Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, and welcome to Packers Unscripted. Happy New Year
Speaker 1: to all of you out there. From Packers dot com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford and he is Wes Hodkowitz. We're
Speaker 1: coming to hear from our studios at lambeau Field to
Speaker 1: talk about the conclusion of the Packers two thousand and
Speaker 1: seventeen season. It ends with a thirty five to eleven
Speaker 1: loss at Ford Field in Detroit and West I know
Speaker 1: a lot of reports out there swirling around about possible
Speaker 1: changes going on within the organization, and let's just say
Speaker 1: that after the game, Mike McCarthy did not address anything
Speaker 1: about the future of what's going on with the coaching
Speaker 1: staff or anything else in the football operation. So it's
Speaker 1: not our place to discuss the speculation. We will wait
Speaker 1: until we hear from the head coach, which is going
Speaker 1: to be presumed be within a couple of days sometime
Speaker 1: later this week. We will hear from him on what
Speaker 1: is going on or not going on. So with that,
Speaker 1: the final game of the regular season um not the
Speaker 1: way the Packers wanted to go out, Certainly, thirty five
Speaker 1: to eleven a rough ball game. Brett Hunley didn't finish
Speaker 1: his stint as the starting quarterbacks. Certainly the way he
Speaker 1: wanted to. A couple of early turnovers really kind of
Speaker 1: blew the Packers chance to to make this a game
Speaker 1: and and and stay competitive in it. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: the thing that stands up the most when you really
Speaker 1: look at the stat sheet once this thing was over
Speaker 1: was the four turnovers four takeaways for the Lions and
Speaker 1: zero for the Packers. I mean that that was gonna
Speaker 1: tilt this ball game so significantly. Mike McCarthy said afterwards
Speaker 1: he actually was relatively happy with the way the Packers
Speaker 1: started this football game. They had made the decision earlier
Speaker 1: in the week that they were going to try to
Speaker 1: go for that surprise on side kick if they won
Speaker 1: the coin toss, and there you go, Mason Crosby doing
Speaker 1: one of the things that he does best. Germaine Whitehead
Speaker 1: makes a tremendous play on the ball to get the
Speaker 1: Packers the football at the fifth forty nine yard line,
Speaker 1: as they've done basically every single time Hunley has been
Speaker 1: under center. They drove on that first series, and then
Speaker 1: you know, the past a little bit behind. Jamal Williams
Speaker 1: ends up being a drop turns into an interception, and
Speaker 1: the lines were able to get the ball there, but
Speaker 1: Packers actually end up forcing I believe the three out defensively,
Speaker 1: Green Bay gets the ball back, actually ends up kicking
Speaker 1: the field goal to go up three to nothing. So
Speaker 1: things were kind of working in their favor, but slowly,
Speaker 1: between the drops and the mistackles and everything kind of
Speaker 1: culminating together, the game slowly got away from them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when you turn the ball over twice in the red
Speaker 1: zone with scoring opportunities there in the first quarter in
Speaker 1: a game that you know you're playing uphill from the beginning,
Speaker 1: you've got You've got some starters on the field. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying this was an entire, you know, taxi squad
Speaker 1: type of lineup, but the Packers were using a lot
Speaker 1: of backups on both sides of the ball, with some
Speaker 1: starters sprinkled in, and even some of those starters on
Speaker 1: the defensive side. I would say, we're rotating in and out,
Speaker 1: maybe more often than they would in a usual regular
Speaker 1: season game. Sit suation. So you turn the ball over
Speaker 1: twice in the red zone with a chance to score
Speaker 1: early in the ball game, the defense does start out
Speaker 1: pretty well, even after giving up the one deep ball
Speaker 1: fifty plus yards over the top. They hold the Lions
Speaker 1: to a field goal there, but then the Lions big
