Speaker 1: What's up, everybody? Welcome to Packers on scripted I'm your host.
Speaker 1: Wes Hawk was joined by an extra special guest, Larry mccarin,
Speaker 1: stepping in for Mike spot for today. Larry, thank you
Speaker 1: for coming on the show. Hey, Wes, can you explain
Speaker 1: the rules to me? Now? Are verbal spats allowed? Perhaps
Speaker 1: in extreme cases even fisticuffs? How don't you if you
Speaker 1: want to come across the studio and set me straight?
Speaker 1: You want the rules? I want to dound so I
Speaker 1: don't you know, step over the line if you know
Speaker 1: you're you're totally within your right whatever you need to do.
Speaker 1: But but yeah, we we, we do appreciate you jumping
Speaker 1: out with us, Larry. The Green Bay Packers, for the
Speaker 1: third time since nineteen nine, clinched the number one seed
Speaker 1: in the NFC. More important probably than any other you're
Speaker 1: considering they're only one first round bio the NFC, and
Speaker 1: that came courtesy of a thirty five sixteen win over
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears. Larry, the Green Bay Packers finishing pretty
Speaker 1: strong here on the regular season Slate certainly had to
Speaker 1: dig down deep to pull this one out. But just
Speaker 1: your first impressions of that victory, and what it meant
Speaker 1: to go down to Soldier Field and get another win
Speaker 1: over the Bears. Well about your previous comment about finishing strong,
Speaker 1: I think that is so important and for just this moment,
Speaker 1: regardless of opponent. I mean, when you get on a roll,
Speaker 1: and the Packers are on a roll, what do they
Speaker 1: want five straight And it's the kind of situation where
Speaker 1: they are playing their best football at the best time,
Speaker 1: the most important time, and confidence. Uh, success breeds confidence,
Speaker 1: and so this is a great situation for them to
Speaker 1: be in. And then to go down and ice the thing,
Speaker 1: ice the number one seed, the home field advantage, and
Speaker 1: they'll buy that goes with it in Chicago against the Bears,
Speaker 1: who had all kinds of hopes, dreams and aspirations about
Speaker 1: that game. To get that done, I think it speaks
Speaker 1: volumes about the Green Bay Packers and their chances going forward,
Speaker 1: and Larry starting off on the offensive side of all.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers nineteen twenty forty yards, four touchdowns, a hundred
Speaker 1: and forty seven point nine passer rating. The I believe
Speaker 1: it was the fourteenth time to see her over a
Speaker 1: hundred passer rating. Kind of putting that final stamp in
Speaker 1: a lot of minds of many on the m m
Speaker 1: VP season what would be his third There were a
Speaker 1: couple of moments in this game though, I thought, right
Speaker 1: off the bat, this was gonna be something where they
Speaker 1: needed to start fast. They need to get their offensive
Speaker 1: rhythm going. And and Rogers got this group, you know,
Speaker 1: right from the get go, kind of right up against it.
Speaker 1: Not having David baktr he got them into a rhythm.
Speaker 1: And it seemed like with getting three quick scores really
Speaker 1: sort of set the tempo for this game. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: wasn't it a crazy way the game started? The Bears
Speaker 1: possessed the ball for a major block of the first quarter,
Speaker 1: and then the Packers possessed it for the rest of
Speaker 1: the first quarter and into the second. And I thought
Speaker 1: the Packers did a nice job early on of adjusting
Speaker 1: to what the Bears were doing against Davante Adams. The
Speaker 1: Bears don't normally travel a corner, but they were traveling
Speaker 1: Kyle Fuller, their best corner corner that has Pro Bowl credentials.
Speaker 1: They were traveling him with DeVante, and at the minimum
Speaker 1: he was on the same side of the field, and
Speaker 1: if DeVante was wide, he was right across from him.
Speaker 1: And despite the fact Fuller is a real deal corner,
Speaker 1: they also had safety help over the top, and so
Speaker 1: the Packers they got a digestie adjust to it and
Speaker 1: still moved the ball while going through those adjustments. And
Speaker 1: they managed that and thanks mostly to the greatness of
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers West. I have seen every game that young
Speaker 1: man has played. I don't think he's ever played better.
