Speaker 1: Hi everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is the one and only
Speaker 1: west Hodkowits. We're coming to you here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field West. It's our final show of the
Speaker 1: week here leading up to Packers Rams on Sunday afternoon
Speaker 1: from Los Angeles the Colosseum PM Central time kickoff and
Speaker 1: on our final show of the week, we always focus
Speaker 1: on the keys to victory now, but the Packers at three,
Speaker 1: two and one and the Rams at seven and Oh,
Speaker 1: the Packers have to do a lot of things well
Speaker 1: in order to come away with a big road victory. Here.
Speaker 1: Where do you want to start? Throw the records out
Speaker 1: of it? Okay, that's the first thing you gotta do. Uh,
Speaker 1: it has to be zero and zero first, zero zero.
Speaker 1: You can't look at what the Rams have done, the stats,
Speaker 1: everything that you've seen so far, the defensive player of
Speaker 1: the year, the offensive player of the year, the production,
Speaker 1: all of that. It's all about one game at the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and being the better team on
Speaker 1: that day. That has to be the focus. I thought
Speaker 1: in our final our final thoughts video not to give
Speaker 1: anyway any spoilers, but you made such a great point.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers needs to be the best player on the
Speaker 1: field that day. I think the Packers need to win
Speaker 1: the early first and down, second down situations. Offensively, get
Speaker 1: yourself in second and manageable get yourself into third and
Speaker 1: short in those instances, and defensively, you have to be
Speaker 1: able to stop Todd Gurley. That's where it starts. They're
Speaker 1: gonna get their place, they're gonna get their production, and
Speaker 1: they'll probably get their points, but you have to be
Speaker 1: able to contain him. The more he goes off as
Speaker 1: a pass catcher as a runner, the harder and longer
Speaker 1: that day is going to be. But it all starts,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, Michael, with not looking at underdog, not
Speaker 1: looking at you know, lines, looking at the opponent that's
Speaker 1: in front of you, in figuring out a way to
Speaker 1: beat them over the span of folk. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: what you say about the early downs really is important
Speaker 1: on both sides of the ball here, because when you
Speaker 1: look at what Todd Gurley does for this offense. We've
Speaker 1: heard all week long about all of the misdirection and
Speaker 1: keeping your eyes in the right place and all of
Speaker 1: these kinds of things. As far as defensively, how you
Speaker 1: try to contain this Rams team, Well, that all starts
Speaker 1: with the way Todd Gurley runs the ball and how
Speaker 1: they set up play action off of that running game. So,
Speaker 1: as you said, if you can win the early downs
Speaker 1: and get them into more of a drop back passing
Speaker 1: team as opposed to a play action passing team, that
Speaker 1: gives your defense at least a little bit more of
Speaker 1: an advantage to try to stay with those weapons, try
Speaker 1: to get after Jared Goffin and disrupt him a little bit,
Speaker 1: maybe get him get his timing um a little bit disrupted.
Speaker 1: On the other side of the ball. With the Packers,
Speaker 1: we mentioned it earlier this week because Aaron Rodgers brought
Speaker 1: it up. The inordinate number of third and longs, the
Speaker 1: third and eleven plus is the third and fifteen plus
Speaker 1: is that the Packers have been in Hey. That all
Speaker 1: comes down to again winning on first and second down.
Speaker 1: It's about getting the running game going. It's about cutting
Speaker 1: down on the penalties, it's about cutting down on the sacks.
Speaker 1: Whatever the negative plays that have happened that have put
Speaker 1: the Packers in those situations, those are the things that
Speaker 1: that that have to be cleaned up, because, boy, I
Speaker 1: tell you this pass rush Aaron Donald four sacks you know,
Speaker 1: as part of a seven sack effort against the San
Speaker 1: Francisco forty Niners. You don't want to be in third
Speaker 1: and eleven plus against anybody, but against this pass rush,
Speaker 1: in this defense and on the road, that's a that's
Speaker 1: a potential recipe, recipe for disaster. You don't want to
Speaker 1: let Aaron Donald, you don't want to let Sue be
Speaker 1: able to jet rush up the medal. You have to
Speaker 1: be able to keep them honest. You can't let them
Speaker 1: just jumping off the snap of the ball and trying
Speaker 1: to get in the backfield. That is the recipe for success.
