Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford. He is my
Speaker 1: partner in crime West hot Kowitz for coming to you
Speaker 1: here from our studios at lambeau Field and West. A
Speaker 1: few days away now from the regular season finale, Week
Speaker 1: eight teen, it will be Packers at Lions at Ford
Speaker 1: Field in Detroit. Before we talk about that game in particular,
Speaker 1: I want to discuss another subject, and that is that
Speaker 1: we've we spent a lot of time on this show
Speaker 1: talking about the history that Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams
Speaker 1: have made or on the verge of making, all of
Speaker 1: these types of things, but we have neglected, and that's
Speaker 1: mostly my fault, to talk about a significant piece of
Speaker 1: history on the coaching side of things, and that is
Speaker 1: that Matt Lafleur last weekend got his thirty ninth victory
Speaker 1: thirty regular season victory as the head coach of the
Speaker 1: Packers in his first three seasons, which is now the
Speaker 1: most wins ever by an NFL head coach in his
Speaker 1: first three seasons. And there's no there's no overstating how
Speaker 1: impressive that is. It's one of the most impressive things
Speaker 1: I've ever seen in the coaching realm. And and this
Speaker 1: is no disrespect to George Seyffert whatsoever, but when that
Speaker 1: passing the torch happened in San Francisco, it happened in
Speaker 1: a way that really barely ever happens in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. He was handed a corvette, and he drove
Speaker 1: the car like a corvette. The Green Bay Packers were
Speaker 1: at a crossroads. Two thousand eighteen was the worst year
Speaker 1: that this organization has had on so many different levels,
Speaker 1: really in my lifetime, the last twenty years. I don't
Speaker 1: think the Floor gets enough credit for how quickly he changed.
Speaker 1: It's not like the culture needed an entire overhaul, It's
Speaker 1: not like the roster need an entire overall. But they
Speaker 1: had to get back to being the Green Bay Packers again,
Speaker 1: and the Floor did that. They come out the gates
Speaker 1: thirteen and three. I thought then and there he should
Speaker 1: have been the Coach of the Year. It was the
Speaker 1: biggest single season turn around in franchise history in terms
Speaker 1: of wins. I felt like that was the moment where
Speaker 1: he was the Coach of the Year. They decided to
Speaker 1: give it to John Harbaugh last year. Pretty dominant on
Speaker 1: all sides, all phases. He again doesn't get the award.
Speaker 1: When you're sitting and you've now played forty eight games
Speaker 1: in the regular season, you've won thirty nine of them.
Speaker 1: I think the proof is in the pudding there. And
Speaker 1: the fact of the matter is the flour can credit
Speaker 1: his assistance, he can credit the football team. He can
Speaker 1: do everything to take the shine away from himself, which
Speaker 1: he tries to do quite regularly every time we asked
Speaker 1: him about it. And it's fine. It's a humble humility
Speaker 1: is a good thing. But as I wrote an insider
Speaker 1: Inbox a couple of weeks back, if people don't start
Speaker 1: paying attention to this, they're gonna miss one of the
Speaker 1: really truly special coaching jobs we've seen. This isn't some
Speaker 1: Johnny come Lately. Matt Lafleur is here to stay, and
Speaker 1: people better get used to it. I mean, you gotta
Speaker 1: start recognizing that achievement, because it's pretty incredible what he's on.
Speaker 1: This run he's been on. Yeah. Absolutely, As you mentioned,
Speaker 1: the thirty nine wins in the first three seasons, one
Speaker 1: more than George Seafort, who won thirty eight games in
Speaker 1: the regular season his first three years with San Francisco.
Speaker 1: Seaford had a Super Bowl championship in there as well.
Speaker 1: Folks have been asking, you know about the larger historical context,
Speaker 1: what about any three year run in the NFL. The
Speaker 1: record is forty games, forty victories, and that's Mike Ditka,
Speaker 1: the of the Chicago Bears. Seven. The Bears went fifteen
Speaker 1: and one, fourteen and two, and then eleven and four
Speaker 1: in a year that only had fifteen games as opposed
Speaker 1: to sixteen because of the strike, and there were three
Speaker 1: replacement games in there. The Bears went two and one
Speaker 1: in their three replacement games. That all added up to
Speaker 1: forty wins in forty seven games. Uh from Mike get
Speaker 1: Mike Ditka. So Matt Lafleur with the extra game this year,
Speaker 1: with the seventeenth game, has a chance to match match
Speaker 1: Mike Get because Mike did because forty wins in three seasons.
