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Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to this Thanksgiving edition of Packers Unscripted

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Speaker 1: from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as

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Speaker 1: always by my trusted colleague Weston hod Kuits. Happy Thanksgiving

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Speaker 1: to y'all. Happy Thanksgiving my friends. Yeah, Happy Thanksgiving to

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Speaker 1: you too, Mike. And since we don't see our families,

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Speaker 1: we only see each other. I'm happy to spend this

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Speaker 1: moment with you. All Right, Well, we are here today

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Speaker 1: on this Thanksgiving Thursday, to talk about Packers versus Rams.

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Speaker 1: It will be a three pm late afternoon Sunday kickoff

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Speaker 1: at lambeau Field, and we started to talk about this

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Speaker 1: on our last show. Looking at this Rams season here

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Speaker 1: in statistically, what really stands out West is this team

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Speaker 1: started out seven and one through the first eight games,

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Speaker 1: and in those first eight games, the Rams were held

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Speaker 1: under twenty six points only once in that entire time.

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Speaker 1: But they now come to lambau Field on a two

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Speaker 1: game losing streak and in those two losses they scored

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Speaker 1: a total of twenty six points. Um. So you have

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Speaker 1: to believe that through this bye week, which now the

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Speaker 1: Rams have had following the two straight losses. Priority number

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Speaker 1: one for Sean McVeigh and the rams is to get

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Speaker 1: that offense back on track and back to what it

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Speaker 1: was doing earlier in the year, and and more specifically,

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Speaker 1: just get Matthew Stafford back into a rhythm again. I

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Speaker 1: mean that that's sort of been the thing with this

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Speaker 1: season is that you know, they've kind of gone as

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Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford has gone and and they've had, you know,

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Speaker 1: the injuries at the being the season, losing Cam Akers

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Speaker 1: right away. Darryl Henderson has been a guy that's been

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Speaker 1: around for a number of years for them now, but

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Speaker 1: they had to kind of weather through some stuff. Okay,

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Speaker 1: now you lose Robert Woods, you added Odell Beckham, but

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Speaker 1: the offense still doesn't really look the way you wanted

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Speaker 1: to look heading into the bye week. I really look

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Speaker 1: for Stafford to be the key cog in this and

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Speaker 1: for green Bay they have to hope that it's one

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Speaker 1: more week here where he just is that big dominant

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Speaker 1: pass or that he was earlier in the season. Mike,

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Speaker 1: you and I we've covered Stafford for so long him

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Speaker 1: in your case, your entire career. You've seen this kid

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Speaker 1: when he's on fire, when he's clicking, when he's in rhythm,

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Speaker 1: there aren't many better in the National Football League. Certainly

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Speaker 1: definitely from an arm talent perspective, but he gets into

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Speaker 1: these lulls from time to time where things just don't

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Speaker 1: look right, and if he doesn't have the resources around him,

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Speaker 1: which a lot of times in his career he hasn't,

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Speaker 1: the offense tends to dip. Yeah, and statistically it's just

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Speaker 1: it's it's really something again, going back to these two losses,

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Speaker 1: the back to back losses the Rams are coming off

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Speaker 1: of here, Matthew Stafford has been sacked fourteen times all season,

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Speaker 1: half of them seven in the back to back losses

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Speaker 1: coming in. He's throwing eight interceptions, half of them four

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Speaker 1: in the back to back losses here coming in. I mean,

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Speaker 1: just everything about this offense um has uh has taken

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Speaker 1: a dip. And maybe for the Rams the bye week

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Speaker 1: came at the right time for them. They needed something

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Speaker 1: to you know, to some time to rest cover, get

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Speaker 1: themselves out of the rut or whatever. I think. From

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Speaker 1: the Packers perspective here, you look at you mentioned Henderson

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Speaker 1: obviously is the running back. We'll see what you know,

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Speaker 1: what the Rams are going to do with oh b

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Speaker 1: J and everything moving forward, Cooper Cup is the guy

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Speaker 1: who really has made this offense go the bulk of

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Speaker 1: the season. He's got eighty five catches, forty one yards,

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Speaker 1: ten touchdowns. Even in um these two losses the rams

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Speaker 1: of head, He's still had double digit catches and basically

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Speaker 1: hundred yard games, not the big explosive plays. And I

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Speaker 1: think from Green Bay's defensive perspective, this is one of

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Speaker 1: those games where you go into it saying, hey, they're

