WEBVTT - #697 Packers Unscripted: Big week 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:10.840 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:13.880 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by my 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:17.120 trusted colleague Weston Hodkoitz. We're coming to you here from 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:21.440 our studios at lambeau Field. And as I'm sure you noticed, 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.159 we did not have an episode earlier this week on 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:27.720 our usual Tuesday slot. We were taking a pause on 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:30.640 Packers dot Com on our website as far as any 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:35.440 new content out of respect for the Damar Hamlin situation. 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:37.960 What happened on Monday night football in Cincinnati with the 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:42.879 Buffalo Bills in Cincinnati Bengals. The latest is, uh, some 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:47.240 very positive news coming from the hospital in Cincinnati West 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:50.800 and that is uh, that's tremendous to hear because you 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:53.080 and I have talked on this show many times about 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:56.639 the physical sacrifices, the risks that players take with their 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:59.800 bodies to play this game. But it's not supposed to 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:03.320 be a risk regarding your life there, and there's a 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:06.120 there's a difference there, and when you see when you 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.240 see those risks sort of those two very different risks 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:12.280 converge as they did on Monday night in Cincinnati, it's 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:17.880 incredibly scary, incredibly scary situation for everybody involved, and obviously 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:23.040 just trying to make sense of those moments when you 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.679 witness them. Right, Like on Monday. I wrote about this 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:29.120 in our Insider inbox Colm when it posted on Wednesday, 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:32.240 I actually got done with work on Monday. Uh, you know, 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:34.759 it was actually a pretty fun couple of days, right, 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:38.080 I mean, I wrote the story about, you know, positive 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:41.440 sort of push the Packers made. Here guys playing the 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:45.080 saxophone on the game on Sunday. Um, just talking to 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:46.920 guys about what this run has been like for the 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:50.000 Green Bay Packers to win four consecutive games, and the 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.520 most excited I've probably been all season, maybe in a 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:54.560 few years, to sit down and watch Monday night football. 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:56.880 And I was over at my parents house. My dad 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:59.160 you know, made some food and was going to hang 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.720 out with them for a little bit. And uh, I 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:05.560 actually just left right before it happened that they had happened, 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.320 and my dad through me a text. By the time 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:12.840 I got to my house, my friend Scott Stephen in 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.639 our social department, everybody was like, did you just see that? 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:20.079 And when you turn that on and then you realize 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:23.120 what this young man is going through a few things 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.720 went through my mind. First, you know, God help him. 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:28.640 I mean just like literally drop into your knees and 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:31.160 saying a prayer right now, right now for the poor kid, 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.040 twenty four years old. His mom's in the stadium. Two. 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.000 I've long said this, Mike, but I mean literally, first responders, 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:42.160 medical personnel, doctors, trainers are the best among us, and 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:45.400 you're seeing it now with that report and some of 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:48.520 the things the family has said. I mean, that is 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:52.160 probably what's really helped save this young man's life. And 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.799 you hope neurologically he pulls through. Okay, as lungs there 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:59.000 isn't too much damage. But the CPR, the life saving 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:02.640 measures they took, the ambulance on the field, all of 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:05.560 those things and everything that's happened in the hours afterwards 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.520 is what has gotten us to this point. In three, 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:11.799 you just quickly feel for the players because Mike, I mean, 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:14.440 I don't want to go into too many things, but 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:17.000 when I was at the Press Gazette, we had a 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:21.640 cardiac event happened in our newsroom to one of our 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:28.119 coworkers who did pass away. And it is a scarring 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:32.399 thing to see your friend, your brother, your teammate. You're 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:38.000 these guys spend six months with each other NonStop, and 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.720 I can't imagine what Sean McDermott and Josh Allen and 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:44.080 everybody on that football team must have been feeling. And 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.520 the right move was made cancel the football game, postponent 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:51.160 to spend it, whatever the thing you want to throw 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:53.880 on it, and just let these guys, you know, kind 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:57.360 of grieve and pray and hope that you know, he's 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:00.680 going to come through. Okay. So it's just a really 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:04.040 interesting forty eight hours that the economy of the Packers 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:06.280 and and us going through this and writing these stories 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:09.360 on Sunday night, and and Aaron Rodgers talking about, you know, 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:13.200 not giving up on this team and then really being 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:18.680 brought forward with what is really important in this life. 