Speaker 1: Regarding the Coach of the Year, I am absolutely with you, Um,
Speaker 1: and we probably didn't talk about it enough on this
Speaker 1: show at the time, but but Matt Lafleur was very
Speaker 1: deserving of Coach of the Year in nineteen his first year,
Speaker 1: he took over a team that had missed the playoffs
Speaker 1: back to back seasons, um and uh and yes things
Speaker 1: had as far as the way things have gone in
Speaker 1: the last three decades, um at at lambeau Fielding with
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers two thousand eighteen was as close
Speaker 1: to rock bottom as it gets. Maybe not. It wasn't
Speaker 1: as bad as two thousand and five, which I think
Speaker 1: was a four and twelve season that was that was
Speaker 1: probably the rock bottom of the last three decades, but
Speaker 1: close enough, certainly. And he not only got the Packers
Speaker 1: right back into the playoffs, but they were the number
Speaker 1: two seed. You know, they got a first round by
Speaker 1: and all of that is first year. That being said,
Speaker 1: I think the coach of the Year discussion this year
Speaker 1: is very interesting. And here's here's the context. Here's the
Speaker 1: context that I'll put it in. For a while, it
Speaker 1: was looking like, for a while in one it was
Speaker 1: looking like this would be either Cliff kings Bearer or
Speaker 1: maybe Bill Belichick with what was going on in Arizona
Speaker 1: and New England. To use your phrase, the shine has
Speaker 1: worn off a little bit on those Not to take
Speaker 1: away from two teams that are both headed to the
Speaker 1: postseason and could you know, have some magic here in January,
Speaker 1: who knows, right, But now lately you certainly have to
Speaker 1: consider Mike McCarthy a legitimate candidate for Coach of the Year,
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor with the Cincinnati Bengals and suddenly where they are,
Speaker 1: Mike Vrabel has the Tennessee Titans in position now after
Speaker 1: losing Derrick Henry, who was probably the single most important
Speaker 1: player on his team, the Titans now are in position
Speaker 1: to be the number one seed potentially in the a
Speaker 1: f C. My point is that while we've seen all
Speaker 1: of these other coaches sort of rise and fall in
Speaker 1: this potential candidacy for Coach of the Year, Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: has sort of been there the whole time. He's he's
Speaker 1: he's been a candidate. He's been a candidate since the
Speaker 1: day he got this job. And I know it's not
Speaker 1: a three year thing. It's it's supposed to be for
Speaker 1: an individual season. But he's been right in the mix
Speaker 1: the whole time and never really fallen out of it.
Speaker 1: And I think that I think that speaks volumes as
Speaker 1: to the type of um the culture that he has
Speaker 1: built here. I basically you have two coaches of the Year.
Speaker 1: I'd be willing to accept. And one is Mike Rabel
Speaker 1: just based on the standpoint of I think he used
Speaker 1: a very compelling argument for how he's kept that team afloat.
Speaker 1: I even made the comment I don't typically tweet during
Speaker 1: football games. I just liked, if I'm watching, I just
Speaker 1: watched people like to like do the second screen thing. No,
Speaker 1: that's not me. But after they won, I believe that
Speaker 1: was what was that two weeks ago they had that
Speaker 1: big win late I actually tweeted. I was like, that's
Speaker 1: a gritty football team and the ways that they found
Speaker 1: to win this season, I think you got to tip
Speaker 1: their cap to him, and not only now Derrick Henry,
Speaker 1: but also A J. Brown being back. I mean, they're
Speaker 1: gonna be a formidable team here in the postseason. That's
Speaker 1: a creditive Rabel or it's the Fleur Yeah, because what
Speaker 1: because what speaks to what la Fleur has done this
Speaker 1: year in winning thirteen games so far that the Packers
Speaker 1: haven't necessarily had to deal with through his first two seasons.
