Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford sitting alongside my colleague West Hodkwitz.
Speaker 1: Hope you all had a very merry Christmas. And West,
Speaker 1: we are back here in our studios at lambeau Field
Speaker 1: to discuss the Packers Saturday Night sixteen and nothing lost
Speaker 1: to the Minnesota Vikings. And I guess another one of
Speaker 1: these games that you just chalk up to a frustrating
Speaker 1: sequence of events in a frustrating season, because, uh, the
Speaker 1: game was kind of there for the taking. Minnesota's offense
Speaker 1: was not lighting up the scoreboard by any means, but
Speaker 1: the Packers some misfires by Brett Hunley, some good throws
Speaker 1: by Brett Hunley that we're not hauled in in some
Speaker 1: crucial situations by his receivers, and when it was all
Speaker 1: said and done, the Packers unfortunately suffered their second shutout
Speaker 1: loss at home. Yeah. I think, Mike, as I went
Speaker 1: back and watched this game, it goes back to something
Speaker 1: you and I have talked about numerous times throughout the
Speaker 1: course this year, that getting on that same page, it
Speaker 1: just seemed like when Bret Hunley made the throws his
Speaker 1: receivers didn't come through, and then when his receivers got separation,
Speaker 1: there were opportunities. Bred Hunley didn't put the ball where
Speaker 1: it needed to be. Uh that that isn't a recipe
Speaker 1: for success, and those missed opportunities really ultimately, especially against
Speaker 1: a defense like this and an offense that, while it
Speaker 1: wasn't explosive on Saturday night in the Minnesota Vikings, didn't
Speaker 1: turn the ball over, it's gonna be tough to overcome
Speaker 1: all that. I just think when when the Packers look
Speaker 1: back on this in some ways, and you and I
Speaker 1: even said it during the in the press box on
Speaker 1: Saturday night, and it really did remind you that Baltimore game,
Speaker 1: where there was an opportunity the defense put them in
Speaker 1: a position to win that football game. In the offense,
Speaker 1: while it drove the ball at times, wasn't consistent enough
Speaker 1: and didn't make didn't take enough advantage of those red
Speaker 1: zone oportunities. And what I thought was different about the
Speaker 1: Baltimore game is I thought against the Ravens, the Packers
Speaker 1: offense frankly looked rather helpless at times, and this particular
Speaker 1: game against Minnesota, I thought the Packers just didn't help themselves,
Speaker 1: because the the most frustrating thing about the drop passes
Speaker 1: when Brett Hunley did make a good throw is a
Speaker 1: lot of them were on third downs. They were to
Speaker 1: move the chains to keep drives going. Pretty much all
Speaker 1: of the drop passes, I believe, if if I'm recalling
Speaker 1: all of them, they would have at a minimum gained
Speaker 1: a first down. They these weren't you know, little sideways
Speaker 1: checkdowns where guys are dropping things and things are looking sloppy,
Speaker 1: but you don't really know if those plays are going
Speaker 1: to get anywhere. These drop passes were for first downs,
Speaker 1: to keep drives going, to get the quarterback some confidence,
Speaker 1: to get him in a rhythm. And it just never
Speaker 1: really came together. And and the killer mistake that Hunley
Speaker 1: made was the one at the end of the first
Speaker 1: half the it's attend to nothing game. The Packers are driving,
Speaker 1: you have a tremendous opportunity to get it to ten
Speaker 1: seven at half time, or a minimum tend to three.