Speaker 1: And the m VP thing, to me is a non
Speaker 1: argument case closed. I mean it is, it shouldn't even
Speaker 1: be close. If somebody wants to debate best of all time,
Speaker 1: best player I've ever seen, I'll be willing to debate that.
Speaker 1: But I still think he's not only the m v
Speaker 1: P best player I've ever seen. Yeah, and there's a
Speaker 1: couple of moments in this game. The one that really
Speaker 1: stands out to me too is the past to marquisveld
Speaker 1: Is scandling, the first one that goes for the seventy
Speaker 1: two yard touchdown. Matt Lafleur told a really interesting story
Speaker 1: on Monday about that how play clocks going down, there's
Speaker 1: a little bit of confusion in the Chicago defense, and
Speaker 1: he trusted his quarterback in that instance to make sure
Speaker 1: that not only getting the playoff, but getting the Packers
Speaker 1: into the right matchup, he kept all of his assets.
Speaker 1: I'll side he was thinking about maybe bringing in Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams into the backfield. He keeps him out. They stay
Speaker 1: in the empty formation and they get mvs. Matched up
Speaker 1: against Danny Trevathan. Travathan is one of my favorite inside
Speaker 1: linebackers for a long time in this league, but that's
Speaker 1: going to be a mismatch. Rogers puts it over the
Speaker 1: top of seventy two yard touchdown. Really seemed to be
Speaker 1: the explosive play to kind of get this offense firing. Well,
Speaker 1: the match up you're talking about West that is Trevathan
Speaker 1: four seven coming out versus mvs. Four three coming out.
Speaker 1: And the thing maybe underappreciated in the play the Bears
Speaker 1: after Aaron left Jamal Williams on the outside. After that,
Speaker 1: when the ball was snapped, the Bears had a jammed
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. Packers had five blockers. The Bears
Speaker 1: had him outnumbered. Duke Shelley, their nickelback is coming free.
Speaker 1: So Aaron out of the corner of his eye, he's
Speaker 1: got a free blitzer coming and then he totally puts
Speaker 1: that aside as he thought the Bears were confused. There's
Speaker 1: gonna be a mismatch. He finds that mismatch and then
Speaker 1: unleash just a throw. I don't know if you noticed
Speaker 1: a trajectory. I just did a chalk talk on this,
Speaker 1: and this is why suddenly I have total recall. I
Speaker 1: don't know if you noticed the trajectory of this throw,
Speaker 1: but it was not an ally oop job. It was
Speaker 1: thirty six yards in the air, on the line to
Speaker 1: a spot, and it hits MVS in dead perfect stride. Amazing.
Speaker 1: And when you see like stuff like that, you said,
Speaker 1: that is other worldly. It ain't normal, but it is
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers it was and agreement. Packers get off to
Speaker 1: a fast start in the first half. Wasn't all sunshine
Speaker 1: and rainbows. Though the third quarters some adversity hits. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Rogers hits MBS on another deep all this time he
Speaker 1: campering it in drops it. Packers go first punt of
Speaker 1: the game. Then they go three and l But I thought, Larry,
Speaker 1: this is where the defense really did shine, and in
Speaker 1: the improvements they've made in the second half of the season.
Speaker 1: Very quietly, this ended up being a top ten unit
Speaker 1: this season. They got the takeaways number nine. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: got the takeaways they were looking for late season. They
Speaker 1: improved against the run defense this game. David Montgomery only
Speaker 1: two carries for sixty nine yards, but most importantly Larry
Speaker 1: the adversity defense in this whether it was in the
Speaker 1: red zone holding them to one of five or just
Speaker 1: some of the different kind of adjustments that Mike Petton made.
Speaker 1: I felt like the second half, until the Packers got
Speaker 1: going with that twelve play drive to start the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: the defense really took the game from there. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: certainly the defense in between the twelve play what was
Speaker 1: the seventy six yard drives. If you look at that's
Speaker 1: the meat of the sandwich. On the outside of that,
Speaker 1: there was Channon Sullivan's big play breaking up a pass
Speaker 1: and then on the other side Adrian Amos with an interception.