Speaker 1: As all of the injuries there have been, there are
Speaker 1: injuries that happen every year. But as we talk about,
Speaker 1: it's it's which are the guys that get hurt, right,
Speaker 1: and we're talking about We're talking about a five time
Speaker 1: All Pro and David Bactieri who hasn't played all season,
Speaker 1: a second team All Pro, a pair of second team
Speaker 1: All pros, and Jaire Alexander and Zadarius Smith, and then
Speaker 1: another Pro Bowl offensive lineman and Elton Jenkins goes down,
Speaker 1: you know, a double digit touchdown guy at tight end,
Speaker 1: and Bobby Tounyan goes down. I mean, the the injuries
Speaker 1: that the Packers have dealt with and that that Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur and his coaching staff have had to have had
Speaker 1: to manage and deal with all season long. That speaks
Speaker 1: to why I think he's he's a top candidate for
Speaker 1: Coach of the Year this year for very different reasons
Speaker 1: than he should have been Coach of the Year two
Speaker 1: years ago. Absolutely, and two years ago he should have
Speaker 1: did it because it was this incredible turnaround that year
Speaker 1: the AP voters decided, you know what, we're gonna go
Speaker 1: with John Harbaugh, which, by the way, the other thing
Speaker 1: I love to people insider inbox bringing up, hey, if
Speaker 1: you have the m v P, can they'd not be
Speaker 1: the Coach of the Year two years ago? That wasn't
Speaker 1: a big deal for the Baltimore Ravens, but yet that's
Speaker 1: the direction they went. Yeah, they had they had Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1: He was the he was the Cats. Me out right,
Speaker 1: I'm a couple of things. I just want to say
Speaker 1: here quickly, just to close the point on the floor.
Speaker 1: I loved how there was this argument early on about
Speaker 1: Sean Payton all these injuries and things that the Saints
Speaker 1: have gone through, and certainly they've been hit by injuries
Speaker 1: and illness more than any other team in the National
Speaker 1: Football League, no question about that. But then everyone wanted
Speaker 1: to bang the trumpet for him as a coach of
Speaker 1: the Year that the Saints fell off the flour has
Speaker 1: been doing this since Week one, basically lost everyone outside
Speaker 1: of Aaron Rodgers, and he'd even lost him for you know,
Speaker 1: for one week, and they came within six points of
Speaker 1: handing the Kansas City Chiefs. They're only lost up until
Speaker 1: last week. So be that as it may. I just
Speaker 1: think there's so many great awards that the Associated Press has,
Speaker 1: Offensive Player of the Year, m v P, all these
Speaker 1: different things. I think they tend to get him right.
Speaker 1: The batting average hasn't been great on coach of the
Speaker 1: Year these last few years. No disrespect to Mattnege, no
Speaker 1: disrespect to Kevin Stefanski. There is a lot to be
Speaker 1: said for being able to have a turnaround, But I
Speaker 1: think they got to kind of figure out what's what
Speaker 1: they want to emphasize here because they moved the goal post.
Speaker 1: And if you look back over the last ten fifteen years,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of really random coaches that ended up
Speaker 1: being the NFL Coach of the Year. When I feel
Speaker 1: like that honor should be a little bit more prestigious. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think and and go going back away is
Speaker 1: not to get not to go too far back into
Speaker 1: the history. But I always felt it was extremely unfortunate
Speaker 1: that when Mike McCarthy put together that thirteen and three
Speaker 1: season in Green Bay in two thousand and seven, his
Speaker 1: second year at the Helm, when he had gone eight
Speaker 1: ate his first year, Brett Farve became an m VP
Speaker 1: candidate again in two thousand seven, Well, it just so
Speaker 1: happened that the New England Patriots ran the table and
Speaker 1: we're sixteen and oh, and there was sort of like
Speaker 1: this obligation to give the Coach of the Year to
Speaker 1: to Bill Belichick. Um because of what because of what
Speaker 1: the Patriots had accomplished there and and Mike McCarthy got
Speaker 1: got overlooked for what I thought was was a tremendous
Speaker 1: coaching job. So, yeah, these these awards, they aren't perfect.
Speaker 1: Stuff happens, but um, but I hope, I hope the
Speaker 1: Fleur gets due consideration issue even though I do believe
Speaker 1: there there are other there are other worthy candidates. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, the the cupboard is not bare in terms
Speaker 1: of the potential candidates here. But uh, but over the
Speaker 1: course of the entire season, from Week one until now, um,
Speaker 1: I think I think Matt Fleur, Matt Fleur has been there.