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Speaker 1: going to make some plays. They're gonna they're they're gonna

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Speaker 1: move the chains, they're gonna move the football. You just

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Speaker 1: can't give up the explosives. You can't give up the

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Speaker 1: twenty five and the thirty five yard passes that allow

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Speaker 1: them to take the big chunks of yards you get

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Speaker 1: down the field in a hurry. Absolutely, it's an excellent

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Speaker 1: point you're raising. I made the argument all year long

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Speaker 1: that I feel like Davante Adams is the best receiver

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Speaker 1: in the game right now. He's at the peak of

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Speaker 1: his hours. If if it's not Adams, though, it's Cooper

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Speaker 1: Cup and and certainly was looking at what Justin Jefferson

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Speaker 1: did last week, he's on his way to that distinction

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Speaker 1: as well. But the Cup has been such a consistent

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Speaker 1: producer for them for so many years now, but he

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Speaker 1: has really been able to take his game to the

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Speaker 1: next level with Matthew Stafford as his quarterback. To be

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Speaker 1: at over yards already and we're not even in December

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Speaker 1: really speaks to his dominance throughout the courses here, and

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Speaker 1: much like Jefferson last week, while they're different types of receivers,

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Speaker 1: if you allow him to get going against you, you're

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Speaker 1: in for a long afternoon. Now, losing Robert Woods is

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Speaker 1: a huge hit for this offense, but as many headlines

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Speaker 1: as were driven towards Odell Beckham Jr. I really like

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Speaker 1: Van Jefferson. This is a young man that came in here.

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Speaker 1: He has big play potential and I feel like him

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Speaker 1: being able to play off of some of the things

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Speaker 1: Cup does is more of It would be disrespectful to

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Speaker 1: call him a possession receiver, but as a guy that's

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Speaker 1: gonna draw a lot of tension, catch a lot of passes,

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Speaker 1: Jefferson's can kind of give them that home run threat

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Speaker 1: there as well. So seeing this diversification of resources and

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Speaker 1: also how Beckham is gonna look being implemented to this

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Speaker 1: offense coming off the buy are three really intriguing pieces

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Speaker 1: here for the Rams offense because while Henderson has been

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Speaker 1: able to run the ball effectively, I think ultimately the

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Speaker 1: biggest indicator of where this offense is going to be

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Speaker 1: is if they can get the ball moving downfield and

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Speaker 1: if you get those twenty plus yard passing place in

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Speaker 1: this fold. Yeah, absolutely, And whether it's been you know,

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Speaker 1: the Rams offense or the Lions offense, that's sort of

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Speaker 1: what Matthew Staffords has hung his hat on his entire

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Speaker 1: career right as being able to make the explosive play

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Speaker 1: to get the defense on its heels and then finish

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Speaker 1: those drives. That's that That's what Matthew Stafford has done

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Speaker 1: his entire career. Shifting gears to the defensive side of

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Speaker 1: the ball. It starts up front right with this Rams defense.

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Speaker 1: You look at obviously Aaron Donald um my belief is

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Speaker 1: a three time NFL Defensive Player of the Year now,

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Speaker 1: and then on the edges on either side of him

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Speaker 1: you have Leonard Floyd and On Miller, a mid season acquisition.

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Speaker 1: This is a defensive front that is tough to handle.

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Speaker 1: Um they scheme things up so that they make it

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Speaker 1: really difficult for you to just decide you're gonna double

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Speaker 1: team Aaron Donald on every single play. They they scheme

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Speaker 1: things up so he gets single blocked and is able

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Speaker 1: to have the impact that they want him to have.

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Speaker 1: And with the Packers obviously making another adjustment here on

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Speaker 1: the offensive line, Josh and Iiman's going to go in

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Speaker 1: at left tackle with Elton Jenkins now out for the season. Um,

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Speaker 1: this this is really to me, the key matchup in

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Speaker 1: this game is the Packers offensive line against this defensive

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Speaker 1: front of the Rams. It is and there's so many

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Speaker 1: elements to this that are going to be intriguing. If

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Speaker 1: we had a few more resources, we could actually play

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Speaker 1: back five years of unscripteds right now where I was

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Speaker 1: reiterating how impressed I've been by Leonard Floyd. I felt

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Speaker 1: like this guy coming out right off the bat was

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Speaker 1: going to be a premier pass rusher in this league.