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:23.080 And yeah, there's not much else to say. Yeah, and 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:25.120 for those if you want to get a sense of, 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:29.279 you know, what the Packers players are thinking, feeling, players 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:31.479 talked in the locker room on Wednesday after practice. We 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:33.679 have some videos on the website. I wrote a story 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:37.000 trying to bring together some of the different voices, including 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.120 head coach Matt la Fleur, and just how the Packers 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:41.320 are dealing with this. This is something that the entire 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:45.559 league is dealing with. UM as Week eighteen, the final 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:49.560 week of the regular season, is upon us here and 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:52.960 uh and certainly that news, that news on Thursday morning 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:55.880 out of the hospital in Cincinnati, that's that's been making 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:59.400 the rounds now. It's uh, um, it's it's a breath 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:03.320 of relief, fresh air for the league, certainly for the 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.560 Buffalo Bills. Um. You know Damar Hamlin and his family, 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.279 everything that they have been going through over the last 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:12.640 you know, two and a half three days whatever it's been. Now, 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:17.719 UM you uh, um, you hope that that positive news 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:21.120 is just the start of more positive news moving forward. 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:25.000 So with that, UM, we actually have a lot of 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:28.720 ground to cover on this show because there is a 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:31.800 victory to talk about from last Sunday as well as 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:34.240 an even bigger game coming up now this Sunday. So 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:40.400 we'll start with SEV over the Minnesota Vikings, which sets 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:45.320 up the Packers now thanks to the Washington Commanders losing 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:49.080 to the Cleveland Browns sets up the Packers for a 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:53.880 win to get in scenario. And you know, a month ago, 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:59.680 it would have been um, it was almost impossible to 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:02.840 think that the Packers would be in this situation, not 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:05.359 to say that they wouldn't necessarily still be alive, but 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:10.360 to actually get to Week eighteen, one game to go 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:15.479 and not need any other help. That the the playoff 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:20.080 picture of the playoff position is in your own hands. Um, 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.400 pretty incredible. The opportunity that the Packers have in front 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:28.279 of them thanks to an absolutely dominant, dominant victory over 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:30.839 the team that has won the NFC North title this year. 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:34.240 The best performance the Packers have had this season. I 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.160 think an argument could be made when you look at 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:39.080 all three phases, one of the best performances they've had 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.880 under Matt Floor. Uh, everybody contributed to this, Mike, you 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:45.640 and I. The popular catchphrase that everything the past few 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:49.880 weeks has been complimentary football. Packers need to play complimentary football. 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.840 They came out and they mastered complimentary football in this thing. 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:55.120 I mean the fact that Aaron Rodgers through for a 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:58.640 d fifty nine yards a touchdown, had points ever passer rating, 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:01.320 and they won by four touchdowns or whatever it ended 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:04.279 up being. And we're up by thirty eight points before 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:06.960 the Minnesota Vikings even found the end zone in this game. 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:12.360 Aaron Jones, the blocking, the defensive pressures from the inside, 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:19.040 the takeaways, the touchdowns, Keyshawn Nixon. Uh. It has the 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.480 makings of a special football team. And I think what 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.920 is most the coolest part of this whole run. You say, 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:28.160 control your own destiny. You say all these things about 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.880 the playoffs. No, the one thing that I like the 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:34.760 most about this is the Green Bay Packers stuck together 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:38.040 even when the odds didn't look very good. You look 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:40.120 at those New York Times polls, you know when they 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.160 were doing them. And by the way, please keep doing 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:44.360 that every year New York Times, if you're watching this 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:48.520 every year, because it was the easiest, most efficient way 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:50.800 to be able to really get a feel of where 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.880 these playoffs scenarios worked. Um, and I didn't have to 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:56.800 click through like eight five ads to get there. I 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.400 being able to look at it go from four percent, 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:02.480 I think, and now it's what around you gotta win 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:04.200 this game. So that's what they're taking to an account. 