Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford. He is the
Speaker 1: one and only Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you, hear
Speaker 1: from our studios at lambeau Field to talk Packers Cowboys.
Speaker 1: It will be the NFC Wildcard playoff from AT and
Speaker 1: T Stadium Sunday. It's a three thirty Central time kickoff.
Speaker 1: And Wes you look at this Cowboys team in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, twelve and five, they win the NFC East
Speaker 1: Championship and everybody talking, of course about that eight to
Speaker 1: zero record at home. They've actually won sixteen straight home
Speaker 1: games now. Their last loss at AT and T Stadium
Speaker 1: was in Week one of last season to the Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers and Dak Prescott having I guess what would
Speaker 1: amount to a career year for him. He's the one.
Speaker 1: He's the guy that makes this engine go for Dallas.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I wrote in our insider inbox, Colm, I mean
Speaker 2: he is at the peak of his powers right now.
Speaker 2: I think you're seeing a guy that for a number
Speaker 2: of years showed a lot of promise. Obviously was a
Speaker 2: franchise quarterback, a starting level quarterback. But this year leading
Speaker 2: the National Football League in thirty six touchdown passes thrown
Speaker 2: forty five hundred yards passing, and his utilization of all
Speaker 2: those weapons around him, I think has really been a
Speaker 2: difference maker. Dallas, pound for pound, is one of the
Speaker 2: most complete football teams in this playoff. I mean when
Speaker 2: you look at what they can do to you schematically
Speaker 2: with their receivers. Tony Pollard is a very underrated running back.
Speaker 2: I felt like he'd spend that way for a number
Speaker 2: of years now, and as the Cowboys always do, the
Speaker 2: years change, but their offensive line has always been stout
Speaker 2: in my opinion of future Hall of Famer and Zach
Speaker 2: Martin there at right guard. So many things to like
Speaker 2: about Dallas, But at the controls is Dak Prescott and
Speaker 2: he's getting the most out of that unit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned leading the NFL in touchdown passes with
Speaker 1: thirty six. That's actually the second highest total in his career.
Speaker 1: He had thirty seven one other season. He has a
Speaker 1: one oh five point nine passer rating, which is a
Speaker 1: career high for him. And with those weapons. It starts
Speaker 1: with Cede Lamb one hundred and thirty five catches, seventeen
Speaker 1: hundred and forty nine yards twelve touchdowns. And then the
Speaker 1: number two guy is the state of Wisconsin's most famous grandson, Ferguson,
Speaker 1: with seventy one catches, seven hundred and sixty one yards
Speaker 1: five touchdowns. Those two combined for twenty five hundred of
Speaker 1: Zach Prescott's forty five hundred passing yards and seventeen of
Speaker 1: his thirty six passing touchdowns. And I don't want to
Speaker 1: take anything away from Ferguson, but when you watch the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys and the big highlights, it's ceede Lamb. This
Speaker 1: is the this is the explosive weapon. This is the
Speaker 1: guy that changes games, changes field position, puts points on
Speaker 1: the board from anywhere on the field. And it's going
Speaker 1: to be really, really interesting to see. You had mentioned
Speaker 1: on our last show, Jayar Alexander coming back from the
Speaker 1: suspension seem like his shoulder was healthy, the way he
Speaker 1: was flying around on defense. This is the kind of
Speaker 1: matchup that jay R Alexander lives for. And you gotta
Speaker 1: believe that he's going to get a healthy dose of
Speaker 1: ceed Lamb on Sunday.
Speaker 2: After Yeah, I think the word I've been using all week,
Speaker 2: or the phrase I've been using is as much as
Speaker 2: schematically possible.
Speaker 3: Yeah, to be lining up against Lamb.
Speaker 2: I think in a lot of ways, Chicago was a
Speaker 2: good preparation matchup opponent for Green Bay because Dallas is deeper.
Speaker 2: But again, much like DJ Moore and the Bears, everything
Speaker 2: runs through Lamb. I mean, you just don't roll out
Speaker 2: of bed and wake up and have one hundred and
Speaker 2: thirty five catches, seventy receiving yards and double.
Speaker 3: Digit touchdowns, right.
Speaker 2: The guy does it in all different kinds of capacities,
Speaker 2: and he can make every catch, he can run every
Speaker 2: route on the tree, and the bond that he's developed
Speaker 2: over the last three years with Dak Prescott is outer
Speaker 2: worldly and everything else builds off of that. I think
Speaker 2: you touched on Jake Ferguson. You know, just a blue collar,
Speaker 2: ready made Wisconsin football player that has gotten to Dallas
Speaker 2: and has taken his game to another level and has
Speaker 2: been able to sustain it.
