Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by my
Speaker 1: trusted colleague Weston Hodkoitz. We're coming to you here from
Speaker 1: our studios at lambeau Field. And as I'm sure you noticed,
Speaker 1: we did not have an episode earlier this week on
Speaker 1: our usual Tuesday slot. We were taking a pause on
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com on our website as far as any
Speaker 1: new content out of respect for the Damar Hamlin situation.
Speaker 1: What happened on Monday night football in Cincinnati with the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills in Cincinnati Bengals. The latest is, uh, some
Speaker 1: very positive news coming from the hospital in Cincinnati West
Speaker 1: and that is uh, that's tremendous to hear because you
Speaker 1: and I have talked on this show many times about
Speaker 1: the physical sacrifices, the risks that players take with their
Speaker 1: bodies to play this game. But it's not supposed to
Speaker 1: be a risk regarding your life there, and there's a
Speaker 1: there's a difference there, and when you see when you
Speaker 1: see those risks sort of those two very different risks
Speaker 1: converge as they did on Monday night in Cincinnati, it's
Speaker 1: incredibly scary, incredibly scary situation for everybody involved, and obviously
Speaker 1: just trying to make sense of those moments when you
Speaker 1: witness them. Right, Like on Monday. I wrote about this
Speaker 1: in our Insider inbox Colm when it posted on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: I actually got done with work on Monday. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: it was actually a pretty fun couple of days, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, I wrote the story about, you know, positive
Speaker 1: sort of push the Packers made. Here guys playing the
Speaker 1: saxophone on the game on Sunday. Um, just talking to
Speaker 1: guys about what this run has been like for the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers to win four consecutive games, and the
Speaker 1: most excited I've probably been all season, maybe in a
Speaker 1: few years, to sit down and watch Monday night football.
Speaker 1: And I was over at my parents house. My dad
Speaker 1: you know, made some food and was going to hang
Speaker 1: out with them for a little bit. And uh, I
Speaker 1: actually just left right before it happened that they had happened,
Speaker 1: and my dad through me a text. By the time
Speaker 1: I got to my house, my friend Scott Stephen in
Speaker 1: our social department, everybody was like, did you just see that?
Speaker 1: And when you turn that on and then you realize
Speaker 1: what this young man is going through a few things
Speaker 1: went through my mind. First, you know, God help him.
Speaker 1: I mean just like literally drop into your knees and
Speaker 1: saying a prayer right now, right now for the poor kid,
Speaker 1: twenty four years old. His mom's in the stadium. Two.
Speaker 1: I've long said this, Mike, but I mean literally, first responders,
Speaker 1: medical personnel, doctors, trainers are the best among us, and
Speaker 1: you're seeing it now with that report and some of
Speaker 1: the things the family has said. I mean, that is
Speaker 1: probably what's really helped save this young man's life. And
Speaker 1: you hope neurologically he pulls through. Okay, as lungs there
Speaker 1: isn't too much damage. But the CPR, the life saving
Speaker 1: measures they took, the ambulance on the field, all of
Speaker 1: those things and everything that's happened in the hours afterwards
Speaker 1: is what has gotten us to this point. In three,
Speaker 1: you just quickly feel for the players because Mike, I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't want to go into too many things, but
Speaker 1: when I was at the Press Gazette, we had a
Speaker 1: cardiac event happened in our newsroom to one of our
Speaker 1: coworkers who did pass away. And it is a scarring
Speaker 1: thing to see your friend, your brother, your teammate. You're
Speaker 1: these guys spend six months with each other NonStop, and
Speaker 1: I can't imagine what Sean McDermott and Josh Allen and
Speaker 1: everybody on that football team must have been feeling. And
Speaker 1: the right move was made cancel the football game, postponent
Speaker 1: to spend it, whatever the thing you want to throw
Speaker 1: on it, and just let these guys, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of grieve and pray and hope that you know, he's
Speaker 1: going to come through. Okay. So it's just a really
Speaker 1: interesting forty eight hours that the economy of the Packers
Speaker 1: and and us going through this and writing these stories
Speaker 1: on Sunday night, and and Aaron Rodgers talking about, you know,
Speaker 1: not giving up on this team and then really being
Speaker 1: brought forward with what is really important in this life.