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.920 It really gives you an idea of not only what 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:10.960 the Packers had to do on their end of things 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:12.960 to make this happen, but the stuff that had to 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.480 go their way the right way. It would have just 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.040 been so difficult to watch them have a performance like 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.239 last week. Watch Keyshaw Nixon come on, watch the defense 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:23.920 start to crystallize. And then okay, well now we gotta 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:27.240 hope you know, Seattle loses and Washington needs to lose, 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:31.640 and the Houston Texans need to like all these different scenarios. Right, No, 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.640 it's easy. The Green Bay Packers get Detroit Lions. Here. 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:36.920 It's a rematch of that Week nine game, which we 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:39.320 all thought that was the beginning of the end given 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.079 the injuries, and uh, here they are one win and 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:45.280 you're end. Yeah. And it was remarkable to me watching 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:50.000 the game against Minnesota on Sunday, how um, how quickly 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:53.960 and and decisively in a sense that the Packers defense 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.000 set the tone for this football game. Because it's zero 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:03.600 zero and in the first quarter and the Packers get 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:08.120 a punt blocked first real significant miske you on special 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:11.800 teams in quite a while for Rich Bisaccio's units, and 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:13.920 the Minnesota Vikings have first and goal on the one 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:17.600 yard line and you're thinking, you know, yeah, you're staring 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:22.160 at probably a seven and nothing deficit. Right, Well, what happens? 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:25.160 You talk about complementary football, there are two different types 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:27.720 of complementary football in my mind, and you need to 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:31.480 have both of them. When when when one phase or 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:33.960 one side of the ball does something well, the other 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.680 side needs to continue, It needs to keep it going right. 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.960 The other half of complimentary football is when something goes 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.720 wrong in one phase of the game, then another phase 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.040 of the game picks them up and fixes it right 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.400 and and limits the damage or whatever the case might be. 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:52.679 The block punt puts the ball in the one yard line, 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:55.920 and what happens. The defense goes out and makes a 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:59.760 goal line stand three straight plays. Minnesota goes backwards one yard, 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.760 it's a field goal, and then the special teams makes 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:07.959 up for its own mistake and Keishaan Nixon takes it 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.760 a five yards to the house. Suddenly, when you thought 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:14.200 you were going to be down seven to nothing, the 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:16.520 game is seven to three. You go from you know, 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:21.640 mentally minus seven to uh to legitimately plus four on 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:23.840 the scoreboard. It was. It was an amazing turn of 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:27.000 events to me. It's set the tone. It's set the 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:29.679 tone for everything. And certainly then the defense went on 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:32.840 after the goal line stand to get to get four takeaways, 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:38.120 running that total up to twelve takeaways during this four 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:40.800 game winning streak, and and that's really been the biggest 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:45.680 deef difference defensively is the Packers have been taking the 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.400 ball away. The offense has been taking care of the football. 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:51.800 When you win the turnover margin decisively as they have 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.360 throughout the course of this winning streak, you're going to 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:57.760 win football games. And that's why the Packers are where 0:10:57.800 --> 0:10:59.640 they are right and for what I believe to be 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:05.040 the first time this season, pass rush, secondary coverage, everything 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:09.960 working together. The symmetry is there right because where Shawn 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.160 Gary is a phenomenal talent, the Packers really miss him. 