Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by my trusted
Speaker 1: colleague West Hodkowits were coming to here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field and West New Packers head coach Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur is in the process of putting together his coaching
Speaker 1: staff for the nineteen season. I know there are some
Speaker 1: news and names and rumors and things floating around out
Speaker 1: there with regards to offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator.
Speaker 1: Nothing in that regard has been officially announced by the Packers,
Speaker 1: so we're gonna have to save those conversations for another show.
Speaker 1: But we do know that it is official. Mike Petton
Speaker 1: will be back as defensive coordinator for Mat la Fleur.
Speaker 1: It will be Petton's second season as defensive coordinator. And
Speaker 1: I think you and I and certainly anybody following this
Speaker 1: sensed that if the Packers went with an offensive minded
Speaker 1: head coach, so to speak, that the possibility of pett
Speaker 1: And staying to run this defense was pretty strong. And
Speaker 1: that is how this has worked out. Yeah, I don't
Speaker 1: want to call it a no brainer, but I just
Speaker 1: think you know, the package. This is gonna be a
Speaker 1: big offseason of change. You're gonna see it in multiple
Speaker 1: phases and multiple different positions. If there was one silver
Speaker 1: lining to what was kind of a difficult season for them,
Speaker 1: I felt it was pett And I felt it was
Speaker 1: the way that that defense performed in the face of injuries,
Speaker 1: in the way he was able to make playmakers emerge
Speaker 1: in that defense at times in which if you looked
Speaker 1: at on paper you would say there weren't enough of
Speaker 1: them due to injuries and some other things. So, uh,
Speaker 1: the thing that stood out to me the most in
Speaker 1: the decision to do this is that if you go
Speaker 1: back and look at it, um one of the things
Speaker 1: that stood out to me as soon as Matt la
Speaker 1: Floor was named the head coach of the Packers, you
Speaker 1: look at Tennessee in the fact that Marcus Mariota now
Speaker 1: is onto I believe is this his fourth or fifth
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator now in his time in the NFL. You
Speaker 1: want to be able to if things, if you like
Speaker 1: what you're seeing, if the product is what it is,
Speaker 1: you want to be able to have consistency there. And
Speaker 1: in the Fleur's case a little bit different because he
Speaker 1: was going up and do a bigger job. But in
Speaker 1: the Packers case, I just think that there was something
Speaker 1: to be said for having a name, having a face,
Speaker 1: and having a vision, so you're not completely overhauling the
Speaker 1: whole grand scheme of things. Mike Petton's return allows you
Speaker 1: to do that. I'll be honest with you, Mike, seeing
Speaker 1: what they were able to do, I don't care about
Speaker 1: total defense. I don't care about the sacks, even though
Speaker 1: there was a bunch of them last year. The number
Speaker 1: one thing that sold me on Mike pett and his
Speaker 1: scheme last season was the fact that you didn't see
Speaker 1: them having to take time otes for twelve min on
Speaker 1: the field. You didn't see them gag getting gash for
Speaker 1: big plays because of community cation breakdowns. The ability of
Speaker 1: Petton to teach his scheme and as he said from
Speaker 1: the beginning, keep it likable and learnable, I think is
Speaker 1: one of the biggest credits he can have. Yes, there
Speaker 1: weren't enough takeaways, that's something they want to change in
Speaker 1: But the fact that they didn't have those huge breakdowns
Speaker 1: at a lot of times you see not just to hear,
Speaker 1: but I mean anywhere in the NFL when you have
Speaker 1: a ton of injuries I think speaks to Petton. I
Speaker 1: think it speaks to his program, and it makes it
Speaker 1: deserving for him to get a second shot here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I I certainly want to see Mike Petton try to
Speaker 1: continue and perhaps finish what he started here, which I
Speaker 1: think is a climb, is a rise of the Packers defense,
Speaker 1: hopefully up into the top half, if not the top
Speaker 1: third of the league. Obviously, there's there was a long
Speaker 1: way to go when the day he walked in the door.
