Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is the one and only
Speaker 1: wes hod Kouits. We hope you have rung in the
Speaker 1: new year in a fun and celebratory fashion. West. We
Speaker 1: are going to wrap up the season here on our
Speaker 1: show today. I know everybody's got questions about what's going
Speaker 1: on with the head coaching sirch, who are the Packers
Speaker 1: talking to? Who are the leading candidates. Rather than speculate
Speaker 1: on who may or may not be interviewing coaching candidates
Speaker 1: the Packers may or may not be interested in, We're
Speaker 1: gonna leave that whole discussion until a hire is made.
Speaker 1: So with that, this will be our wrap up show
Speaker 1: for the season, and then we will come back when
Speaker 1: a new head coach is in place at So that's
Speaker 1: the plan here going forward. Um, but some awards here
Speaker 1: we can hand out for the season. A handful of them.
Speaker 1: Will rattle through these quickly. I'm gonna give you the
Speaker 1: advantage because I'm gonna let you pick first every time,
Speaker 1: and then I have to pick somebody different. But but
Speaker 1: here we go. First, one offensive m v P for
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers. You know, I was hoping we
Speaker 1: get Marvin down here with our little unscript ese that
Speaker 1: he can be like handing out to each individual person. Uh,
Speaker 1: we'll have to you know, this is I think a
Speaker 1: first or second annual thing. So maybe we'll do that
Speaker 1: next year, have like little unscript awards that we can
Speaker 1: bestow onto people. Producer of the Year is Marvin by
Speaker 1: the absolutely unequivocally easiest decision we'd have to make, um
Speaker 1: other than Davante Adams as the Packers offensive m v P.
Speaker 1: You can make a case, Michael that Davante Adams was
Speaker 1: the top receiver in the league this year, and there
Speaker 1: was a bevy of them. Michael Thomas broke the single
Speaker 1: season yardage record for New Orleans this past year. That
Speaker 1: says a lot considering how much that they have thrown
Speaker 1: the ball over the years. But the thing about Davante Adams, Mike,
Speaker 1: from day one, he put pen to paper on that
Speaker 1: contract extension last December, and he said he wanted to
Speaker 1: make sure that everybody knew that he was worth it.
Speaker 1: The numbers, the number being paid it well is something
Speaker 1: that goes along with playing well. But the thing that
Speaker 1: motivates him the most is to be a top notch,
Speaker 1: top flight receiver. He did that this year a hundred
Speaker 1: and eleven catches, six yards, thirteen touchdowns. One of the
Speaker 1: most consistent performers in the entire NFL this season and
Speaker 1: for the Green Bay Packers their offensive m v P.
Speaker 1: I think the thing that impressed me the most about
Speaker 1: Adams season is what you just said about the contract,
Speaker 1: that he did it the year after he signed that contract.
Speaker 1: He not only lived up to the contract, but I
Speaker 1: think exceeded it in so many ways in terms of
Speaker 1: the consistency, in terms of the big plays. Obviously the
Speaker 1: numbers this season, when you look at the whole combination
Speaker 1: of catches, yards, and touchdowns, that will go down as
Speaker 1: one of the best seasons in the history of the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers for wide receiver. So that's saying a lot.
Speaker 1: In the interest of picking somebody else for offensive m
Speaker 1: v P, I'm gonna go with left tackle David bok Try.
Speaker 1: I think he was the UH rock on that offensive line,
Speaker 1: both box tr and Corey Linsley in my opinion, but
Speaker 1: I'll go with box Tr because of that duty at
Speaker 1: left tackle protecting Aaron Rodgers blindside, and I think we
Speaker 1: saw bok t take his game a little bit to
Speaker 1: another level this year. In terms of the run blocking,
Speaker 1: I think that the past blocking has always been there, really,
Speaker 1: I would say, starting at a super consistent level from
Speaker 1: his second season in after that that rookie year when
Speaker 1: he got thrown in there. But he's gone to another
Speaker 1: level now with the run blocking, and I think that, um,
Speaker 1: that only bodes well here for the Packers offense moving forward. Yea.