Speaker 1: But I think overall the Packer defense has really improved,
Speaker 1: and I think part of it was just attitude, putting
Speaker 1: that setting that hair on fire and getting hats to
Speaker 1: the ball and just playing with that kind of energy,
Speaker 1: that kind of effort, and as you mentioned, it's brought
Speaker 1: them up in the standings, and if you look at
Speaker 1: a number of different type situations, the various defensive categories
Speaker 1: you can look at. I mean there are suddenly, you know,
Speaker 1: after the Viking game they were in the twenties of
Speaker 1: number one. The first week of the season, they're in
Speaker 1: the twenties as far as defense goes, and now they
Speaker 1: are very respectable and more in all the important categories.
Speaker 1: Hats off to Mike Patton and his group. They really
Speaker 1: came on throughout the season. And I'll tell you West,
Speaker 1: one of the things about teams that contend is they
Speaker 1: get better throughout the year. I know, it sounds kind
Speaker 1: of simple. Everybody wants to get better, but not everybody
Speaker 1: does it. The teams that contend figure out a way
Speaker 1: to keep improved being throughout the year. And the Packers,
Speaker 1: and in particular defense is a perfect example. And now, hey, people,
Speaker 1: when they talk about the Green Bay Packers are green
Speaker 1: Bay Packer football team, opponents are saying, Hi, the women
Speaker 1: and children guys are to Yeah. No, they most certainly are.
Speaker 1: And one other comparison, I drew too, and it's not
Speaker 1: a full on straight line thing, but this defense reminds
Speaker 1: me a lot of the four team unit. Now, there
Speaker 1: wasn't a big adjustment where like Clay Matthews moving to
Speaker 1: inside linebacker, but Chris Barnes stepping in as the MIC. Now,
Speaker 1: I think that's brought the most out of this thing.
Speaker 1: His communication skills, his ability to read an offense and
Speaker 1: understand the adjustments that need to be made. Seems like
Speaker 1: Christian kirksey move into the will spot has actually really
Speaker 1: helped him, and obviously the rotation they've gotten going there.
Speaker 1: But more than anything, Larry he's a guy that doesn't
Speaker 1: get a lot of glitz and glamor he wasn't voted
Speaker 1: to the Pro Bowl. I'm guessing he probably won't end
Speaker 1: up being an All Pro. But Adrian Amos has really
Speaker 1: taken his game, I felt, to another level the second
Speaker 1: half of the season. Whether it's moving into that dimes
Speaker 1: out that Raven Green plays, or just his ability and
Speaker 1: you're talking about attitude, he brings it. Man. There was
Speaker 1: one other moment in that game. I can't remember exactly
Speaker 1: the sequence, but there were about two or three guys
Speaker 1: that didn't really finish their tackles. Adrian Amos comes blazing
Speaker 1: in there and he ends the play and obviously got
Speaker 1: the interception to kind of seal it at the end.
Speaker 1: UH he's the kind of guy. I mean when they
Speaker 1: signed him from Chicago two years ago, they felt like
Speaker 1: he was on the ascent. And I think you've seen
Speaker 1: him as he's gotten more comfort in Mike Patton's defense.
Speaker 1: Really that that has brought the best out of his game.
Speaker 1: Now when Adrian gets there, he arrives in a bad mood.
Speaker 1: He puts the wood to people. And as you talk
Speaker 1: about the defense, and I'll get to Adrian in just
Speaker 1: a moment, but the defensive improvement. I was talking to
Speaker 1: Bears Radio during the pregame segment on Sunday and they
Speaker 1: were asking about the Packers defense, and if you look
Speaker 1: at it, you know where's the improvement coming from. Well,
Speaker 1: the Packers are getting in provement from all three levels.
Speaker 1: Let's start at the line of scrimmage. Very important. Kenny
Speaker 1: Clark got healthy. You know, those those core type injuries. Boy,
Speaker 1: you can play, but there's a difference between being okay
Speaker 1: and being one yourself. And I think towards the end
Speaker 1: of the season, Kenny got healthy and even though he
Speaker 1: didn't make the Pro Bowl, he is playing at a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl level. And then you mentioned him earlier. Inside
Speaker 1: the Packers seem to have settled on Chris Barnes as
Speaker 1: their every down inside linebacker. Now, Christian Kirksey, Camal Martin.
Speaker 1: They'll get the reps in different personnel groups, but every down,
Speaker 1: Chris Barnes is the guy, and he's just a football player.
