WEBVTT - #574 Packers Unscripted: Winter wonderland 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:14.680 Hi, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.079 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:21.239 by my trusted colleague Western hot Kowitz. Were coming to 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:25.320 you from socially distant locations at lambeau Field and West 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.040 last Sunday night, the snow was falling, It was gathering 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:33.239 on lambeau Field. The hash marks were brushed off. It 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:39.240 was a classic post Christmas winter December game at lambeau Field, 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.479 and oh, by the way, the Packers put together probably 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:46.239 their best performance on both sides of the ball on 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:50.960 the season in dismantling a ten win Tennessee Titans Team 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:56.000 four team. Mike, I have to make this point before 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:58.640 we even jump into this game. You mentioned this was 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.240 the best, most complete performance you wrote about it for 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.520 Packers dot Com, and you're right about that. This was 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:08.760 also the quintessential Green Bay Packers December football game. Using 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:11.440 the elements to their advantage. I was trying to think 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:14.280 of the last game that where it just seemed like 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:17.480 the Packers were able to use the home field advantage 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:21.640 to their betterment, to their advantage, and and and being 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:25.680 able to take advantage of the snow falling, the conditions, 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:27.720 the way they ran the ball thirty seven times or 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.600 whatever ended up being, and it was just it was 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:33.959 everything you wanted it to be. In defensively, they embraced 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.960 those elements. Well, everything that worked for Green Bay's offense 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.960 also worked for the defense. In this matchup, the green 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:43.840 Bay Packers come up with a dominating win. You look 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:46.880 at the performance of aj Dylan breaking out when everybody 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.960 was focused on Derrick Henry. Here comes the rookie second 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:53.040 round pick gets inserted in the game, which Jamal Williams 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:55.640 already down with the thigh injury. Then Aaron Jones is 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.880 dealing with a lower body injury. Jones is able to return, 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.280 but they really wrote Allen and he stepped up to 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.559 the challenge. And before we go any farther with anything else, 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:09.880 DeVante Adams three more touchdowns towards this season total seventeen 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.200 now on the season, one off the franchise record pays 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:16.720 of Sterling Sharp also within I believe four catches now, 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:18.440 correct me if I'm wrong on that. As far as 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:21.720 breaking the single season mark, Davante Adams is as good 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:24.120 as they get. Yeah. Absolutely, We've got a lot of 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:26.560 ground to cover in this show. I you raised an 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:29.560 interesting thing though about a late season game where the 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:33.240 Packers really took advantage of the elements and while the 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.959 opponents sort of looked out of its element the way 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.880 Tennessee did in that game. And the one that comes 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:43.000 to mind was during the run the table in frankly, 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:46.000 when the Houston Texans, not a great Houston Texans team 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:48.880 but not a bad one, came into lambeau Field late 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:50.720 in the year and there was kind of some snow, 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:53.440 maybe a little bit of sleep, and Houston just looked 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:58.000 almost dysfunctional. Now Tennessee wasn't quite like that, but the 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:02.040 Packers jumped on them. Ninety did nothing three straight touchdowns 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.760 to open the game. The defense had an interception in there, 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.520 with Darnell Savage getting one to set up a score. 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:12.520 Packers were in command of this game, and even when 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.880 Tennessee got the double up, the touchdown before halftime, the 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:19.320 touchdown right after halftime, suddenly nineteen to zero becomes nineteen 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:22.480 to fourteen and it's a one score game. The Packers 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.000 answered Aaron Jones busts off a big run. Got a 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:27.400 little lucky because they missed the call there on stepping 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:30.200 out of bounds, but the Packers took three plays, scored 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:32.880 a touchdown, We're back up by two scores, stayed in 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:35.280 command of the game the rest of the way, and 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:38.760 that that response against a good team in the second 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.880 half when the momentum was starting to shift the other way. 