Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkoits were coming to you
Speaker 1: from socially distant locations here at lambeau Field and West.
Speaker 1: The green Bay Packers on Saturday night advanced their record
Speaker 1: to eleven and three with a sixteen a little bit
Speaker 1: too close for comfort victory over the Carolina Panthers, but
Speaker 1: nonetheless it was a victory, a tale of two halves.
Speaker 1: Packers totally dominated the first half of play, then couldn't
Speaker 1: quite get things going in the second half, but did
Speaker 1: enough to to hang on to win, and Green Bay
Speaker 1: is still in control of that number one playoff seed
Speaker 1: in the NFC. Well, first and foremost, Mike, you want
Speaker 1: to talk about winning games looking good while you win games?
Speaker 1: Asked the law Angelos, Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers about what
Speaker 1: it means to win games in the National Football League
Speaker 1: and not have a letdown against a team that maybe
Speaker 1: you shouldn't be on the same level with. It doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: There's only thirty two teams. There's so much parody these
Speaker 1: type of things happen occasionally for the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: A really fast start on Saturday night. Offensively, honestly, I
Speaker 1: even tweeted about it, wrote about it in our live updates.
Speaker 1: They moved the ball at will on that opening series.
Speaker 1: The forty six yard run by Aaron Jones really breaking
Speaker 1: things open. Whatever Carolina was doing, they couldn't stop Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers in this offense, and that sort of carried through
Speaker 1: for the next quarter and a half. But they did
Speaker 1: put the clamps down. They mixed up some of their coverages,
Speaker 1: they packed more guys into the box, really loaded the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, and most importantly, we're able to get
Speaker 1: pressure with the four man rush against the Packers offensive
Speaker 1: line that has been so stout this season. Despite all
Speaker 1: of that, the defense kind of was able to pick
Speaker 1: up where the offense left off and got a huge
Speaker 1: defensive stop on the goal line. Chris Barnes, as I
Speaker 1: joked about on Twitter, but umboing that ball away from
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater as he tried to dive over the end zone.
Speaker 1: Kevin King returns that forty eight yards. The Packers end
Speaker 1: up generating a touchdown off that a huge four team
Speaker 1: points swing there, potentially for Green Bay, and in the
Speaker 1: second half they got three and els when they needed them.
Speaker 1: They got the final stop with fifty seconds to go
Speaker 1: when they needed it. I thought this was a performance
Speaker 1: the defensive front and defense in general could really build
Speaker 1: off of, while offensively given the Packers a chance to
Speaker 1: reflect on what happened in those last two quarters and
Speaker 1: in what needs to be corrected now going into this
Speaker 1: game against Tennessee. Yeah, I think we saw just how
Speaker 1: smooth and efficient this Packers offense can be when it's
Speaker 1: running the football like it was in the first half,
Speaker 1: and not just the forty six yard run by Aaron Jones,
Speaker 1: but there were chunk plays against the should say with
Speaker 1: the ground game that uh, you know, we're just making
Speaker 1: things easy for this Packers offense and making life easy
Speaker 1: for Aaron Rodgers. So then the question is, okay, where
Speaker 1: did things go wrong? And as always, it's not just
Speaker 1: one thing ing. I think it started with the Packers
Speaker 1: dropping some passes. Al Lazar drops one at the end
Speaker 1: of the first half on the the Jared Cook Dallas playoff,
Speaker 1: you know, reprise of of that great play, but the
Speaker 1: passes dropped by the sideline. Packers don't get some points
Speaker 1: there at the end of the first half. Davantae Adams
Speaker 1: drops a slant early in the second half that would
Speaker 1: have converted a first down. Aaron Rodgers talked about a
Speaker 1: clearly missed hands to the face on Lucas Patrick that, um,
Speaker 1: you know, that would have given the Packers an automatic
Speaker 1: first down to continue drive. Then Matt Lafleur admitted he
Speaker 1: got away from the running game. Aaron Rodgers got away
Speaker 1: from it a little bit too, with trying to throw
Speaker 1: those run solution to horizontal throws to Davante Adams. Packers
Speaker 1: didn't stick with the run, so all these things started
Speaker 1: to add up two. Then the offense, not being as
Speaker 1: as smooth and efficient, did put together the one drive
Speaker 1: with the big third down conversion to al Lazard on
Speaker 1: the shallow cross that got the field goal from Mason Crosby.