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:15.560 But I think, you know, Pressett Smith has turned his 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:17.720 game up here the last couple of months. I think 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:20.120 the interior line is getting as much pressure as they 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:22.880 have all season. Now keep in mind, we're you know, 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:25.439 the Vikings were hurting here. They were under their third 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:29.080 strength center Brian O'Neill left that game. It looks like 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:30.839 by the way slotman he's out for the year. I 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:32.200 think from what I saw, I mean they're gonna have 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:33.800 to go Chris Read the rest of the way here 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:36.560 until well, if you get an O'Neil's out for the 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:38.720 rest of the year now too, it's the there's a 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:42.199 there's an achilles injury that was part of his injury 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:45.080 as well, So so that injury at right tackle for 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:47.640 the for the Vikings, it's much worse than they initially 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:50.160 thought on Sunday night. Yeah, so they're really hurting in 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:52.240 that area. But the thing is, Mike, the Packers saw 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:55.560 it in week one. Ain't nobody feeling sorry for you. 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:57.640 If you're gonna have David box tr and Elton Jenkins 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:00.600 out there, you have to be able to stem the tide, 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:03.480 to hold the line. And the Packers took advantage of it. 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:06.040 But I just feel like the pressure has been there 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:07.680 and you're looking at it. On the back end, guys 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.240 are being opportunistic, they're playing together. Ussel Douglas good coverage 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:13.480 that leads to a seventy five yard interception for a 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:16.679 return from Darnell Savage. The Packers played physical. They are 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.800 up in guys faces again, and Mike, I don't know 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:22.920 if you can say anything more about jire Alexander's performance 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:25.880 in that game. For all the all the headlines, all 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:28.040 the bravado, all the things that people try to take 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:30.440 out to build this up, this young man went out 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.760 there on Sunday, and he played at an all pro level. 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:38.040 He rose to the challenge. The thing about Jire Alexander 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:40.560 I've been saying since day one he is one of 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:43.559 the most confident players I've ever been around. And that 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:46.480 it's not to say, oh, he speaks confidently. No, he 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:48.760 could say no words. I think he would actually probably 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:50.400 prefer that if he didn't have to talk at all. 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:53.000 But it's the way in which he plays the game 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:56.360 of football. Doesn't matter if it's Justin Jefferson, doesn't matter 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:58.680 if it's a fifth string receiver. When he lines up 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.040 against somebody, he wants to shut that person down. And 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.800 he won that battle on Sunday. Yeah, absolutely, I mean 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:09.040 the Packers. But between between mixing up different blitz packages 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:13.320 and situations, mixing up the coverages where Alexander, you know, 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:16.280 there were times season Justin Jefferson's face jamming him at 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:19.080 the line of scrimmage. But even whether he was jamming 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:21.079 him at the line or not, there was a mixture 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.840 of zone and man coverages, you know, in terms of 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:27.320 those calls, how they were going about it. And Justin Jefferson, 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.560 who had nine catches, four yards and two touchdowns against 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:33.480 the Packers back in Week one when the secondary was 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.680 in a really bad spot and really really struggled that day. 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:41.560 Justin Jefferson, the leading receiver in the league with and 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:43.760 the Vikings having plenty to play for in terms of 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:48.439 playoff seating, is held to one catch for fifteen yards. 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:52.800 I believe it was an incredible performance by by Alexander 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.480 and by the guys around him. And as you said, 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:59.079 it's that it's that pass rush and the coverage working 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:02.480 in concert in glove kind of thing. And this is 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:06.720 where this is the type of defense that that everybody 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:08.800 was hoping the Packers would have from the beginning of 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:10.640 the season, and there are a lot of things that 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:15.520 went wrong. Unfortunately, they didn't get to this level as 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:19.000 soon as everyone was hoping and expecting. But the most 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.120 important thing is they're there now and they have a 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.280 chance to get a win, to get into the playoffs 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.280 and see just maybe how far they can go. And 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:29.240 before we turn it over to the Lions, I just 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:30.440 have to say this because you and I have not 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:32.560 talked about this at all off air, but I have 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:34.560 to say this. All the years that we've seen Aaron 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:37.160 Rodgers either drawing teams off sides are catching teams with 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.360 the twelve personnel in the field in this game is 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:42.120 the first time I can ever remember a team not 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.520 having enough players on the field. Because of how they 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.280 were afraid of Aaron Rodgers and the no huddle and everything. 