Speaker 1: When you look at their defense and how they're able
Speaker 1: to affect the quarterback and honestly, Mike kind of affect
Speaker 1: the running game two of the opposing team. I think
Speaker 1: that's what makes them pretty special is that they are disciplined,
Speaker 1: they are explosive, and they don't get out of their
Speaker 1: gaps and and the the one thing I do think
Speaker 1: about a lot when I go into this game, when
Speaker 1: I was looking more and more at the matchup, is
Speaker 1: the fact that I do believe it does start with
Speaker 1: the run for the Packers, not only because Mike McCarthy
Speaker 1: has been talking all week about the need to get
Speaker 1: more touches of the backs, but also when you look
Speaker 1: at the rams, I mean, the teams that have been
Speaker 1: able to have success at least in terms of moving
Speaker 1: the ball, have been able to win those early down situations.
Speaker 1: Their twelve right now in total run against the run,
Speaker 1: everything else they do is top ten in those major
Speaker 1: statistical categories. So they have to be able to Packers
Speaker 1: have to be able to to move the ball a
Speaker 1: little bit and ease the burden on Aaron Rodgers in
Speaker 1: those tackles. Because I think with this game one of
Speaker 1: the other things that really a lot of people are
Speaker 1: talking about And I could end up being completely wrong
Speaker 1: on this, and if I am in the press box,
Speaker 1: you can tell me I'm an idiot on game day.
Speaker 1: But I think there's a good chance this could be
Speaker 1: a road home road game for the Packers. Oh, they're
Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of Packers fans there, there's no
Speaker 1: question people I've talked to it's an eight five venue.
Speaker 1: I heard a lot of stuff Mike on secondary market,
Speaker 1: people talking about how the week earlier in the week
Speaker 1: after at the policy and those tickets are going for
Speaker 1: anywhere from like thirty bucks to ninety they're well into
Speaker 1: the three figures for this matchup with the Packers. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of cheeseheads out on the West Coast, and
Speaker 1: there's a lot of guys out there in gals as
Speaker 1: well that don't get to watch them play a lot.
Speaker 1: So if that environment, if you can get that on
Speaker 1: your side early on, whether it's the run, whether it's
Speaker 1: the past, whether it's just some good stops early on,
Speaker 1: there's a chance to really ride some momentum. Because when
Speaker 1: I look at those games so far in Washington and Detroit,
Speaker 1: those crowds were able to get into it early, and
Speaker 1: that is not a good thing when you're going on
Speaker 1: the road trying to you know, pull the upset. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and as much as I agree with you about what
Speaker 1: the Packers need to do with their running game and
Speaker 1: easing the burden as much as they can on Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: I still think it does come down to Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: being the best player on the field on Sunday. We've
Speaker 1: seen We've seen these types of games before West where
Speaker 1: whether it's against a division rival like the Minnesota Vikings,
Speaker 1: where a guy like Adrian Peterson or a guy like
Speaker 1: Harrison Smith on defense has clearly been the best player
Speaker 1: on the field that day, the guy who tilts the field.
Speaker 1: We've seen it with the Packers and Aaron Rodgers when
Speaker 1: you know, as we brought up earlier this week, the
Speaker 1: two thousand twelve game at Houston when Houston had J. J.