Speaker 1: He's been in this mix, He's been in the discussion
Speaker 1: the whole time, and he's never let anybody down. And
Speaker 1: the fact that once again for a third straight season,
Speaker 1: he has not lost back to back games as a
Speaker 1: head coach, to me, that is that is his most
Speaker 1: impressive accomplishment if I look at the three years in
Speaker 1: total right now. Yeah, and to be able to manage
Speaker 1: everything that's happened over the last twelve months in Green Bay,
Speaker 1: salary cap issues of things in the off season program,
Speaker 1: I think you got to give a lot of credit
Speaker 1: and then I'll also you know, mention this too. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Packers want to win a super Bowl. That's all
Speaker 1: they're really focused on, and that is totally appropriate. But
Speaker 1: what Aaron Rodgers said after they clinched the NFC North,
Speaker 1: when he gave that speech to the huddle afterwards, about
Speaker 1: enjoying these moments, enjoying these victories, understanding how difficult it
Speaker 1: is to win in this league. It's not that have
Speaker 1: your cake and eat it too scenario to appreciate when
Speaker 1: you have individual accomplishment. And I think that's something that
Speaker 1: is important to remember with la Fleur is that it's cool.
Speaker 1: It's it's neat that there's a coach of the Year.
Speaker 1: I understand it's it's a very subjective thing, but it's
Speaker 1: it's cool. If it's cool to be coach of the year,
Speaker 1: it's okay. And I think if if it would work
Speaker 1: that way, uh, it would be amazing for La Fleur.
Speaker 1: The biggest point though, I thought you raised her. That
Speaker 1: is very valid as just to get duke and sideration.
Speaker 1: There hasn't been enough votes cast for Matt Lafleur the
Speaker 1: last two years. It would at least be nice to
Speaker 1: see him get a better run at it this year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would agree. I would I would absolutely agree. Serious
Speaker 1: x M NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up
Speaker 1: to the minute NFL news that true football fanatics need
Speaker 1: seven three and at Cousin Subs, we have something for
Speaker 1: everyone like our Wisconsin cheese curds, mac and cheese, golden fries,
Speaker 1: and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or
Speaker 1: sub in a bowl. Cousin Subs, we believe in better
Speaker 1: all right, West. The Packers are headed to Detroit for
Speaker 1: the regular season finale. The plan is to start the
Speaker 1: game with the starters. We don't know, Matt la Fleur says.
Speaker 1: They have developed a plan for how to work through this.
Speaker 1: We don't know how long the starters are going to play.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's going to be one quarter, two quarters, three quarters,
Speaker 1: I don't know, but the Packers are essentially Matt la
Speaker 1: Fleur has decided, you know, yes, there there's a risk
Speaker 1: of injury any time you put guys out there, but
Speaker 1: he's willing to accept the risk of injury over what
Speaker 1: he feels is the larger risk of giving the guys
Speaker 1: this week off and then the following week with not
Speaker 1: having a game over the over wild Card weekend um
Speaker 1: as we talked about our last show, then suddenly it's
Speaker 1: three weeks um between games. So so the Packers are
Speaker 1: going to Detroit. They are preparing this week with their
Speaker 1: with their frontline players ready to start the game, and
Speaker 1: then we'll see how it unfolds from there. I honestly
Speaker 1: don't think it. I even wrote about it for our website.
Speaker 1: I don't really think this is a big of a deal,
Speaker 1: is what it's sort of become. I think it honestly.
Speaker 1: This is a week in which there isn't a lot
Speaker 1: to write about because the game really in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways doesn't matter. But the one thing, there's a
Speaker 1: couple of things that that hit me on Wednesday about it.
Speaker 1: One it was Davante Adams discussing it because he was
Speaker 1: asking a very intelligent and terrific way by Jason Wildy
Speaker 1: about the difference between this and then you guys don't
Speaker 1: want to play in preseason? What's the difference and Davante,
Speaker 1: it's it's so obvious when you think about it, but
Speaker 1: you don't really it doesn't hit you right away. As
Speaker 1: he mentioned in the preseason, which when he set is pointless,
Speaker 1: which I don't disagree with him for players of for
Speaker 1: players of statue. Yeah, what what good is going to
Speaker 1: come out of Mike Spott for going over to a
Speaker 1: local you know, middle school and writing something for their
Speaker 1: school paper, right, I mean, it's just it's a different level. Um.
Speaker 1: But but the thing is is that he mentions in
Speaker 1: training camp, you're going pretty hard in those practices. You
Speaker 1: have padded practice. You have padded practice day after day.
Speaker 1: There is an element of almost you need some rest
Speaker 1: with those to kind of de escalate a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And for fans who don't know, training camp practices are
Speaker 1: significantly longer, greater duration than regular season practices, it is.