Speaker 1: But I am with you, I was going to say
Speaker 1: exactly the same thing. If there's one thing to me
Speaker 1: that I noticed with this defense that I think bodes
Speaker 1: really well moving forward is the lack of the communication breakdowns,
Speaker 1: just as you put it, Because when I look back
Speaker 1: at the season, I remember late in the year the
Speaker 1: game against the New York Jets, there was a mix
Speaker 1: up in coverage and Robbie Anderson's wide open down the
Speaker 1: field for a forty yard touched out. But I remember
Speaker 1: that play because it was one of the only times
Speaker 1: that happened all season long, and in past years, we
Speaker 1: just we saw that happen too often. And the fact
Speaker 1: that with the number of young players that the Packers
Speaker 1: have on defense, and it was a new system being
Speaker 1: brought in, and we actually saw a decrease in those
Speaker 1: communication issues and whatnot. I think that really speaks to
Speaker 1: what Petton was able to accomplish. Now, obviously you hope
Speaker 1: for better health, you hope for better continuity just in
Speaker 1: terms of who's out there playing every week. And Dom
Speaker 1: Caper's dealt with some of those same challenges over a
Speaker 1: number of years. But with the improvements that we saw
Speaker 1: and the number of young players that you don't you
Speaker 1: really don't want to have to throw a whole another
Speaker 1: defensive system at them again right away. I think this,
Speaker 1: this makes the most sense for the Packers and pett
Speaker 1: And earned the opportunity to try to see this through
Speaker 1: and see if he can continue that climb up the rankings.
Speaker 1: During the final locker room the Packers had about two
Speaker 1: weeks ago, now, I was talking with Alexander about this
Speaker 1: and about then the young nucleus and and what he
Speaker 1: sees in this team. And one of the things that
Speaker 1: he said is, you know, they get pelted constantly with
Speaker 1: the questions about turnovers and takeaways and there just wasn't
Speaker 1: enough of them this past year. But he said, you
Speaker 1: know is these guys get more comfortable in the back end,
Speaker 1: the pass rushers, you'll get a little bit more pressure.
Speaker 1: The possibilities are there for this defense to take the
Speaker 1: ball away when you when you can disrupt the quarterback
Speaker 1: a little bit, they have the ball hawks there in
Speaker 1: place to be able to do it. I think the
Speaker 1: issue for the Packers this season, in addition to inconsistency
Speaker 1: I'm not going to paint at all, is just well,
Speaker 1: there are just too many injuries. I mean, you still
Speaker 1: need to work through it, but you do look at
Speaker 1: what that final i R look like at the end
Speaker 1: of the year, and and again it's always a big
Speaker 1: if because you're not going to keep everybody healthy. But
Speaker 1: when you lose you're starting three defensive linemen, you lose
Speaker 1: Kevin King, you deal with some of the injuries they've
Speaker 1: had to deal with, the multiple positions, that's what puts
Speaker 1: you in these positions where you're trying to stem the tide,
Speaker 1: so to speak. So I really do believe. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you you know, you saw Kyler Fackler breakout, you
Speaker 1: saw Kenny Clarke have a phenomenal season before he has
Speaker 1: ended prematurely. There is playmakers there are playmakers in this defense.
Speaker 1: If you can keep enough of them healthy. Along with
Speaker 1: the system of defense that Penton is teaching, I think
Speaker 1: there's a really good reason to believe that this cannot
Speaker 1: I'm not going to put it out there's top ten
Speaker 1: defense anymore, but this can be one of the biggest
Speaker 1: disrupting units in the NFL. Well. And there'll be an
Speaker 1: opportunity whether you're talking free agency or the draft. As
Speaker 1: we talked about three picks in the top forty five
Speaker 1: of the draft. We'll see what happens in free agency.
Speaker 1: There's an opportunity to add another playmaker too to this
Speaker 1: to this defense. And I'll go back to something that
Speaker 1: I talked about on this show many times, you and I.
Speaker 1: You and I discussed it a lot. I think we
Speaker 1: saw the the tip of the iceberg, so to speak,
Speaker 1: as to what this Packers defense can be with Mike
Speaker 1: Petton as the coordinator and his system and his scheme.