Speaker 1: Guy can work the middle of the field and move
Speaker 1: the chains like he's He's not Travis Kelcey or George Kittle,
Speaker 1: but he's getting there.
Speaker 3: He gives them what they need.
Speaker 2: And Dalton Schultz was the guy there for years and
Speaker 2: They've had a lot of name brand tight ends. But
Speaker 2: I think over the last you know, two seasons, we've
Speaker 2: seen this, this kind of morphing of the passing game
Speaker 2: and how Ferguson has sort of turned into one of
Speaker 2: those go tos for them. Michael Gallup has dealt with
Speaker 2: some injuries in the past, has had some things.
Speaker 3: But as dangerous.
Speaker 2: Brandon Cooks is a guy that has done it at
Speaker 2: such a high level. The list goes on and on
Speaker 2: and on with this Dallas passing game, and because there
Speaker 2: is so much variance there, I think it's allowed Mike
Speaker 2: McCarthy to really open this thing up with him taking
Speaker 2: back the play calling. This year, there has been no
Speaker 2: I mean, they are fifth right now in total offensive yards.
Speaker 2: They are the highest scoring offense in the National Football
Speaker 2: the almost five hundred and fifty points scored this year.
Speaker 2: It is not a easy equation to solve, especially inside
Speaker 2: that stadium. But Mike, getting back to the original premise
Speaker 2: of your question, in these moments, you want your best
Speaker 2: on their best. Yeah, And to me, jyr Alexander is
Speaker 2: still very.
Speaker 3: Much the best.
Speaker 1: Yeah. When you when as you said, you look at
Speaker 1: the whole picture of this Dallas offense, like, oh, by
Speaker 1: the way, Tony Pollard has a thousand rushing yards and
Speaker 1: six touchdowns. And I know, a thousand yards maybe isn't
Speaker 1: what it was before now that there are seventeen games
Speaker 1: in the regular season, et cetera. But when the NFL
Speaker 1: is the passing league that it is, it still means
Speaker 1: something for a running back to get to a thousand yards.
Speaker 1: And Pollard has done that on a team that you
Speaker 1: know where you know, there's only one football and there's
Speaker 1: a bunch of guys that that crave that ball. And
Speaker 1: the other thing statistically, I'll mention too, that stands out
Speaker 1: to me about this Dallas offense. And I meant this,
Speaker 1: I believe. In one of the earlier Insider Inbox columns
Speaker 1: this week, the Cowboys scored five hundred and nine points
Speaker 1: this year, two hundred and ninety six. So if you
Speaker 1: want to go round numbers three hundred out of five
Speaker 1: hundred points in the first half, Yeah, these guys will
Speaker 1: jump on you and make you play from behind. That's
Speaker 1: what they like to do, especially at home. When you
Speaker 1: look at the scores of their home games at AT
Speaker 1: and T Stadium.
Speaker 2: Well, and just to quickly mention that peace on Pollard there,
Speaker 2: because you're right, a thousand rushing yards. This offense is
Speaker 2: different though than it was in the early days of
Speaker 2: DAK when it was.
Speaker 1: The when it was zekeke Elly's show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Pollard has a thousand rushing yards, Mike, as a team,
Speaker 2: they almost have two thousand though, because of how they
Speaker 2: can use a guy like CD Lamb in that, because
Speaker 2: of some of the multi dimensionality of Dak's Prescott's game,
Speaker 2: and that's what keeps a team honest, that's what allows
Speaker 2: you to open up some of those explosive opportunities. But
Speaker 2: dan Quinn, and I'm sure we'll pivot here to the
Speaker 2: defense shortly, but dan Quinn is one of the most brilliant,
Speaker 2: even handed coordinators in the National Football League and it's
Speaker 2: been that way for decade. But the thing about it is,
Speaker 2: as Matt Lafleuur talked about, based on their relationship in Atlanta,
Speaker 2: his defense has evolved. And again, when you look at
Speaker 2: what Green Bay has done well this season defensively, it's
Speaker 2: been when they've been staked to a lead and the
Speaker 2: defense can play with that. The defense can shut teams down.
Speaker 2: When you get into the red zone, you can kind
Speaker 2: of move your chest pieces a little bit more. Quinn
Speaker 2: is a master at that, and that's why again, this
Speaker 2: McCarthy offense and Quinn defense, they've together have been able
Speaker 2: to play off each other really.