Speaker 1: Another clutch kick by Crosby fifty one yards outdoors in
Speaker 1: the cold that that was not an easy kick by
Speaker 1: any means, but it rescored the Packers to score lead
Speaker 1: and that ended up being enough to hang on. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The one thing I really loved about this performance, starting
Speaker 1: with off the offensively, what groom he was able to
Speaker 1: do Aaron Jones a hundred and fourteen total yards of
Speaker 1: offense in the first half. That was the most by
Speaker 1: a Packers running back going back to two thousand sixteen
Speaker 1: when Ty Montgomery had that huge game against the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: and then before that, it hadn't been done since two
Speaker 1: thousand and four, so really got off to a fast start.
Speaker 1: I thought it, you know, especially with Jamal Williams going
Speaker 1: out with the thigh injury, it showed you that down
Speaker 1: the stretch here, if there is a game where you
Speaker 1: need to lean on Aaron Jones, he can handle that
Speaker 1: workload and honestly probably should have had a few more opportunities,
Speaker 1: even though he still carried the ball with twenty times
Speaker 1: for a hundred and forty five yards and the touchdown
Speaker 1: in that victory. But also when you mentioned the the
Speaker 1: adjustments that they made, I I was listening to Matt Leflour.
Speaker 1: I thought one thing that was very interesting too that
Speaker 1: he mentioned as yes, getting away from the you know,
Speaker 1: too many run solutions and things of that nature, but
Speaker 1: also the fact that this happens in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: where the Packers go into a game thinking that if
Speaker 1: they get the ball to their playmakers in the open field,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be able to just naturally break tackles. Based
Speaker 1: on what Carolina has put on film. The Panthers tackled
Speaker 1: very well in this game. They probably played a little
Speaker 1: bit better than what Green Bay was expecting at the
Speaker 1: second level, and that narrowed some of those opportunities. But
Speaker 1: you have to find the reaction to that. You have
Speaker 1: to be able to sort of figure out the next
Speaker 1: step to that. So I mentioned an insider in box
Speaker 1: because somebody was saying, Hey, is it better to have
Speaker 1: a performance like this going into a game against Tennessee
Speaker 1: where you know what you gotta correct, as opposed to
Speaker 1: you know you lose and now you're kind of doubting yourselves.
Speaker 1: I think Matt Lafleur and this coaching staff and that
Speaker 1: obviously that locker room is so shown so much maturity
Speaker 1: that I don't think it's based on a win or
Speaker 1: a loss in terms of how they respond the following week.
Speaker 1: They're gonna be able to take the good with the
Speaker 1: bad and the bad with the good and make the
Speaker 1: necessary adjustments. So I feel like showing like this, if
Speaker 1: green Bay can put its best foot forward in the
Speaker 1: second from what they learned in the second half, UH,
Speaker 1: specifically that third quarter where they only were able to
Speaker 1: get off six plays. I believe that is really I
Speaker 1: think could bode well for them going up against a
Speaker 1: Tennessee team this week that, while has a very scary
Speaker 1: offensive weapon and and Derrick Henry and the you know,
Speaker 1: second or third best total offense in the league, defensively,
Speaker 1: has given up a lot of big plays, has not
Speaker 1: had a lot of sacks, has struggle to get pressure
Speaker 1: on the quarterback. Green Bay has a very tough opponent
Speaker 1: coming up this week. But I think some of the
Speaker 1: things that happened with this offensive performance against Carolina doesn't
Speaker 1: necessarily indicate that they're gonna struggle in the same ways
Speaker 1: against the Titans. Yeah, this upcoming matchup with Tennessee another
Speaker 1: primetime game. It will be Sunday night, UH at at
Speaker 1: lambeau Field under the lights. You're talking about two of
Speaker 1: the best offenses in the league, you know, bottom line,
Speaker 1: whether you want to say the Packers are driven by
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, the Titans are driven by Derrick Henry, lots
Speaker 1: of other parts. Ryan Tannehill having a great season at quarterback,
Speaker 1: A J. Brown aformaable receiver Corey Davis. The Packers obviously
Speaker 1: have Davante Adams and Aaron Jones and all of those weapons.