Speaker 1: And the fact that he did it, you know, playing
Speaker 1: for his own Nixon bruises. And that's the other thing
Speaker 1: I was going to say to yeah, no question, and
Speaker 1: I just I you know, I'll be honest with you. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I don't watch every left tackle in the league. As
Speaker 1: much as I love to grind film, I'm not you know,
Speaker 1: you know, honing in on how you know, certain guys
Speaker 1: get out of their back pedal and different techniques. But
Speaker 1: box tr for this offense and what they need with
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers is the perfect left tackle. He's a franchise
Speaker 1: left tackle and he's continued to elevate his game every
Speaker 1: single season now, six seasons in the NFL. Alright, defensive
Speaker 1: m v P. Who you got, you know, I hate
Speaker 1: to keep cherry picking here, But Kenny Clark has to
Speaker 1: be that guy. When you look at a first round
Speaker 1: caliber player, a guy that when you draft him, there's
Speaker 1: high expectations. You want a guy that is going to
Speaker 1: you know, be a a lynch pin on your entire roster.
Speaker 1: Kenny Clark has been that guy. It's unfortunate the elbow
Speaker 1: injury happened. If not for that, he would have set
Speaker 1: a new career high in tackles. He said his goal
Speaker 1: this year was to get seventy tackles official tackles and
Speaker 1: NFL UH stack column, which I mean if you know
Speaker 1: anything about a one tech or three tech nose to
Speaker 1: on this league, it's difficult to get those kind of
Speaker 1: numbers because a lot of times you're taking on double
Speaker 1: teams and you're opening up you know, blockers and for
Speaker 1: your for your defenders behind you. Clark doesn't do that.
Speaker 1: He eats him up himself. So to have fifty five tackles,
Speaker 1: a career high six sacks, three passes, defense also forced
Speaker 1: to fumble Kenny Casey bolt that life Clark at twenty
Speaker 1: three years young. You look at his resume that he's
Speaker 1: built in three short NFL seasons, He's gonna be a
Speaker 1: good one man. Yeah, I can't argue with that choice
Speaker 1: at all. I agree with you, Kenny Clark is the
Speaker 1: defensive m v P of this team. In the interest
Speaker 1: of picking somebody different, I'm gonna go with Blake Martinez.
Speaker 1: And it's not even so much about the statistics. I know,
Speaker 1: improving from one sack to five sacks the way he
Speaker 1: was used in Mike Petton scheme definitely a step in
Speaker 1: the right direction from Martinez. He's still racked up a
Speaker 1: bunch of tackles, maybe not quite as many as last
Speaker 1: year as the previous year. But the reason I will
Speaker 1: say Martinez here is because with a new scheme, a
Speaker 1: whole new system being brought in, we saw on this
Speaker 1: Packers defense in minimal communication misques, and I think that
Speaker 1: goes to Martinez and the way he commanded the huddle,
Speaker 1: the way he led things from a communication standpoint in
Speaker 1: the middle of the defense. I think that spoke a
Speaker 1: lot to the level of improvement that the defense made
Speaker 1: overall sixteen starts thirty two consecutive over the last two seasons.
Speaker 1: For Martinez, I know he wants playoffs, and that's ultimately
Speaker 1: the goal for everyone on this roster, But I think
Speaker 1: when he sits at home after the season, cannot help
Speaker 1: but be proud of the year that he put together.
Speaker 1: There really wasn't a de facto number two. Certainly Antonio
Speaker 1: Morrison jumped into that spot. Is that every down linebacker
Speaker 1: in the few snaps when Martinez was out with injury
Speaker 1: this year, But you need a guy like him that's
Speaker 1: going to be able to envelop Mike Petton's system and
Speaker 1: be able to disperse that to the entire defense. He's
Speaker 1: been that player and Michael the other thing is too.
Speaker 1: I don't want to throw anybody under the bus. I'm
Speaker 1: not meaning to disrespect anybody, but there was a number
Speaker 1: of years there where dom Capers, with the way that
Speaker 1: this defense was built, they were using converted outside linebackers
Speaker 1: at inside backer. They had to do some mix and matching.