Speaker 1: When Jayra Alexander and Kevin King where your two corners,
Speaker 1: your your two top cover corners on the field at
Speaker 1: the same time. Now, that just didn't happen enough because
Speaker 1: King only played whatever it was, six or seven games,
Speaker 1: and even a couple of games he played was when
Speaker 1: Alexander was missing, so they were really only on the
Speaker 1: field together, I think, for four games out of sixteen,
Speaker 1: which is is way too few, obviously, but in those moments,
Speaker 1: I mean the first the first half, first three quarters
Speaker 1: Week two against the Minnesota Vikings and and all the
Speaker 1: the weapons, you know, Dalvin Cook and Adam Thieland and
Speaker 1: Stefon Diggs and Kirk Cousins in their new quarterback and
Speaker 1: everything that they brought to lambeau Field that day. They
Speaker 1: didn't start rolling until the fourth quarter when King was
Speaker 1: out in The Packers were kind of scrambling a little
Speaker 1: bit defensively to make up for it. The first half
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles against that Rams offense, when King and
Speaker 1: Alexander were on the field together to help cover those
Speaker 1: wide receivers, that was some of the best defense we
Speaker 1: saw from the Packers all season long. I think I
Speaker 1: think that's the starting point, so to speak, in terms
Speaker 1: of the personnel. If those two guys are out there,
Speaker 1: and then you get those other guys healthy, you know,
Speaker 1: you're Daniels and you're Kenny Clark, and and you know,
Speaker 1: Facral continues to do what he's doing. I think there's
Speaker 1: a lot of possibilities here with some more continued upgrades
Speaker 1: and personnel, whether it be through free agency or the draft. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and the other thing that stands out to me too,
Speaker 1: you know, we don't want ever, you know, look at
Speaker 1: trying to project what a lineup is going to be,
Speaker 1: because as we see, you know, that can change very quickly.
Speaker 1: And it's I think, but the one, the one, the
Speaker 1: heart was in the right place this season though, when
Speaker 1: you look at how they had stocked their cornerbacks, how
Speaker 1: they had stocked their safeties, even as some regards how
Speaker 1: they had stocked the defensive line. I bring it up
Speaker 1: constantly that, you know, Dean Lowry and Kyler Facral weren't
Speaker 1: playing very much that the first month of the season.
Speaker 1: They had to basically be every down players. Down the stretch,
Speaker 1: they have some decisions to with how they want to
Speaker 1: handle their outside pass rush, the biggest one of those
Speaker 1: being Clay Matthews being an unrestricted free agent. You got
Speaker 1: to settle that, you got to figure out what the
Speaker 1: future is there. And I've brought it up a numerous
Speaker 1: amount of times now. I think one guy that doesn't
Speaker 1: get enough credit for how things did play out was
Speaker 1: bishod b when you look at the injury that he had.
Speaker 1: I even threw ma Alter during one of our final shows.
Speaker 1: Is come back of the Year candidate Because of the
Speaker 1: injury he had and to come back the way he
Speaker 1: did and play on a short schedule, I think it
Speaker 1: said a lot about him. And honestly, I learned a
Speaker 1: lot about his versatility. I didn't know he could play,
Speaker 1: you know, slot cornerback. I think in a perfect world,
Speaker 1: do you want him on the boundary, But he's versatile
Speaker 1: enough that he basically can play all six spots in
Speaker 1: the secondary if you need him to. Again, another unrestricted
Speaker 1: free agent, dominoes have to fall there. But you know,
Speaker 1: seeing a guy like that back to in the equation,
Speaker 1: I think really could go a long way for a
Speaker 1: secondary that has a lot of potential when you can
Speaker 1: get everybody on the field, at least most of them
Speaker 1: at the same time. Yeah. And I don't mean to
Speaker 1: discount Breland when I focus so much on Alexander and King,
Speaker 1: but they're the ones in a contract, yeah, exactly. And
Speaker 1: and Breland is a is an unrestricted free agent, and
Speaker 1: we'll see what happens there. But I'm gonna make a
Speaker 1: baseball analogy for you here, West, because you know, you
Speaker 1: look at you look at a baseball team heading into
Speaker 1: a new season, you're looking at that starting rotation, right
Speaker 1: if you've got if you've got a couple of really
Speaker 1: solid starting pitchers, there's a big difference between those guys
Speaker 1: being say you're two and three starting pitchers, versus if
Speaker 1: they're you're three and four. You know, in terms in
Speaker 1: terms of the order. I kind of look at Breland
Speaker 1: in the same way, in the sense that when you
Speaker 1: had Alexander and King and Bashad, Breland was like your
Speaker 1: number three corner Wow, Like what a group you have.
