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 partner and crime Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to
Speaker 1: you here from our studios at lambeau Field and West. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: we have another Packers defeat to talk about, the seventh
Speaker 1: in eight games. This one very different style of game
Speaker 1: than what we've been used to seeing here with the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers. This one was a shootout at Lincoln
Speaker 1: Financial Field on Sunday night. Football. Game was tied at
Speaker 1: one point in the second quarter, Eagles pulled away. Packers
Speaker 1: couldn't catch up. Final score for thirty three, and at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, it was a rough night
Speaker 1: on defense and a couple of very regrettable mistakes on
Speaker 1: offense that were the difference in this game. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: it was funny because, no, obviously you're not sitting here
Speaker 1: last week thinking three and sixty three rushing our the
Speaker 1: loud or anything like that. But what was the number
Speaker 1: one thing you and I were talking about. It's like
Speaker 1: this Eagles offense is not going to stay down much longer.
Speaker 1: They had off performances against Washington and against Indianapolis, and
Speaker 1: they brought all of it in this game against the Packers. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: a lot of things you can break down here as
Speaker 1: to why the Packers lost that game, But for me,
Speaker 1: it's miss tackles. And Matt Lafleur said it as Monday
Speaker 1: press conference, twenty miss tackles. That's the most during his
Speaker 1: time here as the Packers. He said. He thought it
Speaker 1: was more than twenty as they were as they were
Speaker 1: going through, he said Sunday night after the game, the
Speaker 1: live charts that indicated that the Packers were keeping it
Speaker 1: indicated fifteen miss tackles, and then after the coaches reviewed
Speaker 1: the film on Monday, the number climbed above twenties somewhere.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, I mean, it's just when you have
Speaker 1: a quarterback like Jalen Hurts, a legitimate m VP candidate,
Speaker 1: a guy that is just he's just a he's like
Speaker 1: a just a battery of energy, Like it's just this
Speaker 1: this uh energy are bad you know, bunny kind of
Speaker 1: thing where he is able to take place like I've
Speaker 1: never seen anybody like this in terms of if it
Speaker 1: breaks down you get him into the open field, he's
Speaker 1: like a running back. But if he has time to throw.
Speaker 1: He has the arm talent to make you pay um
Speaker 1: the touchdown pass that he had there. I mean, he
Speaker 1: is then all around playmaker and for the Packers, if
Speaker 1: you get a hand on him, you have to get
Speaker 1: him to the ground. And and Green Bay didn't do
Speaker 1: enough of that in this game. As you said, a
Speaker 1: shootout from the very beginning, fourteen to thirteen in the
Speaker 1: first quarter. I thought this was very interesting. I guess
Speaker 1: that was the most points scored in an NFL first
Speaker 1: quarter this season. I would have thought it had been
Speaker 1: more than twenty seven. But that's the way it's worked out.
Speaker 1: And the Packers did some really good things in this
Speaker 1: game offensively, but defensively. We talked week after week after
Speaker 1: week about the complimentary football component of this thing, and
Speaker 1: and defensively, Greenbay just didn't have very many answers for
Speaker 1: the Eagles. Yeah, the twenty plus miss tacklesbviously really stood out,
Speaker 1: and you said it in terms of getting a hand
Speaker 1: on Jalen Hurts. But that's not enough, and it's not
Speaker 1: and it's not enough to get one guy to the football,
Speaker 1: because yes, the Packers can't miss that many tackles, but
Speaker 1: he's also and not just him, but it was Miles Sanders.
Speaker 1: It was also the receivers on some short routes and
Speaker 1: things where they were they were breaking tackles. But defense
Speaker 1: is all about getting enough guys to the football where
Speaker 1: if there is a miss tackle, it the play doesn't
Speaker 1: rupture into a big game. And the Packers defensively way
Speaker 1: too often we're leaving it all on one guy to
Speaker 1: make a tackle in an open field situation, and nobody
Speaker 1: else was there to help clean it up. So when
Speaker 1: there was a miss tackle, it wasn't just a couple
Speaker 1: of extra yards. It was a garden variety play turning
Speaker 1: into an explosive or a ruptured type of play that
Speaker 1: was really damaging. Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders combining for
Speaker 1: three hundred of the three d sixty three rushing yards.