Speaker 1: And yeah, there's not much else to say. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: for those if you want to get a sense of,
Speaker 1: you know, what the Packers players are thinking, feeling, players
Speaker 1: talked in the locker room on Wednesday after practice. We
Speaker 1: have some videos on the website. I wrote a story
Speaker 1: trying to bring together some of the different voices, including
Speaker 1: head coach Matt la Fleur, and just how the Packers
Speaker 1: are dealing with this. This is something that the entire
Speaker 1: league is dealing with. UM as Week eighteen, the final
Speaker 1: week of the regular season, is upon us here and
Speaker 1: uh and certainly that news, that news on Thursday morning
Speaker 1: out of the hospital in Cincinnati, that's that's been making
Speaker 1: the rounds now. It's uh, um, it's it's a breath
Speaker 1: of relief, fresh air for the league, certainly for the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills. Um. You know Damar Hamlin and his family,
Speaker 1: everything that they have been going through over the last
Speaker 1: you know, two and a half three days whatever it's been. Now,
Speaker 1: UM you uh, um, you hope that that positive news
Speaker 1: is just the start of more positive news moving forward.
Speaker 1: So with that, UM, we actually have a lot of
Speaker 1: ground to cover on this show because there is a
Speaker 1: victory to talk about from last Sunday as well as
Speaker 1: an even bigger game coming up now this Sunday. So
Speaker 1: we'll start with SEV over the Minnesota Vikings, which sets
Speaker 1: up the Packers now thanks to the Washington Commanders losing
Speaker 1: to the Cleveland Browns sets up the Packers for a
Speaker 1: win to get in scenario. And you know, a month ago,
Speaker 1: it would have been um, it was almost impossible to
Speaker 1: think that the Packers would be in this situation, not
Speaker 1: to say that they wouldn't necessarily still be alive, but
Speaker 1: to actually get to Week eighteen, one game to go
Speaker 1: and not need any other help. That the the playoff
Speaker 1: picture of the playoff position is in your own hands. Um,
Speaker 1: pretty incredible. The opportunity that the Packers have in front
Speaker 1: of them thanks to an absolutely dominant, dominant victory over
Speaker 1: the team that has won the NFC North title this year.
Speaker 1: The best performance the Packers have had this season. I
Speaker 1: think an argument could be made when you look at
Speaker 1: all three phases, one of the best performances they've had
Speaker 1: under Matt Floor. Uh, everybody contributed to this, Mike, you
Speaker 1: and I. The popular catchphrase that everything the past few
Speaker 1: weeks has been complimentary football. Packers need to play complimentary football.
Speaker 1: They came out and they mastered complimentary football in this thing.
Speaker 1: I mean the fact that Aaron Rodgers through for a
Speaker 1: d fifty nine yards a touchdown, had points ever passer rating,
Speaker 1: and they won by four touchdowns or whatever it ended
Speaker 1: up being. And we're up by thirty eight points before
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings even found the end zone in this game.
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones, the blocking, the defensive pressures from the inside,
Speaker 1: the takeaways, the touchdowns, Keyshawn Nixon. Uh. It has the
Speaker 1: makings of a special football team. And I think what
Speaker 1: is most the coolest part of this whole run. You say,
Speaker 1: control your own destiny. You say all these things about
Speaker 1: the playoffs. No, the one thing that I like the
Speaker 1: most about this is the Green Bay Packers stuck together
Speaker 1: even when the odds didn't look very good. You look
Speaker 1: at those New York Times polls, you know when they
Speaker 1: were doing them. And by the way, please keep doing
Speaker 1: that every year New York Times, if you're watching this
Speaker 1: every year, because it was the easiest, most efficient way
Speaker 1: to be able to really get a feel of where
Speaker 1: these playoffs scenarios worked. Um, and I didn't have to
Speaker 1: click through like eight five ads to get there. I
Speaker 1: being able to look at it go from four percent,
Speaker 1: I think, and now it's what around you gotta win
Speaker 1: this game. So that's what they're taking to an account.
Speaker 1: It really gives you an idea of not only what
Speaker 1: the Packers had to do on their end of things
Speaker 1: to make this happen, but the stuff that had to
Speaker 1: go their way the right way. It would have just
Speaker 1: been so difficult to watch them have a performance like
Speaker 1: last week. Watch Keyshaw Nixon come on, watch the defense
Speaker 1: start to crystallize. And then okay, well now we gotta
Speaker 1: hope you know, Seattle loses and Washington needs to lose,
Speaker 1: and the Houston Texans need to like all these different scenarios. Right, No,
Speaker 1: it's easy. The Green Bay Packers get Detroit Lions. Here.