Speaker 1: They were looking for a guy that could handle the
Speaker 1: three down role. Martinez has done that. Now. Certainly, you
Speaker 1: know there's always room for improvement with his own game,
Speaker 1: and he's the first one to tell you that. But
Speaker 1: his ability to kind of calm the seas there after
Speaker 1: a number of years where that was considered one of
Speaker 1: their primary needs, I think speaks really highly of him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: those two guys from the two thousand sixteen draft class
Speaker 1: clearly becoming part of the foundations of this Packers defense
Speaker 1: moving forward. Okay, category number three breakout player of the year,
Speaker 1: you got one. Let's stay with the two thousand sixteen
Speaker 1: NFL draft, should we shall we? Kyler Facrol alright? Ten
Speaker 1: and a half sacks for him this season, Much like
Speaker 1: with Kenny Clark. They wrote down those goals with coordinator
Speaker 1: Mark Mike Petton at the beginning of the season, and
Speaker 1: he marked down that he wanted double digit sack totals
Speaker 1: and considering there was only three individuals who have achieved
Speaker 1: that for the Green Bay Packers defense over the last decade,
Speaker 1: a lofty goal, but he said he really embraced that.
Speaker 1: And then here you go to three sack performances this year,
Speaker 1: ten and a half on the season. For everything that
Speaker 1: Kyler Facral has had to kind of weather with the
Speaker 1: outside noise, with some of the doubters with him getting
Speaker 1: taken the third round back in two thousand and sixteen,
Speaker 1: to see him have the year that he had, really
Speaker 1: strong campaign for him and now going to be a
Speaker 1: building block for the Packers as they look to make
Speaker 1: that next step now with those pass rushers this offseason,
Speaker 1: all right, and I'm gonna go in the two thousand
Speaker 1: seventeen draft and I'm going with Aaron Jones here as
Speaker 1: the breakout player. Now, we all knew what the potential was,
Speaker 1: and I think we started to see that. But I
Speaker 1: say started to see that because I think that Jones
Speaker 1: still has more to give here. He needs to continue
Speaker 1: to work on that lower body, be able to you know,
Speaker 1: build it up to withstand a full sixteen game schedule.
Speaker 1: Obviously that didn't work out with with getting injured right
Speaker 1: towards the end of the regular season here, but he's
Speaker 1: still had over seven d yards rushing eight rushing touchdown.
Speaker 1: I think there's even more he can do in the
Speaker 1: passing game as well moving forward, depending on obviously whatever
Speaker 1: offensive system comes in here. But this is a guy
Speaker 1: when he's got the ball in his hands and a
Speaker 1: little bit of space west, he's he's a special player.
Speaker 1: And I think potentially if that health part of it
Speaker 1: holds up, I think he can have the ball in
Speaker 1: his hands even more in Yeah, just keep him off
Speaker 1: a soldier field and he'll be fine. There's been nourability
Speaker 1: issues Okay, point taken, point taken. Alright, another category here,
Speaker 1: Comeback Player of the Year. It's like, it's really easy
Speaker 1: to pick Brian blog here, and I'm gonna leave him
Speaker 1: on the vine for you to potentially pick. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go with a shot Brelan though um And the reason
Speaker 1: I bring up Breland is he had one whale of
Speaker 1: the two thousand eighteen. This is a guy that had
Speaker 1: played basically every snap for Washington the last four years.
Speaker 1: Looks like he's on the verge of finally getting rewarded,
Speaker 1: signing a lucrative contract with Carolina. This freak heel injury
Speaker 1: flares up from some kind of skin graph he had
Speaker 1: when he was a kid. They he fails the physical,
Speaker 1: the Panthers void the contract, and he ends up having
Speaker 1: to sit out until September. He comes into Green Bay
Speaker 1: without any training camp. He has to weather growing injury,
Speaker 1: a hamstring injury. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: Michael twenty tackles and two interceptions and seven games five
Speaker 1: starts for the Green Bay Packers this season. I just
Speaker 1: was really impressed with how this young man came in
Speaker 1: and carried himself. We'll see exactly where Brian Goodaquints wants
Speaker 1: to do this offseason, But by no means would I
Speaker 1: be disappointed to see him come back. I think he
Speaker 1: has a lot of potential. He also gives you a
Speaker 1: lot of flexibility with his ability to either play in
Speaker 1: the slot or at boundary cornerback. Yeah. All right, Well
Speaker 1: you were supposed to make up my mind for me
Speaker 1: because I had two guys in mind, and then you
Speaker 1: didn't do that. So I'm gonna throw two comeback players
Speaker 1: at you. Brian Bulaga is definitely one to come back
Speaker 1: as quickly as he did from the second torn a
Speaker 1: c l of his career, which happened in November. Was
Speaker 1: back on the field for Week one. As we said
Speaker 1: all season long, I tipped my hat. I give him
Speaker 1: a ton of credit. I know there were some other
Speaker 1: Nixon bruises that he dealt with along the way and
Speaker 1: wasn't able to play in every game all the way along,
Speaker 1: but um, but his his comeback from November to what
Speaker 1: he was able to do in I thought was impressive.