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:50.040 The Vikings legitimately just lined up with ten players and 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.200 everybody just stood around and didn't know what was happening. 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:54.160 That ends up leading to a third down conversion by 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:56.880 Randall Cobb. Yeah, you were the one. I give you credit. 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.520 You were the one before the snap. You even said, 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:01.320 you're sitting next to me to my left in the 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:04.200 press box and you're like, do the Vikings only have 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:06.800 as a crucial third down in the game? Do the 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:08.640 Vikings only have ten guys in the field. And we 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:11.200 immediately we started, We're like, you know, and then you counted, 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:13.440 I count. It's like, yeah, they've only got ten. And 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:17.840 nobody was like looking to call nobody on the side. Yeah, 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:20.680 there there was there was nothing. They had ten guys 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:25.440 ringo running onto the field. We needed the Christian ringo 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.560 attack from the sideline there, that's what That's what the 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:34.320 Vikings needed. Well, the Packers are in the best position 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:37.760 they could have asked for considering considering where things were. 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:39.800 And this is the thought that occurred to me the 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:42.920 other day, West, because I know when when the Packers 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:44.880 were in the midst of that five game losing streak 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.760 earlier this year, things were going south. You and I 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.320 sat here and and I continued to say, I think 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.920 on multiple shows, right, I said, this is a team 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:56.280 that was three and one with a ten point lead 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.400 over the Giants at halftime in London. Right, you're using 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:04.200 five games in a row. But things can't be this bad, right, Well, 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:09.240 the flip side of that, now, this team was four 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:12.840 and eight with a nine point deficit in the fourth 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:18.480 quarter at Chicago, a team with only three wins. And 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:24.560 yet in the final analysis, of course, as bad as 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.960 that look, you know, you know and we knew that 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:30.520 this team was not that bad either, right, I mean, 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:35.000 the the every NFL season is going to have its 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:39.760 ups and downs, the wild swings of this season, from 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:42.920 where they were at halftime in London to where they 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.840 were going into the fourth quarter in Chicago in the 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:48.920 game of the season, to where they are right now 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.720 Sunday night football under the lights at Lambou Field against 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.200 a division rival in the Detroit Lions to win and 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:59.880 get into the playoffs. This has been an absolutely unfo 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.800 gettable ride for good and bad reasons. Yeah, and the 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:05.760 Packers lost in Week nine. There's no way to work 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:08.560 around that that the Detroit Lions won fifteen to nine, 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:10.919 and at the time we're like, oh my goodness, this 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:14.440 is a bad loss, one in six. But I love 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.440 how these two teams stories sort of work together. Yes 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:20.400 they're in the same division, Yes there's all these parallels 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:23.360 between them, but it's more about these are two teams 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.280 that didn't quit on their coaches, they didn't quit on themselves. 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:28.920 This is when you think about playoff football. We'll see 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.000 what the Seattle Seahawks do. Maybe the Lions don't have 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.440 anything to play for on Sunday night. But the fact 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.359 that it came down to this matchup. We've seen a 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:39.199 lot of these games over there's Mike. We've seen it 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.800 on both sides where this game hasn't necessarily meant anything. 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:43.880 Six to the last seven years, the Packers have closed 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.400 the regular season against the Lions. But for it all 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.679 to come down to this, that's what football is all about. 