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Speaker 1: Probably didn't reach the level of dominant said I probably

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Speaker 1: would have thought he would have been as what the

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Speaker 1: ninth overall picked the year he got drafted, but was

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Speaker 1: very productive in Vic Fangio's defense and what they did.

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Speaker 1: He's been able to breathe nude life into his career

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Speaker 1: in l a and as much as we're gonna talk

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Speaker 1: about Donald here in a second, and as big of

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Speaker 1: a storyline as that's gonna be going to the game,

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Speaker 1: Leonard Floyd against yosh Naiman, Leonard Floyd against how the

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Speaker 1: Packers defend him is really something that's gonna be important

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Speaker 1: to track because he can wreck the game off the edge,

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Speaker 1: and especially with Aaron Rodgers dealing with this toe injury,

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Speaker 1: you've got to be cognizant of that. Donald is a problem.

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Speaker 1: But the thing about it is he's still a three

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Speaker 1: tech middle of the defensive front player. You can you

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Speaker 1: can double him easier, you can throw additional resources, and

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Speaker 1: you can tell you're running back to keep an eye

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Speaker 1: on him. Those elements are ways in which the Packers

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Speaker 1: have beaten Donald before. I think the issues they've had

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Speaker 1: against this defense going all the way back to eighteen

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Speaker 1: when they played him at at the Colisseum is if

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Speaker 1: you get the edge rush going as well, So, uh,

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Speaker 1: it's a great matchup. I mean A Shaan Robinson's the

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Speaker 1: guy was really high on in my in my drafts.

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Speaker 1: When I get asked to make the predictions for who

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Speaker 1: the Packers taking the first round, Robinson was my guy,

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Speaker 1: whatever it was four or five years ago. I think

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Speaker 1: he's a good compliment. I think they have a lot

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Speaker 1: of pieces defensively, but Leonard Floyd is the one that

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Speaker 1: probably is going to have my eyes on the most

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Speaker 1: on Sunday. Yeah, And I don't I don't like to

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Speaker 1: make too much of this because because I think it

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Speaker 1: gets overblown a little bit. But I am going to

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Speaker 1: make a point here about a couple of guys with

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Speaker 1: regard to this being the playoff rematch from from last

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Speaker 1: January where the Rams came in and saw their season end.

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Speaker 1: I don't think players, for the most part, they don't

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Speaker 1: get too hung up on, you know, sort of that

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Speaker 1: revenge angle or getting back at somebody. But when I

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Speaker 1: look at Aaron Donald and the fact that he was

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Speaker 1: not healthy for that game in January last year, he

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Speaker 1: was dealing with the rib injury. He was not a

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Speaker 1: hundred percent, you know that he wants I think anyway

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Speaker 1: that he really wants to show something to this Packer's

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Speaker 1: offense in this game. And Jakin's got the better of

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Speaker 1: him in that game. He absolutely did. And the other guy,

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Speaker 1: I'll say too, because we saw him throw the little

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Speaker 1: temper tantrum after Davante Adams got the touchdown there at

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Speaker 1: the goal line is Jalen Ramsey. This is a guy

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Speaker 1: and now he leads the Rams with three interceptions, tremendous

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Speaker 1: talent as as a cover corner, one of the best

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Speaker 1: in the league, no question about it. And this is

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Speaker 1: a guy that you know, when the Packers are in

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Speaker 1: the red zone, he wants Davanta Adams, he wants to

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Speaker 1: stop Davante Adams from getting a touchdown. And again I

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Speaker 1: don't like to overplay sort of the revenge angle in

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Speaker 1: looking back and whatever, but those two guys, in particular,

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Speaker 1: what we saw in the game last January when the

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Speaker 1: Rams season ended and the Packers moved on, those are

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Speaker 1: two guys to definitely watch on well. And in this

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Speaker 1: you know, this secondary that l A has is just incredible.

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Speaker 1: Now they don't have the most picks in the National

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Speaker 1: Football League, but it's a top four, top three type

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Speaker 1: past defense. Um Jalen Ramsey's a big part of that

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Speaker 1: because he's one of the few guys in this league

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Speaker 1: where you can just ask him to go up against

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Speaker 1: any pro liftic receiver and have him shadow him sideline

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Speaker 1: to sideline, and Ramsey's going to be able to do it. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: that's what I'm expecting in this matchup with the Packers,

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Speaker 1: and and just asking him to fulfill that assignment against

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Speaker 1: Davante Adams and allow them to address resources otherwhere in

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Speaker 1: other areas. But the other thing I want to keep

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Speaker 1: an eye on in this game, Mike, is the Packers

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Speaker 1: running offense. Because as difficult as it's been to pass

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Speaker 1: against the Rams, the way they rush, the way that

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Speaker 1: Aaron Donald rushes, sometimes there's a jet element to it.