Speaker 1: The other one Rmon Williams. He came back right, come
Speaker 1: back to come back player. He came back to Green
Speaker 1: Bay and was a really, really important and valuable part
Speaker 1: of this defense and making this transition, I think to
Speaker 1: the new scheme. His versatility could play the boundary, play
Speaker 1: the slot. He moved to safety for the back half
Speaker 1: of the season. All these things communication issues were certainly
Speaker 1: something that we're um a forte of his as well,
Speaker 1: So so I tipped my cap also to Trmon Williams
Speaker 1: in the comeback category. The other thing I love about
Speaker 1: it too, he said from day one of the offseason program, Mike,
Speaker 1: he wasn't coming back just to be a veteran old
Speaker 1: guy in the room that was just going to lead
Speaker 1: these guys emotionally. He wanted to be out there and
Speaker 1: he wanted to play. But at the same time, if
Speaker 1: I was Joe W. JR. If I'm Jason Simmons, I
Speaker 1: am pointing to that man right there, twelve years into
Speaker 1: his NFL career, a former undrafted free agent, had to
Speaker 1: earn everything the hard way. The fact that he's still
Speaker 1: doing what he's doing and how he's doing it should
Speaker 1: be a lesson to Kevin King and JayR Alexander Josh
Speaker 1: Jackson showing these guys about, okay, if you want to
Speaker 1: be a player that lasts a decade in this league,
Speaker 1: take note of what this guy is doing in the
Speaker 1: fact that he's still doing it at a high level. Yeah,
Speaker 1: no question about it. All right, Rookie of the Year,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with JOYR Alexander. That one, I think
Speaker 1: is pretty obvious when you look at the season he
Speaker 1: put together. I was talking to him during the final
Speaker 1: locker room session and sort of revisiting this year. Much
Speaker 1: like Kevin King as his rookie year, Alexander had to
Speaker 1: end up getting a lot of the tough assignments he was,
Speaker 1: you know, the shutdown corner. Really the last six weeks
Speaker 1: of the season. He said it got to the point
Speaker 1: that he would go into the Wednesday meeting room knowing
Speaker 1: just already feeling that they were going to have him
Speaker 1: match up against certain receivers. He just was brace for it.
Speaker 1: And he was doing that at twenty one years old.
Speaker 1: You know, he meant he wants to have more interceptions.
Speaker 1: He should have more interceptions. One of those got taken
Speaker 1: away from an egregious call early this season. Um, but
Speaker 1: the fact is is that he doesn't back down if
Speaker 1: he can get some of these soft tissue things figured out.
Speaker 1: I just I think you're looking at a big playmaker here,
Speaker 1: and Joe Wild Jr. Said it himself. I mean, if
Speaker 1: you can get him and Kevin King on the field together,
Speaker 1: what a tandem that's gonna be for this Packers defense
Speaker 1: in secondary. Couldn't agree more with that comment from Wit
Speaker 1: and couldn't agree more with your selection as Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Year. I will pick a another player on the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the ball, though, and that's Marquez Valdes Scantling. Now,
Speaker 1: I really liked what I saw out of both Valdes
Speaker 1: Scantling and e q st Brown as rookie wide receivers.