Speaker 1: plays kind of kicked in. They got the fifty four
Speaker 1: yard touchdown to Kenny Golladay. They later on they get
Speaker 1: a seventy one yard touched down past the Golden Tate
Speaker 1: when he's a wide open um to the left side
Speaker 1: for Stafford against the zone defense, and the Packers offense
Speaker 1: after those early promising drives just never really got going
Speaker 1: until getting a fourth down touchdown pass late in the
Speaker 1: game to Randall Cobb that that you know, gave you
Speaker 1: maybe some hope that the Packers could close the gap
Speaker 1: a little bit, but it just didn't happen. Yeah, pretty
Speaker 1: much the same drill in this game, and it's been
Speaker 1: sort of the downfall of the Packers in the second
Speaker 1: half of the season. Offensively. Got out to a relatively
Speaker 1: fast start. Slow down, have some three Now, let's have
Speaker 1: some big three notes. Where Hunley's taken a sack on
Speaker 1: third down and that leads to some negative yardage as well,
Speaker 1: ends up the field position battle. I think Wade heavily,
Speaker 1: especially in that first half, Packers punting justin Vogel punting
Speaker 1: out of his own his own end zone two or
Speaker 1: three different times. Yeah. And then you also have the
Speaker 1: mistake on the punt return where you end up muffing
Speaker 1: a punt because one of your blockers gets blocked into
Speaker 1: Trevor Davis who's just trying to make a fair catch,
Speaker 1: and the Lions, you know, get the ball in easy
Speaker 1: scoring position. That that's you know, the game just started
Speaker 1: a snowball the wrong way. Yeah. And that's a tough
Speaker 1: spot for Down to tell a Brown too, because I
Speaker 1: and I guess I gotta go back and look at
Speaker 1: the film. I don't remember him working as a jammer
Speaker 1: the last few games. That's I think another thing, with
Speaker 1: all the injuries that happened, Josh Hawkins, as you said,
Speaker 1: ends up rotating with Devon House at cornerback. Lindsay Pitkins
Speaker 1: makes his first career start, the undrafted rookie cornerback out
Speaker 1: of vote excuse me, Oklahoma State. So yeah, it just
Speaker 1: it was I think there was just there were some
Speaker 1: guys that stepped up. I mean you look at you know,
Speaker 1: the Manuel Birds of the world that sort of came
Speaker 1: out of nowhere to make a play, and even some
Speaker 1: of the Vets. I thought Clay Matthews and Mike Daniels
Speaker 1: played really hard, but a us the board inconsistency and
Speaker 1: just not being able to take advantage of opportunities and
Speaker 1: having some unfortunate turnovers I think ultimately just led to
Speaker 1: this game being out of site for the Packers once
Speaker 1: we got to the fourth quarter. Yeah, So as the
Speaker 1: final score UH reads thirty five to eleven, the Packers
Speaker 1: finished the season at seven and nine UM. As we
Speaker 1: talked about, obviously the eight game or eight season streak
Speaker 1: of going to the playoffs comes to an end, just
Speaker 1: the second sub five hundred record in Mike McCarthy's twelve
Speaker 1: year tenure and what it ends up doing now at
Speaker 1: seven and nine the Packers, it looks like we'll be
Speaker 1: picking four in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: Just to explain a little bit, they tied with the
Speaker 1: Washington Redskins at seven and nine for what would be
Speaker 1: the thirteenth and fourteenth positions. UH. Strength of schedule is
Speaker 1: the first tiebreaker is actually dead even between the two,
Speaker 1: so they go a little deeper into the tiebreakers and
Speaker 1: it actually comes down to a common games tiebreaker. You
Speaker 1: have to have a minimum of four common games. With
Speaker 1: that opponent, and the Packers and the Redskins both played
Speaker 1: the Seahawks, the Vikings, the Saints, and the how Boys.
Speaker 1: They both played five games against those four opponents. Because
Speaker 1: Washington played Dallas twice, the Packers played Minnesota twice. In
Speaker 1: those five games, the Packers went two and three, the
Speaker 1: Redskins went one and four. So because the Redskins were worse,
Speaker 1: they get the thirteen spot, the Packers get the fourteen spot.