Speaker 1: Philadelphia goes eight for fifteen on third down, also converts
Speaker 1: a couple of fourth downs when the when the third
Speaker 1: and long, they got close enough to then be able
Speaker 1: to convert on fourth down. It was just a really,
Speaker 1: really rough night for the defense. They had essentially three
Speaker 1: good possessions defensively. They got a fourth and one stop
Speaker 1: early in the game on Jalen Hurts, which was which
Speaker 1: was a key point early for the Packers to stay
Speaker 1: in this game. There was a a fumble and a
Speaker 1: recovery and long return by Kuay Walker that's set up
Speaker 1: the Packers for some points. And then there was also
Speaker 1: a three and out in the in in the midst there.
Speaker 1: But other than those three possessions, the Eagles basically scored
Speaker 1: every time they had the ball. And then on the
Speaker 1: final possession of the game, with a minute to go,
Speaker 1: they ran the ball three times, moved the chains, and
Speaker 1: and kneeled out the clock. Um. Just not enough, not
Speaker 1: enough stops and uh, and just a very frustrating way
Speaker 1: to lose when the Packers offense which has struggled so much,
Speaker 1: you know, only getting the seventeen points against Tennessee the
Speaker 1: week before, not being able to win in Detroit when
Speaker 1: the Lions only score fifteen points, and not being able
Speaker 1: to get that victory, to have a season high with
Speaker 1: thirty three points, and to come up and to come
Speaker 1: up short. It's just another a different way, uh, a
Speaker 1: different way to swallow another tough loss. I guess, for
Speaker 1: lack of a better phrase, there was three things that
Speaker 1: I kind of walked away from with this thing, no
Speaker 1: pun intended for our award winning Packers dot Com show
Speaker 1: Three Things, but there were three things I walked away from. One.
Speaker 1: The Packers schedule this year is probably one of the
Speaker 1: most difficult I think I've seen, uh in my time
Speaker 1: on the beat. The way it's worked out, the lay
Speaker 1: up games, Washington, the New York Jets, Giants, they all
Speaker 1: ended up being a lot more competitive this year than
Speaker 1: we imagine. All three of those teams might make the
Speaker 1: playoffs now when at the beginning of the season, nobody
Speaker 1: was putting any of those three times, especially now with
Speaker 1: Mike White at quarterback. No nobody would have said after
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving that all three of those teams would be above
Speaker 1: five fighting for a playoff spot. But that's where we are.
Speaker 1: There was basically one team that I think has kind
Speaker 1: of been what everybody thought they were. In no disrespect
Speaker 1: to him, because we'll talk about them on Thursdays with
Speaker 1: the Bears, you know, this season, who are still in
Speaker 1: the midst of a rebuild. So that was my first
Speaker 1: thing I took away to the disheartening part about this
Speaker 1: the difficult, most difficult thing to swallow is the Packers
Speaker 1: were within seven points still of the number one seed
Speaker 1: right now in the NFC and to be able to
Speaker 1: put up thirty three points on that defense. Philadelphia, they
Speaker 1: do what they do, man, They're not going to deviate
Speaker 1: from it. They're going to try to apply pressure with
Speaker 1: their front and they're gonna be able to create opportunities
Speaker 1: on the back end. That's the way it's predicated. But
Speaker 1: they were able to move the football, they were able
Speaker 1: to run the ball against him, but ultimately, you know,
Speaker 1: you still fall short in three. The part that makes
Speaker 1: this difficult to swallow is in a year in which
Speaker 1: I really truly believe any of the seven teams that
Speaker 1: make the playoffs in the NFC are going to have
Speaker 1: a realistic shot at the super Bowl, it's getting to
Speaker 1: be more and more dire here Green Bay trying to
Speaker 1: stay in that race. I think it was a two
Speaker 1: percent or whatever they put it at right now for
Speaker 1: the Packers playoff chances. When they've had opportunities, they've come
Speaker 1: up short. And when I say short, I mean I'm
Speaker 1: literally talking within a score too. It's just has been
Speaker 1: they haven't really gotten blown out for the most part
Speaker 1: this season. But the teams that are able to pull
Speaker 1: together that are able to, you know, overcome the adversity,
Speaker 1: are able to, you know, in an imperfect game, find
Speaker 1: the most answers. Those are the teams that win, and
Speaker 1: green Day was so good at that the last few
Speaker 1: years and this year it's just been a situation where
Speaker 1: you can't get the Yang and Yang quite too fit.