Speaker 1: Seems like it's shaping up as a game where both
Speaker 1: of these teams are gonna want to try to keep
Speaker 1: that other team's offense off the field. It's going to
Speaker 1: be about when your offense is on the field, you
Speaker 1: want to control the clock, control the ball, and maybe
Speaker 1: limit the possessions for those guys on the other side.
Speaker 1: It's it's going to be it's gonna be a really
Speaker 1: interesting clash. Two teams that are both headed to the
Speaker 1: postseason and uh and are both certainly considered Super Bowl contenders. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you look at the aspect of this thing with
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry. His breakout season in the National Football League
Speaker 1: came when Matt lafloor Is his offensive coordinator back in
Speaker 1: two thousand and eighteen, and he hasn't stopped since then.
Speaker 1: And this season fourteen games the Titans have played, nine
Speaker 1: of them, he's gone over a hundred yards only once
Speaker 1: or twice. He's been held underneath sixty. I mean, he
Speaker 1: is going to get his touches and he is going
Speaker 1: to get his yards, and that's why ball, security, time
Speaker 1: of possession, being able to control the clock I think
Speaker 1: is more so than any other game this year for
Speaker 1: Green Bay is gonna be so so important. But for
Speaker 1: green Bay is run defense. I thought this was another
Speaker 1: performance that they could build on. They they now they
Speaker 1: weren't facing Christian McCaffrey on Saturday night. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: make any illusions that this was the top flight, you know,
Speaker 1: offensive juggernaut that that the Panthers have been the last
Speaker 1: few years on the ground. But Mike Davis is a
Speaker 1: very respectable running back and does a lot of the
Speaker 1: same things that they aren't shifting the scheme to to
Speaker 1: make it work for him. He's had to adjust to
Speaker 1: what they like to do with their running back in
Speaker 1: Green Bay. If you look at that game, you look
Speaker 1: at the Philadelphia game and obviously Detroit, the last fifty
Speaker 1: four carries against skill position players only two four rushing
Speaker 1: yards allowed. Now, Derrick Henry is a different puzzle to solve,
Speaker 1: but you feel differently about this Packers run defense that
Speaker 1: then maybe you did after they gave up that big
Speaker 1: play against the Bears and David Montgomery. They have hit
Speaker 1: their stride a little bit. I think Dean Lowery and
Speaker 1: Kenny Clark are playing some of their best football the
Speaker 1: year right now. And if Chris Chris Barnes really is
Speaker 1: okay coming off of that eye injury that he exited
Speaker 1: with on Saturday night, Uh, I think you're seeing that
Speaker 1: defensive front at front seven really kind of gel and
Speaker 1: and become the unit green Bay felt they could be. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well that that group is going to get its biggest
Speaker 1: test of the season, that's for sure, with Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: coming in to lambeau Field on Sunday night. As far
Speaker 1: as the playoff picture is concerned, once again, some things
Speaker 1: went Green Bay's way over the weekend, namely that the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints lost at home to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 1: So where things sit right now, the Packers on top
Speaker 1: of the NFC at eleven and three, the Saints and
Speaker 1: the Seahawks right behind at ten and four. What that
Speaker 1: means West is the Packers can clinch the number one
Speaker 1: seed with just one more victory. But it isn't as
Speaker 1: simple as, oh, they just need to beat either Tennessee
Speaker 1: or Chicago. It's not quite that simple because the only
Speaker 1: way the Packers can clinch the number one seed this
Speaker 1: week with a win over Tennessee is if Seattle also
Speaker 1: loses to the Rams. If Seattle beats the Rams, then
Speaker 1: the Packers will have to win at Chicago in week
Speaker 1: seventeen in order to clinch the number one seeds. So
Speaker 1: it doesn't take victories in both games. But it's not
Speaker 1: quite as simple as oh, they just win one or
Speaker 1: the other and they get it. What we do know
Speaker 1: is if they beat Chicago in week seventeen, the number
Speaker 1: one seed is green Bay's, regardless of what happens against Tennessee.