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:44.800 That was a big positive sign, I think for this 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.840 Packers team, because we've seen in other games where it's 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:51.120 been harder, it's taken longer to stem the tide and 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:53.920 get the momentum back in Green Bay's favor. The Packers 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:56.880 did it right away in the third quarter in this one, 0:03:57.240 --> 0:03:59.880 and that's a really good sign heading in the playoffs. Yeah, 0:03:59.880 --> 0:04:02.480 it's one of the most overlooked fifty nine yard runs 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.160 you're gonna find when you and everything else that happened 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.240 in this matchup, Aaron Rodgers making his run at the 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:10.280 m v P, you had another Darnell Savage interception, all 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.000 these other accolades. Oh, by the way, Aaron Jones at 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.160 a time in which the Packers really needed a response, 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:18.479 provided that response. And it also came again after he 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:22.200 had been sort of sidelined momentarily was never disclosed with 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:24.839 an injury, but obviously was battling through a couple of 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:26.960 things there, and also Mike, you gotta remember a week 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:30.239 earlier that game, you know, against Carolina, the third quarter 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:32.360 was sort of the bugaboo there. They weren't able to 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:34.440 get through what they were trying to get through, and 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.320 it kind of had to end up holding them off. 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:38.360 This was where they actually got to go in again 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:40.039 to be able to get their foot back on the 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.800 gas pedal and and finish out the way that they did. 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.400 And just to mention this as well, with Aaron Jones 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.480 ninety four yards in this matchup though what it was 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:51.800 at two and thirty four total for the two of them, 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:54.279 that's the type of production you're looking for. And when 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:56.640 all eyes are on Derrick Henry and you're able to 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.080 hold him underneath the hundred yards rushing in a yeoman's 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:03.120 effort by the entire your defense, the front, the defensive front, 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.880 the linebackers, uh, the safeties are playing as well as 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.760 they have all season. Uh. That really set the tone 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:11.200 for what Greenville was able to accomplish. And like the 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.160 biggest compliment you can give a defense, it isn't necessarily 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:16.920 just looking at, okay, two hundred and sixty total yards 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.400 or or two takeaways. It's what can teams that are 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:23.680 going to play the Titans learn from your performance. I 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:27.440 think like Petton in that unit provided some glimpses into 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:30.040 what it's gonna take to hold off the Titans in 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.320 the long run. They're not always going to be playing 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.360 in the snow. But you saw exactly how much their 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.240 offense is predicated on the play action, and when they 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:40.520 were not able to establish Henry early on in this 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.560 matchup the downfield past, the game sort of went away 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:46.120 for the Titans a little bit. That's one thing to 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:48.960 take note of here, considering Tennessee came in as the 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:53.400 NFL's highest scoring offense in the Lambau Field on Sunday night. Yeah, absolutely. 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.279 I mean, the Packers held the top scoring offense in 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:59.240 the league to just the two touchdowns, and you're right, 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.680 they really didn't have much of a downfield passing game. 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:04.840 I think a lot of that was because Derrick Henry 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:07.920 was not busting off the kind of runs that set 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:11.400 up the play action and get Ryan Tannehill comfortable in 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.080 the pocket and all of that. I believe it was 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:16.600 if I remember right from a statistic that I had 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:20.600 um in Insider Inbox on Monday morning. I wrote it 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.880 pretty late at night, so I'm hoping to remember it correctly. 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.240 But Henry had twenty three carries for nine yards. Only 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:32.240 five of those twenty three carries did he gain more 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.280 than five yards, and three of those five carries of 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.119 five plus came after the Packers were already ahead thirty 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:42.120 three to fourteen in the game. So the effort to 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:46.000 clamp down on Derrick Henry and and to say, you know, 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:47.960 to say the Packers clamped down on him and he 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:51.599 had ninety yards, that tells you how good Henry is. 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:55.560 But it also just shows the effort that the Packers 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.320 put forth. And we saw we saw Mike Petton try 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:00.800 a lot of different things. He played a six man 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:05.039 front with four defensive linemen in between the two outside linebackers. 