Speaker 1: The upshot of all that explanation, West is that the
Speaker 1: Packers have the highest draft pick they will have they
Speaker 1: have had since two thousand nine, when they drafted B. J.
Speaker 1: Rodger at number nine overall to be fourteen. The the
Speaker 1: highest draft pick the Packers have had since then was
Speaker 1: twenty one when they drafted Ha Ha Clinton Dicks in
Speaker 1: so uncharted waters, but a tremendous opportunity for this organization.
Speaker 1: It is. And as you said, Mike, I mean you
Speaker 1: look at two thousand nine, that was the last time
Speaker 1: that draft was the last time they were coming off
Speaker 1: the season which they didn't go to the playoffs. So um,
Speaker 1: this is the silver lining, the consolation, if you want
Speaker 1: to call it, that you do have a chance now
Speaker 1: whether it's gonna be offense defense. Whatever they decided to
Speaker 1: do with it. There is an opportunity, not only in
Speaker 1: that first round, but in those other rounds to picking
Speaker 1: a little bit earlier to try of finding a difference maker.
Speaker 1: They did it with haklind Dixson two thousand fourteen, picking one,
Speaker 1: and I thought that had a big, really a push
Speaker 1: for that defense to really solidify that safety position. Absolutely
Speaker 1: what they can do with this one, yeah, And we'll
Speaker 1: have plenty of time to talk about that when we
Speaker 1: go to the Combine in February and all that, But
Speaker 1: for now, we're going to toss it to a break
Speaker 1: back with more and Packers Unscripted right after this Welcome
Speaker 1: back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford in this chair, Wes
Speaker 1: Hodkowitz in that one, and West some big pieces of
Speaker 1: news we haven't had a chance to discuss yet because
Speaker 1: they occurred after our final show of the previous week,
Speaker 1: but before the Packers kicked off against the Detroit Lions
Speaker 1: in the season finale. And that is two key pieces
Speaker 1: to this Green Bay Packers offense re signing signing contract
Speaker 1: extensions as they were in the final. Both players are
Speaker 1: in the final year of their rookie deals, and I'm
Speaker 1: talking about receiver Davante Adams and center Corey Linsley. I
Speaker 1: think it was pretty obvious that these were the two
Speaker 1: biggest free agent priorities or pending free agent priorities for
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers, and really good news that they
Speaker 1: got both of these guys back into the fold without
Speaker 1: even approaching that March deadline of free agency. Well, the
Speaker 1: nice thing is with getting the deals done with both
Speaker 1: Adams and Lensley. The way that works as You're able
Speaker 1: to basically pro rate a portion of their signing bonus
Speaker 1: towards the two thousand seventeen caps, so that makes it
Speaker 1: a more palatable contract over the length of it. So
Speaker 1: you know you're able to spread it over four years
Speaker 1: instead of three. Uh that that goes a long way
Speaker 1: with contracts at time. So very smart and savvy from
Speaker 1: the Packers from that perspective. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: it also rewards both Davante Adams and Corey Linsley for
Speaker 1: kind of betting on themselves as year, playing this thing out,
Speaker 1: seeing what they can accomplish. Um Lindsley had the offseason
Speaker 1: surgery on the ankle. He felt like that was going
Speaker 1: to be something that could clean up the lingering hamstring injuries,
Speaker 1: the leg injuries he's been suffering. He ends up playing
Speaker 1: every offensive snap for the Packers this season. Then Davante Adams,
Speaker 1: he had that big breakout year a year ago, but
Speaker 1: people were still kind of wondering can he do it again?
Speaker 1: Not only did he do it, he did it with
Speaker 1: Brett Hunley at quarterback as well. He was able to
Speaker 1: establish that momentum, that rhythm and timing with Hunley as well.