Speaker 1: They both had their moments throughout the course of the year,
Speaker 1: but just based on overall production in the numbers thirty
Speaker 1: eight catches over five hundred yards receiving, I'll go with
Speaker 1: Valda's Scantling here. The biggest thing that I like about
Speaker 1: him just from a raw physical skill standpoint, is the
Speaker 1: one thing he can't coach in that speed He's He's
Speaker 1: got it. I think I think it's something that could
Speaker 1: be a huge asset for this offense moving forward. He's
Speaker 1: the kind of receiver that the Packers haven't had around
Speaker 1: here in a while. In the for the bulk I
Speaker 1: would say of the Aaron Rodgers era, a guy with
Speaker 1: that kind of just open field, flat out speed, I'm
Speaker 1: excited to see what he can do going forward. Legitimate
Speaker 1: home run threat every time he touches the ball. I
Speaker 1: think one thing the Packers did better during the second
Speaker 1: half of the season is getting him the ball in
Speaker 1: open space doesn't always have to be a go route.
Speaker 1: You can do things underneath the potentially get let him
Speaker 1: get separation and let him break away from guys. I
Speaker 1: really wish that the one thing that is gonna I
Speaker 1: wanted to see that defensive line together. I wanted to
Speaker 1: see Mohammed Wolkerson and Kenny Clark and Mike Daniels operate.
Speaker 1: I've really wanted to see what this offense could do
Speaker 1: with MVS being sort of a change of pace player
Speaker 1: you had. That's a really good point. If if you
Speaker 1: have Allison and Cobb the bulk of the year with
Speaker 1: Adams and as you say, then then Valdes Scantling is
Speaker 1: uh is that changeup you can throw in there as
Speaker 1: a perime her option? Yeah? That that unfortunately was the
Speaker 1: thing offensively that just never was able to materialize because
Speaker 1: of the injury issues. Yeah, if you have that. That's
Speaker 1: something that if you're a secondary coach or defensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: eighty three comes on the field, you gotta change what
Speaker 1: you're planning to do out there, because he can just
Speaker 1: go one on one, beat your cornerback and are you
Speaker 1: keeping another safety over there? If you do that? How
Speaker 1: does that open up the rest of the field. He's
Speaker 1: gonna be a great player in this offense, though, I
Speaker 1: think him and st Brown, you know, Jamon Moore has
Speaker 1: a lot of potential as well. Seeing how those young
Speaker 1: guys develop is gonna be really exciting to watch going
Speaker 1: into two thousand nineteen. All Right, our last category here
Speaker 1: before we get to a little bit of NFL Playoffs
Speaker 1: preview Play of the Year. What do you like? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I basically came down to two. You had a
Speaker 1: couple too, so I'm gonna go with the two. Uh. Defensively,
Speaker 1: to me, it's still that Kevin King interception. I just
Speaker 1: loved it. I loved the grittiness of that defense. San
Speaker 1: Francisco Monday Night Football. Yes, it was a tough game.
Speaker 1: They had to rally to beat San Francisco team that
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people on papers thought they
Speaker 1: should have just Wallow and been done with it. That
Speaker 1: didn't happen, so they had to work their way back.
Speaker 1: They get you know, the forty niners are driving a
Speaker 1: little bit, and you know you have Beth Thord sort
Speaker 1: of put up a fifty fifty ball and Kevin King
Speaker 1: makes them pay for it. You started to see the
Speaker 1: legitimate playmaking ability of King, not just the coverage, but
Speaker 1: what he could do as a pass catcher in this league.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, again he has to work through
Speaker 1: some injury issues, but that that was such a great play.
Speaker 1: And then the first game of the year, the Randall
Speaker 1: cop catch. You have to, you know, put that in
Speaker 1: the conversations. Completes the comeback over the Bears, the best
Speaker 1: victory the Packers had in two thousand eighteen against a
Speaker 1: team that went on to only lose four games. Unfortunately, again,
Speaker 1: injuries kind of you know, reared their ugly head and
Speaker 1: things didn't go the way that Cobb wanted it too
Speaker 1: in two thousand and eighteen. But what a great reminder
Speaker 1: of that Aaron Rodgers, you know, battery with with Randall
Speaker 1: Cobb and how effective that was for the Packers for
Speaker 1: so many years. Yeah, and I will just throw this
Speaker 1: out there before I give you my selection, I think
Speaker 1: the uh the play that gets overlooked from the twin
Speaker 1: eighteen season that really was something was also from Week one,
Speaker 1: the touchdown past to Geronimo by Aaron Rodgers. Tremendous throw,
Speaker 1: tremendous catch. Unfortunately that ended all too early in with
Speaker 1: Allison getting injured. But Allison too, I mean before you
Speaker 1: ended up having that, I think it ended up being
Speaker 1: a soft muscle injury or no, it was a core
Speaker 1: muscle injury. I think it was the fact that I
Speaker 1: think every I don't have the stance up in front
Speaker 1: of me. I think all of his starts, it was
Speaker 1: five catches for at least sixty yards when you're looking
Speaker 1: at the number three heck even a number two receiver
Speaker 1: in this offense, he was That's the hallmark of it.