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.120 He played a five man front even when he was 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:11.160 playing the nickel with five defensive backs only having the 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:15.120 one inside linebacker in between. He tried all kinds of 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:19.800 these different changeups. And what happened is the Packers made 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:23.400 those wrinkles work, and they also it also just threw 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.560 Tennessee off just a little bit. You saw Tannehill changing 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:28.640 some plays at the line of scrimmage. They weren't really 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:31.400 sure what they wanted to do, and that Tennessee offense 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:35.000 never got into a rhythm whatsoever. And but I will 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:37.600 say this as much as people want to talk about, 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:39.480 and I've got some film clips in my what you 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:43.280 might have missed on the changeups that Mike Petton put 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:47.280 together defensively for Derrick Henry. It still comes down to 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.760 getting off blocks and making tackles. You can look at 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:54.720 the plays that I have on the website and yes, 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:57.960 the scheme was there and some things worked, but the 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:01.320 Titans also had guys blocked, and the Packers made plays 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.240 because guys got off blocks and made tackles. So that 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:07.480 part of it doesn't change it. The effort all across 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:09.680 the board, all three levels of the defense for the 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:12.200 Packers got the job done. And oh, by the way, yeah, 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:15.000 they got two interceptions off of Tannehill as well, with 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:18.200 Savage and Kirksey both getting picks. Uh, you know, in 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:21.040 some key situations and savvy ways in which they were 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:23.800 able to generate those pressures. Mike, this is a selfless 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:25.640 effort on the defensive side of the ball. They had 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:27.480 to go into this game knowing, okay, it's gonna be 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:30.200 very unlikely. We're gonna sack Ryan Tannell eight times, and 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.800 we're just gonna have a litany of celebrations to do 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:36.280 that with. No it was going to be a hard work, 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.280 bring your lunch pail to the field type of day, 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:42.880 and everybody executed what their assignment was supposed to be. 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:44.880 You can have the best plan in the world, Mike 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:46.800 and Mike Petton drew up a heck of a one 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:50.160 for that matchup. But the guy's gotta buy in and 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:52.440 they have to know what's being asked of them. In 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:55.560 the base package in the dime where they bring up 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.880 Adrian Amos into the box. Adrian Amos, excuse me, gotta 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:01.720 get that correct when they bring him up into the box, 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.880 that role that Raven Green had been playing. Everybody filtered 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.800 in the the linebackers, Mike, they're rotating all three their 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:11.280 inside backers, and there was no confusion there. Everybody understood 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:14.080 what their assignment was. That's where it starts in the 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:16.760 execution side of it. You kind of heard it in 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:19.480 Kenny Clark's voice last week when he spoke to the media. 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.679 These guys were jacked up about this. They were excited 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.480 about this challenge. They felt like they had made big strides, 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:27.880 but now they had the really big quiz at the 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:30.840 end of the semester to show exactly how far they've come, 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:33.480 and they did that in that matchup. And it's getting 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:35.560 back really quickly to the sacks. As you pointed out, 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:40.040 Christian Kirksey coming on an inside linebacker blitz in a 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:42.760 base package. How often have you seen that in the 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.440 last ten years? And then Rashaan Gary, who's really his 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:50.480 biggest contribution was helping defend the edge and set the run. Well, 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:52.600 he's also the one that was able to get pressure 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:56.840 that's set up Darnielle Savage's first interception, Preston Smith doing 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:59.719 that for Christian Kirksey. It's not all about sacks. It's 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:01.760 about I'll let you affect the game. The Green Bay 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:04.720 Packers outside linebackers did it in this one. Yeah. And 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:06.640 on the other side of the ball, hats off to 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.120 the Green Bay Packers offensive line. You talk about a 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:12.360 unit that looked in its element with all that snow 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:14.520 on the field and the way the Packers were running 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:16.600 the ball. It didn't matter if it was Aaron Jones 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:18.719 or a j Dylan in the game. I don't think 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:22.040 anybody predicted Dylan was gonna get twenty plus carries an 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:25.640 out rush Derrick Henry heading into this one, but that's 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:29.319 exactly what he did. When Dylan started to get the 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.200 hot hand and started to feel that Aaron Rodgers talked about, 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.080 he could he could sense the rookies confidence building. That 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:37.720 you know, once you start breaking off some five and 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:40.960 six and seven yard runs, the confidence starts to grow. 