Speaker 1: And this was another game it Keishaw Nixon has a
Speaker 1: phenomenal performance as a kickoff returner. They get a fifty
Speaker 1: three yard or to midfield late in the game and
Speaker 1: they go three and out afterwards. It's those type of
Speaker 1: things that when something goes well, you haven't been able
Speaker 1: to build that momentum. Yeah, and it's also it's also
Speaker 1: been a case of any time a mistake is made,
Speaker 1: it ends up proving really really costly because you end
Speaker 1: up losing these games by such close scores. You mentioned
Speaker 1: Nixon who had a phenomenal night fifty two yard, fifty
Speaker 1: three yard, thirty eight yard kickoff return, but what happened
Speaker 1: on an early kickoff return He flubbed one, then he
Speaker 1: ended up slipping and falling at the nine yard line,
Speaker 1: and then what happens there Aaron Rodgers ends up throwing
Speaker 1: an interception on a ball that gets deflected, Philadelphia has
Speaker 1: a short field and they get a touchdown. It all
Speaker 1: traces back to the fact that that possession started at
Speaker 1: the nine yard line instead of starting at the twenty five.
Speaker 1: If you just take the touchback, that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: And I don't mean to pick on Nixon, because, as
Speaker 1: I said, he had a great night and he more
Speaker 1: than made up for his mistake. But my point is
Speaker 1: that every time this Packers team makes a mistake, it
Speaker 1: proves absolutely critical and costly to them because they just
Speaker 1: don't have the margin for error to overcome. Um those
Speaker 1: kinds of things. In a game that clearly the Packers
Speaker 1: defense was struggling, the offense was gonna have to score
Speaker 1: as much as possible to keep up an opportunity to
Speaker 1: put points on the board. The Packers are knocking on
Speaker 1: the door, but Aaron Rodgers throws an interception when he
Speaker 1: and Tyler Davis, the tight end, are not on the
Speaker 1: same page. Rogers thinks that Davis is going to stay
Speaker 1: up the seam, Davis keeps his route flat coming across.
Speaker 1: Rodgers after the game said he regretted throwing the ball
Speaker 1: because they weren't on the same page, but he saw
Speaker 1: even though he wasn't running the route he was expecting.
Speaker 1: He decided to give him a chance anyway through it. Anyway, Well,
Speaker 1: the backup safety blanket ship for the Eagles ends up
Speaker 1: undercutting the route and picking it off. He's in the
Speaker 1: game because c. J. Gardner Johnson had gotten injured earlier.
Speaker 1: That interception took points off the board for the Packers,
Speaker 1: and that was another mistake you just you cannot afford
Speaker 1: in uh in that type of game, the way it
Speaker 1: was unfolding. As this game ultimately unfolded, Aaron Rodgers leaves
Speaker 1: with with an injury to his ribs um extremely painful,
Speaker 1: very uncomfortable. What we heard on Monday is a lot
Speaker 1: of tests still being done. Nothing definitive yet on the diagnosis.