Speaker 3: Well this season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good point you bring up about Green
Speaker 1: Bay's defense, because when you look at the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three season, there were really only two games for me
Speaker 1: that come to mind where the Packers gave the Packers
Speaker 1: gave their own defense a lead and it got away,
Speaker 1: And it was early in the season in Atlanta and
Speaker 1: then late in the season in Carolina. But otherwise, when
Speaker 1: the Packers have built a lead offensively, the Packers defense
Speaker 1: has come right along and been able to been able
Speaker 1: to hold it in there. With regard to Dallas defense,
Speaker 1: the two guys, of course that get a lot of attention.
Speaker 1: Micah Parsons fourteen sacks. I believe Matt Lafleur called him
Speaker 1: a freak show accurate in his press conference. A guy
Speaker 1: who he lines up all over. He will rush the
Speaker 1: passer from anywhere. He's not a bad cover guy either
Speaker 1: when they decide to drop him into coverage. But he's
Speaker 1: so disruptive and so valuable as a pass rusher. He's
Speaker 1: almost always, you know, more often than not, certainly getting
Speaker 1: after the quarterback. And then the other guys you know,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, the Cowboys lose Trayvon Diggs, last year's you know,
Speaker 1: league leader in interceptions part way through the season. This year,
Speaker 1: they lose him for the rest of the year. And
Speaker 1: then all Deron Bland does is go out and get
Speaker 1: nine interceptions set an NFL record with five of those
Speaker 1: returned for touchdowns this season. Parsons in Bland are the
Speaker 1: guys that you have to know where they are on
Speaker 1: the field, and those are the guys who are the
Speaker 1: ultra ultra high impact guys on this Cowboys well.
Speaker 2: And there's one guy who lit not be overlooking him,
Speaker 2: and that's Rashid Walker. Who've seen Michaeh Parsons. He spent
Speaker 2: that time with him at Penn State, and I just
Speaker 2: had a lot of glowing things to say about him
Speaker 2: in the way the type of pro that he's developed
Speaker 2: into since he's gotten to Dallas. The thing I love
Speaker 2: about Parsons is that it's that he is the hybrid
Speaker 2: pass rusher. It was the way he was built coming
Speaker 2: out of school. He's going to be able to do
Speaker 2: everything for you. And again I'm just going to read
Speaker 2: off these stats because they're incredible. He has sixty four tackles,
Speaker 2: he has thirty three quarterback hits. Fourteen sacks, but thirty
Speaker 2: three quarterback hits. Some teams don't have thirty three quarterback
Speaker 2: hits for a season. I mean, like, just a remarkable
Speaker 2: amount of output. That he's had those sackyards, totally one
Speaker 2: hundred and fifteen tackles for lost eighteen and is also
Speaker 2: forced to fumble.
Speaker 3: But to look at what.
Speaker 2: They do with him is the brilliance in that defense.
Speaker 2: The fact that you can't just pinpoint him to one spot.
Speaker 2: He's going to move around, and I think that makes
Speaker 2: the pass rushers around him even better. I have been
Speaker 2: so incredibly press by Deron Bland, though, because I'll tell
Speaker 2: you this, Michael. Whether it's the Al Harris effect, whatever
Speaker 2: it is, the ballhawking abilities of these Dallas defensive backs
Speaker 2: over the last few years have just been extraordinary. In
Speaker 2: this day and age, now, quarterbacks are starting to lessen
Speaker 2: up a little bit. You're seeing a few more interceptions
Speaker 2: than you did per se five years ago, when Aaron
Speaker 2: Rodgers was sort of setting the standard of Hey don't
Speaker 2: turn over the ball at all. Guys are taking a
Speaker 2: few more chances, but it's still really rare to see
Speaker 2: a guy above that five interception threshold. Bland met that
Speaker 2: just with the touchdowns to be able to get to
Speaker 2: that plateau, right and then adding on the rest, this
Speaker 2: is a defense, and you made a great point when
Speaker 2: we did our three Things video on Wednesday. Their offense
Speaker 2: protects the ball, the defense takes the ball away. That's
Speaker 2: the bruprint. That's how you win football games in the
Speaker 2: National Football League, and it's something that Mike McCarthy and
Speaker 2: his team have done really well this season. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, with regard to the three Things video. I looked
Speaker 1: it up. The leg low this year in giveaways on
Speaker 1: offense was fourteen. Amazingly, that was the Houston Texans with
Speaker 1: a rookie quarterback. They were the league low and fourteen giveaways.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys only had sixteen. The Packers only had eighteen.
Speaker 1: So both the Cowboys and the Packers protected the football
Speaker 1: pretty well. From the Packers' point of view. When you
Speaker 1: look at this Cowboys defense and the way they've taken
Speaker 1: it away, you cannot stress enough how important it'll be
Speaker 1: to protect the football in this game. We don't talk
Speaker 1: much when we do these previews and looking at the opponent.