Speaker 1: It's a rematch of that Week nine game, which we
Speaker 1: all thought that was the beginning of the end given
Speaker 1: the injuries, and uh, here they are one win and
Speaker 1: you're end. Yeah. And it was remarkable to me watching
Speaker 1: the game against Minnesota on Sunday, how um, how quickly
Speaker 1: and and decisively in a sense that the Packers defense
Speaker 1: set the tone for this football game. Because it's zero
Speaker 1: zero and in the first quarter and the Packers get
Speaker 1: a punt blocked first real significant miske you on special
Speaker 1: teams in quite a while for Rich Bisaccio's units, and
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings have first and goal on the one
Speaker 1: yard line and you're thinking, you know, yeah, you're staring
Speaker 1: at probably a seven and nothing deficit. Right, Well, what happens?
Speaker 1: You talk about complementary football, there are two different types
Speaker 1: of complementary football in my mind, and you need to
Speaker 1: have both of them. When when when one phase or
Speaker 1: one side of the ball does something well, the other
Speaker 1: side needs to continue, It needs to keep it going right.
Speaker 1: The other half of complimentary football is when something goes
Speaker 1: wrong in one phase of the game, then another phase
Speaker 1: of the game picks them up and fixes it right
Speaker 1: and and limits the damage or whatever the case might be.
Speaker 1: The block punt puts the ball in the one yard line,
Speaker 1: and what happens. The defense goes out and makes a
Speaker 1: goal line stand three straight plays. Minnesota goes backwards one yard,
Speaker 1: it's a field goal, and then the special teams makes
Speaker 1: up for its own mistake and Keishaan Nixon takes it
Speaker 1: a five yards to the house. Suddenly, when you thought
Speaker 1: you were going to be down seven to nothing, the
Speaker 1: game is seven to three. You go from you know,
Speaker 1: mentally minus seven to uh to legitimately plus four on
Speaker 1: the scoreboard. It was. It was an amazing turn of
Speaker 1: events to me. It's set the tone. It's set the
Speaker 1: tone for everything. And certainly then the defense went on
Speaker 1: after the goal line stand to get to get four takeaways,
Speaker 1: running that total up to twelve takeaways during this four
Speaker 1: game winning streak, and and that's really been the biggest
Speaker 1: deef difference defensively is the Packers have been taking the
Speaker 1: ball away. The offense has been taking care of the football.
Speaker 1: When you win the turnover margin decisively as they have
Speaker 1: throughout the course of this winning streak, you're going to
Speaker 1: win football games. And that's why the Packers are where
Speaker 1: they are right and for what I believe to be
Speaker 1: the first time this season, pass rush, secondary coverage, everything
Speaker 1: working together. The symmetry is there right because where Shawn
Speaker 1: Gary is a phenomenal talent, the Packers really miss him.
Speaker 1: But I think, you know, Pressett Smith has turned his
Speaker 1: game up here the last couple of months. I think
Speaker 1: the interior line is getting as much pressure as they
Speaker 1: have all season. Now keep in mind, we're you know,
Speaker 1: the Vikings were hurting here. They were under their third
Speaker 1: strength center Brian O'Neill left that game. It looks like
Speaker 1: by the way slotman he's out for the year. I
Speaker 1: think from what I saw, I mean they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to go Chris Read the rest of the way here
Speaker 1: until well, if you get an O'Neil's out for the
Speaker 1: rest of the year now too, it's the there's a
Speaker 1: there's an achilles injury that was part of his injury
Speaker 1: as well, So so that injury at right tackle for
Speaker 1: the for the Vikings, it's much worse than they initially
Speaker 1: thought on Sunday night. Yeah, so they're really hurting in
Speaker 1: that area. But the thing is, Mike, the Packers saw
Speaker 1: it in week one. Ain't nobody feeling sorry for you.
Speaker 1: If you're gonna have David box tr and Elton Jenkins
Speaker 1: out there, you have to be able to stem the tide,
Speaker 1: to hold the line. And the Packers took advantage of it.