Speaker 1: And I think when you just look at his physical gifts, Mike,
Speaker 1: the fact that he just turned twenty five on Christmas Eve, Uh,
Speaker 1: this guy was going to be one of the top
Speaker 1: freed It's not only at the receiver position but in
Speaker 1: the entire NFL. So for the Packers to get both
Speaker 1: of them locked up now, I think that says a
Speaker 1: lot about them in terms of the two prospects they
Speaker 1: developed from that two thousand fourteen draft and now their
Speaker 1: ability to kind of continue to grow within this offense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think what you said about Davante Adams and
Speaker 1: what he did with Brett Hunley, if there were any
Speaker 1: questions about him, you know, building and repeating what he
Speaker 1: did in a in a breakout. He did it with
Speaker 1: Brett Hunley at quarterback. Because at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: the Packers one three games with Huney at quarterback against Chicago,
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay, and Cleveland, and Davantae Adams had a pretty
Speaker 1: significant role in all of those victories. He really was
Speaker 1: Brett Hunley's go to guy, and and when the offense
Speaker 1: was clicking, when it was getting some things done with
Speaker 1: Brett Huntley at quarterback, a lot of it had to
Speaker 1: do with Davanta Adams. I'm he couldn't be happier for
Speaker 1: the guy. I mean, he did everything he had to do. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you hope everything with the concussion, the second concussion that
Speaker 1: he sustained in unfortunately everything from there goes smoothly and
Speaker 1: he comes back with no issues. But but we even
Speaker 1: saw on social media Aaron Rodgers awfully happy that that
Speaker 1: there's no concern with Davante Adams going elsewhere. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: Randall Coby even talked about the locker room after the
Speaker 1: game on Sunday night. I mean, here, here's a guy
Speaker 1: who came into Green Bay I think had pretty big
Speaker 1: expectations because of that that history, the legacy they've had
Speaker 1: of second round draft picks in Green Bay really becoming
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl type receivers, difference making type of Eavers and Adams.
Speaker 1: He had to take the long, hard road. I mean
Speaker 1: the first year he kind of broke out a little bit,
Speaker 1: stepped in that number three spot, was a good complimentary
Speaker 1: piece for that offense. The second year, a lot more
Speaker 1: was going to be asked him. Without Jordy Nelson. He
Speaker 1: ends up injuring his his ankle in the first week
Speaker 1: of the second week of the season. It lingers the
Speaker 1: entire season wasn't the same player. He had so many doubters,
Speaker 1: so many questions, you know, so many questions are being
Speaker 1: asked about him going into that third year, and then
Speaker 1: you really started to see what he can do. He's
Speaker 1: ever ever so confident in his abilities, So I think
Speaker 1: that went a long way. And then just to touch
Speaker 1: on really quickly, Mike, when you look at Corey Linsley,
Speaker 1: I think this says a lot about Lindsley because this
Speaker 1: is the first time the Packers have really extended and
Speaker 1: given a second contract to a center. Since I believe
Speaker 1: Scott well I was going to say Scott Wells I
Speaker 1: think was the last one into the late two thousands.
Speaker 1: So uh, for them to feel like Lindsley's the guy there,
Speaker 1: I think it's it's it feels a huge need because
Speaker 1: there wasn't an air apparent obviously there. I mean they
Speaker 1: were going to have to make a big move there
Speaker 1: if Lindsley didn't come back. So now you bring him back,
Speaker 1: you have Lane Taylor extended earlier this season. You have
Speaker 1: to see where things are at with Brian Blog. You know,
Speaker 1: if if Jarry Evans wants to come back or not,
Speaker 1: or what the plan will be there at the right side.
Speaker 1: But as far as having those three pieces together with
Speaker 1: box tr Taylor and Lindsley for at least the next
Speaker 1: three seasons a very very big thing for Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: now going forward. Yeah, there's a there's a foundation there,
Speaker 1: certainly on the offensive line. There are some questions both
Speaker 1: injury wise and with Jarry Evans and and his decision
Speaker 1: about his future exactly what what the right side is
Speaker 1: going to look like inen And with regards to the
Speaker 1: receiving corps, I know a lot of people are wondering
Speaker 1: with Jordy Nelson's contract, Randall Cobbs contract and now Davante
Speaker 1: Adams getting his new deal. How is this all gonna
Speaker 1: work out? Is somebody going to be the odd man out?