Speaker 1: It is a it is much more of a daily
Speaker 1: grind on the field in training camp than it is
Speaker 1: during the regular It's more like a play. It's not
Speaker 1: just a dress rehearsal. I mean, they are really going
Speaker 1: after it in right now. It isn't like that they
Speaker 1: get their plays in. They have their script in, but
Speaker 1: everything's been installed. They've run a lot of these schemes.
Speaker 1: It's just trying to figure out what are we going
Speaker 1: to install for this game. It's about it's about the
Speaker 1: game plan and just refamiliarizing everybody with certain concepts in
Speaker 1: the playbook that they're choosing for this particular contest. So
Speaker 1: you're not going all that hard in those games, so
Speaker 1: in those practices. So that's where this three weeks comes
Speaker 1: in that we keep talking about if if they wouldn't
Speaker 1: play on Sunday, and I wrote this an inbox too. Okay,
Speaker 1: the game doesn't matter. We know all that. So that's
Speaker 1: where you just avoid the risk. Aaron Rodgers is under pressure,
Speaker 1: throw the ball away, you know, I mean take an
Speaker 1: intentional ground and call these type of thing. I think
Speaker 1: there's it's a very physical game, it's an important game.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I don't think it is
Speaker 1: the danger that everybody wants to present this as preseason.
Speaker 1: There's no point in it because you could get it.
Speaker 1: You could get a non contact injury, as we saw
Speaker 1: with Jordy Nelson. These guys don't need these reps. They're
Speaker 1: installing stuff in practice. They don't want to show the
Speaker 1: stuff they've installed against the opposite AI to put that
Speaker 1: on film. This is a different animal. And for the
Speaker 1: Packers to actually go out there on Sunday, do they
Speaker 1: need to play? Probably not, but to be able to
Speaker 1: keep that momentum going and keep building and keep the
Speaker 1: wheel turning. As Edvante Adams said, I think there's a
Speaker 1: lot of value in that. Well, we will see, We
Speaker 1: will certainly see how things unfold. I will say this
Speaker 1: with regard to however long Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams and
Speaker 1: and the front line guys play, I don't think there's
Speaker 1: anything one way or another that that Aaron Rodgers can
Speaker 1: do or not do that will that will impact the
Speaker 1: m v P voting. UM. I'm not going to get
Speaker 1: into all of the Hull Barker stuff. It is not
Speaker 1: worth our time to discuss that. What I do want
Speaker 1: to say is that, UM, I think it's pretty clear
Speaker 1: cut on the field that Aaron Rodgers is the m
Speaker 1: v P in the NFL. You said it an inbox.
Speaker 1: I've said it as well before. To me, I felt
Speaker 1: like a few weeks ago, it felt like it was
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, Jonathan Taylor, and Tom Brady and with a
Speaker 1: few games to go in the regular season, Okay, like,
Speaker 1: how is this going to shake out? Now? You know
Speaker 1: Taylor had the nationally televised game, you know, in prime time,
Speaker 1: had like a forty plus yard run but then was
Speaker 1: held to like sixty some yards on his other carries.
Speaker 1: He didn't have that big monster game down the stretch.
Speaker 1: And the Coults are sitting there at nine and seven. Yes,
Speaker 1: they'll probably make the playoffs. They beat the Jaguars, they'll
Speaker 1: get in, But ten and seven, it's I think it's
Speaker 1: hard to vote for an m v P on a
Speaker 1: team that that loses seven games. You look at Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: He's got the shiny year statistics, certainly in terms of
Speaker 1: the yards and the touchdowns, then Aaron Rodgers has. But
Speaker 1: with the Buccaneers in the fight for the playoff by
Speaker 1: and the number one seed, Tom Brady got shut out
Speaker 1: by the New Orleans Saints in a game that he
Speaker 1: only need to put up ten points to win because
Speaker 1: his defense held New Orleans to nine. He got shut out.
Speaker 1: And yes, Aaron Rodgers had a terrible game against the
Speaker 1: Saints back in Week one, but games in December matter more.
Speaker 1: And to me, that sequence of events, with the fact
Speaker 1: that Rogers has continued this run where every week he's
Speaker 1: throwing either two or three touchdown passes with no interceptions,
Speaker 1: and the Packers are finishing now on with a with
Speaker 1: a winning streak here and and have clinched the number
Speaker 1: one seed with a week to go. I think the
Speaker 1: separation has occurred between Aaron Rodgers, Jonathan Taylor and and
Speaker 1: and Tom Brady, that this is that that this award
Speaker 1: should be Rodgers. Since Week one, the guy has thrown
Speaker 1: thirty five touchdown passes and two interceptions, and he's lost
Speaker 1: one game because the other Packers losses when he didn't play.