Speaker 1: It's third and three from about the fifteen yard line,
Speaker 1: you're in the red zone and Harrison Smith picks him
Speaker 1: off on a pass over the middle that Hunley knows
Speaker 1: he never should have thrown it. He locked onto Kendrick's
Speaker 1: the tight end early kind of stared him down a
Speaker 1: little bit, and and Harrison Smith is is going to
Speaker 1: read that and make the play, and he made Hunley
Speaker 1: pay for it. Yeah, And I think this is the
Speaker 1: most frustrating thing because when you as far as the
Speaker 1: Packers are concerned, because if you do look at the game,
Speaker 1: there were a lot of positives. The offensive line played
Speaker 1: really well, the defense kept them in this thing. It's
Speaker 1: just in the areas where the Packers needed players to
Speaker 1: step up, it just didn't happen. And as you said,
Speaker 1: there Harrison Smith another example of of a Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: type player, although he isn't currently at safety, making big
Speaker 1: plays when his defense needed in the most Viking shot
Speaker 1: out of the gate. I mean they got out, they
Speaker 1: got out there, they made the big plays. They got
Speaker 1: the big defensive pass interference penalty for thirty nine yards,
Speaker 1: were capitalized on that to put points on the board,
Speaker 1: and after that really were held in checked for the
Speaker 1: most part. But it just seemed like that little bit
Speaker 1: of a hole was almost at times, I don't want
Speaker 1: to say insurmountable, but the Packers just couldn't find that
Speaker 1: play to put points on the board to get them
Speaker 1: back within range again, had numerous opportunities to do so,
Speaker 1: but just weren't able to capitalize on those. And I
Speaker 1: think when the Packers go back and look at this thing,
Speaker 1: is is Randall Cobbs said afterwards one of the most
Speaker 1: frustrating UH performances he's been associated with, because I think
Speaker 1: they understood how close they were to actually being able
Speaker 1: to not only compete, but beat a team that likely
Speaker 1: is gonna end up being, you know, a first round
Speaker 1: by type of team in these playoffs. Yeah, the Vikings. Uh,
Speaker 1: it felt to me like the Vikings never got nervous,
Speaker 1: and that's because the Packers didn't do anything to make
Speaker 1: them nervous. Even though for the bulk of the second
Speaker 1: half it was only ten to nothing, then thirteen to nothing.
Speaker 1: It's only a two score game. One touchdown cranks up
Speaker 1: the pressure on the other team to respond, and the
Speaker 1: Packers just never put the Vikings in a position to
Speaker 1: do that. Now that being said, you look at the roster,
Speaker 1: the game day roster, the actors are trying to beat
Speaker 1: a playoff team with you don't have Clay Matthews, you
Speaker 1: don't have Nick Perry, you don't have Davante Adams, you
Speaker 1: don't have Damarus Randall. As the game goes on, you
Speaker 1: lose Jordy Nelson, you lose Richard Rogers, you lose Jason
Speaker 1: Spriggs at right tackle, so you're shuffling on the offensive
Speaker 1: line again. So all sorts of things in that respect
Speaker 1: were you know, an uphill climb for the Packers to
Speaker 1: begin with. But the frustrating thing is the opportunities were
Speaker 1: there and they just didn't see them. Yeah, and you
Speaker 1: see guys, and we'll talk about this soon. We see
Speaker 1: guys like Michael Clark step up, and I thought Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams actually had a pretty decent day given what he
Speaker 1: could out of the backfield. But Aaron Jones goes down
Speaker 1: with another knee injury. Another injury there. I talked about
Speaker 1: one of the my points of emphasis, one of my
Speaker 1: keys in this game was getting both of those guys
Speaker 1: upward of a dozen touches. They were able to accomplish
Speaker 1: that with Williams, but Jones and his knee injury, they
Speaker 1: didn't have that that, you know, that outside threat with
Speaker 1: him and what he brings the table. And then losing
Speaker 1: Jordy Nelson and Richard Rogers you're talking about two of
Speaker 1: the most durable, accountable player is on the entire team. Um,
Speaker 1: it's just and I saw a lot of people's comments
Speaker 1: on Twitter throughout the course of the game too, it
Speaker 1: was like, what next. Jason Spriggs goes out on the
Speaker 1: first play. That looks like a pretty I mean, Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy said, it's a pretty significant injury. Unfortunately, you know,
Speaker 1: talking to Justin McCrae afterwards, his entire week is focused
Speaker 1: on replacing, likely replacing Jerry Evans at right guard. He
Speaker 1: goes out to right tackle. I just think in some
Speaker 1: ways it was kind of a microcosm of way that
Speaker 1: this season has kind of gone from. Yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: It was kind of a summary of of the entire seen.