Speaker 1: Rogers was feeling better. He would like to keep playing
Speaker 1: as long as everything checks out. Okay, very much up
Speaker 1: in the air at this point as to where that's
Speaker 1: going to go. Jordan Loves stepped in in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter and lead the Packers to two scoring drives. Sixty
Speaker 1: three yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson on the catch
Speaker 1: and run, and then uh late in the game, um
Speaker 1: couple cracks at the end zone there that would have
Speaker 1: um that would have possibly gotten the Packers within three points,
Speaker 1: but settled for the field goal to get the game
Speaker 1: to the on side kick there at the end. But
Speaker 1: Jordan loved to possessions and ten points. UM. Very interesting
Speaker 1: here because he played well in a tough spot, and
Speaker 1: if with the Packers at four and eight, if they
Speaker 1: do get mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, They're going to
Speaker 1: be discussions as to whether Jordan's loves should play out
Speaker 1: the rest of the season. This was in a very
Speaker 1: small sample size, just two possessions, but it was a
Speaker 1: pretty impressive outing for the young man, showing a heck
Speaker 1: of a lot of progress from what we saw last
Speaker 1: year in Kansas City and in Detroit when he played
Speaker 1: roughly a game and a half. Um. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: the thing about this game was well one, the fact
Speaker 1: that that first third down conversion for the entire game
Speaker 1: for green Bay came on the seven yard out. That
Speaker 1: that love through to those ard again, that sort of
Speaker 1: illustrates one of the issues green Bay has had this year.
Speaker 1: Last year they were good on third downs, they were
Speaker 1: good in the red zone. Those two areas have just
Speaker 1: been kind of difficult. But when you look at it
Speaker 1: from Love's perspective, and he even talked about it afterwards,
Speaker 1: the confidence that he felt after that to be able
Speaker 1: to get into a rhythm. You saw it, and I
Speaker 1: thought it carried through the rest of the game. The
Speaker 1: Eagles aren't the type of team that are gonna throw
Speaker 1: six guys at you every single time. So, I mean
Speaker 1: they were kind of sitting back a little bit, trying
Speaker 1: to eat up some o'clock. They a multi score lead.
Speaker 1: They were not. They they their whole plan was to
Speaker 1: not get gashed for the big play. But then it
Speaker 1: happened anyway because because Christian Watson was just too darned fast.
Speaker 1: And let's also be honest and let's be fair to
Speaker 1: Love here. He put that ball exactly where it needed
Speaker 1: to be for Watson to be able to continue to
Speaker 1: hit all cylinders, no question. Twenty point nine seven miles
Speaker 1: per hour or whatever it was that next gen stats
Speaker 1: had him clocked. At this guy, I keep saying it like,
Speaker 1: I mean, his speed is prodigious. I mean it is.
Speaker 1: I have not seen an athlete like this at his size.
Speaker 1: I mean, he is a monstrous dude that runs like
Speaker 1: a track star. It's and he didn't even I mean,
Speaker 1: this is the thing. I mean, you you mentioned the
Speaker 1: next gen stat thing where he was clocked at you know,
Speaker 1: just a shade under twenty one miles per hour. It
Speaker 1: didn't look like he was running that fast. I mean,
Speaker 1: it looked like he was running that fast because he
Speaker 1: was running away from the defenders, but it didn't look
Speaker 1: like he was even necessarily giving it. And I'm not
Speaker 1: saying that he wasn't. It just doesn't look like that
Speaker 1: because it looks so effortless for him. It's it's amazing.
Speaker 1: It's amazing how he can get up to that kind
Speaker 1: of speed and make it look so easy. Well, it
Speaker 1: reminds me when I was in high school and there
Speaker 1: was these guys that would always like you could run. Yes,
Speaker 1: it was a big time for me. I I was
Speaker 1: gonna go pro like Uncle Rico. Um. But you know,
Speaker 1: be those guys that that sit there and they rev
Speaker 1: their trucks and they're they're, you know, really getting the
Speaker 1: thing going and they're going like six miles an hour.
Speaker 1: But then you see some of these like real sports
Speaker 1: card type things, and those things just zoom and you
Speaker 1: don't hear anything. Right, that's Watson. It's just and it's
Speaker 1: just and it's interesting talking to him and seeing him,
Speaker 1: you know, and how he worked with the media match
Speaker 1: and Iman and I were interviewing him afterwards while everyone
Speaker 1: else was talking to Jordan's Love and the guy carries
Speaker 1: himself like a professional. I'm so excited to see where
Speaker 1: his career is going to go. I mean, up once
Speaker 1: again for the NFL Rookie of the Week honors. I
Speaker 1: mean this, this guy's if he can stay healthy. You
Speaker 1: love everything you've seen from him as it relates though
Speaker 1: to your initial question when you look at Jordan's Love.