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Speaker 1: There's a pinning the ears back, and sometimes that can

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Speaker 1: lead the gaps being unfilled. I really want to see

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Speaker 1: if Green Bay with a J. Dillon can pound the

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Speaker 1: ball against this front. I think him winning against those

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Speaker 1: inside linebackers that is going to dictate where this game goes.

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Speaker 1: Because if you can't get the run established against the Rams,

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Speaker 1: they have the type of perimeter group when it's third

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Speaker 1: and long, they're gonna be pitching you a shutout. So

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Speaker 1: you've got to be able to do that. I think

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Speaker 1: that's gonna be a huge, huge element to whoever is

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Speaker 1: cable to come out Victoria. Yeah. Absolutely, As as the

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Speaker 1: old saying goes, the best defensive fronts in the league.

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Speaker 1: They can play run on the way to the quarterback right,

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Speaker 1: and Aaron Donald is a guy who can do that.

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Speaker 1: But that is something that is difficult to do for

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Speaker 1: sixty snaps. I mean to do it all the time.

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Speaker 1: And as you say, if if there is if there

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Speaker 1: is a gap or if there is a crease, and

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Speaker 1: if the Packers can hit it, then suddenly you start

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Speaker 1: to keep that pass rush a little bit, a little

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Speaker 1: bit more. Honest, it's it's going to be an interesting

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Speaker 1: chess match in that regard. And it's the only weakness

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Speaker 1: right now in this l A defense. I mean, this

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Speaker 1: l A defense is probably one or two in the

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Speaker 1: league if it isn't for the fact that they're what

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Speaker 1: they're giving up against the run. I think there may

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Speaker 1: in the league against the run this year's but but

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Speaker 1: even with that, they're only giving up I believe it's

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Speaker 1: four point zero yards per carry, which from an average

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Speaker 1: per carry stampoint Branks near the top of the league.

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Speaker 1: So um quickly here west some sponsored business. Serious x M.

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Speaker 1: NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the

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Speaker 1: in a bowl Cousin Subs. We believe in better all right,

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Speaker 1: quickly here West Keys to victory for the Packers. I've

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Speaker 1: sort of I've already kind of mentioned the two that

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Speaker 1: are on my mind. The most one is limiting the

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Speaker 1: explosive plays by the Rams offense, and the other is

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Speaker 1: to protect Aaron Rodgers and that injured tow from this

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Speaker 1: Rams defensive front. I think those are the two biggest things.

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Speaker 1: If the Packers have enough success in those two areas,

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Speaker 1: I like their chances of getting a win here. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I do too, Mike, And I just feel like it's

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Speaker 1: every single week. It's kind of become a broken record

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Speaker 1: now where I'm sitting here saying protect the football and

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Speaker 1: I'm saying, you know, get after the opposing quarterback. Last week.

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Speaker 1: I guess I was wrong, and I have to admit

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Speaker 1: I was wrong because I think the Packers did pressure

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Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins well uh, and it still really didn't matter.

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Speaker 1: Cousins was able to get the ball out quickly, but

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Speaker 1: they had the opportunity for the takeaways, and they didn't

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Speaker 1: execute on it. That's where the same thing comes into

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Speaker 1: play here against Matthew Stafford. They've seen Matthew Stafford a lot,

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Speaker 1: uh these these defenders, the Kenny Clarks, the Dean Lowry's,

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Speaker 1: they've played him a dozen times now. So being able

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Speaker 1: to get after him, not allow him to get comfortable,

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Speaker 1: and forcing that ball out, getting them throwing off the

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Speaker 1: back of his foot, that's where Green Bay is going

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Speaker 1: to have success in this game. And and I feel

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Speaker 1: like last week, Mike, defensively, it was a letdown for them.

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Speaker 1: They had chances to be able to really put their

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Speaker 1: foot on the pedal and they weren't able to do it. Now,

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Speaker 1: you can't expect them to do that every seventeen games,

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Speaker 1: but it probably was the difference between a winner or loss.