Speaker 1: I don't know how this is gonna work out. I
Speaker 1: will just say this, the fact that the Packers, going
Speaker 1: back to your original point, that they signed both Lindsley
Speaker 1: and Adams before the season ended. It changes and we'll
Speaker 1: see how things come out in terms of the numbers,
Speaker 1: but it certainly changes what the cap number for both
Speaker 1: of those guys is in twenty team. So what I
Speaker 1: think it does, however this shakes out, is it gives
Speaker 1: you more flexibility with what you want to do in
Speaker 1: some of these other financial contracts situations then you would
Speaker 1: have had if both of these guys take it all
Speaker 1: the way up to March, and then you don't have
Speaker 1: that option of counting some of that signing bonus and
Speaker 1: some of that money against the cap. And keep in
Speaker 1: mind too, because this has become a big narrative, and
Speaker 1: I just want to dispel one notion. Let's say I
Speaker 1: get paid one million dollars for four years to write
Speaker 1: in report for Packers dot Com. It would be nice.
Speaker 1: I don't a lot of times with the NFL contracts,
Speaker 1: it isn't just two and fifty or fiftif the way
Speaker 1: that these contracts go, just because it's X amount of dollars,
Speaker 1: you just don't divide it by how many years it
Speaker 1: is and say, okay, that's the cap number. It's a
Speaker 1: lot more complicated to that. And I think one thing
Speaker 1: people are is not thinking enough about is the fact
Speaker 1: that the first year of an NFL contract a second contract,
Speaker 1: typically it's not a huge cap hit. It's more towards
Speaker 1: the end of it. So another thing to keep in
Speaker 1: mind when you start trying to become micromanaging and doing
Speaker 1: all these couch GM decisions, right, it's not necessarily a
Speaker 1: huge cap hit because they're getting all the money in
Speaker 1: the signing bonus and then then they're getting a lower
Speaker 1: salary in that first year the deal, but then the
Speaker 1: signing bonus is pro raded over the life of the
Speaker 1: contract in terms of the salary cap. So it is uh,
Speaker 1: you know, it is a numbers game and uh, and
Speaker 1: the Packers are playing it and the cap keeps going
Speaker 1: up to that's another thing it does. It absolutely does.
Speaker 1: With that, we'll toss it to a breakback with more
Speaker 1: on Packers unscripted right after this welcome back to Packers unscripted,
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford right here, West Hodko, it's all the way
Speaker 1: over there, and West, I gotta tell you we need
Speaker 1: to talk about this. The way this last playoff spot
Speaker 1: in the a f C was decided in Week seventeen,
Speaker 1: there wasn't a lot of playoff drama in Week seventeen
Speaker 1: compared to maybe of other years we've seen in the past.
Speaker 1: But the way this a f C thing went down
Speaker 1: with the Baltimore Ravens, all they had to do was
Speaker 1: stop fourth and twelve from the forty nine yard line
Speaker 1: in the last minute of the game at home against
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals to go to the playoffs. They blow it.
Speaker 1: Not only do they allow the fourth and twelve, they
Speaker 1: allow a forty nine yard touchdown pass. Baltimore hands its
Speaker 1: playoff spot to the Buffalo Bills, and thanks to fourth
Speaker 1: and twelve from the forty nine by the Cincinnati Bengals,
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills are in the playoffs for the first
Speaker 1: time since This is one of the crazier The league
Speaker 1: is crazy. I get that, and I talk about it
Speaker 1: all the time. This is one of the crazier ones
Speaker 1: I think I've come across I I couldn't make any
Speaker 1: I couldn't make heads or tails. To be honest with you,
Speaker 1: I think I'm still kind of struggling with it. So
Speaker 1: all right, so here's what happens. You and I get
Speaker 1: donecovering the game. I was still writing my notes, so
Speaker 1: I was kind of like in tunnel vision until probably
Speaker 1: i'd say, like eight pm Central Time on Sunday night.