Speaker 1: Last year against Kansas City was a tough spot for
Speaker 1: him to be thrown into. Rogers gets you know, pops
Speaker 1: with COVID. So he's thrown in there, and it is
Speaker 1: the true definition of a spot, start right, It's and
Speaker 1: it's a it's a it's a defense that through the
Speaker 1: kitchen sink at him. He struggled against it. Detroit Week
Speaker 1: eighteen was just a total mess, you know, and everything
Speaker 1: and how they approached it. What I liked about this
Speaker 1: is he stood tall in the pocket. He was decisive,
Speaker 1: and you want to talk about a guy that looked
Speaker 1: like he knew what he was doing. After three years
Speaker 1: now almost in this scheme. It was very impressive to
Speaker 1: see Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback. Everybody's saying it. Matt
Speaker 1: Lufloor said it on Monday. If he's healthy, if he's
Speaker 1: cleared with this rib injury, he will play against Chicago.
Speaker 1: But when you look at Jordan's love and you're looking
Speaker 1: for markers of his improvement, I thought this game is
Speaker 1: hundred forty six passer rating. It showed you not only
Speaker 1: his potential, but how he was seamlessly able to sort
Speaker 1: of integrate himself in with this offense. This is a
Speaker 1: guy that's had a lot of snaps and practice Mike
Speaker 1: with Christian Watson, with that first team offensive line when
Speaker 1: Rogers hasn't been able to go. You can tell the
Speaker 1: difference there in the comfort level when he was out
Speaker 1: there this year. Yeah, and it was interesting too because
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur actually talked about what what might have been
Speaker 1: Jordan loves. The most impressive throw of the nine pass
Speaker 1: attempts that he had in the game was actually one
Speaker 1: of the three incompletions where he's trying to hit Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones on. Some people call it a whole shot, others
Speaker 1: call it honey hole. What that is a reference to
Speaker 1: is a sideline route where the intended receiver in this
Speaker 1: case it's a running back in Aaron Jones is in
Speaker 1: between a short corner in a deep safety and uh Um.
Speaker 1: In order to fit that pass in there, you've got
Speaker 1: to fire it because if you if if you put
Speaker 1: any kind of touch or loft on it, it's going
Speaker 1: to hang in the air for too long and one
Speaker 1: of the defenders is going to get there in time,
Speaker 1: or receiver is gonna get lit up right exactly, You're
Speaker 1: gonna leave your receiver hanging out to dry and he's
Speaker 1: gonna get clawbered if he's trying to catch it while
Speaker 1: keeping his feet in bound. And Jordan's Loves saw the
Speaker 1: opportunity for the whole shot against Aaron Jones down the
Speaker 1: sideline and he let it rip um and Jones wasn't
Speaker 1: able to catch it. Um. I'm sure he would say
Speaker 1: he would love to have that one back. He made
Speaker 1: a great catch in the back of the end zone
Speaker 1: on an Aaron Rodgers scrambled drill earlier in the game
Speaker 1: that got the Packers a big touchdown. But that that
Speaker 1: throw from Jordan's Love right there shows you something about
Speaker 1: about the progress, the confidence, everything about the footwork and
Speaker 1: the timing and all of that. UM, so very interested
Speaker 1: to see what happens here with with the Packers at
Speaker 1: quarterback moving forward. UM. Aaron Rodgers has said obviously, if
Speaker 1: he's cleared and the Packers still have a chance, he
Speaker 1: would like to be he would like to keep playing. UM. Realistically,
Speaker 1: the Packers are one loss away from really they're not
Speaker 1: being any more math on their side. Whatsoever, you get
Speaker 1: to nine losses that the best you can finishes eight
Speaker 1: and nine. The way things look in the NFC right now,
Speaker 1: it looks like nine and eight, well maybe get one
Speaker 1: of the final playoff spots. And there's even no guarantee
Speaker 1: of that at this point, depending on how on how
Speaker 1: things shake out. So maybe we're going to see more
Speaker 1: of Jordan's love moving forward. UM. Hopefully whoever it is
Speaker 1: at quarterback for the Packers this week against the Bears,
Speaker 1: Rogers or Love, hopefully the Packers can get a win
Speaker 1: and avoid that ninth loss at least for a little
Speaker 1: while longer. And then you and then you see what happens. UM.