Speaker 1: Watt and that defense, and Arian Foster was the league's
Speaker 1: leading rusher at the time, and the Texans were five
Speaker 1: and oh and Aaron Rodgers went in and through six
Speaker 1: touchdown passes and was hands down the best player on
Speaker 1: the football field that night in Houston. The Packers need
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers to be that guy that tilts the field
Speaker 1: in this game because Aaron Donald is the reigning defensive
Speaker 1: player of the Year and he's tied currently for the
Speaker 1: league leading sex. Todd Gurley is the reigning offensive player
Speaker 1: of the year. He is currently the league's leading rusher.
Speaker 1: Jared Goff has a passer rating right now that is
Speaker 1: above a hundred and ten. He's in the m v
Speaker 1: P conversation. In this mid season uh stretch here with
Speaker 1: the Rams being undefeated, Aaron Rodgers has to be that
Speaker 1: guy who gets it done for the Packers on Sunday.
Speaker 1: And if he's got all of his weapons on offense,
Speaker 1: if the Packers are in better shape on defense in
Speaker 1: the secondary, as we talked about on our last show,
Speaker 1: with the injuries and hopefully healthwise things coming around, this
Speaker 1: is going to give their Packers. Give the Packers their
Speaker 1: best shot. Yeah, and another thing that they'll be able
Speaker 1: to do regardless of what the game plan is, regardless
Speaker 1: of how on things unfold. But if you're able to
Speaker 1: get Aaron Rodgers going, if you get him comfortable earlier,
Speaker 1: you get them moving the ball offensively, what's the number
Speaker 1: one thing that happens to the Rams defense? It's right
Speaker 1: up there. They start thinking, yeah, and the Packers they
Speaker 1: have a checkered past here with Wade Phillips. You look
Speaker 1: back to what happened against Dallas in two thousand and ten,
Speaker 1: that was the last game he coached for the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Then you look at what happened I believe it was
Speaker 1: two thousand and fifteen, and that that performance that he
Speaker 1: had with the Denver Broncos, what he was able to
Speaker 1: do in that game. Both sides have won in this
Speaker 1: rivalry with him. He's one of the brightest, one of
Speaker 1: the most longest tendered defensive minds in this game, and
Speaker 1: he's found a way to make those pieces fit in
Speaker 1: with the rams they've had. You go back, Mike, what
Speaker 1: they're doing offensively, this is relatively new. There was a
Speaker 1: lot of years where they were struggling to get points.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of years where they're struggling to move
Speaker 1: the ball down field. But defensively they've always had some playmakers.
Speaker 1: I think what Wade Phillips has brought to them is
Speaker 1: a vision of where they need to be in what
Speaker 1: they can do with these guys. How can Aaron Aaron
Speaker 1: Donald take over football games? What can he do to
Speaker 1: make the entire team better? And they felt like Sue
Speaker 1: was obviously a part of that. Michael Brocker's he has
Speaker 1: a role in that defense. He knows what his job,
Speaker 1: duty and his responsibilities are. They play well within the
Speaker 1: scheme and it's gonna be on the Packers when you
Speaker 1: look at it, going out there and trying to set
Speaker 1: the tone early to make those defenders start to think,
Speaker 1: because I think that's where they've had success in these
Speaker 1: matchups lately. They started making the fort think in that matchup,
Speaker 1: during that rally, they started making the Chicago Bears think
Speaker 1: when they go back to that opener and what they
Speaker 1: were able to do, you can't let them get into
Speaker 1: a groove. Yeah, and let's see here with with Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Rams. They are seven and oh yes they've won
Speaker 1: some close games, but have they had to come from behind?
Speaker 1: Have they Have they played from seven points down or
Speaker 1: ten points down at any point in a ballgame? You know,
Speaker 1: the Packers have been talking about can they get out
Speaker 1: can they get out to a fast start? You flip
Speaker 1: the script a little bit on an undefeated team that
Speaker 1: that is rolling and is winning in a certain way.