Speaker 1: We don't spend much time on the special teams on
Speaker 1: the other side. But there are a couple things that
Speaker 1: are worth mentioning here before we get to our keys
Speaker 1: to victory. Yeah, we will get too shortly. The Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys this year have blocked two punts, so the Packers
Speaker 1: need to be on their p's and ques with regard
Speaker 1: to punt protection. And I don't need to remind anybody
Speaker 1: how punt protection submarined the Packers' last appearance in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Will leave it at that. The other interesting thing with
Speaker 1: regard to the Cowboys special teams is this rookie kicker,
Speaker 1: Brandon Aubrey. He's a twenty eight year old rookie. He
Speaker 1: was a soccer star at Notre Dame and then went
Speaker 1: into professional soccer.
Speaker 3: He played the MLS.
Speaker 1: Yeah, played professional soccer when he came out of Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: I think he came out of Notre Dame in like
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen or something. As I said, he's twenty eight
Speaker 1: years old. He's a rookie in the NFL. He had
Speaker 1: gotten into football playing for the Birmingham squad in the USFL.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys found him, brought him in, and prior to
Speaker 1: last week against the Washington Commanders, he was thirty five
Speaker 1: for thirty five on field goals on the season. Last
Speaker 1: week he had one blocked and then he also missed
Speaker 1: one that was actually under forty yards, his first two
Speaker 1: field goal misses of the season. So he's thirty six
Speaker 1: for thirty eight. But this is a guy who has
Speaker 1: been He has been a weapon, and he has been
Speaker 1: a consistent producer for a Cowboys offense that, as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: is the highest scoring in the league this year.
Speaker 2: So many points I want to make off of this.
Speaker 2: The first one is John Fossil one of the best
Speaker 2: in the business when it comes to special teams. And
Speaker 2: I give so much credit to Jerry Jones, his personnel
Speaker 2: department and Mike McCarthy. They thought outside the box this
Speaker 2: season because basically, Mike, they got torpedoed from the playoffs
Speaker 2: last year because of their kicking situation, and they had
Speaker 2: to find an answer for it. They waited, They waited
Speaker 2: a long time. They didn't go and sign a guy
Speaker 2: on the first day of free agency. They didn't bring
Speaker 2: in a veteran.
Speaker 3: They thought they had to think a little bit.
Speaker 2: Differently about how they wanted to approach this thing, and
Speaker 2: obviously that bet has paid off. And to see a
Speaker 2: guy like Aubrey come in and perform the way he
Speaker 2: has again it shows you there are so many different
Speaker 2: ways to go about this thing. The Green Bay Packers
Speaker 2: they have a punter too that came from the development
Speaker 2: leagues and sometimes especially at those specialist positions, Mike, there's
Speaker 2: only thirty two of them. There aren't a lot of opportunities,
Speaker 2: especially now with the COVID phase kind of ending. There
Speaker 2: aren't a lot on the practice squads anymore. You have
Speaker 2: to earn a job to keep a job in this league,
Speaker 2: and obviously Aubrey has done that. I do need to
Speaker 2: quickly touch on too, the Turpen kid, who I think
Speaker 2: also might have come from one of those development leagues too,
Speaker 2: if I remember correctly, their kickoff returner. He's only had
Speaker 2: ten opportunities this year. He made a bunch of buzz
Speaker 2: during training camp because he's five nine and one hundred
Speaker 2: and fifty pounds right, but almost averaging thirty yards per
Speaker 2: kickoff as well. They play good special teams and when
Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy went down there and he brought Fossil in
Speaker 2: as his special teams coordinator. They had that relationship already.
Speaker 2: I think you've seen that really grow. And I think
Speaker 2: he saw some of the things that went wrong in
Speaker 2: Green Bay during his time here, and I think he's
Speaker 2: kind of rectified them now that he's been in Dallas.
Speaker 1: Yeah, both of these teams with a rookie kicker, obviously,
Speaker 1: the Packers Andras Carlson. He's still working through some things,
Speaker 1: trying to get to a level of consistency that it
Speaker 1: appears Brandon Aubrey again, twenty eight years old, found it
Speaker 1: right away when he came into the NFL. And special teams,
Speaker 1: one way or another are going to be a factor
Speaker 1: in this game. It certainly feels that way to me.