Speaker 1: I love that you're my coworker, that ye're the one
Speaker 1: that handles all this stuff, because somebody asked me that
Speaker 1: an inbox too, and also on Twitter. Uh, what what
Speaker 1: are the scenarios? What are the different machinations here that
Speaker 1: that could lead to the Packers getting the number one seed?
Speaker 1: I'm like, ask Mike Spofford, he has you covered. But
Speaker 1: you're absolutely right. I mean, you boiled it down as
Speaker 1: simple as you could. If the Rams coming off a
Speaker 1: very tough loss, mind you to the Jets can bounce
Speaker 1: back and beat Seattle, which I think we've kind of
Speaker 1: seen already in the NFC West. Any of those four
Speaker 1: teams can beat anybody on any given week. But if
Speaker 1: that happens, green Bay takes the field on Sunday night
Speaker 1: knowing that they have an opportunity to clinch the on seed,
Speaker 1: which would be the first time, like since two thousand
Speaker 1: and seven season for the Green Bay Packers. I mean,
Speaker 1: what a remarkable achievement that would be. And now with
Speaker 1: only having one by per conference, the the emphasis, the importance,
Speaker 1: the value of that week off really is heightened in
Speaker 1: the fact that the Green Bay Packers could have their
Speaker 1: own way to having this thing go through lambau Field
Speaker 1: on the way to Tampa. That's huge. Yeah, I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna correct you though the Packers had the number one
Speaker 1: seed in two thousand but the last last the Packers
Speaker 1: hosted the NC championship game was two thousand seven, So
Speaker 1: you just got you got your data just a little
Speaker 1: bit a little bit mixed up there, But yes, this
Speaker 1: that's what the Packers are after. The Packers are after
Speaker 1: getting the number one seed, which is the only first
Speaker 1: round by in the playoffs this year, then you have
Speaker 1: one home game to win in order to be able
Speaker 1: to host that conference title game, and the Packers have
Speaker 1: not hosted a conference title game since Brett Farve's final
Speaker 1: game in a Green Bay Packers you a form back
Speaker 1: in at the end of the two thousand seven season
Speaker 1: in January of two thousand eight. So I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: That's what I was going for, Mike, and then I
Speaker 1: ended up flobbing it. That's okay, that's okay. Well, so
Speaker 1: those that's the playoffs scenario for the Packers here with
Speaker 1: with two weeks ago. It's um um. It's not as
Speaker 1: simple as you think, but yet it's not overly complicated either.
Speaker 1: And as you said, I think the biggest thing everybody's
Speaker 1: gonna be watching that late afternoon game on Sunday Seattle
Speaker 1: against the l A. Rams. If the Rams win that game,
Speaker 1: the Packers are coming out of the tunnel saying, hey,
Speaker 1: we can clinch the number one seed right here, and
Speaker 1: then the Packers can essentially make the week seventeen game
Speaker 1: against the against the Bears irrelevant if if things fall
Speaker 1: the correct way. What I want to mention this too,
Speaker 1: if I can so the Green Bay Packers that the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl was announced on Monday night, seven green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers are going to That was that was next on
Speaker 1: my list here. It was, but seven Packers are going
Speaker 1: to the Virtual Pro Bowl this year for a team
Speaker 1: that so many people thought didn't have uh the talent
Speaker 1: or the ability or last year was a fluke. Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City and then Bolt. I
Speaker 1: think it's Baltimore, right, all four tied with seven teams
Speaker 1: going to seven players going to the Pro Bowl this year. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's just first time since two thousand and eleven the
Speaker 1: Packers have had that many uh players selected upon first
Speaker 1: initial balloting. It seems like there's been so many years
Speaker 1: where Baltimore has gotten that many. Seattle has been a
Speaker 1: big favorite. To see Green Bay finally get that respect
Speaker 1: and the fact that hey, maybe the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 1: are actually pretty darn good and that it just isn't
Speaker 1: an anomaly. Yeah, it's it's a it's a playoff picture
Speaker 1: that's shaping up, and maybe Green Bays starting to get
Speaker 1: some of the respect it deserves. Yeah. Well, as far
Speaker 1: as those seven Pro Bowlers are concerned, will rattle through them.