Speaker 1: But you take one of those three out of the equation,
Speaker 1: and the and the rotation changes and everybody gets pushed
Speaker 1: up into a into another role, then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: it doesn't look quite as good as it did before.
Speaker 1: So I think it's you know, I think King and
Speaker 1: Alexander are the starting points at cornerback, and then you
Speaker 1: build the depth, whether that's you know, Josh Jackson hopefully
Speaker 1: takes a leap forward in his second year, Maybe Bashad
Speaker 1: Brelan comes back. We'll see what the draft and free
Speaker 1: agency have in store. Tremont Williams is under contract for
Speaker 1: another year, and we know he can play anywhere as well,
Speaker 1: So a lot of possibilities here and and a lot
Speaker 1: of time to get it figured. Yeah, and Tony Brown
Speaker 1: ended up playing quite a bit to the undrafted rookie
Speaker 1: out of Alabama. So probably no position I think on
Speaker 1: the roster that has as much returning players probably has
Speaker 1: more intrigue right now than cornerback because it really is
Speaker 1: going to be up to Brian good Kunz and obviously
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur and and Mike Petton to figure out what
Speaker 1: they need in what they want to bring in this offseason,
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of guys there. But again, as
Speaker 1: we've learned, when you're playing, especially the way that that
Speaker 1: Petton plays with as many six defensive backpackages with that
Speaker 1: hybrid linebacker role, you have to have guys there, and
Speaker 1: and that's gonna be a big thing making sure that
Speaker 1: they can keep the covered stocked. Yeah. Well, not to
Speaker 1: get too far off track, but we saw the Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Chargers just a week ago win a playoff game
Speaker 1: playing basically seven defensive backs as a package for pretty
Speaker 1: much the entire game against Baltimore. And lam our Jackson
Speaker 1: as the mobile quarterback. So you just you'd never know
Speaker 1: where this game is going to go and what you're
Speaker 1: going to be called on to do from a schematic standpoint,
Speaker 1: and and the Packers have to build their depth to
Speaker 1: be able to respond. And keep in mind too, Mike,
Speaker 1: I mean the Packers open this season with a seven
Speaker 1: defensive backpackage against the Bears. I mean that's almost their
Speaker 1: base defense. It caught us all, caught me by surprise
Speaker 1: that they ended up going that way. So, yeah, if
Speaker 1: you have the bodies there, Mike Patton said, he's not
Speaker 1: afraid to go a little light if it means that
Speaker 1: it's going to you know, work to the best of
Speaker 1: the Packers game plan. Yeah. All right, Well, before we
Speaker 1: get to some other topics here west, the green Bay
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Speaker 1: Official sup partner of the Green Baby. We should almost
Speaker 1: be due for a new pair of Bows headphones. I
Speaker 1: would think we had these for almost three seasons. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was really excited when we started doing the show,
Speaker 1: you know now almost three years ago, that we got
Speaker 1: the noise canceling ones. But they weren't in the right color.
Speaker 1: So Marvin went down to the store bought us some
Speaker 1: other ones, but they aren't the noise canceling ones. I
Speaker 1: like the noise canceling ones. Yeah. Those, Yeah, that they
Speaker 1: got to make that happen. They put you in the
Speaker 1: zone we get, we get a lot more of the
Speaker 1: the West hot analogies to youth sports and everything. When
Speaker 1: you got the noise camper. Absolutely absolutely, we gotta work
Speaker 1: on that. That's the big goal. That's the insider inbox
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Speaker 1: NFL Playoffs West, it is down to the final four.