Speaker 1: I'll take care of sponsor business here, Wes, and then
Speaker 1: we'll get to our keys to victory. Serious XMNFL Radio
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Speaker 1: of better. All right, Keys to victory here, Wes, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go I'm gonna start on this one and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go back to I think I mentioned it on
Speaker 1: our last show. If I didn't, I know you and
Speaker 1: I talked about it, perhaps with the microphones off. But
Speaker 1: I see this game as one the way, with what
Speaker 1: the Cowboys have done all year on offense, with where
Speaker 1: the Packers currently are on offense over these last couple months,
Speaker 1: I see this as a game where both offenses are
Speaker 1: going to be able to move the football. And it
Speaker 1: just feels to me like this is a game that
Speaker 1: will be decided in the red zones. You have to
Speaker 1: be the better team offensively in the red zone. You
Speaker 1: have to be the better team defensively in the red zone.
Speaker 1: It's going to come down to who can finish drives
Speaker 1: and whose defense might be able to stop a drive
Speaker 1: and force a field goal. That is that difference of
Speaker 1: four points here four points there on the scoreboard. I
Speaker 1: think this is a red zone, you know, do or
Speaker 1: die type type of game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And for me, it all goes back to the
Speaker 2: original premise that we open the show with, and it's
Speaker 2: Dak Prescott. It's pressuring him, it's turning over the football,
Speaker 2: and it's being able to get those takeaways that maybe
Speaker 2: haven't always been there. This season when playing the Dallas Cowboys,
Speaker 2: one interesting thing I've noticed with them when you look
Speaker 2: at their season so far eighteen game seventeen games over
Speaker 2: eighteen weeks, only four times has he been held underneath
Speaker 2: a ninety passer rating. They've lost three of those. When
Speaker 2: you're able to get in completions, when you're able to
Speaker 2: get him in third and lungs, and obviously being able
Speaker 2: to get interceptions.
Speaker 3: That has been a huge key in catalyst to this thing.
Speaker 2: And the tangent that builds off of that is Ceedee Lamb.
Speaker 2: Now there isn't as many convenient stats with him. He's
Speaker 2: had big games where they've lost, he's had games where
Speaker 2: he hasn't really contributed that they've won. But if he
Speaker 2: goes off Michael, the job for the Green bit Packers
Speaker 2: gets exponentially more difficult. So containing those two I think
Speaker 2: is the biggest part. As you said, they're going to
Speaker 2: get yards, it's making sure that those yards don't turn
Speaker 2: into points, and in addition to the red zone, one
Speaker 2: of the best ways to do that is getting the
Speaker 2: football back in your quarterback's hands.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think the other thing that goes along
Speaker 1: with that, with regard to Prescott and Lamb in this
Speaker 1: offense is the explosives, because we talk all the time
Speaker 1: about how does a defense respond after it gives up
Speaker 1: an explosive play. They can be really hard to bounce
Speaker 1: back from there, especially hard to bounce back from when
Speaker 1: you're on the road when that explosive play happens and
Speaker 1: the crowd starts going crazy and suddenly it just feels
Speaker 1: like everything is against you, and all of that momentum,
Speaker 1: you know, for the home team is moving along and
Speaker 1: it becomes very difficult to get stops trying to limit
Speaker 1: those explosive plays and make the Cowboys, you know, earn it.
Speaker 1: By moving the chains down the field is going to
Speaker 1: give you more opportunities to get the stops that are
Speaker 1: going to force field goals as opposed to giving them
Speaker 1: those those opportunities to get into the end zone. I
Speaker 1: mentioned obviously the turnover thing already. I think this game
Speaker 1: also if somebody commits a turnover one turnover in this
Speaker 1: game could be the difference. And as I mentioned on
Speaker 1: our three Things video, the Packers kind of got away
Speaker 1: with being that one team last week that committed a
Speaker 1: turnover against the Bears that was the only turnover in
Speaker 1: the game. The Packers were able to overcome it. It's
Speaker 1: going to be a lot harder to overcome that type
Speaker 1: of mistake in this game.
Speaker 2: And that's why it brings me to my last point here,
Speaker 2: and that's just play free. Don't play careless, but play free. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't want to use that expression about
Speaker 2: playing with house money, but you did sneak your way
Speaker 2: into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Here.