Speaker 1: If you get them out of there, get them out
Speaker 1: of their game just a little bit, then you know,
Speaker 1: suddenly in the fourth quarter, there you are with a
Speaker 1: shot for the upset. It's a great point, Mike. And
Speaker 1: the other thing you can't dismiss either. Jared Goff is
Speaker 1: playing some good football right now, but he's still a
Speaker 1: third year quarterback. You look at what Denver did to him,
Speaker 1: completion percentage, had a turnover, got sacked five times. There
Speaker 1: is a blueprint there. But the thing you have to
Speaker 1: make sure you do and I've discussed this all week.
Speaker 1: You can't forsake defending Todd Gurley to do that, because
Speaker 1: girl is the guy who won that game. Is the
Speaker 1: guy that won that game. That's the allens, and that's
Speaker 1: the challenge, and that's the chess match going into the
Speaker 1: Colisseum on Sunday afternoon, no question about it. Well, quickly,
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Speaker 1: we talked about it at the top of the show.
Speaker 1: Here the Los Angeles Memorial Colisseum. I've done a little
Speaker 1: bit of research this week West on the Packers history
Speaker 1: with some help from team historian Cliff Crystal, who has
Speaker 1: covered some games at the Los Angeles I never have
Speaker 1: and uh, and you never have been Disneyland out there,
Speaker 1: but I haven't. Okay. The Packers have not been to
Speaker 1: the l A Colisseum since when they played a game
Speaker 1: against the then l A Ray Leaders there. They have
Speaker 1: not played the Rams. They have not played the Rams.
Speaker 1: They haven't played the Rams at the coliseum in forty
Speaker 1: years was the last time. Here's an interesting piece of
Speaker 1: the history here of the Packers at the Los Angeles
Speaker 1: Memorial Coliseum, and it's not a good one. West. The
Speaker 1: Packers have played thirty games there in their history. Back
Speaker 1: through the forties and fifties they played out there, and
Speaker 1: through most of the sixties they played out there every year.
Speaker 1: The Rams were in what was then the Western Conference
Speaker 1: before the whole alignment into divisions, so the Packers had
Speaker 1: a game at the Colisseum every year. The Packers have
Speaker 1: only won two games in their history at the Colisseum
Speaker 1: when they're not coached by Vince Lombardi. Yeah, Vince Lombardi
Speaker 1: went seven two and one, including Super Bowl One, the
Speaker 1: big victory over the Chiefs at the l A Colisseum.
Speaker 1: Vince Lombardi went seven too and one in ten games
Speaker 1: at the Colosseum. The Packers have played twenty other games
Speaker 1: at the Colosseum with other coaches to and eighteen. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's ugly. I'm gonna counter with one thing, Okay, So
Speaker 1: then that was what that was before nine in after
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy, right, So there's there, You're you're you're absolutely
Speaker 1: you're absolutely right, You're absolutely right. But it's it's what
Speaker 1: when you look at when you look at it statistically,
Speaker 1: you're just like, what in the world? And was Lynda
Speaker 1: and Fante bringing him out there a day early to
Speaker 1: get acclimated it away in Fante he actually won the
Speaker 1: game against the Raiders in that was that was the
Speaker 1: that was that was the last time the Packers were
Speaker 1: in that building. That was the second victory by a
Speaker 1: non Lombardi coached Packers team out there. It's impressive. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I missed that in my American history class
Speaker 1: and when I was at Bayport. But what is impressive
Speaker 1: though about this going back? I don't know how you
Speaker 1: feel about it, but I really am big on sports
Speaker 1: history and in being able to get to all these stadiums,
Speaker 1: and I think it is pretty cool that we get
Speaker 1: to check it off at least my bucket list. In
Speaker 1: terms of and what very well could be within building
Speaker 1: that massive state, and it end up might be in
Speaker 1: the last and only time we get an opportunity to
Speaker 1: do that. Um. But it was interesting you worked on
Speaker 1: the story, but it was interesting hearing some of these
Speaker 1: guys discuss it this week that have played there, like
Speaker 1: Kenny Clark saying sort of has a medieval vibe to
Speaker 1: it a little bit with the clock and the old
Speaker 1: school sort of architecture, and Clay Matthews Nick Perry certainly
Speaker 1: have a long storied history there as well. It's a
Speaker 1: different type of venue and it's going to be interesting
Speaker 1: to see exactly how the Packers react to it, because
Speaker 1: I really, honestly, Mike, there isn't too many that are
Speaker 1: like in the NFL in terms of how it's built
Speaker 1: and how it's structured. Yeah, well, here's a positive turn
Speaker 1: to the history there because Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers actually
Speaker 1: played a rather memorable game in that building. If you
Speaker 1: go back to two thousand and four. There was a
Speaker 1: piece in the l A Times this week because I
Speaker 1: think the reporters there got Rogers on a conference call
Speaker 1: and they asked him about it. Back in two thousand four.