Speaker 1: And Allison was really on pace for that. That was
Speaker 1: a shame that he wasn't able to finish it up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he was off to such a great start. But my
Speaker 1: pick for play of the year, and this is a
Speaker 1: little unusual because I'm actually picking one from a game
Speaker 1: that the Packers lost, but the touchdown pass in Seattle
Speaker 1: on Thursday Night Football to Robert Tanya in the fifty
Speaker 1: four yard or not only the first catch and first
Speaker 1: touchdown for the undrafted tight end in Tanyan, but the
Speaker 1: kind of play that was, you know, quite frankly, was
Speaker 1: kind of a throwback play, a to the to the
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers scrambled drilled days of old where he gets
Speaker 1: out of he gets out of the pocket and heaves
Speaker 1: it downfield and makes you pay because because he was
Speaker 1: able to extend the play and and uh, I really
Speaker 1: thought at the time, and it happened in the end
Speaker 1: zone that was kind of right in front of us,
Speaker 1: like where our press box seats were, so that was
Speaker 1: the end zone where we were kind of sitting, and
Speaker 1: we saw that. I thought that was the play that
Speaker 1: was going to catapult the Packers to a huge Thursday
Speaker 1: night victory on the road in Seattle, and and really
Speaker 1: kind of turned the whole season around. Unfortunately that didn't happen,
Speaker 1: But it doesn't take away from, at least from, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, how amazing a play, how amazing a touchdown
Speaker 1: that was Big Bob Tanyans baby boy Bobby Bobby is
Speaker 1: Aaron liked to refer to him in discussions as the
Speaker 1: season went along. Um. All right, hey, before I forget here, West,
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Speaker 1: Bay Packers. All right, you want to go a little
Speaker 1: longer on this episode, Yeah, do a little do a
Speaker 1: little NFL Playoffs preview here because there's some interesting stuff
Speaker 1: going on. I don't know if you want to start
Speaker 1: in the NFC or in the in the a f C.
Speaker 1: But when I look at the a f C, this
Speaker 1: Chargers Ravens wild card game is really interesting to me
Speaker 1: because they just played in Los Angeles, a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago, I think this Ray, this Ravens team is
Speaker 1: one definitely to keep an eye on. I did a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago. I did think the Chargers were
Speaker 1: maybe that team with Philip Rivers that was going to
Speaker 1: go to the Super Bowl. So I will stick with that.
Speaker 1: But I'll say this about the Ravens West, doesn't it
Speaker 1: don't they kind of seem like the two thousand twelve
Speaker 1: San Francisco forty Niners. You took the words right out
Speaker 1: of my mind. They go, you know, the switch at
Speaker 1: quarterback from you know, it went from Smith to Kaepernick.
Speaker 1: This one goes from Flacco to Lamar Jackson. Defense is
Speaker 1: not really sure how in the world to do that,
Speaker 1: and then on the how in the world to defend that.
Speaker 1: And then on the other side of the ball, you
Speaker 1: have the you have a defense that travels well. As
Speaker 1: they say, they can take that unit anywhere, line it
Speaker 1: up against anybody. Um, I think the winner of this
Speaker 1: Chargers Ravens game might be might be the team to
Speaker 1: beat in the a f C. I don't want to
Speaker 1: play them. I mean, that's certainly the case. Whoever comes
Speaker 1: out of this thing. There's two elements of this game.