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Speaker 1: I'm interested to see how this group bounces back. I'm

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Speaker 1: interested to see how they can counteract all these perimeter

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Speaker 1: weapons and frankly, just being able to make them one

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Speaker 1: dimensional like they did last week with Dalvin Cook for

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Speaker 1: a majority of that game. Don't allow Darryl Henderson or

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Speaker 1: Sony Michelle to be able to get going and put

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Speaker 1: this game in Matthew Stafford's hands. Yeah, I think it

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Speaker 1: was interesting. If if I'm not mistaken on the timing,

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Speaker 1: I believe it was on Sunday night, pretty much right

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Speaker 1: around the time that the Packers plane would have been

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Speaker 1: landing coming back from Minnesota. The Adrian Amos, one of

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Speaker 1: the defensive captains, tweeted, it's not about what happens, it's

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Speaker 1: about how you respond to it. And that's where this

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Speaker 1: Packers defenses right now, because it had been playing so well,

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Speaker 1: was at such a high level, they took a big

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Speaker 1: punch in the mouth, a heymaker, whatever you want to

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Speaker 1: call it, in Minneapolis. So now it's it's it's about

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Speaker 1: the response. It's about what happens next. And they have

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Speaker 1: a heck of a challenge here with this, with this

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Speaker 1: Rams offense coming in. With regard to other games on Sunday, first,

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Speaker 1: a game that will be going on at the same

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Speaker 1: time as Packers Rams with the kickoff is Minnesota is

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Speaker 1: out at San Francisco. Interesting here because the Vikings. The

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Speaker 1: Vikings have gone to l A to play the Chargers.

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Speaker 1: They gotta win there. They came back home, they beat

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Speaker 1: the Packers. Now they're going back to the West Coast

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Speaker 1: to play San Francisco and the Vikings two and a

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Speaker 1: half games behind the Packers in the NFC North. From

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Speaker 1: the Vikings perspective, they're looking at this feeling like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: we're a hot team. Our offense is rolling. We've scored

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Speaker 1: I believe, if I'm doing the math quickly in my head,

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Speaker 1: sixty one in the in their two victories here, they

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Speaker 1: feel like they've got things going. They go out to

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Speaker 1: San Francisco and get a win, and they're watching the

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Speaker 1: scoreboard to see if the Rams can knock off the

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Speaker 1: knockoff the Packers at Lambeau and then suddenly they're only

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Speaker 1: a game and a half back. Packers have a have

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Speaker 1: the task here of of of keeping the Vikings at

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Speaker 1: bay regardless of of what happens out in San Francisco.

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Speaker 1: And San Francisco has risen from the dead a little

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Speaker 1: bit and they've been able to kind of find themselves.

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Speaker 1: The downfield passing game is working again from them. You know,

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Speaker 1: Brandon Ayuk, who I was talking to you about Week three,

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Speaker 1: was often such a slow start to the season. He

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Speaker 1: started to re emerge as a big playmaker in this offense.

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Speaker 1: So seeing how you know, San Francisco getting their offense

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Speaker 1: going again against the Minnesota defense that's giving up a

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Speaker 1: lot of yards. It's me interesting to watch in addition

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Speaker 1: to the fact of just watching two teams that are

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Speaker 1: on the boundary the perimeral, the peripheral of the playoff

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Speaker 1: race right now, which one wants to finally become a

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Speaker 1: winning ball club and who could potentially mount kind of

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Speaker 1: a comeback here late in the season. It's not been

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Speaker 1: easy for either of these teams. They've been battle tested

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Speaker 1: based on their division, based on the way their schedules

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Speaker 1: lined up. It's competitive five and five records right now.

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Speaker 1: But from Green based perspective, certainly, you know, you would

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Speaker 1: like to see the Vikings kind of fall back a

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Speaker 1: little bit after that win last week. Yeah, and the

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Speaker 1: other one I think that we'll be watching on Sunday

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Speaker 1: prior to the Packers and Rams kicking off as a

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Speaker 1: very interesting um interconference game, cross conference game. Tampa Bay

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Speaker 1: on a short week travels to Indianapolis. The culture as

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Speaker 1: hot as any team in the NFL right now, with

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Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor and what he's doing, and that defense is

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Speaker 1: playing some solid football. The Colts are thrusting themselves into

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Speaker 1: the a f C playoff picture. And no, I didn't

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Speaker 1: bring up this game just because of Jonathan Taylor. But uh,

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Speaker 1: but I had to add to anyway, right, But but

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Speaker 1: it's for the die hards, for the inboxer, for the inboxers.