Speaker 1: I know it's not always talking about in those terms,
Speaker 1: but conference championship games coming up this weekend and this
Speaker 1: past weekend the divisional round, not a lot of down
Speaker 1: to the wire drama. Really. Only the last game of
Speaker 1: the four, the Eagles against the Saints, was the one
Speaker 1: that came right down to the end. But these four teams,
Speaker 1: Rams and Saints, Patriots and Chiefs all very impressive in
Speaker 1: their own right last weekend. And I think in a
Speaker 1: lot of ways, and it doesn't always work out this way,
Speaker 1: in fact, it often doesn't, but I think in a
Speaker 1: lot of ways, if you had if you had pulled
Speaker 1: the vast majority of NFL fans, like right after Halloween,
Speaker 1: about the midway point of season, and said, Okay, who
Speaker 1: do you think are the four teams that are gonna
Speaker 1: be the last four standing on championship weekend playing for
Speaker 1: those conference titles, I think these four would have gotten
Speaker 1: the most votes. And you know, they've held up, They've
Speaker 1: done it over the long haul. They put together impressive
Speaker 1: performances in the divisional round, and here they are. You
Speaker 1: know what I like about this? I'm glad you used
Speaker 1: the final four analogy because this year in particular does
Speaker 1: remind me a lot of an n c A tournament
Speaker 1: where you've had every once in a while you get
Speaker 1: the one in two needs that just make the run.
Speaker 1: And that's why I love the playoffs, because everyone goes
Speaker 1: over the top about well, if the six and five win,
Speaker 1: does that mean there's no advantage to the bodies? No,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think all four of these teams proved
Speaker 1: last week what the advantage is with having that that
Speaker 1: week off and then having the home field advantage. But
Speaker 1: much like the n c A tournament, each all these
Speaker 1: four teams brings something different to the table. Now, the
Speaker 1: common thread between most of them is offense, and a
Speaker 1: lot of it. I think it's gonna be really exciting
Speaker 1: to watch the you know, the Rams play on that
Speaker 1: fast track, and I believe, I believe this is the
Speaker 1: first time that the top four scoring offenses in the
Speaker 1: league have all advanced to this stage as the last
Speaker 1: four teams standing. So it's interesting from that standard. And
Speaker 1: then you look at the Rams and Chiefs. I mean,
Speaker 1: they gave up a ton of yards this year too, defensively,
Speaker 1: so seeing how a team like the Saints that's that's
Speaker 1: very that's more balanced, probably the most balanced out of
Speaker 1: all these teams in the playoffs right now. They also
Speaker 1: had to play the most knockdown, drag out game of
Speaker 1: last week, having to kind of hold their breath there
Speaker 1: until the final moments against the Eagles. So seeing if
Speaker 1: they can prevail against that that enigma that is the
Speaker 1: Rams offense is going to be interesting. And then honestly,
Speaker 1: let's look at the Kansas City in New England. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're gonna say I wrote about this an inbox. They're
Speaker 1: gonna talk about Patrick Mahomes. They're going to talk about,
Speaker 1: you know, the old war horse, and and Tom Brady. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the potential passing of the torch and all that. We're
Speaker 1: gonna hear about that certainly all week long. Realistically, I
Speaker 1: think you remember you always do your like five team
Speaker 1: out performances to watch and those kind of matchups. I
Speaker 1: think there's only one in this game. I think it's
Speaker 1: whether or not Kansas City can stop New England's offense.
Speaker 1: I think that's as I think it goes as far
Speaker 1: as that. The way New England's offense took the field
Speaker 1: on Sunday against the Chargers, a Chargers defense that had
Speaker 1: put up some you know, some really really good outings,
Speaker 1: especially with what they did against Baltimore and Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: for the first three plus quarters in that opening round game.
Speaker 1: For New England to take the field against the Chargers
Speaker 1: and just right down the field four straight times, four touchdowns,
Speaker 1: they had twenty eight points on the board before you
Speaker 1: can blink, it was it was just like, Wow, that
Speaker 1: sucked too. I mean, excuse my language, but I was like,
Speaker 1: I really wanted that to be. I know, I wanted
Speaker 1: I wanted that to be. I wanted that to be
Speaker 1: a good game as well. And we had talked about
Speaker 1: kind of pulling a little bit for Philip Rivers to
Speaker 1: see if he could get to a super Bowl for
Speaker 1: the first time and just give me some drama, you know,
Speaker 1: none that the Patriots just hum boy. They just went
Speaker 1: out and steamrolled them. But much like what happened with
Speaker 1: that game between New Orleans and Philadelphia the first time around,
Speaker 1: you saw the adjustments the Eagles made in that second
Speaker 1: matchup and what they were able to do to keep
Speaker 1: that thing close. I go back to that what was
Speaker 1: a Week six matchup between New England Kansas City. If
Speaker 1: you play that particular game twenty five times. I guarantee
Speaker 1: you at least twenty of them. New England's putting up
Speaker 1: forty points. It's just the way that Kansas City was
Speaker 1: playing that day, and it was the way that the
Speaker 1: Patriots were able to move the ball. That's the key
Speaker 1: right now. The Chiefs got gash for yards this season,
Speaker 1: but they were but they were situationally solid. Can you
Speaker 1: do that now against one of the best to ever
Speaker 1: do it? That's my storyline. And if you can, Wow.