Speaker 1: I really like you're absolutely spot on with the with
Speaker 1: the analogy. They even have a hardball that's coaching them.
Speaker 1: How how but how ironic would that be? Though? The
Speaker 1: Ravens being the team that beat the two thousand and
Speaker 1: twelve forty Niners in the Super Bowl and now it's
Speaker 1: the two thousand eighteen Ravens that look like that Niners
Speaker 1: team for six years ago. Just strange. It's interesting me
Speaker 1: and that they're winning games and that was something when
Speaker 1: you look earlier in the season they just consistently couldn't do.
Speaker 1: They were always around five hundred, but they couldn't separate
Speaker 1: themselves since moving this this decision to go with Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson at quarterback, is it slightly unconventional? Yes, do you
Speaker 1: wonder what the you know, the half life on It's
Speaker 1: gonna be sure do but that none of that matters
Speaker 1: right now. Two playing for a championship. Right now, it's
Speaker 1: about trying to secure another Super Bowl. In l A's defense,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a big challenge for them offensively. This
Speaker 1: is what you want to see because Philip Rivers has
Speaker 1: had to go through some tough times. There's been some
Speaker 1: lean years there as of late inconsistent years. Offensively, they
Speaker 1: lose Keenan Allen a couple of times. Well, here you
Speaker 1: are now, and you're back in this thing, and you've
Speaker 1: got a chance. You have a chip in a chair.
Speaker 1: I agree with you. Pent whoever prevails in this I
Speaker 1: don't want to face them in round two. I just
Speaker 1: think that terms are built to get on a run here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it'd be interesting because the Chargers they're going in
Speaker 1: with a lot to prove because of that offense getting
Speaker 1: shut down by the Ravens on that Saturday night game
Speaker 1: from a couple of weeks ago. And the Ravens are
Speaker 1: quite frankly a hot team that, as I said, the
Speaker 1: other teams you don't quite know how to deal with
Speaker 1: with this defense and the way it's come on strong
Speaker 1: late in the year and then Lamar Jackson and all
Speaker 1: this unorthodox kind of stuff they're doing on offense. So interesting.
Speaker 1: They're gonna be tough for anybody, certainly to go into
Speaker 1: Arrowhead and beat the Kansas City Chiefs. But I will
Speaker 1: say this about the Ravens too, the Raves, the Ravens,
Speaker 1: the Ravens and the Chargers. What's that? Did l A
Speaker 1: already do that? Or was that game in l A. No,
Speaker 1: that was that. That was that Arrowhead. Yeah, that's what
Speaker 1: That's what I was gonna say when you talk about
Speaker 1: Chargers Ravens. The Chargers beat the Chiefs that Arrowhead recently
Speaker 1: on that Thursday night game, the Ravens should have beaten
Speaker 1: the Chiefs at Arrowhead if not for a fourth and
Speaker 1: nine miracle throw from Mahomes to Hill that sent that
Speaker 1: game to overtime and then Kansas City ultimately prevailed. And
Speaker 1: you also look at this Ravens, this Ravens team West,
Speaker 1: even before they switched quarterbacks to Lamar Jackson, they had
Speaker 1: the New Orleans Saints down sevent seven after three quarters,
Speaker 1: let him up off the mat. The Saints ended up
Speaker 1: pulling out that game. This Ravens team, they can play
Speaker 1: with anybody NFC side. I mentioned this as well as
Speaker 1: some of the other comments I just made in our
Speaker 1: Insider Inbox column. I think, if there's one playoff matchup
Speaker 1: that I want to see in the NFC, and there
Speaker 1: are a lot of good ones that are already on
Speaker 1: the slate this weekend, these two games Seahawks, Cowboys Eagles
Speaker 1: Bears should be great games. But I don't you kind
Speaker 1: of want to see Chicago's defense against that New Orleans
Speaker 1: offense in the super Dome. Now, it would have to
Speaker 1: be in the NFC Championship. Based on the seating, they
Speaker 1: wouldn't meet in the second round. They could only meet
Speaker 1: in the Championship and a lot of stuff could happen
Speaker 1: between now and then. But just from a from a
Speaker 1: pure football who's who's got it better? Um, that's kind
Speaker 1: of the matchup I want to see on the NFC side.