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:43.160 And then all of a sudden, here comes a twelve 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.080 yard run, and then oh, by the way, here's a 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:48.120 thirty yard run on third and short that bus for 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.120 a touchdown. And then of course he finishes it off 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:54.560 just trucking a defensive tackle at the goal line to 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:58.160 get his second touchdown, capping a hundred and twenty four 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:02.719 yard performance by the rookie. This is really interesting here. 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:05.360 Now West heading into the playoffs, the Packers suddenly have 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:10.560 a shiny, fresh new weapon to to throw into this offense. 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.640 Who Now, they don't completely change the running game scheme wise, 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:16.920 depending on which back is in there, but A. J. 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:20.200 Dillon is a different style of back as we've talked about, 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.480 and he showed, he showed what he can do and 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:26.440 as I like to point out, those big legs are fresh, 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.480 aren't they. They sure are, Mike, our friend James Jones 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:31.800 made an excellent point saying it kind of in a 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:35.200 way reminds them the old James Starks in two thousand 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:37.680 and ten. Now, don't get me wrong, A J. Dillon 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.040 comes much more credential than James did as a sixth 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:42.040 round pick on a Buffalo at the time. But it 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:44.439 really is a guy that up until Sunday only had 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:47.200 twenty four carries on those legs to that point, didn't 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:49.000 have a preseason at all. I mean, this is a 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:51.199 guy that has it to work his way back, but 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:53.320 from being on the COVID reserve list for a month, 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:55.959 and he looked every bit as strong and every bit 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:58.600 as powerful as you and I were discussing back in 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:00.840 the spring when you wrote that ory on him coming 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:03.240 out of the NFL Draft. And to make this point 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:05.840 as well, I'm gonna keep doing this, Mike, because Matt 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:08.400 Lafleur is very calculated with what he says. He doesn't 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:10.720 just say stuff to say it. And it was a 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:13.080 big moment, and maybe I'm making more of it than 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:15.640 what other people are, but he was standing at that 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.280 podium back in February when life was just a little 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:21.040 bit more normal at the time, and he said, we 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:24.040 have two fantastic backs. We love both of these guys. 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:27.680 We would like a third, we want another option. Brian 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.400 Goodicin's two months later gave him that other option and 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.360 A J. Dillon And now assuming they can get Jamal 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:37.640 Williams back here, Aaron Rodgers sounded optimistic about that they 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:40.120 have three guys that they can shove down the throat 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:44.439 of defenses in the postseason. Aaron Jones injury complicated things 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:46.439 a little bit, But I do wonder how much we're 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.320 gonna see some of those two running back packages getting 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:52.080 those back involved, being able to motion guys out, being 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:55.720 more unpredictable there is. We're in week seventeen, Mike, and 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:57.839 there's still a lot left in the cupboard for the 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.400 Packers to pull from. Yeah, this is going to be 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:04.000 interesting moving forward here with with what with the options 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:05.920 that the Packers are going to have in the backfield. 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.720 We saw once again, as we've talked about many times 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:13.600 after games this year, just how difficult this Packers offense 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.800 is to stop when it is running the football efficiently 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:19.280 and I'll say this to heading into the postseason, and 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.600 then I want to talk about Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams, 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:24.640 because there's plenty to discuss there. But I wonder here 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.560 moving forward, if the second half of the Carolina game, 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.640 which was too stinker quarters, as Aaron Rodgers put it, 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:34.199 I wonder if that might have been a really good 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:36.560 thing to happen to this offense. And I say that 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:40.959 because Carolina decided they were going to take