Speaker 1: But I just feel like the pressure has been there
Speaker 1: and you're looking at it. On the back end, guys
Speaker 1: are being opportunistic, they're playing together. Ussel Douglas good coverage
Speaker 1: that leads to a seventy five yard interception for a
Speaker 1: return from Darnell Savage. The Packers played physical. They are
Speaker 1: up in guys faces again, and Mike, I don't know
Speaker 1: if you can say anything more about jire Alexander's performance
Speaker 1: in that game. For all the all the headlines, all
Speaker 1: the bravado, all the things that people try to take
Speaker 1: out to build this up, this young man went out
Speaker 1: there on Sunday, and he played at an all pro level.
Speaker 1: He rose to the challenge. The thing about Jire Alexander
Speaker 1: I've been saying since day one he is one of
Speaker 1: the most confident players I've ever been around. And that
Speaker 1: it's not to say, oh, he speaks confidently. No, he
Speaker 1: could say no words. I think he would actually probably
Speaker 1: prefer that if he didn't have to talk at all.
Speaker 1: But it's the way in which he plays the game
Speaker 1: of football. Doesn't matter if it's Justin Jefferson, doesn't matter
Speaker 1: if it's a fifth string receiver. When he lines up
Speaker 1: against somebody, he wants to shut that person down. And
Speaker 1: he won that battle on Sunday. Yeah, absolutely, I mean
Speaker 1: the Packers. But between between mixing up different blitz packages
Speaker 1: and situations, mixing up the coverages where Alexander, you know,
Speaker 1: there were times season Justin Jefferson's face jamming him at
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. But even whether he was jamming
Speaker 1: him at the line or not, there was a mixture
Speaker 1: of zone and man coverages, you know, in terms of
Speaker 1: those calls, how they were going about it. And Justin Jefferson,
Speaker 1: who had nine catches, four yards and two touchdowns against
Speaker 1: the Packers back in Week one when the secondary was
Speaker 1: in a really bad spot and really really struggled that day.
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson, the leading receiver in the league with and
Speaker 1: the Vikings having plenty to play for in terms of
Speaker 1: playoff seating, is held to one catch for fifteen yards.
Speaker 1: I believe it was an incredible performance by by Alexander
Speaker 1: and by the guys around him. And as you said,
Speaker 1: it's that it's that pass rush and the coverage working
Speaker 1: in concert in glove kind of thing. And this is
Speaker 1: where this is the type of defense that that everybody
Speaker 1: was hoping the Packers would have from the beginning of
Speaker 1: the season, and there are a lot of things that
Speaker 1: went wrong. Unfortunately, they didn't get to this level as
Speaker 1: soon as everyone was hoping and expecting. But the most
Speaker 1: important thing is they're there now and they have a
Speaker 1: chance to get a win, to get into the playoffs
Speaker 1: and see just maybe how far they can go. And
Speaker 1: before we turn it over to the Lions, I just
Speaker 1: have to say this because you and I have not
Speaker 1: talked about this at all off air, but I have
Speaker 1: to say this. All the years that we've seen Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers either drawing teams off sides are catching teams with
Speaker 1: the twelve personnel in the field in this game is
Speaker 1: the first time I can ever remember a team not
Speaker 1: having enough players on the field. Because of how they
Speaker 1: were afraid of Aaron Rodgers and the no huddle and everything.
Speaker 1: The Vikings legitimately just lined up with ten players and
Speaker 1: everybody just stood around and didn't know what was happening.
Speaker 1: That ends up leading to a third down conversion by
Speaker 1: Randall Cobb. Yeah, you were the one. I give you credit.
Speaker 1: You were the one before the snap. You even said,
Speaker 1: you're sitting next to me to my left in the
Speaker 1: press box and you're like, do the Vikings only have
Speaker 1: as a crucial third down in the game? Do the
Speaker 1: Vikings only have ten guys in the field. And we
Speaker 1: immediately we started, We're like, you know, and then you counted,
Speaker 1: I count. It's like, yeah, they've only got ten. And
Speaker 1: nobody was like looking to call nobody on the side. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there there was there was nothing. They had ten guys
Speaker 1: ringo running onto the field. We needed the Christian ringo
Speaker 1: attack from the sideline there, that's what That's what the
Speaker 1: Vikings needed. Well, the Packers are in the best position
Speaker 1: they could have asked for considering considering where things were.