Speaker 1: Here Aaron Rodgers earns his ninth Pro Bowl selection, which
Speaker 1: ties the franchise record held by and you can help
Speaker 1: me here, Brett Farve and Forced Gregg Force Gregg I
Speaker 1: believe yes, So Rogers tied for the most Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl selections now in franchise history. Davante Adams gets
Speaker 1: his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl, which is the longest streak
Speaker 1: for a Packers wide receiver since James Lofton back in
Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties. Aaron Jones and Jayre Alexander and Elton
Speaker 1: Jenkins all get their first Pro Bowl nods. And then
Speaker 1: we have the Darius Smith getting his second consecutive here
Speaker 1: in his two years with Green Bay. And then David
Speaker 1: baktr E, the four time Pro Bowler, a sorry, four
Speaker 1: time All Pro now the three time Pro bowler um
Speaker 1: at at left tackle. And here here's the thing. West.
Speaker 1: I know a lot of Packers fans out there like, well,
Speaker 1: what about Corey Lindsley and what about Robert Tunny in
Speaker 1: perfectly good arguments for either one of them to be
Speaker 1: named to the Pro Bowl. But I'll say a couple
Speaker 1: of things. First, when you have seven guys make the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl, you can't be complaining about the guys who
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, you just don't get to complain when you
Speaker 1: get at seven on the list. First off. But the
Speaker 1: other thing, the other thing I'll say is that I
Speaker 1: do think in some respects that Elton Jenkins might have
Speaker 1: taken Corey Lindsley's spot, if that makes sense, because I
Speaker 1: think Elton Jenkins got a lot more recognition around the
Speaker 1: league than a normal second year player would because of
Speaker 1: starting at different positions, And when these assistant coaches are
Speaker 1: looking at film and preparing for the Packers and even
Speaker 1: preparing for other opponents, but seeing the Packers on film,
Speaker 1: and they're saying, hey, look at this seventy four. He's
Speaker 1: lining up at center, he's lining up at tackle, he's
Speaker 1: lining up at guard. This guy's got you know, got it,
Speaker 1: you know, getting it done everywhere. I think in some
Speaker 1: ways that that, and then combined with Corey Lindsley getting
Speaker 1: hurt here late in the year, I think that might
Speaker 1: have that might have impacted Lindsley's chances to get a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl because let's be honest here, You're not going
Speaker 1: to get three of your five offensive line starters named
Speaker 1: to one Pro Bowl team? Is that really realistic? So
Speaker 1: so I throw that out there. But but the other
Speaker 1: thing I will say, with Tony in leading all NFL
Speaker 1: tight ends with ten touchdown receptions and I'll be honest
Speaker 1: that you know, I would certainly take Tony In over
Speaker 1: Evan Ingram, who was one of the NFC tight ends
Speaker 1: who made the list. I think Tongans had a better season.
Speaker 1: I just don't think there's any argument there. So that's
Speaker 1: my that that's that's me saying my piece. As far
Speaker 1: as the Pro Bowl, now you can go. It was
Speaker 1: a good piece to Mike Tony In. So here's the
Speaker 1: thing with the Tongan argument. It's almost like you didn't
Speaker 1: expect him to be here yet, but then when you
Speaker 1: see what the criteria was to actually be a Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl tight end this season, Robert Tonyan was a Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl tight end and and unfortunately the tough thing is,
Speaker 1: you know, George Kittle goes down with the injury, you
Speaker 1: don't have the traditional stalwarts, mind you, that you have
Speaker 1: at that position. So this really was a great opportunity
Speaker 1: for him to do it this year. And when you
Speaker 1: match up the statistics with Evan Ingram, I mean, it
Speaker 1: just does It's not even close. I think it was.