away Davante Adams, 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.840 the Packers were determined to still get the ball to 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:48.080 Davante Adams. And after the game, both Matt Lafleur and 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:51.280 then as the week went on Aaron Rodgers both admitted 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:53.760 they got away from the running game against Carolina, and 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.560 it had been working. It was what made the offense 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.960 so efficient in the first half against Carolina. I think 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.720 there was a lesson learned there by the play color, 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.560 by the quarterback, by the entire offense. With what happened 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:08.400 in the second half of Carolina, I think that's potentially 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.520 a good thing for Green Bay moving forward. Mike, you 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:13.920 like my my fighting analogies. I know you're a huge 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.160 fan of them, but it really reminds you as kind 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:18.599 of like a sparring fight, a sparring boxing match a 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.840 little bit. Carolina Panthers, they their record is what that 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:24.280 it is, but there are a lot of talented players 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:26.400 on that defense. Brian Burns and I think Jeremy Chin 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:28.600 are going to be guys that really rise up and 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:32.720 become perennial Pro bowlers in this league. But the Panthers 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:35.560 were an opponent. Everyone expected the Packers to beat. The 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:38.400 Panthers kind of reminded everybody that, Okay, we can still 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:40.240 come up and we can make adjustments and we can 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:42.280 find ways to take away your best player. So what 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:44.760 do the Packers do. They take that experience and they 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.000 go up against the Tennessee Titans team that while their 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:50.360 record is better, their defense has some major issues right now. 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:53.200 They were working through some problems the sacks, the lack 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:55.560 of sacks this season. That was prevalent in this game, 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.040 and I thought it weighed really heavily into the final outcome. 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:01.640 But the Packers use what they had done to make 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:05.080 adjustments to make Davonte Adams that much better in this matchup. 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:07.480 He got single coverage in the end zone, he caught 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:10.360 a touchdown. They gave him cloud coverage two guys on him. 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.720 Davantae Adams used every single little uh what do they 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:16.560 call that, the little thing in the cleat right, the spike, 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:19.240 the spike, thank you. He used every single one of 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:21.960 those cutback shed both of his guys and was able 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.400 to catch the other touchdown pass. Green Packers moved Davantae 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:28.480 Adams around a lot in this game, eleven catches at 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:32.840 two yards and to three touchdowns later. Again, a running 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:36.920 game that can complement an all pro receiver. There's a 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:38.840 lot of weapons here for Green Bay to tap into 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:41.960 in January. Yeah, no question about it. Well, Aaron Rodgers. 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:46.320 All he did on a snowy and somewhat windy game, 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.360 at least it was windy for the first half before 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:50.600 things calmed down a little bit. He goes out and 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:54.920 throws four touchdown passes, which matches the number of incompletions 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:58.400 he has and going twenty one out of puts up 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:02.680 another monster pass rating is thrown interception, which obviously bothered him. 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.560 And and uh, you know always will. But I'll tell 0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:08.440 you Wes and I know we'll talk a little bit 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:10.720 more about Adams here as well. But I just don't 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:14.000 see right now how Aaron Rodgers is not the NFL 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:18.560 Most Valuable Player. He's got he's got a lead of 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:22.000 whatever it is, eight or nine passer rating points on 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.600 Patrick Mahomes at this point, he still has fewer interceptions 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:28.840 than Mahomes. He's got forty four touchdown passes. He's won 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:31.200 away from his own career high back in two thousand 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:34.000 eleven when he had forty five and had that NFL 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:37.920 record one two and a half passer rating. I think 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:41.400 Aaron Rodgers uh locked down the m v P with 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:45.040 that performance against what still looks like a playoff bound 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.640 team in the Tennessee Titans. Yeah. I agree with you, Mike, 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:49.720 and I think the odds makers do too as well 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.520 from what I saw this past week and the national media. 