Speaker 1: I want to get to and you mentioned on our
Speaker 1: next show, we'll talk about the Chicago Bears. I want
Speaker 1: to get to what was really a very wild week
Speaker 1: of football in the NFL in Week twelve. After a
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Speaker 1: Week twelve in the NFL West, eleven games decided by
Speaker 1: one score or less. Obviously, you know, eight points or less.
Speaker 1: Eleven games in one week. We're talking about two overtime
Speaker 1: games where Cleveland beats Tampa Bay and the Raiders beat
Speaker 1: the Seahawks on the road on an eighty six yard
Speaker 1: touchdown run in overtime, one of the longest, maybe the
Speaker 1: longest walk off touchdown in the history of the league.
Speaker 1: I don't know. You have two other games that come
Speaker 1: down to coaches deciding down by one to go for
Speaker 1: two in the last fifteen seconds of the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: rather than kick and play for overtime. They go for two.
Speaker 1: Both the Chargers and the Jaguars get the two point
Speaker 1: conversions and they win those games. And the game with
Speaker 1: uh with Jacksonville against Baltimore ends up coming down to
Speaker 1: a sixty seven yard field goal attempted by Justin Tucker
Speaker 1: um the Washington Commanders, who have now won six of
Speaker 1: their last seven. They end up winning a close one
Speaker 1: at home against the Atlanta Falcons um when a ball
Speaker 1: is tipped and intercepted at the goal line in the
Speaker 1: last minute, a minute and a half or two minutes
Speaker 1: or whatever was left on the clock. Just another I mean,
Speaker 1: game after game in this league, week after week, these games,
Speaker 1: so many of them are so close. You have to fight,
Speaker 1: you have to find a way to win. And at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, the teams that find a
Speaker 1: way most often are the ones that still get to
Speaker 1: play late into January and everybody else, everybody else is
Speaker 1: licking their wounds, so to speak. But this past week,
Speaker 1: Week twelve in the NFL was absolutely the epitome of
Speaker 1: what this league is about and how any game at
Speaker 1: any moment can just turn on a dime. And let's
Speaker 1: not even talk about Sunday too. Look at Thursday, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, and I am including the Thursday games, in
Speaker 1: the eleven games decided by one score. That's looking at
Speaker 1: the entire week in general, including the Thanksgiving games. But
Speaker 1: but Thursday night is I'm in my Turkey coma. You know,
Speaker 1: I get done watching the Cowboys in Giants, which ends
Speaker 1: up going right down to the wire. Then I'm watching,
Speaker 1: you know, the Vikings and Patriots, who, out of all
Speaker 1: the variables that you never see happening with a matchup,
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick's team losing because of special teams. Yeah, to
Speaker 1: to major, major blunders on special teams by a Bill
Speaker 1: Belichick team that costs his team what would be what
Speaker 1: what would have been a huge victory in that a
Speaker 1: f C East race for New England. And then Josh
Speaker 1: Allen comes back, you know, just absolutely rips the heart
Speaker 1: out of the Detroit Lions. I mean, just unbelievable, you know.
Speaker 1: And again this is what Premium Pro Bowl, all pro
Speaker 1: type talent, that's what they do. You know, they make
Speaker 1: craziness happen. And I'm sitting there then on Sunday in
Speaker 1: my hotel him waiting for us to get you know,
Speaker 1: to go to the game, and you're seeing Trevor Lawrence
Speaker 1: throw some of the hardest balls that I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean it is incredible. The passes he
Speaker 1: was throwing in the decisive nous, and and he he
Speaker 1: had to drive, he had to drive the Jaguars. I
Speaker 1: want to say it was close to ninety yards for
Speaker 1: that final touchdown, and he is throwing rockets, darts. I mean,
Speaker 1: like I felt bad for his receiver's hands by the time,
Speaker 1: and the and the and the two point conversion was
Speaker 1: was a two yard missile to the pylon. I mean,
Speaker 1: it was like he just he just was not he
Speaker 1: was not holding back. That was that was impressive. And
Speaker 1: you know, as you talked about watching these teams, you know,
Speaker 1: Doug Doug Peterson, all right, we got the touchdown, We're
Speaker 1: going for the win. We're not playing for this overtime business.