Speaker 1: ESPN had Ingram down for eight drops this year. They
Speaker 1: don't have Tony In for one. Tongan had ten touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Ingram has one Ingram had a really fine rookie season
Speaker 1: a number of years ago. But I don't know if
Speaker 1: the name recognition really follows it the way that that
Speaker 1: maybe it should. Uh Tonyon, though it is what it is.
Speaker 1: I'm sure if you asked Robert, he doesn't really care.
Speaker 1: He wants to just win as many games as possible
Speaker 1: and get a Super Bowl ring. Elton Jenkins probably is
Speaker 1: one of the most deserving players of it in the
Speaker 1: entire National Football League, the first player that has started
Speaker 1: at center, tackle, and guard for the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 1: since the merger in seventy uh. The fact that he's
Speaker 1: the first second year offensive lineman to get selected to
Speaker 1: the Pro Bowl in sixty eight years, Mike, since your
Speaker 1: family favorite Darryl Tetuk made this made the Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: team in y two. And the fact that Elton Jenkins
Speaker 1: has played center the past two weeks without there being
Speaker 1: any hiccups. There weren't any bad snaps. He seems to
Speaker 1: fit naturally. The guy can start at any position that
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers need him to. He happens to
Speaker 1: be a roll A Bowl caliber left guard. But when
Speaker 1: he filled in at right tackle and the opener looked
Speaker 1: fine when he did it against UH San Francisco, a
Speaker 1: left tackle in the middle of the season looked fine.
Speaker 1: In at center, he's looked just fine. It is a
Speaker 1: shame that Corey Lindsley has gone seven seasons without being
Speaker 1: selected to one Pro Bowl. But Elton jenkins Man has
Speaker 1: been remarkable. And I have to say, though, Mike you mentioned,
Speaker 1: is it realistic for three guys from the same offensive
Speaker 1: line to get the Pro Bowl. The Dallas Cowboys made
Speaker 1: a cottage industry out of it in the two thousand ten,
Speaker 1: so I would be nice to see Green Bay get
Speaker 1: a little bit more of that respect. Yeah, I hear
Speaker 1: that with regard to the Cowboys, and certainly this year
Speaker 1: they just had a bunch of first round picks. That's
Speaker 1: the only different Yeah, that's that's the other thing too.
Speaker 1: But you know, but also this year we aren't going
Speaker 1: to see the you know, injury replacements and this and that.
Speaker 1: You know, the Pro Bowl roster is what it is
Speaker 1: and it's done. There aren't going to be all these
Speaker 1: other additions to UH to the list as there are
Speaker 1: in in normal years. So um So for that, um,
Speaker 1: as I think you mentioned in Insider Inbox, readers have
Speaker 1: mentioned is a little bit more of an exclusive honor
Speaker 1: this year because there aren't going to be as many
Speaker 1: guys who get that label of being a pro bowler
Speaker 1: in so um. Well, before we go here, West will end. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: on a sad note, the Packers former assistant coach Kevin
Speaker 1: Green Um at the tender age of fifty eight, passed
Speaker 1: away on Monday at his home in Alabama, very suddenly,
Speaker 1: very shockingly. Um something a loss that's being felt all
Speaker 1: around the NFL community. And he was the Packers outside
Speaker 1: linebackers coach for five seasons from two thousand nine to
Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen. Was part of that coaching staff that
Speaker 1: won the Super Bowl in the two thousand and ten season.
Speaker 1: And I'll just say this about Kevin green I don't
Speaker 1: know if I have in all of my years, which
Speaker 1: is up to fifteen now, watching every training camp practice
Speaker 1: from the sidelines over there at Nichki Field, Hinkle Field,
Speaker 1: wherever it might be, I don't know if I've ever
Speaker 1: seen an assistant coach more passionate snap after snap, play
Speaker 1: after play in eleven on eleven drills in training camp.