Speaker 1: But with that, we're going to throw it to a
Speaker 1: break back with more on Packers Unscripted right after this.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford in this year,
Speaker 1: West Hodkowits in that one and West. When you look
Speaker 1: at the Packers defense here from said Urday night against
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings, is certainly a respectable effort, holding Minnesota
Speaker 1: to sixteen points, really to thirteen points when with the
Speaker 1: final field goal being a turnover on downs that was
Speaker 1: deep in uh in Green Bay territory for an easy
Speaker 1: extra field goal from Minnesota. But um, this defensive this
Speaker 1: young defensive lineman that we've been talking about a lot
Speaker 1: this year, and I'm talking about the second year pro
Speaker 1: Kenny Clark, former first round draft pick out of U C.
Speaker 1: L A. I don't know how many times I've said it,
Speaker 1: but I thought his season was over when he was
Speaker 1: carded off the field with that ankle injury against Baltimore.
Speaker 1: And not only did he come back, he's playing. He's
Speaker 1: playing as well as any defensive lineman in the league.
Speaker 1: If you were to vote, if you were to take
Speaker 1: the All Pro vote based on based on the last
Speaker 1: month of the regular season right now, Kenny Clark would
Speaker 1: be at the top of everyone's list. This is what's
Speaker 1: interesting to me, Mike, because I wrote about this after
Speaker 1: the game, that the season he's had, and I think
Speaker 1: as a whole we romanticize b J. Rogie's final stretch
Speaker 1: of tooth in ten during that playoff run, and rightfully so.
Speaker 1: He was a key player and one of the reasons
Speaker 1: the Packers got to the Super Bowl. He had eleven
Speaker 1: tackles in four sacks in the last month, that December
Speaker 1: stretch of that season. Kenny Clark right now has twenty
Speaker 1: one tackles in four and a half sacks right now
Speaker 1: in the month of December. That's with one game yet
Speaker 1: to play. By the way, this season has not gone
Speaker 1: how the Packers want defensively. Not gonna sugarcoat that, not
Speaker 1: gonna say anything that's untrue there. It hasn't worked out.
Speaker 1: But to overlook what Kenny Clark has done in the
Speaker 1: jump he's made in year two. Uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: think it was Devon host who said this in the
Speaker 1: locker room afterwards. I mean him and Mike Mike Daniels
Speaker 1: there the salt and pepper this defense. They really are.
Speaker 1: And I think when you look at a building plock
Speaker 1: for where the Packers take this thing in two thousand eighteen,
Speaker 1: it starts there. They didn't have Claim Matthews, they didn't
Speaker 1: have Nick Perry, so you know what they needed more
Speaker 1: out of their inside rushers. Those were the veterans. As
Speaker 1: weird as it sounds, twenty two year old Kenny Clark
Speaker 1: need to be a right yeah, and with two sacks
Speaker 1: um the way he diagnosed that screen pass, that led
Speaker 1: to his second one. This guy has the athleticism, he's
Speaker 1: he can take on double teams, good run stopper. But
Speaker 1: over this past month he's proven what Mike Turkovac and
Speaker 1: a lot of these coaches I've known for some time.