Speaker 2: You are the seventh seed. Probably people are counting you
Speaker 2: out a little bit, especially considering you're playing Dallas on
Speaker 2: their turf. It's turf, get your grammar right West. The
Speaker 2: fact is that with the green Bay Packers, when they
Speaker 2: get into that rhythm we talk about the Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 2: putting up points early in the first half, When Green
Speaker 2: Bay puts up points early, when they can kind of
Speaker 2: get the snowball going a little bit, that's when this
Speaker 2: team is at its best. I really enjoyed what aj
Speaker 2: Dillon said at his locker. When he was addressing the
Speaker 2: media on Wednesday, he said, Hey, listen, we still have
Speaker 2: a goal of winning the Super Bowl. This wasn't just hey,
Speaker 2: we made the playoffs. Thanks, we'll see you later. You'll
Speaker 2: take your door prize and head home. No, they have
Speaker 2: big goals. They have a mission. There's an idea in
Speaker 2: the back of their minds that we knew what this
Speaker 2: quarterback was and we knew what we could do this
Speaker 2: season right off the gate, even if others didn't. This
Speaker 2: is their opportunity now to go up against a Dallas
Speaker 2: team with the weight of the worlds on their shoulders,
Speaker 2: with the expectations on their shoulders, with some stuff in
Speaker 2: the media already about hey, what does this all mean
Speaker 2: for Mike McCarthy if they you know, if they go
Speaker 2: out early, or how much they how far they make it.
Speaker 2: Green Bay is playing like a team that is the
Speaker 2: youngest in the National Football League, but not the shortest
Speaker 2: on experience. They've gone through all these trials and tribulations.
Speaker 2: Now now it's up to see what all those games
Speaker 2: and all those moments can kind of do to push
Speaker 2: them now to towards something special.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to ask you one more question with
Speaker 1: regard to the quarterback situation. We all know Jordan Love
Speaker 1: this will be his first, his first official NFL playoff game.
Speaker 1: I actually asked him if Aaron Rodgers had ever talked
Speaker 1: to him about his first playoff game, which he said
Speaker 1: he didn't. He didn't really know anything about it, and
Speaker 1: you know, which is fine. I wasn't gonna I wasn't
Speaker 1: gonna press him on it. But for those who remember it,
Speaker 1: of course, Aaron Rodgers threw an interception on his first
Speaker 1: playoff pass and then and then went on to put
Speaker 1: up forty five points, bringing the Packers back from twenty
Speaker 1: one points down in Arizona in the second half to
Speaker 1: get that game to overtime and unfortunately ended up losing
Speaker 1: it on a rather controversial non call. Anyway, I digress.
Speaker 1: My question to you with regard to the quarterback situation
Speaker 1: is with Prescott. Do you think he's going into this
Speaker 1: these playoffs not just for the Cowboys and the franchise
Speaker 1: and everything there, but as Dak Prescott going into these
Speaker 1: playoffs personally with something to prove he has. He has
Speaker 1: two playoff wins I believe in his career, but he
Speaker 1: has taken a lot of heat and a lot of
Speaker 1: criticism for the Cowboys exits in the playoffs. On his watch,
Speaker 1: it just this this situation strikes me as as one
Speaker 1: where the Cowboys quarterback is the one with a massive
Speaker 1: chip on his shoulder coming end of.
Speaker 3: This game, no no, no doubt. And I actually kind
Speaker 3: of liken it.
Speaker 2: The more I've been reading and the more I've been
Speaker 2: listening to stuff out of Dallas this week, It almost
Speaker 2: in some ways does remind me of Matt Ryan in
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen, which could, you know, be a positive for
Speaker 2: the Cowboys.
Speaker 3: In the long run.
Speaker 2: Ryan was kind of at that point where it was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: Atlanta's had some success, but are they really going to
Speaker 2: are they going to put something together?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Are you going to prove it?
Speaker 3: Are you going to get to a super Bowl?
Speaker 2: And?
Speaker 3: Shoot, they almost won it.
Speaker 2: I think that's the moment that DAK is chasing, because
Speaker 2: let's be honest, Mike, it isn't just about Dak. It's
Speaker 2: when the when they made the move that, hey, Mike
Speaker 2: McCarthy is going to be the new head coach. Jason
Speaker 2: Garrett's out, We're going to go to Mike.
Speaker 3: All of this.
Speaker 2: The first thing Mike said I think almost in his
Speaker 2: press conference was how excited he was to work with
Speaker 2: Dak and build that relationship. They felt like they had
Speaker 2: their franchise quarterback. How do we get them to the
Speaker 2: next level now? How do we bring it there? Well,
Speaker 2: they're on the precipice now, but because of the way
Speaker 2: the league is gone, there is no number two by anymore.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a wild card game.
Speaker 2: Against the number seven seed and you're going to have
Speaker 2: to go through the.