Speaker 1: Finally have a chance to sit back, and you were
Speaker 1: obviously working on cider inbox, but I finally a chance
Speaker 1: to sit back and start watching. What happened in the
Speaker 1: first clip I see is of Micah Hyde and the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills in their locker room watching the monitor in
Speaker 1: their locker room after after they got their you know,
Speaker 1: stuff taken care of in that play unfold. It is
Speaker 1: amazing I think for that franchise to be able to
Speaker 1: accomplish that this season. Um, let's be honest. These are
Speaker 1: the storylines that I think make the game the most
Speaker 1: compelling and for the Bills through all the ups and
Speaker 1: downs this year, and there's certainly were a lot of
Speaker 1: them for them. I mean, there's the issue almost a
Speaker 1: disaster with the quarterback situation mid season, their defense fluctuated.
Speaker 1: They bring in Calvin Bedroom so many different variables to
Speaker 1: it for them to be able to get in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: I think, especially in an uneven year like this where
Speaker 1: they're really only two bona fide like front runners in
Speaker 1: that conference. Um, you have to feel great for him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, what a day for the city of Buffalo. Really.
Speaker 1: I mean when when you start, when you when you're
Speaker 1: looking at the clips of the fans at the sports
Speaker 1: bars watching the end of the the end of the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Baltimore game, and their franchises is in the playoffs
Speaker 1: for the first time this century. It's it's one of
Speaker 1: those days. Regardless west of what happens in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: they have a tough matchup obviously going down to Jacksonville
Speaker 1: in the wild card round. All of that, it's a
Speaker 1: game they certainly can win. But regardless of what happens
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. For the Buffalo Bills, those fans of
Speaker 1: that team are going to remember New Year's Eve seen
Speaker 1: for a long time. Yeah, and I'll tell you this too, Mike.
Speaker 1: If I'm the Bills, I want to play Jacksonville right now.
Speaker 1: Jacksonville has a lot of questions to answer, they're limping
Speaker 1: into the playoffs two straight losses. Their offense hasn't done
Speaker 1: much at all. Um, you know, the defense going through
Speaker 1: some ups and downs, you know, losing that game to Tennessee.
Speaker 1: Tennessee had a playoff spot on the line, had to
Speaker 1: beat a playoff team in order to get it, and
Speaker 1: they did it so as much of the up and
Speaker 1: ups and downs. Also for the tennis See Titans, hats
Speaker 1: off to them for getting Yeah, like you and I
Speaker 1: predicted at the beginning of the season, Buffalo and Tennessee
Speaker 1: where the natural wild you know they were. We saw
Speaker 1: it coming from a mile away. Um, But I think
Speaker 1: it goes back to what you and I said before.
Speaker 1: And I don't want to turn this into the you know,
Speaker 1: we're gonna rip on Blake Bortles here for two and
Speaker 1: a half minutes. But when you have inconsistent quarterback play,
Speaker 1: doesn't matter how good your defense is, it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: how good your perimeter weapons are. You have to be
Speaker 1: able to protect the football. Bortles hasn't done it in
Speaker 1: the last two games, and it's really come back to
Speaker 1: hurt the Jaguars. In credit to Marcus Mariota, he did
Speaker 1: what he had to do. Their running game did what
Speaker 1: it had to do. Although I'm sure Derrick Henry isn't
Speaker 1: going to be talking to his relatives about his twenty
Speaker 1: eight carry fifty one yard performance. You did what you
Speaker 1: had to do to be able to get into playoffs.
Speaker 1: And Dick Lebo that defense, they're gonna make one more
Speaker 1: run at this thing. Yeah, They're going to give it
Speaker 1: another shot, all right? Before we go to break the
Speaker 1: West picture this. You and a friend are sitting v
Speaker 1: I P and plush leather recliners watching the Packers on
Speaker 1: the fifty yard line at lambeau Field. Nice picture, isn't it. Well.