Speaker 1: He could be a disrupting pass rusher. Yeah, and Turgovac
Speaker 1: was the one who said he'd been telling Clark, you know,
Speaker 1: all of it was on film, especially with his pass rush,
Speaker 1: that he was getting so close to quarterbacks, and Turkovac
Speaker 1: was saying, just keep doing what you're doing and just
Speaker 1: be patient. Yeah, early in the season that the statistics
Speaker 1: weren't there in terms of the sacks. Well, now all
Speaker 1: of that hard work, you know, doing what he's doing
Speaker 1: is paying off, because for all of the sacks that
Speaker 1: he missed, so to speak, he ends up getting one
Speaker 1: just by running a quarterback out of bounds, you know,
Speaker 1: not the fancy, highlight real type of thing, but it
Speaker 1: counts as a sack because, as you said, he diagnoses
Speaker 1: was screre passed. It was a really really good play
Speaker 1: and he ends up getting the quarterback out of bounds
Speaker 1: at the line of scrimmage or one yard behind. However,
Speaker 1: that that turn out to be, but it's a sack
Speaker 1: and uh and he's for an interior lineman. He's racking
Speaker 1: him up at a pretty alarming rate. Now, He's exactly
Speaker 1: what you're looking for in defensive nose tackles in the
Speaker 1: NFL in two thousand seventeen, going into two thousand eighteen,
Speaker 1: you want to have, you know, a guy that can
Speaker 1: stop the run, but he doesn't have to be three
Speaker 1: pounds anymore. He can be three fifteen pounds and be
Speaker 1: just completely country strong and being able to to really
Speaker 1: dominate in the trenches. I mean, you look for those
Speaker 1: guys that are just I don't want to say road
Speaker 1: graders because that's a guard term, but just absolutely gritty
Speaker 1: football players. Kenny Clark has been that since day one,
Speaker 1: and he was only twenty years old when he entered
Speaker 1: this league. He's become a guy that I think when
Speaker 1: you look at the way his career trajectory is going,
Speaker 1: is you're seeing the metamorphosis of a playmaker in a
Speaker 1: well rounded three down football player. You saw the same
Speaker 1: thing with Mike Daniels in year two. Daniels is a
Speaker 1: little bit more situational at that time, but he had
Speaker 1: those six and a half sacks that got into everybody's
Speaker 1: radar this last month of the season, I think Kenny
Speaker 1: Clark has followed that same path. And if you're looking again,
Speaker 1: as I said, for for one of the things that
Speaker 1: really point to when you go into two thousand eighteen
Speaker 1: for what could be a strength of this defense, I
Speaker 1: think Kenny Clark is gonna be a guy that that's
Speaker 1: going to get a lot of notice in the NFL
Speaker 1: going forward. Yeah, you wonder now as as we look
Speaker 1: ahead a little bit toen we saw what happened early
Speaker 1: in the season with Mike Daniels and that tremendous game
Speaker 1: he had against the Seattle Seahawks in Week one, and
Speaker 1: then unfortunately Daniels had some injuries. But we've seen Mike
Speaker 1: Daniels have to take on double teams and whatnot. The
Speaker 1: film that Kenny Clark has put out there in the
Speaker 1: last month, he's the guy who's going to be getting
Speaker 1: the double teams in eighteen. And now that's something that
Speaker 1: personally for him he's going to have to adjust to.
Speaker 1: He's going to have to deal with. There's going to
Speaker 1: be some frustrations and some growing pains through that part
Speaker 1: of it. But then that's also something that his other
Speaker 1: mates across the defensive front are going to have to
Speaker 1: take advantage of, because is the one who's He's going
Speaker 1: to have that target on his back now as offensive
Speaker 1: coordinators prepared to face the Packers. And let's be honest, Mike,
Speaker 1: any three four scheme, really any scheme in the NFL.
Speaker 1: When you can get that pass rush from a nose
Speaker 1: tackle three tech position, that's the cherry on top. You
Speaker 1: need to be able to defend the run. You have
Speaker 1: to be stout in that area. But the biggest playmakers
Speaker 1: in this league are guys that can get disruption despite
Speaker 1: the double team, being able to shed blocks and go
Speaker 1: back and look at any of his games this year.
Speaker 1: Show me any film where he's getting pushed backwards, even
Speaker 1: on those double teams, he holds his ground. That's where
Speaker 1: I brought in that strong comment. I mean, it's just
Speaker 1: incredible to me for a guy that's that young competing
Speaker 1: against some offensive lineman there's seven eight years older than him.