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.240 And I'm excited to watch that matchup. Yeah, No, question 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:55.480 about it. I want to get into the Lions a 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:57.080 bit more, but I don't want to forget about our 0:17:57.119 --> 0:18:01.720 sponsor Business's serious x M. NFL Radio delivers hard hitting 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:04.600 analysis and up to the minute NFL news that true 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:08.840 football fanatics need. Seven three and at Cousin Subs, we 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:12.080 have something for everyone like our Wisconsin cheese Kurds, mac 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:14.760 and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:17.560 your favorite sub or sub in a bowl. Cousin Subs 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:23.119 fifty years better. All right, the Detroit Lions coming to 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:26.720 lambeau Field. The scenario, if you don't know it, is this. 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.640 The Lions will be playing for a playoff spot on 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:35.960 Sunday night if the Seattle Seahawks in the late afternoon 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:41.680 window on Sunday lose to the Rams. If the Seahawks 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:46.280 beat the Rams, the Lions will be eliminated and that 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.040 number seven seed in the NFC will come down to 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.199 the Packers or the Seahawks. Packers when they get it, 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:57.240 Packers lose, the Seahawks get it. So an unusual situation 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:02.600 with the Seahawks playing at and the Packers playing at 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:06.080 seven twenty, and that's perhaps a discussion for another day. 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:12.760 But the Lions. I tell you Jamal Williams six yards 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:15.760 shy of a thousand yard rushing season, which would be 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:18.240 the first in his career, and he's leading the NFL 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:22.000 with fifteen rushing touchdowns. I'm on rass st. Brown has 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:24.520 hit a hundred receptions on the season, He's over eleven 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:30.840 dred yards and six touchdowns. And Jared Goff, this being 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:34.479 a quarterback who has played in a Super Bowl, mind you, 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:39.480 I don't think he's ever played better than he's playing 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:43.320 right now. He his passer rating for the season is 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.120 in the triple digits. He's at one hundred point one. 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:51.359 His last interception actually was courtesy of JayR Alexander way 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.199 back in Week nine. That's the last time when the 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:57.080 Lions beat the Packers, that's the last time Jared Goff 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:01.000 through an interception. He's put up a passer rating of 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:03.960 a hundred and ten plus in four of the lions 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:07.760 last five games. And this is the other statistic I 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:09.560 looked up because I know you had mentioned it. He's 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:13.200 only been sacked twenty two times on the season. Five 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:16.480 of those were in one game against the Dallas Cowboys, 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:19.400 So that means in the other fifteen games, he's only 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:24.480 been sacked seventeen times, which tells you about this Lions 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:27.320 offensive line and what this sets up as a very 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:30.920 very different matchup in the trenches compared to last week 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:33.360 when the Vikings were all banged up on the offensive 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:36.280 line they're having, they're going down to their third string center, 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:39.600 they're starting right tackle. Goes out this Lions offensive Lion 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:41.720 Matt Lafleur even said it, he believes it's one of 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:43.480 the two best in the league, right up there with 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:47.919 the Philadelphia Eagles. This is going to be a huge 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:52.520 challenge for the Green Bay Packers defensive front to win 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:54.880 this game in the trenches. On Sunday night, we could 0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:58.439 have finished an entire show about just this matchup in 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:01.320 the Lions and everything they sent. There's a few things 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:03.680 I want to touch on here, specifically on the offensive 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:06.520 side of the ball, because I think you've gotta give 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:08.600 credit to Brad Holmes. I think you gotta give credit 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:11.159 to John Dorsey, everybody over there in the front office 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:15.960 with the Lions, the Detroit Lions. Where they're succeeding now 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:19.600 where they failed for so many years is they have receivers. 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:23.720 Now they have offensive linemen maybe the best in ball 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:26.800 right now. I mean, it is that good. They are deep, 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:29.080 they are talented, they are physical. Frank right now is 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:32.880 going to a Pro Bowl. I am so impressed by 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:36.800 how that front has played. Why do all these things matter, Mike, 0:21:37.160 --> 0:21:39.240 because I think when you look to when Jared Goff 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:43.240 had his most success with the Rams, there are parallels there. 0:21:43.640 --> 0:21:45.920 They have given him a supporting cast that he can 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:48.040 win with. I was surprised to even look and see 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:50.080 that his passer rating right now is not the highest 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:51.879 of his career. He actually had some higher ones in 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:54.119