Speaker 1: If you watch him sometimes slow down one of his
Speaker 1: tackles on film. If you watch him, there's just some
Speaker 1: natural in eight snapped to his game. Stuff happens the
Speaker 1: other guy Boom. He's jolted when Chris Burns hits him,
Speaker 1: and instinctively he is just he belies that rookie status.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's like a four or five year veteran
Speaker 1: when it comes to instincts. Okay, so you got the
Speaker 1: first two levels and then in the back end you
Speaker 1: know jay Ere he's been lights out all season long.
Speaker 1: But you talked about Adrian and I also have to
Speaker 1: mention Darnell Savage. I think suddenly the Packers coaches, defensive planners, strategists,
Speaker 1: what have you kind of figured out? How do we
Speaker 1: use these guys where we can where can we place
Speaker 1: them to take full advantage of their tools? And I think,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned with the injury rayburn Green, that opens
Speaker 1: some opportunities up for Adrian Amos near the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: I believe Darnell Savage has had more opportunities to play
Speaker 1: that robber roll, that lurk role where you're kind of
Speaker 1: BACKDRD rush, reading the quarterbacks eyes and you can jump
Speaker 1: on things because that young man has incredible physical tools,
Speaker 1: and you can see when he jumps on something, when
Speaker 1: he sees it, it looks like he's at full speed,
Speaker 1: and the rest of the field and all these guys
Speaker 1: are fast. Yeah, the rest of the field is in
Speaker 1: slow motion compared to Darniell Savage. So you add all
Speaker 1: those things up, and suddenly we got the ninth rated
Speaker 1: defense in the league. Absolutely, Green Bay Packers thirteen three.
Speaker 1: I'd be remiss. Leary gotta end on this note to
Speaker 1: all these records that Green they ended up breaking. Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers forty eight touchdown passes new franchise record, seventy point
Speaker 1: seven completion percentage I think is one of the more
Speaker 1: underrated numbers with his season, a guy that for so
Speaker 1: long people are talking about him holding onto it too long,
Speaker 1: throwing it away seventy point seven ends up leading the
Speaker 1: National Football League among qualifying quarterbacks in that category. Davante
Speaker 1: Adam ends up resetting the single season mark for catches,
Speaker 1: also tie Sterling Sharps mark with eighteen touchdown receptions and
Speaker 1: Robert Tonyan larry eleven touchdown receptions right there, Paul Kaufman's
Speaker 1: record thirty seven years old, and then Robert Tonyan, the
Speaker 1: former undrafted free agent out of Indiana State breaks them
Speaker 1: for a for a team that many people felt like
Speaker 1: didn't have a lot of weapons coming into the season,
Speaker 1: it's it's kind of interesting how it's worked out for them.
Speaker 1: On the offensive side the ball, finishing the year obviously
Speaker 1: leading the league and scoring and then also the most
Speaker 1: efficient red zone offense in the National Football League. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, you mentioned all the people involved in all
Speaker 1: those milestones and tremendous individual efforts and achievements, and the
Speaker 1: chemistry game to game between Aaron and Davante. I don't
Speaker 1: think I've ever and Aaron has enjoyed tremendous chemistry with
Speaker 1: his receivers throughout his career, but I don't think I've
Speaker 1: ever seen chemists tree to this level. But at the
Speaker 1: center of it all the eye of the storm, I
Speaker 1: think you have to go to Aaron Rodgers, Uh, because
Speaker 1: his play. He's the trigger man. He's the guy getting done.
Speaker 1: And I don't know, West, when you look at and
Speaker 1: we will be doing this, when you look at the opponents,
Speaker 1: and you look at how the Packers match up, and
Speaker 1: they have this guy and they do this well and
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff, do you ever stop and
Speaker 1: think that the Packers enjoy such an advantage at the
Speaker 1: most important position that all the rest of it is
Speaker 1: window dressing. I mean, this guy is so off the chart,
Speaker 1: otherworldly great that whoever I mean a great example of
Speaker 1: this last couple of weeks, Ryan Tannehill. He's having a
Speaker 1: terrific season by anybody standard, including his own. He theater
Speaker 1: got he thought he got screwed out of the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1: I mean, by anybody's standard, he's having a terrific season.