Speaker 1: There there's a line of thinking out there that offensive
Speaker 1: lineman don't hit their prime until years old because of
Speaker 1: the strength that you develop over those years in the NFL.
Speaker 1: And Kenny Clark is standing up to it. Yeah, definitely. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm sure we're gonna be talking about him a lot
Speaker 1: in the episodes to come on Packers Unscripted, But for
Speaker 1: now we'll toss to break back with more right after this,
Speaker 1: m Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford here, Wes
Speaker 1: Hodkowitz over there, and West. We got a little bit
Speaker 1: of a glimpse on Saturday night into what could be
Speaker 1: some of the future for the Green Bay Packers, and
Speaker 1: I'm talking about two players in particular, wide receiver Michael
Speaker 1: Clark and outside linebacker Reggie Gilbert, both guys very recently
Speaker 1: brought up from the practice squad to the active roster,
Speaker 1: and then they get their first regular season NFL game
Speaker 1: action against the Vikings. Uh, you can start with who
Speaker 1: you want to, but both of these guys flashed a
Speaker 1: little bit of ability. They did, Mike, and obviously the
Speaker 1: result was not what the Packers wanted, but I actually
Speaker 1: thought they did check a box here in terms of
Speaker 1: getting their young guys playing time. Reggie Gilbert played forty
Speaker 1: snaps Michael out of as. Nothing like doing that. Excuse me,
Speaker 1: your first game, yeah, exactly, getting getting introduced, you know,
Speaker 1: trial by fire, but I asked him that afterwards if
Speaker 1: he had any inclination that he was going to play
Speaker 1: as much as he did. Regie. This wasn't just second
Speaker 1: half either. Reggie Gilbert was out there on like the
Speaker 1: second defensive series. He was on the field. The Packers
Speaker 1: really were counting on him in this football game, and
Speaker 1: I thought, that's exactly what they need to do. It
Speaker 1: goes back to a comment Jay Rone Elliott, who's you know,
Speaker 1: no longer with the Packers, said to me back during
Speaker 1: the offseason program, because we're talking a lot about you know,
Speaker 1: different rookies and undrafted guys and you know players coming
Speaker 1: off the practice squad that could make an impact, and
Speaker 1: he said, don't sleep on Reggie Gilbert. This is a
Speaker 1: guy that has a lot of ability. Made a huge
Speaker 1: transition going from a four three defensive end defensive tackle
Speaker 1: at the University of Arizona to a stand up three
Speaker 1: four outside backer. Not an easy switch to make. Chris
Speaker 1: Odom's found that out this year with his his his
Speaker 1: move as well to that position, and I think you
Speaker 1: saw his natural tools and assets to be able to
Speaker 1: get some push those Kenny Clark sacks. He basically was
Speaker 1: on on both of them all the we obviously wasn't
Speaker 1: credited for him. This guy can play, and I think
Speaker 1: as they go into this game against the Lions, I
Speaker 1: really want to see more of them because there's a
Speaker 1: lot of ability they're touching quickly. On Michael Clark, we've
Speaker 1: seen at six ft seven the catch radius he has.
Speaker 1: He's raw, he has a lot of room for growth yet,
Speaker 1: but that diving catch I think really illustrates exactly what
Speaker 1: he can bring to the table with just how much
Speaker 1: of a catch radius he has to make a play. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was a heck of a diving catcher. I believe
Speaker 1: it was for a nineteen yard game. Put the Packers
Speaker 1: in Yeah, put the Packers in position to potentially get
Speaker 1: some points there. We know unfortunately that didn't work out. Um,
Speaker 1: but Clark had a couple of back shoulder opportunities to that.