Speaker 1: And Brandon Staley for the Chargers did the same thing.
Speaker 1: Another guy that that the decision doesn't surprise you based
Speaker 1: on the track record, Right, That's that's the kind that's
Speaker 1: the way these guys the teams. And the tragic thing
Speaker 1: again for Green Bay is four and seven Raiders knocking
Speaker 1: off the Seahawks. So now the forty niners are actually
Speaker 1: the top seed right now in the NFC West, and
Speaker 1: Seattle is kind of you know outside looking in now
Speaker 1: again you had, um, the Buccaneers lost again. There's just
Speaker 1: things actually tilted pretty well towards Green Bay's favor in
Speaker 1: terms of these matchups, and you weren't able to capitalize
Speaker 1: on it. So it is what it is. But in
Speaker 1: terms of the entertainment side of this thing, certainly was
Speaker 1: a very interesting weekend of football, going all the way
Speaker 1: from Thursday into well, realistically even Monday night, you know,
Speaker 1: with the you know, the shannigans at the end of
Speaker 1: that game between the Steelers and Colts, right right. I mean,
Speaker 1: here one other thing I want to touch on before
Speaker 1: we go, because this is not a team that we
Speaker 1: have talked about much. They're not on the Packers schedule,
Speaker 1: um and uh, you know, we haven't talked about him
Speaker 1: since last January when they came into lambeau Field and
Speaker 1: knocked the Packers off in the playoffs. And of course
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the San Francisco forty Niners. And I
Speaker 1: take nothing away from the phil helf Eagles. They are
Speaker 1: ten and one. They look like they are really tough
Speaker 1: to beat. The Minnesota Vikings bounced back on a short
Speaker 1: week from getting shellacked by the Cowboys, posted a big
Speaker 1: home win over the New England Patriots on Thanksgiving Night.
Speaker 1: The Vikings have just two losses on the year. They
Speaker 1: look like they are headed, um, you know, to the
Speaker 1: playoffs and and will be a threat to make a
Speaker 1: deep playoff run. But I'm telling you for my money
Speaker 1: right now, the most dangerous team in the NFC is
Speaker 1: the San Francisco forty Niners. That team, and and and
Speaker 1: it's not just because they added Christian McCaffrey to that offense,
Speaker 1: and and and I and because I do think he
Speaker 1: has changed their offense. And there may not be a
Speaker 1: better trio of offensive weapons in the league than McCaffrey,
Speaker 1: Deebo Samuel and George Kittle when all three of those
Speaker 1: guys are healthy and playing. But the San Francisco forty
Speaker 1: Niners defensively west They have not given up a point
Speaker 1: in the second half of four straight games. Four consecutive
Speaker 1: second half shutouts on defense. I mean, that's like unheard
Speaker 1: of they have. They gave up before Halloween. They gave
Speaker 1: up thirty points in the second half to the Kansas
Speaker 1: City Chiefs when they lost kind of a shootout game
Speaker 1: to Patrick Mahomes, and since that game prior to Halloween,
Speaker 1: they have not given up a point in the second
Speaker 1: half of a football game that that team. That team
Speaker 1: is absolutely scary right now in my opinion, even though
Speaker 1: record wise they're not getting the attention that the Eagles
Speaker 1: and the Vikings are getting. San Francisco is the team
Speaker 1: I absolutely would not want to play, right if you
Speaker 1: want to play, if if you don't want to play,
Speaker 1: but if you're going to play San Francisco, make sure
Speaker 1: you get him in September October, kid, because the way
Speaker 1: that Kyle Shanahan gets that team trending in November, December
Speaker 1: and into January, they're always building momentum and too. I mean,
Speaker 1: Damico Ryan's has to be a guy that is going
Speaker 1: to be a legitimate top tier head coaching candidate. Question
Speaker 1: and when that happens, I'm really gonna feel bad about
Speaker 1: myself because now I officially I'm starting to year old
Speaker 1: that Damiko Ryan's is going to be a head coach
Speaker 1: of the National Football League. Defensive coordinator I can take that,
Speaker 1: but if he has, it's like, man, it is that
Speaker 1: now you're starting. Now you're starting to get there right.