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:56.480 But here's the thing. What I love so much about 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:58.920 what Rogers has done this season is you can talk 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:01.840 about the forty four touch down passes, another four thousand 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.720 yards season, the first quarterback. What is an NFL history 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:07.439 to have three seasons or is it five seasons now 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:10.159 with over thirty five passes and touchdown passes in a season. 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:15.200 But it's the seventy percent completion percentage that's the difference here. 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:17.560 It's a guy that was around in the low sixties. 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:19.719 For a couple of seasons people were talking about him 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:21.680 throwing the ball away too much, holding onto the ball 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.639 too long. He is playing on time, he's playing in sync, 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:27.200 and I think you've seen the evolution of a guy 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.760 that has always been an m v P caliber quarterback 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:32.440 and will be a first ballot Hall of Famer someday, 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:34.960 and you've seen him sort of grow into himself as 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:37.119 now a thirty seven year old quarterback that needs to 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:40.080 play the game a little differently. The arm strength is there, 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:43.040 the awareness is still at its peak, and Rogers is 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:46.480 still can scramble enough to keep a defense. Honest, he 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:50.080 just looks like the full five tool player that everybody 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:52.720 thought he was, and he's showing everybody that that guy 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.720 is still very much here and is, in my opinion, 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:57.840 he has to be the m v P at this point. 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.560 If Aaron Rodgers isn't the m v P, you're changing 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:03.800 the metric, You're moving the goalpost to avoid giving him 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:06.359 that award he was taking on the running back that 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.320 is the highest guy in that in that competition. And 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:12.360 Patrick Mahomes has had an up and down month of December. 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.680 They've won games, but it hasn't been because of his dominance. 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:19.560 Aaron Rodgers has been dominant and for a team that 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:22.440 allegedly didn't have any weapons at the beginning of this season. 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:24.120 I mean this was you know, if you put west 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:26.480 Hockwoods out there, this team isn't winning anything, right, That's 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:28.720 what they were saying with with you know, they needed 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:30.800 a first round receiver and all that. Well, if that's true, 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:35.840 here's judgment day. Yeah, Aaron Rodgers has made this team 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:38.600 better and he's gotten the most out of the talent 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:42.720 that was always there that maybe people didn't want to realize. Yeah, 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:44.920 and if he does win that third m VP, he 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.720 would join some pretty select company. Only five players in 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:52.399 NFL history in terms of the Associated Press NFL MVP Award, 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.600 which began in the late nineteen fifties, only five players 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:59.040 have won three and we're talking about Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:03.400 Bret Fare, Jim Brown, and Johnny Unitis. Aaron Rodgers would 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:07.520 be the sixth to to make that a half dozen. Um, 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.240 before we get to those records of Davante Adams that 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:12.800 you mentioned earlier, West, I cannot forget about the sponsor 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:17.040 business today so serious. X M NFL radio channel is 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:19.920 the only radio outlet dedicated to the National Football League 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.360 seven days a week, three hundred sixty five days a year, 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:25.720 and Packers fans score up to five hundred dollars for 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:28.640 your devotion to the pack when you open a Packers 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:32.160 checking account from Associated Bank. Learn more to Associated bank 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:37.240 dot com. Backslash Packers All right, Davante Adams West gets 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:42.080 three touchdowns, another double digit reception, another hundred plus yard game, 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:47.960 whole home performance. I say that completely in jest, but 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.320 he's just he's done it so many times here. But 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.040 you are right. He now with one nine receptions and 0:19:55.119 --> 0:20:00.560 with seventeen touchdowns, he is four catches and two touchdowns 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:06.080 away from breaking the Packers single season franchise records in 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:09.440 those categories held by Sterling Sharp. Sharp had a hundred 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:13.280 and twelve catches eighteen touchdowns. Those are the records. He's 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:17.240 also a hundred and ninety two yards away from breaking 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:22.199 his buddy Jordy Nelson's single season receiving yardage record of 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:27.120 fifteen nineteen. Now a hundred odds on that one are 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.320 not as good, but I wouldn't put anything past him 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:34.960 at this point that being said, which record or records 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.600 do you think Davante Adams gets here in Week seventeen 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:42.000