Speaker 1: You know, wasn't able to quite connect with Brett Hunley
Speaker 1: on those are plays I'm sure he would like to
Speaker 1: have back. They are pretty well thrown balls. I give
Speaker 1: Hunley credit for putting the ball where it needed to
Speaker 1: be and those are the learning opportunities though. That's the
Speaker 1: next step now for Michael Clark. Because I'm sure he'd
Speaker 1: like to get another opportunity. And as you said the
Speaker 1: Detroit game, okay, here's your chance to follow it up,
Speaker 1: you know. And Reggie Gilbert the same way, here's your
Speaker 1: chance to follow it up and show that you can,
Speaker 1: you know, get some pass rush two games in a row.
Speaker 1: It's not just about can you do it in one game,
Speaker 1: it's can you can you perform that way on a
Speaker 1: consistent basis. I think both of these guys, just by
Speaker 1: what they've shown already, have put themselves in position to
Speaker 1: make a serious run out of roster spot in. But
Speaker 1: that's about as far as I'll go right now, because
Speaker 1: we're just seeing maybe what they can do and and
Speaker 1: doing it on a consistent basis game in and game
Speaker 1: out in the NFL is another matter. And I know
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy said during what would be as Christmas Eve
Speaker 1: news conference that he's not in the business of preseason.
Speaker 1: This isn't preseason football that you saved that time for
Speaker 1: earlier in the summer. But the fact that these guys
Speaker 1: have gotten on the field. They're on the fifty three there,
Speaker 1: fifty three man roster, which means they have to play.
Speaker 1: They're gonna get an opportunity to play. I just I
Speaker 1: think if you're them, you have to be happy with
Speaker 1: what you saw, even a guy like Lindsay Pipkins to
Speaker 1: their undrafted rookie that they had make the roster this year. Yeah, cornerback,
Speaker 1: he basically spelled Devon House in this game when House
Speaker 1: had to come out because of what he was dealing
Speaker 1: with throughout the contest. And I thought he made a
Speaker 1: nice showing for himself as well. Without Damarius Randall being available,
Speaker 1: was sort of the next man up at cornerback. I
Speaker 1: mean Trevor Davis, Scott opportunities, Jeff Jani Scott opportunities. UM,
Speaker 1: A lot of guys that I think people were clamoring
Speaker 1: for in the inbox when we get comments and questions
Speaker 1: were able to get out there on the field. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And I think it says something you mentioned Mike McCarthy's
Speaker 1: comment about this isn't this isn't preseason football. This is
Speaker 1: going out there to try to win football games. The
Speaker 1: fact that Michael Clark got the snaps that he did
Speaker 1: and got the opportunities that he did tells you what
Speaker 1: they think of him, because this this isn't just okay,
Speaker 1: let's put him out there and see what he can do.
Speaker 1: It's let's put him out there and try to win
Speaker 1: a football game, and and that mentality, you know what
Speaker 1: the coaches are looking for, what they see, what they
Speaker 1: expect out of a guy like Michael Clark. They're putting
Speaker 1: some pressure on him right now to perform, and as
Speaker 1: you said, I'm very curious to see how he does
Speaker 1: in Detroit next Yeah, and we're going to get the
Speaker 1: injury report on Wednesday afternoon, so we'll see a exactly
Speaker 1: where Jordy Nelson is and if Dabonti Adams has a
Speaker 1: chance to play in this game. But if you're missing
Speaker 1: those two vets, depending on how things shake out, and
Speaker 1: also depending on what happens with Richard Rodgers at tight end,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be even more opportunity for those young receivers
Speaker 1: in this game. So that was a good building block,
Speaker 1: but I think a lot of them, as you said,
Speaker 1: contending for spots next year, you really need to finish strong. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1: With that, let's toss to a breakback with more and
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford alongside Wes hod Kowitz and West to provide
Speaker 1: a quick rundown on where the NFL playoff picture stands
Speaker 1: here heading into Week seventeen, one game to go. In
Speaker 1: the a f C, the division champions are all decided.
Speaker 1: You have four teams fighting for two wild card spots.
Speaker 1: The ray Evens, the Titans, the Chargers, and the Bills.