Speaker 3: Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 2: You're going to have to potentially go through you know,
Speaker 2: these squads to make a run at this thing, and
Speaker 2: every single one of these games is going to be
Speaker 2: a battle. So I think, yeah, I think it is
Speaker 2: a big test for Dak Prescott seeing exactly, Okay, everything
Speaker 2: you've done and the stats you've put together and the
Speaker 2: production that you've had with this team, three consecutive twelve
Speaker 2: win regular seasons, how far does that get you into
Speaker 2: January and February.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Cowboys. The Cowboys as a franchise, not only
Speaker 1: have they not won a Super Bowl or not yeah,
Speaker 1: not gotten to or won a Super Bowl since the
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety five season. That was the last time they
Speaker 1: actually made it to the NFC Championship game was back
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety five. That's where why you know, all
Speaker 1: this pressure is on Dallas now heading into this game.
Speaker 1: It's going to be interesting to see how they respond,
Speaker 1: how the crowd responds. If if the Packers you know,
Speaker 1: take a lead in the third or fourth quarter, how
Speaker 1: does how does the crowd respond to that, and in
Speaker 1: terms of the home field advantage and whatnot.
Speaker 2: That reminds me, I don't think. I don't think I've
Speaker 2: covered lost in Dallas yet because my first game was
Speaker 2: twenty thirteen, the Matt Flynn comeback.
Speaker 1: Yeah, pack the Packers have not lost in that stadium.
Speaker 3: That's wild.
Speaker 1: So the first real Packers first game in that stadium
Speaker 1: was Super Bowl forty five. But yes, then, since then,
Speaker 1: there was there was the Matt Flynn game, there was
Speaker 1: the playoff game in sixteen. Two regular season games in
Speaker 1: seventeen and nineteen the Packers want, you know, the one
Speaker 1: with Rogers threw a late touchdown to DeVante Adams to win.
Speaker 1: To win one of those, Aaron Jones had, you know,
Speaker 1: like a four touchdown game down at AT and T Stadium.
Speaker 1: So Packers as a franchise have a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of historical success in that building, so we'll see
Speaker 1: what happens before we go. I want to get your
Speaker 1: thoughts on some of the other wild Card games on
Speaker 1: what the NFL now regularly calls Super wild Card Weekend,
Speaker 1: with six games and all first on the NFC side.
Speaker 1: The Rams are at Detroit. The storyline is obvious rights itself,
Speaker 1: with Matthew Stafford, the former Lions quarterback, going back to
Speaker 1: Ford Field to try to ruin everything that the Lions
Speaker 1: have built in the thirty years of history that the
Speaker 1: Lions are working against to try to get a playoff victory.
Speaker 1: And then the other NFC game Philadelphia at Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1: Your thoughts on either of.
Speaker 2: Those Detroit and Rams is just the highest amount of
Speaker 2: drama that I think you could.
Speaker 3: Ever dial up for a while.
Speaker 1: Fascinating to me.
Speaker 2: Not hatred, but definitely drama. Yes, I think it's a
Speaker 2: trade that benefited both sides. You know, there's al always
Speaker 2: this idea of hey, who is the winner and a
Speaker 2: loser in a trade. I think it benefited the Lions
Speaker 2: and it gave Matthew Stafford an opportunity to go win
Speaker 2: a Super Bowl and kind of add to his legacy.
Speaker 3: But now you're running into that crossroads together.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Stafford still feels like he has plenty left and
Speaker 2: Detroit is finally in the playoffs once again, looking for
Speaker 2: that first playoff win in my goodness, my lifetime, I.
Speaker 1: Mean thirty two years.
Speaker 3: Yeah almost so.
Speaker 1: Their last playoff win was the nineteen ninety one postseason.
Speaker 1: Their last playoff home game was the nineteen ninety three postseason.
Speaker 2: I got it, which I do remember that one, but
Speaker 2: be that as it may have been an excellent football game.
Speaker 2: Excited to see Matthew Stafford back there and see where
Speaker 2: that takes it. Can Philadelphia get itself back on the
Speaker 2: tracks here?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay, by no means is a world beater. And
Speaker 2: if you leak out this early after having the season
Speaker 2: they had in the first half of the year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Philadelphia Eagles were ten to one after eleven games.
Speaker 1: This what's interesting to me about this matchup, and that's
Speaker 1: the Monday Night one is Philadelphia at Tampa Bay. The
Speaker 1: Eagles have stumbled toward the finish line, and quite frankly,
Speaker 1: since you know the Baker Mayfield one fifty eight point
Speaker 1: three game at lambeau Field, the Buccaneers haven't done a
Speaker 1: whole heck of a lot. I mean, yeah, they ended
Speaker 1: up winning the division. You know, they shut out the
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers, but after the win over the Packers, they
Speaker 1: had a loss in there. They haven't really looked all
Speaker 1: that impressive. These are two teams that are not they
Speaker 1: neither one is really going into the playoffs on some
Speaker 1: sort of a big high note.