Speaker 1: I mean it could be the third stringers against the
Speaker 1: third stringers and if Kevin Green's guy beats the offensive
Speaker 1: tackle and gets a pressure on the quarterback, he was
Speaker 1: you know, he was all hooping and hollering and letting
Speaker 1: his guys know. I mean, this guy was fired up
Speaker 1: about every single thing that had to do with football
Speaker 1: and uh and certainly left us way too soon. What
Speaker 1: a remarkable human being, what a remarkable life, and just
Speaker 1: a much passion that he lived with. And Dom Caper's
Speaker 1: Packers defensive coordinator for a number of years now with
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings. I thought he said it probably as
Speaker 1: best as anybody could Um. As good of a player
Speaker 1: as he was, as much as he produced on the field,
Speaker 1: he was an even better player person off of it.
Speaker 1: Um left the game in two thousand thirteen, stepped away,
Speaker 1: watched his kids to grow and I in their formidable years.
Speaker 1: He wanted to be there for that. He came back
Speaker 1: to coaching in two thousand seventeen. I don't know many
Speaker 1: people that were more passionate about their crap, uh than
Speaker 1: than Kevin Green. And I'll tell you this, Mike, you know,
Speaker 1: for a young guy wrote a little bit about this
Speaker 1: an insider inbox. But for a guy that was working
Speaker 1: his beat, for the first time. When we used to
Speaker 1: do those coaches interviews down in the hallway, you have
Speaker 1: to put in your request for who you want. There
Speaker 1: were a few days there where it's just West hog
Speaker 1: Kowits and Kevin Green and little five ft eight West Hogwits.
Speaker 1: Kevin Green just a mountain of a man, former pro
Speaker 1: wrestler to UH in the off season, and he was
Speaker 1: always so respectable and and communicative and really loved his players.
Speaker 1: It didn't he loved coaching Clay Matthews. He was ever
Speaker 1: even more excited about seeing a development and in a
Speaker 1: you know, uh Andy Malumba or or Nate Palmer. He
Speaker 1: was just rooting for all his guys. A couple of
Speaker 1: my favorite stories. It just got through this one in
Speaker 1: there quick. The end of the two thousand twelve season,
Speaker 1: after the memories there, the Packers end up falling in
Speaker 1: that UH that playoff game to the to the San
Speaker 1: Francisco forty Niners. Colin Kaepernick has the game he had
Speaker 1: I Wes Hogkwits working at the Green Bay Press because
Speaker 1: that mustered up the confidence, maybe even a little bit
Speaker 1: of ill place confidence to ask Kevin Green if Dom
Speaker 1: Caper still had it and Kevin stared at me for
Speaker 1: no short of five seconds with this. You're saying like
Speaker 1: at some point he he lost it? Is that? Is
Speaker 1: that what you're asking me? And I thought I was
Speaker 1: gonna die. I felt about three ft tall. But after
Speaker 1: that he gave a remarkable answer that was illuminative into
Speaker 1: why Dom system was successful for so long, and also
Speaker 1: the tight knit relationship that those two guys had. I
Speaker 1: don't even want to get into that street. I mean
Speaker 1: it was a father son type thing, the bond that
Speaker 1: they shared. And when Dom got that job at O nine,
Speaker 1: bringing Kevin in and was able to get his hands
Speaker 1: on Clay Matthews right off the bat, the relationship that
Speaker 1: they formed. I only got two years with them. You
Speaker 1: got a couple more. But I would be hard pressed
Speaker 1: in all these years where I covered this team, you know,
Speaker 1: going on forward to find someone that was more energetic
Speaker 1: about coaching football and seeing improvement young men than Kevin
Speaker 1: Green was. So My thoughts and prayers go out to
Speaker 1: his family, his wife Tara, who fought so hard for
Speaker 1: him to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: Just the heartbreaking thing. Fifty eight years old, too young. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and Dom Capers was the man who introduced Kevin Green
Speaker 1: when he did get that Pro Football Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: induction and can'ton Ohio. In with that, we will call
Speaker 1: it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be
Speaker 1: sure to follow all of our coverage of the team
Speaker 1: on Packers dot com for West I Am Mike, thank
Speaker 1: you for tuning, and everybody to see you over stuff.