Speaker 1: Baltimore and Tennessee are the ones who control it. If
Speaker 1: they win, they get the two spots. Los Angeles Chargers
Speaker 1: and Buffalo Bills looking to win and get some help
Speaker 1: in order to get in. On the NFC side, it's
Speaker 1: two teams fighting for one spot. It's the Atlanta Falcons
Speaker 1: and the Seattle Seahawks. And the Falcons are the ones
Speaker 1: in the driver's seat. If they can beat Carolina they
Speaker 1: are in. The Seahawks looking to win and have the
Speaker 1: Falcons lose in order for them to get in. What
Speaker 1: do you think is going to happen? Well, first off,
Speaker 1: I mean the a f C, what a wide open
Speaker 1: race this year. I think in some ways, um, you know,
Speaker 1: the Packers shutout loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Certainly we
Speaker 1: always view that as a winnable game. But I think
Speaker 1: not just us, I mean in general, I think people
Speaker 1: need to show the Ravens a lot more respect. Their
Speaker 1: defense is legit, and offensively, when they don't make mistakes,
Speaker 1: they can win football games. I'm not saying they're the
Speaker 1: most explosive team in the world, but I think a
Speaker 1: lot of times people saying that was such a bad
Speaker 1: loss for Green Bay. Baltimore is a good football team.
Speaker 1: They've had a solid second half of the real coming
Speaker 1: off of that bye week, which the Packer game here
Speaker 1: at Lambeaux was their first game after there by, they
Speaker 1: played pretty well. Since then, they finished strong and I
Speaker 1: think they found their identity offensively. The fact that Tennessee
Speaker 1: has a chance to win and in is incredible to me.
Speaker 1: I said to this to you three weeks ago. I
Speaker 1: couldn't believe they were eating four at one point, and
Speaker 1: I hadn't been paying much attention because Jacksonville is getting
Speaker 1: all the headlines and then they're sitting there eating for
Speaker 1: When was the last time that division produced two playoff teams? Right?
Speaker 1: But getting back to the NFC race really going to
Speaker 1: be interesting to watch seeing Atlanta in Seattle after having
Speaker 1: all these different scenarios with Green Bay in Dallas and
Speaker 1: Detroit all looking in. It's pretty finite now and basically
Speaker 1: who wins is who's in. And I think the interesting
Speaker 1: thing in the NFC that you have to keep in
Speaker 1: mind and a year like this where the Packers have
Speaker 1: their playoff streak at eight years ended not going to
Speaker 1: the postseason, whoever gets in between Atlanta and Seattle for
Speaker 1: that last spot in the NFC is the only playoff
Speaker 1: team from ten in the NFC that's going back. The
Speaker 1: other five that are all in, they weren't in the
Speaker 1: playoffs last year. This is a almost a complete turnover
Speaker 1: in one year as far as NFC playoff team And
Speaker 1: this is what life is like in the NFL for
Speaker 1: teams that aren't the Green Bay Packers, the Pittsburgh Steelers,
Speaker 1: in the New England Patriots. I think sometimes people really
Speaker 1: overlook how difficult it is to make it one year
Speaker 1: to the next. You have teams that rise, you have
Speaker 1: teams at fall. That's the way things work in the
Speaker 1: free agency era, and I think it's some ways with
Speaker 1: eight straight playoff appearances, you sometimes get desensitized to that fact.
Speaker 1: And interesting what the NFL did here for Week sevent
Speaker 1: team No Sunday night game. Because of all of these
Speaker 1: games that depend on this team winning they can get
Speaker 1: in or this team needs them to lose, they wanted
Speaker 1: those games played at the same time, both in the
Speaker 1: a f C and in the NFC, so they decided
Speaker 1: not to have a Sunday night football game for weeks seventeen,
Speaker 1: so nobody gets a competitive advantage. Kind of an interesting decision,
Speaker 1: a very interesting decision. We'll see how it plays out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a new way to do things. But with that we'll
Speaker 1: call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team on Packers dot com on Twitter, He's at west
Speaker 1: Hod I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account.
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1: H m hm