Speaker 1: Rodgers is the quarterback. I think they did. I think
Speaker 1: they did. We didn't get anybody. We got Sean McVeigh.
Speaker 1: But the Cal Bears were ranked seventh in the country.
Speaker 1: They were going into the coliseum to play number one
Speaker 1: ranked and defending national champion USC and unfortunately, Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: and Cal did not pull out the victory. But Rogers
Speaker 1: actually completed twenty three consecutive passes in that game, which
Speaker 1: at the time not only set a Cal school record,
Speaker 1: but tied the n c A record at the time
Speaker 1: for consecutive completions. And at one point in that game
Speaker 1: West he was and this is according to the l
Speaker 1: A Time story I read, he was twenty nine of
Speaker 1: thirty one and the two incompletions were throwaways when he
Speaker 1: had to get out of the pocket. Now the game
Speaker 1: came down to Rogers ended up driving the Bears down.
Speaker 1: I believe they got into a gold ghost situation right
Speaker 1: in the final moments. They were down by six points
Speaker 1: and then there was a sack and a play where
Speaker 1: Rogers primary receiver like slipped in the end zone when
Speaker 1: he was trying to make a cut to get open
Speaker 1: and uh and it threw off the timing and the
Speaker 1: past was incomplete and the number one ranked USC Trojans
Speaker 1: escaped with with a six point victory. But um, Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: he was quoted in that l A time story. He
Speaker 1: remembers that game and you know his memory, he was
Speaker 1: going through play by play and all this talking to
Speaker 1: those reporters and um um, so he's going to have
Speaker 1: a certain memory I think when even though it was
Speaker 1: fourteen years ago, when he walks into that building on Sunday,
Speaker 1: it would be interesting to see how he performed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it will be. And and certainly there's a lot of
Speaker 1: matchups there with the pack. Was that the Pack ten
Speaker 1: at the time or that wasn't the twelve yet, wasn't
Speaker 1: I don't even add that that part of the timeline.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure, but they might have been the Pack
Speaker 1: twelve in two thousand four. But you know what, how
Speaker 1: what those rivalries are like in California, Kenny Clark was
Speaker 1: talking about it too, you know, with u C. L
Speaker 1: A and what they were trying to build there, and
Speaker 1: in that s C is always kind of seen as
Speaker 1: one of the big dogs and and and sort of
Speaker 1: being everyone else is kind of trying to be the
Speaker 1: under what they're offering to the table and Rogers. That
Speaker 1: doesn't surprise me at all. That's complete news to me.
Speaker 1: I don't recall that story, but the fact that he
Speaker 1: was as accurate as he was and as effective as
Speaker 1: he was, And I know there was some some you know,
Speaker 1: challenges they're trying to to lift up California during that time,
Speaker 1: but you know, you look at the quarterback he's become
Speaker 1: and where he's taken his game from there. It's always
Speaker 1: interesting when you can look back and see the signs
Speaker 1: of that kind of success. Certainly, there's adjustments you have
Speaker 1: to make in refinements to a game to succeed at
Speaker 1: this level, but in the end, you always kind of
Speaker 1: are who you are and and for him to have
Speaker 1: a performance like that and be as accurate as he is,
Speaker 1: it does kind of really speak to his level of
Speaker 1: consistency and what he's brought to Green Bay now for
Speaker 1: the last fourteen years. Yeah, well, it's uh, it's going
Speaker 1: to be a historic day for the Packers. First time
Speaker 1: back in that building in uh in quite some time.