Speaker 1: I mean, we talked so much about breeze and rivers,
Speaker 1: but what about if Andy Reid can get back to
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl? I mean that that would be uh,
Speaker 1: that would be pretty special to a lot of things
Speaker 1: to follow for Yeah. Yeah, And I'll say this, they're
Speaker 1: talking about an arctic blast hitting Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas
Speaker 1: City this weekend. That game is going to be played
Speaker 1: at night. It's the second of the two championship games.
Speaker 1: And I don't want to take anything away from Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: and nothing that that guy does with the spotlight, as
Speaker 1: bright as it is, will ever surprise me. But in
Speaker 1: a game like this, when you're talking about potential arctic cold,
Speaker 1: I think the advantage shifts to the younger quarterback, you know,
Speaker 1: and and that's you know this, this really cold weather
Speaker 1: thing that could be moving through the Midwest this weekend
Speaker 1: could really play to Kansas City's advantage. Let's be honest
Speaker 1: to Michael, especially watching that game last weekend, Kansas City,
Speaker 1: more than any other team in the playoffs right now,
Speaker 1: is built to win in the cold, is built to
Speaker 1: win in you know, December and January. Football. What they've
Speaker 1: been doing with Damien Williams, you know, since the whole
Speaker 1: Kareem Hunt or deal. They found a real diamond in
Speaker 1: the rough here in Williams. And honestly, to be you know,
Speaker 1: be perfectly honest, he fits this offense better than Hunt
Speaker 1: ever did. I'm not saying he's as explosive as an athlete,
Speaker 1: but I mean in terms of his duality, there's a
Speaker 1: lot there that he brings to the table. They have
Speaker 1: underneath concepts they can beat you in multipl tutive ways
Speaker 1: with hill this. You're right, You're absolutely right. If if
Speaker 1: the you know, Kansas City is is looking to the
Speaker 1: gods first, you know, football gods for some help here.
Speaker 1: This does seem like the kind of thing that could
Speaker 1: definitely aid them in this matchup. This this round two
Speaker 1: with the Patriots. Yeah, well, looking at the NFC, this
Speaker 1: is a round two as well. We saw these two
Speaker 1: teams in New Orleans in the regular season, the Rams
Speaker 1: and the Saints. The Saints had gotten ahead by twenty
Speaker 1: plus points, the Rams made this huge rally in the
Speaker 1: second half, came all the way back, and that game
Speaker 1: ended up coming right down to the wire. But I'm
Speaker 1: just I'm gonna have to stick with what I've been
Speaker 1: saying all along, which is I just it's so hard
Speaker 1: for me to see a team going into the Superdome
Speaker 1: and beating the Saints in the play offs in that building,
Speaker 1: and the fact that the Eagles couldn't do it when
Speaker 1: they were spotted a fourteen nothing lead, they couldn't. They
Speaker 1: didn't score the rest of the game, and they had
Speaker 1: the ball, and they had they had the ball and
Speaker 1: had the chance. And when Folds got him across midfield there,
Speaker 1: I thought, Okay, well, maybe the Folds magic is just
Speaker 1: going to continue. Here it is. And then irony of
Speaker 1: all ironies for for as in my opinion, as hesitant
Speaker 1: as Foals seemed after the first interception by Lattimore, which
Speaker 1: was really the moment that turned the game. In the
Speaker 1: first half, he seemed hesitant, not as confident in his throws.