Speaker 3: But somebody's gonna win.
Speaker 1: Yeah, somebody is gonna win. And one of these two
Speaker 1: teams is going to be among the last four standing
Speaker 1: in the NFC heading into divisional weekends. So on the
Speaker 1: AFC side, I think all of these are really intriguing matchups.
Speaker 1: Cleveland at Houston, Miami at Kansas City, Pittsburgh at Buffalo.
Speaker 1: Your thoughts on any of those.
Speaker 2: Miami in Kansas City is a huge game because the
Speaker 2: Dolphins really felt like they were Super Bowl contenders, but
Speaker 2: they just weren't able to get over that hump. I
Speaker 2: think the stat that the NFL put out there one
Speaker 2: and five against teams in the playoffs right now, Kansas
Speaker 2: City has stumbled. They've had their own issues, but still
Speaker 2: have Patrick Mahomes who ultimately can be the equalizer for them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the one in that Miami one and five was Dallas,
Speaker 1: but it was when they were They hosted Dallas a
Speaker 1: few weeks ago and that was their that was their
Speaker 1: one victory.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the playoff team, and then they weren't able to
Speaker 2: double up on it and had the issues against Baltimore.
Speaker 2: But that's gonna be an excellent football game. Joe Flacco
Speaker 2: back in the postseason against Houston should be.
Speaker 3: A lot of fun.
Speaker 1: What a what a quarterback matchup Joe Flacco, you know,
Speaker 1: off the couch to lead Cleveland to the playoffs against
Speaker 1: the off the presumed offensive rookie of the year in CJ. Stroud.
Speaker 1: You talk about two, you know, diametrically opposed quarterback situations,
Speaker 1: Flacco against Stroud. It's it's it's pretty interesting.
Speaker 2: And I'm happy for Stroud. I wish him a lot
Speaker 2: of success. I think he's gonna be fun to watch
Speaker 2: for years to come. I need Joe Flacco to win this,
Speaker 2: I need Kansas City to win this, and I need
Speaker 2: Buffalo to take care of business. All right, and then
Speaker 2: we got Joe Flacco going back to Baltimore in an
Speaker 2: AFC Divisional playoff game would be unbelievable.
Speaker 1: There you go, especially.
Speaker 2: Consider he wasn't playing football three months ago. But hey,
Speaker 2: and then I'm cheering on Pittsburgh too. Pittsburgh got the
Speaker 2: Packers into the playoffs. Let's see if they can create
Speaker 2: some magic over an Orchard Parker.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, I think that Pittsburgh Buffalo matchup. You know,
Speaker 1: Josh Allen seemed to have the Buffalo Bills rolling, then
Speaker 1: didn't play very well in the first half against Miami
Speaker 1: with the division title online. Then they got it together
Speaker 1: in the second half and and they got the points
Speaker 1: that they needed to be able to win that game.
Speaker 1: And Pittsburgh, you know, for for everything with you know,
Speaker 1: changing offensive coordinators and all this, and Mason Rudolph has
Speaker 1: suddenly given that offense new life. It's like the Steelers,
Speaker 1: the Steelers are a completely different team and the but
Speaker 1: then defensively, they won't have TJ. Watt because of because
Speaker 1: of the knee injury. I heard has already been ruled
Speaker 1: out for that game. So that's a that's a major injury.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're going up there.
Speaker 2: It's it's a mighty mighty climb for them, especially with
Speaker 2: the way Buffalo has played over the last five games,
Speaker 2: but still be a lot of fun to watch.
Speaker 3: I'm excited. It's a good it's a good weekend slate
Speaker 3: of games.
Speaker 1: And then and the Tyreek Hill revenge game at Arrowhead
Speaker 1: Stadium too, with with Tyreek Tyreek Hill going back to
Speaker 1: h to face the Kansas City Chiefs. Lots of really,
Speaker 1: really good storylines here on Wildcard.
Speaker 3: The scriptwriters did a good job this year. Michael. Let's
Speaker 3: see what they got written for us this weekend.
Speaker 1: All right, with that, we are gonna call it a
Speaker 1: wrap on this edition of Packers Uns Grip. I'd be
Speaker 1: sure to follow all of our coverage of the team
Speaker 1: and of the big wild Card game down in Dallas.
Speaker 1: We will have it all for you on Packers dot
Speaker 1: com for Wesiammike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We
Speaker 1: will see you next time.