Speaker 1: And this is the thought that occurred to me the
Speaker 1: other day, West, because I know when when the Packers
Speaker 1: were in the midst of that five game losing streak
Speaker 1: earlier this year, things were going south. You and I
Speaker 1: sat here and and I continued to say, I think
Speaker 1: on multiple shows, right, I said, this is a team
Speaker 1: that was three and one with a ten point lead
Speaker 1: over the Giants at halftime in London. Right, you're using
Speaker 1: five games in a row. But things can't be this bad, right, Well,
Speaker 1: the flip side of that, now, this team was four
Speaker 1: and eight with a nine point deficit in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter at Chicago, a team with only three wins. And
Speaker 1: yet in the final analysis, of course, as bad as
Speaker 1: that look, you know, you know and we knew that
Speaker 1: this team was not that bad either, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: the the every NFL season is going to have its
Speaker 1: ups and downs, the wild swings of this season, from
Speaker 1: where they were at halftime in London to where they
Speaker 1: were going into the fourth quarter in Chicago in the
Speaker 1: game of the season, to where they are right now
Speaker 1: Sunday night football under the lights at Lambou Field against
Speaker 1: a division rival in the Detroit Lions to win and
Speaker 1: get into the playoffs. This has been an absolutely unfo
Speaker 1: gettable ride for good and bad reasons. Yeah, and the
Speaker 1: Packers lost in Week nine. There's no way to work
Speaker 1: around that that the Detroit Lions won fifteen to nine,
Speaker 1: and at the time we're like, oh my goodness, this
Speaker 1: is a bad loss, one in six. But I love
Speaker 1: how these two teams stories sort of work together. Yes
Speaker 1: they're in the same division, Yes there's all these parallels
Speaker 1: between them, but it's more about these are two teams
Speaker 1: that didn't quit on their coaches, they didn't quit on themselves.
Speaker 1: This is when you think about playoff football. We'll see
Speaker 1: what the Seattle Seahawks do. Maybe the Lions don't have
Speaker 1: anything to play for on Sunday night. But the fact
Speaker 1: that it came down to this matchup. We've seen a
Speaker 1: lot of these games over there's Mike. We've seen it
Speaker 1: on both sides where this game hasn't necessarily meant anything.
Speaker 1: Six to the last seven years, the Packers have closed
Speaker 1: the regular season against the Lions. But for it all
Speaker 1: to come down to this, that's what football is all about.
Speaker 1: And I'm excited to watch that matchup. Yeah, No, question
Speaker 1: about it. I want to get into the Lions a
Speaker 1: bit more, but I don't want to forget about our
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Speaker 1: fifty years better. All right, the Detroit Lions coming to
Speaker 1: lambeau Field. The scenario, if you don't know it, is this.
Speaker 1: The Lions will be playing for a playoff spot on
Speaker 1: Sunday night if the Seattle Seahawks in the late afternoon
Speaker 1: window on Sunday lose to the Rams. If the Seahawks
Speaker 1: beat the Rams, the Lions will be eliminated and that
Speaker 1: number seven seed in the NFC will come down to
Speaker 1: the Packers or the Seahawks. Packers when they get it,
Speaker 1: Packers lose, the Seahawks get it. So an unusual situation
Speaker 1: with the Seahawks playing at and the Packers playing at
Speaker 1: seven twenty, and that's perhaps a discussion for another day.
Speaker 1: But the Lions. I tell you Jamal Williams six yards
Speaker 1: shy of a thousand yard rushing season, which would be
Speaker 1: the first in his career, and he's leading the NFL
Speaker 1: with fifteen rushing touchdowns. I'm on rass st. Brown has
Speaker 1: hit a hundred receptions on the season, He's over eleven
Speaker 1: dred yards and six touchdowns. And Jared Goff, this being
Speaker 1: a quarterback who has played in a Super Bowl, mind you,
Speaker 1: I don't think he's ever played better than he's playing
Speaker 1: right now. He his passer rating for the season is
Speaker 1: in the triple digits. He's at one hundred point one.
