, 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:28.000 Mark Daniels on Monday. What I love about this incarnation 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.080 of the Packers, the two thousand eleven pack the two 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:35.080 thousand one Packers, two thousand eleven, My goodness, I'm back 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:41.240 in ridiculous, uh, is the fact that this team, Mike 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.760 knows how to win in the fourth quarter as a team. 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:47.639 It hasn't always been that way. It's not always easy 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.080 to do that. So as disappointing as it was for 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:53.800 them to not get that past the DeVante DeVante to 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:57.240 get lost in lights and drop that ball, here comes 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:00.040 the defense, a defense that had been going through a 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:01.760 lot of issues there in the second half, had been 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.159 giving up a lot of yards, and Russell Douglas is 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.760 the one to step up. I loved what Douglas said 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:08.840 after the game because he was basically asked, Hey, you guys, 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:11.520 are you're reeling a little bit? Davante drops that, what's 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:14.000 your mindset is? You're going back on the field with 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:17.120 Now Cleveland has a chance to read to take this lead. 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:18.719 They have a chance for a two minute drive to 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:21.040 to pull ahead because as you mentioned, they're only down 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:23.959 too in Russell Douglas like, this is what we're here for. 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:26.480 This is our moment, and he comes up with his 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:28.760 second pick of the game. Sometimes it's going to be 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:31.480 Davante Adams making that catch and A. J. Dillon running 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:33.920 it out with a four minute offense. Sometimes it's gonna 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.439 be the defense stepping up this team, Mike. In a 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:38.800 season where there has been so many close games, down 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.080 the stretch. The Packers, with the exception of one game 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.800 in Minneapolis, know how to win those games. I think 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.320 that's gonna be pivotal going into the playoffs. Yeah. Absolutely, 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:50.320 this this team, both both from a scheduled perspective the 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:54.080 teams that they have played, and from the way these 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:56.800 games have unfolded. This team is going to be as 0:19:56.800 --> 0:19:59.560 battle tested as you could ask for come playoff time. 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:01.320 I totally agree with that. I need to take care 0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:04.680 of some sponsor business. 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