Speaker 1: He's lost one game on a walk off field goal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and he threw a seventy five yard touchdown to give
Speaker 1: his team to give his team a chance to win
Speaker 1: that game late. So to me, it's just I don't know.
Speaker 1: I honestly don't know how in good conscience any voter,
Speaker 1: whether you whether you're taking in the off the field
Speaker 1: garbage or not, I don't know how any voter and
Speaker 1: good conscience can really can really say that Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: is not the m v P. To me, there are
Speaker 1: more valid candidates for the Coach of the Year discussion
Speaker 1: we just had than the m v P one. This
Speaker 1: is a slam dunk for Aaron Rodgers. I think so.
Speaker 1: And I agree with you. I think you should go
Speaker 1: back to back. I think it should be number four
Speaker 1: for him. The other thing I want to is I
Speaker 1: just I want that focus to be on what happens
Speaker 1: on the football, absolutely and absolutely this is the one
Speaker 1: thing that's funny, right My um my dad recently retired
Speaker 1: congratulations pod worked for forty years close to it, a
Speaker 1: nearby paper mill here celebrate, Yeah, exactly. I don't know
Speaker 1: what his day to day was like. I don't know
Speaker 1: what happened there. I knew what he was like when
Speaker 1: he came home. I knew what he's like when he
Speaker 1: was my dad, But I had no idea what was
Speaker 1: going on at his place of business, as he has
Speaker 1: no idea really ultimately what happens at mind now these days.
Speaker 1: The thing I don't understand about the Rogers fiasco is
Speaker 1: all this is there's so many people on the outside,
Speaker 1: and it's been like this for you know, last five years,
Speaker 1: six years. It seems like where everybody wants to draw
Speaker 1: conclusions and have these these grandiose statements about things, but
Speaker 1: they're not the ones actually in the locker room. And
Speaker 1: when the argument gets made about the bad teammate about
Speaker 1: these off the field distractions, it didn't show up in
Speaker 1: the winning lost column. This season, and when time came
Speaker 1: to it, and when time came to play football in July,
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers was there. I'm not privy to any of
Speaker 1: those conversations. I don't know what those things have been
Speaker 1: like with Brian good Quins, but all I can go
Speaker 1: off of is what I've seen. And what I've seen
Speaker 1: is a thirteen and three team, a quarterback with the
Speaker 1: best passer rating in the NFL this season. You know,
Speaker 1: for so many years people want to dog him for
Speaker 1: the QBR. He leads that darn statute. I couldn't tell
Speaker 1: you one thing about it, but I know he's He's
Speaker 1: leading that category. Aaron Rodgers is the most valuable player
Speaker 1: to the league's winning his team. And I, as I
Speaker 1: wrote an inbox, I'm like, if you neglect to recognize that,
Speaker 1: you're just denying reality and to over think it and
Speaker 1: draw these other conclusions. If Aaron Rodgers had these stats
Speaker 1: and the Packers were five and eleven right now, I
Speaker 1: don't think you and I would be sitting up here
Speaker 1: talking about why he's the m v P. No, we're
Speaker 1: not doing that for Jonathan Taylor right now. In the heck,
Speaker 1: they they got nine wins on the season. So I
Speaker 1: just think, you know, I don't know, it's gonna be weird.
Speaker 1: I think that when this thing is all said and done,
Speaker 1: however many years or whenever that ends, there's gonna be
Speaker 1: a lot of dissecting about what what exactly all this
Speaker 1: was about, because it isn't just one thing. To me,
Speaker 1: It's it's a lot of things. And ultimately, I think
Speaker 1: the guys in that locker room, the guys that he
Speaker 1: connects with, they're the ones that speak the loudest. And
Speaker 1: for the Green of Packers, it's led to a lot
Speaker 1: of winning and it has them once again in the
Speaker 1: driver's seat in the NFC. Yeah. Absolutely, Well, with regard
Speaker 1: to the NFC, before we go, I just want to
Speaker 1: touch on where things are with regard to the playoff picture.