Speaker 1: You know, Graham Harrold ends up becoming a head coach
Speaker 1: here at some point. That's what makes you feel old,
Speaker 1: you know, in the National Football League or in college football.
Speaker 1: But um be that as it may. The Forts just
Speaker 1: find ways to win football games. And to hold the
Speaker 1: Saints and check the way they did, to hold Alvin Kamara,
Speaker 1: and check the way they did again. It's another one
Speaker 1: of these football teams you just do not want to face.
Speaker 1: And how about this, Mike, we can close on this.
Speaker 1: Maybe the NFC West, everybody just anticipated, Okay, how many
Speaker 1: playoff teams are coming out of there this year. Seahawks.
Speaker 1: Maybe they'll be the ones that will be in the
Speaker 1: back there, Gino Smith or Drew Lock. Nobody's looking at them.
Speaker 1: Three playoff teams maybe if you're asking people. In Week
Speaker 1: one NFCC East, okay, maybe Philadelphia challenges Dallas. But otherwise
Speaker 1: it's just when you actually play these games, it's just
Speaker 1: you have to do it out on the grass. Well,
Speaker 1: and and what and what everybody was saying along those
Speaker 1: same lines about the a f C West and the
Speaker 1: court quarterbacks, the quarterbacks in that division. Now there's still
Speaker 1: a lot to play out and obviously the Raiders now
Speaker 1: have won back to back overtime games, and maybe they're
Speaker 1: gonna make a late season run like they did last
Speaker 1: year and get themselves into the picture. The Chargers, I think,
Speaker 1: could still be very dangerous. That the Chiefs of the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: the Broncos have have really struggled. But everybody thought, you know,
Speaker 1: the a f C West with those four quarterbacks was
Speaker 1: going to be the dominant division in football, and it
Speaker 1: hasn't turned It hasn't turned out that way. So as
Speaker 1: you say, you have to play the games and see, uh,
Speaker 1: and see what happens, and it's gonna be it's gonna
Speaker 1: be really fun to see how all of this unfolds
Speaker 1: in the playoff picture and everything down the stretch. It's uh,
Speaker 1: it's not going to be fun for the Packers not
Speaker 1: to be a part of it if if they can't
Speaker 1: you know, put together uh, you know, crazy winning streak
Speaker 1: here down stretch. How many wins will it take? We're
Speaker 1: gonna drop this down justin our producer right now because
Speaker 1: Marvin is on holiday. Um, how many wins will it
Speaker 1: take for the NFC South? How many wins to win
Speaker 1: the division? Oh? I mean I think nine and eight.
Speaker 1: I think nine and eight could win that. And when
Speaker 1: i'm you think you think you think a sub five
Speaker 1: division champion out of the a f of the NFC South,
Speaker 1: I just I wouldn't. I wouldn't. I would It wouldn't
Speaker 1: shock me. I just loved it. If you're asking me
Speaker 1: for what I think, I think it'll be. I think
Speaker 1: it'll be nine and eight. But the Saints get smacked
Speaker 1: and there's still like a game and a half of
Speaker 1: the leader right now on that division. Yeah, that's the
Speaker 1: that's the division to be in if you want to
Speaker 1: be clinging to u to realistic playoff hopes when when
Speaker 1: things haven't gone your way and we'll see how We'll
Speaker 1: see what happens there. Yeah, that was I mean, for
Speaker 1: the for the Buccaneers to lose in overtime at Cleveland,
Speaker 1: that was a that was a game they were chalking
Speaker 1: up as a victory for sure to try to take
Speaker 1: command of things. Didn't work out that way, and now
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay is fighting an uphill climb as well. So
Speaker 1: with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. You sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team. We've got it all for you
Speaker 1: on packers dot com. For West, I'm Mike. Thank you
Speaker 1: for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.