Speaker 1: One of the most confident throws he made the entire
Speaker 1: second half was right there for al Sean Jeffrey, and
Speaker 1: unfortunately Jeffrey, who apparently was playing with broken ribs. Tip
Speaker 1: your hat to the guy. But the ball goes through
Speaker 1: his hands and it goes right to Lattimore, you know,
Speaker 1: the perfect deflection, so to speak. Um, and he's able
Speaker 1: to make the grab for his second interception, and uh,
Speaker 1: and the Saints are moving on. The thing that's interesting
Speaker 1: about this matchup, though, you can take you know, the
Speaker 1: biggest thing there is going to be the home field advantage.
Speaker 1: It's going to be that crowd. They're going to be
Speaker 1: energized there to be excited. Hey, Drew Brees is forty
Speaker 1: years old. This is awesome. This is a team though
Speaker 1: with the rams that is also built for these conditions.
Speaker 1: They're probably better built for the Superdome than they are
Speaker 1: playing in the Colisseum right now. So to see exactly
Speaker 1: how Jared golf In that's setting with that offense, with
Speaker 1: those weapons can respond there, I think it's going to
Speaker 1: be a shootout. I think it's gonna be fun to watch. Well,
Speaker 1: with what the Rams did on the ground, to a
Speaker 1: really good run defense in the Dallas Cowboys, or run
Speaker 1: defense that shut down the number one rushing offense in
Speaker 1: the league in the Seattle Seahawks. You want to cry it? Sorry,
Speaker 1: quiet if I want to cry too, if you want
Speaker 1: to quiet the Super Dome crowd. Running the ball, being
Speaker 1: being successful, running the ball between the tackles, ramming it
Speaker 1: down their throats, so to speak. That's how the Rams
Speaker 1: can win this game, is if that combination of Todd
Speaker 1: Gurley and c. J. Anderson can do what they did
Speaker 1: against the Cowboys just by a thousand carries. I mean,
Speaker 1: and and C. J. Anderson will be interested. I was
Speaker 1: watching the game last weekend, and I'm not I hope
Speaker 1: this doesn't come off wrong way, but when I was
Speaker 1: watching him, I mean, did that not remind you of
Speaker 1: Jerome Bettis, like back in the day, like even the
Speaker 1: thirty five, thirty six, I mean, like well, and they
Speaker 1: were they were wearing the blue and gold, you know that,
Speaker 1: the kind of the the old style uniform. And the
Speaker 1: other thing too is that I'll be honest with you,
Speaker 1: I wasn't following the c. J. Anderson saga very closely
Speaker 1: this year. I know Denver made a decision to move on.
Speaker 1: I cannot explain to you how that guy in the
Speaker 1: prime of his career gets cut twice in one season.
Speaker 1: But here he is. He ends up in the lap
Speaker 1: with the Rams, and he looked explosive. I mean, they
Speaker 1: gave him some really good lanes to work with. But man,
Speaker 1: especially with Todd Gurley working through a couple of things,
Speaker 1: that was the perfect compliment in that matchup against the Cowboys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it sounds crazy to say with the
Speaker 1: types of numbers and the points and everything that the
Speaker 1: Rams have put up in this game, but if if,
Speaker 1: if the Saints can't do something against that running game,
Speaker 1: I mean, the Rams could completely control it at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. That's what New Orleans has to has
Speaker 1: to guard against. They have to make sure that those
Speaker 1: running backs don't get going like that, and and you know,
Speaker 1: put the game and put the game in Goff's hands
Speaker 1: and let their pass rush get after Yeah, and I'm
Speaker 1: just trying to look here. Yeah, they ended up finishing
Speaker 1: second to the Bears and and run defense this past year.
Speaker 1: The Saints did so seeing how they manage that that,
Speaker 1: you're right, that's going to be the probably objective number
Speaker 1: one going into the Superdome. Yeah. Well, it'll be an interesting,
Speaker 1: another interesting weekend of football. But for now, we're going
Speaker 1: to call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: When there's more news to talk about, we'll be back
Speaker 1: with another episode. But in the meantime, you can follow
Speaker 1: him on Twitter at west Hot I'm at Mike Spofford
Speaker 1: at Packers for the team ACCOW. Thank you for tuning in, everybody.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.