Speaker 1: Agree with My favorite for this playoff run is still
Speaker 1: New Orleans. I think they are the most complete team.
Speaker 1: I think it's the best defense they've had, at least
Speaker 1: over the last decade. I thought they were the best
Speaker 1: team going into the playoffs last year, and there's nothing,
Speaker 1: nothing that I've seen this year has swayed my opinion
Speaker 1: of them being the team to beat in the NFC.
Speaker 1: The Bears are a little bit more of a specialist.
Speaker 1: They need to have their defense control the tempo with
Speaker 1: the game to win. But what a great test for
Speaker 1: them coming out of the gate against Philadelphia and Philadelphia
Speaker 1: feeling like they got, you know, a little bit of
Speaker 1: momentum behind them right now with being able to surge
Speaker 1: into the playoffs the way they did. No question, I'm
Speaker 1: with you. I think Chicago New Orleans that's the matchup.
Speaker 1: I think that's the one you put on the marquee,
Speaker 1: but you know it's and I think I say that.
Speaker 1: I say that in part, sorry to interrupt you. I
Speaker 1: say that in part because, um, as good a matchup
Speaker 1: as Rams and Saints is with those two offenses, we
Speaker 1: did see that matchup during the year, so that I
Speaker 1: think that's why I just in my brain I'm looking
Speaker 1: for maybe to see the Bears against the Saints because
Speaker 1: we didn't get to see that one yet. And hey,
Speaker 1: the Rams might get on a run here, oh shut
Speaker 1: me up. But I still I think the second half
Speaker 1: the season exposed some wards there, and I just I
Speaker 1: think even though the Saints had to claw and scratch
Speaker 1: their way through a couple of games as well, I
Speaker 1: just I look at them like, Okay, that that's that's
Speaker 1: the favorite. And when I see the Bears, I just
Speaker 1: think that they're the best tryptonite to that. So yeah,
Speaker 1: seeing if that potential matchup could work, it'll be fun.
Speaker 1: And then also seeing with Seattle getting back in this thing.
Speaker 1: You know, how long ago was it that we saw
Speaker 1: Earl Thomas being carted off the field and you know
Speaker 1: in the gesture in the direction everything was going there
Speaker 1: and Pete Carroll Rallied the troop once again. And now
Speaker 1: they have a good matchup now at a T and
Speaker 1: T Stadium. It's gonna be a fun weekend of games
Speaker 1: for sure. Yeah, playoff tested quarterback in Russell Wilson and
Speaker 1: and the Rams team. Just to mention them one last time, Uh,
Speaker 1: they got some playoff experience. Last year. Didn't go the
Speaker 1: way they wanted. They lost a home game to the
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons in the playoffs. But they're back now and
Speaker 1: and sometimes getting that that one year with a young
Speaker 1: quarterback Jared golf all that you get that that first
Speaker 1: taste of the playoffs under your belt, so to speak.
Speaker 1: It can it can lead to better things. I want
Speaker 1: to see that defense dominate though. I'm with you. I'm
Speaker 1: with you that the personnel on that Rams defense, you
Speaker 1: would think it would play better and it has the
Speaker 1: potential to. Maybe they rise up in January and they
Speaker 1: and they get it going. But but right now, when
Speaker 1: you're talking defense in the NFC, you're talking Seahawks, Cowboys
Speaker 1: and Bears. Those are those are the defenses that are
Speaker 1: coming to this party. Yeah, it's just funny because I
Speaker 1: just I thought the potential was there to hit them
Speaker 1: have like a you know, Danver Broncos two fifteen type
Speaker 1: season hasn't come together yet, but hey, playoff football is
Speaker 1: different football. We'll see if they can rally it. It
Speaker 1: should be a fun couple of weeks here in uh
Speaker 1: in the NFL. But with that, we are going to
Speaker 1: call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted
Speaker 1: and we will sign off until a new head coaches
Speaker 1: on board here at sixty Lombardi Avenue. With that, you
Speaker 1: can follow him on Twitter at west Hod I'm at
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford at Packers is still the team account. Thank
Speaker 1: you for tuning in. Happy New Year everybody. We will
Speaker 1: see you next time. Don't