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Speaker 1: You'll get where that's coming from. But Tampa Bay um

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Speaker 1: one of these you know, handful of teams in the

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Speaker 1: NFC with three losses and uh, and they've got a

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Speaker 1: tough match up here on the road on a short

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Speaker 1: week after having played on Monday night. UM on a

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Speaker 1: really interesting matchup here with with significant implications for both

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Speaker 1: teams in each conference. Can I make a little bit

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Speaker 1: of a shout out here, even though he'll never watch

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Speaker 1: the show, I'm gonna give him a lot of credit.

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Speaker 1: Why not? My buddy Scott Vincy, your former co worker.

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Speaker 1: Scott is in a keeper league for fantasy football. He

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Speaker 1: has Jonathan Taylor. He drafted Jonathan Taylor, however long ago. Now.

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Speaker 1: He was saying to me, because he watches and follows

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Speaker 1: him pretty pretty much just die hard as anyone in

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Speaker 1: the state of Wisconsin is going to follow the Indianapolis Colts.

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Speaker 1: He was saying to me that, you know, at some

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Speaker 1: point Frank Wright needs to give him the ball and

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Speaker 1: then just get out of the way. Just be like,

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Speaker 1: this is our running back. We don't need a committee.

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Speaker 1: We don't need to put it in in you know,

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Speaker 1: Philip Rivers hands or Carson Wentz's hands, or Jacoby bris

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Speaker 1: said or Peyton Manning's just give the ball to Jonathan Taylor.

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Speaker 1: There as hot as anyone in the league, Mike, because

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Speaker 1: they're feeding their running back. And and you and I

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Speaker 1: joke and to let the people in who don't watch it,

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Speaker 1: don't read in box. I had some real reservations about Taylor,

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Speaker 1: but as it turned out, I think a lot of

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Speaker 1: those reservations were based on the fact of how he

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Speaker 1: was being utilized. And now you're seeing them trust him

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Speaker 1: with this offense yards already on the season, he doesn't

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Speaker 1: even have two hundred carries. I mean, this guy can play.

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Speaker 1: And for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers here, I mean, I'm

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Speaker 1: not being disrespectful of defending n NFC champions. They've had

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Speaker 1: some ups and downs this season. They've had some moments

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Speaker 1: where they've looked like the defending champs. They've had some

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Speaker 1: moments where they've looked really old. So Indianapolis Man to

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Speaker 1: be able to rally the troops here. That's uh, that's

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Speaker 1: an interesting game for them to determine. Hey, how much

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Speaker 1: of a tender are we and that's a division that

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Speaker 1: you know can really be anyone's Yeah, I think I

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Speaker 1: think that's a result in terms of an a f

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Speaker 1: C versus NFC matchup, that's a result that's going to

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Speaker 1: have have some implications in the in the playoff races

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Speaker 1: on on both sides. There can I because we don't

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Speaker 1: have an own budsman like I think I used to

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Speaker 1: be on around the Horn. They used to have like

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Speaker 1: the old budsman that corrected people. At the end of

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Speaker 1: the show, I got to correct myself, Um, the rams

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Speaker 1: weren't in run. I had that wrong. So I just

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Speaker 1: want to make sure that's right. I still think the

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Speaker 1: path to victory is the same for Green Bay. But

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Speaker 1: actually I think they're like, yeah, well, it's it's interesting

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Speaker 1: statistically because of where they rank in terms of total

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Speaker 1: rushing yards given up, but yet the yards per carry

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Speaker 1: they're giving up, it's like, yeah, it's like up at

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Speaker 1: fourth or fifth and even the rushing yards that it's

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Speaker 1: it's one of those things that doesn't. That doesn't quite

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Speaker 1: match up statistically, But I will say you still need

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Speaker 1: to get the run going because otherwise they will pin

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Speaker 1: their ears back and then it's gonna be a long

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Speaker 1: afternoon for you. I think this really does need to

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Speaker 1: be an A J. Dillon type game. Yeah, alright, well

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Speaker 1: we will see if that happens, but for now we'll

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Speaker 1: call it a wrap on this scripted be or to

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Speaker 1: follow all of our coverage of Sunday's big game from

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Speaker 1: lambeau Field. Will have it all for you on packers

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Speaker 1: dot com for West, I am Mike. Thank you for

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Speaker 1: tuning in, everybody, and Happy Thanksgiving