Speaker 1: His last interception actually was courtesy of JayR Alexander way
Speaker 1: back in Week nine. That's the last time when the
Speaker 1: Lions beat the Packers, that's the last time Jared Goff
Speaker 1: through an interception. He's put up a passer rating of
Speaker 1: a hundred and ten plus in four of the lions
Speaker 1: last five games. And this is the other statistic I
Speaker 1: looked up because I know you had mentioned it. He's
Speaker 1: only been sacked twenty two times on the season. Five
Speaker 1: of those were in one game against the Dallas Cowboys,
Speaker 1: So that means in the other fifteen games, he's only
Speaker 1: been sacked seventeen times, which tells you about this Lions
Speaker 1: offensive line and what this sets up as a very
Speaker 1: very different matchup in the trenches compared to last week
Speaker 1: when the Vikings were all banged up on the offensive
Speaker 1: line they're having, they're going down to their third string center,
Speaker 1: they're starting right tackle. Goes out this Lions offensive Lion
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur even said it, he believes it's one of
Speaker 1: the two best in the league, right up there with
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles. This is going to be a huge
Speaker 1: challenge for the Green Bay Packers defensive front to win
Speaker 1: this game in the trenches. On Sunday night, we could
Speaker 1: have finished an entire show about just this matchup in
Speaker 1: the Lions and everything they sent. There's a few things
Speaker 1: I want to touch on here, specifically on the offensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball, because I think you've gotta give
Speaker 1: credit to Brad Holmes. I think you gotta give credit
Speaker 1: to John Dorsey, everybody over there in the front office
Speaker 1: with the Lions, the Detroit Lions. Where they're succeeding now
Speaker 1: where they failed for so many years is they have receivers.
Speaker 1: Now they have offensive linemen maybe the best in ball
Speaker 1: right now. I mean, it is that good. They are deep,
Speaker 1: they are talented, they are physical. Frank right now is
Speaker 1: going to a Pro Bowl. I am so impressed by
Speaker 1: how that front has played. Why do all these things matter, Mike,
Speaker 1: because I think when you look to when Jared Goff
Speaker 1: had his most success with the Rams, there are parallels there.
Speaker 1: They have given him a supporting cast that he can
Speaker 1: win with. I was surprised to even look and see
Speaker 1: that his passer rating right now is not the highest
Speaker 1: of his career. He actually had some higher ones in
Speaker 1: l A. Or maybe yeah it was l A at
Speaker 1: that point. But the difference is exactly what you said.
Speaker 1: His seven interceptions this season, we're all in the first
Speaker 1: eight weeks of the season. The fact that he has
Speaker 1: knocked down to take the turnovers. He still had double
Speaker 1: digit interceptions with the Ramps, but he's knocked those down
Speaker 1: on this side of it. And here is the number
Speaker 1: one thing the Detroit Lions have finally succeeded with. They
Speaker 1: finally have running backs. I'm not trying to make the
Speaker 1: Barry Sanders comparisons, but you talked so many years about
Speaker 1: all the draft picks they invested. Unfortunately, there was some
Speaker 1: bad fortune on the injury front. There's some guys they
Speaker 1: just whipped on all together. But DeAndre Swift is a
Speaker 1: talented guy, but he couldn't stay healthy. Jamal Williams comes
Speaker 1: in the door one of the most durable, consistent, accountable
Speaker 1: players at that position and as a guy who never
Speaker 1: misses a football game. Matt Lafleur said, he said it
Speaker 1: at his press conference on Wednesday, it was such a
Speaker 1: big point, severely underrated in National Football League. Those two
Speaker 1: guys together, they've basically been able to form what Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams and Aaron Jones were here. I think Jones a
Speaker 1: little bit more dynamic than Swift, but Swift is becoming
Speaker 1: a pass catching threat. You give him ten carries a game,
Speaker 1: he's gonna hurt you with them. You look at this
Speaker 1: performance last week, Mike two and sixty five rushing yards
Speaker 1: against Chicago. Now it's Chicago, but it's still all counts.
Speaker 1: And if you're talking about a team that's feeling good
Speaker 1: about itself coming off a performance, that's exactly the game
Speaker 1: that the Lions needed, coming off of that egg that
Speaker 1: they dropped against Carolina. Yeah, and I and I'm not
Speaker 1: saying I'm not saying this to discount that running game,
Speaker 1: because that has been a huge foundation and a huge
Speaker 1: support for Jared Goff. But you just said it to
Speaker 1: two and sixty five rushing yards against Chicago last week.
Speaker 1: Two of those were in the second half when the
Speaker 1: Lions had a sizeable lead. Jared Goff started that game
Speaker 1: against Chicago last week sixteen out of twenty for three
Speaker 1: touchdowns in the first half and the Lions were in
Speaker 1: complete command. You cannot let this quarterback settle in because
Speaker 1: the way he has gotten rolling in the second half
Speaker 1: of the season, he is really difficult to stop. On
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball, the lines have been very,
Speaker 1: very up and down defensively. Houston and Hutchinson, their two
Speaker 1: best pass rushers, have combined for about fifteen sacks this season.