Speaker 1: We all know the Packers have the number one seed,
Speaker 1: they have it clinched. There is one spot still available,
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna put you on. I'm gonna put you
Speaker 1: on the spot here, Wes. The forty Niners are playing
Speaker 1: the Rams. If the forty Niners win, they get the
Speaker 1: last playoff spot. If the Rams win that game, the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints can get the last playoff spot with
Speaker 1: a victory over the Atlanta Falcons. So what do you
Speaker 1: think Who's going to get that final wild card spot
Speaker 1: in the NFC? I think the New Orleans Saints are
Speaker 1: And the main reason I say that is I think
Speaker 1: the Rams kind of like Green Bay has been on.
Speaker 1: The Rams have been on a big run here too
Speaker 1: to end the regular season, and I just feel like
Speaker 1: San Francisco has been way too up and down in
Speaker 1: While you give San Francisco a lot of credit for
Speaker 1: how they handed it to the Rams, I think this
Speaker 1: game will be different in l A. I feel like thing.
Speaker 1: I just feel like the Rams, in addition to being
Speaker 1: the more talented team, are the more consistent team. Um.
Speaker 1: To be honest with you, I would actually like to
Speaker 1: see the forty Niners in the playoffs more than the Saints.
Speaker 1: From a pure entertainment standpoint, I think they're a bigger
Speaker 1: question mark. I have a hard time seeing the Saints
Speaker 1: getting on much of a run. Yeah, forty Niners are
Speaker 1: a more balanced team, but but the schedule is what
Speaker 1: it is, and for the forty Niners this is a
Speaker 1: difficult opponent. I just don't see l A laying another
Speaker 1: egg against San franc could happen but but if you
Speaker 1: put me on the spot for who I'm picking, I'd
Speaker 1: probably pick l A and pick New Orleans to get in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's interesting because I think San Francisco has had
Speaker 1: a pretty strong push here towards the end, and the
Speaker 1: Rams while you know, extremely talented, but dealing with dealing
Speaker 1: with you know, a massive COVID list and all this,
Speaker 1: and then there you know, their games getting rescheduled, moved around,
Speaker 1: and then you know, playing on a super short week
Speaker 1: and all this kind of stuff, and Matthew Stafford has
Speaker 1: been turning the ball over like crazy, and so that's
Speaker 1: where that's where I just I just wonder if if,
Speaker 1: if Now the game is in l A. As you said,
Speaker 1: it's at Sophi Stadium, But but I just wonder if
Speaker 1: San Francisco will be able potentially to pull this out.
Speaker 1: And what's interesting in the larger picture in the NFC,
Speaker 1: the Rams right now are the two seed, and if
Speaker 1: they win, they will be they will be the two
Speaker 1: seed right behind the Packers. But if the Rams lose,
Speaker 1: there's suddenly this this potential domino ripple effect with regard
Speaker 1: to how all of the seating between number two and
Speaker 1: number five could shake out amongst the Buccaneers the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: who could steal the NFC West if if the Rams lose,
Speaker 1: obviously the Cowboys are in that mix as well. If
Speaker 1: if the Rams end up losing the division, if they
Speaker 1: lose in the Cardinals win, the Rams go from being
Speaker 1: the two all the way to the five and suddenly
Speaker 1: they're going on the road on Wildliad weekend. It's a
Speaker 1: huge it's a huge shift of fate, so to speak,
Speaker 1: for them. So um, really that if if there's one,
Speaker 1: if there's one game in in week eighteen, that that
Speaker 1: has the biggest implications in in the bigger picture, it's
Speaker 1: this forty Rams. Yeah, and and I obviously should probably
Speaker 1: amend my previous statement to and say that, you know,
Speaker 1: New Orleans has to get past Atlanta for this thing
Speaker 1: to become all relevant. But I us, you and I
Speaker 1: were discussing a couple of days ago with Atlanta. They
Speaker 1: are seven and nine, But I mean they're they're winning
Speaker 1: percentage as far as the opponents they face is less.