Speaker 1: And as you said, you and I get to kind
Speaker 1: of chalk another state. I mean, this is a stadium
Speaker 1: that you know, has hosted Olympic games and all kinds
Speaker 1: of other things. You know, historic as a sports venue,
Speaker 1: not just as a as a football stadium, but you
Speaker 1: know the USC U c l A matchups that have
Speaker 1: taken place there and and uh, you know that just
Speaker 1: the history of the USC football program and and some
Speaker 1: of the things that have that have gone on there
Speaker 1: aside from the Rams and the Raiders and and when
Speaker 1: they've played so uh um and as you said, probably
Speaker 1: the last the last opportunity because they're building a what
Speaker 1: sounds like absolutely amazing new stadium for both the Rams
Speaker 1: and the Chargers out in Los Angeles, and uh and
Speaker 1: with the Packers not necessarily playing those teams on a
Speaker 1: regular basis, this is probably probably the one opportunity for us,
Speaker 1: you would think so, And that's why I thought it
Speaker 1: was kind of neat, especially ushering in this new era
Speaker 1: of having football back in Los Angeles, uh and being
Speaker 1: able to to go out there and and cover some games.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's really interesting Mike, because you and
Speaker 1: I both know what this is. Like. We go to
Speaker 1: Washington what four times in the span of three years,
Speaker 1: and you sort of get to know these areas and
Speaker 1: where we're at, but used to it Los Angeles. I
Speaker 1: honest to goodness, I've been there twice and three times
Speaker 1: now in my lifetime. I you know, I don't know
Speaker 1: it very well, so it's always neat to be able
Speaker 1: to get a new experience and and for me personally now, Mike,
Speaker 1: I think I'm down to Energy. I think that's the
Speaker 1: only stadium I haven't been at. I haven't covered a
Speaker 1: game yet at Lucas Oil, but I've not been to
Speaker 1: Energy at all, So, um, what is that going to
Speaker 1: be two more years? I'll check that one off? Would
Speaker 1: we would go to Houston there? So I I've actually
Speaker 1: I don't think and maybe my parents would correct me
Speaker 1: on this, depending on travel as a youth, but I
Speaker 1: don't think I've actually ever been to Los Angeles except
Speaker 1: for going through the airport like changing planes kind of thing.
Speaker 1: It's actually a city that I've never visited. So I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to just not only for what sounds like
Speaker 1: eighty degree weather, but just getting out and walking around
Speaker 1: and checking it out. The city itself is incredible. Talking
Speaker 1: to some people who live down there, they basically say,
Speaker 1: you have to pick out an area where you want
Speaker 1: to live and that's kind of your community because you're
Speaker 1: not going to be able to get anywhere else in
Speaker 1: a you know, a meaningful time, you know, time sensitive fashion.
Speaker 1: So but but it's cool and it's it's knee to
Speaker 1: be able to have that experience. And I'll be honest
Speaker 1: with you, Mike, and there'll be a moment or two
Speaker 1: I'll take before the kickoff on Sunday to sort of
Speaker 1: appreciate what we're looking at. And in the fact that
Speaker 1: with that storied history you were discussing, you know, that
Speaker 1: might be the final chapter with them at the Coliseum. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, Well with that, we will call it a
Speaker 1: rap on this edition and this week of Packers Unscript
Speaker 1: would be sure to follow all of our coverage of
Speaker 1: the team and of Sunday's game from Beautiful l A
Speaker 1: on Packers dot com on Twitter, He's at West Hot
Speaker 1: I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account.
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.