Speaker 1: They've certainly had some issues in the secondary in terms
Speaker 1: of breakdowns. They had the really bad, the really bad
Speaker 1: game with the run defense against Carolina, which is one
Speaker 1: of their only two losses in their last nine games. Defensively, defensively,
Speaker 1: this has been a team that that has been very
Speaker 1: up and down. But that being said, it's also a
Speaker 1: team that is uh it's also a team that is
Speaker 1: not afraid to engage in in a shootout, so to
Speaker 1: speak with with anybody, if if if Jared Goff has
Speaker 1: asked to go out there and put up three, five
Speaker 1: thirty two points, whatever the case might be, he just
Speaker 1: might do it because because that's that's the kind of
Speaker 1: season the Lions have had, and they aren't afraid to
Speaker 1: play a whatever type of game they need to play
Speaker 1: in order to win. No, and I'm telling Lions fans
Speaker 1: this right now. I'm not sitting here saying that Jared
Speaker 1: Goff is going to be the guy that leads you
Speaker 1: back to a playoff in a Super Bowl or whatever.
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to, but this is a guy you
Speaker 1: can win with though. This is a guy you can
Speaker 1: build a team around. And I, like I was trying
Speaker 1: to make those comparisons with the Rams. I just see
Speaker 1: signs of this thing being very similar to how they
Speaker 1: rebuilt the Rams after it didn't look so promising for
Speaker 1: him his first year with Tough Fisher, right. But I
Speaker 1: want to just touch on that quickly about the run defense,
Speaker 1: because if Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams are in a
Speaker 1: j Dillon can come in here. Um, we don't have
Speaker 1: it in the budget, but if they could and stand
Speaker 1: here in the middle. This is exhibit A and Exhibit
Speaker 1: one A of why the groom of Packers you know
Speaker 1: you feel good about if you need to be in
Speaker 1: a shootout this weekend. I like the Packers chances being
Speaker 1: able to run this football at lambeau Field with those
Speaker 1: two guys against that run defense. Aidan Hutchinson is a talent.
Speaker 1: He is going to be a guy that is going
Speaker 1: to wreak havoc in the NFL for years to come.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you saw his interception last week
Speaker 1: against Chicago, but like just the stuff he can do.
Speaker 1: He's just playing and basically faking like he's on the
Speaker 1: sidelines and then catches a pass in the open field.
Speaker 1: I mean, an incredibly talented guy. If you allow the
Speaker 1: Lions to do what they did in the first game,
Speaker 1: you know, have get some takeaways, get some win in
Speaker 1: their sales, feel good about themselves, not care about everything
Speaker 1: else that happened this season, the fact that they were
Speaker 1: like the worst rank defense in the league. They're going
Speaker 1: to play to that level. But if you punch them
Speaker 1: in the mouth early like Carolina did, I think it's
Speaker 1: a very winnable game for the Green Bay Packers. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The interesting thing too, and we talk about turnovers, turnover margin,
Speaker 1: differential ratio, all of that and how it plays such
Speaker 1: a big factor in any NFL game. But you look
Speaker 1: at all the circumstances surrounding this one. We talked about.
Speaker 1: Jared Goff hasn't thrown an interception since Week Night. The
Speaker 1: Detroit Lions have only fifteen giveaways in the turnover department
Speaker 1: all season, which is the lowest in the NFL. No
Speaker 1: buddy has turned the ball over less than these guys have.