Speaker 1: If you enter Cousins Subs Best Seats in the House promotion,
Speaker 1: you and a guest could win a chance to kick
Speaker 1: back on the fifty yard line and style. Two pairs
Speaker 1: of lucky Packers fans will be chosen prior to each
Speaker 1: home game for this v I P experience. For complete
Speaker 1: rules and eligibility, go to Packers dot com slash Best Seats,
Speaker 1: Cousin Subs, we believe in Better Back with more and
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. Right after this, Welcome back to Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford alongside West Hogo, it's west quickly. Before we go,
Speaker 1: let's touch on where things are in the NFC playoff
Speaker 1: picture Week seventeen. Basically nothing changed in essence, the Atlanta
Speaker 1: Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers to get the sixth and
Speaker 1: final spot ahead of the Seattle Seahawks. All the positioning
Speaker 1: everybody else one through five, nothing really changed. I know
Speaker 1: you and I have both mentioned in an Insider inbox
Speaker 1: and another settings we're both kind high on the New
Speaker 1: Orleans Saints and their opportunity to get back to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. They lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in
Speaker 1: Week seventeen, not necessarily a whole lot at stake for
Speaker 1: them in the grand scheme of things. But does that
Speaker 1: loss change your feeling at all about New Orleans? I
Speaker 1: don't think so, Although that I don't know if you
Speaker 1: saw that postgame handshake between Dirt Cutter and see I
Speaker 1: missed that. Yeah, it's it was. It was. It was strange.
Speaker 1: I'll just say that it was. It was very physical.
Speaker 1: Let's just let's just put it that way. But I
Speaker 1: really don't um certainly, I don't think they were pulling
Speaker 1: very many punches. Drew Brees played in this game. They
Speaker 1: had Kamara and Ingram out there, but I just think
Speaker 1: when it really boils down to it, the potential is
Speaker 1: really there for them to be able to get on
Speaker 1: a run here. I'll be honest with you, Mike, as
Speaker 1: far as the NFC is concerned, any of these six teams, realistically,
Speaker 1: I think have a shot at this deal. I agree
Speaker 1: with you. I was just talking with with our producer
Speaker 1: Marvin before we turned on the cameras here that in
Speaker 1: the a f C, I have a hard time seeing
Speaker 1: anything aside from New England and Pittsburgh as the a
Speaker 1: f C Championship game the NFC. I'm with you. I
Speaker 1: could see any one of these six teams representing the
Speaker 1: NFC in the Super Bowl. Somebody's gonna get hot, maybe
Speaker 1: even a couple of teams get hot, and we end
Speaker 1: up with an NFC Championship game for the ages. From
Speaker 1: this field, I can see any one of these half
Speaker 1: dozen making it all the way. Yeah. I mean when
Speaker 1: you look at like the Cowboys speed the Eagles six
Speaker 1: to nothing, I mean it was just such a strange
Speaker 1: weekend with how this this game played out. They need
Speaker 1: to be better from Nick Foles. I mean, he's gonna
Speaker 1: have to be a guy that that leads them to
Speaker 1: where they need to go, because again, a defense that
Speaker 1: can get them there. Minnesota I think ended up leading
Speaker 1: all three major defensive categories this season, so certainly you
Speaker 1: know the blueprint is there for them as well. I'm
Speaker 1: just really I'm really curious to that NFC South. You know,
Speaker 1: whether it's Carolina, whether it's Atlanta, if they can get
Speaker 1: on a run. I think there's some really dynamic offenses there,
Speaker 1: and I think they have defenses that can get it done.
Speaker 1: It's going to be exciting to watch. Yeah, Atlanta gets
Speaker 1: a chance to defend its NFC title, and the winner
Speaker 1: that Carolina New Orleans game could be a team to
Speaker 1: to watch out for. But with that, we'll call it
Speaker 1: a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure
Speaker 1: to follow all of our coverage of the team on
Speaker 1: Packers dot com and on Twitter. You can still find
Speaker 1: him at west Hodd I am at Mike Spofford at
Speaker 1: Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody,
Speaker 1: See you next time. H