Speaker 1: I mean, they've had they've had plenty of opportunity to
Speaker 1: put themselves in a better position. And so I just
Speaker 1: think seanpa Falcons just continue to the Falcons just continue
Speaker 1: to come up short. That would be classic Falcons though
Speaker 1: in a way is if the Rams do beat the forty,
Speaker 1: but then the Falcons would actually stop the Saints from
Speaker 1: getting in, and then uh, and then the forty others
Speaker 1: would would still get in any way, and they were
Speaker 1: back to the yearly question of is Matt Ryan still
Speaker 1: the quarterback? Right? The whole discussion, the whole discussion in
Speaker 1: Atlanta starts over last one before we go. As I
Speaker 1: mentioned before, the Colts most likely will be getting into
Speaker 1: the playoffs. They just have to beat the two win
Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguars in order to do it. And if that happens,
Speaker 1: then that sets up a Sunday Night football winner go
Speaker 1: home game between the Chargers and the Raiders if the Colts,
Speaker 1: if the Colts clinch a playoffs spot, then between Chargers
Speaker 1: Raiders it's essentially it's a de facto playoff game. The
Speaker 1: winner season is still alive, the loser's season is over.
Speaker 1: So Chargers Raiders, are you going to add in the
Speaker 1: other contingency to that? Well, Brandon Brandon Staley addressed that
Speaker 1: very He addressed that very directly. As far as the
Speaker 1: if you don't know what we're talking about it as
Speaker 1: far as the whole idea that if the Colts were
Speaker 1: to lose to the Jaguars, the Chargers and the Raiders
Speaker 1: would both get in the playoffs if they tie. So
Speaker 1: of course you could have this conspiratorial, you know, gentlemen's
Speaker 1: agreement to to somehow play seventy minutes of football and
Speaker 1: uh and have a tie. But Brandon Staley said, everyone
Speaker 1: respects the game and that's not going to happen because
Speaker 1: of because of the respect for the game. So this
Speaker 1: is West Hackwits the anarchist, though not a big fan
Speaker 1: of you know. So there'd be nothing more hilarious than
Speaker 1: flexing a game in the prime time and then the
Speaker 1: team goes out there, takes a knee and the whole
Speaker 1: thing sEH is being thrown. Yeah that could yeah, that
Speaker 1: could get that could get a bit, that could get
Speaker 1: a bit. I'll say this. I'll say this. It's going
Speaker 1: to it's it is more than likely, considering the chances,
Speaker 1: the very strong likelihood that the Colts will beat the
Speaker 1: Jaguars to get one of those playoff spots, that this
Speaker 1: will be a win to get in loser loser goes
Speaker 1: home games, the Darryl Bevil game out and Jacksonville win
Speaker 1: one for the Bevil. You know, now, hey, let me
Speaker 1: put it this way. Let's let's boil it down like this.
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert, I mean, I don't need to say any
Speaker 1: more about Justin Herbert. Everybody knows how much I love
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert. The games on the line, these are the
Speaker 1: type of games that young man is gonna have to win.
Speaker 1: They may not win a Super Bowl this year, but
Speaker 1: these are the moments and things you want to see
Speaker 1: him tested By the fact they got us In Eichler
Speaker 1: back to I mean, I think that's really going to
Speaker 1: help them now after he's done with his boat with COVID.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I definitely like the Chargers chances if they
Speaker 1: don't kneel. Yeah, I like the Argers in this one too.
Speaker 1: If I'm a if I'm a fan of another team,
Speaker 1: you know whose team is in the a f C playoffs,
Speaker 1: I think I'm kind of rooting for the Raiders though,
Speaker 1: just because because the Justin Herbert like get hot. I know,
Speaker 1: this is a young quarterback who hasn't played in the
Speaker 1: postseason and has all of this, all of this January
Speaker 1: experience the big games and everything that he has to learn.
Speaker 1: But justin Herbert's one of those quarterbacks who's capable of
Speaker 1: getting of getting that hot hand. If I'm another team
Speaker 1: in the a f C, I'd rather see the Raiders
Speaker 1: and then the Chargers. But that's just my love. I
Speaker 1: do think the Chargers will win this game. I love
Speaker 1: the way the f C shaping up though for years
Speaker 1: to come, that is going to be an exciting conference
Speaker 1: with Burrow. With him, I mean to had some moments
Speaker 1: this year, a ton of a ton of young, young,
Speaker 1: really exciting quarterbacks. But Herbert, Man, you want to get
Speaker 1: the Charges now because in five six years, if that
Speaker 1: kid stays healthy, I think they're going to be a
Speaker 1: tough out. Yeah. I think so too. With that, we'll
Speaker 1: call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of Sunday's
Speaker 1: game from Ford Field in Detroit. We'll have it all
Speaker 1: for you on Packers dot com. For West, I'm Mike.
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in, everybody. See you next time. M