Speaker 1: The fact that in the first meeting at Ford Field
Speaker 1: this year, Aaron Rodgers through three interceptions in a game,
Speaker 1: the only time he's done that in the last six years,
Speaker 1: and that happened against the Detroit Lions, right, and the
Speaker 1: and and two of those to all three of those
Speaker 1: were in the red zone, two of them in gold
Speaker 1: to ghost situations. And then, as we mentioned earlier in
Speaker 1: the show, this Packers defense suddenly has twelve takeaways in
Speaker 1: its last four games, and that has been the fuel
Speaker 1: of the resurgence of this Packers defense. Everything about this
Speaker 1: game and the circumstances and and what happened the first time,
Speaker 1: and the way these teams are playing, everything just screams
Speaker 1: that turnovers are going to decide it. There. There's there's
Speaker 1: almost no there's almost no way around it. Now, maybe
Speaker 1: maybe neither team turns the ball over and this becomes
Speaker 1: this becomes a zero zero thing, and and you see
Speaker 1: in you don't have one of those big sudden change
Speaker 1: momentum shifts, you know, kinds of things. That's that's certainly possible,
Speaker 1: But it just feels like, with all the numbers and
Speaker 1: all the circumstances surrounding it, that that turnovers and maybe
Speaker 1: it'll be just one could end up being the difference
Speaker 1: in this football game. And it's played at lambeau Field,
Speaker 1: it's not at Ford Field. Detroit can win on the road,
Speaker 1: but they haven't done it a lot this year. They've
Speaker 1: been a much better team at Ford Field. They have
Speaker 1: two of their road winds in the same stadium out
Speaker 1: there in the meadow lands in Jersey. They beat both
Speaker 1: the Giants and the Jets at at at their place,
Speaker 1: which uses that that sleep grass or whatever they call
Speaker 1: that too, that field turf um. But here's where here's
Speaker 1: what's gonna come down to. Mike goal to go. Green
Speaker 1: May Packers have struggled in that area. The Detroit Lions
Speaker 1: are one of the worst defensively in that area. The
Speaker 1: Packers have to finish drives. Yeah, it's another, it's another
Speaker 1: something's got to give category, right, I mean something, something's
Speaker 1: got to give in this game. You're you're absolutely right,
Speaker 1: um this uh. And the Packers have been there too.
Speaker 1: That's the other thing. They have guys Anne Lazard, Robert Tounyan,
Speaker 1: David ba guys underneath Matt Lafleur that have done this
Speaker 1: every single year. They've had to play meaningful games in January.
Speaker 1: They have that advantage. Detroit Detroit Lions not so much.
Speaker 1: Packers have to use that. And and I apologize because
Speaker 1: obviously we're trying to cover a lot of ground on
Speaker 1: the show. You just said his name, David Botier. He's
Speaker 1: back in the lineup for the Green Bay Packers after
Speaker 1: missing multiple games because appendeck to me, he gets back
Speaker 1: in there. And guess what, like his name isn't even
Speaker 1: mentioned all day long, whether he was lined up across
Speaker 1: from Zadarius Smith or Daniel Hunter, two pretty good pass
Speaker 1: rushers for the Minnesota Vikings. Those guys were kept pretty quiet,
Speaker 1: and uh at number sixty nine had a lot to
Speaker 1: do that the Packers. Keishaw Nixon was you know, was
Speaker 1: able to play despite his injury. Christian Watson was able
Speaker 1: to play despite his Both guys have been back on
Speaker 1: the practice field already this week. Packers, you know, Rashawn
Speaker 1: Gary and Eric Stokes aside, this Packers team. You're as
Speaker 1: healthy as you can be for what is now the
Speaker 1: biggest game of the season. As these games have just
Speaker 1: gotten bigger and bigger every week, right absolutely, And that's
Speaker 1: the way you wanted you wanted to be. You want
Speaker 1: to play meaningful games, Mike. It wasn't coming out of Philly.
Speaker 1: It wasn't sitting there like, oh man, the Packers there,
Speaker 1: their playoff chances aren't very good. It's just that feeling
Speaker 1: like eighteen, not all of what happened in eighteen, but
Speaker 1: just when you get to mid December and you just
Speaker 1: the games don't matter anymore for the playoff. It's just fun.
Speaker 1: I mean, you hear the excitement, you you feel like
Speaker 1: that the ticket values going up and everything. People want
Speaker 1: to be a part of this thing. Sunday Night football.
Speaker 1: It doesn't get any better. Than that, and during such
Speaker 1: an emotional week for the league, emotional week for us
Speaker 1: trying to figure out how to cover things properly and
Speaker 1: be respectful of the situations. I'm I am very excited
Speaker 1: to get to the field and get to the game
Speaker 1: on Sunday night and see how this thing shakes out.
Speaker 1: All the number seven seed in the NFC is there
Speaker 1: for the taking and the Packers are going to do
Speaker 1: everything they can to take it. With that, we'll call
Speaker 1: it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscript. To
Speaker 1: be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team and everything from Sunday Night's big game at lambeau Field.
Speaker 1: Will have it all for you on Packers dot com
Speaker 1: for West, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in, everybody.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.