Speaker 1: But did you notice the difference between what he could do,
Speaker 1: how he led, the things he could get accomplished on
Speaker 1: the football field, between him and Aaron Rodgers Not even close, right,
Speaker 1: Mitchell Travisky, I mean, all I could do is just
Speaker 1: say the same things I already have. So when you
Speaker 1: got that guy pulling the trigger, I mean, and sometimes
Speaker 1: I think, you know, we go into the game we're
Speaker 1: up twenty one. Nothing it really is. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: the way sometimes these things play out. Obviously, Rogers playing
Speaker 1: it because we talked about an m v P level.
Speaker 1: Will find out another month from now whether or not
Speaker 1: that ends up being his third NFL m v P
Speaker 1: Larry thirteen and three. The Packers clinched the number one seed.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers said after the game, it's it's not maybe
Speaker 1: the same home field advantage as previous years because you're
Speaker 1: not gonna have a Ruckus Rambo lambeau Field crowd. But
Speaker 1: still that being said, having watched this team like we
Speaker 1: have this season, it does seem like there is a
Speaker 1: palpable energy and enthusiasm and really just an understanding of
Speaker 1: the field and the elements that that really could benefit
Speaker 1: Green Bay here in the month of January for as
Speaker 1: many games as they can host at Lambo Field, well
Speaker 1: depending on the day West I think elements could be
Speaker 1: a factor. And this may be all washed up, but
Speaker 1: I'll throw it out there anyway because it's what I think.
Speaker 1: I don't think the opponents coming in say it's a snowy,
Speaker 1: blustery type classic green Bay winter day, say the playoff
Speaker 1: games are played under those conditions, I don't think the
Speaker 1: opponent comes in here shaken in their boots because it's
Speaker 1: cold outside. I don't think it's that. I think the
Speaker 1: big advantage for the Green Baby Packers comes in the
Speaker 1: fact that the Green Bay Packers, to their core, think
Speaker 1: it's their kind of weather. They live in it, they
Speaker 1: practice in it, and if they've been here any length
Speaker 1: of time, they embrace it. And I think what the
Speaker 1: Packers have going for them in weather situations is the
Speaker 1: packers own attitude. The heck with the other guys, it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter because the Packers when they take that field,
Speaker 1: they think this is and they believe this is Packer weather.
Speaker 1: And I think the elements could play a role. Yeah,
Speaker 1: thirteen and three back to back season's first time Green
Speaker 1: Bay has done that in twenty three years. We'll see
Speaker 1: exactly how that scenario plays out. A week from now.
Speaker 1: We do know it'll either be Tampa Bay Washington, Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Rams, or a rematch with the Chicago Bears. And
Speaker 1: I even said, I don't really think there's a bad
Speaker 1: matchup in that bunch. You could get La Fleur versus
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh. You could get the rematch against the Bears.
Speaker 1: Green Bay versus Washington could be compelling considering the relationship
Speaker 1: and friendship that Rogers has with Alex Smith, who has
Speaker 1: made his way back to the NFL really and obviously
Speaker 1: the rematch with Tampa Bay that game could be very
Speaker 1: different at lambeau Field. All those different scenarios that we'll
Speaker 1: get sorted out this weekend, the Green Bay Packers get
Speaker 1: a chance to sit back, relax and see how everything unfolds. Yeah, no, absolutely, absolutely, Well,
Speaker 1: thank you so much, Larry. I appreciate you stepping in.
Speaker 1: That is our show. We wish everybody a wonderful week
Speaker 1: and be sure to stay tuned to Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford. Hopefully we'll be back in the chair with
Speaker 1: us later this week. But we appreciate job. What do
Speaker 1: you mean, Well, you did a fantastic You can replace
Speaker 1: me this week too if you want as well. You're
Speaker 1: more than one. But for Larry, I'm west. I don't
Speaker 1: want to throw in a verbal barb or something. No,
Speaker 1: absolutely I didn't. I didn't really give you a chance
Speaker 1: to like spar with me too much, So maybe maybe
Speaker 1: that will save that for the next next time. Maybe
Speaker 1: I'll get you in the Hall, back to our desk absolutely,
Speaker 1: But for Larry, I'm West and until next time, take
Speaker 1: m